Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: Hello there. For anyone who had followed me before, it’s been a while since I updated anything on my own account. Lately I’ve only been updating Digital Phantom, but that was on my co-writer’s account. We decided to have this on my account, but we do worry it may cause confusion since this is actually a sequel to Digital Phantom, not its own self contained story. We do try our best to fill in the holes for anyone who may not have read Digital Phantom, but there will be a lot of information lost on those who hadn’t read Digital Phantom before diving into this story.

ZAFT: You can find Digital Phantom on my own account ZAFT_Convoy on Fanfiction.net and AO3, so feel free to read it on either one. I will also try to help clear up any confusion since I can reference the fics myself. :3

DarkFoxKit: But Digital Phantom is a pretty long story, I know it will be daunting to read, especially for those who may only be mildly interested. So we do hope Digital Phantom Frontier will still be a good read for those who hadn’t read the prequel, and if you are interested, feel free to read Digital Phantom afterwards.

ZAFT: One more thing, Digital Phantom is a Danny Phantom story with Digimon characters involved, so if you’re looking for it, it’s in there, both on Fanfiction.net and AO3. Or just type it in the search bar. Anyways, on to the actual story!

( Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)

Digital Phantom!

( Shows Takuya, Zoe, Koji, JP, and Tommy with Patamon, Biyomon, Labramon, Kokuwamon, and Lopmon at their sides)

Falling into destiny

( A shadowy form is shown with the shadowed image of a boy falling shown behind it)

Reaching across new boundaries

( Hidden forms are shown in shadow behind the kids, each looking taller and stronger than the kids in front of them)

Let our stories come together

( Two worlds are shown as a Trailmon is shown between them)

Growing stronger

( Fractal code surrounds Takuya and his friends before five new Digimon are shown in their places)

Our pasts intertwine

( Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)

Showing our future

( Images of Takuya's family are shown marching past as Takuya himself looks up at the sky)

As we evolve

( The five Digimon from before are shown standing before five Digimon in shadow)

Let's go… EVOLUTION

( Fractal code erupts before dissipating into a bright light)

As our worlds collide

( The light is shown to be a laser that hits a strange being as the wolf-like armored humanoid Digimon is shown holding his left arm out, his right hand on a laser blaster equipped to his arm)

We stand as one

( Jets of wind are shown as the winged butterfly-like humanoid female Digimon flies by while fighting another strange creature)

Growing strong

( Globs of snow are shown as a small white icy bear-like Digimon is shown skiing by as he fires at yet another strange being)

As we move along

( Darts of fire are shown as they hit the strange being before the red-armored humanoid Digimon facing it down)

CHOU… SHINKA!

( Blasts of thunder are shown lancing down on yet another strange being facing down the humanoid blue-armored beetle Digimon)

Let's go… EVOLUTION!

( The five small Digimon stand at the edge, watching from far)

Nothing will stand in our way!

( All ten of them are shown, with a dark form looming over them, yet another form behind the dark form looming over that)

Chapter 1: Destiny is Calling

Agunimon stood in ruins, his body was weak, he knew he would revert back to Takuya soon. He looked around him. His friends… Koji, JP, Zoe, and Tommy… even Koichi, who sacrificed himself to save them… everything they had done together… was all in vain. They lied there, unconscious, their fractal codes showing on their bodies. Agunimon was the last one standing, and he was standing… before a being that might as well be a god.

"Do you understand yet?" The shadowy being said to Agunimon. "You were never a match for me. But not to worry, killing you would be a waste. I have a much better use for you and your fellow Legendary Warrior's powers."

Agunimon staggered back. "No… this… this can't be happening…" He had been so sure they would win, and yet… why? Why did we lose? What went wrong? Is this… Were we really fated to lose the whole time…?

The shadowy being floated closer to Agunimon. Agunimon wished he could move, to fight, to run, to do anything at all. But he couldn't. All he could do was stand there as the being got closer.

"You're mine now," The shadowy being sneered as it reached a hand out at Agunimon's face, covering up his eyes, plunging his sight into darkness.

All Agunimon could hear was the sound of the being's sinister laughter before everything went cold.

Takuya Kanbara yelped as he fell off of his bed, covered in cold sweat. He blinked a few times, seeing that he was back in his room, and it was morning. He could hear the sound of cars just outside his house. And he could feel a breeze. He noticed his window was slightly open.

Ugh… that dream again… Why do I keep having that dream? Takuya wondered as he rubbed at his eyes. I feel like it's real, but it can't be real, right?

It certainly felt real to Takuya, and he was sure he had that dream more than once now. But it likely didn't mean much of anything, after all, it involved people he never met before, and he was apparently some kind of strange being with armor and the power to use fire. Now that was unbelievable.

I'm probably just having weird dreams due to eating weird combinations of food. Either that or I'm just having weird dreams in general. Takuya mused to himself as he got up from his bed. What a dream to have, and on Shinya's birthday too…

Takuya yawned before he stood up from his bed. He needed to get to school before he was late, he didn't have time to be worrying about weird dreams.

Takuya gave a sigh. School was mundane, as usual. He headed straight home after school was over. First of all, it was Shinya, his little brother's birthday, and second, he didn't really have a lot of friends to hang out with anyways. He sat down at a table while his mother was cooking up something, and talking to his father on the phone at the same time.

Most of Shinya's birthday dinner was already done and set out on the table, including a nice, big, strawberry birthday cake that was sitting in the middle of the table. It had about 8 candles on it that had yet to be lit. Takuya wanted to taste the frosting of that cake, because it looked really good, he was hungry, and he was bored. He had to wait for their father to get home before they could start eating, which was why his mother was on the phone right now.

"But honey, you can't be late tonight, it's Shinya's birthday." Takuya's mom groaned.

"And tell dad I want something big, like a forklift!" Shinya blurted from where he was reading comics on the floor.

"Mind your manners, Shinya." Their mom scolded as Takuya slowly reached for the frosting on the cake. "And don't even think of eating that cake, Takuya!"

Takuya halted before removing his frosting covered finger, fixing the strawberry he had pushed over. He had no idea how his mother knew what he was doing without even looking at him, she must have eyes on the back of her head or something.

"Man, I'm so bored…" Takuya grumbled. "My whole life is boring…"

Takuya sighed as he put the finger with the frosting into his mouth. It was good, he just wished he could actually eat a piece of the cake.

"I wonder what Danny and Andy have been up to since I last saw them? Their lives are never boring…" Takuya grumbled. Makes me wish I had stayed in America… At least I could be with Danny and Andy on this day instead…

Takuya groaned to himself. "It's just boring… and more boring…" However, a beeping from his cell phone got his attention. "Huh?"

He glanced down at the phone, which had a message beeping on it. "Do you wish to start? YES or NO".

"Incoming message? And yet no sender? That's weird…" Takuya murmured. "Still, it's probably better than being bored." He reached out with a finger and pressed the YES option on his phone.

As soon as Takuya did that, a female voice spoke up, and it seemed only he could hear it. "Takuya Kanbara. It's time to decide your future Takuya." The boy looked around, but that confirmed only he was hearing the voice.

"Hey! Wait a minute, who is this? What do you mean 'my future'?" Takuya said as he stood up and grabbed his phone.

"Your destiny is calling," The female voice replied.

Instructions appeared on the phone, telling Takuya to take the 5:45 Shibuya train at Jiyuugaoka Station.

"This is way better than being bored. My destiny? That sounds pretty cool," Takuya muttered. Though… I feel like if Andy was here, he'd tell me to ignore it, because it's so suspicious. But… Danny would be all for it.

Looking at the clock, Takuya saw it was already 5:37 P.M. The station was a long way by foot. Huh? Aw man… I'll never make it… Takuya thought as he looked at his phone again before he grinned. Although that's never stopped me before!

Takuya reached and grabbed his hat and goggles that were sitting on the chair's back.

"I'm going out, Mom! I'll be back in time for the party!" Takuya quickly said as he started rushing out the door.

"But Takuya-" Takuya's mom started to say, but he was already out the door.

Takuya was running down the streets as fast as his feet could carry him. The sun was already starting to set at this point. He started running past a kid and his father playing soccer together. The kid kicked the ball, but then the father got distracted with a phone call, and the ball went rolling past him and into the street.

"Dad!" The boy cried out.

"Sorry! My phone's making a strange noise," The father apologized.

Takuya was already running to the street, so he figured he may as well catch the soccer ball while he was at it. Besides, he was an expert soccer player.

"I'll get it!" Takuya called back before running to get the ball. As he stopped the ball and kicked it back to the father and son duo, Takuya was unaware of the truck coming up on the street.

Takuya kicked the ball back, but he turned his head when he heard the loud noise coming right at him. His face went pale, and his eyes went wide as the large, 18 wheel truck was coming right for him. The driver had been distracted by the strange phone call, but then he noticed the 12 year old boy standing right in front of him. The driver let out a shocked gasp as he stepped on the brakes and swerved the truck to try to avoid hitting the boy.

Takuya saw the incoming truck and dove to the side, just barely missing getting hit. He landed on the ground and panted. Oh wow… That was way too close! The boy thought, feeling his heart racing.

"Kid! Are you okay!?" The truck driver asked in concern and worry after stopping the truck.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Takuya replied as he looked at his phone. "Aw man! I have to get moving!" He exclaimed when he saw the time. It was 5:43 right now, so he only had 2 minutes left.

The truck driver, the father, and son were watching Takuya run off, not seeming to be bothered by the fact he almost got run over by a truck.

"Uugh, why did I get this phone message at the last minute!?" Takuya groaned as he ran through the city, trying to get to the destination.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Takuya made it into town and was racing to the station. Takuya could hear the station announcer announcing the trains were boarding. He saw he only had one minute, as it was 5:44. Takuya ran to the ticket dispenser and reached into his pockets, only to find he had no cash on hand.

"Aw man… I knew I should have asked for more allowance!" Takuya groaned as he slammed his head into the ticket dispenser in his frustration.

A shadow was watching Takuya from afar. Though Takuya had no idea about this shadow. The ticket dispenser suddenly showed some lights, like it was glitching out for a moment, before a ticket came out of it.

Takuya looked down, seeing the ticket before him. "Huh? No way! A ticket! Maybe this is destiny!" He exclaimed as he grabbed the ticket and ran to catch the train.

Takuya just barely made it onto the train as the doors closed. Takuya was out of breath, unable to believe his luck. He sat down to take a moment to breathe and relax. However, he started hearing more phone rings and beeping noises. He blinked as he looked around. He saw other people seemed to be getting phone calls or text messages too, though most of them ignored it. Takuya saw a boy who appeared to be about his age standing across from him. The boy looked familiar, though Takuya was sure he had never seen this boy before.

The boy had his black hair pulled back in a ponytail, and had blue eyes. He wore a dark blue bandanna around his head that had black tiger stripes on it. He wore a dark blue jacket with a white shirt under it and dark gray pants with blue and white sneakers on.

Huh? Did that boy get a message too? Takuya wondered curiously. And… Why does he look so familiar? Why do I feel like I know this kid?

Takuya's own phone beeped, and he quickly looked at the message he received.

"Transfer to the 6 o'clock subway from Shibuya Station." The female voice stated.

Takuya paled as he saw the time on his phone was currently 5:54, so he had about 6 minutes to make it to the next train.

"Aw, c'mon! I'm trying the best I can here!" Takuya groaned, already feeling the pressure to reach the station in time.

The shadow was watching Takuya from the train's roof. It turned its attention to someone else for a moment, but kept its eyes on Takuya.

The train began to pull into the station as time ticked away. When the train came to a stop, the doors opened and Takuya walked out, confused. "Now what? Where do I go from here?"

Takuya paused when he saw the boy with the long hair walk past him. Maybe… he knows… Takuya decided to follow the boy, hoping he would get an idea on what to do next. Not to mention, Takuya couldn't help but feel like he knew this boy from somewhere.

Takuya ran through the crowd of people, trying to catch up to the other boy. For a moment, Takuya lost sight of the boy, but as he turned his head, he saw the boy getting on an elevator. Seeing this, Takuya made a beeline for the elevator. "Hey! Wait!"

Someone else started running behind Takuya. "Hold that door open!"

Takuya glanced back to see who was running behind him, and saw… the same boy…? He was in a hurry though, so he didn't get a good look before turning back to the elevator before him. Maybe his eyes were just playing tricks on him. He saw the elevator's doors were closing, so Takuya made a dive for the closing elevator.

Takuya managed to get inside the elevator, but just barely as the doors finally slid shut. "Ow!" Takuya groaned as he rubbed his head; he had smacked head first into the wall of the elevator.

When the elevator's doors closed, it began moving down.

"Ugh…" Takuya looked up at the boy, and he didn't see the other boy who was running behind him earlier. I guess he didn't make it.

Takuya saw the long-haired boy before him. He grinned nervously. 'H-hey… Did you get a message too?" He asked, pointing at his own phone.

The boy looked at Takuya in an annoyed expression, without even saying a word to him, the boy turned away from Takuya.

"Aw man, you could at least answer me!" Takuya grumbled before the elevator began to pick up speed, descending faster and faster.

This caught both of the boys' attention. Takuya saw that they were past the B2, which was supposed to be the bottom of where the elevator could take them, but instead, it kept going. Takuya turned around, being able to see through the elevator. It looked like they were going down some kind of glass tube, and there were more glass tubes with elevators going up and down really quickly. Takuya was starting to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

Soon, the elevator they were in slowed down before it landed at the bottom. The doors opened, showing them what looked like an underground train station. There were other people here too, but they were mostly kids, around Takuya's age, if not a little older or younger. There were also different colored trains parked out on several different tracks.

"Huh? So weird…" Takuya murmured as he observed the kids milling around.

His phone beeped, making Takuya look down. "It's up to you now. Which one will you choose?" The female voice asked.

Takuya looked ahead and saw the other boy with him was running off. "Hey! Which one are you choosing?" But Takuya got no answer. "Man, my phone talks more than he does…"

Takuya noticed a large clock that was hanging over the station. The minute hand pointed at 6 '0 clock, and let out a bell ring. A couple of boys pushed a smaller boy into one of the trains just before the doors shut. Takuya blinked as he looked at the brown train for a moment, something about it caught his attention, though he couldn't say why.

The shadowy figure was right behind Takuya, it reached out to him for a moment, but then stopped. Then it suddenly let out a shout in Takuya's voice. "Takuya! Run, get on that train! Go for it, Takuya!"

Takuya didn't know what just happened, but he heard… himself yelling at him to get on that train? With no time to spare, because the train was already starting to leave the station, Takuya made a break for it.

Takuya ran as fast as he could. "Aw man… Destiny sure involves a lot of running!" Takuya groaned out as he ran. Finally reaching the end car, Takuya grabbed onto it and hauled himself aboard, just as the platform came to its end.

Takuya was taking a moment to catch his breath, because he just barely made it on the train, again. He looked up and saw that other boy, who was riding on a different train. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, before the tunnel walls separated them.

"Aw man… Wherever I'm going, I'm sure gonna get there in a hurry…" Takuya groaned to himself. "This had better be worth it…"

Takuya decided to open the door from the caboose, and walked inside. He looked around the cart, not seeing anyone else in here. "That's strange… there's nobody here… this… isn't a ghost train, is it?"

Unlike most kids his age, Takuya knew ghosts existed, thanks to his aunt and uncle back in America. They were a couple of ghost hunting enthusiasts, and while he had never seen a real ghost before, he knew they existed somewhere. He just hoped he wasn't unlucky enough to be on a ghost train. He ran forward, going into another cart.

Takuya's worries about this being a ghost train eased when he finally saw some people. There were 3 other kids. One was a tall, chubby looking boy who had brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a blue jumpsuit with yellow pockets and cuffs on the sleeves and legs, and matching sneakers. The second was a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She wore a purple beanie, vest and skirt with a white and blue striped shirt that showed her middle. Her socks were lavender as well, and she wore pink and purple sneakers. The last boy was younger than the rest of them, and wore a big orange hat on his head. He looked to have brown hair, and wore a white shirt with green on the neck and sleeves. He wore pants that had suspenders hanging down, and he had teal and green sneakers on.

The 3 looked at him curiously.

"Um…" Takuya started speaking, feeling a little awkward; there was a reason why he didn't have many friends at school. "So… uh… are you guys here because of the phone thing too?"

"Yeah," The girl confirmed. "So… with you here, that makes 4 of us. I wonder if that means anything?"

"Um… I don't think so…" Takuya awkwardly said. "Um… Why did you guys get on this train?"

"Look… I only got on this train because it was closest to the elevator," The chubby, taller boy replied. "Could you stop asking so many questions?"

"Jeez, sorry…" Takuya grumbled.

The chubby boy sighed. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be rude to you like that. I'm just nervous."

"Um…" Takuya turned to the girl. "Is there a reason why you picked this particular train?"

The girl giggled. "To be honest, it was just the closest one to the elevator. I kinda wanted the pink one, but… I don't know, my feet just led me to this one."

Takuya sighed, realizing he wasn't going to be getting many answers. Great… So these guys just picked this train because it was the closest? Talk about boring…

"Hey, so… do you like chocolate?" The chubby boy asked, looking at the girl. "My name is Junpei Shibayama, but you can call me JP. What's your name?"

"I'm Izumi Orimoto, but you can call me Zoe." The girl introduced herself.

"I'm… I'm Takuya Kanbara. Nice to meet you." Takuya said with a bit of a nervous grin.

"Um…"

Takuya heard a more timid voice speaking up. He, JP, and Zoe turned their attention to the smallest boy here. He looked a little nervous, most of his eyes were covered by his hat.

"I'm… Tomoki Himi, but… I… like to be called Tommy…" The boy stated. "Though I… don't remember why I wanted to be called Tommy… but some kids liked to tease me for liking a name that's not Japanese… and I… didn't really mean to get on this train… some bigger kids pushed me on here, and the doors closed before I could get out."

"Wow… that's harsh…" Takuya muttered.

"Why are kids always picking on me?" Tommy asked as he looked up, crying.

"Hey, Tommy, don't worry, you're safe with us," Zoe promised, not liking to see little kids cry.

"I knew… I shouldn't have left without my brother, but… he was being so mean… and I wanted to prove him wrong; that I can take care of myself…" Tommy frowned. "A lot of good that did…"

"Jeez… the kid's like a faucet…" JP grumbled.

"JP! That's rude!" Zoe scolded.

Before anyone could say anything else, the train began to make a loud sound. It didn't sound like a proper train, it sounded like someone was yelling. The lights in the train suddenly went out, darkening the entire area. The group of kids looked on in shock and worry. Then there was a sudden bump that caused everyone to fall and tumble on the floor.

Takuya groaned as he regained his bearings, only to feel something appear over him temporarily, like an overlay of sorts. He felt it fade away, only to glance over and see the same thing happening with the others. Each of them had what looked like a blurry overlay appear over their bodies before it faded.

Takuya stared at what he had seen before something beeped loudly in his hand. Looking down, Takuya saw his cell phone was glowing before the glow dissipated, revealing a new device in his hand. It was black with a red grip, and the screen had a silver spiked hexagon around it with a red background inside the hexagon. There were three buttons below the screen and one on the left side, with a scanner of some kind on the top right side.

"W-what's… going on?" Takuya wondered aloud, shocked at what he was seeing.

"Welcome to the Digital World, Takuya." The woman's voice said from the device his phone turned into. "This is your D-Tector."

Takuya looked up, and saw the other 3 were looking at their own kind of 'D-Tector' in confusion and awe. They appeared to be just as shocked as Takuya was.

"WOOWHOOOOOOOO!"

The voice was so loud that it made all the kids in the train cover their ears.

"Ow… Man… You could hear that all the way on Mars!" Takuya groaned as he rubbed his ears with his hands. "That was loud!"

"Hey… look out there, guys!" Zoe pointed out the window.

"A-are those ghosts?" Tommy nervously asked.

They saw what looked like white blobs floating in the sky. They had little black eyes, and a small mouth.

"They kinda look like little squishy marshmallows," JP joked.

Zoe was looking on curiously, but then something else caught her eyes. She saw what looked like a pink bird of some kind, but not any bird she had ever seen. It was flying through the sky, then it stopped and looked at them. The bird blinked its blue eyes, the eyes looked to have intelligence behind them. The bird then looked to be in distress before it quickly began flying ahead of them like it was in a hurry.

"That's weird…" Zoe muttered. "Why did that bird fly off suddenly?"

"Does anyone find it weird that the bird was pink?" Takuya asked.

"Maybe the loud train scared the bird off," JP shrugged.

"Look, I think we're coming up to a station!" Tommy pointed out.

Indeed, the train was coming up to some kind of factory looking place, that had flames coming off of them from the roof. But that wasn't even the weirdest part, the weirdest part was that it looked like they were on a floating island, and chunks of it were missing.

"Um… Is it just me, or does it look like this place is floating in mid-air somehow?" Takuya asked nervously. Aw man… Maybe I should've stayed home… At least I wouldn't be in this world I know nothing about…

The train finally came to a stop. The doors opened. Takuya, JP, Zoe, and Tommy crowded together, and saw these strange little creatures staring back at them. These creatures looked like gray balls, with long floppy ears. They had a mischievous smile on their faces, red looking eyes, and yellow pupils.

"Are these human kids?"

"We haven't seen any in, like… ever!"

"Try not to break them too fast, guys!"

Takuya was unsure of if they all should leave the train, but then a gust of wind pushed the four kids out of the train and onto the platform.

"That first step's a doozy," The voice that sounded like it was coming from the train chuckled.

"Is it just me… or did the train just… talk?" Takuya asked in surprise and confusion.

"Hey now, I'm not just a train, I'm Trailmon. And I'm alive, just like you, though I'm way better looking than you scrunched up little humans. Anyways, this is Flame Terminal, the heart of a Digimon Village," The train, Trailmon, answered.

"Digimon village?" Takuya asked, confused. I've never heard of something called a 'Digimon' before…

"Hey there, buddies!" The strange ball creatures said, gathering around the group.

"You must be those human kids we've heard so much about."

"Yeah, those guys have been looking for ya! Wonder what happened to them?"

"W-who's been looking for us?" Takuya asked, unsure he liked the way that was being said.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The creatures giggled mischievously.

"Wait a minute! What if we don't want to be here?" Tommy quickly asked. "Can't we go back?"

"Sorry, kiddo." Trailmon Worm replied. "If you want to get home, you'll have to find another way! I can't take you back home. I have other routes to run!"

"Hey! Why are you just leaving us here!? You're the one who took us to this place!" JP shouted.

The Trailmon started backing away, leaving them. "Hey yourself, I've got a schedule to keep!"

Soon, the Trailmon disappeared on the tracks.

"Great, now what do we do?" Zoe frowned.

"I can't stay here! I need to get home!" Tommy yelled before he took off running towards the tracks in the air, and there was nothing but a dark, cloudy abyss below.

Takuya saw Tommy running to the tracks and gasped. "Wait! Tommy!" He cried as he chased after the kid. "Come back!"

Tommy didn't stop, he started to walk on the tracks precariously.

"Tommy! This isn't helping, you're going to fall!" Takuya shouted.

Tommy stopped for a moment, looking down, then he looked back. "... I… um… I need to get home… my parents will be worried…"

"... I'll find us a way back home!" Takuya blurted out suddenly. "I mean… if we came here one way, then there must be another way to get home, right? There's no need to put yourself in danger like this."

Tommy turned back. "Y-yeah… you're right… I… I lost my head there for a second… I'm coming back!"

Tommy turned himself around and started to walk back, but then there was a sudden shake that caused Tommy to lose his balance.

"Tommy!" Takuya called out in worry.

Tommy grabbed onto the rail with his arms and legs, but now he was too scared to get back up or to move.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" Takuya said as he moved to get onto the tracks. He wasn't going to let this kid die because of his own mistakes.

However, before Takuya could get onto the tracks, a sudden burst of green flames caught his attention. The flames were burning some buildings, and the buildings were turned into what looked like… some kind of code. And two creatures he had never seen before started running towards him.

"Now look at what you've caused me to do!" The white creature with the pink waistband exclaimed as it and its companion, a yellow rabbit creature with red pants on, ran towards Takuya. "I don't think they'll be able to hold him back for much longer!"

Then they ended up crashing into Takuya, whom they didn't even notice until they crashed into him. Both of them looked at just what they crashed into with curiosity.

"This is…" The white creature began in disbelief. "Are you a human?"

"You think everything's a human," The rabbit creature remarked.

"Be quiet," The white creature snapped before pulling out a magnifying glass to study Takuya more. "You've gotta be human, you fit the description perfectly…"

"I'm a human, so what?" Takuya remarked, feeling uneasy that he was being observed so closely by these two creatures.

"Oh, quick introductions, you can call me Bokomon. And this clueless dolt is Neemon," The white creature quickly introduced. "We were actually looking for-"

The self proclaimed Bokomon was interrupted by a loud roar. Takuya gasped when he saw a brown and pink ball shooting past him, and hit the wall. The brown and pink ball fell to the ground, revealing to have large, floppy ears. And appeared to have been holding onto another creature that was orange, and had wings.

"Ow!" The orange creature groaned as the brown and pink creature let go of the orange creature. "I hate being thrown into walls…"

"I took the majority of the impact…" The light brown and pink creature groaned as well.

From what Takuya could see, the light brown and pink creature looked like a rabbit of some kind, with three horns on its head. And the orange and white creature looked like a large hamster with bat-like wings on its head.

However, they weren't the only things that had Takuya's attention. There was something growling in the green flames.

"Um… what is that thing in the flames…?" Takuya asked nervously; he was feeling like this thing was a predator of some kind, and he was its next prey target.

"That is one bad dog. Her name is Cerberumon, she's a powerful Digimon that specializes in fire, and uses Emerald Blaze as her main attack," Bokomon explained.

"Where's the Ancient Spirit? I must have that Spirit!" The canine creature called Cerberumon demanded.

"We told you! You're not getting your claws on it!" The light brown rabbit shouted, despite looking injured, and having some of his fur singed from the fire.

"Ancient Spirit?" Takuya muttered. It sounded… familiar in a way, but he wasn't sure why it did.

"I can sense the Spirit's presence all over this town, I must find it and absorb its power!" Cerberumon announced. "You don't know what kind of powers you're dealing with."

"I think it's you who don't understand the power," The orange hamster snapped back.

"Hey! What's going on!?" Takuya called out.

The two creatures didn't notice Takuya until now, and they turned their attention to him, shocked.

"T-... it's you!" They both shouted.

"Um… Do I know you two?" Takuya asked. "And… how do you know me when I don't know either of you?"

"You two will be destroyed for interfering with me!" Cerberumon snapped before she opened her maw. "Emerald Blaze!"

Cerberumon shot out green flames at them.

"RUN!" The light brown bunny shouted before he and the hamster with wings jumped off of the tracks and into the air.

Takuya didn't know where to go, but he certainly couldn't stay here or he would become nothing but charcoal. He ran to the only place he could think of as the green flames came at him, Bokomon, and Neemon. He ran to the train tracks where Tommy was hanging off of, while also carrying Bokomon and Neemon.

"Is that a little kid on the train track!?" The orange hamster shouted in shock.

"Crap!" The light brown bunny hissed. "We were not prepared for this!"

Takuya ran to Tommy, down the track as carefully and quickly as he could. He reached the younger boy and picked him up. Looking back, Takuya saw the tracks and part of the terminal were also vanishing. "Aw man! This day just got worse!"

"That mutt is going to eat up the whole Digimon Village!" Bokomon hissed, seeing that Cerberumon was sucking up the ground that she just burned, turning it into data.

The light brown bunny and the orange hamster ran at Cerberumon and tried to stop her. The light brown bunny tackled the dog's side, trying to stab her with his horns, and the orange hamster tackled Cerberumon's head.

This only annoyed Cerberumon, and she turned her body, slapping both the smaller creatures with her tail, forcing them off of her.

"She's too strong…" The light brown bunny hissed after pushing himself back up to his feet.

Takuya felt the tracks starting to shift downwards. "Um… I don't think we're out of danger yet either…" He muttered, feeling the tracks shifting downwards even more. His feet started to slip as well.

Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon all yelped, seeing that they were starting to fall into the dark abyss below. Hearing their cry, the light brown bunny looked over at them. He frowned worriedly before he looked at the orange hamster.

"Come on, we have to save them!" The light brown bunny said.

"Are you sure? Isn't this what's… supposed to happen?" The orange hamster asked.

"Us being here is already interfering with the normal course of events, who's to say that hasn't caused a butterfly effect already? If we don't save them, they could die," The light brown bunny warned.

The orange hamster frowned, but he knew his companion was right. There was no time to question, they had to act now. The two creatures ran to the edges of the land as Cerberumon was eating up the data. Just as Takuya, Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon were about to fall, the two creatures jumped down to them.

"Hey! Grab hold of us!" The orange hamster shouted, holding out his black paw.

The light brown bunny was doing the same, reaching out to them.

Takuya couldn't really reach out unless he let go of Tommy, but he knew he had to do something. He shifted his grip on the younger boy, holding him as tightly as he could, before reaching out with his free hand to grab onto the closest creature's paw.

JP and Zoe could only watch helplessly, they didn't know what to do as this was happening. They just know that Takuya and Tommy were in danger.

Takuya managed to reach the orange hamster's paw. Tommy nearly slipped from his grasp, and yelped. Then he saw the light brown bunny getting closer to them. He quickly reached up and grabbed onto the bunny's hand. Bokomon and Neemon held onto Takuya and Tommy tightly as the orange hamster began to flap his wings hard to slow their descendant, and the light brown bunny inflated his wings that they almost looked like a couple of balloons.

"There! Land over there!" Bokomon instructed the two, pointing at a piece of land that remained intact.

The orange hamster and the light brown bunny did as instructed, directing their descent to land on the rocky outcropping that was before them. Though due to the amount of weight the two small creatures had to carry, they ended up crash landing onto the outcrop, sending Takuya, Tommy, Neemon, and Bokomon on the ground, while the bunny and the hamster landed further away facefirst. Takuya noticed his D-Tector had flown out of his pocket upon the crash landing.

"Huh…? My D-Tector…?" Takuya noted as the device began to point at what looked like a pillar of fire. A beam of light shot out of the scanner, pointing at the fire pillar directly. "What…? Why is it pointing at that fire?"

As if reacting to the beam of light from his D-Tector, something exploded from the bottom of the pillar of fire. And a bright blue light replaced the pillar of fire. Though the blue light was clear like glass, Takuya was sure that it was some kind of fire from the intense heat he was feeling from it.

"What is that?" Tommy asked, looking quite surprised himself.

"That's… the Spirit!" Bokomon spoke up, getting to his feet. "I've never seen it before with my eyes."

Takuya could see a figurine appearing within the blue flames. "That's… the Spirit that dog was looking for?"

The bunny and the hamster managed to get back up. They looked over at the figurine for a moment.

"So it's here…" One of them muttered, though Takuya didn't know which one.

Were those two looking for the Spirit too? Takuya wondered. Why is everyone after this Spirit?

"The Spirit! I finally found it!" Cerberumon shouted as she jumped down and landed not too far from the group.

Takuya looked at the Spirit and back at the black dog creature. He knew he had to protect Tommy, but that Spirit seemed quite important as well, which told him that letting this dog thing get her grubby… paws… on it was a bad idea as well. Aw man… I have a choice to make, and I don't like either one!

Takuya saw a broken metal pipe on the ground next to his D-Tector, which was still pointing at the Spirit. He quickly picked up the pipe as Cerberumon was charging at them. The boy held up the pipe just as Cerberumon opened her maw and bit down on the pipe, crushing it with her teeth. The bunny and hamster jumped on top of Cerberumon before she could rip into Takuya. They were scratching and biting at her as much as they could.

Cerberumon roared as she jumped away from Takuya, trying to get the two annoying creatures off of her. But every time she got them off, they would jump back onto her again.

"Blazing Ice!" The bunny took a deep breath and fired out an icy wind from his mouth, freezing Cerberumon's maw before she could use another attack.

"Boom Bubble!" The orange hamster expanded his body to a balloon level before firing out a large air bubble at Cerberumon's back, pushing her down.

The bunny looked back at Takuya. "What are you waiting for!? Go get that Spirit!"

Takuya blinked before he nodded. "R-Right!" He said before he dropped the pipe and turned, running towards the flames. I hope that fire doesn't hurt me! Wait… Why the heck am I running towards the flames anyway? Shouldn't I be running away from them?!

Cerberumon noticed the human child heading to the Spirit. She wanted that Spirit's power herself, she was not about to let this strange human get his hands on it. She crushed the ice with her teeth, and swiped her paw at the bunny and the hamster, pushing them into a wall before she jumped towards the pillar of fire. Takuya gasped as Cerberumon came at him, tackling him into the flames as well.

"T-Takuya!" Tommy shouted in concern.

"Don't go in there! You'll get burned!" Bokomon warned, holding Tommy back from running in there.

"B-but Takuya's in there!" Tommy pointed out worriedly.

As Cerberumon approached the Spirit, Takuya knew he had to do something. He didn't have a weapon though, so all he could do was try to punch and kick Cerberumon. However, he didn't need to do anything, because it was then that Cerberumon's body began to burn, almost as if the Spirit's power was trying to drive her away.

Cerberumon couldn't take it and jumped out of the flaming pillar, rolling on the ground to try to put out the fire on her body. Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon were shocked when they saw this.

"Oh, no… Takuya…" Tommy frowned.

"I think he'll be fine…" The bunny said weakly as he and the hamster approached them.

The two smaller creatures looked pretty banged up.

"My, you two have certainly seen better days," Bokomon commented.

"Maybe we need to make you some tea?" Neemon said.

"Don't be stupid! Now isn't the time for tea!" Bokomon snapped.

"Wait… how do you know Takuya will be fine?" Tommy asked.

"He's not burning," The hamster said before pointing back at Takuya, who was standing in the pillar of fire, looking to be just fine.

In the fire pillar, Takuya did indeed feel just fine, and he found this quite odd. "Huh? H-how am I not burning alive right now?" He asked as he looked himself over, trying to see if any part of him was on fire.

However, something caught Takuya's eye, and he turned to face the figurine before him. It was calling to him almost, making Takuya stare at it, as if in a trance. "Ancient Spirit…"

Something about this felt very familiar, and it also felt right. Takuya could almost see an armored man walking towards him, and he was walking to the armored man. Like some invisible force took over, Takuya called out.

"SPIRIT!" Takuya cried out as he held out his hands, his D-Tector floating off the ground and flying right into his waiting hands. Takuya pointed it at the figurine, and a beam of light shot out of the scanner, sucking the figurine into the D-Tector.

"What happened?" Tommy asked, watching the whole thing.

"Now… things are about to get interesting…" The bunny chuckled softly, almost knowingly.

Takuya looked at his D-Tector as the symbol of Flame appeared, and he heard that female's voice. "It is time."

Takuya held up his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed a ring of fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his canine teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Takuya, now known as Agunimon, felt this power flowing through him, like it was meant to be his. It made his body feel more… alive… and he knew it was his, no one else's.

"What's this!? How could a human use the power of the Spirit and turn into a Digimon!?" Cerberumon shouted in shock.

"What?" Tommy frowned, not sure what to make of this. "What did he turn into?"

"Someone really cool!" Neemon shouted in awe. "Or maybe someone really hot, because he's on fire!"

Bokomon was flipping through a green book he took out from his belly warmer. Tommy couldn't help but wonder if there was a pocket dimension of some kind in that belly warmer.

"No way…" JP and Zoe were watching this whole thing from above, they couldn't believe what they were seeing either.

"Is that really Takuya?" JP asked.

"If it is… he sure doesn't look like it…" Zoe noted.

By now, Tommy and Neemon got behind Bokomon to see a drawing of the same being who stood before them now.

"That's… Agunimon!" Bokomon stated. "He's the Legendary Warrior of Flame!"

"Legendary… Warrior?" Tommy blinked, feeling like that sounded familiar, but he was sure this was his first time hearing about this.

Agunimon held up a hand and swiped it, causing the flames around him to dissipate, as if on command. He was clearly not messing around if his body language was anything to go by.

"Even so, I'll still defeat you and take that Spirit from you!" Cerberumon shouted.

"Are you sure about that?" The hamster asked.

"Shut up!" Cerberumon snapped before she jumped towards Agunimon. "Emerald Blaze!"

Agunimon turned around, seeing the incoming blast of green fire. As if on instinct, the Warrior of Flame flipped out of the way, avoiding the Emerald Blaze attack like it was nothing. He landed in front of Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon as soon as he was out of the way of the attack.

Agunimon easily scooped up Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon into his arms, and jumped up high, heading back to the top of the station, where Zoe and JP were.

"How'd he do that!?" Cerberumon growled.

"Hehe… he's a Legendary Warrior, what did you expect?" The bunny pointed out. "You just awakened Agunimon's wrath."

Agunimon set Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon down in front of JP and Zoe. He looked at the other two kids. "Keep an eye on Tommy and these two. I'm going to finish this fight." Agunimon said, his voice sounding just like that of Takuya's.

With that said, Agunimon then jumped back down to face Cerberumon himself.

"Whoa, he's so cool!" Tommy smiled.

"Very cool!" Zoe agreed.

JP huffed, feeling a little jealous that Zoe's attention was all on the boy who turned into some kind of creature.

"You two! You both interfered with my search for the Spirit!" Cerberumon growled at the bunny and the hamster.

"Hardly, you were the one who attacked us," The orange hamster snapped. "You caused our group to scatter, and get separated, and you even attacked two innocent Digimon!"

"For what it's worth though… I hope once you get reborn, you'll try to become a better Digimon," The bunny stated.

"You say that like I'm already dead!" Cerberumon hissed. "But you two will be the first to get reborn!"

Cerberumon charged at the two smaller creatures. The bunny and the hamster braced themselves.

"I don't think so!" Agunimon exclaimed as he landed in front of the two smaller creatures and managed to catch Cerberumon in the middle of her charge. He braced himself, digging in his foot claws so he didn't get pushed back so easily.

"Agunimon?" The hamster spoke up in surprise.

"You're helping us?" The bunny asked.

Agunimon was a little surprised to hear the two creatures - no, the two Digimon - didn't expect him to help them.

"Why wouldn't I? This big mutt was attacking you as well, right?" Agunimon retorted, trying to keep Cerberumon back. "I won't sit back and let something happen if I can help it!"

Agunimon managed to throw Cerberumon back.

Cerberumon growled angrily before she had the two dog mouths on her shoulders move a little. Their empty eyes glowed a purple light, surrounding the area in darkness. "Portals of Darkness!"

Holes surrounded them, leading into a dark dimension of some kind below. Agunimon, seeing this, quickly turned around and picked up the two Digimon just before a hole opened up underneath them, and they fell into the dimension.

Agunimon held onto the two smaller Digimon tightly, trying to keep his wits about him as they fell deeper into the darkness. It was so strange. He was able to see like it was twilight out, but there was nothing around him except an odd fog, if it could be called that.

"Let's see how well you fare against me on my turf!" Cerberumon shouted as she launched herself into the dimension.

The holes above them closed, covering them in darkness. Cerberumon's form disappeared into the darkness. She started to claw at Agunimon, who was also trying to keep the two Digimon safe.

"You'll never escape the darkness!" Cerberumon shouted.

Agunimon found he had to curl into a ball to keep the two smaller Digimon safe. The only reason he was able to keep them safe from physical harm was because of his armor that he wore, which was the only thing holding back the strikes from Cerberumon's claws.

"Agunimon… You don't have to protect us, just fight back! We'll be fine," The orange winged Digimon said, wanting Agunimon to fight back.

"You'll die if I leave you vulnerable…" Agunimon replied, grunting as he felt another slash against his back armor.

"We can still fight too," The light brown bunny Digimon assured. "Just trust us, please?"

Agunimon frowned at this. He had seen how the two had barely held their own against Cerberumon. "Are… Are you sure…?" He wasn't too sure about this plan.

"Hey… we have you now," The orange winged Digimon reminded. "We've got this. We'll distract Cerberumon, and you come in for the kill."

Agunimon blinked before he gave a nod. "Okay… Just… be careful…"

Agunimon let them go. The second the two were free, they quickly ran to the side.

"Hey Cerberumon! You're so weak, you couldn't even defeat two Rookie level Digimon!" The orange Digimon taunted. "No wonder you need the Spirit's power!"

Cerberumon emerged from the darkness in a rage. "What was that?!" She shouted as she lunged for the two smaller Digimon.

"Tiny Twister!" The light brown bunny spun around so quickly that he turned himself into a small light brown tornado.

Cerberumon's face was being constantly slapped by the bunny's ears, though it didn't hurt her, it did distract her. Agunimon saw his chance.

"Let's see how she likes a real tornado!" Agunimon hissed before fire began to flicker from the openings in his armor on his shoulders, wrists, knees, and ankles. Slowly, he began to spin around himself, the fire engulfing his form as he spun faster and faster. A fiery twister was formed in a matter of seconds. "Pyro Tornado!"

The bunny moved away as Agunimon engulfed Cerberumon in his flaming tornado. Cerberumon cried out in pain as she was being burned by the Spirit's flames.

The bunny landed next to the orange winged Digimon. Both of them looked up in awe as Cerberumon was taken up into the sky, and the dark dimension was broken. JP, Zoe, Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon were all watching from the top, seeing the fiery tornado breaking through.

"Is he okay?" Zoe asked in concern.

Just as Zoe asked this, the flaming tornado died down, revealing Agunimon kicking Cerberumon in the stomach, hitting her Digi-Core in the process.

"I'd say he's better than okay!" Neemon said.

Cerberumon let out a pained scream as a ring of code appeared on her torso.

"No… How could I have been defeated? And by a human child no less?!" Cerberumon coughed out before her form became a black silhouette.

"The Spirit would never obey the likes of you." Agunimon replied before he held up his D-Tector. "Time to claim the fractal code!" He pressed the button on the side as the scanner on top lit up, the screen showing the symbol of Flame. Agunimon swung his arm, running the scanner over the ring of code. "Fractal Code… Digitize!"

When Agunimon scanned the Fractal Code, Cerberumon's body scattered into bits of data. The data reformed into an egg, and the egg flew off into the sky.

"What happened?" Zoe asked.

"Cerberumon's essence was reformed into a Digi-Egg," Bokomon explained. "It's headed back to Primary Village, most likely, where Cerberumon can start her life over again. Hopefully she gets better parents to raise her."

"Wow… Really? That's… Kinda odd…" Zoe murmured, not sure how to feel about that exactly.

"Not really, that's how things are for us Digimon," Bokomon shrugged.

"So you guys are called Digimon?" Tommy noted.

"So is that some kind of monster or something?" JP asked.

"In a sense, it stands for Digital Monsters," Bokomon answered.

"Hey, look, the hot guy is landing," Neemon pointed out.

Agunimon landed on the ground below, with the bunny and the orange winged Digimon looking at him in concern. Lines of code surrounded Agunimon, covering him for a moment, before the codes disappeared, leaving Takuya where Agunimon was.

Takuya fell to his hands and knees. "Wow… that's tiring…" The boy panted out, feeling like his energy had been wiped for some reason. Takuya took a moment to gather himself before looking at his D-Tector. "But… how did I know how to do all that stuff…? And… What happened to me?"

"Hey… are you okay?" The orange winged Digimon asked in concern as he and the bunny approached him.

"I'm… not sure…" Takuya replied, he was still in shock at what just happened.

The bunny looked up to see the other human children, Bokomon, and Neemon were coming down.

"Come on, let's go," The bunny quietly said to the orange Digimon.

The orange Digimon frowned as he looked at the bunny, but he didn't argue, and both of them walked away as the others started to gather around Takuya.

"Hey… you okay?" JP asked Takuya, who shook his head.

"If you call being confused okay." Takuya retorted.

"Jeez, just asking…" JP huffed.

"Sorry, just… What the heck happened?" Takuya asked.

"Do you mean before or after you became a Digimon?" Zoe asked.

"Um… both?" Takuya muttered. "I don't know…"

"I thought it was really cool how you fought that dog, and turned into Agunimon!" Tommy smiled. "And you saved me… so… thanks for that."

Takuya blinked. "Um… you're welcome…?" He said awkwardly. "I… still don't know how I did that…"

"You managed to use the Spirit's power," Bokomon explained. "By doing so, you took on the form of Agunimon. I suppose you were able to do it with that strange device of yours."

"You mean… My D-Tector?" Takuya looked down at the device in his hand. "This little thing allowed me to become a Digimon?"

"Why don't you try it again and see if you can do it?" Zoe suggested.

Takuya frowned as he brought the D-Tector back up. "But I don't even know how I did it the first time!"

Takuya began to push the buttons randomly. "C'mon! Turn me into a Digimon! Power up, on… whatever!" He exclaimed in frustration.

As soon as he hit a few buttons in sequence, the scanner began to glow, but it was not for the reason Takuya wanted. "Fractal code, rendered."

"Uh… I think I broke it…" Takuya muttered as a stream of fractal code emerged from the scanner.

"Look at that!" Neemon pointed out in shock.

The fractal code began to cover a large part of the station, becoming bigger and bigger until it revealed itself as a large chunk of the missing land from the floating train station they were on. Takuya could see trees and little houses on that big piece of land.

"There's no way this is happening!" JP yelled in shock.

"Um… I think it is…" Takuya murmured. "Did… I do that?"

Happy and excited, Bokomon and Neemon started to run across the station and towards the new land Takuya just released. Takuya, Zoe, JP, and Tommy ran after them, and the little fur balls they saw earlier started moving too.

"I can't believe it! You brought back our little village!" Bokomon smiled.

"I didn't mean to!" Takuya exclaimed. "I was just trying to turn into a Digimon!" Aw man… What the heck is going on here?!

"So that whole fractal code thing… is that what brought back that village of yours?" Tommy asked.

"That's right! You see, our world is made up of fractal code, and with how Cerberumon was eating away at it, we were losing chunks of our world," Bokomon explained. "I should be surprised you humans were able to pull off such a feat, but considering how highly talked about you were, I guess it was to be expected."

"Highly talked about? By whom?" Zoe questioned.

"You really don't know?" Neemon asked. "I could've sworn they were friends of yours or something."

"Just who talked about us so highly?" Takuya asked before he blinked. "Wait… where are the winged hamster and bunny Digimon? I could've sworn they'd be just as excited as the rest of you guys and celebrate with you."

"What? They're not here?" Bokomon frowned. "I thought they'd want to stick around now that they found you."

Bokomon then pulled out that green book he had earlier. "By the way, I feel I should tell you, since you obviously don't know them. The orange Digimon is called Patamon, he's a small one, but he's a pretty determined Digimon. Despite not having a Holy Ring, he seems to show potential to use holy power. The light brown Digimon is named Lopmon, he's a precious Digimon that's usually known for being a crybaby, although I've never seen this one cry. He may be small, but he seems to exhibit quite the power himself. Those two, along with a few others, have been going around, looking for human children before you guys showed up."

Bokomon showed them drawings of Patamon and Lopmon, as well as the description for their species.

"So we just met two other Digimon? That's pretty cool, but why'd they just leave?" Takuya asked. "And… Why did they try to help me against Cerberumon?"

"I dunno, I guess it's because they were defending themselves earlier?" Neemon remarked.

"Cerberumon attacked them, and us, when we were discussing what to do. The rest of them got scattered, leaving only those two with us before they got blown back and we had to run. That was when we found you," Bokomon explained. "As for why they left… they were probably not sure what to do with so many of you around, or maybe they went to look for their missing friends."

Takuya looked down. "That must have been scary, being attacked like that… I know I was scared…"

The group were now walking across the land, heading into the trees. It was nice to get away from the hot train station, and all the smoke.

"So what about these furballs? Are they Digimon too?" JP asked.

"Yeah, they're called Pagumon. They're usually mischievous, but otherwise harmless unless you manage to rile a lot of them up," Bokomon explained.

Zoe shivered. "I will never understand how something so cute could be so scary, if what you say is true."

"I wouldn't worry about them," Bokomon said. "We should head back to my house for a moment to rest. I can probably tell you more about the Digital World and why you might've been brought here, especially since one of you managed to get the Spirit of a Legendary Warrior."

"Hey… do you think that means we could become Digimon too?" Zoe asked, looking at her own D-Tector.

"That'd be cool, wouldn't it?" Tommy asked, looking at his D-Tector as well. But… Why do I feel uneasy about it?

"It's possible." Bokomon replied. "I could also explain more about the Legendary Warriors if you'd like. It would be easier than just having you struggle to figure out who they are."

JP frowned for a moment. Something about this whole thing was bothering him. Seeing how Tommy was the closest to him, and the youngest one here, he took Tommy's arm and pulled him back from the group as they were walking.

"Hey, Tommy, c'mere a sec," JP whispered.

"Huh?" Tommy frowned as he looked up at JP. "What is it?"

"I think we need to leave here." JP said. "I'm not getting a good feeling about this whole thing."

"Why's that?" Tommy asked.

"This isn't our world," JP said. "You get that, don't you? We've never had Digimon or whatever in our world, or fractal code. Takuya turning into some kind of Digimon… don't you think that's weird?"

"I… guess so, but…" Tommy started.

"But what? Do you think he became some sort of superhero?" JP asked. "Take it from me, kid, this hero stuff is way overrated, and I should know. It's entirely too much work, and you always have to save some poor sap. Not to mention it's dangerous. Besides, for all we know, Takuya turning into a Digimon could mean he's losing his humanity, you know?"

Tommy frowned. While he hadn't really said anything about wanting to be a superhero, it did cross his mind for a moment. It was really cool to see Takuya turning into a Digimon and kicking the bad Digimon's butt like he did. But Tommy had been getting an uneasy feeling about it all too, so it wasn't like he completely disagreed with where JP was coming from.

"So… what do you plan to do?" Tommy asked.

"I plan to find us a way home, that's what, squirt." JP replied. "We can't stay here. It's too dangerous. Besides, weren't you crying about going home earlier?"

"I wasn't crying," Tommy huffed. "But… I guess I should go back home. I don't like making my parents and brother worry about me…" I feel like it wouldn't be the first time… but… wait, where did that thought come from?

Meanwhile, a blue Trailmon pulled up into the station, and opened its doors. The boy Takuya met earlier stepped out, and was looking at his own D-Tector.

"Koji Minamoto, commence your search." The female voice said over his D-Tector.

Koji scowled. "Search? For what?"

"The Spirit. Search for the Spirit, and your questions will be answered," The voice replied.

Koji grunted. "Not good enough. I'm not some lap dog you can just order around you know."

There was silence from the D-Tector.

Koji frowned before trying to ask again. "What is this Spirit anyway? And how do I know where to look for it?"

The screen on his D-Tector fizzled for a second, annoying Koji more, until a holographic compass appeared before him. It seemed to be pointing somewhere.

"What the heck is this? This just keeps getting weirder by the second…" Koji grumbled.

"Hey, you said it, not me," The Trailmon remarked.

Koji scowled again before deciding to get moving. It wasn't like he had anything else going on in this odd world.

Meanwhile, Tommy and JP were back in the station. JP saw one of the Pagumon on top of one of the strange buildings.

"Hey, maybe we can ask this little guy how we can get back home," JP suggested.

"Are you sure? Didn't Bokomon warn us not to rile them up too much?" Tommy asked.

"We're just going to ask him a question, not rile him up." JP rolled his eyes.

Tommy just couldn't help but get a bad feeling about this. He would rather ask that bunny… the one called Lopmon, or that Patamon Digimon he saw earlier. They helped them earlier, so they were more trustworthy than these mischievous furballs, surely. But it wasn't like he knew where they were, and asking a local was a logical idea.

"Hey, little guy!" JP called up to the Pagumon on the strange building. "What's up?"

"Huh?" The Pagumon frowned, looking down at them.

"We just want to ask you a quick question," JP said. "Do you know how we could get back to our world?"

"Buzz off," Pagumon huffed. "I have no reason to help you humans."

Tommy noticed that Pagumon looked a little more roughed up than the ones he saw earlier. He wondered if this Pagumon got into a fight with another Digimon earlier.

"I could make it worth your while." JP said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a chocolate bar. "How about some premium chocolate? If you tell us how to get home, this whole bar is yours."

Pagumon looked down, interested in seeing this strange new type of food he had never seen before. He jumped down at the piece of chocolate JP broke off from the bar and held up. He tasted the chocolate and immediately wanted more.

Pagumon turned back to JP and Tommy. "All you have to do is take another Trailmon. They're the only Digimon that can cross between our world, and yours."

"It's that easy?" Tommy blinked.

"Yup. Now fork that chocolate bar over!" Pagumon demanded.

JP grinned. "It's all yours!" He handed the chocolate bar over before looking at Tommy. "C'mon Tommy! Let's go home!"

JP started running ahead, and Tommy hurried after him, only hesitating a little bit. Pagumon ate the entire bar of chocolate. "I want more of that stuff!"

Tommy ran after JP. "Do you think it was a good idea, giving him chocolate? I heard some animals die if they eat chocolate."

"He's not an animal, Tommy, he's a Digimon. I'm sure he'll be fine," JP said.

"But if we're leaving, shouldn't we at least let the others know first?" Tommy asked.

"If they want to stay, that's their thing. They don't need to worry about us." JP replied.

As the two were heading for the station, Koji was walking by. He saw them, but they didn't see him.

"... Why do I get the feeling those two are an accident waiting to happen?" Koji frowned.

The boy debated for a moment about what to do, then he shrugged. "I'm not their babysitter. It's their fault that they got in way over their heads."

JP and Tommy made their way back to the station, only to find a Trailmon sitting on the tracks, waiting for passengers to board.

"Hey, looks like we lucked out, there's already a Trailmon here!" JP pointed out.

They saw those white marshmallow Digimon they had seen earlier when they arrived in this world. They certainly looked friendlier than the Pagumon. They were blinking at the two humans curiously.

"Hey there, Trailmon, would you like to take a trip to the real world?" JP grinned.

The Trailmon blinked its one eye for a moment at them, before huffing. "No thanks, I just got back from there."

Jp frowned. "Aw, c'mon! Please?" He asked as he held up another chocolate bar. "How about a tasty down payment then?"

"Hmm?" Trailmon looked at the chocolate bar in JP's hand curiously. "Let me try that!"

"JP, are you seriously bribing a train to take us home with chocolate?" Tommy questioned.

JP didn't hear Tommy as he handed the chocolate bar to the Trailmon. The Trailmon opened its mouth and licked the chocolate bar with a giant pink tongue, right out of JP's hand. This caused both JP and Tommy to jump back from being startled by such a large pink tongue, and neither of them had expected a Trailmon to actually have a tongue.

Tommy knew the last Trailmon said how they were alive, but he didn't know what train monsters ate. He would've assumed coal or electricity, but definitely not chocolate.

The Trailmon instantly fell in love with the flavor of the chocolate bar. "Yummy! I'm off now!"

The Trailmon didn't hesitate to blow the whistle and started moving down the tracks quickly, leaving the two boys behind.

"... Maybe you should've told him to take us with him before you gave him the chocolate…" Tommy deadpanned.

JP deadpanned as well. "I think you're right…" He muttered. "I really need to think these ideas through…"

Although Tommy wasn't sure if he wanted to go home right now, despite not wanting to make his parents worry. He had been feeling split about it.

Suddenly, there was a horde of Pagumon that came in front of them. The little white Digimon saw these Pagumon and quickly slithered away. They didn't want to get involved with this.

"Uh… JP… I don't like the way they're looking at us," Tommy said nervously.

"Hey! Chocolate boy! Give me more of that chocolate! My friends want to eat them!" One of the Pagumon shouted.

JP gulped. "Those were the only two bars I had…" He said nervously.

The Pagumon stopped bouncing before they started discussing what to do with each other.

"Uh… JP… we should probably run now…" Tommy gulped nervously as the Pagumon was giving them a hungry look.

"Get them!" The Pagumon shouted.

The horde of Pagumon jumped at the two humans, trying to bite them with their teeth.

Tommy and JP were screaming in pain, trying to get away from the chomping Pagumon. They ran out of the horde, but the horde of Pagumon just followed after the two of them.

Meanwhile, Zoe and Takuya were looking at the houses. The houses were pretty small compared to what they were used to.

Zoe heard something rustling in the trees above her. She looked up and saw that pink bird she saw earlier when they were arriving in the Digital World. The bird was perched on the tree's branch, and was looking down at her.

"Hey… is that a Digimon?" Zoe asked as she pointed out the bird.

Takuya looked up. "I… think so… But I've never seen a pink Digimon before…"

"You only saw a few Digimon, Takuya, I'm pretty sure Digimon come in all shapes, sizes, and color," Zoe huffed.

"Well, excuse me for being curious." Takuya huffed back.

Bokomon was getting settled in the house, so he wasn't there to explain things to them currently.

"I just can't help but wonder… are you interested in us?" Zoe asked the bird.

The bird frowned, showing that it was capable of frowning, but didn't say anything. Instead, the bird flew off of the tree branch, and went somewhere else.

"I guess… that's a no." Takuya deadpanned.

"Or maybe it's just nervous around us. I mean it probably never saw a human before," Zoe pointed out.

"True." Takuya sighed. "But I can't help feeling like that Digimon is familiar somehow… Like I've seen it before, but this is my first time here. It's so weird."

Then Takuya noticed someone was missing. "Hey… have you seen Tommy?"

"Uh… I think he's with JP," Zoe suggested.

"And where's JP?" Takuya questioned.

"I finally finished settling in," Bokomon announced, opening up the window.

"That's great!" Zoe exclaimed to Bokomon with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, but we're missing two people, JP and Tommy." Takuya pointed out. "We don't know where they went."

"That's funny! Maybe they're playing hide-n-seek!" Neemon smiled from the window. "After all, Lopmon and Patamon are!"

"Hush…" Bokomon grumbled.

"Or maybe they were eaten by a bunch of Grizzmon," Neemon said.

"Okay, now I'm worried." Zoe frowned. "We should go look for them."

Takuya nodded. "Let's get going. We need to find them before something happens to them."

Takuya, Zoe, Bokomon, and Neemon started to walk around the woods.

"Funny how we went searching for humans to searching for more humans," Bokomon mumbled.

"You mentioned looking for humans before, right?" Takuya asked. "Who was looking for us before?"

"5 Digimon we've never met before came into the village one day before Cerberumon started eating up the fractal code," Bokomon explained. "Lopmon and Patamon were among these 5 Digimon. They were asking around if we had seen any human children here recently. We hadn't seen any, so we offered to help them search, and after a while, they began thinking you weren't here yet. And one of them mentioned that the humans we were looking for were special, and may help our world."

"So you think that these humans are us?" Zoe asked. "That's quite the coincidence."

"I wonder why they were looking for us though, and why they think we were special," Takuya said. "I mean… before I found that Spirit, I was just an ordinary guy, you know?"

"Who knows, they were pretty tight lipped on why they were looking for you," Bokomon said. "I'm more surprised Lopmon and Patamon didn't stick around when they finally found you."

"I get pretty tight lipped if I get peanut butter stuck to my mouth," Neemon commented.

"Oh, hush! No one asked you!" Bokomon huffed at Neemon.

While Takuya and Zoe were curious about these 5 Digimon that were looking for them, they had to find Tommy and JP before they got into trouble.

Bokomon looked up, seeing a group of small white Digimon slithering by. "Hey, Poyomon! Have you seen any human children recently?"

"We saw them being chased by some Pagumon back at the station," One of the Poyomon answered.

"Oh… that's probably not good," Neemon sweatdropped.

"Uh-oh, sounds like that group got riled up again," One of the nearby Pagumon said.

"What? What group?" Zoe frowned.

"There's a Pagumon who's the leader of a group of really mischievous Pagumon. Not all of us are as bad as they are, they take the cake," The Pagumon warned. "I'm not sure why their leader is so nasty though, he got into quite a fight with those 5 Digimon earlier. So if your friends did something to tick them off, they're as good as mush."

Takuya paled. "We need to find JP and Tommy, fast…" He gulped.

"But where do we start to look?" Zoe asked in concern and worry.

"The station might be a good place to start, since that's where they were last seen," Bokomon pointed out.

Takuya, now worried, mostly for Tommy who was only a little kid, started running towards the station. Zoe quickly followed after him.

Meanwhile, Koji was walking somewhere in the woods. The D-Tector was pointing him somewhere.

"Where is this thing taking me? This is getting old…" Koji grumbled as he was walking.

Koji then heard what sounded like whimpering. He looked away from his D-Tector to follow that whimpering noise. It sounded like an injured dog. He opened some bushes, and saw what looked like a white furred dog, with magenta furry, floppy ears, and a curly tail, lying on the ground. Its fur looked a little singed, but its front paw looked like it got bitten by some sharp teeth.

"H-hey!" Koji called as he ran over; he hated seeing a dog hurt, especially since he had a dog himself. "Are you okay?"

The dog looked up, startled from the voice. They didn't expect someone to find them, or at least not Koji. Koji approached the injured dog. The dog didn't growl at him, or tried to ward him away. Instead, it was looking at him with surprise, and curious eyes.

Koji knelt down and slowly held out a hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just… don't bite me please…" He said, a bit nervous.

The dog blinked as Koji was inspecting its injured paw. Koji couldn't see any blood, but the markings definitely looked like it pierced through deep. "What happened that got you into this mess?"

The dog hesitated for a moment, before answering. "An angry Cerberumon didn't like me attacking it."

"A Cerberumon….? What's a Cerberumon?" Koji asked, still looking at the wound.

Koji didn't show it, but he was a little surprised to hear the dog talking. He wasn't familiar with this world, but if a train could talk, why not a dog? But this was clearly not an ordinary dog.

"A strong, mean Digimon that can shoot out fire, and bite really hard," The dog winced. "My friends and I got scattered when Cerberumon attacked us… I've been trying to heal my injury so I can find them."

The dog looked up at Koji. "Um… I don't believe we met… you're a human, aren't you? I'm Labramon."

"Koji Minamoto." Koji introduced himself, figuring it was best to be polite and not rude. "And yes, I'm a human."

"Koji, huh?" Labramon noted with familiarity in her eyes, which Koji didn't understand. "Okay… Did… any other human kids follow you to this world?"

"Not that I know of." Koji admitted. "But I did see a couple of other kids running around, so I don't think I was the only one who came here."

"Okay… Then this is no time for me to be laying down…" Labramon whispered. "What's going on with your D- uh… your um… d-device?"

"How should I know?" Koji grumbled. "I'm just following this map that came up. I'm supposed to find this Spirit, whatever that is."

"You're looking for the Spirit?" Labramon noted. "I see… so you don't…"

"I don't… what?" Koji asked.

"Uh… nevermind me…" Labramon sighed. "You keep going… you need to find that Spirit."

"I'm not leaving you injured out here, you could get caught by something," Koji said.

"What do you plan to do then?" Labramon asked.

"Take you with me, of course." Koji replied. "I can probably carry you if I have to."

"What? But won't I just slow you down?" Labramon questioned, surprised.

Koji tore off some parts of his jacket, and tied the cloth on Labramon's injured paw. "That should at least help a little bit. And don't worry about slowing me down."

Koji picked up Labramon. She was bigger than a small dog, but not too heavy. Labramon was more surprised that Koji was willing to take her with him, especially before he got his Spirit.

"I've had to carry my own dog before, so you're not that heavy compared to her." Koji admitted. "At least I won't be leaving you behind here."

Koji began to walk towards the area where the Spirit was located again. "I just hope this Spirit thing is worth all of this trouble."

Koji had a soft spot for dogs, though he would never admit that to anyone else. While this Labramon may not be a real dog, she was too dog-like for him to ignore.

Koji then saw an entrance to an underground cavern. There were stairs leading down. Labramon looked at the stairs herself, her nose twitching.

"It smells kinda funky down there," Labramon noted.

Koji grimaced. "It definitely looks like it's a creepy place."

Koji walked down the stairs, seeing that it was dark, though there were some lights from the holes in the walls. The small bits of sunlight were creeping down on them.

Meanwhile, Tommy and JP were currently hiding from the Pagumon horde that was chasing after them. Tommy was frantically pushing buttons on his D-Tector.

"Come on, do something! Digivolve me, or find a Spirit, or whatever! We need some help!" Tommy hissed at the device.

"Keep it down!" JP hissed as he was looking for any signs of the Pagumon horde.

"I'm trying to find a way for us to survive against those little monsters," Tommy hissed back.

"Why would you want to digivolve anyway? What if it's painful or something?!" JP shot back.

"It's not that I want to digivolve, I just want to get eaten alive even less," Tommy replied. "Don't you?"

A familiar light brown rabbit hopped onto a tree branch, and noticed the two hiding behind a small hill. He blinked, wondering what they were doing down there.

JP groaned. "We need to find a way to escape those little Digimon."

Tommy looked up when he heard what sounded like a horde gathering around. "Um… JP…? I don't think we're alone here…"

JP looked up to see what Tommy was talking about, and saw the Pagumon horde found them. JP and Tommy yelped as they quickly began running away, only for the ground under them to suddenly collapse, making them fall down, and Tommy dropped his D-Tector. The Pagumon horde stopped for only a moment as they fell, but they soon jumped down after them.

Lopmon floated down from the tree with his inflated ears, then he deflated them when he reached the ground. He picked up the D-Tector Tommy dropped and looked down the hole they just fell through. "Oh man… what kind of trouble did you get yourself into now?"

Lopmon's ears went up when he heard voices calling out Tommy and JP's name. He recognized those voices, and frowned. "... Patamon, where did you go? Don't tell me you decided to…"

Meanwhile, not too far away, Takuya and Zoe were calling out for Tommy and JP.

"Wow, they sure are noisy," Neemon remarked.

"We need to get a bird's eye view…" Bokomon sighed.

"Where could they be?" Zoe frowned.

"I don't know…" Takuya sighed. "But Tommy… He shouldn't be out alone in this place. He's younger than us, and he shouldn't be without his parents. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on him when we find them."

"Wow, look at you trying to act all mature," Zoe giggled.

"Hey, who said I was acting?" Takuya pouted. "I'm in the sixth grade you know!"

"Really? I didn't expect you to be in the same grade I am," Zoe chuckled. "I thought you'd be 2 or 3 years younger than me."

"You do realize by that logic, I'd be the same age as Tommy, right? Or at least close to it," Takuya pointed out.

"Still… When's your birthday?" Zoe asked, giving Takuya a bit of a cheeky grin.

"In August!" Takuya answered.

"I knew it, I am older. I was born in May. So that means I'm 3 months older than you~" Zoe smugly stated.

"So what?" Takuya retorted. "That shouldn't mean anything. It just means you're a bit older than me, that's nothing special."

"Whatever~" Zoe giggled, seeing how flustered Takuya was.

Then they stopped when they saw a familiar light brown Digimon standing before them. Zoe blinked, this was her first time really seeing the Digimon since he was too far during the Cerberumon fight.

"Oh my gosh! You're so cute!" Zoe smiled.

Lopmon blinked as he looked up at them.

It was Takuya's first time getting a good look at the Digimon himself, since he was a little busy in the battle.

"Hey… it's you!" Takuya exclaimed. "You're one of those Digimon who helped me against Cerberumon!"

"Yes, I suppose I am," Lopmon replied. "Call me Lopmon."

"You're just so cute!" Zoe squealed before she picked up Lopmon and hugged him.

Lopmon yelped, not having expected Zoe to pick him up and hug him like a plush toy, that was when he dropped the thing he was holding to the ground.

Takuya blinked as he saw this, only to perk up when he saw what it was that Lopmon had been holding. "Hey… That's Tommy's D-Tector!" He exclaimed as he knelt and picked up the device. "What were you doing with Tommy's D-Tector?"

"I ate him," Lopmon said.

"What?" Takuya blinked at such an answer.

"I was being sarcastic," Lopmon grumbled before jumping out of Zoe's arms. "You don't have to sound so accusatory. I saw that boy… Tommy, was it? He and that bigger boy fell down that hole over there, being chased by a horde of Pagumon that seem to really have it out for them."

Takuya looked down at the hole as he walked over. "They fell down here? That's not good…"

"What if Tommy got hurt or something? Or even JP?" Zoe asked in concern as she also approached the hole.

However, Zoe's foot hit a loose rock, and she began to slide down into the hole. She yelped as she grabbed onto Takuya, and Takuya grabbed Lopmon in an attempt to stop the fall.

Lopmon yelped, not expecting to be grabbed. He tried to inflate his ears, but he couldn't hold two humans at once, so his ears weren't able to slow down their descent. Luckily, however, they had a soft landing. There was a pile of hay just under the hole they fell through. Lopmon was on top of Takuya's face.

"Ugh… Whoever is on my face… can you please get off…" Takuya groaned out, his voice muffled by Lopmon's back.

Lopmon blinked before he rolled off of Takuya.

"Oh gosh! I can't believe we're still alive!" Zoe yelled, shaken up by the fall.

Lopmon looked around the area they were in. It looked like they were underground somewhere, and there were tunnels leading into darkness. Lopmon looked up at the hole they fell through. While Lopmon could glide down with his ears, he had no way of flying on his own. And Patamon wasn't with him to fly him back up, which meant he was stuck with these two or risk getting lost by himself down here.

Takuya groaned as he sat up. "Well, that was quite the fall…" He muttered as he rubbed his aching backside. "Good thing this hay was here, or we'd be hurt pretty badly."

"Hey, if you want to find your friends, we need to get moving," Lopmon spoke up to them. "They're likely still being chased."

Takuya looked ahead of them, unsure about the whole thing. But Tommy and JP needed help, so they had to go after them. "Well… I guess we just keep going ahead. We'd… best be on alert though in case something happens."

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: Alright, we've got the next chapter out. The story's starting out slow, but here's hoping it'll pick up soon and you guys will be more invested. For those of you who are coming off of Digital Phantom, it might seem confusing to why things are happening the way they are, but there's a reason for that.

ZAFT: It will become clear soon enough, you will just have to bear with us for a while until then…. ^^' Without going into spoilers, all I will say is things start to become clear once we reach the 20s for the chapters. But if you are sharp-eyed or really pay attention, there are subtle hints that will give the impression this is not normal. XD

DarkFoxKit: But for now, we'll let you guys read on and see what you can figure out.

(  Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)

Digital Phantom!

(  Shows Takuya, Zoe, Koji, JP, and Tommy with Patamon, Biyomon, Labramon, Kokuwamon, and Lopmon at their sides)

Falling into destiny

(  A shadowy form is shown with the shadowed image of a boy falling shown behind it)

Reaching across new boundaries

(  Hidden forms are shown in shadow behind the kids, each looking taller and stronger than the kids in front of them)

Let our stories come together

(  Two worlds are shown as a Trailmon is shown between them)

Growing stronger

(  Fractal code surrounds Takuya and his friends before five new Digimon are shown in their places)

Our pasts intertwine

(  Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)

Showing our future

(  Images of Takuya's family are shown marching past as Takuya himself looks up at the sky)

As we evolve

(  The five Digimon from before are shown standing before five Digimon in shadow)

Let's go… EVOLUTION

(  Fractal code erupts before dissipating into a bright light)

As our worlds collide

(  The light is shown to be a laser that hits a strange being as the wolf-like armored humanoid Digimon is shown holding his left arm out, his right hand on a laser blaster equipped to his arm)

We stand as one

(  Jets of wind are shown as the winged butterfly-like humanoid female Digimon flies by while fighting another strange creature)

Growing strong

(  Globs of snow are shown as a small white icy bear-like Digimon is shown skiing by as he fires at yet another strange being)

As we move along

(  Darts of fire are shown as they hit the strange being before the red-armored humanoid Digimon facing it down)

CHOU… SHINKA!

(  Blasts of thunder are shown lancing down on yet another strange being facing down the humanoid blue-armored beetle Digimon)

Let's go… EVOLUTION!

(  The five small Digimon stand at the edge, watching from far)

Nothing will stand in our way!

(  All ten of them are shown, with a dark form looming over them, yet another form behind the dark form looming over that)

Chapter 2: Nice To Meet You

Koji was walking down into the dark tunnel, carrying Labramon the whole time. "I can barely see in this place, it's so dark."

"You can put me down now… I think I've recovered enough to walk on my own," Labramon said.

Koji frowned a bit. "Are you sure? That bite looks pretty bad."

"Yeah, Digimon heal pretty fast," Labramon assured.

Koji carefully put Labramon down. Labramon stumbled a little, but she was able to stand on her own feet. "There, you see?"

"Okay, but if you start walking funny, I'm picking you right back up." Koji said, not wanting Labramon to push herself too much.

"Hmm?" Labramon blinked for a moment before chuckling. "You know… you're a lot nicer than you appeared at first."

Koji blushed. "I have a dog of my own… That's why I'm more… open with you I guess…"

"I see," Labramon said as she paused for a moment. "Well, I guess I got lucky then, huh? Anyways, I think there's something up ahead. Some kind of… power I can't describe, I'm both smelling and sensing it. It shouldn't be too far, that might be what you're looking for."

Koji blinked before looking down at his D-Tector, which was still showing the map. "That's the direction the map is pointing me in as well."

Koji started walking, though he kept an eye on Labramon. Labramon seemed to be walking just fine though, she did keep a lot of her weight off of her injured paw, but otherwise she seemed to be doing alright. Koji hoped Labramon was telling the truth when she said Digimon healed fast, and she wasn't trying to hide her real pain from him to not burden him. Which was funny, because Koji wanted to be alone on this journey initially because he didn't want others to burden him. Especially that weird kid with the goggles on his head, he was really annoying and loud.

Koji and Labramon walked for a while before Koji decided to break the silence since it was starting to creep him out a bit. "So… Do you know what this… power you were sensing is like? I'm apparently supposed to search out this thing called a Spirit, but I don't even know what one looks like."

"Um…" Labramon hesitated for a moment. "I can't say I know what it looks like either, I've never seen one before. But… I'd imagine… if the Spirit wanted to show itself to you, then you'll know what it is."

"Great… Well, I had to at least try and ask." Koji sighed. "It'd be better to know what this thing looks like instead of wandering around blindly."

"We're not wandering around blindly, we're close to it, I'm sure. And you've got that handy dandy device in your hands literally leading you right to it, right?" Labramon pointed out.

"I was being sarcastic." Koji grumbled.

"Really? It just sounded like you were complaining," Labramon snickered.

Koji grumbled. "I'm only 12, I'm a kid. Of course I'm going to complain. What kid wouldn't complain?"

Labramon looked at Koji, surprise written on her face for a moment, then she rubbed her face with her paw.

"What?" Koji asked.

"What kind of… kid admits that they're complaining because they're a kid?" Labramon laughed.

Koji groaned as he put his hands to his head. "I can't believe I just said that…"

"But you know… even after you find this Spirit…" Labramon began a little hesitantly. "... Do you… still want me to come with you?"

Koji sighed. "Really? You think I'd just leave you behind when I get this Spirit thing?"

"I mean… you seemed like a loner, and you only took me with you because I was injured, right? What reason do you have to keep me around once you find what you're looking for?" Labramon asked.

"I know nothing about this place." Koji replied. "It'd be great to have a guide around at the very least."

"Hmm…" Despite Koji's words, Labramon looked hesitant for some reason. "I… probably shouldn't be doing this… he's gonna get on my case for sure…"

"What? Who? And about what?" Koji asked, not sure what Labramon was mumbling about.

"Oh… nothing for you to worry about," Labramon quickly said. "There are… some things I promised my friends about… but I don't think they'll mind it too much if I… decide to stick with you for a little longer."

Koji smiled a bit. "That'd be great. Any help would be accepted."

Meanwhile, JP and Tommy were trying to figure their way around these strange underground tunnels. JP threw up some leaves into the air, to see where the wind was blowing.

"The wind's blowing in this direction, so if we walk this way, we should find a way out," JP said to Tommy.

"Are you sure about that?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, why?" JP asked as he looked at Tommy.

"Take a look at this cross over here," Tommy pointed at a white X mark on the stone wall.

JP blinked. "So, what about it?"

"I used some rocks to draw it before we walked to track our progress," Tommy explained. "So I know we've been here before."

"Huh?!" JP blinked. "But I was sure we would be going the right way!"

"There must be a draft all over this place, so it's hard to tell where the wind is coming from," Tommy sighed. "Could be that hole in the ceiling we made when we dropped down here. Maybe we really shouldn't have gone off on our own."

JP frowned a bit. "Yeah… maybe we should have stayed with the others…" He admitted. "Wow… I really didn't think that whole thing through."

Tommy looked over at JP. "JP… why did you want to leave so badly? Does this world… scare you that much?"

"No… Well… maybe a little…" JP admitted. "I mean… you saw what happened back with that dog creature. What about the rest of us? Takuya got lucky. What if that… Spirit didn't choose him to use its power?"

Tommy frowned for a moment. "I… don't really understand it either, about what happened. And I was there, watching it all unfold in front of me. There was that rabbit creature… and that orange hamster… bat creature with it. And Takuya was suddenly engulfed in fire, and the next thing I knew, he… wasn't human anymore. I wasn't sure what to think. I was excited at first, because it's like he turned into a superhero. But something about it made me… uneasy… I'm not sure why. I know… I'm a little kid, and all, but… I sometimes think about things that most kids my age probably would never think about. Like… what happened with Takuya… that wasn't normal. Superheroes on TV are one thing, but to see it happen to someone in real life, right before my eyes… and we don't really understand how it happened, and… what could happen when it does… I mean for all we know, Takuya could be losing who he is to this Digimon he can turn into, right? I was more worried about what would happen to the rest of us if we were to find a Spirit. Would the Spirit accept us? And would it be a good thing if it did or not?"

JP shivered. "I see your point. I don't want to lose myself to a Spirit if I get one…"

"But is it as bad as we think it is?" Tommy asked. "Considering what we're dealing with in this world, wouldn't it be bad to not be chosen by a Spirit?"

JP groaned. "You make way too much sense sometimes, kid…" He grumbled. "But yeah… that would be bad to not be picked by a Spirit."

"Then… let me ask… Do you think… we would be picked by a Spirit?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know, Tommy. I'm older than you, and maybe older than Takuya too. It's likely I could get picked by one of those Spirits, if we find any more, but…" JP frowned. "It looks painful. And I'm not much of a fighter. I don't know if I'd make a good Digimon if I were to become one."

"I guess we're both feeling uneasy about the whole thing," Tommy sighed. "But… can we really just leave it like that and go back home?"

Before JP could answer, both of them began hearing several laughs echoing in the underground. Looking up, the two saw red eyes looking at them from the ceiling. One of the Pagumon jumped down to them.

"Give us chocolate!"

The Pagumon quickly dropped down on them. JP and Tommy yelped and struggled to run out of the pile of furballs with teeth, and a craving for chocolate.

"Although becoming a Digimon would be nicer than being eaten alive by these guys!" JP yelled as he and Tommy ran.

"Get the humans! They smell like chocolate!" The first Pagumon grinned. "They must be made of the stuff!"

Koji and Labramon came up to a large looking space with several entrances. However, Koji and Labramon's musings didn't last long when they heard two people screaming as they ran into the large room.

"Help! Somebody help us!" JP screamed.

"I'm not a chocolate bar!" Tommy yelled.

Lopmon's ears went up as he heard yelling echoing through the underground.

"Was that… Tommy and JP?" Takuya asked, having heard the same screams.

"It sounds like it." Zoe said in concern. "We need to go find them and help!"

"Come on, this way!" Lopmon spoke up, running ahead.

Takuya and Zoe didn't hesitate to follow Lopmon.

Meanwhile, Koji, seeing how these two were being bitten constantly by these Pagumon, decided to help them out. While he hadn't intended to play babysitter, he would have to truly be heartless to not save them from a cruel fate.

"You stay here," Koji said to Labramon. "I'm going to help them."

Labramon frowned, but before she could protest, Koji was already grabbing onto a metal bar, and sliding down into the battlefield.

Koji slid down the pole to the ground, ready to face down those little gray furballs. They didn't look so tough to him.

Seeing this new human landing nearby, and he had a cocky grin on his face, it bothered the Pagumon. They stopped trying to eat the other two humans, and all began to jump at Koji. JP and Tommy were confused and surprised to see another human was here too.

Koji kicked the metal pole he had slid down, breaking it at the base. He grabbed it and broke it off at the top as well, forming a staff that he swung at the Pagumon horde. They were forced to scatter as Koji planted the tip on the ground and clung to the staff upside down. The Pagumon horde jumped onto Koji, but then he flipped up and scattered the Pagumon off of him, landing on his feet and holding the staff.

"Who is that? He's good!" JP said, impressed.

"He must practice a lot of kendo or something," Tommy remarked, also in awe. He's not even a Digimon.

Labramon frowned as she watched. While Koji was doing well out there, she was getting a bad feeling. Pagumon were In-Training level Digimon, while they were pretty annoying, especially in a group, they were Digimon that could still digivolve if provoked. And one Pagumon in particular, likely the leader of this horde, definitely felt powerful. It reminded Labramon of an incident with an old friend.

Koji ran at the Pagumon horde again, swinging his staff at the small gray furballs. They were able to avoid his swings and stands, but the boy was much better at fighting back, so it was hard to get a hit on him. The boy was then piled on by Pagumon, but Koji smirked before he began to spin around and caused the Pagumon horde to go flying off of him. The Pagumon each impacted the wall from the force of the spin, all crying out at the impacts they felt.

The one Pagumon that landed in front of Koji growled when he saw Koji smirking at him. "Darn it, human! Don't smile just yet!"

Fractal code surrounded Pagumon. Koji frowned, looking on with shock at what he was witnessing. Labramon, seeing this, quickly jumped down from the entrance, sliding on the rocky wall. She ran up next to Koji just as the fractal code vanished, and in Pagumon's place was a creature that looked like a living sludge pile. It had red eyes that were in metal, white fangs all throughout the gaping mouth, and white claws on its front legs.

JP and Tommy freaked out upon seeing the living sludge creature. Not only was it ugly, it smelled horrible.

"What the heck is that!?" Koji yelled.

"That's a Raremon," Labramon answered, crouching low and growling at the Digimon. "A Champion level, sewage Digimon. The smell of its rotting flesh makes you want to puke, and if that wasn't bad enough, its Acid Sludge attack can melt the flesh off your bones faster than you can scream."

Koji frowned. "And this thing came from that little gray furball?"

"Digimon can digivolve into many different forms, but I think this one isn't right… it's a corrupted form, its mind is completely messed up." Labramon frowned as Raremon began to rise up.

"I'll eat you up!" Raremon shouted.

JP and Tommy ran to get away from the nasty looking, and foul smelling, creature before them.

Koji ran to attack Raremon, hoping to buy some time for the other two boys to get away. However, Raremon was ignoring Koji, and was looking at the other two boys instead. "Acid Sludge!"

Tommy tripped as he was running, and Raremon opened its maw to spew out a glowing green sludge at the boy. Seeing this, Koji dropped his metal pipe and ran at Tommy, grabbing him away from the attack. Labramon looked back, seeing the sludge ate through the ground, leaving behind several holes, which led to the abyss just outside.

"Retriever Bark!" Labramon shot out a wave of high pitched barks at Raremon, stunning it for a bit.

Raremon let out a moan, and Labramon ran at Raremon, attacking it with her paws, trying to knock it away. The sludge nature of the Digimon, however, made it difficult for Labramon to push it back. Not only was Raremon much bigger than her, it was too gooey for her physical attacks to do any real damage to it.

Darn it! If only I was stronger! Labramon growled.

"Labramon, stay back!" Koji shouted at her. "This thing is too strong for you!"

"And what? Let it melt you!? I'm the only other Digimon here, I can handle it! But you guys have to stay back!" Labramon shouted back, keeping her eyes on Raremon.

"Acid Sludge!" Raremon shouted as he shot out balls of those green sludge from its mouth.

Labramon knew she wouldn't be able to stop this. "RUN!"

Koji picked up Tommy and began running while Labramon ran in the opposite direction, getting out of the deadly attack's way.

Lopmon, Takuya, and Zoe finally made it to the big room, where they saw JP lying on the ground. And Koji was running from the big monster with Tommy, and a dog was running in the opposite direction.

"Ewww! What is that smell?!" Zoe exclaimed. "It smells nasty!"

"Forget the smell, what is that thing that's chasing that boy and Tommy?!" Takuya asked in concern and worry.

"A dangerous Digimon," Lopmon said before looking at the white dog. "Labramon?"

One of the attacks from the Acid Sludge grazed Labramon's size. Labramon let out a whine of pain. Lopmon jumped from where he was, and glided down at Raremon.

"Icy Wind!" Lopmon fired out an icy breath at the Raremon.

Lopmon managed to freeze its mouth, giving them some time, as he landed near Labramon. "Are you okay?"

"Lopmon?" Labramon blinked, looking up at the rabbit.

"Yeah, it's me… hold still," Lopmon said as he began rubbing the sludge off of Labramon's side.

The ice on Raremon's mouth started to crack. Takuya, seeing this, pulled out his D-Tector. He knew he needed to become Agunimon again if they were to have a chance.

"Cmon, Spirit… Wake up… I need your help!" Takuya said as he tried to get the device to activate.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the Spirit wasn't reacting. All Takuya saw was a bright light on his screen, but no sign of the Spirit or the symbol of it.

"Aw, c'mon! Really?! I need your help!" Takuya exclaimed to the D-Tector, starting to press random buttons.

"What's the matter, Takuya?" Zoe asked, seeing how he was struggling to Spirit Evolve.

Raremon managed to break the ice, and open his mouth again. It began to move itself to Koji and Tommy. Koji began to back away towards a hole.

Lopmon and Labramon looked up, noticing the danger they were in.

"Can't we help them? Are we… supposed to?" Labramon asked Lopmon.

"I… I don't know," Lopmon answered. "But… are we even strong enough to help them?"

"We have to at least try, don't we? What if they die? What will happen to us?" Labramon asked.

Lopmon frowned. "... Alright then, come on."

Labramon and Lopmon quickly got to their feet and ran at Raremon.

"Retriever Bark!"

"Blazing Ice!"

Both of their attacks slammed into Raremon's back, making him cry out. Labramon and Lopmon ran in front of Koji and Tommy, trying to protect them from Raremon.

"Labramon, what are you doing?" Koji asked in worry.

Tommy looked at the two Digimon, recognizing one of them. "It's you! You're one of the Digimon who tried to protect us from Cerberumon!"

"Yeah… you can just call me Lopmon," Lopmon replied.

Labramon looked back at Tommy for a moment when he mentioned Cerberumon. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure Cerberumon is sorry when she gets reborn and realizes what she tried to do."

Tommy frowned, as did Koji. Koji didn't know much about this Cerberumon, but he didn't want to press for information for now, not when they had to get away from Raremon and its nasty breath attack.

Raremon began to push itself back up, and started moving towards them. "I'll eat you all up!"

Labramon and Lopmon charged at Raremon, doing what they could to push him back. But trying to fight a sludge monster head on was rather foolish. There wasn't much the two Rookie Digimon could do as the sludge made it difficult for them to hit the Digimon back. Their special attacks were hardly doing anything. They couldn't keep spamming their special attacks either, as that would just tire them out.

Why are we so weak? We can't do anything to help them like this… Labramon frowned as she and Lopmon were easily pushed back.

"We can't give up…" Lopmon said as he pushed himself back to his feet. "These children must live… for the sake of the future."

"Yeah… but we can't do anything to help them as we are now…" Labramon noted, also getting back to her feet.

"We have to do something, those little ones can't keep up!" Zoe frowned.

"At this rate, it's gonna eat them, then Tommy next," JP muttered.

Takuya shut his eyes as he cried out. "SPIRIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

The symbol of Agunimon appeared on the D-Tector's screen, and Takuya felt the power rushing through him once again.

Takuya held up his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed a ring of fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his canine teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Now evolved as Agunimon, the boy didn't hesitate to rush into the battlefield. Agunimon slammed into Raremon, pushing the sewage Digimon back into the wall.

Raremon shouted out in pain as he spewed out more of that acidic sludge, creating more holes in the ceiling of the underground cave they were in. Agunimon jumped back to the group, knocking away some of the acidic sludge. He turned back to Koji, Tommy, Labramon, and Lopmon.

"Now's your chance to make a break for it!" Agunimon shouted.

However, fractal code surrounded Agunimon's body, turning him back to Takuya.

Takuya looked himself over. "H-huh? W-what happened?" He had not expected that…

"I guess you can't hold it for very long," Lopmon noted.

That was a problem since Raremon was still attacking them. Due to all the holes in the walls from the acid sludge, sunlight was creeping more and more into the cave, quickly lighting it up.

Patamon was flying just outside of the underground cave, he was looking for something. "Where are they…? I can't believe I lost them when they were all just here…"

Patamon stopped when he saw glowing green slime coming out from some kind under the floating island. "What the heck?"

Sensing a battle going on there, Patamon began flying towards the area.

Raremon managed to push itself back up. "Acid Sludge!"

"Doesn't this thing ever give up?" Lopmon frowned before he jumped in front of Takuya and Tommy, shielding them with his body, and covered his body with his ears.

There was a small energy surrounding Lopmon as he created a shield in front of him, taking the majority of the Acid Sludge.

Labramon and Koji backed up towards the hole behind them. Labramon sensed a powerful energy coming from the hole. She looked back for a moment, sniffing the air near the hole. "Is that…?"

Koji looked down as well. "You smell something down here?"

Labramon knew there wasn't much time for hesitation. "I think the Spirit you were looking for is down there. You might have to… jump to get it."

Koji frowned before looking back at where Takuya and Tommy were being defended by Lopmon. It was obvious the goggle-boy had somehow become that humanoid… being, but couldn't keep the form. And if that was the case, then it meant that only he could do something.

Looking back at the hole, Koji swallowed. "If I have to do that… then I will." He said before he jumped down into the hole. This Spirit had better be here, otherwise I just jumped into a pit for nothing!

"Koji!" Takuya called out when he saw the boy jumping down into the hole.

Labramon ran in front of Takuya and Tommy, standing next to Lopmon. "Cure Liquor!"

Labramon shot out some kind of white liquid at Lopmon, healing most of his injuries. "Koji's got a plan. But until then, we'll try our best to keep you safe!"

"I don't get it… why do you try so hard to keep us safe?" Tommy asked.

Lopmon and Labramon didn't give an answer, they were too busy trying to shield them from Raremon's Acid Sludge.

As Koji fell deeper into the pit, he saw something glinting. It was a small pinprick of light that slowly seemed to get brighter and brighter. Then, Koji saw something within the light. It looked like the upper form of a human torso, but dressed in armor that looked like a wolf's form almost. Koji felt an odd sensation filling him, like this thing, this Spirit, was his.

In his mind, Koji saw an image of himself merging with an armored man dressed in the same armor he was seeing before him. Light appeared in his irises, like Koji was in a trance.

It was at that moment, Koji realized that Labramon had been telling the truth. There really was a Spirit here, and he really knew that it was the moment he laid eyes on it. As Koji got closer to the figurine, he realized what he needed to do. Just like Takuya before him, Koji held out his D-Tector at the figurine.

"SPIRIT!" Koji called out.

The D-Tector let out a blue beam of light, hitting the figurine. The figurine went into Koji's D-Tector. As soon as it did, the symbol of Light appeared on the D-Tector's screen, along with the familiar woman's voice ringing through Koji's head. "It is time."

Koji held up his D-Tector and the white digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the energy of the Spirit entered his body. His eyes became red as his hair shortened and turned almost platinum in color. A white helmet covered his head as white and blue armor covered his body. He grasped the beam sabers and swung them a few times before clasping them around his waist and firing off his arm laser. "Lobomon!"

Despite falling into a hole, now as Lobomon, he was able to grab onto the wall of the hole, and jumped up high, getting out of the hole. Like an angel descending from the heavens, Lobomon slowly descended from the air as the sunlight shone onto him. JP, Zoe, the other Pagumon, Takuya, and Tommy all looked up in awe at what they were seeing. Lopmon and Labramon looked more relieved than in awe, however.

"Whoa, who is that?" Zoe asked in awe.

"Man, did I look that cool?" Takuya asked.

"Yeah, but different," Tommy answered, smiling.

"Heh, what a show off," Labramon chuckled.

"At least help has finally arrived." Lopmon grinned.

Lobomon landed on the ground, getting into a fighting stance as he faced down Raremon. He was not going to let this pile of sludge get away with hurting the others.

"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" JP asked.

"Whoa… looks like I'm a little late to the party," A familiar voice said.

Zoe and JP looked to the side, seeing Patamon having just flown in and saw Lobomon.

"Oh! You're… Patamon, right?" Zoe asked.

"Huh? I'm surprised you know my name," Patamon said as he flew over to them and landed in front of Zoe.

"Bokomon told us about you and Lopmon," Zoe explained. "But…"

"Yeah, this is no time for introductions," Patamon chuckled. "But… that Digimon you see there… that's Lobomon, he's the Legendary Warrior of Light."

"So he is another Legendary Warrior, just like Takuya?" JP asked.

"Yup," Patamon confirmed before noticing Lopmon and Labramon. "Lopmon? Labramon? What are those two doing here?"

"They came to help us." Zoe replied. "Without them, Tommy and Takuya would've been goners."

"Really? I thought Lopmon wanted to stay out of this…" Patamon muttered, sounding a little surprised.

Raremon hissed at Lobomon. "Acid Sludge!"

Raremon shot out the acidic green sludge at Lobomon.

Seeing this, Lobomon reached behind him and pulled out a hilt before a glowing white blade ignited from the end of it. "Lobo Kendo!"

Now armed with a sword, Lobomon ran forwards, slashing at the acidic attack and countering each blob that came at him.

Seeing that Lobomon was counterstriking the Acid Sludge, Labramon and Lopmon ran ahead towards Raremon.

"Retriever Bark!"

"Blazing Ice!"

The combo with the loud barking and the icy wind stunned Raremon. The loud sound made it hard for Raremon to focus on his attack, and the icy wind froze parts of his body, making it hard to move. Tommy noticed this.

That ice attack is really useful. There's a lot Lopmon could probably do with it… Tommy thought to himself. If only it was stronger. There's a limit to how much his Blazing Ice can do…

"He's open to attack!" Lopmon called out to Lobomon.

"Go for it with everything you've got!" Labramon encouraged Lobomon.

Lobomon glanced back at Labramon with one of his red eyes and nodded. He ran at Raremon and jumped up, pointing the sword in his hand right down at Raremon's head. Lobomon then stabbed Raremon in the top of his head, making sure to drive the blade in deep.

Raremon let out a cry of pain and agony as the blade went in deep. Some kind of red oil started spouting out from Raremon's head. It wasn't blood, but it was definitely something quite nasty. Lobomon took out his blade and jumped back. A ring of code appeared on Raremon's body.

Lobomon put his blade away and held up his D-Tector as Raremon became a dark silhouette. "Now you talking trash heap, prepare to be recycled!" He pressed the button on the side of his D-Tector as the scanner on the top lit up. The screen showed the symbol of Light as well. Lobomon swung his arm, the scanner taking hold of the ring of code. "Fractal Code… Digitize!"

When Lobomon finished scanning Raremon's data, Raremon himself turned into a Digi-Egg. The Digi-Egg went up through a hole in the underground cave, likely heading to this 'Primary Village' Bokomon mentioned before to be reborn. Once the battle was over, and the danger was passed, the Pagumon horde quickly fled. And Lobomon turned back into Koji, who was on his hands and knees. Koji wasn't sure what to think after what just happened.

"Looks like it's over…" Lopmon said quietly.

Labramon frowned. "... Yeah…"

Koji panted before he grunted. "That's exhausting…"

Takuya ran over to Koji, being the only other person there to know what it was like to Spirit Evolve for the first time, he knew Koji was probably freaking out a little over what happened, and the exhaustion that came with it. Tommy followed after Takuya, though he wasn't sure if this kid wanted them to be near him. He gave off that kind of vibe, a vibe Tommy knew all too well. Lopmon and Labramon were watching from the side, neither were moving any closer to the group. Patamon, Zoe, and JP watched from where they were too, they weren't sure what to do.

"H-hey, are you okay?" Takuya asked as he reached Koji's side. "L-let me help you up…"

Koji growled. "Don't touch me…" He hissed, not in the mood to be treated like a helpless kid.

Takuya backed off upon hearing that.

Koji managed to stand up. "But… I will thank you for saving me back there. And I always repay my debts."

"I didn't do it so you'd owe me, you know…" Takuya grumbled.

"My name's Koji Minamoto." Koji introduced himself. "And you are?"

Takuya realized he had known this boy's name before he even introduced himself, almost as if he was familiar with this kid. "Um… I'm Takuya… Takuya Kanbara…"

"Takuya, huh?" Koji replied. "... Have we met before? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere."

"N-no… But it's odd because I knew your name before you even told me…" Takuya replied, feeling like something weird was going on, but he couldn't explain what it was.

Tommy frowned as he looked at the two. Takuya knew the boy's name before he introduced himself, and Koji felt like he recognized Takuya's name. That couldn't just be coincidence.

Koji frowned for a moment, before shaking his head. "Well, whatever. It probably doesn't mean anything. See ya."

Koji began walking away from Takuya and Tommy.

"Are we… really supposed to stay away from them?" Labramon asked Lopmon quietly.

"We're not… supposed to get attached," Lopmon whispered back. "You know the rules… We're fine now, but once they… get more powerful, you know what'll happen if we…"

Lopmon looked down, not wanting to say it.

"I know… but…" Labramon frowned. "If we leave them alone now, before they… can handle themselves… don't we risk them getting killed? Aren't we… supposed to help them through this journey? Guide them to the end?"

"... We are…" Lopmon sighed. "But these versions of them… they're not…"

"Well, well, well, Lopmon," Patamon said as he flew over to Lopmon and Labramon. "You were the one to say we should stay away from them and watch them from afar, yet here you are, fighting alongside them. Even after that heated argument we had about how we should go about this, and your refusal to fight by their side."

Lopmon grumbled. "Stuff it, Patamon. It wasn't like I willingly participated in this battle. I was dragged into it… literally."

"We can't just leave these guys alone like this though…" Labramon frowned. "I mean… they know nothing about this world right now."

"Right? That's what I'm saying. And you know what'll happen to our world if any of them die, right?" Patamon asked.

Lopmon frowned. "I get it. It's not like I'm ignorant of the consequences if things go horribly wrong. But I'm trying to protect us from what'll happen if we decide to stay by their side until they're strong enough."

"Lopmon, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it. This is more important than that," Patamon pointed out. "Surely you realize that when you fought alongside them just now, don't you?"

"Hey, what are you three talking about over there?" Zoe asked.

"Nothing important," Lopmon quickly said.

"Yo, Labramon!" Koji called out. "Are you coming with me?"

"Really? You let one of them follow you but you want to ditch the rest of us?" JP frowned.

"I need a guide, and I need to be on my own." Koji replied. "Labramon was given the option of joining me. You weren't."

"Jeez, you sure are rude…" JP frowned.

Labramon looked over at Lopmon. "I… think I should go with him, especially if he wants to go on without the group."

Lopmon gave a sigh. "Do what you want, Labramon, I can't stop you. Just… remember the rules… and how important it is that we don't break them, no matter what."

Labramon nodded. "I will. Just… be careful yourselves." With that said, Labramon ran off to catch up with Koji.

"Good luck…" Lopmon whispered as he watched Labramon heading out with Koji.

"Come on, Lopmon, admit it, you wanted to stay by their side too," Patamon teased.

Lopmon responded by playfully slapping Patamon with one of his ears.

"H-hey!" Patamon whined as he held where he had been slapped, which was his side.

"I wonder what his deal was?" JP grumbled about Koji.

"Come on, guys, let's get out of here. It smells like dead fish," Zoe remarked, breaking up the tension.

"What about those two?" Tommy asked, pointing at Lopmon and Patamon.

"They can come with us." Zoe said. "I don't want to leave these two behind in a nasty smelling place like this."

"Hey, you two! Are you coming with us?" Takuya called out to them.

Patamon and Lopmon looked up at them.

"Well, like it or not, we're here now with them, might as well stick with them, right?" Patamon said to Lopmon.

Lopmon sighed. "Fine, just don't come crying to me when the time comes."

Patamon and Lopmon ran after the group.

Meanwhile, Koji and Labramon were sitting by a tree, just outside of the entrance to the underground cave. Koji needed the rest, and he was looking up at the sky, seeing the Poyomon flying in groups happily. Labramon sat down next to Koji.

"Are you sure you want to go on this journey without them?" Labramon asked.

"I'm sure." Koji replied. "It's easier for me to be on my own and do this by myself. Besides, I don't want to be burdened by any of them. You saw what happened back there. I had to protect the little kid from getting hurt, and almost died for it. And Takuya isn't reliable enough to hold onto his Digimon form."

"Yeah, I get it," Labramon said. "I just hope that… maybe one day, you'll see they might not be as bad as you think. But until that day comes, I'll stay by your side, and help you however I can."

Koji smiled a bit. "At least I have one reliable person here." He joked.

Labramon gave a small smile, and started to wag her tail. It felt good, having someone wanting to rely on her.

Some time later, Takuya's group were back in the Digimon Village. They found Bokomon and Neemon, and filled them in on what happened.

"I must say, that was quite dangerous! You two, why are you always getting yourselves into danger!?" Bokomon scolded Lopmon and Patamon. "You and your friends are still young, you know!"

"You should know why…" Lopmon grumbled.

"Now I know you 5 hadn't been here for long, but I watched over and took care of you when nobody else in the village would," Bokomon huffed. "So you're like children to me. Besides, the one you sent off to scout the Digital World hasn't returned yet, right? And you just let Labramon go off with another human child who wants to be alone?"

Lopmon and Patamon lowered their heads as Bokomon was scolding them like a parent, which was rather amusing to watch.

"He does know he's not actually our dad, right?" Patamon whispered to Lopmon.

"Do you want to tell him that?" Lopmon whispered back.

"You are still like my own children, so I have every right to be worried about you, you know!" Bokomon continued scolding.

"Sorry, Bokomon," Lopmon and Patamon apologized.

"Wow… Bokomon, you didn't tell us you took in these little guys," Zoe remarked.

"Maybe he forgot?" Neemon asked.

"Don't be a moron!" Bokomon snapped at Neemon. "I didn't have a reason to reveal that little information before."

"What about Biyomon? Have you seen her around lately?" Patamon asked.

"No, I have not, not since she went flying with the Poyomon to look at Trailmon coming in from the human world," Bokomon answered.

"Biyomon?" Zoe asked. "What does she look like?"

"She's a pink bird-like Digimon. She's very hard headed and rebellious, but she's kind hearted and means well. She likes to go off on her own though. I wouldn't be surprised if she flew off to go find where Kokuwamon went on her own," Bokomon grumbled.

Zoe blinked. "I think we've seen her before."

"You mean that bird we saw a couple times before?" Takuya asked. "If that was her, why didn't she say anything to us?"

"She was probably trying to keep from getting too close to you guys," Lopmon sighed.

"Why would she try to avoid getting close to us?" Takuya frowned. "We wouldn't have done anything to her."

"Don't worry about it. Biyomon will come on her own time, she can be pretty stubborn around others she's not too familiar with," Patamon assured.

"Well, that's great and all, but you still haven't answered how we can go home," JP pointed out.

"There's a Trailmon that can take you back to your world." Bokomon explained. "If you want to go back home, all you have to do is hop on."

"That's what that Pagumon said before, but we weren't able to take a Trailmon back home." JP frowned.

"Yeah, the Trailmon just kinda left us…" Tommy remembered.

"Well, Trailmon are living beings, like you guys. You likely talked to a Trailmon that just came back from the human world. It takes a lot of energy to go between the human world and our world after all," Bokomon pointed out. "But a fresh Trailmon should have no problem taking you back where you came from."

"But are you sure you want to leave?" Lopmon asked. "Don't you… feel like there's something you need to do here first?"

Tommy frowned. "I… do in a way… But I'm not sure if I should…"

"Besides, it's for the best if Tommy at least goes back," Takuya pointed out. "This place really isn't for a little kid after all."

Tommy frowned at hearing that, but Takuya had a point. After all, he almost died to Raremon's attacks if both Koji and Takuya didn't come to save him, not to mention Lopmon and Labramon. He was nothing but deadweight.

"Are you going to leave too, JP?" Zoe asked.

"I mean… what else is there for me here?" JP asked. "I'm not really a fighter, and… I don't have a Spirit of my own or anything… I rather not stay here and watch the rest of you turn into Digimon."

"Is that really why you want to leave?" Lopmon asked. "Don't you think maybe the 5 of you came here for a reason? Maybe only the 5 of you can wield these Spirits. What will happen if you leave? Surely… you're not going to leave the fate of this world to just Takuya, are you?"

"Wow, way to put me on the spot, Lopmon." Takuya grumbled.

"I wouldn't say the five of us could wield Spirits." JP muttered. "Tommy and I may have come here by accident for all we know."

"Oh really? Then… what about those D-... those devices you have?" Lopmon pointed out, seeming to have almost slipped up with something. "Surely you guys have those too, don't you?"

JP took his out and grumbled. "Yeah, I do, and so does Tommy, but I don't know why we got them."

"I have one too," Zoe said, taking her D-Tector out as well.

"Well, Takuya got his Spirit by using his special device," Lopmon explained. "And so did Koji. So who's to say you 3 won't get your own Spirits later? You'll need those devices you have to use their powers after all."

JP sighed. "I guess you have a point…" He admitted.

"So does that mean you want to stay, JP?" Tommy asked.

JP hesitated for a moment. "... I… guess it can't hurt to stay a little longer."

Tommy frowned as he looked at his D-Tector. He wasn't sure about this, he had been on the fence about this whole thing. But if JP was staying… Well, Tommy certainly didn't want to be the only one in the group to go back home, especially if Lopmon was right.

"Then I'll stay too," Tommy said.

Takuya frowned. "Tommy, you're just a kid, you need to go home."

"I can take care of myself," Tommy huffed.

"Oh yeah? How old are you?" Takuya asked.

"I'm 11 years old!" Tommy spoke up.

Takuya, Zoe, and JP looked at Tommy with uncertainty. Tommy looked away for a moment, his cheeks turning a little red. Takuya kept looking at Tommy, the same way he would look at Shinya when he was caught lying.

"... Okay, no, I'm 8 years old…" Tommy finally admitted.

Takuya groaned. "I knew it… You're the same age as my brother. I can't just let you wander around this world. It's too dangerous."

"But I can't just leave. I have a D-Tector too, just like you guys!" Tommy argued. "Lopmon did say that all 5 of us must've come here for a reason. Right, Lopmon?"

"Hold on…" Lopmon was staring at Tommy in shock. "Did you say you're 8 years old!?"

"Um… Yeah, he did." Takuya pointed out. "What's so odd about that, aside from the fact he's the youngest of us here?"

Lopmon looked back at Patamon, and both of them seemed to be freaking out and whispering to each other.

"I didn't expect him to be 8 years old! Sure he looked younger than I expected, but 8 years old?" Lopmon hissed.

"What about Takuya and the others? They don't look like they're 16, in fact, they don't look like they're teenagers at all," Patamon frowned quietly.

"If Tommy's 8, then Takuya might be… 12 or 13 right now." Lopmon frowned as well. "Why are they… younger?"

"How should I know?" Patamon grumbled. "Should we just go with it?"

"We kinda have to," Lopmon sighed.

"Uh… is there a problem?" Zoe asked.

"They didn't expect you to be so young!" Neemon answered.

Both Patamon and Lopmon grabbed onto Neemon's pants and let go to have the pants slap onto Neemon's waist.

Takuya blinked at the reaction of the two Digimon. "That's gotta hurt…"

Zoe grimaced. "I'd hate to think of what would make those two do that to someone else…"

Tommy frowned, wondering if Lopmon and Patamon would rather he would go home now that they knew his actual age.

"Sorry about that, we, uh… kinda thought you guys would be older," Patamon apologized.

"Because, you know… you're using the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors and all, we didn't think human kids who haven't even reached puberty yet to… uh… be expected to fight battles in the Digital World and all that…" Lopmon explained a little nervously. Who sends an 8 year old child to fight a war!?

"Why would you think we would be older?" Zoe asked in confusion.

"I just told you why," Lopmon groaned. "Try to keep up, please. But, um… I uh… I think Tommy should stay though. He seems to be smarter than kids his age, so having him around would be a good asset."

JP, Takuya, and Zoe frowned. Lopmon made a good point that they could not deny.

"I… guess…" Takuya sighed. "But it means then he may be exposed to things no child should be exposed to."

"He doesn't want to leave anyway, you shouldn't make him," Lopmon pointed out.

"I know I can be useful," Tommy said, looking at Takuya. "So please?"

Takuya sighed. He could never resist saying no to his younger brother, and with Tommy being the same age, it was hard to say no to him as well. "Alright…"

Tommy smiled. "Thanks, Takuya!"

"So what do we do now?" Zoe asked.

"That is an excellent question," Bokomon spoke up. "Maybe you can help us."

"Oh… yeah, what's the deal with this world, huh?" Takuya asked.

Bokomon pointed up at Takuya. "You carry with you the Spirit of Agunimon, one of the 10 Legendary Warriors. You're able to defeat the Digimon that had been corrupted and turned evil by a great evil. Only you have the power to save us. You're able to use the fractal code to rebuild the parts of the Digital World that had already been destroyed!"

"Way to put all the pressure on a child," Patamon grumbled.

Takuya groaned. "So it's up to me then? That's too much pressure on one kid, you know! I'm not some super special chosen hero who can save the world on his own!"

"Don't mind Bokomon, he can get like that at times," Lopmon said. "You're not going to be alone. You have our help, and you have new friends to help you out too."

"You haven't really answered our question, like what's the deal with this world?" JP asked.

"There's a great evil in the Digital World," Bokomon said.

"You said that before, just what is this great evil?" Zoe asked.

"The Celestial Angel Digimon are normally the rulers of the Digital World, and have ruled in harmony for a long time." Bokomon began. "But lately, one of them has gone rogue, and started to take over the Digital World."

"So?" JP asked. "Why can't the other two handle it?"

"The one who went rogue is the strongest of the three." Bokomon replied. "His name is Cherubimon, and he was once a great and wise Digimon on the side of good, but something happened that changed him, corrupted him, and now he is looking to rule the Digital World by himself, and take all of its Fractal Code to boost his own power."

"What could've changed such a powerful Digimon to be so evil?" Zoe frowned.

"We don't really know. All we know is that Cherubimon turned evil when he tried to usurp the other two Celestial Digimon in order to rule over them and the rest of the Digital World," Bokomon answered. "Cherubimon has been taking our world apart by turning other Digimon evil, and collecting fractal codes from our world bit by bit. That's why it's in the state that it's in now."

"And you expect us to go against something that can literally take the world apart?" JP frowned.

"Not right away, and definitely not alone," Patamon spoke up. "There's a powerful ally waiting for us to meet up with them. They need your help before they can help us."

Takuya and the others blinked.

"A powerful ally?" Zoe asked. "Who could that be?"

Suddenly, Takuya, Zoe, JP, and Tommy's D-Tectors started to make a high pitch noise, getting their attention. They quickly took their D-Tectors out as the familiar woman's voice spoke to them.

"Attention! Go to the Forest Terminal, immediately."

"H-hey! It's that woman's voice again!" Takuya exclaimed before frowning. "The Forest Terminal? That sounds like some kind of station or something."

"What is the Forest Terminal?" Tommy questioned.

Takuya lifted the D-Tector up. "How am I supposed to find it?"

"Let your Digimon friends be your guide." The woman's voice answered before the symbol on the screen faded away, and so did the high pitch noise.

Takuya looked back at Patamon and Lopmon. "Our Digimon friends? Did she mean you two?"

"Probably," Patamon shrugged. "Either us or these two."

Patamon pointed at Neemon and Bokomon.

"I'm fine with staying here though, it's scary out there!" Neemon stated.

Bokomon was turning the pages in his book. "The Forest Terminal is deep within the Forest Kingdom. There are train tracks that lead to it from here though, which you'll see once you leave the village."

"So I guess we're heading to the Forest Terminal then?" Zoe asked.

"I guess. We don't know what else to do," Tommy shrugged.

"Still, it's best to be careful, you never know what Digimon Cherubimon might send after you," Bokomon warned.

"So… are you guys coming with us?" JP asked.

"Normally, I would like the chance to follow you and guide you through the Digital World myself. But I have to stay here, the other Digimon need someone like me to help them rebuild this village after Cerberumon caused a lot of damage," Bokomon sighed. "Besides… you won't need me to go with you. Sad to say, but Neemon and I aren't much of a fighter. You'd have better luck with these two who had been waiting for you all."

Bokomon gestured to Patamon and Lopmon.

The kids looked at the two smaller Digimon.

"... I guess we're traveling with two small Digimon then…" Takiya sweatdropped. "This should be a fun trip…"

"Are you sure about this?" JP asked. "Can we really trust them? And are we really going to rely on them protecting us when they could barely fight off Cerberumon and Raremon?"

"They may not be as strong as a Legendary Warrior, but they saved a lot of innocent Digimon when Cerberumon attacked!" Bokomon spoke up, defending the two.

"Come on, Bokomon, it's alright. They don't have much of a reason to trust us yet," Lopmon said.

Takuya groaned. "But we do need guides around this world, JP. We can't just go wandering around, especially since we don't know where this Forest Terminal is."

"Takuya's right." Zoe agreed. "We need help to reach the Forest Terminal. And besides, these two did help us, so we can't be rude to them."

"Look, I'm just saying we're not in our world anymore, so we need to be careful who we trust," JP huffed.

"I like to think they're on our side. They did help us when they didn't need to," Tommy said. "But I do agree that we should be careful who we trust."

"Are you sure you aren't coming? Isn't this something you always wanted to do?" Lopmon asked Bokomon.

"Yeah, you talked about wanting to see more of the Digital World before," Patamon added.

Bokomon shook his head. "No. As I said, I'm not much of a fighter, and nor is Neemon. Besides, I get the feeling this is something you two have to do."

Patamon frowned. "Yeah, but…"

"Don't worry about it!" Bokomon smiled. "I know you'll be able to do it, and your friends, the ones who have yet to meet these humans, will help out, I'm sure of it. And all 5 of you have proven to be strong in your own way. But if you ever need a guide of the Digital World itself, I can give you my book."

Bokomon held out the book he had been using to read out information.

"Um… Bokomon, neither Lopmon nor I can carry that around," Patamon sweatdropped.

"Oh? Then in that case, here." Bokomon said as he took off his pink belly warmer and slipped onto Patamon. "There! Now you can carry my book in it!" He smiled. "Oh, don't you look so adorable in that?~"

Patamon blinked as he looked down at the belly warmer around his waist, which was surprisingly a perfect fit.

"Oooh, now you have a pocket dimension, b- err, Patamon~" Lopmon grinned teasingly.

Patamon blushed. "I swear this is the most girly thing I've ever worn…"

Zoe cooed. "Awww~ He looks so cute in that!"

JP chuckled. "I didn't think it was possible for Patamon to get any cuter, but apparently he can."

"You hear that? You're cute~" Lopmon grinned.

"Shut up!" Patamon huffed, his cheeks blushing red. "Bokomon, is this really necessary? Couldn't you have given this to Lopmon? He's already got some pink on him!"

"Nah, Bokomon already entrusted you with it, don't let him down~" Lopmon smiled.

Bokomon held out the book to Patamon. "I'm counting on you to keep the book safe, and use it when you need to."

Patamon grumbled as he took the book and managed to stuff it into the belly warmer. "This had better not backfire on us…" He grumbled. "I feel so ridiculous wearing this thing…"

"I think it looks great on you~" Zoe grinned.

Takuya sighed. "Okay, are we done here? I'd like to get moving to head to the Forest Terminal as soon as possible."

"Before that, it's going to be a long trip, maybe you should stock up on food and such," Neemon suggested.

"... I can't believe it, you actually said something smart for once," Bokomon said, surprised.

"We don't have any bags to carry food in though." Zoe frowned.

"You underestimate JP's pockets," Tommy said.

"I'll bring you some food I've kept for emergencies. I think they'll be put to better use for the Legendary Warriors who might save our world than rot away in the basement," Bokomon stated.

"Anything's better than starving." Takuya admitted.

"I guess that's true." Zoe agreed. "And this way we won't have to struggle to find edible food in this world since we don't know what's safe to eat and what's not."

"Lopmon and I can help with that." Patamon offered. "We know what's safe and what's not."

"Yeah, and we have the guide book of the Digital World in case we're not sure either." Lopmon smiled. "We'll make sure to take good care of you guys… for as long as you need us."

Tommy raised an eyebrow, wondering why Lopmon added in that last part.

"Well, guess it's a good thing we ran into you two then." Zoe smiled.

After JP, and the others, stuffed their pockets with as much food as they could carry, they began walking to the edge of the village.

"This will lead you out of our village, you'll be on your own from here," Bokomon pointed ahead. "Please, be careful, and watch out for Cherubimon and his minions."

"You take care of yourself and the village, Bokomon," Lopmon said.

"We might come back some day, so we hope everything will be intact by the time we do," Patamon added.

"We'll await that day then." Bokomon said proudly.

"What day are we waiting for? Their birthday?" Neemon asked stupidly.

"Please be quiet if you're not going to say something useful!" Bokomon snapped, pulling Neemon's pants before letting it go, slapping Neemon's waist.

"Well, we better get going if we want to get to the Forest Terminal," Takuya said.

"Just follow those tracks, it should eventually lead you to where you need to go," Bokomon said.

"Alright, then let's get going!" Zoe smiled.

The human children began walking. Lopmon and Patamon waved goodbye to Bokomon and Neemon.

"Thanks for… taking care of us while we were here, it's been fun," Lopmon said.

"We'll never forget your kindness," Patamon said.

"Goodbye, and good luck finding the others, and helping the humans," Bokomon replied, waving to them as well.

"Bye-bye, I'll miss you too! You were fun to play with!" Neemon waved as streams of tears fell from his closed eyes.

With their goodbyes said, Lopmon and Patamon hurried to catch up with the human group.

"So… how far do we have to go before we get to the Forest Terminal?" Takuya asked.

"Well, we want to follow these tracks," Patamon said.

"We got that, but how far do we have to follow them?" JP questioned.

"... Um… all the way?" Patamon sweatdropped.

The human kids sweatdropped in return at the response.

"... I hate walking…" JP groaned.

"Well, get used to it, because we have a long way to walk." Takuya sighed. "I don't think any of us are used to walking such long distances."

"Yeah, but at least it's good exercise." Zoe pointed out.

"Couldn't we just take a Trailmon?" Patamon whispered to Lopmon.

Lopmon shook his head. "They need to walk if we want them to find the rest of their Spirits. Taking a Trailmon would mean missing them."

Patamon frowned. "I can fly after a while, but… are you sure you're going to be able to walk long distances with those small legs of yours?"

"Oh hush, I'll find a way to manage," Lopmon huffed.

While the group were walking, Takuya decided to ask a question to JP. "So, JP, what made you decide to stay? Was it because you thought you might get a Spirit after all?"

"Well, I'm not sure about the whole Spirit and evolving into a Digimon thing. To be honest, the whole concept kinda freaks me out," JP said. "I just don't have anything better to do when I get home, so I figured I'd just stick with you guys."

Takuya snickered. "Are you sure it wasn't to get to know Zoe?"

JP blushed. "T-that's not what I meant!" He exclaimed.

"Then why are you all red in the face there, buddy~?" Takuya teased JP.

"They're sunburned, that's all!" JP quickly retorted. "Jeez, how old are you anyways?"

"I'm 12 years old," Takuya answered. "I'm in the 6th grade."

"Oh really? Well I'm 13 years old and in 7th grade!" JP pointed out.

"Am I supposed to care?" Takuya questioned, putting his hands behind his head.

"Like I care if you care," JP huffed as he stormed ahead. "Should've blown this popsicle stand when I had the chance…"

Looks like they don't get along very well yet… Lopmon frowned. I hope this doesn't affect their teamwork later on…

Zoe looked down at Tommy as they were walking. "Tommy? Why didn't you take the chance to go home? This place could get really dangerous."

"I know that… I've experienced some of the dangers first hand… twice," Tommy sighed.

"So why stay?" Zoe asked

"I'm… not really sure why myself. It feels like I need to stay," Tommy answered. "I guess… maybe I want to be more like Takuya? To be a hero and strong, so I won't be so scared and useless all the time…"

Zoe frowned. "That's all well and good, but you can't just rush in recklessly. You don't even have a Spirit yet. And what about your Mom and Dad? I'll bet they're worried about you…"

Tommy frowned. "I… I know… but I'm sure they'll forgive me if I'm able to become the better child they deserve to have. Besides… we're not all guaranteed to have a Spirit, even if we do all have these… D-Tectors."

Not wanting to talk about this anymore, Tommy moved ahead.

Zoe frowned as she watched this. For such a little kid, he sure has some big problems to work through…

Lopmon walked beside Zoe, seeing, and hearing, the conversation they just had. "I'm sure he'll open up more once he feels more comfortable. I don't blame him for feeling the way he does, like he's powerless and useless, just being in the way of others…"

Zoe looked down at Lopmon. "It sounds like you know this from first hand experience." She noted. "Is it because of that fight back there with Cerberumon?"

"Well, you saw that embarrassment of a battle between us and Cerberumon. We couldn't put a dent in that dog until Agunimon arrived," Lopmon sighed. "I'm not exactly the biggest or strongest Digimon around. But still… I don't want to let that fact stop me from helping you guys. We've waited a long time for this."

"You said that before, but… how could you have waited for us when this was the first time we've met?" Zoe asked.

"We've… heard a prophecy, about 6… um… 5 human kids arriving in the Digital World one day in a Trailmon, and will save the Digital World," Lopmon explained. "We wanted to help these humans save our world. That's all."

Zoe blinked. "That's… awfully nice of you, but is that really all? I can't imagine you were waiting for just that one thing."

"We may have other motives, but we're not exactly supposed to tell you. Don't worry though, they're not evil or anything like that," Lopmon assured.

Patamon walked next to Takuya, wanting to stay near him for some reason. "The sun's already setting. We should find a place to rest for the night soon."

"Yeah, we probably should." Takuya agreed. "It wouldn't do us any good just walking in the dark and not getting any rest. Who knows if we may be attacked while tired?"

"Do you know of any places up ahead we could go to rest for the night?" JP asked. "Anything to stop having to walk for a while is good for me…"

"Um… gimme a sec…" Patamon said before he pulled the book out from his belly warmer. "Wow, that feels kinda weird…"

Patamon opened the book and flipped the pages, coming to a map of the Flame Terminal region. "Hmm… okay, looks like there's a village up ahead. We'll be seeing a cliff and a ravine. There's supposedly a Candlemon Village there."

"We could probably stay there for the night." Takuya suggested. "Um… if these Candlemon will allow it that is. I don't know how well they would take to humans asking to spend the night…"

"From what we've seen, they're pretty welcoming, so it shouldn't be an issue," Lopmon assured.

"Is it far from here?" Tommy asked.

"If we keep walking in this direction without resting, we'll make it by nightfall," Patamon answered before he closed the book and put it back into the belly warmer. "That's still weird."

Takuya snickered. "Yeah, but you have to admit, it is handy."

JP groaned. "Great… more walking. But if it gets us a place to rest for the night, I'll endure it."

Chapter Text

ZAFT: Happy Memorial Day everyone!

DarkFoxKit: And to celebrate, we got a new chapter for you to read. Well, it's more like coincidence, but still. I don't know how many people are reading this, since so far only two old readers have been reviewing. But here's hoping the story at least catches a few new people's attention.

ZAFT: Anyway, on to the next chapter!

(  Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)

Digital Phantom!

(  Shows Takuya, Zoe, Koji, JP, and Tommy with Patamon, Biyomon, Labramon, Kokuwamon, and Lopmon at their sides)

Falling into destiny

(  A shadowy form is shown with the shadowed image of a boy falling shown behind it)

Reaching across new boundaries

(  Hidden forms are shown in shadow behind the kids, each looking taller and stronger than the kids in front of them)

Let our stories come together

(  Two worlds are shown as a Trailmon is shown between them)

Growing stronger

(  Fractal code surrounds Takuya and his friends before five new Digimon are shown in their places)

Our pasts intertwine

(  Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)

Showing our future

(  Images of Takuya's family are shown marching past as Takuya himself looks up at the sky)

As we evolve

(  The five Digimon from before are shown standing before five Digimon in shadow)

Let's go… EVOLUTION

(  Fractal code erupts before dissipating into a bright light)

As our worlds collide

(  The light is shown to be a laser that hits a strange being as the wolf-like armored humanoid Digimon is shown holding his left arm out, his right hand on a laser blaster equipped to his arm)

We stand as one

(  Jets of wind are shown as the winged butterfly-like humanoid female Digimon flies by while fighting another strange creature)

Growing strong

(  Globs of snow are shown as a small white icy bear-like Digimon is shown skiing by as he fires at yet another strange being)

As we move along

(  Darts of fire are shown as they hit the strange being before the red-armored humanoid Digimon facing it down)

CHOU… SHINKA!

(  Blasts of thunder are shown lancing down on yet another strange being facing down the humanoid blue-armored beetle Digimon)

Let's go… EVOLUTION!

(  The five small Digimon stand at the edge, watching from far)

Nothing will stand in our way!

(  All ten of them are shown, with a dark form looming over them, yet another form behind the dark form looming over that)

Chapter 3: An Icy Determination

As the sun was going down, and night consumed the sky. Somewhere in the dark continent, stood a Digimon. This Digimon wore armor that was pure black with red accents, looking like skeleton bones on the upper torso, upper arms, and the legs. There were eyes on the shoulder armor, chest, knees, and feet. The lower arms were covered in black armor that looked like skeleton heads, and the facial armor and helmet looked like a skull's face. The hair was long and blonde, and the Digimon had bright red eyes that looked sinister.

This Digimon frowned as he looked up at the moons above. Night always made him feel calm, but the day made him feel uneasy and stressed.

"Duskmon," A voice spoke up from behind the Digimon. "Lord Cherubimon is summoning you."

The Digimon, Duskmon, sighed. "What does he want now?" He grumbled as he turned to face the Digimon who had spoken to him.

The Digimon in question came out into the moonlight, revealing himself to Duskmon. It was a Digimon that had green armor with red and yellow accents on it. On his arms were two mirror-like shields and he had a mirror on his chest and torso. The face was just a mirror that had a mouth on it as well.

"Lord Cherubimon never summons me unless he wants something." Duskmon pointed out to the Digimon he was speaking to.

"Does thou think I can read Lord Cherubimon's mind? I do not know what Lord Cherubimon wants from thou. So thou better go see what Lord Cherubimon wants before he loses his patience," The humanoid mirror-like Digimon grumbled.

Duskmon followed the humanoid Digimon out of his little sanctuary and into the depths of the Rose Morning Star, he always felt a bit out of place in the brightly lit hallways.

"Thou may be new here, and powerful, but thou must learn to respect thou's elders," The humanoid mirror Digimon grumbled as they stood in front of an altar.

Duskmon snorted, but he didn't say anything that would make the other Digimon angry. He knew when to keep his mouth shut for his own sake.

"Lord Cherubimon, I brought Duskmon," The humanoid Digimon stated.

The altar gave a glow before a large, dark shadow loomed over them. It was a projection, but even though it was a projection, Duskmon could sense the powerful aura Cherubimon gave off.

"Good. I'm pleased to see you brought Duskmon so quickly, Mercurymon. Duskmon, come closer," The projection of the dark shadow ordered.

Duskmon did as he was asked; he didn't want to make Lord Cherubimon angry, not with the power he was sensing from the projection.

"You have been with us for a day now. But you are still getting used to your new powers, am I right? Mercurymon informed me that you don't communicate very much with your fellow Warriors," Cherubimon stated in a deep, strong voice that was filled with malice.

"I prefer to be in my own thoughts." Duskmon replied, trying to keep his voice respectful. "It's just who I am."

"While I can respect that, it won't do to be a complete loner. It would be good to learn social skills to become a great warrior. After all, a good warrior fights alone, but a truly great warrior fights with his comrades. However, I won't make you work with the others if you truly don't want to. Instead, I've assigned you a partner to work with you," Cherubimon informed. "You will keep this partner with you at all times."

Duskmon blinked. "A partner…?" He was surprised at this. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Call it a gift for our newest member of my Legendary Warriors," Cherubimon stated.

There was another glow nearby. Cherubimon was teleporting someone next to them. Mercurymon and Duskmon watched as the new Digimon came out of the glow. To their surprise, it was a small Digimon. This Digimon looked to be cat-like, it had black fur, sharp claws, though its hands appeared to be covered by indigo gloves with red horizontal stripes. The cat had a very long, thin tail behind it that had purple and black lines, and three spiked fur at the tip of the tail. There were three purple spiked fur at the tip of the cat's ears as well. The cat's eyes had a sinister yellow glow to them. Though it was cat-like, it appeared to be capable of standing, and walking, on two feet.

"Greetings, I am BlackGatomon," The Digimon introduced itself in a feminine voice. "It's my role to be Duskmon's partner. I look forward to working with you."

Duskmon blinked, not entirely sure what to make of this development, but he wasn't about to be rude and turn away the new 'gift' he was being given. "I hope… we can work well together too…" He said, awkwardly.

What is Lord Cherubimon thinking? Why is he giving me a cat to look after? Duskmon inwardly questioned.

"I hope you will all get along~" Cherubimon said before the projection disappeared.

"I do not understand Lord Cherubimon's logic. We do not need a non-Legendary Warrior here," Mercurymon scowled. "But it is Lord Cherubimon's will, so I cannot complain, as much as I want to. But this BlackGatomon is thou's responsibility, Duskmon, as Lord Cherubimon had giventh thou her."

Duskmon frowned, but nodded. "I understand." He said. "I will do my utmost best to keep her under my care." But why? Why do I need BlackGatomon with me? I can work alone just fine, right?

Duskmon walked back outside to be under the moons. BlackGatomon followed him outside. For a moment, both of them were silent. But after a while, BlackGatomon spoke up. "I take it you like to come out here a lot to view the sky?"

"Yes." Duskmon replied. "Being under the moons helps me to think, to keep my mind clear."

"Clear of what?" BlackGatomon questioned. "It's nice out here, but there isn't much to do with just standing here."

"... I get… bouts of… fuzziness at times, when I'm under bright lights." Duskmon admitted. "Being in the dark and under the moons allows me to keep my mind clear of that fuzziness. It can… be unbearable at times."

"Not a big fan of light, huh?" BlackGatomon chuckled. "Well, once you're done clearing your mind, perhaps we should go for a walk."

Duskmon blinked, caught off guard by the suggestion. "W-why? I'm just fine right here." He said, feeling slightly awkward.

"Maybe you are, but I don't want to stand still for hours on end until morning," BlackGatomon said, rubbing her shoulder for a moment. "I get stiff and bored. Besides, I want to see more of this place I was sent to, standing here isn't going to help me get familiar with the layout of the land."

Duskmon sighed. "Well, when you put it that way, I guess I don't have much of a choice but to go with you. The Digimon here are quite strong, and you're supposed to be my partner, so I can't let anything happen to you."

"You can come with me, big guy, I doubt a lot of Digimon would wanna mess with you. But give me a little credit. I may be small, but I am still a Champion level Digimon. I can take care of myself if I must," BlackGatomon pointed out.

Duskmon just rolled his eyes, the ones on his face. "I don't doubt it. Lord Cherubimon wouldn't pick a weakling to be my partner."

"Of course he wouldn't," BlackGatomon chuckled. "You wouldn't believe the tests he put me through to make sure I was good enough to be your partner. I get the feeling we'll get along just fine~"

Duskmon found a chuckle escaping his lips. "I think we will." Maybe this won't be so bad after all…

Meanwhile, Takuya, JP, Zoe, Tommy, Patamon, and Lopmon had been walking all day. It was night time now, making it tough for the group to see. Eventually, they stopped when they saw they were at the edge of a cliff. The train tracks kept going on the other side of the ravine, but there didn't seem to be a way across short of flying.

"Well… now what do we do?" Zoe frowned.

"Maybe Patamon can carry us across?" Tommy suggested.

"No way! I can't carry all of you! Even if it was one at a time, at most I'd only be able to carry Tommy across, and maybe Zoe, but heck no to JP!" Patamon quickly said.

"Hey! Are you calling me fat?" JP frowned.

"No… I'm calling you heavy!" Patamon responded.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Takuya asked innocently.

"Not necessarily, you can be as small as I am yet still weigh heavier than metal," Lopmon explained.

"Either way, I do not have enough strength to carry all of you across," Patamon grumbled.

"So we can't get across by flight then." Zoe frowned. "How can we get across then?"

"Look, it looks like there's something down there at the bottom of the ravine," Tommy pointed out.

Everyone looked down.

"You're right, Tommy, it looks like there's lights down there," Takuya said.

"Ah, this must be the Candlemon Village," Lopmon realized.

"Candlemon Village?" Zoe asked. "Do you think there's a way down there? We do need to get some sleep…"

"Yeah, look," Lopmon pointed at some stairs that were leading down the cliff in a zigzag pattern. "Those stairs will take us down."

"Then let's get going, the sooner we get down there, the sooner we can find a place to sleep," JP said.

The group headed down the stairs. The Candlemon spotted them coming, and began to turn off the lights from their flames. They were being cautious.

The group soon reached the bottom of the stairs, only to see the lights were gone.

"Huh? Hey, where are the lights?" JP asked. "Those lights looked like they were coming from this area."

"Watch your step now," Patamon warned the group as they were hopping on some stepping stones in the river.

"Did the lights go out?" Zoe asked.

"They shouldn't be far from here," Lopmon said. "Maybe the Candlemon turned in for the night just as we came down here."

"I don't know…" Takuya frowned. "It seemed like the lights were getting fewer as we got closer. Maybe something spooked the Candlemon?"

"What could spook them? Now you have me spooked!" JP grumbled.

"Hey… guys?" Tommy spoke up. "Look at the wall."

Everyone turned to see what Tommy was looking at. They were surprised when they saw carvings. There was a big carving of an angel of some kind. And next to the angel were 10 different looking symbols.

"Whoa…" Zoe breathed.

"What is that?" Takuya wondered. "It certainly looks impressive."

"Hmm…" Lopmon and Patamon looked at the carving on the wall.

"I don't think Bokomon told you the full story of why the Digital World needs your help, did he?" Lopmon asked.

"No…" Takuya admitted. "Just that Agunimon was one of ten powerful Digimon called the Legendary Warriors and the story about Cherubimon."

"Then this might be a good time to tell you, at least from what we know," Patamon said before he pulled out the book from his belly warmer's pocket dimension.

Patamon opened up the book and flipped through the pages before finding what he was looking for. "Those markings up there, those are the symbols of the 10 Legendary Warriors.

"The 10 Legendary Warriors?" The group of 4 repeated in unison.

"Yes. Back in ancient times, according to this book, there were terrible wars that were constantly being waged between human type and beast type Digimon. Both sides wanted to rule the Digital World with their own rules, but neither side could ever agree on anything. But then, one day, an angel Digimon called Lucemon appeared. Lucemon was able to teach the two sides how to resolve their differences. This gave an era of peace and co-existence between the two types of Digimon. Lucemon was a benevolent ruler. However… the peace couldn't last forever," Patamon paused for a moment to take a breath.

"Lucemon started to become corrupted by his power among the Digimon. He started to believe his way was the only way, and those who don't follow it would be punished severely. He ended up tormenting the very same Digimon he helped make peace in the world. This had been going on for a long time, and all hope was lost… that is until 10 brave Digimon stood up to Lucemon. These Digimon were granted the power to use the intellect of humanoid Digimon, and the raw power of beast Digimon. Together, they battled against Lucemon for the future of the Digital World. After a long, grueling battle, the 10 Digimon managed to defeat Lucemon and sealed him away, restoring the peace."

"But this victory came at a great cost. The 10 Digimon, due to their strength and bravery, were now known as the Legendary Warriors. And they had lost their bodies in the war against Lucemon. But they knew their power would be needed again one day. So the Legendary Warriors sent out their Spirits, entrusting them to the 3 Celestial Digimon, who would be giving the Spirits to someone worthy enough to use their powers in case their powers would be needed again." Patamon frowned for a moment. "The 3 Celestial Digimon are made up of two humanoid Digimon, and 1 beast Digimon. Seraphimon, Ophanimon, and Cherubimon. The 3 of them are to govern the Digital World, and make sure it doesn't fall to ruin again."

"Wait, really? What about the Royal Knights?" Lopmon asked.

"They're not mentioned in this book," Patamon replied before putting the book away into the belly warmer again. "Maybe they don't exist here…?"

"Hey…" Tommy spoke up, looking at one of the symbols on the wall in particular. "Doesn't that symbol at the top look familiar?"

Takuya blinked. "Hey, that does look familiar. That's what appears on my D-Tector when I become Agunimon!"

"That is the same symbol." Zoe agreed. "Wow… I didn't think we'd see it here!"

"That one next to it… isn't that the one that appeared on Lobomon's shoulder?" JP asked as he pointed at said symbol.

"Yup, like we said, these are the markings of the Legendary Warriors. Agunimon and Lobomon are two of those," Lopmon chuckled. "Their Spirits must've found Takuya and Koji to be worthy enough for their powers and forms."

"I wonder if I'll be next," Zoe remarked. "I hope I'll become a cute Digimon!"

"Would you really want to be a Digimon?" Tommy asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Zoe asked back. "I mean, did you see how cool Agunimon and Lobomon were? I want to be like that too!"

"Calm down, Zoe. I mean it's not likely we'll all get to be Digimon anyways," JP remarked.

Lopmon looked at Tommy, wondering what the boy was thinking.

"Not with that attitude," Zoe huffed at JP.

"Is it getting warmer here or is it just me?" Patamon questioned.

Takuya perked up, feeling a bit uneasy. "Not really… but I am getting the feeling something is behind us…"

Everyone quickly turned around to see the lights from before, only they were much brighter up close. They saw they were surrounded by these candle-like creatures. They all had flames on their heads, the flames themselves looked to have their own faces.

Three of these candle creatures looked directly at the group. The one in the middle appeared to have a mustache wax.

"Why have you humans come to our village?" The candle in the middle asked in a deep voice. "You are not welcome here."

Takuya looked nervous, as did the others in their group.

"And I thought these guys were supposed to be welcoming…" JP muttered.

"They were when we first met them… I wonder what changed?" Patamon frowned.

"Then again… when we met them, things were different. There wasn't a war against Cherubimon…" Lopmon mumbled.

"We're not here to cause trouble. We just wanted a place to sleep, but if you don't want us here, we can leave," Takuya said politely.

"You're melting my heart," The Candlemon with the mustache sarcastically said. "Do you think we'd fall for something like that? You're here for the ancient artifact that we've been protecting for generations, aren't you?"

"What ancient artifact?" Zoe frowned.

"We didn't know about any ancient artifacts, we promise," Tommy spoke up.

"Please, we mean you no harm." Takuya said, trying to calm the situation down. "We're just kids, what can we do against you guys?"

"I don't know if these guys will listen." JP frowned.

"Wait, please hold on!" Patamon spoke up quickly. "These humans aren't here to steal any artifacts, they're here to help us save this world!"

Takuya balked. "W-wait! We didn't agree to it yet, right?!"

Patamon whacked Takuya's leg with his wing. "Shut up. Why else were you going to the Forest Terminal? Just for funsies?"

Lopmon cleared his throat. "As hard as it might be to believe, this young man was infused with the Spirit of Agunimon. So that already proves that the world needs their help."

"Did you say 'Agunimon'?" The supposed Chief Candlemon replied, sounding surprised and unsure.

The other Candlemon spoke out in doubt about the possibility that Agunimon would choose a human child of all things to wield its power.

"If you don't believe me, then Takuya can prove it. He can turn into Agunimon right here and show that he can use the Spirit's power," Lopmon stated.

Takuya paled. "I… I don't think I can. I only did it twice before, and the second time I couldn't hold that form…"

Lopmon looked back at Takuya. "Not with that attitude…"

"Well… isn't this interesting?" The Chief Candlemon remarked before he huddled with the other two Candlemon, whispering to them for a moment, before turning his attention back on the group. "Please forgive our rude behavior, my young friends. We are the Candlemon tribe, it's been our sacred duty to protect the ancient artifact hidden deep within a frozen cave. So… which one of you inherited the Spirit of a Legendary Warrior?"

"It was this one," Patamon pointed at Takuya. "His name is Takuya."

Takuya stood stiff as the Chief Candlemon floated up to his face to study him for a moment. "Well, you certainly have a brave face, young man. On behalf of the Candlemon tribe, I bid you all welcome! Please, be our guests!"

The Chief Candlemon floated away, going over to the other Candlemon.

"That was… a little too easy," Tommy noted.

"Yeah…" Takuya frowned. "I'm getting the feeling something's off…"

JP grumbled. "When is anything not feeling off in this world…?"

"No need to be so pessimistic, JP." Zoe scolded gently.

"Come on, now, don't dottle," The Chief Candlemon said as he was hopping away. "You said you needed some rest, right? We can give you some shelter and beds to sleep in."

"Let's go ahead and trust them, unless you guys prefer to sleep on rocks or dirt instead tonight," Takuya suggested.

"Fine, but if they jump us, we're counting on you to keep us safe, Mr. Legendary Warrior," JP huffed.

Takuya grumbled. "Someone's grumpy…" He muttered.

The group continued to walk after the Chief Candlemon, but they were on alert for if anything seemed off.

The Chief Candlemon led the group to some tents. The tents themselves were made out of rock, however, probably to make it so the Candlemon didn't set their own houses ablaze.

"You kids can stay in these tents for the night. They're not much, but they'll keep you warm and comfortable while you rest for the night," The Chief Candlemon stated.

Takuya and the others looked at the tents before slowly entering them, one after another.

"Huh… it does feel warm." JP noted. "Like I want to cuddle under a warm blanket."

Takuya felt sleepy. "I think this should work for sleeping tonight." He agreed with a yawn.

"Go ahead and choose one for each of you, we have plenty to spare," The Chief Candlemon stated with a smile.

"I'll see you boys in the morning then. A girl's gotta have her beauty sleep," Zoe said as she yawned and headed into one of the rock tents.

"Yeah, I guess I'll try to get some sleep myself," JP mumbled, going into another rocky tent.

Takuya looked over at Tommy, who had been pretty quiet.

"Tommy? Are you okay?" Takuya asked. "You've been pretty quiet lately."

"Oh… I'm just… a little anxious, is all… I've never slept away from home before," Tommy admitted sheepishly.

"Do you want to sleep in my rock tent with me?" Takuya asked. "Just… for someone to be with you?"

"I must warn you, the rock tents were made for Candlemon, I don't think it can fit two humans at once," The Chief Candlemon informed.

"I can sleep with you, if it'll help you feel better, Tommy," Lopmon volunteered.

Takuya grinned. "Hey, that's a good idea." He chuckled. "You're certainly small enough to do it."

"Yeah, and I can sleep with Takuya and keep an eye on him," Patamon said.

Tommy nodded. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, Patamon and I would've just slept outside anyways," Lopmon replied.

Takuya grumbled at Patamon. "Why would you need to keep an eye on me? I'm 12 for crying out loud! I can handle myself…"

"You're also the only one who can really fight back if anything bad happens," Patamon said. "Can't have you sleeping in in case the others are in trouble, you know."

Takuya groaned. "Of course…" He sighed. "But I get it…" Why do I get the more mature Digimon?!

Takuya felt a yawn escape him as he decided to head into his rock tent. "Then wake me if trouble shows up…" He said with another yawn,

Patamon looked over at Lopmon. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then."

"Yeah, see you in the morning," Lopmon replied back to Patamon.

Patamon followed Takuya into the rocky tent. Lopmon walked over to Tommy. Tommy walked into the rocky tent himself.

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but… why did you decide to sleep with me?" Tommy asked.

"You looked like you needed it. Mature or not, you're still an 8 year old boy who was taken away from home. That's much for anyone, especially for a kid," Lopmon explained. "Besides, as your Digimon guide, it's my responsibility to try to help you 4 any way I can."

Tommy smiled. "That's nice. Thanks, Lopmon."

Tommy laid down on the ground. There was a thin, scratchy sheet that was supposed to be a bed, but it was pretty uncomfortable. The Candlemon weren't really built to sleep on beds. They usually sleep standing up due to their nature. Lopmon, seeing Tommy's discomfort, moved closer to the boy. Lopmon noticed that Tommy looked a little cold due to the lack of a blanket. Lopmon wrapped his furry ears around Tommy's neck and shoulders. He was too small to really cover Tommy, but he hoped this would give the young boy some comfort.

At some point in the middle of the night, Lopmon was awoken when he felt movement. He opened his eyes, seeing Tommy sitting up. Lopmon groggily blinked his eyes, and rubbed them a little.

"Tommy?"

"Sorry… couldn't really sleep," Tommy sighed. "Is it alright if I just… go out for a walk?"

"Uh… I guess? Probably best not to go too far though. I'll stay with you," Lopmon said.

Tommy nodded. "That would make me feel better, knowing I have someone who can fight back on my side."

The two of them crawled out of the rocky tent. Tommy walked closer to the river with Lopmon following behind him. Tommy wanted another look at that wall carving. He carefully jumped onto the stepping stones, trying not to slip into the water. Lopmon managed to stay close to him.

"Is there something about this carving that bothers you?" Lopmon asked as Tommy was looking at the wall carving again, though the young boy seemed to be especially interested in the markings for the Legendary Warriors.

"No, it just… feels familiar in a way." Tommy replied. "Like I've seen these markings before."

"You have seen them, at least two of them," Lopmon pointed out. "On Agunimon and Lobomon, remember?"

"I remember." Tommy agreed. "But even then, I felt like I had seen their symbols before, even though it was my first time seeing them."

Lopmon blinked as he looked at Tommy, then at the wall carvings. "Hmm… I wonder if…"

"What?" Tommy asked.

"... It's probably nothing, don't mind me," Lopmon sighed.

Tommy frowned for a moment. "You know… you and Patamon sometimes talk about things that don't make a lot of sense, but… it feels like there's something you're not telling us… Something you know that we don't."

"You're very observant, aren't you?" Lopmon said. "But even if I were to tell you, it won't do you much good, and would only serve to stress you out more than necessary. There's only so much we can do, however, we're limited in what we can do. But even so, we want to do what we can to help you guys."

Tommy frowned again, but he nodded. "I guess that makes sense." He conceded. Maybe we'll find out what they're hiding as we travel together? I sure hope so…

"Just know that we're on your side," Lopmon reassured. "Even when you… don't need us anymore."

"You keep saying that," Tommy said. "When would we not need you anymore?"

"I'm sure… there may come a point where you guys will be strong enough to fend for yourselves, and find out on where to go on your own," Lopmon said quietly.

"But even so… that doesn't mean we won't ever need you." Tommy frowned. "At least you guys are useful. I'm not… I'm just a kid who gets in everyone's way."

"Do you really think that way about yourself?" Lopmon questioned.

"I'm just a kid. I'm the youngest here, and I'm not able to become a Digimon." Tommy pouted. "My older brother also says I'm just going to hold everyone back…"

Lopmon frowned at that. "You may be a kid… but you're here because you chose to be here, right?"

"Not really… I was pushed onto the Trailmon…" Tommy admitted.

"Regardless, you chose to stay here, right?" Lopmon pointed out. "You feel that there's something you must do here, despite being the youngest one here, and wanting to go home earlier. You shouldn't start doubting yourself now."

Tommy smiled a bit. "You're right, Lopmon." He then sighed. "It's just hard because you, Patamon, and even Takuya can fight back against the Digimon here."

"Well, Patamon and I are Digimon, though we're weak," Lopmon said sheepishly. "And Takuya has the Spirit of Agunimon. But Zoe and JP are as human as you are too, but they still want to find a way to help any way they can. If you ask me, that's more admirable. To want to fight and find a way to help without relying on the powers of a Digimon. It takes great skill and courage to fight as a Digimon. It takes greater courage and determination to fight as a human."

Tommy blushed. "You're just trying to make me feel better." He then frowned some more. "But I'm not brave… I don't know if I could find the courage to fight back against a Digimon…"

"Well, the only way to know is if you're put in that situation," Lopmon said. "You care about the others, don't you?"

Tommy thought back on how Takuya recklessly, but bravely, put himself in danger just to save Tommy from Cerberumon. And how he did it again when Raremon attacked them. Both times, someone had to save Tommy from a Digimon. Tommy had been feeling guilty about it, because he put Takuya, and Koji, in danger. He hadn't been able to do anything about it except cower in fear. His brother's words haunted him, which was the real reason why he had trouble sleeping.

"Jeez Tomoki, you must drive your friends crazy if you have any. You think that everyone's just going to take care of you, but that's not how the world works."

Tommy frowned to himself when he thought back on his brother's words. But am I expecting them to take care of me? I mean… I'm in a new world, and have no idea how to get home…

Tommy shook his head. That wasn't entirely true. He knew how to get home, he was given the chance to, but he rejected it. He and the others chose to stay.

"I think you need to rework your way of thinking," Lopmon spoke up suddenly, almost as if knowing what Tommy was thinking. "Instead of coming up with excuses why you can't do something. You should ask yourself what you can do, and how you can do it."

Tommy blinked. "H-how… Can you read minds?"

"No, it's just your doubts were written all over your face," Lopmon pointed out. "And I've had such thoughts myself many times before."

Tommy blushed. "It must be easy to read me like a book…"

"I wouldn't say that you're easy to read. Just that I know how you feel and what you're going through," Lopmon commented. "Now… how about you give it a try then?"

Tommy blinked, before understanding what Lopmon meant. He nodded and thought back to when Cerberumon attacked them. Tommy had been scared, very scared. He clung to Takuya, crying his eyes out with fear. Takuya bravely fought back despite being clearly outmatched before he got Agunimon's Spirit. Lopmon and Patamon, despite being weak, still fought back as well, trying to slow down the large dog. Tommy knew there wasn't much he could've done, but… maybe he could've helped Takuya fight back, or get somewhere further away and tried to distract Cerberumon by throwing rocks at it.

With Raremon, Tommy had been scared again. He and JP weren't sure what to make of the whole Spirit Evolution thing, and they were being chased by chocolate crazed Pagumon that were trying to eat them. Then one of them turned into that giant sludge monster. Koji, despite only being human, bravely fought back against it. He even saved Tommy from the Acid Sludge attack. Once again, Lopmon came in to help, and so did Labramon, though they were clearly outmatched, that didn't stop them from trying. Maybe Tommy could've pushed Koji away from the danger himself, or maybe he should've just told JP to stay with the others in the first place.

There were a lot of things Tommy could've done, and what he had seen the others do, instead of standing there like a helpless little child, waiting to be rescued. They had gotten lucky so far, but… Tommy didn't want to have to purely rely on Takuya, or someone else, to protect him again. There had to be something he could do.

"I can already see the sparks of fire in your eyes," Lopmon chuckled. "Looks like my advice is working."

Tommy blushed again. "I… was just thinking… that's all!" He exclaimed. "I didn't do anything except consider what I could have done during those times I was in trouble…"

"Well keep those thoughts in mind," Lopmon encouraged. "I'm sure they'll be handy the next time you're in trouble."

Lopmon's ears raised up for a moment, then he looked back at the village before frowning. "Speaking of which… that may be sooner than we expected…"

Tommy frowned before he looked at where Lopmon was looking at. They saw the dim lights of the Candlemon's flames. They appeared to be moving towards the tents, where the others were sleeping.

"Um… why are the Candlemon heading towards the tents of the others?" Tommy asked worriedly. No… instead of asking a question Lopmon can't answer, we need to investigate.

"Come on," Tommy quietly said to Lopmon.

Lopmon followed after Tommy as they quickly but quietly moved closer to the village. Tommy and Lopmon hid behind one of the cliff's walls.

"Are you sure about this, Chief? What if the one who supposedly has Agunimon's Spirit wakes up?" One of the Candlemon whispered.

"That's the point, isn't it? To see if he truly does have Agunimon's Spirit, and if he's worth wielding it," The Chief, the Candlemon with the wax mustache, replied back quietly.

"Oh no…" Tommy whispered. "They're after the others…" Tommy wanted to just hide away, but that wouldn't do him, or the others, any favors. No… I have to see what the Candlemon are planning first, then act.

"Get the sleeping clovers ready, in case they wake up and put up a struggle," The Chief Candlemon ordered.

"Yes, chief!" The Candlemon with the chief Candlemon replied before going to get the sleeping clovers, whatever those were.

"Lopmon… we need to act…" Tommy whispered. "The Candlemon are getting something called 'sleeping clovers'."

"Hold on, let's not be rash," Lopmon whispered back. "They'll likely drag the others out first. We want them out in the open, so we can get them all out to safety at the same time. Otherwise they could get trapped and surrounded in those rocky buildings."

Tommy frowned, but now that he thought about it, Lopmon's plan made more sense. "Okay… But we can't wait too long… We don't know what the Candlemon have planned."

"Remember, Tommy, you're still only human. We need to think of how we'll get them out. The best way we can get them out…" Lopmon frowned.

Tommy looked up ahead. The Candlemon were fire based Digimon from what he deduced, so they likely couldn't handle water that well, despite living right next to a river. If they wanted to get the others out of harm's way, the best way was probably… shoving them into the river. That… was definitely not an ideal situation to be in. Waking up to being under cold water, not to mention the tiny, problematic fact that Tommy himself… didn't know how to swim. But I can't hesitate. If I hesitate, then we're all in trouble no matter what we do.

"Lopmon… will you help me?" Tommy asked.

"Of course, you do still need me after all," Lopmon replied.

The Candlemon began to slowly drag the others out from their rocky tents. JP, Zoe, and Takuya all appeared to still be sleeping. Patamon was being carried by one of the Candlemon since he was small.

Takuya snorted a little, feeling like something was wrong. He groggily began to open his eyes as there was a large fire being lit under a giant candle.

"W-whazzgoinon?" Takuya muttered to himself as he tried to shake off the cobwebs of sleep.

Takuya rubbed his eyes, and saw the Candlemon dancing around the flames, all of them holding what looked to be giant clovers in their hands.

"Huh? Keep it down, would you?" JP groggily said.

"I need my beauty sleep…" Zoe mumbled.

Patamon opened his eyes as well. "Why's it so hot all of a sudden? Could someone turn down the giant flame?"

Looks like they're all waking up. Tommy noted.

"Hey… what's going on?" Takuya asked as he was starting to wake up more.

"You claim to inherit the Spirit of Agunimon, have you? Bah! I don't believe it!" The Chief Candlemon spoke up, holding what looked like a giant match stick in his hand.

Takuya's eyes went wide when he realized he and the others were in serious trouble. Crud… Something was wrong after all! "W-wait! This has to be a misunderstanding!"

"Sir! The youngest human and Lopmon don't appear to be in their tent!" One of the Candlemon called out.

The chief Candlemon frowned. "The youngest human and that Lopmon must be looking for the artifact then!" He declared.

"Wait! What's going on!?" JP shouted, now fully awake himself. "Hey! Hey! I hope you're not planning to barbecue us!"

"Was this all a trick!?" Zoe shouted as well.

Patamon frowned before he used his wings to hit the Candlemon holding him, and he flew up. "Candlemon, explain yourself!"

"These humans, here to save us?" The chief Candlemon snorted. "That's just what they probably told you. I don't believe that one of these humans has the Spirit of Agunimon! That Spirit hasn't claimed any holder for generations!"

"Even so, that doesn't mean it's impossible! You're making a big mistake, Candlemon!" Patamon warned.

"You think so? We'll show you that these humans are nothing but trouble, Patamon. They might even be working for Cherubimon for all we know!" Chief Candlemon replied back.

The Chief raised his arm with the match stick. The other Candlemon threw their clovers into the fire, creating a fog of green. The Candlemon waved their arms, making the fog go towards the humans.

"What is this?" Zoe frowned as she felt her eyes starting to drop. "I suddenly… feel so sleepy…"

"Y-yeah… me too…" JP groaned. "At a time… like this too…"

"We… need to get… away from here…" Takuya said, feeling sleepy as well despite his attempts to stay awake.

"Now, Lopmon!" Tommy shouted.

Tommy and Lopmon ran to the group as fast as they could, surprising the Candlemon. Tommy tackled Takuya into the river, while Lopmon, despite being smaller than Tommy, was stronger than the average human, headbutted JP in the side to have him fall into the river. Lopmon would have to apologize about the horns likely jabbing at poor JP later. He grabbed onto Zoe's hand and pulled her quickly. This got Zoe awake enough to get on her feet and stumble into the river as well. Patamon, who had been flying above the fog of the sleeping clover, quickly dived into the river himself, just as Lopmon jumped into the river.

Tommy was sinking, however, as he didn't know how to swim. He let out bubbles from his mouth as he struggled to get to the surface.

Takuya felt Tommy was squirming while holding onto him, so the older boy grabbed Tommy and swam to the surface to get Tommy some air.

JP and Zoe surfaced first, both having been shocked awake by the icy cold river.

"That's one way to ruin a nap time…" JP grumbled. "This isn't turning out to be the restful night's sleep I was looking forward to."

"Ugh… Talk about a wake-up call…" Takuya grumbled before looking back at Tommy. "Are you okay, Tommy?"

"Y-yeah, thanks," Tommy replied back, glad for the air.

"No, thank you, you just saved our skins back there," Takuya said.

"Is everyone okay?" Lopmon asked as he and Patamon surfaced as well.

"Yeah… I think so." Zoe replied. "But the sudden dunking didn't do us any favors really, aside from waking us up again."

"It was the best way we can get you guys out of there," Tommy explained.

"What were you doing up at this time of night?" JP asked.

"Lava Loogie!" The Candlemon began firing fireballs at them from the air, trying to hit them.

"This isn't the time to be asking such questions! We need to get to safety!" Patamon called.

"Duck under the water!" Takuya instructed the rest of the group. "Then swim for it!"

The group all took deep breaths and ducked under water, swimming away from the Candlemon that were chasing them down.

Takuya was looking for a place where the group could hide out to try and plan, and he saw what looked like a secluded alcove in the cliff face. He gestured with his free hand that wasn't holding Tommy for the others to follow him.

The Candlemon continued to hop along looking for the group. "Find them!" One of the Candlemon shouted. "Don't let them get away!"

"So what are we going to do now?" JP asked in a hushed tone.

"I don't think these Candlemon are going to let us go so easily," Zoe warned.

"We can't just keep running." Takuya replied in a hushed town as well. "Someone has to distract them Candlemon, or at least prove them wrong about us. If I can just Spirit Evolve into Agunimon, maybe I can buy you guys some time to get Tommy to safety."

"Hold on, I don't remember electing you to be our leader here," JP protested. "If you go out there, you're going to get creamed!"

"JP's right, you're not very good at fighting yet," Zoe agreed. "If you get taken down, we won't be able to save you."

"Guys, I'm just going to slow you down, you should go on without me," Tommy said.

"No, that's not an option." Takuya replied back to Tommy. "Leaving you behind will only leave you in danger."

"Here they come! Duck!" Patamon warned.

They quickly held their breaths and pushed their heads underwater as the Candlemon began passing by. They were still looking for them. After a few seconds, they lifted their heads back up.

"We don't have a lot of options," Patamon said. "Look, I'll go with Takuya to back him up. Lopmon, you stay with the others to keep them safe."

"Okay… but are you sure about this?" Lopmon asked, worried.

Patamon smiled. "I'm sure. Don't worry about us. We can handle it."

"Just make sure you guys get Tommy out of here, okay?" Takuya requested as he pulled his goggles onto his eyes, for once they'll be useful.

Takuya and Patamon dived underwater, heading back to shore. JP turned to the others.

"Okay, let's try climbing out of here," JP said.

The group started to climb up the cliff behind them. Lopmon looked back at Takuya and Patamon as they were starting to climb out onto the shore. He turned back around and started climbing up the cliff with the rest of the group.

As the group was climbing up the cliff, they could hear the Candlemon had spotted Takuya and Patamon.

"I see one of them! It's the one who supposedly holds Agunimon's Spirit!" A Candlemon shouted. "Get him and Patamon!"

JP was the first one to make it to the top of the rocks. He helped Zoe and Tommy up as well. Lopmon jumped onto the top himself. They quickly watched to see Takuya holding his D-Tector, but he hadn't been able to Spirit Evolve yet. He was running from the Candlemon as they were spitting out their Lava Loogie at him. He tripped and fell, causing his D-Tector to fall to the ground.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shouted, shooting out the air bubble at the front of the Candlemon, knocking him back into the Candlemon behind him.

Seeing how he had a brief respite, Takuya ran and grabbed his D-Tector. Now with his D-Tector in hand, Takuya hoped he would be able to pull off his evolution this time. "Alright… Spirit Evolution time!" I hope…

Takuya held up his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed a ring of fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his canine teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Now evolved, Agunimon glared at the Candlemon that had tried to attack him and Patamon. "You just made a big mistake…" Agunimon growled out.

The Candlemon that had been chasing Takuya earlier stopped in their tracks when they saw Agunimon before them.

"Do you see now that we've been telling the truth?" Patamon pointed out.

"No way! This might just be a trick!" One of the Candlemon shouted. "We're not going to fall for it!"

"Can you fight all of us I wonder?" Another Candlemon sneered.

Agunimon felt something in his chest racing at the thought of fighting so many enemies at once. He had barely won against Cerberumon in his first fight, and that was with Patamon and Lopmon helping him! He gritted his teeth nervously, but he didn't back down. I can't just stand down… Tommy, Zoe, JP, and Lopmon need to get to safety. I'm the only one who can do this…

Regardless of how nervous he was, Agunimon got into a fighting stance in response to the challenge. "We'll just have to see then, won't we?"

The Candlemon jumped at Agunimon and Patamon.

"Lava Loogie!" The Candlemon shot out fireballs at the two Digimon.

Patamon yelped as he quickly flew away from the incoming fireballs to avoid getting scorched.

Agunimon saw the incoming fireballs, but he was able to knock the fireballs aside; the fireballs didn't do much damage to him since he was the Warrior of Flame. A smirk crossed Agunimon's lips. "Looks like your little fireballs won't do much against me." He said as he then slammed his fists together as fire formed on his fists. "Let's see how you like real fireballs! Pyro Punch!"

When Agunimon punched at the nearest Candlemon, the Candlemon fell back an inch or two, but he hardly looked phased from the attack. In fact… It looked like the fiery punch may have made the Candlemon stronger. The flame on its wick looked like it was burning brighter and hotter.

"Thanks for the juice~" The Candlemon grinned.

"Agunimon! Don't use fire on Candlemon!" Patamon shouted.

Agunimon paled. Crud… If I can't use my fire attacks… we're in trouble… That's my only offense! Agunimon felt sweat running down his exposed lower face in nervousness. "So much for that plan… I really need to not get overconfident…"

"You may be able to take fire, but can you take wax?" One of the Candlemon remarked.

"What?" Agunimon frowned.

"Paraffin Paralyzer!" The Candlemon shot out some kind of white hot wax at Agunimon.

Agunimon gasped and jumped to the side, avoiding getting the wax on his body. The wax sizzled as it landed on the ground. Crap! If that hits me, it won't be good…

The Candlemon tried again, shooting out more of the white hot wax from their bodies at Agunimon, who kept dodging, at least until he found himself backed against a wall, literally.

"Nowhere to run~" A Candlemon snickered before shooting out more wax. "Paraffin Paralyzer!"

Agunimon gasped as he felt the hot wax hitting his arms and legs. "Crap…"

The wax hardened really quickly, making it impossible for Agunimon to move. He tried to use his flames on the wax, but that only made the wax hot, it didn't let him move any easier.

"Agunimon!" Patamon called out.

"How do you like that?" Candlemon grinned.

The Candlemon began to gang up on Agunimon and started to throw more fire at him. Despite being the Warrior of Flame, Agunimon wasn't completely immune to fire attacks.

"Get away from him!" Patamon shouted as he flew at the group of Candlemon, tackling one of them to the ground, causing the others to scatter around.

"Patamon…" Agunimon grunted out. "G-get away from here… There are too many for you to handle…" Of all the tricks… I can't believe I fell for that…

Patamon didn't stop, however, he jumped up, avoiding a Lava Loogie from another Candlemon, and shot out a Boom Bubble at two of them. But one of them got behind Patamon and shot another Paraffin Paralyzer on him. Patamon yelped as hot wax hit his back and he hit the ground.

"They got both Agunimon and Patamon! How is this a fair fight?" JP frowned, having watched what was going on.

"We have to do something!" Zoe quickly said.

"What can we do? We're only human." Tommy frowned.

"I could try to help them, but I'll more likely end up covered in wax myself," Lopmon said worriedly.

"Surely there's a way we can help them. We have these D-Tector thingies like Takuya does, right?" JP said as he looked at his D-Tector and began pressing buttons on it.

"Maybe there's something in this cave we can use to he-aaah!" Zoe yelped as she stepped into the cave, only to slip on ice.

Tommy and JP reacted quickly, and caught Zoe before she could fall on her back.

"Are you okay, Zoe?" JP asked in concern.

"Y-yeah… Thanks…" Zoe replied, feeling better now that she wasn't slipping. Looking ahead, Zoe whistled. "Wow… Who knew there was an ice cave here? We should be safe from those Candlemon in here."

"Whoa…" Tommy blinked as he slipped a little on the ice.

"Careful Tommy, it's really slippery," Zoe warned.

Lopmon looked around. "How odd… why is there an icy cavern here of all places? In a village filled with fire Digimon?"

"Maybe this is where they kept that ancient artifact they were protecting?" Tommy guessed.

"I do remember something about an artifact in a frozen cave being mentioned." Zoe realized. "Is… Is this that very cave?"

"If it is, it's the perfect place to hide out from those hot-headed Digimon." JP grumbled.

"I don't know about that, if this is where they keep their precious artifact, won't they come in here to see if we tried to take it?" Tommy questioned.

"Besides, at this point, do you want to hide from the Candlemon? Knowing Takuya and Patamon are in danger?" Lopmon asked.

JP grumbled. "Hiding would be better, but I don't want to lose the only one who can defend us either…"

"Takuya needs our help." Zoe agreed. "We can't just hide away. There has to be something we can do!"

Tommy looked down as he took out his D-Tector. He wasn't sure why, but he kept having this feeling that he should be using it to help Takuya and Patamon somehow. But there wasn't anything he could do with it. JP and Zoe had been trying earlier, and nothing was happening. What difference would it make if he used his now?

They turned their attention back to the battlefield, getting out of the icy cavern. None of them were dressed for the cold anyways, Zoe was already freezing her butt off. They could see Agunimon was looking worse for wear as the Candlemon were now just tackling Agunimon as they seemed to be doing more damage than their fire attacks. Patamon struggled to get out of the wax, but one of the Candlemon kept an eye on him, and stood on top of the smaller Digimon to keep him from moving. And making it harder for Patamon to breathe, so he couldn't use his Boom Bubble attack.

Lopmon took a step forward before looking back at the group. "I'm going in. I can't just watch this anymore."

Zoe frowned before she sighed. "Then don't forget me. I'm coming too. I won't let this continue."

JP clenched his fists. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's ganging up on someone who can't fight back."

"I'll-" Tommy began.

"You should stay here, Tommy," Zoe spoke up.

"But I want to help too!" Tommy frowned.

"You'll only get in the way, squirt," JP said. "You should stay here and let us handle this."

Tommy looked like he was on the verge of pouting. "It's not fair! I have one of those D-Tector things too! I should be able to help in some way!"

"You all should stay here. I can't protect you three while fighting back at the same time," Lopmon spoke up. "Don't do anything reckless!"

Lopmon didn't stick around for them to argue, he jumped off from the hill, and used his ears to glide him towards the battlefield.

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon shot out his icy wind at the Candlemon that were crowded together on Agunimon.

The Candlemon yelped as the icy wind was freezing their bodies. When Lopmon got in close, he began spinning in the air.

"Tiny Twister!" Lopmon created a small light brown and pink tornado of himself.

The Tiny Twister that was Lopmon grabbed onto as many Candlemon as he could, spinning them around while slapping them multiple times with his ears. He then flew out of the little twister he created that would last a few seconds longer, keeping the Candlemon preoccupied, as he ran over to Patamon first.

"Hold on, I'll try to get you out of that," Lopmon quickly said.

Lopmon fired a weak Blazing Ice on the wax, trying to break it apart from the sudden coldness. With Patamon, it was easier, since there wasn't a lot of wax on him. With Agunimon, that was going to be a lot tricker. Which was why Lopmon started with Patamon first, he was going to need all the help he could get. Lopmon tore the frozen wax off of Patamon.

"Thanks, Lopmon." Patamon said gratefully. "I am seriously going to form a dislike of wax soon if I get hit by more of that stuff."

"We gotta get Agunimon out, but that's a lot of wax on him." Lopmon frowned.

"And you're not done dealing with us!" Candlemon shouted as the twister had died down.

"Oooh, you're making us really heated!" A Candlemon in the front of the group growled.

Lopmon and Patamon stood in front of Agunimon, wanting to protect him from these Candlemon.

"Stand aside, Patamon, Lopmon, you aren't our targets, the human children are!" The front Candlemon pointed out.

"These children are our responsibilities for as long as they need us," Lopmon stated.

"If you want them, you'll have to go through us first," Patamon finished.

"Aww, you must care for them then. How cute, but it will only doom you to be reborn." The front Candlemon said.

Agunimon felt his face growing pale. "Patamon, Lopmon, just get out of here!" He pleaded. "It's not worth it!"

"Really? Protecting one of the wielders of the Legendary Warriors isn't worth it? Get your priorities straight," Lopmon grumbled.

"Lava Loogie!" The Candlemon shouted, shooting out fireballs.

Patamon and Lopmon jumped away from the fireballs.

"Get some new tricks guys! You're getting predictable!" Patamon taunted.

"And you don't like the cold, do you? Well, have a bit of taste of my Blazing Ice!" Lopmon fired more icy winds from his mouth, this time he aimed for the flames on their wick.

The flames looked to be in distress as they were dimming from the icy wind, weakening the Candlemon considerably.

Unfortunately for Lopmon, there were more Candlemon where that came from. He was hit by a Lava Loogie from the side.

"Ow!" Lopmon groaned, rubbing his singed side.

"I've got this! Boom Bubble!" Patamon blasted the Candlemon that hit Lopmon with his air bubble, causing them to hit the rocky cliff's wall.

"The two of them seem to be working pretty well together," Zoe noted, watching the fight from the rocky hill.

"Yeah, but even so, they are still only two Digimon against a village of Candlemon." JP frowned. "The sheer numbers will overwhelm them if we don't do something to help."

"We need to find a way to free Agunimon. If we can do that, then we may have a chance." Zoe realized.

Tommy was frowning as he watched the two fight. They were small compared to Agunimon, and their power wasn't as impressive. But even so, they stood by Agunimon to fight when he couldn't. Despite the fact they weren't strong enough, they kept trying.

"Alright, I've had enough of you two! It's time to take this to the next level!" One of the Candlemon growled, the one in front.

Fractal code surrounded the Candlemon. Lopmon and Patamon's eyes went wide in shock and horror.

"Crap!" Patamon hissed.

"What's happening?" Agunimon frowned.

"That Candlemon is digivolving." Lopmon frowned.

"You mean the Candlemon is getting stronger?" Agunimon asked, hoping he was wrong.

"That is what digivolution tends to do," Lopmon grumbled.

When the fractal code dissipated, there was a new Digimon in Candlemon's place. This Digimon wore a blue hat that had a white skull above the brim with a black band behind the skull itself. The Digimon's hair was sandy blonde and the skin was a light, almost pale, blue color. The eyes were blue, and the Digimon had a blue cape with a high collar covering the mouth. The inside of the cape had odd symbols on it, and the Digimon had a pale yellow jumpsuit on with a ton of zippers scattered all over the jump suit. The gloves and boots were brown in color, and the jumpsuit had red accents on the chest and on the left leg. In the Digimon's right hand was a wand/scepter of some kind as well. The wand top was a golden color and shaped like a sun too.

"What is that?' Agunimon gulped.

"That's Wizardmon from the looks of it!" Patamon frowned. "A wizard Digimon, Champion level, capable of using different types of magic."

"Great, we go from a fire candle to a wizard, because that makes sense," Lopmon sarcastically grumbled.

Agunimon gritted his teeth. Dang it… if only I could move…

"Okay… I don't think a Candlemon turning into a wizard is a good thing…" Zoe frowned, having seen the evolution taking place. "I didn't know Digimon could change forms like that!"

"It doesn't matter. We still have to help them out!" Tommy exclaimed.

"And how are we going to do that? Lopmon told us to stay here." JP frowned.

"Let's see how well you two can deal with me!" Wizardmon said to Lopmon and Patamon. "Electro Squall!"

Waving his wand around, Wizardmon summoned lightning, which struck down on Lopmon and Patamon. Neither had a chance to get out of the way.

Agunimon paled in the face, feeling his form shaking. "No… Patamon, Lopmon…" He said softly, feeling scared now. If this was what happened to the two Rookie-level Digimon, what did that mean for him?!

Agunimon attempted to break out of the wax that was still holding him down. The other Candlemon noticed this and began shooting out more Lava Loogie attacks at him.

"None of you stand a chance against us. You're not worthy to hold the Spirit of a Legendary Warrior, human!" Wizardmon accused as he glared at Agunimon. "Especially since you let two young Digimon fight for you."

Tommy frowned as he saw Agunimon getting hurt, and both Lopmon and Patamon were on the ground, injured. This can't go on… someone has to do something.

A strange image flashed before the young boy's eyes. For a moment, he saw different people with different Digimon being overwhelmed by Candlemon. Tommy blinked, shaking his head. He didn't recognize those people, or Digimon… and yet… he felt like he should. They felt… familiar somehow.

That wasn't important anyway, what was important was that the friends he made now, the ones who could fight, were down and in trouble. He may be a little kid, but if there was something he could do, then he shouldn't hesitate. Tommy looked down at the river below, even though they had a Wizardmon with them, most of them were still fire-based Digimon. They may not take too well with water.

"Okay, that's it," Tommy said.

"What?" Zoe frowned.

Tommy jumped and slid down the rocky hill.

"H-hey! Are you crazy!? Get back here!" JP shouted.

"They need our help! And I won't just be a little kid who gets in the way!" Tommy shouted back as he ran into the river.

Thankfully, this part of the river was shallow, so Tommy didn't have to worry about drowning here. He was up to his waist, and he took off his hat and filled it with water. He threw the water at the Candlemon, to weaken and distract them.

"Get away from my friends!" Tommy shouted. "Don't hurt them anymore!"

One of the Candlemon jumped back from the water that was thrown in its direction. "Hey! That's wet!"

Tommy kept throwing water at the Candlemon. "Then leave my friends alone!"

Up in the icy cave's area, something beneath the ice glowed, making Zoe and JP look back behind them in confusion and surprise.

"W-what's that glowing, and where is it coming from?" Zoe asked, confused and nervous.

"I think… it's from beneath the ice!" JP realized.

The ice broke, revealing a figurine that floated up from underneath it. The figurine looked like a white bear that had a headband that was green, a red shoulder guard on the right side, and a gray one on the left side. It sat on a hexagonal base.

"Whoa…" JP blinked in awe. "Is that this artifact the Candlemon mentioned?"

"If it was here, then it must be." Zoe realized. "But what is it?"

"Another… Spirit maybe?" JP frowned.

"You think so?" Zoe blinked.

"Enough of this foolishness, human!" Wizardmon shouted, irritated at the water Tommy was splashing his comrades with.

"T… Tommy…" Lopmon weakly said as he lifted his head up to see Tommy at the river.

"Play time's over, kid! Electro Squall!" Wizardmon shouted as he summoned the lightning attack at Tommy.

"Tommy!" The others shouted in worry.

Tommy shut his eyes and braced himself.

The figurine flew out of the cave and down to the river, coming to a halt right in front of Tommy. The figurine blocked the lightning attack completely, canceling it out before it even touched Tommy or the water he was in.

"What is that?" Agunimon blinked, shocked that Tommy was not only okay, but this strange figurine just protected him. Is that… another Spirit?

Agunimon definitely felt a familiar power radiating off of that figurine.

"It can't be… the artifact we've been protecting for generations…" Wizardmon said in shock. "It's reacting… to the boy?"

Patamon looked up from his position on the ground as well. "Could it be…?"

"Y-yeah… I think so…" Lopmon replied quietly.

Tommy opened his eyes, feeling the water had gotten a lot colder. He saw the strange bear-like figurine floating in front of him. It was unfamiliar… and yet it felt like he was seeing an old friend after a long time.

"Did… you save me?" Tommy asked.

A transparent form appeared before Tommy. The form looked like a humanoid white bear wearing the same armor on the figurine, and it had brown eyes, along with green and red boots on its feet and a gray weapon on its back.

Tommy stared, recognizing the base the figurine was on. "Is that… another Spirit?"

As if in a trance, Tommy had a flash enter his mind of himself merging with the bear-like form. Small snowflakes appeared in Tommy's eyes, as if he was being drawn to the figurine.

Tommy had been on the fence about the whole 'turning into a Digimon' thing. But right here, right now, that didn't matter to him. He knew what he had to do, especially if he wanted to protect his friends. He pulled out his D-Tector and held it out to the figurine. The D-Tector shot out a beam of light at the figurine, pulling it into it. Once that was done, Tommy saw one of the symbols from the wall appearing on the screen of his D-Tector.

"It is time." The familiar woman's voice said.

The light green digital form of his first Spirit appeared on the screen of his D-Tector and he formed the familiar ring of fractal coding around his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. He lost his hair and his body became white as snow. His fingers became like paws almost and he gained a more cub-like appearance to his body. Green chest armor formed on his body and his feet gained green and red boots. A headband that had the image of a bear on it formed on his head, and he gained a shoulder pad on each side, but one was red while the other was gray in color. He slid down and landed as a mushy pile before he reformed and grinned, calling out his name. "Kumamon!"

Zoe and JP, having seen the evolution from the cave, were in shock.

"That's amazing!" Zoe exclaimed. "That Spirit must've been meant for Tommy!"

"That's impossible!" JP exclaimed. "Err… The evolution thing happening to another one of us anyway…"

Agunimon was also in shock. Did Tommy just… Spirit Evolve too?

Despite being his first time being a Digimon, Kumamon knew what he had to do, and what he could do. He got out of the water, and ran into the battlefield. "Alright, you were able to take on Lopmon's ice. Let's see how well you deal with my ice!"

The Candlemon frowned, but they began charging at Kumamon.

"Crystal Breeze!" Kumamon fired out a much stronger icy wind than Lopmon was able to, completely freezing all the remaining Candlemon. "There, now they won't interfere. It's just you and me now, Wizardmon."

Wizardmon growled before he launched himself at Kumamon in a kick. "We'll see about that, teddy!" He exclaimed as he kicked Kumamon back.

Kumamon hardly looked phased by the kick, in fact, Wizardmon quickly realized trying to attack this bear with a physical attack was a mistake. Kumamon's body was very malleable, and he had Wizardmon's foot stuck in his side. Wizardmon's eyes went wide as Kumamon smirked at him.

Kumamon grabbed a gun from his back and aimed it at Wizardmon's face. Though Kumamon didn't call out the name of his attack, he fired out snowballs from the gun at a rapid pace. This pelted and covered Wizardmon's face in snow until his foot wiggled out of Kumamon's body.

"Ugh… Talk about a sneaky bear…" Wizardmon grumbled as he shook his head to get the snow off of it.

"Kumamon! Be careful!" Agunimon warned. "Wizardmon's stronger in this new form of his!"

"You keep quiet!" Wizardmon shouted as he aimed an Electro Squall at Agunimon.

Agunimon let out a gasp as he shut his eyes. But he didn't feel any pain. Instead, he heard someone else crying out in pain. He opened his eyes, and was shocked to see Kumamon was in front of him, taking the electric attack himself. Kumamon let out a shout of pain before hitting the ground.

"Kumamon!" Agunimon cried. He was shaking badly at what he was seeing. First Patamon and Lopmon, and now Tommy?! "Please… don't do this… Please, get up!"

"Hah! Legendary Warrior or not, you're no match against me!" Wizardmon snickered.

Kumamon looked up at Agunimon. "It's not… over yet… I saw what Lopmon was doing…"

"Huh?" Agunimon frowned.

Kumamon aimed the gun at Agunimon. "Sorry… this might… be a little cold."

Kumamon fired the snowballs at Agunimon, or more specifically, at the wax that was covering Agunimon. With the coldness hardening the wax to a brittle point, Agunimon found he could easily break through the wax now.

Agunimon found he could move again, and wasted no time in breaking free of the wax. "Thanks." He said with a small smile to Kumamon. "I was really in a tight spot back there."

Wizardmon growled as he began to approach the two Legendary Warriors. "You may have freed your friend, but you will not keep a hold on the Spirits for long!"

"Well you're not made of fire anymore, so you're no longer immune to my attacks! Nor can you spew out wax to trap me! Kumamon already frozen the rest of your buddies," Agunimon stated.

"Don't think I'm out of tricks just yet!" Wizardmon hissed.

Wizardmon waved his wand and suddenly created several illusions of himself. "See if you can find the real me! All the while I'll be attacking you! Electro Squall!"

Agunimon gasped as all of the Wizardmon shot their lightning at him.

Agunimon grabbed Kumamon and dodged the attacks by jumping to the side. The two Digimon landed on the ground, Agunimon on his back and holding Kumamon close to his armored chest. "Ugh… This is so not my day…"

Agunimon looked back at all the Wizardmon. He tried to kick the nearest one, but his foot only went through it.

"You'll never be able to tell which one's the real me! You might as well give up!" Wizardmon sneered.

Agunimon gritted his teeth.

"Stay calm, Agunimon," Kumamon whispered from his back. "There's a solution to this."

"But what?" Agunimon frowned.

Kumamon looked up at the other Wizardmon. "Keep fighting him."

Agunimon frowned, but nodded. "Okay…" He said as he let go of Kumamon. Agunimon then got to his feet and into a fighting stance. I hope whatever Kumamon had planned works…

Agunimon had fire form on his fists and he punched at the closest Wizardmon, hoping to get a hit on the real one. Agunimon couldn't get the real Wizardmon, all of his attacks went through any Wizardmon he targeted. This was getting him nowhere. Lopmon and Patamon frowned as they watched. Lopmon looked at the illusions as Wizardmon used another Electro Squall, and for a brief moment, he saw only one shadow. But it was too brief, and the Wizardmon were too scattered.

I see what you're doing, Kumamon. Lopmon realized. "Agunimon! Jump up as high as you can!"

Agunimon glanced at Lopmon and nodded. He crouched down before jumping up as high as he could. If Lopmon had a plan, then he had to trust the smaller Digimon.

Seeing this, all the illusions gathered into a circle as they held out their wands. "You just trapped yourself! Electro Squall!"

As the lightning flashed, that was when Kumamon saw it. Only one Wizardmon had a shadow.

"Down there, at 12 o'clock, Agunimon. Only one has a shadow," Kumamon pointed out.

Agunimon glanced down and saw what Kumamon was talking about. He smirked when he realized this had to be the real Wizardmon. "Thanks!" He called back before he then flipped in the air, coating his left foot in fire as he brought it down in a drop kick right at Wizardmon. "Game… over!"

Agunimon felt something solid hitting his foot, which made him grin as it just confirmed this was indeed the real Wizardmon. Wizardmon let out a yell of pain.

"M-Magic… Heal-"

Kumamon jumped off of Agunimon's back before Wizardmon could use his healing spell on himself, turning himself into an icy tundra and landing on Wizardmon's wand, making him unable to use it. "I don't think so."

"W-wah!? My wand!" Wizardmon yelled.

Lopmon and Patamon managed to get to their feet and walked up behind Wizardmon.

"Remember us?" Patamon grinned.

"Time to finish it," Agunimon said. "Pyro Darts!"

"Crystal Breeze!"

"Boom Bubble!"

"Blazing Ice!"

All the attacks hit Wizardmon, who had no chance of escape. Wizardmon cried out as a ring of code appeared around his body.

Agunimon looked at the ring of code before glancing at Kumamon. "I think you can do this one, Kumamon." He said, gently nudging Kumamon.

Kumamon looked at Agunimon, who gave a small smile and nodded.

Kumamon looked at the ring of code again and knew what he had to do. He held up his D-Tector. "This magic show is over!" Kumamon declared as he pressed the button on the side of the D-Tector, the symbol for Ice appearing on the screen as the scanner at the top lit up. Kumamon swung his arm, dragging the scanner across the fractal code. The code now collected, the scanner went dark.

Instead of turning back into an egg, however, Wizardmon just simply turned back into a Candlemon.

"YAY!" Zoe cheered, and said something in Italian.

"Yeah! What she said!" JP cheered as well.

"Whew… looks like we won, I hope," Lopmon said.

Agunimon smiled down at Kumamon. "You did well out there, Kumamon."

"Thanks, Agunimon. I'm glad I could help." Kumamon smiled back.

The other Candlemon, the ones that had stayed out of the battle, were trying to defrost their warriors.

"Well, I guess this proves they really are worthy of being Legendary Warriors after all," One of the Candlemon said.

"Yes. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't believe it." The Chief Candlemon agreed. "The two of them really did prove themselves today. Especially since Kumamon has chosen the boy before our very eyes."

"So does this mean you're done trying to chase us?" Patamon asked.

"Of course, you may relax now," The Chief Candlemon confirmed.

Upon hearing this, both Agunimon and Kumamon surrounded themselves with fractal code, changing back to their human selves.

"Takuya and little Tommy, two boys who are chosen by the Legendary Warriors," The Chief Candlemon remarked in awe.

Both boys blushed.

"Heh, now you two are becoming celebrities," Lopmon chuckled.

"I don't want to be a celebrity though…" Takuya pouted. "I'm not that comfortable with the idea…"

"Well, get used to it, because as a holder of a Legendary Warrior's Spirit, you will be considered as such." Patamon snickered.

Takuya grumbled.

"Oh, uh… that Spirit though," Tommy spoke up as realization hit him. "Wasn't that the ancient artifact you guys had been guarding? Is it really alright for me to just take it away?"

"The Spirit of Kumamon couldn't be in better hands." The Chief Candlemon replied with a smile. "I think Kumamon would appreciate being able to help save the Digital World."

"Besides, the Spirit of Kumamon has chosen you. It'd be difficult to get it away from you after that," Lopmon added with a chuckle.

Tommy blushed. "Y-yeah, I guess so."

A little bit later, the Candlemon gathered back up in the heart of the village. JP and Zoe joined up with the rest of them. Some of the Candlemon gave some medical herbs to Patamon and Lopmon to heal some of their wounds and burns from the battle earlier, since they couldn't just 'revert back to human' to heal like with Takuya and Tommy.

"I must apologize to you all," The Chief Candlemon said. "The truth is, we believed you might've possessed the Spirit of Agunimon, but we had to be sure if you were truly worth wielding it. After all, the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors could fall into the wrong hands, and then we'd all be in trouble. I'm sorry we didn't trust you, especially since you have Patamon and Lopmon with you."

"So you're saying all of this was just a test?" Tommy deadpanned.

"Be glad I'm not in the mood to snuff your wicks out." Takuya huffed. "That was a sneaky trick."

"Jeez, you nearly roasted us alive with that!" JP grumbled.

"Heh, sorry again, you have every right to be angry," Chief Candlemon chuckled sheepishly. "But it was more than just a test. We also wanted to see if the Spirit of Kumamon would react to any of you as well. And the best way to do that is for the Spirit to see what you would do if someone you care about is in danger. If we hadn't done that, there was a good chance Kumamon wouldn't have reacted at all."

"I guess I can see why testing us was a good idea, but it was still dangerous to the rest of us." Zoe huffed in annoyance. "I mean we're not as durable as Digimon, one stray fire or thunder bolt would've killed us."

"At least it didn't turn out that way," Patamon said.

"By the way, if you want to get across the ravine, you should render the fractal code you took from Wizardmon," Chief Candlemon explained, looking at Tommy. "Wizardmon took the fractal code in order to protect our village when Cherubimon started taking over the Digital World. However, that time has passed, now that the Legendary Warriors are waking up once more. We hope that this bridge will guide you to where you need to go."

Tommy blinked before taking his D-Tector out and pushed a button on it.

"Fractal code, rendered." A woman's voice spoke up from the D-Tecot just as the long stream of code went up to the broken bridge.

The fractal code created the bridge, making it look as good as new, including the train tracks on it.

"Wow! I guess coming down here was worth it after all!" Takuya grinned.

"Yeah, but now it means more walking…" JP groaned.

"So this will lead us to the Forest Terminal, won't it?" Patamon asked.

"Yes, but the journey is still long and perilous. You will likely run into Cherubimon's minions or corruption," Chief Candlemon warned. "So prepare yourselves, my friends."

"Hey, we can handle it!" Takuya said. "We've got a long way to go, but I think we can get there."

Zoe giggled. "Well, I for one can't wait until we get going again."

"I don't, we still can't quite defend ourselves, Zoe," JP huffed.

"Come on, JP, don't be such a sour puss. Or maybe you're just jealous that Tommy found his Spirit?" Zoe teased.

"Oh, come on, why would I care about that? I just don't like to do more walking," JP grumbled.

"Hey… we can help keep you guys safe, especially now that Takuya and Tommy can use their powers as Digimon to help us too," Lopmon said, trying to keep things light.

Patamon nodded. "Yeah, we're not letting the two boys get all the glory!"

Just then, a loud sound that sounded like a train horn echoed, making the group look up as a Trailmon was observed crossing the bridge.

"Looks like someone else gets to cross that bridge first," Zoe noted.

"They sure got lucky that the bridge was fixed before the Trailmon went through then," Lopmon remarked.

"Yeah, but I wonder who it could be that's going across the bridge." Takuya wondered. "I don't think any Trailmon have been this way in a long time,"

"Well, whoever crossed it, I'm sure we'll likely see them later," Patamon remarked. "For now, maybe we should stay the night."

Patamon looked back at the Candlemon Chief. "Of course, that is assuming you don't plan to do any more tests on us, do you?"

"No, no." The Chief Candlemon chuckled sheepishly. "No more tests, I promise."

"Good." Patamon smiled.

"The tents are still free for you all to use as you wish," The Candlemon Chief stated. "We promise we won't bother you anymore, you've proven yourselves to us."

Tommy smiled before he looked at Lopmon. "Would you mind… sleeping with me again?"

"Of course I don't mind, Tommy." Lopmon smiled. "It looks like you feel a little happier now than before."

"I do?" Tommy asked, surprised. "I just… I didn't want anyone else to get hurt because they had to protect me… and for once, I was able to really help."

"Good. Don't forget about that feeling," Lopmon said.

Tommy smiled back. "I won't. And thanks… for your help…"

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: We have a new chapter today. I wonder how this story is.

ZAFT: Seems to be getting a lot of faves and follows, but few reviews… ^^' At least people are reading it if they are following and faving. :3

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I guess so. But anyway, once we reach a certain point, depending on if people like it enough or not, we may take a little bit of a break. Since we've been slowing down after we reached a certain point.

ZAFT: Very true. Well, let's get to the chapter posted! XD

Chapter 4: A Chill In the Air

On the Trailmon that had passed over the bridge continued its run, in one of the passenger cars, Koji and Labramon were sitting on one of the benches. It hadn't been hard to find a Trailmon to head to this Forest Terminal, but it was hard to get the Trailmon to actually take the two of them there. Luckily, Labramon knew how to bargain with the Trailmon, she had some money on her to get a ticket to take them to a place called Breezy Village, which would take them closer to the Forest Terminal.

The Trailmon had been going on for hours. The sun had long since gone down. Labramon fell asleep, curled up next to Koji, and Trailmon wasn't one for conversation. Koji was alone with his thoughts.

Koji lifted up his D-Tector and eyed it curiously as he remembered the words that had come over it. "You must go to the Forest Terminal."

"The Forest Terminal?" Koji muttered to himself. "Sure, why not?" He wasn't exactly happy that he wasn't getting much information on what was going on or why he had to do these things he was being asked to do.

Koji looked over at Labramon. She was a Digimon, but she looked like a normal dog, save for maybe the magenta colors. He thought to himself, wondering what made him decide to take her with him since he didn't want anyone else to follow him. While he had a dog himself, he still wondered what possessed him to take a Digimon with him. It wasn't like he couldn't handle himself without her. But ever since he ended up in this strange Digital World, he felt like something was missing, and it kind of agitated him a little.

But why? Koji wondered to himself. Why do I feel like something is missing? It feels like I need to be here to find out what it is… This is going to be some kind of quest, isn't it?

Before long, the Trailmon eventually came to a stop. "This is Breezy Village. I've taken you to the destination of your ticket, so you should get out now. I gotta head to a rest station and turn in for the night."

The doors opened up. Koji shook Labramon a little to wake her up.

"Hmm?" Labramon groggily blinked her eyes open.

"We need to get off the Trailmon." Koji stated as he gestured for her to follow him out of the train. "I think we could find a place to get some sleep once we get off. I doubt you want to sleep on the train all night."

Labramon yawned before she stood up and stretched herself for a moment before hopping off of the seats, and followed Koji out of the Trailmon's car.

Once the two of them were out, Trailmon closed the doors and took off down the track. Labramon looked around, but it was too dark to see much of anything.

"I can't really see the village like this." Labramon frowned. "Too bad, we could've slept on some beds tonight if we knew where the village was."

"I think I see a bench close by." Koji noted as he pointed it out. "We could sleep on that. It's better than sleeping on the ground anyway."

Labramon raised an eyebrow as she saw Koji sitting down on the bench. She walked over and hopped onto the bench as well, sitting beside Koji. The bench itself was wooden and pretty hard. It wasn't quite as comfy as the seats in the Trailmon, but it would do.

"Are you sure you can sleep like this?" Labramon asked.

"I can sleep fine." Koji replied. "As long as you are next to me."

Labramon was a little surprised by the compliment, and blushed a little. "Y-you really have that much faith in me, huh?"

Koji blushed as well. "I… I just need someone to sleep with me, given I'm in a new world and all. I don't… really trust myself to be able to wake up suddenly if there is an attack." He muttered. "I… need someone to watch my back…"

"Heh, for someone who wants to be alone, you sure like having company with you," Labramon chuckled.

"I just don't like being around other people that much," Koji huffed. "Now are we going to sleep or what?"

"Sure, sure, we'll get some sleep," Labramon replied, still smiling.

BlackGatomon had her eyes closed. She and Duskmon had a stroll earlier, but it was rather boring. There wasn't much to see other than trees and glowing moss. And Duskmon wasn't much of a conversationalist. She was trying to get some sleep as she leaned against a wall. There weren't any beds here as far as BlackGatomon could see. Luckily, she was a feline Digimon, so like with cats in the real world, she could pretty much sleep anywhere.

However, her ears twitched a little when she heard some voices talking to each other. They sounded whispered and soft, but thanks to her big, cat-like ears, she was able to hear them.

"Really now? You're going to wake up the whole dang forest with your annoying earthquakes," A feminine voice with a southern accent complained. "I need my beauty sleep, don'tcha know? And you're ruining that."

"Getting back is main objective, so you stop complaints!" A male voice replied in broken speech in a huff.

"I hope you don't start thinkin' you're all that just because you found your Beast Spirit," The feminine voice grumbled. "Learn to control that dang thing so you don't start spilling my water bed all over the place!"

"Me working on it! Not easy to control, you know." The male voice grumbled. "But me making progress on it."

"Good. And while you've been off eating rocks, and whatnot, Lord Cherubimon gave us a new recruit," The feminine voice informed. "But here's the strange thing… you know how all of us are Legendary Warriors, right? This one isn't a Legendary Warrior at all. So I don't know what Lord Cherubimon was thinking there."

"That odd, me think. Never had non-Legendary Warrior join us before." The male voice retorted.

"I guess Lord Cherubimon thought she'd make for a good pet, though admittedly it is nice to have another girl Digimon around here," The feminine voice remarked.

"Hey, hey, would you two keep you's voices down? I'm tryin' to sleep here, right?" Another male voice spoke up, sounding a little irritated.

"Me not trying to be loud…" The first male voice retorted grumpily. "Me kept voice down…"

"Well you're not doing a very good job," The other male voice grumbled.

BlackGatomon jumped down from where she was, and walked over to the 3 Digimon who were talking. The first Digimon was a small gnome like Digimon, with tan skin and green eyes. The Digimon had red markings under his eyes and on his nose and lower arms. He wore grayish blue armor and had a dark tan hat that had a grayish blue spiked ball at the end of it. On his chest armor was a symbol of some kind, like the Kanji for Earth.

The second Digimon was female and had light aqua-colored skin and red eyes. She had a darker blue outfit on that looked like a swimsuit, and her hat looked like a squid's head top. She had red orbs on her hat and on her gloves too.

The last Digimon looked like a wooden android with gears in the elbows, knees, and torso, and this Digimon had a giant mouth below its eyes, which were yellow beads of color.

"Hello," BlackGatomon greeted. "You must be the other warriors I've heard about. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm BlackGatomon, the new recruit."

The other 3 Digimon looked at BlackGatomon for a moment.

"Well… aren't you the cutie pie?" The female, aquatic Digimon snickered. "Though I suppose it's only fair I introduce myself to the little cute recruit. You may already know me anyways, hon, but I'm Ranamon, the Legendary Warrior of Water."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Arbormon, Warrior of Wood, nice to meetcha," The wooden android Digimon stated.

"Me Grumblemon, Warrior of Earth." The gnome-like Digimon introduced. "You new recruit, huh? Me not impressed."

BlackGatmon put the back of her paws on her hips. "You guys haven't made the best of first impressions either. Really, arguing like Rookie Digimon in the middle of the night."

Grumblemon and Ranamon had the decency to look embarrassed to say the least. Arbormon chuckled. "Yous guys really don't know how to lower your voices to let others sleep."

"I'm not taking that talk to me, especially by the new recruit who isn't even a Legendary Warrior!" Ranamon huffed.

"What, just because I don't have a fancy title like you, I'm considered not good enough in your books?" BlackGatomon replied back.

"You tiny, no muscle to you at all," Grumblemon pointed out.

"You're not exactly a giant yourself, short stack," BlackGatmon hissed back.

Ranamon actually laughed. "She's got you there, Grumblemon~"

Arbormon chuckled as well. "Seems yous got quite the attitude, Yous will fit in righ' at home 'ere."

Grumblemon lived up to his name and grumbled unhappily.

"I like your spunk, rookie. It's rare to have a fellow girl to talk to, what with these muscle-heads all around all the time." Ranamon grinned.

BlackGatomon grinned. "I know what you mean. Although, since you are wondering if I'm really meant to be here, I could spar with one of you, show you how tough I can truly be. After all, this kitty may look cute, but she's got some claws."

Ranamon chuckled. "Sounds like you're hankering for some chance to get payback! You'll fit in just fine!"

"Whatever," Grumblemon grumbled.

"Perhaps we could take you up on that offer, but for tonight, we should get some rest, right?" Arbormon remarked.

"Sure, just as long as you don't start arguing again," BlackGaromon remarked.

"At least you're a lot livelier than Duskmon," Ranamon stated.

"He isn't one for conversations," BlackGatomon agreed. "But one of these days I'll get Sir Eyeballs to open up."

Ranamon actually laughed at that nickname. "'Sir Eyeballs'? That's a perfect nickname for him!" She cried out in laughter.

"Great… they already bonding…" Grumblemon huffed.

"Ain't that beautiful?" Arbormon chuckled.

"Me just want rest… No girl talk." Grumblemon groaned. "Me tired from trying to control Beast Spirit."

Meanwhile, Labramon woke up to something. She sensed someone coming nearby. She looked over at Koji for a moment, seeing he was still asleep. She looked up, seeing a small shadow in the sky, and coming in for a landing. She didn't feel the need to wake Koji up, because she knew this Digimon.

"I was wondering where you went off to… Biyomon," Labramon said quietly as the figure landed, revealing themselves to be a familiar pink bird.

"Sorry… I just… needed to keep my distance for a while." The pink bird, Biyomon, replied. "It also didn't feel like the… um… right time to reveal myself to them."

"Would you want to? After all, Lopmon did say it was best we didn't get too attached to them… especially when the time for us to leave them comes," Labramon whispered solemnly. "Is that why… you've been keeping your distance?"

"Yeah…" Biyomon replied. "I don't want to… form a close friendship with any of them…"

"But keeping your distance hasn't been helping much either, has it?" Labramon said.

"Not really. It's been lonely," Biyomon admitted. "I was surprised when I saw you, Patamon, and even Lopmon staying with the kids. I've been thinking about what to do lately. I wanted to find Kokuwamon, we sent him out days ago to scout ahead, but we haven't seen him since. I'm worried about him, but… if something did happen to him, I doubt I'd be able to save him on my own."

"Do you think you'll try to stay with the group then?" Labramon asked.

"Honestly, I… don't know…" Biyomon sighed, rubbing her beak with a wing. "I'm tired of flying solo… but I don't think it's wise to get too close to them either… yet you're here, with the supposed loner of the group, despite knowing what we'll have to do."

"Yes, but in the end, they are just kids. They'll need our help regardless." Labramon replied.

"Do they though? There's only two of them left who have yet to claim their Spirits," Biyomon pointed out. "And I'm sure they'll get their Spirits before long. Would they really need us then?"

"Remember the rules, Biyomon? It's not until after they all gain their-" Labramon began to say, but Biyomon interrupted her.

"I know… I know, but… still… even with just their current Spirits, they're already leagues above us. They are Legendary Warriors after all…" Biyomon sighed. "The last thing I want to feel is useless, and just being in the way."

"Try telling that to Patamon and Lopmon." Labramon chuckled. "They were helping as best they could with the loner of the group, despite knowing the rules."

"It's-" Biyomon tried to say, but bubbles came out of her beak.

"Remember? We can't say their true names…" Labramon pointed out. "We… can't say our true names. The rules forbid us to."

"Right…" Biyomon frowned. "What I meant to say is that they're naturally… heroic. Of course they weren't going to just stand by and watch, it's just not a part of their nature. But I'm different. I haven't done anything to help them at all."

"You're not helpless, Biyomon. You just need to remember they are friends, and we need to help them anyway." Labramon pointed out.

"I barely know them," Biyomon argued. "And they barely know me. I'd rather keep it that way."

"Well… I can't make your choice for you," Labramon sighed. "What do you plan to do now?"

"I don't know. I'm gonna look for the village, and stay there for the night," Biyomon sighed tiredly. "I'll think of something after I've had a good night's rest, and a nice meal. I'll see you later, Labramon… Good luck with Koji."

"Okay… Just be safe, Biyomon." Labramon said softly.

Biyomon flapped her wings and flew up into the air, heading deeper into the forest to look for Breezy Village, leaving Labramon alone with a sleeping Koji. Labramon gave a small sigh. "I hope she comes around before long…"

When the sun reached into the sky, turning the night to day, Takuya, Tommy, Zoe, JP, Patamon, and Lopmon continued their way to the Forest Terminal. They left the Candlemon village. They were able to eat a nice fish meal with the Candlemon. However, as the hours dragged on, and morning turned into noon, the group ate some of their canned food for lunch. They couldn't afford to get too hungry, especially if they needed to fight. In Tommy and Takuya's case, they would need their energy to Spirit Evolve.

"We've been walking for hours," JP grumbled. "Are we there yet?"

"Let's see, what's wrong with this picture?" Takuya asked. "Desert looking wasteland… Forest Terminal. I'd say no, we are not there yet, JP."

"Sounds like something you'd say," Patamon nudged at Lopmon.

"Hush you," Lopmon grumbled. "And that doesn't sound like me at all."

"Oh, I think it does." Patamon teased back. "You'd totally say something like that~"

"I do not!" Lopmon huffed, reaching over at Patamon to pinch him.

Patamon flew up, easily avoiding Lopmon's little hands.

"No fair!" Lopmon grumbled, though he was too tired to complain too much.

Unlike Patamon, who could fly to rest his legs, and walk to rest his wings, Lopmon could only walk. His short legs weren't meant for walking long distances. "I knew I should've saved up some cash to buy Trailmon tickets…"

"Hey, the Trailmon tickets are expensive. We have to save what money we have." Patamon retorted.

"But at least with Trailmon, we wouldn't have to walk so much…" Lopmon groaned, and had been trailing behind the group for a little while.

Takuya sighed and reached down, picking up Lopmon. "How about I carry you? You look tired."

Lopmon blinked, and blushed at being picked up. "You don't have to…"

"Nah, it's fine, you're as light as a pillow," Takuya reassured.

"Aww, that's cute~" Zoe smiled, seeing Takuya holding Lopmon. "It's like you're holding a stuffed animal~"

Takuya blushed. "I-I am not! I am just helping Lopmon! That's all!" He squeaked out.

JP frowned as he looked back, seeing that Takuya had Zoe's attention again. "Hey, why don't you let me hold Lopmon?"

"Because I already offered," Takuya huffed.

"You can hold Patamon," JP pointed. "He's already flying beside you!"

Takuya just puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "You're just jealous of me, aren't you?"

JP grumbled. "I am not!" He retorted.

Lopmon grumbled before jumping out of Takuya's arms and landed on Tommy's hat. "There, I'm not in Takuya's arms, and I don't have to walk like this. Is everyone happy? Oh, sorry, Tommy, I hope I'm not too heavy on you."

"No, no. You're not that heavy at all." Tommy reassured Lopmon. "Actually, you feel like a comfy hat."

Lopmon blushed a little, but smiled.

"Although I am pretty tired myself," Tommy sighed.

"Hey, don't stop now, we should be coming up to a scenic route soon!" Takuya encouraged, pushing Tommy forward, and to also get away from JP.

Patamon rolled his eyes as he flew after Takuya.

JP grumbled as he and Zoe hurried after them.

"You know, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to have a Digimon partner of my own…" Zoe remarked. "It'd still be cool to be a Digimon, but I think there's something special about having a partner too."

"You just think they're cute…" JP huffed.

"I mean they are," Zoe chuckled.

After about another hour of walking, the group heard a Trailmon's whistle coming up behind them.

"Hey… It's a Trailmon!" Takuya exclaimed as he saw the Trailmon coming up to their location.

The Trailmon in question looked like a pink mole. It saw the group waving to it, and began to slow down to a stop.

"Finally!" Zoe huffed. "We can now ride instead of walking."

The Trailmon came to a stop in front of the group.

"Hey, Trailmon. What's up?" Takuya greeted. "Can you take us to the Forest Terminal?"

"Guys, we don't have any tickets," Lopmon grumbled, still on top of Tommy's hat. "We talked about this."

"Still doesn't hurt to ask, does it?" Tommy replied.

Trailmon frowned a little. "I'm sorry, even if you did have tickets, I'm a freight train. I'm only carrying luggage, packages, and such. No passengers, no exceptions."

"Aww!" Zoe pouted. "C'mon!" She whined. "Please! We're super light! And you could think of us as cargo!"

The kids climbed onto the Trailmon's sides.

"Please, we won't make much of a difference if we were cargo!" Takuya pleaded.

But the fingers of the kids made the Trailmon laugh, and they fell off of his sides. "Y-you're tickling me!"

The Trailmon was still giggling as he was moving on the tracks. "I'd like to bend the rules to help you out, but I'm just too ticklish! Just keep going on this track, you'll get there!"

"So much for riding on a Trailmon…" Takuya grumbled as he was on his head.

"Of course it couldn't be that easy…" Patamon huffed, lying on the ground too.

Zoe groaned. "C'mon! Trailmon! Get back here!" She whined.

"Forget it, Zoe, Trailmon is long gone…" Lopmon grumbled on the ground, and Zoe's high pitched voice while shouting was really hurting his ears.

"If only we could fly…" Zoe sighed.

The group, dejected at their failed attempt to ride a Trailmon, decided to continue walking instead of just sitting around and moping.

Eventually, after a while, the group came to a fork in the train tracks, splitting off in two different directions. Patamon looked up at a switch, and jumped onto it, moving it back and forth, seeing that the switch was also switching the train tracks.

"Looks like we've got a choice to make here," Patamon remarked.

"A choice? It should be pretty obvious which way we should go," Lopmon said.

"And which way would that be?" Takuya snarked. "Right or left?"

"I say left." Zoe said as she pointed down the tree-lined path of track.

"I say right." Takuya pointed down the open path of the track.

"No way! There's nothing down there!" Zoe pointed out.

"So you're disagreeing with me?" Takuya retorted.

"I'm just going with the path that is more likely to lead us to the Forest Terminal, which is in the forest." Zoe retorted back.

Lopmon sweatdropped, the reason he said it was obvious was because of what Zoe said, the left had a bunch of trees and such, while the right just continued leading them into a wasteland.

"I'm going to have to agree with Zoe here, Takuya. Why would you think going into the wasteland is the right choice here?" Lopmon asked.

Takuya groaned. "Dang it… Ugh…" He grumbled. "I don't know… I wasn't thinking. I was just reacting."

"Besides, Trailmon only mentioned to stick to the tracks, he didn't say to choose right," Tommy pointed out.

"And these are still the same tracks, technically," JP added.

"Are you just agreeing to get on Zoe's goodside?" Takuya questioned the older boy.

JP blushed. "I-I am not!" He exclaimed, but his blush made the claim lose all of its bite.

"I think someone might have a crush~" Patamon grinned.

"I do not! My face is just sunburned!" JP huffed, trying to deny the claims of Patamon and Takuya.

"Alright, enough!" Zoe shouted. "We shouldn't be bickering, we need to get moving. So, are we going to the forest?"

Everyone looked at Takuya.

Takuya sighed. "I hate to admit it, but the forest seems like the best bet, since we're heading to the Forest Terminal and all. And I don't think splitting up is such a good idea anyway, since we don't know this world very well."

"Alright then, let's get going." Zoe smiled as she began leading the way.

Takuya grumbled to himself. "Who made you the leader?"

Lopmon turned his head over to Takuya while still riding on Tommy's hat. "You know, we never did decide who'd be this group's leader."

"Do we even need one?" JP asked. "I mean there's only 4 of us."

"Well, 6 if you include me and Lopmon," Patamon pointed out.

"Aren't you two supposed to be our guides?" Tommy asked.

"Well, that makes us guides, not leaders," Lopmon pointed out.

"I don't think we should worry about a leader right now." Takuya said. "We just need to get to the Forest Terminal, so that needs to be our main priority."

"Yeah, but having someone as a leader could help us in the long run," Lopmon said. "Though I guess you're right, we don't need one right now. Just as long as you guys don't start bickering too much."

As the group strolled deeper into the forest, Zoe began to notice a nice breeze going through her hair. It was a lot better than the hot sun in the wasteland.

"Wow, the breeze feels so nice!" Zoe exclaimed happily. "It's definitely better than being in the hot sun! It feels so cool and refreshing!"

"You're right about that." Tommy smiled. "This place is way better."

"We must be getting close to Breezy Village," Lopmon said. "It's a forestry village best known for its relaxing breeze."

"Oh, I haven't been there in a while. I hope the Floramon still serve that soup," Patamon drooled. "Speaking of which, I'm getting hungry."

"There's a special soup?" Tommy asked.

"Oh yeah, it's so good, you'll want more and more of it." Patamon replied with a grin.

JP could feel his own stomach growling. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's move along!"

"Weren't you tired just a minute ago?" Takuya deadpanned.

"Being tired is nothing when food's involved!" JP quickly said.

Takuya sweatdropped, as did the others.

"I guess some food would be good…" Takuya admitted, feeling his own stomach growling.

"You and Tommy especially need to eat more if you want to keep your strength up," Lopmon added.

"Then let's go!" Zoe said with a smile.

As they got further in, they saw a huge tree up ahead. The tree, however, looked like it lost a lot of its leaves.

"Whoa! That's one big tree!" Tommy pointed out in awe.

"I've never seen a tree that big before in my life!" Zoe agreed. She then frowned. "But… where are all the leaves? It looks like the tree isn't even alive right now…"

"If this is Breezy Village, the tree doesn't show it." JP frowned. "I can't feel anything like a breeze from here."

"Hmm, something could be wrong with the tree," Patamon guessed. "After all, Digimon have been turning hostile a lot as of late due to Cherubimon's rule."

"I wonder if a Digimon caused the tree to be bare then…" Tommy frowned.

"Welcome, tourists," A familiar voice spat in annoyance, catching the group's attention. "So… this isn't the Forest Terminal, I'm guessing."

"No, this is Breezy Village," Labramon, who was sitting beside the boy on a bench, answered.

"Hey, it's you!" Takuya exclaimed. "Koji, right?"

Koji grunted. "Yeah, don't wear out my name." He replied in a casual manner.

"What are you doing here?" Zoe asked, curious as to why the other boy was here as well.

Koji didn't give an answer, instead, he got up from the bench and jumped down onto the train tracks. He gave a gesture for Labramon to follow him. Labramon stretched herself out before she jumped out onto the tracks and began following Koji.

"Hey! Aren't you going to answer?" Zoe frowned.

"Where we go is none of your business," Koji replied.

"I'm sorry about him, he doesn't want other people following him," Labramon sheepishly said.

JP frowned. "I don't think being a loner is too good for someone."

"Hey, if someone wants to be a loner, that's their choice." Takuya grunted. "Let him go do whatever he wants."

"Jeez, he's so anti-social," Zoe grumbled as Koji kept walking without looking at them, and Labramon followed.

"Shouldn't he stick with us though? Isn't it safer to be in a group?" Tommy frowned.

"Forget about him, he'll come around when he's ready," Lopmon said before he stood up on his two feet and hopped off of Tommy's head, looking at the tree. "We should check out Breezy Village, see if the Digimon here need any help. Who knows, we might find another Spirit while we're here."

"Oh, I hope it's my Spirit!" Zoe exclaimed. "It would be worth being able to protect myself from the attacking Digimon!"

"Hey, I can protect you too, Zoe." JP grinned cheekily.

"How? You don't have a Spirit." Tommy pointed out, which caused JP to pout in response.

"H-hey! I can still do things without a Spirit!" JP huffed.

"Indeed, there's no need to feel embarrassed if you don't have a special power or Spirit," Patamon agreed. "Now come on, let's look around."

The group began to walk around the forest, and JP felt a vibrating in his pocket as they did. He stopped before pulling the D-Tector out from his pocket, seeing it was beeping.

"H-hey! Guys! My D-Tector is reacting to something!" JP exclaimed, feeling all excited. "It must be the Spirit here! This Spirit has to be mine! Why else would my D-Tector react to it?"

"Actually, JP…" Takuya said as he took his D-Tector out. "Mine's reacting as well."

"So's mine," Tommy said, looking at his own D-Tector.

Zoe was too enamored by the breeze to pay attention to her D-Tector.

"The D-Tectors might be sensing a Spirit nearby," Lopmon noted. "Doesn't necessarily mean it's yours. And besides, you have to be chosen by the Spirit before you can use it."

JP pouted. "Aw man… Seriously? Talk about picky Spirits…"

"You'll find yours, JP." Takuya said as he patted JP's back gently.

"If I get chosen by it," JP grumbled.

"If you think like that, then you will not be chosen for sure." Patamon grumbled. "Negative thoughts will never help you or anyone else."

Tommy looked at JP for a moment, he was about to say something when he noticed Zoe was standing at the edge of a branch of the tall tree. "Uh, Zoe? Are you sure that's safe?"

Tommy remembered his near death experience when he tried to go back home on the train tracks over the void. It was easier to lose one's balance than one might think.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Zoe called back. "I'm pretty good with balance!"

Zoe turned back to try to walk back to them, but then she lost her footing and fell.

"Zoe!" Tommy cried out, getting the other's attention.

"I got her!" Patamon shouted as he dived down after Zoe, and grabbed onto her hand, but Zoe was too heavy for him to stay airborne.

Lopmon was about to jump down to help them, but he saw a group of flowers gathering under Zoe, ready to catch her and Patamon. It didn't take long for Zoe to fall into the flowers, revealing they were actually Digimon. They all giggled when they managed to catch Zoe and Patamon.

Zoe grunted. "Ow… I probably shouldn't have worn a skirt when I came to this world…"

"Did you even know you'd come to this world?" Patamon asked.

"No, but still…" Zoe sighed.

Patamon smiled. "Good news, we found the Floramon at least. And they seemed to be as friendly as ever!"

"Welcome, visitors! It's been a long time since we had guests here!" One of the Floramon smiled.

"What's going on down there?" Takuya asked, looking down from the tree.

"Looks like we found the Floramon," Lopmon said. "Or rather, the Floramon found us."

"They're… friendly, right?" Tommy asked nervously.

"It looks like they are, so that's a relief." Lopmon smiled.

"Thanks for catching me…" Zoe said gratefully. "I was sure I was going to go splat there for a moment."

"We would never let a visitor be hurt while in our little village!" A Floramon replied. "That would be just bad news for our village."

"Come on, let's go down there and join them," Lopmon said to the group.

"Is it really safe to go to a bunch of talking flowers? What if they're man-eating plants?" JP nervously asked.

"Man-eating plants? I think you've watched too many animes," Takuya remarked.

"Besides, if they were, Zoe would've been munched on by now," Tommy pointed out.

"They could just be trying to act all friendly and then lead us to their house before they eat us," JP pointed out.

"I know Floramon, I can tell you that they have no interest in human flesh, as with most Digimon," Lopmon blanched.

"It still could happen…" JP grumbled. "You never know what lurks in a new world you've never explored before."

"So, JP… does that mean you don't want that special soup anymore?" Tommy grinned.

"... What are we waiting for!?" JP quickly said before he hurried down the tree.

"Nice one," Lopmon complimented.

Tommy chuckled sheepishly. "It's kinda scary how easy it is to use that on JP."

Takuya chuckled as well. "That sounds like something one of my cousins would do if he ever met you guys."

Lopmon cleared his throat. "Come on, we can't let JP have all the fun."

Meanwhile, Koji and Labramon continued walking. Labramon looked around, wondering if Biyomon was still in the area, and if she was feeling lonely. Then Labramon noticed Koji suddenly stopped walking.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Labramon asked, before seeing Koji was looking at his D-Tector.

"My D-Tector has picked up something." Koji replied. "Is it picking up a Spirit nearby?"

"Well, the D-Tector is meant to detect Spirits, so it's possible." Labramon replied before she suddenly paused, hearing something in the distance.

"What is it? Something caught your attention?" Koji asked.

Labramon frowned. "I think so… I hear voices, and… footsteps nearby."

Koji quickly headed into the bushes, and quickly gestured for Labramon to do the same. Labramon didn't hesitate to follow Koji into the bushes. Now hidden, they could hear the voices talking to each other.

"Those guys are here now?"

"Yeah, I saw one of them earlier, but now more of them are here."

"Good, then we can take them all out in one fell swoop."

"What do we do about the Mushroomon and the Floramon?"

"They'll be reborn in a village somewhere. Our primary goal is to make sure they fail their mission."

Koji frowned as he and Labramon listened in. "Sounds like someone's up to no good." He whispered to Labramon. "But who are they referencing when it comes to making sure a mission fails?"

Labramon paled. "Who… are these guys…?"

Koji blinked as he looked at Labramon, noticing that she was looking a lot more nervous than usual.

"This isn't right…" Labramon frowned. "What did they do to the Mushroomon?"

"Mushroomon?" Koji asked curiously. "Is that who those guys are?"

"No, they're not, that's why I'm…" Labramon narrowed her eyes as she tried to get closer to see who was talking.

Labramon saw silhouettes, they were definitely not Mushroomon. But they had Mushroomon tied up together, looking rather weak. She crouched down, not wanting to be seen. These guys are…

"Did you get the bombs ready?"

"Just about."

"We'll need to wait a little bit longer before we can use them."

Koji frowned as he peered out a bit more. "Who's talking then?" He asked quietly. "They don't sound pleasant from what they are saying…"

"We should head back…" Labramon whispered. "Something bad's about to happen… I can feel it."

"Shouldn't we try to stop them?" Koji asked.

"No… they're strong, very strong. We wouldn't stand a chance," Labramon warned. "Come on, we gotta get back to the others."

Koji frowned, but nodded. He didn't think facing these enemies down alone was a good idea. "I hate to admit it, but that's the safest bet for now. I sure can't take them all on at once."

With that said, Koji stood up. "C'mon, let's go before these guys see us." He said to Labramon.

"Hey… do you hear something?" One of the mysterious voices said.

"Go!" Labramon hissed.

Koji began to move as quickly, and quietly, as he could, trying to get out of the hearing range of the mysterious voices.

In one of the houses, Takuya, Zoe, JP, Tommy, Patamon, and Lopmon were all being treated to lunch by the Floramon. It was some kind of yellow soup that the Floramon had served up for the group.

"It's so nice of you to invite us for lunch." Zoe said gratefully. "We've been walking for a long time and need some food."

"So what is this stuff?" Takuya asked, studying the soup.

"Who cares? It's good, and it's filling," JP replied, not hesitating at all to sip up the soup.

Lopmon and Patamon had their own higher chairs to reach the table. They were enjoying the soup as well.

"I could eat three more of these!" Tommy smiled as he was enjoying the soup too.

Cautiously, and because his own stomach was growling, Takuya took a sip of his own soup. His eyes lit up as he tasted the delicious flavor. "Wow! That is good!" He exclaimed with a grin. "No wonder Patamon spoke so highly of this soup!"

"You see? It's really good. Though I think it's missing something," Patamon said. "Didn't this come with Mushroomon's Mushroom Mousse?"

Floramon all frowned.

"It did, but we haven't seen the Mushroomon in a long time," One of the Floramon said worriedly.

"Do you know when they were last seen?" JP asked as he set his soup bowl down. "Maybe they just got lost or something."

"We haven't seen them for weeks now," Another Floramon answered. "Last we heard, they were collecting ingredients, and growing their special mushrooms."

"But don't worry about that right now, you're here to relax and enjoy yourselves!" Another Floramon smiled.

"True, maybe we can talk about that later then," Lopmon said. "After all, it wouldn't do to worry about this on an empty stomach."

"By the way, what is this soup called?" Zoe curiously asked as she took another spoonful of soup and sipped it up.

"It's called 'Web Soup Ala Floramon'." The first Floramon replied with a smile of pride on her face. "It's all in the way it's prepared!"

"If you'd like, we can show you how we do it." A second Floramon replied.

All the Floramon took out what looked like some kind of fruit. "You just use your head and a ripe Web fruit!" The first Floramon explained.

The humans of the group each got a confused look on their faces.

"Oh?" Zoe asked, intrigued by this.

"Use… your head?" JP questioned, not really sure where this was going.

The Floramon all opened the petals on their heads and put the Web fruits into their skulls.

"All together… two, three, four!" The first Floramon instructed.

The Floramon all began to dance and sing. "~When you take a little Web Fruit and you rinse it in your skull, you make a most delicious soup, the flavor's never dull! We shake our heads both up and down and sing this song quite cheerful, a little bit of us resides in every yummy spoonful!~"

"And it's ready!" The first Floramon exclaimed happily. "Enjoy~" She poured some more of the Web Soup into Zoe's bowl… from her… nose.

The other Floramon poured the Web Soup into the other's bowls as well, thoroughly disgusting them.

"Uh… suddenly I'm not so hungry anymore," JP quickly said.

"That's so cool! You can make soup from your head, and pour it out like a pitcher!" Tommy complimented, looking more in awe than grossed out.

Takuya just stuck his tongue out in disgust at the fact the soup came from the nose of the Floramon. He couldn't believe something so good could have such a weird way of preparation.

Patamon saw Takuya's reaction and just rolled his eyes, then flying up to the boy and slapping Takuya with one of his ears. "Don't be so rude. The Floramon were kind enough to offer us lunch, don't turn your nose up at it."

"Y-yeah, but…" Takuya frowned before he whispered. "The soup is made in their head and comes out of their nose. You gotta admit, that's pretty gross."

Lopmon, having heard Takuya's comment, gave a chuckle. "What's wrong? The soup was delicious moments before you saw how they made it. Now you're too scared to eat anymore just because you saw the fruits being made by some giddy plants? You do know that fruits grow from plants all the time, right? In fact, this is more natural than how humans make soup with their gadgets and whatnot."

Takuya blushed at hearing Lopmon's reasoning. "That's true… Though, to be fair, no living being in the human world makes soup like that, so of course I'm going to be grossed out."

Patamon rolled his eyes. "No need to explain it to us, thank you very much."

"Thanks, this is great," Zoe said politely to the Floramon, though it was clear she was pretty much done with her soup now too.

"I think it's pretty cool. Mom always did tell me I needed to eat more of my vegetables and fruits," Tommy chuckled.

"Of course the little kid likes it…" JP huffed.

"What? It's an interesting way to prepare soup." Tommy shrugged. "You gotta admit, it's unique. We're in a new world, so we may as well enjoy what we witness here, even if it's weird to the rest of you."

"I like the way you think, Tommy." Lopmon smiled. "At least we know you're not too picky."

"Great… then you three can eat the rest of this, we're pretty much full," Takuya huffed, pushing his bowl over to Tommy, Lopmon, and Patamon.

Zoe smiled at one of the Floramon. "Would you mind if I took a look around your village?"

"Not at all, go right ahead." Floramon smiled.

"I think I will join you." Takuya grumbled as he stood up. "I need to get some air."

"Hey, you're not going with Zoe alone!" JP exclaimed as he too stood up.

"You just want to be with the girl, don't you buddy?" Takuya teased JP, grinning as the chubby boy's cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

"I-I do not! I just don't want Zoe to be left with just one of us!" JP protested, trying to hide his red face.

"Both of you shut up," Zoe grumbled. "I don't want two bickering boys ruining my relaxation!"

Both boys deflated from Zoe's response before she walked out of the building to enjoy the breeze that was flowing through her hair and clothes.

"The breeze feels so good," Zoe complimented.

"It's all thanks to our special tree!" The first Floramon, who had accompanied Zoe outside, said, pointing up at the tree. "The winds blow through the many branches, cooling all of Breezy Village."

Takuya and JP walked out as well, looking up at the tree, having heard what the Floramon said about the tree.

"Well, if the tree is that special, it certainly doesn't look that way now." Takuya mused.

"You're being rude, Takuya!" Zoe hissed.

"No, he's right. Our tree used to be full of leaves and cherry blossoms back then," Floramon sighed. "We used to get happy visitors to visit our village in the past. Trailmon would often stop here with those visitors. Our village was a nice green hamlet, so visitors wanted to relax in our lush green landscape. Blooming bushes, trees, colorful flowers, and all sorts of pretty plants were all over the station. Our village was the perfect green paradise that everyone wanted to see. We would serve our special meals along with the Mushroomon to these visitors, helping them enjoy themselves."

"Well… that big tree still looks pretty cool," JP complimented in hopes of helping the Floramon feel a little better.

Floramon sighed. "Thank you for the compliment, but we know this place looks like a dried up dump."

"These days we're lucky to see one train come through here a month," Another Floramon said.

"You and your friends are the first visitors we've had here in a month," The other Floramon stated. "So we thank you, we're indebted to you for your kindness."

"Hey, I'm sure we could find a way to restore this place." Takuya said with a smile. "I mean, how hard could it be? Just plant a few new flowers here and there, find some good spots in the ground to plant new plants, then things should be good to go, right?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Floramon said. "For one, we're not strong enough to dig into this hard soil. And replanting takes a lot of strength."

"Well, that's why we could help." Takuya replied. "I mean, if we help, it can't be too hard." He then grinned. "And the girls love a strong man who helps~" He teased JP.

"W-well, I don't know. I've never done farm work in my life!" JP frowned.

"But Takuya's right, you know. I love strong guys who do things for others without being asked to~" Zoe grinned.

JP smiled instantly. "That's me alright!"

"Hang on, guys," Tommy spoke up as he, Lopmon, and Patamon walked out of the building, having heard their discussion. "I think you're missing a crucial point."

"What point would that be?" Zoe asked.

"I mean… we haven't really asked what caused the plants to wither and dry up in the first place. Who's to say the same won't happen to the plants we try to replant ourselves," Tommy pointed out.

"He's right, you know. It'd be foolish to start working on replanting until we know what caused the plants to die out in the first place," Lopmon agreed.

JP and Takuya blushed at Tommy's point.

"That's a good point." Zoe conceded. "We'd need to know what happened before we did anything." She then looked at the Floramon. "Do you know what happened to the plants here, what made them wilt and die?"

"Their fractal codes were taken away," Floramon answered. "At first it was because the Mushroomon began acting cold and aggressive to us one day. They seemed to think that all the guests only cared about us, but not them, or something silly like that. So in their anger, they took away our plants and other greenery's fractal code, leaving this wasteland. Even if we tried to replant new seeds, they would come and mess it up."

"But these days we haven't seen the Mushroomon in weeks. But even so, our home's fractal code has yet to be restored, and now we're worried about the Mushroomon," Another Floramon added.

"So the Mushroomon suddenly became aggressive and violent. Then they suddenly disappeared," Lopmon noted. "Cherubimon could've been behind the Mushroomon's sudden change in behavior, he seems to be pretty good at corrupting good Digimon after all. But why would they suddenly disappear? That doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe the Mushroomon ticked off the wrong… um… Digimon?" JP offered up. "If they were so aggressive against this place, then what's to say they didn't mess with a stronger Digimon?"

"Do you always think of the worst case scenarios?" Takuya deadpanned to JP.

"No! Not always!" JP huffed back. "I'm just trying to be cautious, that's all!"

"Well, messing with a stronger Digimon is a possibility." Patamon admitted. "But I wouldn't say it was the thing that made the Mushroomon disappear."

"Then what could've happened to them?" Zoe frowned.

"We're not sure. We've been too afraid to anger the Mushroomon by going into their part of the forest these days that none of us investigated what happened to them." Floramon frowned.

Zoe gave it some thought. "Hmm… well, you say they usually come here to mess up whatever you try to replant, right? How about we try doing that now and see if we can get the Mushroomon to come out of hiding?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Takuya admitted. "But we'd need to be on our guard in case the Mushroomon try attacking us directly because we were helping the Floramon as well."

"That's a sound idea." Patamon agreed. "If the Mushroomon don't attack, then something has happened to them, but if they do attack, then they were just biding their time."

"It sounds like as good an idea as any to lure the Mushroomon out, if they aren't being detained elsewhere," Lopmon remarked.

Tommy frowned for a moment, but smiled. "Hey, this might be a good experience for us. I've always wanted to try gardening."

"You can help plant the seeds, Tommy," Zoe said. "But you should leave the labor working for the older boys. They'll plow the fields."

"What about us?" Patamon asked. "We're strong too, right, Lopmon?"

Patamon tried to show off how strong he was by flexing his arms. Lopmon looked over at Patamon and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if we were able to go to Champion form, but we're way too small to plow the fields properly," Lopmon grumbled.

Patamon deflated at hearing Lopmon's words. "Why do you ruin the mood…? I mean we were able to go claw to claw against an Ultimate level Digimon!"

"Correction, we were able to annoy an Ultimate level Digimon. Takuya had to take care of her permanently," Lopmon reminded them.

"Hey, you two could help water the plants, you know we're going to need those," Zoe suggested.

"Alright…" Patamon grumbled. "But Lopmon and I are still stronger than you think!"

"Oh, I don't doubt it, but you two are still in your cute forms, so you don't get to say much about it." Zoe grinned.

"Hey! Being cute doesn't mean we're not strong!" Patamon whined.

"I'm sorry about him, he has some self esteem issues," Lopmon sighed.

Tommy put a hand over his mouth to hide a smile, though he did chuckle.

"Don't worry, it'll take all of us to create a nice garden patch around here." Zoe smiled.

Meanwhile, out in the wasteland desert, Biyomon was flying further along. She was scouting around, having a bad feeling.

I wonder… Did Kokuwamon go this far out when we asked him to scout ahead? Biyomon frowned. We told him not to go too far…

Biyomon landed to take a break from flying, when suddenly the ground beneath her talons started to break apart. Biyomon's eyes went wide as chunks of the land began to lift up into the sky. She heard a loud voice yelling out, but she didn't have time to comprehend what they were saying. She was too tired to fly, so she quickly ran away from the shattering ground with her wings spread out in a panic.

More and more chunks of land went up to the sky and began to shatter into bits of data around her. Biyomon continued running, not wanting to get caught up in whatever was causing this chaos.

Biyomon kept running and running, trying to avoid the rising chunks of land. She took one big jump, having seen a gap between her and the other side of the cracking ground, and landed on the other side safely. She was panting as she got back to her feet and looked back. The ground was continuing to crack and rise, but it was slowing down its approach to her location.

Luckily, it looked like the ground finally stopped collapsing and shifting just as it reached her talons. Biyomon slowly backed away. Even though she could fly, she didn't want to risk falling into the void. She looked out at the land before her. There were large cracks and crevices, the train tracks were in ruin now.

What the heck happened? Some kind of earthquake? Biyomon frowned.

Then she heard a grumble coming from under the ground. Biyomon blinked as she saw a gnome looking Digimon climbing up on the other side of the now shattered ground.

"Me not find Spirit here. This waste of time." The gnome-like Digimon grumbled, obviously displeased with his search if the way he folded his arms in annoyance was any indication.

With Biyomon's keen eyes, she was able to see a mark on the gnome-like Digimon's arm. She recognized the symbol, and the Digimon. No way… that's… The Warrior of Earth, Grumblemon! What's he doing here? … It sounds like he's looking for one of the Spirits. But all the way out here? He… must've been the one that made this crevice. Either with his attack, or… by eating chunks of fractal code.

Grumblemon turned around, and noticed the lone Biyomon staring at him from the other side of the cliff that was created seconds ago. Biyomon froze, not sure what Grumblemon would do to a random Digimon way out here.

Grumblemon frowned, but he didn't consider Biyomon a threat, or even worth talking to, because he then just turned around and began to dig another hole before disappearing into it. Biyomon felt like a breath she didn't know she was holding in was released.

It seems he doesn't consider me as much of anything. Good, I was worried what would've happened if he decided to attack me. Biyomon sighed in relief. But I better get back to Breezy Village. It's clear I can't go any further like this. I'm getting too tired and hungry to keep flying on my own.

Biyomon turned back and flew into the sky. The last thing she needed right now was more drama.

Biyomon didn't expect to see the group of humans, along with Lopmon and Patamon, to be planting flowers in Breezy Village when she arrived. She knew they would be arriving in Breezy Village, just not doing this. Biyomon blinked as she had been flying over the group. Zoe noticed a shadow over them, and looked up in the sky to see Biyomon looking down at them from the sky.

"Hey, it's you!" Zoe exclaimed, recognizing Biyomon from before. "Is this where you disappeared to after our encounter at the Flame Terminal?"

The others looked up at Biyomon. Biyomon was considering flying away and coming back later, but then Patamon smiled and flew up to her.

"Hey, Biyomon. You look tired, maybe you should land and rest for a bit?" Patamon suggested. "You know it's not good to push yourself."

Biyomon frowned as she looked at Patamon. "Fine."

Biyomon really was tired, and she didn't want to go back to the desert right now anyways. She and Patamon landed on the grass.

"What are you and Lopmon doing?" Biyomon asked Patamon. "You know we shouldn't get attached to the humans, don't you?"

"Look, we need to look after them right now anyways, right? Not all of them have their Spirits yet," Patamon said back. "I'm sure it'll be fine. And working with them has been making this a lot easier."

Biyomon looked down. "That may be, but you know the rules. We can't get attached to the kids for… well… you know why…" She said, "It's not worth the risks."

"Well it's a bit too late now," Patamon sheepishly said.

"I swear-" Biyomon began before pink bubbles came out of her beak. "I mean Patamon, your heroic mindset is going to lead us to trouble, especially now. I'm surprised Lopmon even agreed to this."

"What can I say?" Patamon shrugged with a small grin. "A-" He was cut off as he coughed out a small greenish cloud, like a foul burp. "Ah… I mean Lopmon has his reasons, you know that."

"Unfortunately we have another problem. I saw Grumblemon," Biyomon warned, making sure to keep her voice down so the others, except for maybe Lopmon, wouldn't hear her. "He's not too far from Breezy Village. I think he's looking for the Spirits right now."

Patamon's eyes went wide as he felt his heart clench with apprehension. "Crud… If Grumblemon finds the Spirit first, we're going to be set back…"

"If the events are playing out like they should though, it shouldn't be a problem… right?" Biyomon replied.

"Hey, so uh… what are you two talking about?" Zoe asked.

Patamon looked up at Zoe. "Just some Digimon stuff."

Patamon looked back at Biyomon before smiling. "Hey… Biyomon, maybe you should say 'hi'. This meeting has been a long time coming."

"What are you doing?" Biyomon hissed at Patamon.

"Come on, don't be shy~" Patamon smiled as he moved behind Biyomon and pushed her closer to Zoe.

Biyomon stumbled forward before looking up at Zoe, who was looking at her curiously. Biyomon blushed with embarrassment. "Erm… h-hello. I'm… uh… Biyomon."

Zoe smiled at Biyomon. "No need to be shy." She said before holding out a hand. "I'm Zoe. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm not shy… I just didn't expect to be put on the spot," Biyomon huffed, glaring back at Patamon, who just kept smiling at her.

Biyomon grumbled as she looked at Zoe's hand. "Sorry, no hands to shake with. My wing claws might hurt you if I tried."

Zoe blushed. "Whoops! I didn't think about that. Sorry." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I forgot, not all Digimon have hands."

"So who's this bird? Are you gonna join us too or something?" JP asked.

"Hey, the more the merrier, right?" Takuya asked.

"I haven't decided on anything," Biyomon grumbled.

"Hey Biyomon, it's good to see you again," Lopmon greeted.

"Don't 'hey Biyomon' me. What happened to the plan you came up with?" Biyomon grumbled at Lopmon.

"Things sort of spiraled out of control," Lopmon sighed. "It's not like I ended up sticking with them on purpose. In fact, Takuya and Zoe both literally dragged me into a hole with them."

Biyomon raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "Really?"

"Hey, it wasn't our fault!" Takuya exclaimed, his cheeks slightly red. "Lopmon just happened to be with us when we fell!"

"So uh… you're Lopmon and Patamon's friend, right? Why've you been avoiding us?" Tommy curiously asked.

"Well… Try not to take this the wrong way, but to be honest, none of us really should be hanging out with you guys," Biyomon replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" JP frowned.

"It means what it means." Biyomon grumbled. "We can't get attached to you guys, for… reasons."

"Reasons you can't tell us, I'm guessing?" Tommy asked.

Biyomon just gave a solemn nod.

"I guess that's why you haven't tried talking to us before," Takuya noted. "But… Patamon, Lopmon, is that true?"

"Don't worry about it," Patamon said. "We've already made our choice."

"And so has Labramon," Lopmon added.

"Of all the people Labramon could hang out with though…" Zoe frowned, scrunching up her face as she remembered how cold Koji treated them.

"Are there… anymore friends of yours we should know about?" Tommy asked Lopmon.

"There are two of them you have yet to meet," Lopmon answered. "I'm not sure if you'll see one of them any time soon though. She's… got her own thing to deal with far away from the rest of us. But the other one… we haven't seen him since he suggested scouting ahead before you guys arrived in the Digital World."

"Wow, so you have more friends to meet us, huh?" Takuya said before he grinned. "I can't wait to meet them. I bet they're just as helpful as the rest of you."

"So wait… there's you two, Biyomon, Labramon, and two others we haven't met yet," JP noted, counting with his fingers. "So that makes… 6 of you in total, right?"

"Yeah," Patamon confirmed. "There's 6 of us together."

"So are you guys in a club or something?" Takuya questioned.

"Heh… you could say that," Lopmon chuckled.

"Is it some kind of exclusive club?" Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow.

Biyomon puffed up her feathers. "No, it's not an 'exclusive club', thank you very much!"

"Biyomon's got issues with exclusiveness," Patamon explained.

"So does this club of yours… have something to do with us?" Tommy asked. "Lopmon, you and Patamon seemed to have known we were going to be here in the Digital World. So surely it has something to do with us, right?"

"There have been humans coming into the Digital World lately," Lopmon answered. "So of course we knew more was coming. We had to make sure you stayed safe in this world."

"I don't know… it kinda felt like you were waiting for us, specifically," Tommy pointed out.

"I think you're reading too much into it," Lopmon pointed back.

Biyomon frowned as she looked at Tommy. He may be the youngest, but he seems to be the most observant of the group. Better be careful with him.

"Well, enough about us," Biyomon spoke up, wanting to derail the conversation before Tommy figured something out that he shouldn't. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're trying to help the Floramon restore Breezy Village's greenery." Zoe replied before she looked down somberly. "It seems like the right thing to do, given how lovely the place sounded before things began to turn bad here."

Biyomon blinked as she looked at the Floramon, who were either looking at them curiously, or planting the flowers into the soil that the others helped them with.

"You're helping restore Breezy Village's greenery just because it's the right thing to do?" Biyomon questioned.

"I know, right? Seems like something you'd like to do if you could, am I riiiiight?~" Patamon teasingly said.

Biyomon blushed slightly. "I would not!" She exclaimed, but her bright blush gave away Patamon was right on the money, which made said flying hamster Digimon grin as he looked back at her.

"Oh, you so would~" Patamon teased back. "I know it, Lopmon knows it, everyone in our group knows it~"

Takuya snickered. "It seems Patamon is in a teasing mood today."

"We wouldn't…" Zoe pointed out.

"I meant the 6 of us, not you guys," Patamon quickly amended.

"Oh," Zoe blinked before looking at Biyomon. "Wait, you would?"

"I like nature," Biyomon admitted, rubbing her cheeks. "If I could help it, I would."

"Kinda makes you wonder why you're not a Floramon," Lopmon chuckled. "Or some other plant type Digimon yourself."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyways," Biyomon huffed. "We should probably get them out of here, especially with you-know-who being nearby."

"We can't leave yet." Lopmon frowned before he lowered his voice, careful not to give anything away. "After all… the two humans here haven't gotten what they need here yet."

Biyomon looked somber at Lopmon's words. "But we can't just stay here… Not unless we start looking for what these humans need right away…" She replied back, also in a softer tone of voice like Lopmon had been using.

"You know the rule, we can't interfere with what needs to happen too much. We're only here to guide and protect them," Lopmon added.

"How well has that been working for you?" Biyomon raised an eyebrow.

"Just fine, thanks," Patamon huffed, looking a little embarrassed at the question.

"Hey, guys? I don't mean to interrupt, but we should get back to work," Zoe spoke up. "We're waiting for the Mushroomon to show up."

"I don't mind taking a bit of a break though…" JP grumbled.

"You heard the lady, JP." Takuya grinned. "Time to show her you can do stuff like gardening~"

JP grinned. "What are we waiting for then? It's back to work!" He ran off to find a new place to dig a hole eagerly.

Tommy chuckled. "Wow, JP will do anything to impress the girls."

"You just have to know how to use that to your advantage." Takuya replied with a bit of a smug grin.

Patamon leaned in towards Lopmon slightly. "I think you're starting to rub off on Takuya, Lopmon~"

"When have I done anything of the sort?" Lopmon grumbled.

"I can count several instances where you've rubbed off on Takuya." Patamon grinned back. "Of course, do you want me to name them all?"

"Never mind that now," Lopmon said, deciding to change the subject as he looked at Biyomon. "What do you plan to do now? It's a big Digital World out there. It might not be good to travel on your own."

"I've done well on my own!" Biyomon huffed, but remembering how Grumblemon had claimed the fractal code of the desert a ways back, she shivered despite her best efforts to suppress it. "I have been fine on my own…"

"The way you're shivering says otherwise." Patamon noted in concern.

"Hey…" Zoe spoke up with a small smile at Biyomon. "Why don't you stay here for a while? I'm sure the Floramon would love to have you as a guest here."

Biyomon hesitated. "I don't mind staying for a bit to recharge, but… after that, I'll be on my way."

"To where?" Zoe asked. "You're not just going out alone again, are you?"

"I shouldn't be… here." Biyomon frowned.

"Stop being so stubborn," Patamon grumbled. "It's not going to hurt you to stick around with us. Safety in numbers and all that."

"Besides, considering how hard your exterior shell is, I'm sure you'll be able to keep yourself from getting too attached. You might be able to learn better skills while you're here. Or are you too proud to even try to stick with us?" Lopmon grinned.

Biyomon huffed. "No way! I'm not going to just leave you boys to handle this on your own!" She retorted. "Besides, being the only girl amongst bull-headed boys will not be good for Zoe. She needs another female around so she doesn't feel so left out. Besides, I know a thing or two about gardening, you need my expertise if you really want to bring greenery back to this village!"

Zoe blinked before smiling. "Alright, glad to have you on board!"

Zoe and Biyomon joined Takuya and JP in the field. Tommy was looking at Lopmon and Patamon.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Patamon said to Lopmon. "And you just said you didn't rub off on Takuya."

"Oh hush," Lopmon grumbled. "Would you have rathered Biyomon went off on her own again?"

"I think that was a smart thing to do," Tommy chuckled. "I don't think I'd feel very good knowing a small Digimon like her would be off on her own like that."

"At least Tommy agrees with me," Lopmon said.

Patamon rolled his eyes. "Yes, the 8 year old child agrees with you, what an accomplishment. Besides, I didn't say I disagreed with you, just pointing out how you just played Biyomon like a fiddle."

"Don't make it sound like a bad thing," Lopmon huffed.

"It's not a bad thing. I just think it's amusing." Patamon teased back.

"Well, we should probably get back to helping plant the seeds, right?" Tommy chuckled.

"Yeah, we should. Hopefully that'll keep Mr. Amuser too busy to find me so amusing," Lopmon remarked.

Patamon rolled his eyes.

Though Tommy was still suspicious of these little Digimon's motives and purpose for sticking with them, it didn't look like they had any ill intentions for them. So for now, Tommy decided to keep his questions to himself.

"They're here."

"Heh, of course they are."

"Despite the rules, they just couldn't help themselves, could they?"

"Don't jump the gun, they haven't broken any rules yet."

"Then we'll have to give them a little scare. Show them what they're dealing with if they ever should break any of the rules~"

"Yeah, just make sure you don't break them, otherwise we'll be the ones breaking the rules, and that won't be pretty."

"Oh I don't intend to break them… physically."

"Oooh, you plan to break them mentally? That is quite sinister of you! I like it~"

"Of course you would, that's just like you."

"How could I not like it? You seem to have the most sinister plans!"

"That's because you inherited our creator's sadism."

"Quiet, all of you! They're waiting for the Mushroomon. So… let's give them what they want."

"These flowers are all so beautiful and lovely…" Floramon said before sighing. "It's just a shame that the Mushroomon will wreck it…"

"You said that the place lost a lot of its greenery due to the loss of the fractal code, right?" Biyomon questioned the Floramon.

"Yes, I did." Floramon replied with a solemn voice. "I hope that the Mushroomon don't come back and claim the rest of the fractal code. It would be a terrible loss to lose the remnants of our great tree."

"Well, isn't the point of doing this is to lure them here in the first place to see if they're even okay?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, but still… we rather they didn't wreck it…" Floramon sighed.

"I know what you mean. I have a greenhouse back home, I take great pride in all the plants I cared for, even the exotic ones," Biyomon reminisced. "I'd hate for anyone to come in and destroy my hard work, not to mention the poor plants themselves suffering for it."

"Digimon can have greenhouses?" JP asked, to which Takuya just shrugged.

"But… isn't it possible to get all of that back if we're able to find and release the fractal code? Or does the fractal code just… kinda vanish from existence after a certain amount of time?" Biyomon asked.

"Hmm? Well… the fractal code itself doesn't vanish, but rather they can be converted into something else," Floramon stated.

Patamon took Bokomon's book out from his belly warmer, to which Biyomon stared in shock for a moment. "How did you do that?"

"... Bokomon's power?" Patamon sheepishly replied as he was flipping through the pages of the book.

"What? What did I miss?" Biyomon frowned.

"Bokomon entrusted Patamon with his book, and his belly warmer, which is a pocket dimension," Lopmon answered. "Don't think about it too much."

"Ah, it says right here," Patamon began, finding the page he was looking for. "A fractal code's nature can change depending on the environment. If a fractal code is ripped from the form they took, they can be converted into something else entirely. Or if they're consumed by a Digimon, and aren't extracted in a certain amount of time, the fractal code becomes a part of the Digimon, strengthening their Digi-Core and body."

"So there was a real chance that Cerberumon would've permanently consumed the village at Flame Terminal if Agunimon hadn't defeated her quickly enough?" Tommy frowned.

"Yeah, but the larger the fractal code, the longer it would take for the Digimon to… well, essentially digest it," Patamon assured before he shut the book and put it back into the belly warmer. "So it would've taken weeks if not months before Cerberumon would've been able to fully digest the village she tried to consume."

"That sounds kinda scary if you think about it." Zoe shivered. "It's kinda like a survival of the fittest mentality."

"Well, normally we Digimon live in peace with each other," Floramon sighed. "Or at least, most of the time, when the 3 Celestial Digimon were governing our world."

"It's only recently that it's gotten as bad as it did when Cherubimon turned against the other 2, and started corrupting other Digimon," Another Floramon remarked.

"Sounds like we may have to defeat Cherubimon to restore peace to this world then." Takuya noted with a frown before he ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Talk about a tall order."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Lopmon spoke up, worried that the children would try to fight Cherubimon. "Our priority is to get you kids to the Forest Terminal. Don't try to fight Cherubimon yourselves, I can guarantee it will not end well for any of us."

"Not like I wanted to get involved with this Cherubimon guy," JP shivered.

Biyomon frowned. "I was just hoping to use the fractal code that was already stolen and bring it back here, but if the code had already been consumed a while back, then it might be too late…"

"Doesn't mean we can't try to help it regrow, right?" Patamon said, hoping to make Biyomon feel better.

Lopmon frowned as he lifted up his ears. "I hear footsteps coming this way."

Biyomon blinked before she heard the sound too. "It sounds like a few Digimon may be heading towards us." She noted nervously. If it's Grumblemon, we're in trouble… The Warriors aren't ready to fight him yet!

Then suddenly, they saw what looked like mushroom people coming out of the bushes and walking up to them.

"It's the Mushroomon!" The Floramon yelled.

But something was off. The Mushroomon weren't making a lot of noise. They were just staring at them with dead looking eyes.

"Um… I thought you said the Mushroomon were acting aggressively and hostilely towards you, Floramon." Zoe noted, feeling uncomfortable at the dead-looking eyes of the Digimon before them. "These Mushroomon are acting more like zombies than the hostile Digimon you mentioned."

"They usually are! Something must be wrong with them." Floramon frowned.

"They usually start insulting us or snickering right now." Another Floramon pointed out.

"But… it doesn't look like they're doing anything other than staring at us," Tommy noted, he was getting creeped out by this.

"Guys, stay back, we're going to try to check this out," Patamon spoke up, looking at the human children.

Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon looked at each other, all 3 getting a very uneasy feeling about this. They slowly began to approach the 3 Mushroomon.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Takuya asked in concern, not wanting them to get hurt.

"Not really, but we're doing it anyway," Patamon replied back.

"Hello in there? Is anyone home?" Biyomon questioned as she lifted up a wing to tap on one of the Mushroomon's cap.

There was no response.

Lopmon walked up closer to the Mushroomon in the middle, squinting his eyes to try to peer into the Mushroomon's eyes. There was… a slight glow in Mushroomon's eyes, an unnatural glow. Lopmon's eyes widened as he quickly backed away.

"Move!" Lopmon shouted.

The 3 Mushroomon suddenly threw out smaller mushrooms at them, and the mushrooms exploded like grenades. Due to Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon's close proximity, they were blown back into the trunk of the tree.

"Oh no!" Zoe exclaimed. "Biyomon!"

"It's not them we need to worry about…" JP gulped. "Those Mushroomon are attacking, and they don't look too happy!"

"You don't say, JP?" Takuya gritted his teeth.

"What's happening to you guys!?" Floramon shouted, not sure how to react to this.

The Mushroomon didn't give an answer. They began approaching the group, holding their mushroom grenades, still without speaking a word.

"Ouch…" Patamon groaned before he shook his head to regain his senses. "I think that answers the question of if the Mushroomon are hostile or not… But they are still acting like zombies."

"But why?" Biyomon asked as she shivered at the dead, yet glowing, eyes of the Mushroomon. "This isn't normal for any Digimon, at least… I think."

"It's not," Lopmon said as he got to his feet. "This… shouldn't be happening."

The zombie-like Mushroomon began throwing more of their grenades. The Floramon attempted to restrain the Mushroomon with their Poison Ivy vines, however, one of the Mushroomon threw out a different mushroom that covered the Floramon with some kind of yellow spores. Upon touching the spores, the Floramon couldn't stop laughing, losing their hold on the Mushroomon.

Zoe looked at the Floramon in concern. "I don't get it, what's so funny?"

"The Mushroomon's spores seem to be acting like laughing gas to these Floramon." Tommy frowned.

"How does a squirt like you even know what 'laughing gas' is?" JP frowned.

"Does that really matter right now?" Tommy questioned.

"No, I guess it doesn't…" JP grumbled.

"We have more important things to worry about right now, like these Mushroomon and their odd behavior." Takuya pointed out nervously. "We can't just sit back and let these Mushroomon get away with this!"

"Yeah, but how can we stop them if we don't know what is wrong with them?" Zoe pointed out.

"Maybe we just need to purify their fractal code and they'll go back to normal," Takuya suggested. "I can Spirit Evolve and-"

"Maybe don't do that in a forest where you can easily create a forest fire?" Zoe quickly argued. "How well can you control your powers right now anyways!?"

Takuya looked nervous, but he didn't back down. "I know I may not have much control, but I can't just sit back and do nothing!" He exclaimed as he clenched his fists. "I mean, what else could I do?"

"Tommy can also Spirit Evolve." Zoe pointed out. "You're not the only one who can do that now, remember?"

"Yeah, I know that, but Tommy only has one battle under his belt, so to speak." Takuya retorted.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shot out an air bubble at the incoming mushroom grenades, causing them to fall back and explode on the ground. "Whatever you plan to do, do it soon! You don't have time to argue on the battlefield!"

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon glided through the air, freezing the Mushroomon's head and hands. "That should slow down the mushroom grenades, but keep your guards up!"

Tommy looked up and frowned, he wasn't very confident in using his Digimon form yet, but his friends needed him. He took his D-Tector out, however, before he could Spirit Evolve, one of the Mushroomon jumped at him. Tommy yelped as he rolled away from the incoming attack, and another Mushroomon headbutted him from behind, causing Tommy to hit the ground and drop his D-Tector.

The last Mushroomon jumped at Takuya, kicking him in the forehead to knock him back.

"They're aiming for the two who have their Spirits!" Lopmon realized.

"Oh, c'mon!" Patamon exclaimed. "That's just low!"

"We need to help them!" Biyomon added, feeling her feathers bristling at the low move she was witnessing.

"They're Rookie level Digimon, so we should be able to handle them!" Lopmon quickly said.

Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon tackled the Mushroomon. Since there were 3 of them, they decided to fight one-on-one with each of the Mushroomon.

Biyomon slashed the Mushroomon she was fighting with her talons, leaving several cuts.

Patamon tackled the Mushroomon he was dueling, and knocked it back with his Boom Bubble.

Lopmon turned himself into a mini-twister, slapping the Mushroomon he took silly.

For a moment, it looked like Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon had the upper hand. However, that soon went downhill when all 3 Mushroomon's eyes glowed red all of a sudden.

Biyomon was knocked back by a sudden powerful punch by the Mushroomon, a punch that was far stronger than what a normal Mushroomon could do.

Patamon's eyes went wide in shock when the Mushroomon in front of him suddenly disappeared. This caused Patamon to hesitate from confusion long enough to be blasted by some kind of pinkish red beam from the Mushroomon's hand. Patamon yelped in pain as he hit the ground.

With Lopmon, he suddenly couldn't hit the Mushroomon. His Tiny Twister and Blazing Ice attacks kept going through the Mushroomon like he wasn't there. It took Lopmon a moment to realize why his attacks aren't working. Intangibility!? How!?

However, despite this knowledge, the Mushroomon ran at Lopmon and went through him, going behind the little rabbit Digimon. Lopmon gasped as he tried to turn around, but the Mushroomon shot out red electricity at Lopmon. Lopmon let out a cry of pain from being shocked by such intense energy.

"No! Lopmon!" Patamon yelled. He flew at the Mushroomon attacking Lopmon. "Get away from him!" He exclaimed angrily.

"They're getting slaughtered out there! We have to do something!" Zoe called out.

"What can we do though? They're Digimon, we're not!" JP pointed out.

"We can Spirit Evolve, they're distracted," Takuya spoke up.

"Takuya, you're gonna make things worse if you cause a forest fire!" Zoe pointed out.

Tommy picked up his D-Tector as he rubbed his back. "It's okay… if Agunimon starts a fire… I can douse it quickly with my ice. Lopmon and the others need our help though."

Takuya grinned. "Then let's do it!" He exclaimed as he held up his D-Tector.

Takuya held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Tommy followed Takuya's lead. The light green digital form of his first Spirit appeared on the screen of his D-Tector and he formed the familiar ring of fractal coding around his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. He lost his hair and his body became white as snow. His fingers became like paws almost and he gained a more cub-like appearance to his body. Green chest armor formed on his body and his feet gained green and red boots. A headband that had the image of a bear on it formed on his head, and he gained a shoulder pad on each side, but one was red while the other was gray in color. He slid down and landed as a mushy pile before he reformed and grinned, calling out his name. "Kumamon!"

While this was going on, Patamon was helping Lopmon up as Biyomon quickly rushed to them. They were looking at the glowing eyed Mushroomon as they began to gather up.

"They're not Mushroomon… they're using powers that shouldn't be available to them…" Biyomon frowned.

"Yeah… they're using… ghost powers," Patamon hissed. "But how…?"

"They might be… possessed by ghosts…" Lopmon guessed, his body all tingly from the electrocution.

Biyomon felt her feathers puff up upon hearing Lopmon's words. "Ghosts…? Here?!" Her feathers being puffed up made her look like a big pink puffball.

If the situation wasn't so dire, Patamon would be laughing at how puffy Biyomon looked right now.

"Hey! You leave them alone!" Agunimon shouted at the 3 possessed Mushroomon.

The Mushroomon all turned their heads to Agunimon as he was rushing at them.

Agunimon gritted his teeth before he held up his left hand, fire flaring from his silver wrist armor. "Pyro Darts!" He sent small bits of flame at the Mushroomon.

The Mushroomon hissed before their bodies went intangible, causing the Pyro Darts to miss them and hit the grass instead. Before the fire on the grass could spread, however, Kumamon came in and blew a small bit of icy wind at the flames, turning the flames into harmless bits of snow instead. The Mushroomon jumped up high, and were now floating in midair.

"They can fly?" Kumamon frowned.

"Not normally…" Biyomon replied, looking up at the floating Mushroomon. "Be careful you two! These Mushroomon aren't normal!"

Agunimon felt his face growing pale as he saw the hovering Mushroomon. He hadn't expected this, and it made him wonder what else was going on, if Biyomon's words were right about Mushroomon not being able to fly. However, he wasn't about to back down. "So they can fly? How much harder could it be to fight them?"

"Never ask that question." Kumamon grumbled.

The Mushroomon gathered around in perfect sync. They began throwing mushroom grenades at the group. Instead of the yellow spores that made the Floramon drop into a giggling fit, however, these spores were green. The second the green spores touched the plants, the plants withered and began to glitch out, showing the fractal codes.

Seeing this, Patamon's eyes went wide in horror. "Don't let those green spores touch you!"

Seeing the spores coming at them, both Agunimon and Kumamon jumped away, landing on separate sides of the battlefield and away from the spores. Agunimon noticed the glitching out that was occurring.

"W-what's… happening?" He asked, feeling like he should be scared of that stuff for some reason.

Something deep inside him was screaming at him to stay away from the green spores, and he didn't know why. It was like… a deep instinct or something, and his body was shaking.

"Look out!" Kumamon's voice shouted over Agunimon.

The icy bear took a deep breath and shot out his icy wind on the ground, freezing it to ice. Though curiously, he did this without shouting out the move's name. As soon as the ground was icy, Kumamon's boots created a pair of skis under him. Using this, Kumamon skated to Agunimon, grabbing his arm with his hand, and using his momentum on the ice to pull him away from the incoming green spore. Once the spore touched the ice, the ice, and the grass below, glitched out as they began to disappear into bits of data.

Agunimon was rather shocked that Kumamon was able to think past his instinctual fear and managed to pull him away from the green spores.

Agunimon gave Kumamon a grateful look. "Thanks…" He rasped out. "I… I don't know what came over me back there…"

"Try to keep your head together, Agunimon," Kumamon said. "I know it's scary, but we can't let fear make us freeze when we're needed to keep our friends safe."

Despite being an 8 year old, Kumamon sounded like he was speaking from experience. Which made Agunimon wonder what Kumamon went through. But there wasn't time to ask about that. He needed to focus.

"Quick, Zoe, JP, help us get the Floramon out of here! If they're caught up in the crossfire, they could die!" Lopmon shouted over at his friends, and the other non-Legendary Warrior humans.

Zoe and JP both looked at Lopmon before they each nodded.

"That we can do." Zoe replied nervously.

"Anything to get away from those freaky Mushroomon." JP agreed with a shiver. "They're creeping me out!"

Biyomon looked over at Patamon. "You should stay with Agunimon. He might need your help."

Patamon frowned. "I… I can't do it, Biyomon, not in front of them… it's against the rules, remember?"

"Then stay there in case they get knocked out or something, and you're the only one who can stop them," Biyomon reiterated. "Our lives are at stake right now, we can't afford to hesitate."

Patamon nodded, but he was feeling nervous and unsure about helping out. There was only one way to handle those creepy Mushroomon, but he wasn't sure if using that was a good idea right now. "O-Okay… I'll try to help…"

The Mushroomon threw more mushrooms that released the green spores again, causing more data to glitch out.

"Don't worry, Agunimon, we don't have to get in close, just hit them from afar. As strange as they are, they're still plant type Digimon, right? So they don't do well with fire or ice," Kumamon said, trying to strategize and keep things calm on the battlefield.

Agunimon realized Kumamon was right and took a breath before letting it out. "Yeah… Yeah, you're right… Long range can work just as well." He agreed, trying to keep himself calm.

Standing up, Agunimon got to his feet and held his arms out to his sides before slamming his fists together. Fire appeared around his hands and he pulled his arms apart before launching the fire from his hands at the Mushroomon in the air. "Pyro Punch!"

Though Agunimon normally punched the opponent with the attack as it did far more damage, he was able to shoot out flames from the Pyro Punch without having to get up close and personal to the Digimon.

"Blizzard Blaster!" Kumamon took out the gun from his back and fired snowballs into the air, letting them rain down as icicle-like spears onto the Mushroomon.

The attack was flawless, and normally, would end the Mushroomon easily. However…

Agunimon's eyes went wide, and Kumamon hissed, as their attacks went through the 3 Mushroomon's bodies.

"They can go intangible at will, so long they see your attacks coming, they can easily make themselves transparent," Patamon warned as he saw this.

"Crap…" Agunimon hissed through gritted teeth. "That's definitely going to make things difficult. How can we hit enemies that can turn intangible?!"

However, Agunimon felt like he had seen this ability before, it felt familiar, but he didn't know why.

Patamon frowned as he thought about what to do. Agunimon and Kumamon were powerful, but even they lacked the utility needed to fight against opponents that could go intangible at will.

The Mushroomon growled in irritation. While they were able to dodge attacks, and send out some dangerous attacks themselves, they could also see they were getting nowhere fast.

Some shadows watching the battle began to speak in low voices. Biyomon took notice of them.

"This battle is going nowhere."

"So what should we do?"

"Make them stronger. Force those weak mushrooms to digivolve. Maybe they'll be able to get the job done then."

"What?" Biyomon frowned. Who are they?

A dense fractal code shot at the 3 Mushroomon, causing them to cry out.

"W-what was that?" Patamon asked.

A cocoon of fractal code surrounded the Mushroomon, transforming them.

Kumamon and Agunimon's eyes went wide when they saw the fractal code surrounding the three Mushroomon. That didn't signify anything good, Agunimon and Kumamon knew from experience.

The fractal code dissipated, revealing a hovering Digimon that looked like a tree with eyes and a mouth. The eyes had little white dots in the center, and the mouth was just a hole in the trunk below the eyes. It had limbs made of tree limbs and bark that was pointed at the ends like hands and toes.

"The Mushroomon became stronger…" Agunimon realized. "But… where did that fractal code come from? It seemed to come out of nowhere…"

Lopmon hurried over to Biyomon while JP and Zoe were trying to get the Floramon safely inside their houses.

"Did you see that?" Biyomon asked Lopmon.

"I saw something being shot out from over there," Lopmon replied.

The shadowy figures weren't in the area anymore, but they were likely still nearby, watching the battle.

"They're the ones responsible for making the Mushroomon do this…" Biyomon frowned. "They're playing with their fractal codes like they're just programs."

Lopmon frowned as he looked at Biyomon. "Don't… let yourself get too attached to this world, Biyomon. Remember why we're here."

Biyomon groaned. "I know that, Lopmon, but we can't just let these guys get away with this!"

Biyomon spread out her wings and began flying to where she saw the shadows.

"No wait! Don't go off on your own! We don't know what we're dealing with!" Lopmon shouted after Biyomon. I hate that she can fly and I can't!

"What happened to those Mushroomon?" Kumamon asked Patamon.

"It… it looked like they combined with each other and digivolved into a Woodmon," Patamon answered. "Be careful, Woodmon is a Champion level Digimon, so he's much stronger now."

Agunimon growled. "Just like that Wizardmon. We can't be careless, since we know nothing about how this Digimon fights." But… I feel like this is familiar somehow… a Digimon being controlled like this… Why? I've never seen this before, and yet it feels like I have…

Agunimon got into a fighting stance, keeping an eye on the Woodmon, just in case it tried to attack them.

The Woodmon suddenly flew at them with such speed that Agunimon blinked, and it was suddenly right in front of them. It launched its branch-like arm at Agunimon and Kumamon.

"Branch Bash!" Woodmon shouted in a voice that had an unusual echo to it.

Agunimon's armor protected him from the brunt of the attack though the force still sent him back a few feet. Kumamon on the other hand, had his stomach struck through by the sharp branches. Kumamon let out a gasp of pain. Instead of being pushed back like Agunimon, he was stuck on the branch.

Patamon flew at Woodmon's head. "Boom Bubble!"

Patamon expanded before shooting out the air bubble at Woodmon's head. Woodmon grumbled a little when the air bubble hit his head, and rubbed it like a bee gave a sting to it.

Agunimon grunted as he staggered, trying to regain his sense of balance. He managed to, but barely before he glanced up and saw Kumamon impaled on the branch that had attacked them. His eyes went wide before he found himself running at Woodmon to save Kumamon. He didn't let out a shout or anything as he ran at Woodmon. Fire coated his left fist, without saying a word.

I hope this works… Agunimon thought as he reached Woodmon, which was busy with Patamon at the moment. Agunimon struck Woodmon with his fire-coated fist.

With Woodmon busy with Patamon, and having one of the Legendary Warriors trapped, he failed to notice Agunimon's silent attack until it was too late. Woodmon gave a shout as the fiery punch hit him. His branches got burned, and he slid back a little. But despite this, Woodmon stood his ground. He angrily threw Kumamon at Agunimon, then slapped Patamon away with his branch arm.

Kumamon landed on top of Agunimon, throwing both Legendary Warriors to the ground with a grunt, and in a tangle of limbs.

"Ow…" Agunimon groaned. "That Woodmon has some serious strength…"

"Ugh…" Kumamon groaned as he managed to melt his body for a moment, then get off of Agunimon before solidifying himself.

Kumamon quickly checked his stomach for any serious injuries, after all, he was just stabbed there. Though he found some wounds, he was surprised there were no holes, or blood leaking out of him.

"How am I… just okay after being stabbed in the stomach?" Kumamon found himself asking, a little freaked out by this.

Patamon shook his head, getting up after being slapped away by Woodmon. He noticed Kumamon was losing his cool, and his focus. "This isn't the time to be freaking out! You're a Digimon right now, you can take much more than a human can!"

Unfortunately, this little distraction was all Woodmon needed to power up, and fire a green beam of energy at them. Agunimon gasped and quickly pulled Kumamon close to his armored chest to shield him from the attack.

The attack hit Agunimon right in the back, causing serious damage to his armor and even making it crack slightly. Agunimon hissed in pain as he felt his back aching. "That… hurts like heck…" He hissed.

"A-Agunimon… are you okay?" Kumamon asked in worry.

Woodmon grinned as he began to power up again to attack. Patamon flew at Woodmon, and tried to tackle him. Patamon only bounced off of Woodmon's wood-like hide. He fired another Boom Bubble, but that wasn't stopping Woodmon from powering up another green beam. Patamon paled, realizing he wasn't strong enough as he was now to stop Woodmon.

Zoe and JP managed to get the Floramon into their houses, and away from the battlefield, but they could see the battle wasn't going well at all. Patamon wasn't doing much to Woodmon. Kumamon and Agunimon still weren't used to using their Digimon forms and powers. And they had no idea where Biyomon or Lopmon disappeared to. They were on their own.

"We have to do something, JP!" Zoe cried out.

"I-I know, but what can we do? We don't have any powers, or any ways to fight back! We'd just be in the way," JP pointed out.

"Well, sitting here isn't going to help either!" Zoe exclaimed. "Why are we here if we can't find some way to help?! We could use something in our environment to help out, or something similar!"

"You mean like throwing rocks and whatnot?" JP asked skeptically. "Wouldn't that tree-like Digimon just ignore it?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Zoe remarked, raising an eyebrow.

JP frowned. He didn't have any better ideas, but he wasn't sure about risking his life like this. Zoe, however, didn't seem to share his sentiment. When JP didn't give an answer, Zoe ran forward.

"H-hey! What are you doing!?" JP shouted after her.

"Helping our friends!" Zoe shouted back.

Zoe grabbed the nearest stick and ran at Woodmon. "Hey, eyes on me, bub!"

Zoe swung her stick at Woodmon's head from behind. Of course, the stick did nothing but snap in two. But it did get Woodmon's attention. He turned his head to see what tried to hit him from behind, only to see this human girl standing there, shaking.

"Y-you… leave them alone!" Zoe shouted.

"Zoe! You're going to get yourself killed!" JP shouted.

"Zoe!?" Agunimon shouted as well, shocked to see her in the battlefield.

"Get out of there!" Kumamon called out.

Patamon flew up, his body a little battered, but he saw Woodmon planning to fire the beam at her now. Narrowing his eyes, Patamon flew in front of Zoe, creating some kind of green shield around them before taking the beam's hit. The shield was thin, so it broke easily. Patamon let out a scream as he was hit by the beam.

"PATAMON!" Everyone cried as Patamon fell to the ground.

Agunimon growled as he saw Patamon getting hurt. "That's it…" He hissed. "Attacking us is one thing… but attacking Zoe and putting Patamon into a position where he has to protect her is quite another!" He was wondering about that green shield Patamon had put up to deflect the beam, but that would have to wait until after Woodmon was defeated.

With a grunt, Agunimon got to his feet despite the pain racing down his back. "Hey! You wanna fight someone?! Fight me!" Agunimon shouted at Woodmon.

Woodmon looked back at Agunimon. Agunimon was more than ready to fight. Kumamon got to his feet, though he was still wondering about how… not-very-human he was right now, he knew he needed to focus. Losing focus on a battlefield meant death, or the loss of an ally.

Woodmon charged at Agunimon and Kumamon, his body turned intangible so their attacks wouldn't be able to hit him as he was coming at them.

"Move!" Kumamon shouted, knowing this was a freight train they would not be able to stop.

Agunimon jumped to the left while Kumamon dodged to the right, Woodmon charging right through where they had been mere seconds before. Agunimon hissed through gritted teeth at the aching his back was giving off. Crud… I didn't think that beam would hurt so bad, even with my armor on…

Woodmon charged at Kumamon first, and swung his branch arms. However, Kumamon tried to act faster. He was still holding his gun, and fired out his snowballs at point blank. He didn't shout out his move, he didn't have time to. Woodmon, seeing the gun at his face, turned intangible again. However, when he did, his branching arm went through Kumamon instead of hitting him. Kumamon quickly took notice of that.

Woodmon flew back from Kumamon before noticing Agunimon's weakness, seeing how he was hobbling over due to his injured back, Woodmon took this chance to fly at Agunimon, powering up another beam in his smaller hands.

"Look out, Agunimon!" Kumamon shouted a warning.

Agunimon saw the beam powering up as Woodmon flew at him. His eyes went wide and while he knew he could dodge, his back burned with pain, making it hard to react. He couldn't just let himself get hit though. Patamon's injured form flashed through his mind and Agunimon remembered that shield Patamon had put up. If Patamon can do something like that, I can too!

Concentrating, Agunimon put his arms up in a defensive move, and focused on his power over fire. Fire flickered from the openings in his armor before surrounding him in a fiery sphere that then became semi-transparent. Please let this work…

Woodmon fired off the beam at Agunimon, but the beam hit the sphere Agunimon had created instead. Of course, while the sphere held stronger than Patamon's tiny shield, it was Agunimon's first time making it. And it was in haste. The sphere began to crack as Woodmon was still firing his beam. Agunimon's eyes went wide as he struggled to hold the sphere the best he could. More and more cracks began to spread through the sphere. It wouldn't be long before the sphere shattered.

"Frozen Tundra!" Agunimon heard a familiar voice shouting from above.

A giant icy stalagmite fell from the sky. Woodmon gasped as it pierced through his wooden hide, tearing off one of his limbs, and taking a good chunk of his right side with it. The giant icy stalagmite hit the ground. Agunimon looked rather surprised as he saw the icy stalagmite melting into a pool of white before reforming into a familiar white bear.

"I figured it out… While we can't hit Woodmon while he's intangible, he can't hit us either. He has to be solid in order to hit us," Kumamon stated. "And he was so busy with you, he didn't bother to see what I was doing."

Woodmon hissed as fractal code started to come out of him. However, another stream of thick fractal code launched at him from out of nowhere. The extra fractal code caused Woodmon to regenerate his right side and arm, and made him grow bigger.

"Oh come on, that's not fair!" Kumamon groaned.

"Since when is anything easy with these Mushroomon?" Agunimon growled out.

While this was going on, Zoe slowly picked up Patamon, who appeared to be unconscious. "Poor Patamon… I'm sorry… it was my fault that you got hurt… If only… if only I could be strong, like Tommy and Takuya… or Koji… but I'm not. I'm always just a helpless girl…"

"You're not helpless…" JP spoke up softly, having walked over to Zoe, seeing the state Patamon was in. "You were braver than I was…"

"But Patamon still got hurt…" Zoe said softly. "And it was my fault… If I hadn't run out there… He'd be okay…" Her heart twisted in guilt over what had occurred.

JP frowned as he looked at Zoe tearing up.

"You… you were right… it was foolish to try to help them when we… can't do anything ourselves…" Zoe said sadly.

"... You want to know the difference between you and me, Zoe?" JP replied. "You cared enough to want to help… I can't say that's a bad thing. We made a lot of friends here with the Floramon because you wanted to help them. I'm sure they can help nurse Patamon back to health."

Zoe smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I can't just quit because of one little mistake. Tommy and Takuya need our help, and if we stand by and hide away, they may not be able to win this battle."

"There's the Zoe I remember." JP smiled.

Suddenly, something glowed brightly from within the tree. This caught their attention. JP and Zoe looked at the tree to see what was making that bright light, and a figurine floated out.

"Is that… a Spirit?" JP asked, surprised. "It was here the whole time?"

"I… think it was…" Zoe agreed. "But… why is it coming to…" She trailed off as she saw what the Spirit was. It looked like a humanoid female form in a kneeling position with large butterfly-like wings and purple hair, situated on a hexagonal base. Zoe felt herself getting lost in the figurine's appearance. She saw an image of herself merging with a female humanoid form that matched the figurine's appearance. Small wisps of wind appeared in her irises as she felt the figurine calling out to her.

JP looked over at Zoe for a moment, noticing how she was looking at the figurine, and how the figurine stopped a few feet in front of her. He had seen this enough times to know what this meant. A part of him was uneasy, but he couldn't keep being selfish, especially when their lives were on the line.

"Go for it, Zoe. I'll take care of Patamon. The others need you," JP said encouragingly as he carefully took Patamon from Zoe's arms.

Zoe, as if hearing JP despite being in a trance, reached out and took out her D-Tector, pointing it at the Spirit. The screen lit up as the Spirit entered the D-Tector through the scanner. A pink symbol appeared on Zoe's D-Tector's screen as a voice spoke to her.

"It is time."

JP had to shut his eyes as when Zoe began the process of Spirit Evolving, it got pretty bright.

The magenta outline of her Spirit appeared visible on the screen of her D-Tector as she held it up. Fractal coding appeared on her left hand and she slammed the D-Tector against it as she brought the two together. Zoe then called out the familiar phrase she knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her body became data as her clothes ripped away. Coding surrounded her in a cocoon of sorts and the power of her first Spirit flowed into her. Her hair became longer, flowing past her waist and turning a purple color. Her body grew in height, increasing her strength and speed. A bikini-like outfit appeared on her body as gloves, and high boots formed on her arms and legs, with shoulder guards appearing as well as a visor that covered her eyes. Butterfly-like wings appeared on her back and she landed, letting out a cry as she unleashed a kick before she came to a stop and said her name. "Kazemon!"

The fractal code cocoon dissipated, revealing a female humanoid Digimon. She had long purple hair, and wore an outfit that could almost be described as a bikini, but with straps on it. She wore long boots and silver gloves on her lower arms that had wings on them and a symbol in the center of each. She had large butterfly wings coming from her back, and she had facial markings on her forehead and cheeks, and a silver visor covered her eyes.

When the light of the spirit evolution died down, JP was able to open his eyes again. He saw Kazemon in her full glory. "Whoa…" She looks hot even as a Digimon!

Kazemon looked down at JP and Patamon. An instinctual knowledge came to her mind before she held her hand out onto Patamon. JP watched, not sure what she was doing, but he trusted her. Pink energy flowed through Kazemon's hands, and the wounds on Patamon healed up. Patamon slowly opened his eyes.

"Huh…?" Patamon blinked, and looked up at Kazemon. "You… you are…"

Kazemon smiled at Patamon before she flew up and floated down in front of Woodmon, more than ready to fight herself.

Agunimon looked over, and his jaw dropped when he saw the female Digimon.

"Hey there, boys, need some help?" The female Digimon grinned.

"Who are… you?" Kumamon asked.

"Just call me Kazemon." The female Digimon said, giving the other two Legendary Warriors her name.

"Any help would be appreciated." Agunimon said, trying to keep his mind focused on the battle and not more teenager-related thoughts.

"Of course~" Kazemon smiled.

Woodmon hissed as he turned to face the newcomer. He jumped at her, firing another green beam. Kazemon, very graceful in the sky, easily dodged. Woodmon growled as he turned himself intangible.

"Intangibility won't save you from the force of wind," Kazemon stated as pink little twisters began to form on her fingers. "Hurricane Wave!"

The winds blasted out at Woodmon. Despite being intangible, he couldn't stop himself from being sucked into the wind's force, spinning him around and around.

Agunimon and Kumamon saw what was going on, and while Kumamon was surprised, Agunimon couldn't help but grin at the irony of the situation.

Woodmon was then spat out of the twister and returned to a tangible state, landing on the ground with a loud THUD.

Woodmon hissed and growled, he was trying to get back up. Kazemon pinned him down with more wind.

"Finish him off, quickly!" Kazemon quickly said. "I'll keep him down so he can't use intangibility to get away!"

Agunimon nodded as he dropped his shield. "Right!" He looked at Kumamon. "Let's go, Kumamon! Now's our chance!"

"Then don't hold back," Kumamon replied before he held his gun up. "Blizzard Blaster!"

The snowballs turned into icicle spears as they began to rain down onto Woodmon.

Agunimon called forth fire from his wrist armor and coated his fists in fire. "Pyro Punch!" He punched the fire at the downed Woodmon.

With all of their attacks connecting, Woodmon let out a scream as his fractal code began to show around his body. The 3 noticed that the fractal code was green and goopy, dripping all over the place. It wasn't natural, whatever that was.

"W-what's wrong with the fractal code?" Agunimon gasped. Again, this seemed familiar to him, but he didn't know why. It was like… he had seen it before, but this was the first time he was seeing this as far as he knew.

"It's tainted…" A familiar voice spoke up, catching Agunimon's attention.

Patamon flew over to them, with JP right behind him. Patamon looked a little battered, but he was far better than he was earlier.

"Patamon? Are you sure you're okay?" Kumamon asked in concern.

"I'm okay. Kazemon here healed most of my wounds," Patamon explained. "Thanks."

"It was the least I could do after you protected me," Kazemon replied softly.

"Protected you?" Agunimon repeated.

"Yeah… you didn't notice? That's Zoe." JP grinned.

Agunimon's jaw dropped upon hearing Kazemon was Zoe. That's Zoe?! She looks downright gorgeous!

"Whoa, you look pretty, Zoe." Kumamon complimented.

"Heh, thanks a lot," Kazemon chuckled sheepishly. "I'm just glad I was able to find a Spirit to help you guys."

"It's a bit too early to celebrate, you need to purify these fractal codes," Patamon spoke up. "They're tainted with something that should not be mixed with digital data. It's poisoning their Digi-Core."

Agunimon, Kumamon, and Kazemon all nodded.

Agunimon faced the first set of fractal code and took out his D-Tector. "Let the comfort of the flames return you to normal." He said as he held up his D-Tector. Agunimon pressed the button on the left side as the scanner on the top lit up. The symbol of Flame appeared on the screen at the same time. Agunimon swung his arm, scanning the fractal code with his D-Tector. "Fractal Code… Digitize!"

The fractal code was purified of the green goop that dripped from it, returning to its usual blueish-purple/whitish appearance. Agunimon held his D-Tector to his chest, the scanner going dark. "Purification, complete."

Though the fractal code still had some strange thickness to it, and a sense of wrongness.

"There's more fractal code that shouldn't be on this Woodmon," Patamon noted.

"We'll take care of that." Kazemon smiled.

Kazemon held up her own D-Tector. "May the blessing of wind guide you to the right path."

Kazemon pushed the button on the left side, and the symbol of Wind appeared on the screen. She swung her arm as the D-Tector scanned the fractal code. "Fractal Code… Digitize!"

The extra fractal code was absorbed into the D-Tector. Woodmon soon reverted back to the 3 Mushroomon.

"Ugh…" The Mushroomon groaned.

"Looks like you did it," Patamon said. "No need to return them to egg form."

"What happened? Last thing I remember was trying to create a new recipe for our mushroom mousse…" One of the Mushroomon groaned.

"I don't know. I just remember trying to find some ingredients for a new soup recipe…" The second Mushroomon replied. "Why do I feel like my memory is a blank…?"

The third Mushroomon looked up and yelped. "Whoa! Who are you!?"

"Easy now, we're all friends here," Kazemon gently said to calm them down.

"We helped you guys when you were attacking the Floramon," Kumamon explained.

"We… attacked the Floramon?" The third Mushroomon frowned.

"Why would we do that? Floramon are our friends," The second Mushroomon questioned.

"Did anything or anyone approach you at all before you blacked out?" Patamon asked. "Anything would be helpful."

"Um… I think there were these new guests coming to us," The first Mushroomon said. "We were going to treat them with hospitality, since it's been a long time since we had any guests here, but… I can't remember much after that…"

"When you attacked, you were acting more like… um… mere shells of yourselves." Agunimon explained. "Like you weren't even living anymore. It was really creepy."

"Those guests, do you know what they look like?" Kumamon asked.

"They… glowed, I think… but I don't remember what they really looked like." The second Mushroomon frowned.

"Did they… do something to us?" The third Mushroomon asked in concern. "Are the Floramon alright?"

"They're okay, they're in their houses," Kazemon explained.

"Hey, uh…" JP spoke up. "I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade after the big awesome fight, but… has anyone seen Lopmon or Biyomon?"

The others began to look around, trying to find any sign of Biyomon or Lopmon.

"That's odd…" Kazemon frowned. "I swore they were here, but now they're not…"

"Did they see something? Or did this enemy that brainwashed the Mushroomon get them too?" Agunimon asked, feeling worried about Lopmon and Biyomon being off alone against such a powerful, and mysterious, enemy.

Patamon frowned as well, now worried for them. "I'm going to look for them."

Patamon flew off before anyone could stop him.

"I'll look too. Since I can fly, I'll be able to get a better view of the area," Kazemon stated.

Kazemon took off as well, following Patamon into the sky above.

The two Digimon began to look for any sign of Biyomon or Lopmon.

"Where could they be?" Patamon asked in worry. He didn't want Lopmon, or Biyomon, to be hurt or worse. He didn't want them to be hurt because Lopmon was… And Biyomon was…

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: Here's another chapter. We're a little late on updating though.

ZAFT: Yeah, been a while since we were a day late. But had things going on at home that made me forget about it yesterday… ^^' Anyway, let's get on to the chapter. Don't wanna keep you guys waiting any longer!

Chapter 5: Going Your Own Way

Biyomon was flying ahead. She was keeping her keen blue eyes on the shadowy figures that were trying to move around in the shadows of the tree. Lopmon, despite having short legs, was able to keep up. He was lucky that Biyomon were not naturally fast flyers, though this Biyomon was very persistent with her flying. Lopmon saw the shadowy beings up ahead, and he had a bad feeling about them. He knew he couldn't leave Biyomon alone, or there was a good chance she would get taken out quickly.

With his big ears, Lopmon was able to hear the shadow figures grumbling to each other as they were moving.

"Way to go, genius, you weren't exactly subtle. Now we have two of those annoyances behind us!"

"I didn't think they would catch on to us!" The second shadow figure huffed.

"Next time use your head, not just your stupid core!"

"One of us needs to drive those two off; we all can't fight them, but one of us should be able to defeat them once and for all."

"Why can't we fight them? If we take two of them out, then that's two less variables to worry about."

"You idiot! You know the laws of this world don't permit us to interfere too much, even they have to follow that law. If we all take them on, there's a good chance we'll be caught by the Legendary Warriors, and then what!? We'd never be able to come back here!"

"Then I'll stay back and drive them away. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to take them out quietly so we don't get caught and not have to worry about them anymore."

"Ugh… of course you would. Just don't take too long or you won't be coming back here!"

"No fair… He always gets to do the main bulk of the fighting!"

"He is our main fighter for a reason. Now shut up!"

Lopmon frowned as he saw one of the shadows stopped moving while the rest kept going. Biyomon slowed down as well when she noticed this. She came down for a landing as Lopmon quickly caught up to where she landed.

"Be careful… I think this shadow intends to kill us," Lopmon warned Biyomon.

Biyomon scowled at the shadow figure. "Well, we won't go down so easily!" She exclaimed, puffing up her feathers to look more intimidating. "We can't, not with what's at stake!"

The shadow figure stood ready to attack, just as Biyomon and Lopmon did. It was like a western standoff so to speak, with each side waiting for the other to make their move.

"Show yourself," Lopmon demanded. "If you plan to fight us, you can at least give us the decency to know what we're fighting against."

"Heh… very well. But you'll soon regret that, little bunny," The figure replied.

The shadow was just a disguise, the true being was lying underneath the black silhouette. A green glow broke through the shadowy disguise. A green humanoid figure stood before the two Digimon, but this being was far from human. Its hide was green and purple, it glowed an unnatural light. Its eyes were black and soulless looking. It had a pair of purple and green tentacles for arms. Its legs were long, and it ended with a pointy triangle without any feet. Its face was round, with 3 sharp prongs at the tip of its head. There was a bright, glowing purple gem-like thing in its chest.

"What… You're not a Digimon," Biyomon quickly noticed. "You shouldn't even be in the Digital World."

"You think I don't belong here?" The figure chuckled evilly. "That's funny, coming from you two, who are in the same boat so to speak."

"At least we aren't unnatural beings like you!" Biyomon snapped back, her feathers puffing out again.

"You're even more unnatural than I am," The figure laughed before pointing a tentacle at both of them. "At least I'm not lying with my appearance alone."

"Why are you here? Just to insult us?" Lopmon frowned.

"Wouldn't you like to know, little bunny?" The figure replied. "You can call me Dairy. I will be your doom for the day."

"Dairy? What kind of name is that?" Biyomon deadpanned.

"The kind that will end your run in this world," Dairy replied before he fired a blast of green beam at the two.

Lopmon yelped before he tackled Biyomon out of the way.

Biyomon yelped as she was tackled to the ground by Lopmon before looking at him gratefully. "Thanks… That could've turned ugly."

"Keep your guard up, he's coming!" Lopmon quickly warned. And we've been separated from the others.

Dairy jumped at them, and extended his tentacles at the two. Biyomon quickly flew up and slashed at the tentacles near her with her talons. Lopmon jumped away and fired out a quick Blazing Ice attack to slow the tentacles down. Dairy grinned before opening his mouth to fire out some kind of green sludge. Biyomon yelped as she was covered in the slime, unable to move or fly.

Lopmon gasped, seeing Biyomon was caught in the sludge. He quickly moved to avoid getting coated in the sludge himself.

"H-hey! What the heck is this?!" Biyomon exclaimed, trying to escape the green sludge. "This is so gross!"

"That is to keep you from flying away, little bird," Dairy replied. "And now for you, little bunny."

Dairy put his tentacles together in front of himself, creating a ball of electricity. "Here, have a ball!"

Dairy threw the electric ball at Lopmon. Lopmon's eyes went wide as he hurried to get out of its way, but the ball was fast. Lopmon jumped just as the ball hit the ground before, exploding and discharging electricity in the area. Lopmon let out a cry as his body was being electrocuted. He fell to the ground, feeling numb.

"Lopmon!" Biyomon shouted. "Get up! He's coming for you!"

Dairy was indeed approaching the numbed Lopmon, a sinister laugh escaping him. "How do you like that, little bunny? Was it shocking enough? Was it electrifying?"

Great, our slayer is a pun lover. Lopmon inwardly groaned before he managed to look up from his face down position. But what are we going to do? If he destroys our bodies, then we…

"You're so much weaker than I thought you'd be, this will be easy. I'll take the two of you out, and we can get out of this dump," Dairy remarked as he raised up one of his tentacle pairs, turning them sharp. "Now hold still, this will only hurt a lot, but it'll be over soon."

Lopmon struggled to move, but the electricity made it impossible to move his body.

"Howling Laser!"

A bright white energy shot came from the trees, hitting Dairy in the back directly. The attack caught Dairy by surprise, causing him to stumble and lose his footing. Dairy fell to the ground with a grunt after failing to regain his footing.

Biyomon and Lopmon both gasped, not having expected the sudden rescue. They turned their heads, still unable to move their bodies.

"Hey you two! Are you alright!?" Labramon asked in concern.

"Y-yeah! We are now!" Biyomon replied in relief, seeing Labramon with a familiar white-armored humanoid Digimon at her side, his left arm raised and the barrel built into his forearm armor aimed at Dairy.

"Whatever that thing is, I'm not getting a good feeling from it." Lobomon said as he lowered his left arm and drew out one of his light swords.

Lobomon? He was here? And he saved us? Lopmon thought in surprise. But why would he care? Was it because of Labramon?

Dairy grumbled as he shook himself off. He looked at Lobomon with his black eyes. "A Legendary Warrior, huh? I didn't know there was one way out here. And here I thought we were in the clear."

"Whatever you are, you clearly underestimate the Legendary Warriors." Lobomon said as he got into a fighting stance. "I just happened to be in the area and sensed something off, so I came to investigate. I never imagined running into an enemy I've never seen before."

Labramon growled as she crouched down in a fighting position. "How dare you hurt my friends! We'll make you pay for that, you big ugly creature!"

Dairy studied the situation for a moment. "How annoying. I would fight, but you'll draw too much attention. That, and you're… well, for the sake of convenience, I'll just say you're one of the Legendary Warriors. I'm not supposed to fight against one of you. So consider yourselves lucky."

Dairy looked at Lopmon and Biyomon. "And by 'yourselves', I meant you two. But I won't hesitate to kill you if I get the chance to."

Dairy then created a puff of smoke before vanishing.

Lobomon saw the unknown creature vanish and frowned to himself as he narrowed his red eyes. However, seeing the thing was gone, he stood up and stowed his light sword again. "That was weird. Why did that thing just run?"

"He probably didn't want to mess with a Legendary Warrior, he did seem pretty hesitant on that," Labramon noted before she rushed over to Lopmon. "Hold on, I'll heal you."

"Thanks, you're a sight for sore eyes," Lopmon weakly grinned.

Lobomon went over to Biyomon to help her out of the sludge.

"Use your D-Tector thingy. This sludge can be taken off if you just scan my fractal code," Biyomon explained. "Just don't turn me into an egg."

Lobomon nodded as he reached over and pulled his D-Tector off of his person. "I will try to be careful. Just don't expect me to be too gentle."

He then concentrated and held up his D-Tector. The screen began to glow with his symbol of Light and Biyomon felt her fractal code slowly emerge from her body. It didn't hurt, but it did make her body ache a bit.

Lobomon then activated the scanner and scanned Biyomon's fractal code, trying to make sure he didn't take her code and only removed the green sludge… whatever it was.

Thankfully, the Warrior of Light was successful in the removal of the green sludge on Biyomon, and the scanner on his D-Tector went dark as soon as he was done.

Biyomon was free from the sludge and she felt rejuvenated after her fractal code was scanned. "Wow, that was quite the rush! And thanks, I owe you one for this."

"You don't owe me anything." Lobomon replied, waving it off. "I was just in the area and decided to help."

Lopmon was back on his feet after Labramon used her Cure Liquor on him.

"But that Dairy guy was right, we really did get lucky that you and Labramon were nearby. Otherwise he would've finished us off," Lopmon said grimly. "We couldn't do anything to him."

"Dairy?" Labramon asked.

"That was the name that… thing gave us," Biyomon explained.

"Oh… what do you think that Dairy monster wanted?" Labramon asked. "Koji and I heard these shadowy figures talking earlier. They kept saying how they wanted them to fail their mission."

Upon hearing that, Lopmon and Biyomon paled.

Lobomon saw the reaction of the two Rookie Digimon and raised an eyebrow. "Do you two know something about that?" He questioned.

Labramon frowned as well, though unlike Koji, she knew why. She just had to relay the message to the others in the least suspicious way possible in front of Koji.

"We… don't really know exactly, but… we know it doesn't sound good," Biyomon answered.

"If Dairy is part of this… mission to sabotage, then we're definitely in a lot of trouble," Lopmon warned.

"What do you mean?" Lobomon asked. "Who's mission are they trying to sabotage?"

Lopmon and Biyomon looked at each other, as if asking how to explain it to him.

Lopmon then snapped his fingers as if getting an idea. "Those things weren't Digimon, but they're definitely after something. It's possible this evil Cherubimon made them with his own power, getting tired of other Digimon failing him. But they're limited to what they could do, which is why that one fled when he saw you. They probably don't have the power to fight back against a Legendary Warrior. The mission they're sent to sabotage is probably the mission you guys are on to get to the Forest Terminal. Why else would they be here?"

Lobomon looked down as if considering Lopmon's words. In his mind, it did make sense. "Yeah… that's probably it." He agreed. Lobomon then frowned as he realized something. "But this then makes that goal much harder than I expected. I'm sure the others will also be targeted if I was a target this time."

"So what do you think we should do, Lobomon?" Labramon asked. "Should we stick with the others?"

"Is he supposed to go with the others now?" Biyomon whispered to Lopmon.

"I don't think so. Zoe and JP don't have their Spirits yet," Lopmon whispered back.

"Then… shouldn't we do something? Doesn't this count as interfering?" Biyomon nervously asked.

"Just… wait and see what happens. Koji's probably stubborn, so I doubt he'll work with them right now despite the… situation," Lopmon replied.

Lobomon sighed and shook his head. "It would be better if we remained split up for now. Too many of us in one area makes for a more tempting target." He admitted. "Despite safety in numbers, I don't want to have the others become targets. Besides, Labramon, we should be able to handle ourselves."

"Right, okay," Labramon replied before looking at Lopmon and Biyomon. "Will you two be okay?"

"Yeah, we'll get back to the others," Lopmon said. "You two stay safe, because you might be targeted next."

Lopmon was mostly looking at Labramon.

Labramon nodded, knowing what Lopmon meant. But it was under the guise of being concerned for Koji, so it hid the real recipient of the message.

"C'mon, Labramon." Lobomon said. "We need to get moving so that thing doesn't come back and find us right away."

"Coming, Lobomon. You two take care, and stay close with the others," Labramon said to Lopmon and Biyomon, hoping they would stay safer if they were with the other Legendary Warriors.

Labramon followed after Lobomon. Lobomon surrounded himself with fractal code, changing back to Koji.

"We really did get lucky back there, didn't we?" Biyomon frowned.

"Yes, we did. We shouldn't have recklessly ran off on our own," Lopmon replied. "We… aren't strong here. We're not the main protagonists of some anime. If we get attacked by forces stronger than us, then we will fall. If we want to make it through this, we need to work together."

Biyomon grumbled. "We should get back to the others then. I'd hate to get caught in that sludge again. That was disgusting. It messed up my feathers!"

Lopmon looked at Biyomon. "That's not all you're worried about, is it?"

Biyomon looked down. "... Is… Kokuwamon going to be alright? We haven't heard from him since we sent him to scout the place out 2 weeks ago. What if… he was caught by those shadowy beings?"

Lopmon frowned. "I'm worried about Kokuwamon too. But we can't get reckless. Biyomon… I know what I said before, about getting attached to the Legendary Warriors. But… maybe for now, it might be in our best interest to stay with them."

Biyomon nodded. "Yeah… you're right." She agreed. "We can't survive on our own in this world. We need the protection of the Legendary Warriors."

"At least… until they… outgrow us," Lopmon said softly.

"Do you know when that will be?" Biyomon asked.

"Well, at least two or one of the group have yet to find their human Spirits, so we still have some time," Lopmon answered. "We can ask them to spar with us, so maybe we'll be able to handle ourselves when the time comes. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to train with us, because it'll benefit us and them."

Biyomon smiled a bit at that. "It would be interesting to say the least, sparring with the Legendary Warriors. You really always think of good plans, don't you, Lopmon?"

"Heh… well someone has to," Lopmon chuckled sheepishly. "Do you think they were able to take out the Mushroomon?"

As if on cue, they heard familiar voices calling out to them.

"Lopmon! Biyomon! Can you hear us?!"

"Hey! Where are you two?!"

"Biyomon! Answer us! Lopmon! Where are you?!"

"Don't make me find you and stick to you like glue, Lopmon!"

Lopmon grumbled at the last voice while Biyomon giggled. "Sounds like you activated 'big brother mode'."

"He's not that much older than me!" Lopmon groaned.

"I'll go get them," Biyomon said before she flew up into the sky. "Hey, we're down here!"

The sound of footsteps began to get louder and closer. Even wing beats could be heard, most likely one very annoyed brother-like orange hamster.

Lopmon was tackled by Patamon. "Do you realize how worried I was?!"

"Are you trying to break my body?" Lopmon whined as Patamon was shaking him.

"What's up with Patamon? He sure it freaking out," JP asked as they caught up.

"He sees Lopmon as a brother, they're really close," Biyomon explained before she looked at Kazemon. "Who are you?"

"Oh! It's me, Zoe!" Kazemon replied. "I found my Spirit during the fight with the Mushroomon!"

"Really?" Biyomon smiled a little nervously. "So you found your Spirit… cool."

"Is everything alright?" Kazemon asked in concern.

"Oh, it's… nothing. We were attacked earlier, but Lobomon saved us," Biyomon answered.

"You were attacked?" Kumamon frowned.

"YOU WERE ATTACKED!?" Patamon shouted.

"Patamon! Please! I need to breathe!" Lopmon yelled as Patamon shook him harder.

"Why didn't you come and find us?!" Patamon demanded.

"We were kinda… well… stuck…" Biyomon muttered. "And Lopmon was paralyzed by an electric attack…"

"That's it! You are not being let out of my sight again, Lopmon!" Patamon said sternly.

Agunimon had to clamp a hand over his mouth to hide his grin and to hide his laughter.

"Calm the heck down, Patamon," Lopmon groaned. "Besides, we have more to tell you about what attacked us."

Patamon frowned, but he finally let go of Lopmon to give him some room to breathe.

"How about we go back to Floramon's house? We can talk there and catch everyone up on what's been happening," Kumamon suggested. "And it might give the others some time to cool down."

"Was that a cold pun?" JP asked.

Kumamon rolled his eyes. "Sure, if you want to see it like that."

Agunimon actually visibly shook with laughter, trying very hard to keep from being heard.

"Agunimon, are you alright? You look like you're shaking," Kazemon asked.

"... Let him cook," Biyomon said.

Agunimon felt his good mood evaporate. "You really know how to ruin a good mood, Biyomon." He grumbled.

"It's what I'm here for~" Biyomon grinned.

Floramon and Mushroomon were getting along after the Mushroomon had apologized and explained the situation to them. They began working on a new soup recipe together.

"Here, some of these fractal codes aren't even our's, we were just hit by a bunch of extras. They might help bring the tree back to life," One of the Mushroomon said as he put a hand on the root of the tree, giving it the extra fractal code.

"That would be nice." One of the Floramon replied. "We also know it wasn't your fault with what happened. You were controlled by some evil force, so you weren't yourselves."

"We just hope it doesn't happen again," Another Mushroomon grumbled.

The fractal code surrounded the tree, and green leaves began to sprout from the tree. Flowers and bushes sprouting fruit began to come back to life in the area as well.

"Now it's starting to look like the old Breezy Village!" One of the Floramon smiled happily.

Meanwhile, inside one of the houses, the Floramon and Mushroomon were giving the new mushroom stew to the kids to try out.

"Trust us, its flavor will be out of this world." A Floramon smiled.

"And don't worry, all our mushrooms are edible and non-toxic," The Mushroomon confirmed.

JP took a sip, only for his eyes to light up in delight. "Oh wow! This is even better than the last soup we had!"

Takuya also was grinning as he tried his own soup. "Talk about tasty food! I could eat seconds or thirds of this!"

"At least you guys got over your disgust of how the broth was made," Tommy chuckled.

"Who cares about when this stew is delicious beyond words?" Zoe smiled.

Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon were eating up the stew like crazy as well.

While they were enjoying the mushroom stew, the group began talking about what happened. Takuya, JP, Tommy, Zoe, and Patamon talked about what happened with Mushroomon, and Biyomon and Lopmon explained what happened with Dairy, and how Lobomon and Labramon saved them.

"It's possible that these shadows are trying to stop us from getting to the Forest Terminal. Do you think Cherubimon sent them?" Zoe frowned.

"It's possible." Takuya said. "We can't dismiss how big a threat Cherubimon is. He may be feeling threatened by the fact we are gaining our own Spirits for all we know."

"But how does Cherubimon know we are gaining the Spirits of Legendary Warriors?" JP questioned. "I doubt he has spies everywhere, so he can't possibly know how we gained the Spirits."

"It's not exactly difficult to know that you're gaining Spirits," Lopmon said. "After all, 5 humans arrive, and now the Legendary Warriors are starting to pop up, one after another?"

"He's got a point," Tommy said. "With how often we had to use our Spirits, and how many Digimon see us using our Spirits, it's not hard to figure out that we're gaining the Legendary Warrior's Spirits."

Patamon leaned over to whisper to Lopmon. "But that's not the case, is it?"

Lopmon shook his head.

"They're here… for us, not them, right?" Patamon frowned.

Lopmon nodded.

Patamon let out a small groan. "Of course, nothing can ever be easy."

"We just have to try and stay alert." Biyomon whispered to Patamon and Lopmon. "We can't drop our guard."

"We have to stay close to them right now," Lopmon whispered. "Dairy and his allies seem to not be allowed to be near the Legendary Warriors. So… until they outgrow us, it might be in our best interest to train with them, so we can take care of ourselves… when the time comes."

Patamon and Biyomon nodded in agreement.

"You really think training with the Legendary Warriors would be a good idea?" Patamon asked quietly. "I mean… they are stronger than we are on a physical level when using their Spirits…"

"That's exactly the point. We need to get stronger, and they need to get used to using their Spirits," Lopmon pointed out.

Patamon looked contemplative before he looked back up at Lopmon and nodded. "I can't exactly argue against that logic."

"So what should we do?" JP asked. "They could come back at any moment to get you guys."

"What about you?" Zoe asked.

"Hey, unlike you guys, I'm not a Legendary Warrior…" JP frowned. "So you should be more worried about yourselves than me."

"Hey, don't say that JP." Takuya said. "For all you know, the next Spirit we may find could be yours. You also have a D-Tector, right? So there must be a Spirit for you somewhere."

"I don't know about that… for all I know, this D-Tector could just be a hunk of junk for me," JP sighed.

"Hey, don't worry about it, alright?" Biyomon spoke up. "You're here, you have a D-Tector, and you've survived for this long in this world. You're tougher than you give yourself credit for."

"I like your attitude~" Zoe smiled.

"Thanks, you're not so bad for mostly wearing pink, even in your Digimon form," Biyomon remarked.

Zoe blinked. "But you're pink."

"I know," Biyomon replied.

Zoe sighed as she shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever understand Digimon sometimes."

"Eh, that's just how Biyomon is," Patamon chuckled. "You'll get used to her. That is… if you're planning to stick around with us."

Biyomon sighed. "I hadn't at first, but after thinking about it… it might be better if I stayed for now. You guys are hopeless, so I need to keep an eye on you."

"Hey! We're not hopeless!" Takuya grumbled.

"Says the one who charged head first at Cerberumon as a human." Patamon retorted.

Takuya blushed at that reminder. "No need to remind me of that…"

"I thought that was brave… even if reckless," Tommy chuckled. "I mean I did get myself into that situation in the first place."

"You see? Hopeless," Biyomon snickered.

"Well, welcome to the team then. The more the merrier, right?" Zoe smiled.

"When should we start training with them?" Patamon asked Lopmon.

"Probably when JP gets his Spirit," Lopmon whispered back. "That way they can all start getting used to their Spirits, and we can properly spar with all of them."

Patamon nodded. "Okay, so as soon as JP gets his Spirit, then we will start training. That sounds like a good plan."

"What about Kokuwamon?" Biyomon whispered.

"Maybe we'll find him. And if not… if those shadow beings got him, then…" Patamon paused. "I guess we'll have to do this without him."

Lopmon and Biyomon winced at the idea of having lost Kokuwamon, even if not in the traditional sense.

"We'd better hope he isn't gone then." Biyomon whispered back, feeling worry racing throughout her. "We'll need his superior tech knowledge…"

"Are you three alright? Why are you whispering?" Zoe asked.

"Ah, just some personal stuff between us Digimon," Lopmon quickly said.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about." Biyomon added easily. "It's just Digimon stuff, nothing special."

"So… what about Koji?" Tommy spoke up.

"What about him?" Takuya asked.

"He was here earlier, right? Shouldn't we be worried about him? What if he gets targeted too? He has Labramon, and he's pretty good at using his Spirit's power and all, but still, he'll be mostly alone against those shadowy guys and they seem to be pretty strong," Tommy pointed out.

"Maybe if we see him again, we can ask him to join our group." Takuya suggested. "We don't know where he went right now, so we just have to hope he can handle himself until then."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Labramon's with him and, like you said, he is pretty tough," Patamon said encouragingly.

"I guess," Tommy sighed.

Besides, it's not Koji we should worry about with those shadow beings. Lopmon frowned.

"We should probably leave tomorrow morning after we've rested up," Zoe suggested. "We don't want to take too long getting to the Forest Terminal."

"Yeah, whatever," JP huffed.

Tommy looked at JP in concern, noticing the attitude.

Later, that night, everyone had turned in for the night. The Floramon were kind enough to give them all guest rooms to sleep. Their beds were mostly made from leaves, but the leaves were very soft, and they smelled nice. Making it easy for the group to sleep.

However, JP hadn't been able to sleep very well. He thought back on the battle against Woodmon, and how Zoe managed to get her Spirit. Now he was the only ordinary human left in their group… their group of Legendary Warriors. JP sat up from his spot in bed and slowly got out of bed. He needed some air.

JP slowly crept by the other sleeping kids in their rooms and walked outside as quietly as he could before shutting the door to the guest house. He sighed and looked up at the night sky above him. It was so peaceful, but JP didn't feel peaceful at all.

However, it turned out there was another who didn't fall asleep. They saw JP leaving. They slowly walked out as well.

"Hey, JP." The person greeted.

JP jumped and turned around, seeing nothing at first, before he looked down, seeing a familiar little kid standing there.

"Oh, hey Tommy." JP grumbled. "What are you doing up this late? Shouldn't you be sleeping or something?"

"I wasn't really sleepy," Tommy said, though he had to fight off a yawn.

"Uh-huh," JP looked at him. "Maybe you want to try that again?"

Tommy let out a sigh. "I couldn't help but notice how bummed you seemed while we were eating. You're usually a lot happier when food's involved."

"How can I not be bummed when I am the only human left in our group?" JP grumbled. "The rest of you are now heroes, the Legendary Warriors. Me? I'm just the human sidekick."

"Weren't you the one who was freaking out about turning into a Digimon?" Tommy pointed out.

"I know, but now that I'm the only one without the ability to become a Digimon, I'm feeling kinda jealous of the rest of you." JP admitted.

"I know the feeling," Tommy replied.

"How can you know the feeling? You were the second person in this group to get their Spirit," JP pointed out.

"I mean I know the feeling of being left out," Tommy clarified. "I… don't have a lot of friends back home. I usually watch other kids play on the playground while I just watch from a swing."

JP grimaced. "That doesn't sound fun to be honest…"

"It isn't," Tommy agreed. "Although, maybe it's my fault. I sometimes freak the other kids out I guess, or maybe my brother's right in saying I act like a spoiled child around everyone, so I drive them crazy. But… it isn't just that. I feel like… I've been through something like this before. Being among other Legendary Warriors, and feeling like you don't belong. But I'm not sure why I feel like that, the feeling is… just really familiar."

JP whistled. "That's deep thinking for an 8-year old kid."

"Maybe I just think too much," Tommy shrugged. "But, uh… are you going to be alright? I've noticed a pattern… It seems each of us finds a Spirit for someone in our group. So… maybe this means you'll find yours soon. So don't write yourself out just yet. Besides, Lopmon seemed pretty confident you'll get your Spirit soon."

JP smiled a bit. "Thanks. I don't know if I will find my Spirit yet, but you're right. I can't just quit now. I have a D-Tector like the rest of you, so that must mean something."

"Besides, ever heard of the 'late bloomer' saying? Since you're the last one to get your Spirit, that means your Spirit must be really strong," Tommy chuckled.

"Heh, I'm expecting it to be strong then." JP grinned back.

JP then sighed before he decided to ask Tommy something. "What was it like? When you… saw your Spirit in front of you? You didn't seem too thrilled about becoming a Digimon at first either."

"I wasn't thinking about that when I saw Takuya, Patamon, and Lopmon were in danger," Tommy admitted. "I just… felt like I needed to help them in some way. And when Kumamon's Spirit stopped in front of me, it was like… I just knew what to do. I can't really explain it in words."

"That's kinda weird." JP admitted. "But it sounds like the Spirits may be giving us the information we need to know somehow, like on a spiritual level or something."

"Maybe. I can't say I understand how this whole Spirit thing works," Tommy shrugged.

JP looked over at Tommy, he couldn't help but appreciate how the young boy went out of his way to comfort him. "Hey… thanks for talking to me, squirt, but you should get back inside and go to sleep. It's not healthy for a kid your age to stay up this late."

"The same can be said for you," Tommy pointed out.

JP grumbled. "I'm older than you, and yet you tell me I need to get some sleep as well?"

"Hey, I'm just saying we all need to sleep before we hit the road tomorrow," Tommy chuckled.

From the corner of one of the Floramon houses, Lopmon watched the two in silence. He gave a small smile. Well… this didn't happen before… I wonder if we were responsible for this change. I hope it doesn't hurt JP's chances of getting his Spirit. But… maybe it would benefit him in the long run later.

"So thou actually intend to leave the Rose Morning Star since awakening?" Mercurymon asked in a tone of surprise. "Oinkmon must be flying, because this day didn't seem likely to come."

"Better believe it. Duskmon plans to travel out of this boring dark continent." BlackGatomon grinned. "Staying cooped up here just isn't very fun, and he'll never really get to see the Digital World or find any good fractal code for Lord Cherubimon if he stays here all day like an introvert."

"Then may thou's hunt be fruitful. T'will be good to see how Duskmon does the hunt for more fractal code." Mercurymon chuckled.

Duskmon rolled his eyes. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here. I'm more than capable of finding fractal code on my own."

"Of course you are, but I am tasked to stay close to you until ordered otherwise," BlackGatomon remarked. "Besides, I'm sure you'd like a witness to your awesome power when you find a place to take fractal code from."

Duskmon felt a grin crossing his lips, albeit unseen due to his mouth being covered. "Yes, that would be a good thing to have." He said, his tone of voice actually holding some amusement for once instead of being dull and boring.

Mercurymon would be rolling his eyes if he had any right now. "Thou art getting too attached to the mischievous she-devil covered in fur. Thou best watch thyself."

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of evil Devimon manipulating Duskmon," BlackGatomon said. "Relax, will you? I have no reason to do such a thing. I'm just a cat Digimon wanting to enjoy some entertainment."

Duskmon actually chuckled as Mercurymon just shook his head.

"Let's get going, BlackGatomon." Duskmon said. "The fractal code won't be found by itself."

BlackGatomon grinned as she followed Duskmon outside of the hideout.

"So do you have a destination in mind?" BlackGatomon asked as they were walking.

D"We will look near a village of Digimon that can supposedly tell the future." Duskmon replied as they made their way down the pathway outside the hideout. "There's supposed to be some good fractal code there, or so I assume."

"A village of Digimon that can tell the future?" BlackGatomon asked. "I've heard about that place, it's called Fortune-teller Village. Supposedly there's a Shamanmon there who can accurately tell the future."

"Yes. If many Digimon there are said to be able to tell the future, then the fractal code must be of good quality. Not many Digimon can see the future, so there must be something in the fractal code that makes it a big place for such Digimon." Duskmon replied.

"Hmm… maybe," BlackGatomon said.

"Is something troubling you?" Duskmon asked, noticing the hesitance in BlackGatomon's tone.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking… wouldn't it be smarter to hold off on taking the fractal code of that place right away?" BlackGatomon spoke up.

"Explain," Duskmon stated.

"Well, taking the fractal code means the entire land will disappear. That means taking away resources that could be used for finding better fractal code much faster," BlackGatomon explained. "Not to mention if there are Digimon who can tell the future, it would be handy for us to hear what they have to say about the future. We could prepare for enemy attack, or find your Beast Spirit. You and Ranamon still haven't gotten your Beast Spirits after all. It might be better to mark the place and get the fractal code later after we've taken what we need."

Duskmon looked down in thought. BlackGatomon did raise a few good points he hadn't considered. "That's true…" He admitted before looking back up at BlackGatomon. "Alright. We'll mark the area and leave it for later, but I suggest we explore a bit to see what we may find."

"Of course. Maybe we'll even find a decent meal there. Eating nothing but paste and gruel is pretty nasty if you ask me, and not a proper diet for a growing Digimon," BlackGatomon grumbled.

Duskmon actually laughed. "So true. Ranamon doesn't even eat at the hideout, she burns everything she makes, which is ironic considering she is the Warrior of Water!"

So he does have a sense of humor as Duskmon. BlackGatomon grinned. "No wonder she leaves often, she gets to eat all the good food out there. Well, now it's time to show her she's not the only Digimon who can eat good food. Perhaps you should pick me up and start running. It'll be faster."

Duskmon's eyes glinted with amusement and an eagerness to take on the challenge. "We'll show Ranamon who the faster Digimon is." He remarked as he knelt down and picked up BlackGatomon.

Duskmon raced through the lands. He was truly fast, he was a black blur to anyone who saw him. BlackGatomon hung on to his arm, not wanting to get flung off. Duskmon's speed would put any Trailmon to shame, though that didn't mean the ride was the most pleasant one.

It didn't take Duskmon long to reach his destination.

"We've arrived at the Fortune-teller Village." Duskmon said as he set BlackGatomon down on the ground. "Not bad for a timely arrival, wouldn't you say?"

BlackGatomon tried not to look all frazzled from the very speedy yet bumpy ride. Though her fur was all poofed up. "... Not bad for a timely arrival… but you need to work on your smooth traveling."

Duskmon couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of BlackGatomon looking like a big black puffball. "You'd better get your fur straightened out or you will be mistaken for a lint ball."

"Ha, ha, ha," BlackGatomon sarcastically laughed as she used her claws to smooth her fur out. "Just keep your stoic attitude up here if you want to appear intimidating. But don't give the Digimon ideas that you're here to take the fractal code, at least not yet. We want them to work with us for now after all."

Duskmon nodded, easily slipping back into his stoic mood. He didn't need to be seen laughing with a comrade, no, they were with Cherubimon, the Celestial Digimon. They were his best warriors, so he had to act like it.

"I take it this is your first time interacting with civilian Digimon?" BlackGatomon asked.

"... Yes…" Duskmon admitted. "I… never saw the need to until now…"

"I figured as much. The others did tell me you were awoken by Lord Cherubimon recently, and you've never left the Rose Morning Star," BlackGatomon remarked. This could be tricky, he has no idea how to socialize, and that could give the Digimon the wrong idea… "Alright, just let me do most of the talking. If you must talk, try not to… sound too threatening."

Duskmon nodded. "I can do that." He replied. "Playing the silent type shouldn't be too hard."

BlackGatomon tried not to chuckle as she nodded. Heh, can't wait to tell the others about this side of Duskmon. They'll never believe it. "Alright, let's get going."

Duskmon followed BlackGatomon into the village, keeping up his stoic attitude and just being the silent follower of BlackGatomon for now.

There were a lot of Digimon walking around the Fortune-teller Village. It was night time right now, but that didn't stop the more nocturnal Digimon from roaming around. Duskmon was looking around at each stand with curiosity. The Digimon appeared to be selling certain types of charms, or crystal balls, or even telling other Digimon their future. There was a frog-like Digimon, a Geckomon, Duskmon realized, trying to make some kind of deal with an Armodillomon, though the Geckomon was acting a little ditzy.

"Don't fall for their tricks," BlackGatomon spoke up. "Most of them are just trying to get you to buy their stuff, and their 'fortunes' are usually just made up to make a quick buck."

Duskmon mentally made note of that. "So it seems the rumors are mostly false, only to get others to come here and buy stuff, even fake fortunes."

"Not all the rumors are false, they're just a bunch of money grubbers riding on the success of others," BlackGatomon grumbled. "Some Digimon are able to actually see the future. Shamamon is definitely one of them. But we're here to get some food first, can't work well on an empty stomach after all."

Duskmon nodded. He had to admit, he was feeling hungry as well. Running to the village had worked up an appetite for him.

"Hello there!" A large, golden furred ape-like Digimon suddenly came up in front of them. "I have bones that tell me of your future! How about it? Only 10 dollars!"

BlackGatomon grumbled before taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Duskmon, let me handle this."

Duskmon backed off, allowing BlackGatomon to handle the situation. He was sure she could handle it better, as he just wanted to attack this Digimon trying to make a quick buck off of them.

BlackGatomon looked at the Apemon before she suddenly shouted in his face. "Does it look like we're interested in a fortune telling!? You can take your bones, and shove them up your butt! We are hungry, and I'm ready to sink my claws into your bones covered in your body if you bother us again! Do I make myself clear!?"

The Apemon looked uneasy. "Um… Yes… Yes, you do. I am terribly sorry for disturbing you!" He apologized quickly before darting away to find another Digimon to bother.

BlackGatomon looked at the other vendors who looked like they were about to do the same thing Apemon did. "That goes for all of you!"

The vendors quickly turned around and walked away from them, not wanting to get their hides clawed off by an angry BlackGatomon.

Duskmon looked at BlackGatomon, a hint of being impressed in his red eyes before it faded and he was projecting that stoic air again.

BlackGatomon turned to Duskmon and gave a smirk. "And that is how you handle Digimon like them. They should back off for now, giving us time to actually look for a restaurant."

Duskmon nodded. "That was quite a way to handle it."

"Just don't go shouting at every Digimon in the face if they approach you. That was only to keep these money grubbers in line," BlackGatomon explained.

Duskmon nodded again, keeping up his silent, stoic facade.

BlackGatomon and Duskmon walked through the town. The other Digimon uneasily backed away from them as they walked. Even the Digimon that weren't shouted at looked uneasy. If it wasn't the BlackGatomon that worried them, it was the strange, tall, stoic Digimon walking behind her. He had creepy eyes on his shoulders and chest, and he had this powerful aura about him that made it difficult to approach him.

"Something smells good." BlackGatomon smiled as she followed the delicious smell, leading her and Duskmon to a restaurant. "I think I found us a good place to eat. Duskmon, do you have any money on you?"

Duskmon actually did have some money on him, even though he rarely, if almost ever, left the hideout. "I think I have enough for a meal for both of us."

BlackGatomon smiled. Oh good, he actually does have money. I was worried we'd have to take the villain route and threaten the cooks and waiters for our meal. "Alright, then let's go find a table."

"A table?" Duskmon asked.

"Yeah, we need to sit at a table before a waiter can come to serve us food," BlackGatomon explained. "Come on, big guy, you'll learn by experience."

As the two of them were walking, the other Digimon looked at the two. Many of them were uneasy, though some started whispering to each other, wondering who the big scary guy was.

"Ah, that looks like a good spot," BlackGaotmon pointed at a table near the corner.

Duskmon and BlackGatomon headed to the table in the corner, which was a relief because it meant they could eat their meal in peace.

"These things on the table are our menus," BlackGaotmon explained as she picked up a menu. "You can look through them to see what kind of food the restaurant serves, and they show you the prices of the food. So order what you think might be good, and that's within your budget."

Duskmon began to look through the menu and saw the food was reasonably priced, so it would not exceed the budget he had if both of them were to order two separate meals. Although Duskmon wasn't too familiar with a lot of the foods on the item, so he wasn't sure what to pick.

"Anything that… might be good to eat?" Duskmon asked BlackGatomon.

BlackGatomon blinked at the question. Oh, right, he hasn't eaten anything other than paste that was called 'food'. "Well, for a first timer, I'd recommend trying some hamburgers, or chicken tenders."

Duskmon felt his mouth start to water at the mention of hamburgers and chicken tenders. "I think I'll have the tenders. That sounds real good…"

"Uh… good evening. How… uh… may I help you?" A nervous looking Togemon asked.

"My friend, Duskmon, would have the 5 piece tender combo meal. And I'll have the fish filet sandwich combo," BlackGatomon stated.

"Um… Okay, that can be arranged…" The Togemon replied uncertainly; the two Digimon were making Togemon uneasy, the air around both of them feeling intimidating.

"Relax, we're just customers here. It's not like we're gonna eat you up or anything," BlackGatomon chuckled, seeing the unease.

Togemon quickly ran off. "I'll get you your orders quickly!"

BlackGatomon looked over at Duskmon. "Hmm, maybe tone down the intimidation a little bit."

Duskmon just gave BlackGatomon a deadpan look. "I can't exactly do that so easily." He admitted.

"I guess you are naturally intimidating," BlackGatomon remarked. "At the very least, we'll get our food quickly."

Duskmon had never had such tasty food before, and yet, it tasted familiar somehow. The chicken was crispy, and the meat was delicious. The fizzy drink that was called 'soda' went very well with the chicken tenders. BlackGatomon also added some tomato sauce called 'ketchup' with his tenders, adding to the flavor.

"Looks like someone's enjoying himself~" BlackGatomon grinned.

"What can I say? This tastes way better than that paste I was eating back at the hideout." Duskmon replied, the grin audible in his voice.

"Maybe Lord Cherubimon needs to hire a chef or something at the hideout," BlackGatomon mumbled before licking her claws and gloves. "I'll be right back, I just need to use the little kitty litter room."

"Just don't take too long." Duskmon said; he was clearly nervous about being left alone among so many Digimon.

BlackGatomon rolled her eyes. "You can survive on your own for 5 minutes."

BlackGatomon got out of her chair and walked to the bathroom area. She wanted her paws to be clean. As she was washing up at the sink, her ears twitched when she heard something nearby. It didn't sound like Digimon whispering nervously. She looked back, frowning. The stalls looked empty, but she didn't feel alone. Her fur was starting to stand up.

"Who's there?" BlackGatomon demanded.

The stalls were silent. Slowly, BlackGatomon began to approach the stalls. She had her claws ready to attack as she approached the first stall. She nudged the door open slowly, hearing it creak as it slowly opened up. She didn't see anyone inside, but a stall two doors down slowly swung open with another creaking noise.

BlackGatomon jumped, turning around quickly. She crept over to the stall and peered in, but it was empty. She was beginning to wonder if she was just acting paranoid, when she heard another stall slam shut. Whirling around, BlackGatomon tried to find the stall that had slammed, but all the stalls looked alike, with all the doors shut. Peering down, BlackGatomon's fur then stood on end as she saw two legs that ended in points inside one of the other stalls behind her. The door slowly creaked open, just as BlackGatomon turned around slowly to meet gazes with the stall's occupant.

BlackGatomon frowned in puzzlement when she didn't see anyone in the empty stall. She knew she heard someone, and saw the door opening before her. There was no way she was going to assume it was 'just the wind', that was how people got killed in horror movies. There was something else here, lurking around.

BlackGatomon turned around again, and jumped back when she saw what looked like some kind of alien-like creature looking back at her. It glowed red, its eyes were black and soulless. It had red and black tentacles for arms. It looked like it was primarily red with a black gem-like object in its chest. And it had long, pointy looking legs with no feet. Its face had one big pointy spike at the tip of its head.

"Whoa! Who are you!? What are you doing, creeping around like that?" BlackGatomon hissed.

The creature snickered. "So the little black cat wants to know who I am, eh? You can call me Gouda."

BlackGatomon blinked. "Like… the cheese?"

"Yeah, so? What's wrong with it?" The creature, Gouda, questioned in an annoyed tone.

BlackGatomon frowned. "... So you're not a Digimon, I take it?"

Gouda chuckled. "No, no, no, I'm no Digimon. I'm surprised you don't realize just what I am, considering how many times you've seen my species before."

BlackGatomon hissed as Gouda held out his tentacles at her. "That glow, and that stench… How are you here? You shouldn't be here."

"Oh, that's my little secret, my dear kitty cat~" Gouda snickered. "But sadly, you will never find out, because this is your end!"

Gouda shot out his tentacles at BlackGatomon. BlackGatomon was thankful she sparred with Ranamon and Grumblemon before coming here today, because her quick reflexes and honed in battle instincts saved her from having her chest pierced by those tentacles. She managed to dodge, and the tentacles pierced through the bathroom door.

"Why are you trying to kill me?!" BlackGatomon hissed.

"That, my kitty cat, is normally not for you to know. But since you asked, I will only say this; your mission cannot be allowed to be completed." Gouda replied sinisterly.

Gouda charged up a red beam with his tentacles and fired at BlackGatomon. BlackGatomon ran around the bathroom, getting away from the beam. BlackGatomon didn't know why this Gouda being wanted to sabotage her mission, but she wasn't going to let him do it so easily, not when there was so much at stake.

"Nice try! Have a taste of this!" BlackGatomon jumped at Gouda, curling one of her claws into a fist. "Lightning Paw!"

BlackGatomon punched Gouda in the face, despite her small size, she hit him with enough force to send him into a wall, cracking it.

"Ouch…" Gouda groaned before shaking his head. "So someone has some strength behind her blows. I see this won't be easy."

His tentacles began to shapeshift into pointed spears. "How about this? Gouda Jab!" He lunged at BlackGatomon, intending on piercing through her Digi-Core with the spears that made up his arms.

BlackGatomon dodged the first blow, but the second nicked her right paw, cutting through the glove. While the stabbing move may have been stupidly named, it was clearly a powerful technique.

One wrong move, and I'm toast. BlackGatomon realized. Gouda's pretty strong…

"There's more where that came from~" Gouda grinned.

"I'm not finished yet either," BlackGatomon hissed.

BlackGatomon was fast, nimble, and small. While Gouda was fast, he had trouble trying to hit her with his tentacles. BlackGatomon managed to get up close and jumped, avoiding another spear attack. She gave a quick kick at his shoulders. "Lightning Kick!"

"Cat Tail!" BlackGatomon slapped Gouda's tentacles away from her with her fast tail.

Unfortunately, Gouda was able to still use other attacks. The black gem on his chest glowed before it fired a beam of energy at her. BlackGatomon yelped in pain as the beam felt like it was burning through her fur and skin, and her back hit one of the bathroom stall's door.

"Your biggest problem is that you only have physical attacks. You can't do anything unless you get up close to your opponent. But I have no such issue, little kitty." Gouda grinned.

BlackGatomon groaned as she managed to get back on her feet, and rubbed her sore back a little. "I've managed to hold my own."

"Ah, that may be, but for how long can you keep it up?" Gouda chuckled sinisterly. "I can dodge your attacks, and attack from long range. But you can't do that. You can only dodge and use close range attacks."

"Don't get so cocky. I know what you are. You can only take so much damage from me," BlackGatomon hissed.

"Enough stalling. I need to finish you before someone sees me, other than you of course," Gouda said as he began to build up another attack with his gem.

BlackGatomon looked at the gem as it was glowing. Gouda was building up what looked like a big ball of wind. BlackGatomon jumped as Gouda threw out the ball of wind. The ball slammed into the ground, causing a tornado in the bathroom. BlackGatomon hissed as her fur and skin were getting torn by the blades of the wind, but she wasn't about to give up, not now, not here.

Despite the pain, and the winds blowing around her, she held out her fist as she forced her body to move down at Gouda. "YOU'RE NOT STOPPING ME! LIGHTNING PAW!"

BlackGatomon's fist hit Gouda's chest, right on the gem. The gem held strong, but Gouda let out a scream of pain.

"GAH! You little panther! You will pay for that!" Gouda yelled before smirking. "Oh? Did you think the gem was my weak point?"

BlackGatomon's eyes went wide as she realized her mistake.

"Gotcha!" Gouda's tentacles wrapped around BlackGatomon's body. "The gem is made out of ecto-diamonds. It protects our core, you won't be getting to my true weak point so easily! But thank you for serving yourself up on a silver platter, makes my job so much easier~"

BlackGatomon hissed as Gouda squeezed her tightly. One of Gouda's tentacle slowly moved up in front of her. BlackGatomon paled when she saw the tentacle turning into a spear.

"Now, it's time to say goodbye, kitty cat~" Gouda snickered sinisterly.

"Let me go! LET ME GO YOU BIG STINKY CHEESE!" BlackGatomon screeched loudly.

All of a sudden, the bathroom door busted down. An intimidating, dark, tall figure stood there. "I didn't think you'd be needing my help, BlackGatomon." A familiar deep voice said as twin blood red blades glinted dangerously. "But since I'm here, I'll carve up this 'big stinky cheese' for you."

Gouda turned at the voice. "Who dares to interrupt me?!" He demanded.

"Just call me your worst nightmare." The dark figure replied, stepping into the light of the bathroom, revealing the intimidating form of Duskmon.

Gouda suddenly froze when he saw Duskmon. BlackGatomon quickly took notice of this.

"So you're here. I didn't expect you to be in a place like this," Gouda grumbled. "I guess your little kitty friend is more of an influence than I thought. I guess I took too long playing with her."

BlackGatomon eyed the sharp spear that was still in front of her. She didn't know what Gouda planned to do, though it was clear he wasn't too happy to see Duskmon.

"You let her go, or I will carve you up so fast you won't even recognize your own body." Duskmon threatened, holding up one of his twin blades at Gouda. "Or better yet, I just defeat you here and now!"

"Watch it, Mr. Edgy, I still have your cat friend hostage. You wouldn't want to accidentally cut her up too, do you?" Gouda warned, holding BlackGatomon in front of Duskmon.

BlackGatomon looked down at the tentacles holding her. Gouda was distracted, he was getting sloppy, must be because he was afraid of Duskmon. That gave BlackGatomon an opportunity. She bit down on the tentacles holding her as hard as she could.

"OUCH!" Gouda yelped as he reacted by dropping BlackGatomon. The pain had caused him to retract his tentacles on reflex, thus making him let BlackGatomon go. "You little sneak! That was my good tentacle!"

"Good," BlackGatomon hissed back. "So, do you want to take me and Duskmon on?"

Gouda frowned as he assessed the situation. "Hmph… I was supposed to kill you and only you, but it looks like I've been compromised. Don't expect your big, bad Legendary Warrior buddy to keep you safe though, kitty, because I will be back. And if not me, then another will come and take you out. For that is our mission."

"What mission?" BlackGatomon demanded.

"I've said too much already." Gouda said. "But you'd better watch yourself, kitty cat. Because next time we meet, you may not be so lucky."

Gouda then turned and began to run at Duskmon, intending on getting past him. Duskmon was about to swing his blades, but Gouda's body suddenly disappeared.

"Huh? What happened to the enemy?" Duskmon asked.

"He got away," BlackGatomon said. "He's not a Digimon, and he's got abilities that we can't match so easily. At least I can't."

The bathroom was a mess. Walls were cracked and broken, the stalls were busted down, the sinks and toilets were leaking. It was a miracle the mirrors didn't get shattered during the fight.

"We'll need to discuss this somewhere else, Duskmon," BlackGatomon said. "For now…"

BlackGatomon looked at one of the employees, who was staring at them and the destroyed bathroom. "Cat's Eye Hypnotism."

Duskmon and BlackGatomon were walking down the streets, heading for a less busy area.

"I'm surprised you had an ability to manipulate others' minds," Duskmon remarked.

"I only did it to wipe their memory of seeing us, so to them the bathroom just magically fell apart," BlackGatomon explained. "I doubted you had enough money to pay for all the damages."

Duskmon grumbled. "True. I only had enough to pay for the meals." He then looked back at BlackGatomon. "So, what happened back there? How did that… thing… get the jump on you?"

"He was lurking around, trying to take me by surprise," BlackGatomon said. "Said his name was Gouda. He wanted to destroy me."

Duskmon growled. "And why did he want to destroy you? That's pretty reckless, attacking you like that."

"I don't know. He said something about it being a part of his mission," BlackGatomon replied. But if Gouda was aiming specifically for me… and he implied there's more of his kind running around here… there's a good chance I'm not the only target. "He didn't seem too keen on trying to destroy me when you showed up though."

"I noticed." Duskmon confirmed. "It seems this… 'Gouda' is afraid of me for some reason, and rightfully so."

"Yeah, you are pretty intimidating, and strong, and you're a Legendary Warrior. I doubt many would want to mess with you," BlackGatomon chuckled. But I think it's more than that. It might be best to stick with Duskmon for the time being until I know more. I can't let Gouda and whoever else kill me before I've completed my mission… the reason I'm even here in the first place.

Duskmon nodded. "That's a wise decision." He agreed. "It's best to not split up if we can avoid it."

Wow, either he's thinking the same thing or he somehow read my mind. BlackGatomon chuckled. "For now, let's mark a good spot to look for the fractal code of this place. Then maybe head back. I could use some rest after that little scuffle."

Duskmon chuckled as well. "Very well. I think we can mark the outskirts of this place as a place to start."

Duskmon looked down at BlackGatomon for a moment. It's strange. I had a strange feeling in my chest when I heard BlackGatomon screaming, and saw her about to be impaled. The feeling felt like it was squeezing my Digi-Core. Why was that? I've never felt that, even when I saw my fellow comrades taking their sparring too far and nearly kill each other. Maybe it's because I'm supposed to be watching her, after all, Lord Cherubimon wanted her to stay with me.

"Something caught your eye? Or… eyes?" BlackGatomon asked, noticing Duskmon had been looking at her.

"Hmm? Oh no. Nothing caught my eye." Duskmon replied. "It's just… when you were in danger… I felt an odd sensation in my Digi-Core… Like I was… scared… or something…"

"Hmm? Oh, that's interesting," BlackGatomon said, rubbing under her chin as she gave a small smirk. "Perhaps you actually care about me. If you care about someone, you'll usually have that kind of feeling when you see them in danger."

Duskmon rolled his eyes on his face. "As long as you don't mention this to the others, I think we can keep this between ourselves."

"Of course, we would never hear the end of it from Mercurymon. He already thinks I'm a bad influence on you after all," BlackGatomon chuckled.

Duskmon chuckled as well. "A bad influence, huh? Well, you are a Virus Digimon. Of course you'd be a bad influence."

"I mean… so is Lord Cherubimon," BlackGatomon pointed out. "So you've already been infected, what's another virus?~"

Duskmon couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. It was too funny because it was true.

"Glad I could make you laugh," BlackGatomon said before yawning. "Now let's head back, I could use the cat nap. Maybe we'll come back later to see if we can get Shamamon to help us find your Beast Spirit or something."

"That would be best." Duskmon agreed. "I don't think that 'Gouda' character will leave us alone if we remain here for the time being."

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: Hello, everyone. We have another chapter for you, please enjoy and leave your thoughts about it in the comments below.

ZAFT: Please enjoy this chapter~ :3

Chapter 6: The Thunder of Rebellion

Across the open landscape, a pink Trailmon could be seen crossing a bridge supported up by large rock pillars. On the other side, across from the bridge a fair distance away, Takuya stood with JP, Zoe, and Tommy as well as Patamon, Lopmon, and Biyomon.

The wind kicked up another cloud of sand, making the group cover their eyes to try and keep the sand out of their vision. Takuya grumbled. "That's the fifth time a sand cloud has kicked up. Next thing you know, our ears will be full of sand…"

"I think the only one who realistically should be worried about having their ears full of sand is Lopmon," Biyomon remarked.

"Oh hush," Lopmon grumbled. "My ears may be long, but they're covering the more sensitive inner parts just fine. Now sand in my eyes is much more annoying."

"Wow… I haven't been in a wind this strong since… well… as far back as I can remember." Tommy remarked, holding his hat in place on his head.

"Tell me about it." JP groaned. "I'm getting sand in my clothes!"

A train horn was heard just down the tracks ahead of the group. The group looked up, and realizing a Trailmon was barreling down the tracks towards them, darted to the left side to avoid getting run over.

"That was close…" JP gasped.

"Why do things in the Digital World come out of seemingly nowhere?" Takuya groaned, trying to calm his racing heart.

"I mean we are on train tracks," Patamon pointed out.

"So?" Takuya frowned.

"So where there's tracks there are trains, genius," Patamon grumbled.

"Zoe, you're the Warrior of Wind, can't you just… Spirit Evolve and make this wind stop?" JP asked.

"I could, but I still don't know how I evolved that first time." Zoe admitted. "It's like I was in a trance or something when I did it, so my memories of how I Spirit Evolved are blurry right now."

"You get used to it the more you use it," Tommy assured.

"So you're saying you're able to just Spirit Evolve whenever?" Zoe asked.

"Sort of. It's usually easy to do when we're about to fight or we're in danger," Tommy answered.

"And that is exactly why we need to talk about this once we reach a safer area…" Lopmon muttered.

"Talk about what?" Zoe asked.

"Something that might help you use your Digimon forms easier," Lopmon answered.

"You know of something that can help us do that?" Takuya asked.

"Only when we get to a safer area will we explain it better." Patamon replied, cutting off any more questions right then and there with his tone of voice.

"Besides, maybe we can stay there until the winds died down?" Biyomon suggested, pointing ahead. "I'm sure everyone's not in the best of moods right now until we get some rest and proper food."

Everyone looked ahead, seeing a large gate that led towards a building.

"Whoa…" Tommy breathed in awe. "What is that place? It looks like a huge factory!"

"This is the Wind Factory Corporation," Patamon stated as he was reading the book Bokomon gave him. "They create wind across this region of the Digital World. Though it also says they sell wind too, or at least a device that creates wind."

"So like a fan?" Lopmon deadpanned.

"Hush," Patamon grumbled as he closed the book and put it back into his belly warmer. "I was just reading what was in the book."

"Selling wind seems kinda difficult without a fan or something." Takuya noted. "You can't sell literal wind."

"That's why it mentions a device that can make wind." Patamon deadpanned. "Weren't you listening?"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Takuya grumbled.

"Don't make me slap you," Patamon hissed.

"Alright, settle down you two hotheads," Zoe spoke up. "Jeez, didn't think you two would be the crankiest ones here."

Tommy was looking at the factory and frowned. He had a strange feeling like this place had been… important. But he was sure he had never been here before, so he wondered why he felt that way. Maybe it's… Kumamon who feels this way and it's leaking into me? I wonder if anyone else feels the same way…

"Hey… look!" Biyomon pointed with her wing, cutting off Tommy's line of thought.

They saw a line of some kind of mechanical Digimon marching across the land.

"Are those… Kokuwamon?" Lopmon frowned.

"They are!" Patamon realized. "Maybe… Maybe T-" Patamon burped out a small greenish cloud from his mouth. "Ah… Kokuwamon, the one we know, is here."

"What was that?" Takuya asked, seeing the small greenish cloud that came out of Patamon's mouth.

"Did you eat something… really bad and… green?" JP asked.

Patamon grumbled. "Yes, I ate some bad berries…"

"Well, be careful about which ones you eat." Zoe said. "Some can be poisonous."

Looking back at the Kokuwamon, the group was just in time to see the Kokuwamon line fall on top of one another due to the lead Kokuwamon tripping on a rock.

"Ouch… Talk about a domino effect." Takuya grimaced.

"I'd hate to be caught up in that." Zoe agreed.

Lopmon, Biyomon, and Patamon were looking at all the Kokuwamon and sweatdropped.

"How… Can we tell which one is our Kokuwamon?" Biyomon asked. "I hate to sound… uh… specest? But… they all look the same."

"Yeah… we don't even know if the Kokuwamon we know is even here in the first place," Patamon worriedly agreed.

"It might be in our best interest to explore the factory. If the Kokuwamon we know is here, then he'll recognize us right away," Lopmon suggested.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to take another detour? Don't we need to get to the Forest Terminal?" Takuya asked.

"Yeah, but… there's a lot of Digimon here, right?" Lopmon said before smiling. "You guys have been living off of berries and granola bars lately. There's bound to be food here. When was the last time we all had a proper meal?"

As if on cue, all of their stomachs growled in sync, causing a collective sweatdrop to come from the group.

"I'll… take that as it's been a while…" Patamon grumbled, feeling his cheeks burning with his blush beneath his fur.

Lopmon rolled his eyes. His words were meant to tempt Takuya and the others into exploring the factory, not cause everyone to get hungry.

"I'd like to see what's at this factory too," Tommy said. I want to know why I feel like I know this place.

Takuya then smiled. "Then let's have us a feast!"

"Hey… hold up!" JP spoke up. "We don't know what's going to be in there. What if we get attacked by a hostile Digimon again or something?"

"Hey, don't worry JP." Takuya said. "If there is a hostile Digimon here, Tommy, Zoe, and I can Spirit Evolve to handle it. Besides, we also have Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon with us for backup as well."

JP frowned, that didn't seem to make him feel that much better. "Well, it might be better if I stay out here then. Get me some order to go with extra everything."

"What? Hey, I'm not the Pizzamon!" Takuya huffed. "It's every stomach for itself!"

With that, Takuya turned and ran to get some food, the rest of the group following behind him, also eager to feast. Though Lopmon, Biyomon, and Patamon were more excited about finding their long lost friend. However, as they ran through the door, they heard an alarm going off.

"We triggered an alarm!" Biyomon shouted.

Takuya and the others stopped as something swung in front of them, and shouted in a high pitched voice.

"WARNING! WARNING! A warning from Minomon!" A little bagworm-like Digimon shouted as a string on its head kept it hanging in front of them. The string seemed to be attached to the building.

The group stared at the self-proclaimed Minomon, not sure what to make of this tiny Digimon. "Didn't you hear me? I said 'Warning! Warning!'"

"Minomon…" Patamon stated as he was looking at the book, even he didn't know every single Digimon. "It's a larvae Digimon. In-Training level, so even lower than Biyomon, Lopmon, and I."

"Hey, don't make us sound like we're weaklings!" Biyomon huffed at Patamon.

Patamon paled a bit below his fur. "I-I didn't mean it like that! I was just explaining things to the humans!"

"Well…we aren't exactly shining examples of strength and power…" Lopmon muttered.

"Warning! Intruders aren't allowed in the Wind Factory!" The Minomon shouted.

"Why are we being yelled at by a bagworm?" JP grumbled.

"We're not bagworms!" The Minomon exclaimed. "We will commence our fierce attack if you do not leave!"

"I'd hate to see this 'fierce attack'..." Biyomon muttered to Patamon and Lopmon.

Two more Minomon appeared next to the one shouting at them. "You have been warned, now leave stat! What we're trying to say is GEEEEEET OUUUUUUT!"

"Jeez, you are loud," Lopmon hissed, trying to cover his ears.

"Look, we aren't here to intrude!" Patamon spoke up. "We are here for…"

Patamon looked back at the group. "Uh… a tour. Yeah, we're here for a tour!"

The Minomon gathered together to talk for a moment in secrecy

"Are you sure that's going to work?" JP frowned at Patamon.

"Hey, I would've suggested it if he didn't," Zoe said. "After all, the Minomon were only yelling before they thought we were intruders."

"Yeah, cause walking in the front door totally means we're trying to sneak into the place like some petty thieves…" Tommy muttered sarcastically.

After a moment, the Minomon turned back to face the group. "Well, c'mon in then!"

"It actually worked…" JP stared, mouth agape.

"Good, maybe now we'll see if our friend is here," Lopmon said.

"I hope so." Biyomon said in agreement. "I'm worried about him."

"We'll see if we can find him while we're on the tour." Patamon said as the group was slowly being led into the factory.

The Minomon lead the group through the factory. The children felt like they were on a school field trip, they were pretty excited about this. It was also nice to get a break from walking in the Digital World and fighting other Digimon, while feeling a little more normal.

They came up to a glass window that showed Digimon working in another room. They saw more Kokuwamon, and some goblin-like Digimon putting some machine parts together.

"What kind of Digimon are those?" Zoe asked.

"They're called Goburimon," Minomon answered. "They supervise and sometimes help the Kokuwamon move some parts around. The Kokuwamon are the main workers of this factory. Their way of handling parts, and their electricity are a great help to make this factory thrive."

"Wow, I didn't think this place was so cool!" Tommy grinned. "It's like watching someone putting a puzzle together or something!"

"Yeah, and those Goburimon seem interesting as well." Takuya mused. "They're really close to the Kokuwamon."

While the kids were having fun, Lopmon, Biyomon, and Patamon frowned as they looked at the Goburimon supposedly helping the Kokuwamon. Biyomon's keen eye noticed one of the Goburimon grinning with a malicious intent as he put his club on his hand, like he was ready to hit someone. The Kokuwamon didn't have much of an expression as they just moved along like robots.

"Is this how… Kokuwamon work? Do they like it here?" Biyomon asked.

"But of course! The Kokuwamon live in a close community, and they get all the food they can eat here," Minomon replied cheerfully.

JP looked like he was sweating a little. "H-hey, um… do you have a bathroom? I really need to use it."

"Just down the hall and to the left." A Minomon replied. "It's easy to find!"

"Thanks!" JP yelled as he started rushing down the hall.

"W-wait! Is it safe for him to go off on his own?" Patamon asked.

"Well I'm not going with him," Zoe grumbled.

"I'll go with him," Lopmon spoke up before he ran after JP. "We'll meet up with you guys later!"

"Just don't get yourself into trouble again!" Patamon called after Lopmon.

JP found the bathroom, and quickly opened the door to go in. Lopmon caught up, but he wasn't going into the bathroom unless he had to.

Lopmon heard what sounded like screaming and thunder. A flash of light came from down the hall. Lopmon gasped as he looked at the dark hallway. "What… was that?"

Curious, Lopmon made his way down the hallway. He could hear the screams getting slightly louder the further down he went. Lopmon carefully moved closer, hoping he wasn't about to make a big mistake.

There was a rough voice shouting, and another flash of light and screaming. Lopmon saw, for a brief moment, more Kokuwamon, behind bars. They were gathered on a wall while Goburimon were shouting at them, making them release electricity from their head antennae.

Are those Goburimon… torturing them!? Lopmon frowned.

There was the sound of a toilet flushing before JP came out of the bathroom.

"Ah, that's better…" JP sighed with relief as he emerged from the bathroom, having just finished washing his hands.

JP took notice of Lopmon. "Hmm? What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure you're alright. It's dangerous to go alone," Lopmon pointed out. "But-"

JP heard a loud sound, and light flashing down the hallway. "What was that?"

JP heard someone shouting. "Is that the best you can do!? Hurry up!"

There was the sound of something hard hitting the wall, and some screams before the bright flash of light lit up the hallway again.

JP almost yelled, but Lopmon quickly jumped onto JP's shoulder and shut his mouth with his ears. "Shhhhh! Don't let them hear you…"

JP nodded, not wanting to make the unknown attackers aware someone was on to them. He was feeling shaky, mostly because the voices that sounded scared were probably being scared for a reason, and he didn't want to know what those reasons were.

When Lopmon was sure JP wouldn't scream, he released JP's mouth before hopping off of the oldest kid's shoulder.

"What was that?" JP asked quietly.

"From what I could tell from the shadows, it looked like some of the workers, maybe the Goburimon, might be abusing the Kokuwamon to make them use their electricity," Lopmon deduced. "Probably to help power stuff for the factory."

JP shivered. "Seriously? That sounds messed up." He replied quietly. "It also sounds… wrong…" He then paused as a thought crossed his mind. "But… are you sure it's the Goburimon doing that to the Kokuwamon? I mean… wouldn't it be better to investigate it?"

Lopmon gave what JP said some thought. JP's right, it would be better to get proof that the Goburimon are doing what I think they are instead of assuming. And what if… he's here too? I need to know if this is why our friend never came back after he went to scout ahead before the children arrived in the Digital World.

"Alright… I doubt the Minomon will notice if a little Digimon like me went 'missing' from the group. I'm also dark colored, so I can blend in with the shadows easily," Lopmon stated. "You go back to the others. The Minomon will definitely wonder why you haven't returned if you stay gone for too long. Don't tell anyone else about this until you're out of the building, alright? We don't want to raise alarms here."

JP knew Lopmon raised a good point, so he nodded. "Okay. Just be careful. I'll be sure to tell the others after we leave."

"Until then, be careful yourselves," Lopmon said. "I'll be seeing you later."

"Okay, but… are you sure you'll be alright? You may be a Digimon, but you're still pretty… uh… small," JP hesitantly said.

"I may not be strong in battle, but I'm quick to think on my feet," Lopmon reassured. "I'll be alright. If I'm not out by nightfall… then go on without me."

JP wasn't sure how to react to that.

"You're stronger than you think, JP," Lopmon quietly said. "Even if you don't believe it yourself, the others do care about you. Maybe one day you can help them when they need it…"

With those words said, Lopmon walked away into the dark hallway without waiting for a response from JP.

JP sighed before turning and heading back to the others. He sincerely hoped Lopmon would be alright, and that what he said to JP was true.

JP then groaned. "Can't believe I'm listening to a chocolate bunny!"

"Yo! JP! What's the hold up!?" JP heard Takuya's voice calling to him.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" JP called back, running off to catch up with the others.

The rest of the tour went off just fine. The Minomon were showing off how the wind factory was making something 'high tech' and 'cutting edge', which just turned out to be a bunch of fans after all.

"Hey, JP, where's Lopmon? Wasn't he supposed to be with you?" Patamon asked after a while.

"Oh… He… will find his way back." JP replied. He realized Lopmon hadn't told him what to tell the others about where Lopmon had gotten to. Crud… I'll have to think of something from my bag of tricks…

"I can't believe the fans are what this factory considers 'high tech'," Zoe muttered as she was looking at the conveyor belts that were moving an endless supply of gray fans. "Especially when they're all the same boring color."

"Hey, it beats using a folded piece of paper!" A Minomon stated as he swung around the group on his string.

"I doubt it'd be a Digimon's ability to make wind though…" Biyomon muttered.

"That may be, but to do it constantly?" Minomon challenged.

Biyomon paused at the comment. "... Touche."

Patamon wasn't paying attention to that conversation, he still had his eyes on JP. "What do you mean he will 'find his way back'? Did he go somewhere?"

JP's stomach growled and blushed before an idea came to his mind. "Yeah! He went to find a cafeteria and some food." JP replied. Wow, I was saved by my stomach… Who'd have thought?

Patamon frowned. That's not like Lopmon to ditch just to find food on his own… Something must be up. Maybe it's too dangerous to ask about it here, especially if it has to do with the factory itself.

While Patamon had frowned at JP's excuse, the little orange Digimon didn't press the issue, much to JP's relief.

"Now, that concludes the tour!" Minomon spoke up. "Before you leave with our parting gifts, are there any questions?"

"Yeah!" The others, save for JP and Patamon, exclaimed. "Where's the cafeteria?"

Aw crud… I hope Lopmon is really at the cafeteria… JP thought nervously.

The Minomon led the group into the cafeteria. There were a lot of Kokuwamon there, though none of them seemed to recognize or acknowledge Patamon or Biyomon. There were tables and chairs in the cafeteria. Tommy was looking around the cafeteria, having a strange sense of deja vu, though he couldn't understand why. This looked nothing like his school's cafeteria, and nobody else seemed to be having a similar feeling to him.

The group sat down at some seats while a Gorbuimon pushed a cart towards them. There were covered platters on the cart. The group was pretty hungry, so they were anticipating something good.

"Bon appetit~" Goburimon grinned as he set the platters down, and opened the lid.

The 'food', if one could call it that, was revealed on the plates. There were… assorted batteries on the plates.

Takuya and the others deadpanned.

"Batteries?" Tommy wondered. "Is that what's on the menu for… lunch?"

"Enjoy~ The Kokuwamon can't get enough of them!" A Minomon said, sliding down its string in front of the group.

The others looked over at the Kokuwamon. They had some plugs into the sides of the batteries to absorb the electricity.

"Om nom nom… delicious!" The Kokuwamon said.

"Can… can you two eat batteries like that?" Zoe asked Patamon and Biyomon.

"Can we…?" Patamon asked Biyomon.

"Heck no! And even if we could, I'm not risking it, I'm no robot or mechanical Digimon," Biyomon huffed.

"These are pretty cool batteries, not gonna lie," JP noted as he looked at some of the batteries. "Some of these could keep a game console or a flashlight going for days."

"But they're batteries! We didn't come here to look for batteries, we came for food!" Takuya huffed, irritable that their promised meal turned out to be inedible, at least to them.

Tommy was poking at some of the batteries, disappointed from the lack of food himself, but his mind was elsewhere. I'm sure I've been here before… There were… other kids, like us… right? Or… am I going crazy?

A flash of an older, taller boy with orange hair in armor appeared in Tommy's mind. Wah!? Who… who was that boy? Why… did I suddenly picture an older kid in armor?

JP noticed Tommy seemed confused. "Hey, you okay, Tommy?"

"Huh?" Tommy blinked, looking up at JP. "Oh… I'm fine. I was just… probably hallucinating from hunger." Right? That has to be the only explanation. I don't know anyone who wears armor. He didn't look like he was Japanese either, and I've never been outside of Japan before, nor do I remember seeing any tourists like that. And yet… why did seeing him in my head make me feel… uneasy?

"Hey, don't worry about it." JP said reassuringly. "We'll find some real food somewhere."

"These are lovely batteries, Minomon, but don't you have something else?" Zoe requested.

"Yeah, you know, something we can actually eat?" Takuya added.

"Don't you have anything other than batteries, you know, for special guests?" Tommy asked slyly. "Like sugary treats?"

"How about Alkaline pie?" Minomon offered.

"Like… Alkaline batteries?" Biyomon muttered, feeling her left eye twitching.

"But of course, those are delicious!" Minomon smiled.

"You guys… are bug Digimon and not mechanical yourselves, right?" Patamon hesitantly asked. Then again, I think I remember reading somewhere some insects do actually eat electricity…

"We can't eat this stuff…" Takuya groaned. "It will kill us!"

"Shh! Don't be rude, Takuya!" Zoe hissed.

"What? It's true." Takuya protested. "I mean… I… Uh… Oh…" Takuya trailed off, realizing he may have upset the Minomon. "Um… I mean… We… can't eat electricity?"

"Oh, I'm very sorry about that. We've never had human tourists before," Minomon apologized.

"Maybe we should go, we might get lucky and find a food market or something," JP suggested, though he mostly wanted to get out to talk to them.

"Yeah, I think that would be best." Zoe agreed. "It was a wonderful tour and all, but we need to go."

Tommy looked around the tables, seeing Kokuwamon enjoying their meals of batteries.

"I do have one question," Tommy spoke up. "You said you've never had human tourists before? But… has any human at all before us come here before?"

"No, you guys are the first ones." Minomon replied. "We didn't think humans would come here at all, to be honest."

Then why do I feel like I've been here before with other humans? Tommy wondered. Maybe the hunger really is getting to me.

"Come on, Tommy, we should go," JP said.

Meanwhile, Lopmon was looking around the dark hallway. It took a few minutes, but his eyes finally adjusted to the dark. He saw jail cells in the hallway, and there were Kokuwamon in those cells. They looked tired and miserable, at least Lopmon believed they were, their faces weren't capable of showing a lot of expressions. But their bodies were laying or sitting down, and most of them didn't look like they wanted to move. Even without facial expressions, it was easy to tell they were not happy.

"Hey… psst! You over there!"

There was a faint voice that was whispering, but also trying to get his attention. With Lopmon's big ears, he was able to hear them. Lopmon turned to see where the whispering was coming from.

"Over here!" What looked like a crane pincer of some kind was waving out to Lopmon from a cell a little further down the hallway.

It was likely from a Kokuwamon. Of course, since every single cell seemed to be holding a group of Kokuwamon. But Lopmon was surprised one Kokuwamon didn't seem to be half dead.

Lopmon hurriedly approached the cell he saw the Kokuwamon's hand waving from.

"Hello?" Lopmon whispered when he reached the bars of the cell. "Who was whispering to me?"

"It's me!" The Kokuwamon said. "It's me, T-" Instead of the name he intended to say coming out, a small burp emitted from this Kokuwamon, along with a small electrical energy ball.

Lopmon blinked when he saw that, and recognition hit him. "You… it's you! Kokuwamon! How… why are you in this cell?"

"Blame those Goburimon." Kokuwamon grumbled. "They were the ones who caught me as I was scouting the area. I've been here ever since, but admittedly, it wasn't that long since I was able to avoid the Goburimon for a while."

"How did the Goburimon catch you?" Lopmon asked.

"Well, the Goburimon didn't catch me themselves exactly… I was taken down from the sky by a really big bug Digimon," Kokuwamon explained. "Apparently he thought I was trying to escape, despite never being here before. I guess with so many Kokuwamon here, it was easy to mistake me for one of their captive workers. I'm sorry if I worried you guys, but I couldn't find a way to escape. And the Goburimon didn't make it easy for me to save my strength."

"What are those Goburimon trying to do with the Kokuwamon?" Lopmon asked. "And are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but what the Goburimon are doing here is basically enslaving the Kokuwamon." Kokuwamon replied. "And I'm apparently supposed to be a slave too… How humiliating… But it's not just for slavery, the Goburimon are also using the Kokuwamon for their electricity."

"I knew it…" Lopmon frowned.

"I was put in here because I was starting to stir up some trouble," Kokuwamon explained. "I was the only one who was always putting up a fight, or was being stubborn about working. They think I would do better as an electricity provider since I can't really control that when I get startled very well yet. The other Kokuwamon usually stay in some crappy houses though when not put in a cell like this."

Lopmon frowned again. "Tell me more… I think if we have more information about this factory, we might be able to get you and the other Kokuwamon out."

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy. I don't have my usual devices to help me map out the place or hack into the security system," Kokuwamon sighed. "But I'll try my best to tell you what I know."

Meanwhile, the group of kids were walking out of the factory's doors. To say they were annoyed from a lack of a meal was putting it lightly. Though JP was more worried about Lopmon and what to do about the situation than food right now, which was rare for him. Tommy was still trying to figure out this strange familiar feeling, and that older kid in the suit of armor he saw in his head.

"Ugh… I can't believe we didn't get any real food!" Takuya groaned out, breaking the silence. "What a waste! Stupid batteries!" He exclaimed, kicking a random battery that had been left on the ground outside.

"I'm more worried about Lopmon." JP admitted. "He hasn't come back."

"Speaking of, where did Lopmon go?" Patamon asked as he eyed JP. "You said he went to look for the cafeteria, and yet he wasn't there."

"Maybe he got lost?" JP offered up nervously.

"Uh huh…" Patamon didn't look like he believed JP. "JP, what's going on? What happened to Lopmon? And what are you hiding?"

"Y-you think I'm hiding something?" JP nervously asked.

"You're making it pretty obvious," Biyomon pointed out. "And we know Lopmon. He doesn't get lost easily. Something had to happen."

JP took a deep breath and let it out. They were outside of the factory now, so maybe it was safe to tell them now. Lopmon only said to not tell them while they were in the building.

"Okay, Lopmon went off to do some investigating." JP admitted at last. "He was waiting for me outside of the bathroom, hearing some… strange noises and screams. It sounded like someone was tormenting someone else. Lopmon thought it was the Goburimon tormenting some Kokuwamon, and went to check it out."

"The Goburimon may be tormenting the Kokuwamon?" Zoe frowned. "Are you sure? It looked like they were getting along."

"I suggested to Lopmon to investigate to be sure." JP admitted. "If he hasn't come back yet, it seems it may either be true, or he didn't get out in time…"

"I better go find him," Patamon said.

"Wait, you can't go in there alone," Takuya quickly said. "What if you get caught too?"

"I can't leave Lopmon behind," Patamon replied.

"I'm willing to go back for him too," Tommy spoke up. "Lopmon's helped me through some things I've been going through too. And we shouldn't leave any of our friends behind."

"I agree with you, but…" Biyomon spoke up. "Look at where Takuya kicked that battery."

Biyomon pointed at some fences, and behind those fences were what looked like clay houses.

"I don't think any of us saw those houses when we came in earlier," Biyomon stated.

"Maybe we just didn't see them because of the angle of view we had when we first came in." Zoe noted.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, it's almost impossible to see those from the direction we came in." Takuya agreed.

"Why are you pointing it out now, Biyomon?" Zoe asked.

"I see Goburimon watching the place. And if what JP said is true, then it's possible that's where they're keeping the Kokuwamon," Biyomon replied. "Maybe we should check it out to be sure."

"What about Lopmon?" Patamon asked.

"I'm sure he's fine, you know that he can take care of himself. He's not going to leave until he finishes his investigation, knowing him," Biyomon said. "We should help with that investigation, shouldn't we?"

"I guess… but what about…" Patamon began to ask as he looked at Takuya and the other children.

"Here's the exit!" A Minomon spoke up, catching the group's attention.

They saw Lopmon coming out of the building.

"Thank you, sorry if I caused any inconvenience because I got lost and separated from the group," Lopmon sheepishly apologized to the Minomon.

"No, no. You didn't cause any inconvenience at all." The Minomon replied. "I'm just glad I could escort you out safely. Don't want to have one of our tourists get caught in the machinery, now do we?"

"That would be pretty bad. But thanks again, I'll go to my friends now," Lopmon said, waving to the Minomon before he hurried to the group.

"Lopmon! I'm glad you're okay!" Patamon said as he ran over to Lopmon.

"Of course I'm okay, you don't have to worry every time you don't see me, Patamon," Lopmon grumbled.

"Oh, yes I do!" Patamon scolded. "You always get into trouble!"

"Are you sure that's not you you're talking about?" Lopmon pointed out. "Nevermind that, I need to tell you guys something."

"I'm glad you're okay, Lopmon. I was pretty worried about you too," JP said in relief.

"At least we know you're okay," Tommy said.

"Yeah, I'm okay, but listen," Lopmon spoke up. "The Kokuwamon aren't okay. We… we should probably talk about this elsewhere."

"We were thinking about going to those houses over there before you showed up," Biyomon stated, pointing at the fence with the clay houses.

"Ah… that might be a good place then. Kokuwamon told me that's where most of the Kokuwamon are being kept," Lopmon said.

"Kokuwamon told you?" Takuya blinked.

"Yeah, there are more Kokuwamon being kept in cells," Lopmon explained. "And one of them told me where the others are being kept. I needed to see for myself though."

"Was this Kokuwamon who I'm hoping it is?" Patamon asked. "We haven't seen him since he went to scout the area ahead of us."

"Yes, it was," Lopmon confirmed. "That was why he couldn't come back. He was being held prisoner here."

"So that's it then." Biyomon frowned. "How is he?"

"He's alright. He might be a bit drained of energy, but he didn't seem any worse for wear," Lopmon assured.

"So your friend really is here then?" Takuya asked.

"That's right. He's the one who told me that the Goburimon and the owner of this factory are using the Kokuwamon…" Lopmon stopped. "Let's get to the clay houses before I say anymore."

The group nodded and began to head to the clay houses. As they got closer though, the group could see a wire fence around the clay houses, almost like some kind of prison. It gave each of them chills down their spines.

"Either the wire fence is to keep intruders out, or to keep the Kokuwamon in." Patamon noted with concern on his face.

"Well, whatever the reason, it feels like a prison of sorts." Takuya shivered.

"Uh… will the Goburimon even let us in?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe we can sneak our way in?" JP asked.

"We could try the direct approach and just ask them," Zoe pointed out. "I doubt they would want to stop us, because then that'll make us suspicious."

"Yeah, but I don't know…" Biyomon admitted. "They don't look like they would just let us in if we asked nicely."

"Well, what else could we do?" Zoe asked. "We have to at least try it."

"Then we'll leave it to you, you seem to be better at doing this stuff than the rest of us," Takuya chuckled sheepishly.

The group made their way to the clay houses, but were stopped by the Goburimon who were in front of the wire fence. "Halt. Who approaches the barracks?"

"Hey. we just came from the factory tour, and we were wondering if we could see this place for ourselves." Zoe said nicely. "It wasn't on the tour, and we think we missed this place or something."

"You tourists shouldn't be here. This is the barracks, this is where the workers go to rest and sleep," The Goburimon stated.

"Hey, we're special guests here, after all, how many humans do you see come to this place?" Zoe asked.

Tommy looked down, wondering if this would even work, when he noticed something bulging in JP's pocket. "What do you have in your pocket, JP? More chocolate?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I just took some of the rarer and bigger batteries," JP answered. "I figured if they were giving them to us to… well, eat, they were free for the taking."

Tommy blinked before he got an idea. "Remember how you bribed that Trailmon, and that Pagumon with chocolate before?"

"Yeah, and it didn't end so well," JP shuddered.

"This might work better since you're not giving them a new chocolate addiction," Tommy chuckled slightly. "Why not bribe the Goburimon with 'food'? I think they eat batteries too if they're working in the factory and that's all they serve to eat here."

JP looked at the battery in his hand. "I don't know if it will work, but it's not like we have anything else that would distract these guys."

He then walked up beside Zoe, and held out the battery to the Goburimon. "Hey, do you want some delicious batteries? If you let us in, you can have all the batteries I have with me."

Zoe and Takuya blinked as they looked at JP, but they decided to let him do this thing. Patamon, Lopmon, and Biyomon looked surprised, but they also stayed quiet.

"You have the chef's special!? They rarely let us eat that!" Goburimon said, drooling.

"Hey! Be serious, you moron!" The other Goburimon grumbled, bonking the drooling Goburimon in the head with his club.

"Hey, c'mon! The chef's special is the good stuff!" The first Goburimon whined. "I love the chef's special!"

"That's for the Kokuwamon, and you know it!" The other Goburimon huffed.

"No, it isn't, I took it to-go, but you can have it if you'll just let us see what the tour doesn't show. We promise we won't say anything." JP winked.

The two Goburimon gave it some thought.

"We haven't had our lunch break yet… so a snack would be good, and we get to eat something before all those greedy Kokuwamon eat all of the good stuff," The second Goburimon considered.

"You might never get this chance again~" Tommy added.

"We'll take it. Just remember to not say anything." The first Goburimon said.

JP grinned as he forked over all the batteries he had in his pockets. "There you guys go~ It's all on the house!"

The Goburimon quickly took the batteries and began crunching them like candies.

"Oh gosh, they're not just sapping electricity from the batteries, they're downright eating the whole thing…" Takuya gulped.

"Are you going to come or gawk at some cavemen eating batteries?" Zoe asked as she and the others were already going through the gate.

Takuya shook his head and followed the group. "I'm coming!" He called, chasing after the group.

The group managed to get in through the front gate of the wire-fence compound. It was so strange, being in amongst the clay houses and surrounded by wire fencing.

There were many Kokuwamon in the barracks, all either sitting in the sun, or trying to stay in the little shade offered by the clay houses.

"There are a lot of Kokuwamon here…" JP noted.

"Hello, Kokuwamon," Patamon spoke up. "We would like to talk to you."

The Kokuwamon was looking at the group curiously. They gathered up as one Kokuwamon stepped forward to look at them.

"Who are you?" The Kokuwamon asked.

"We're some friends." Takuya said with a smile. "We just want to know what's going on here. Seeing you out here is kinda odd to us, and we want to know why you guys are in these clay houses. They don't look very comfortable to be in."

Some small Digimon hopped closer to them, looking at them curiously.

"Ooh, you look funny!" The little Digimon bounced.

"What are those? They don't look like Kokuwamon," Zoe asked curiously.

"They're Kapurimon, they're the In-Training level Digimon of Kokuwamon, or at least they commonly are," Patamon explained.

"Wow, they have tails!" Zoe squealed. "They're so cute!"

"Uh… Yeah…" Takuya muttered as the boys all sweatdropped at Zoe's reaction to the cute Digimon.

"We need to stay focused, Zoe." Biyomon said gently, but firmly. "You can squeal over the cuteness of Kapurimon later."

JP snickered. "Seems like someone likes cute baby Digimon~"

"Well of course!" Zoe squeed

Biyomon looked at Zoe. "I'm usually the same way with animals- erm, animal type Digimon myself. I get where she's coming from."

"Zoe, we need to focus here." Takuya said. "We have to figure out what to do and what the heck is going on here."

"How about we discuss this inside?" Lopmon suggested, looking around, seeing Minomon and Goburimon moving around. "You never know who could be listening."

"If you want to know what's been going on, we will be happy to tell you," The front Kokuwamon said.

The Kokuwamon lead the group into one of the bigger clay houses. It looked pretty old inside, and there was no air conditioning either. The group had to either sit on the floor or on some wooden seats.

"Here…" The Kokuwamon held out what looked like wooden bowls with pieces of meat, carrots, and radishes. "It may not be much, or tasty, but we were able to find some food the Goburimon drop when they sneak their snacks into work."

"Hey, anything's better than batteries for lunch!" Takuya grinned as he saw the food. "My stomach's been aching for something to eat!"

"Thank you for this, really, our group has been pretty hungry," Lopmon said gratefully as the group took their bowls and began chowing down on food.

"I'll never complain about eating vegetables again!" Tommy said as he munched on the carrots.

"But why would you need to take food? Don't you get plenty to eat at the factory?" JP asked curiously as he was eating some of the meat in the bowl.

"We didn't originally intend to take food, but a new Kokuwamon who was captured a couple of weeks ago, kept insisting they rather eat 'real food' than the energy charging batteries they serve us here," Kokuwamon answered. "So while we don't really need to eat this food, the new Kokuwamon would starve himself if he didn't get this kind of food."

Patamon grumbled. "That definitely sounds like him." He muttered.

Biyomon blinked before concern crossed her face. "I normally don't like it when he eats meat, but to starve himself for lack of it? That's concerning."

"I mean you're a bird Digimon. If you only had access to a worm as a meal, would you do it or would you rather starve?" Lopmon asked as he looked at Biyomon. "It's not unheard of for a person to starve themselves rather than eat something they consider nasty."

Biyomon shuddered. "If I have to force feed that idiot meat myself to get him to eat, I will never live it down. But I'd rather do that than have him starve himself."

"Wait… your friend is a Kokuwamon too, right? Why wouldn't he want to eat the batteries then?" Tommy asked.

"He's… a bit different from other Kokuwamon," Patamon sheepishly said. "Let's just say he's never eaten batteries before. Even if he didn't mind eating that, he probably wouldn't know how to."

"Well… that's certainly different." Zoe said, unsure of what to make of this. "A Kokuwamon that doesn't like batteries? That's going to be a hard revelation to beat."

"A-Anyway, back on topic, what is going on here?" Takuya asked, deciding to change the subject back to the original topic at hand. It was getting awkward talking about the strange Kokuwamon's diet.

"And why are you guys here at this factory, staying in these clay houses behind barbed wire?" Zoe added. "It doesn't look very… well… inviting…"

"No kidding, this place looks more like prison," JP added.

"Well… you see, we once lived in the electric forest for generations," Kokuwamon explained. "We would feast on the electric trees, and play all day with each other. It was a peaceful time. But then suddenly, a large insectoid Digimon called Snimon invaded our home. It chopped up our trees, and had the Goburimon capture us in electric proof nets. Apparently, the wind factory hadn't been doing so well lately. The generator had run out of power, so Snimon had us rounded up and took us here to put us to work."

"That sounds horrible." Tommy frowned. "They kidnapped you and made you into slaves…"

"So Lopmon was right…" JP grumbled as he clenched his fists. "This kind of thing is just wrong!"

"You're telling me." Takuya agreed with a growl. "It's not fair they just kidnapped the Kokuwamon without any warning."

"Everything seemed so normal when we were touring the factory earlier," Zoe noted as she had a Kapurimon on her lap.

"Of course, they would never let guests see what's really going on in the factory," Biyomon pointed out. "It's the oldest tactic in the book when it comes to tourism. You only see what they want you to see."

"I'm afraid Biyomon is correct. We Kokuwamon are a timid breed in nature, but when we're frightened, we let out electricity of up to a million volts. So the Goburimon try to scare us constantly in order to harness our electricity. They would sometimes pour water on us so we'd short circuit, or hang us upside down so the charge would rush through our heads, then use the electricity for the factory,," Kokuwamon explained. "When their scare tactics start to wear off, they resort to new tactics to make sure we'll always produce electricity. They switch us out so we don't get too used to it."

"So that's what we witnessed before…" JP realized.

"I had a feeling…" Lopmon frowned. "My friend told me about this, they're keeping him locked up because the Goburimon are worried he'll cause a rebellion because of how difficult it is to scare him."

"But he is just one Kokuwamon, and he wasn't from where we lived," Kokuwamon explained.

"This place is horrible. We get hard work, no pay, and no vacation," Another Kokuwamon sighed. "When our young ones digivolve, they'll be forced to work too."

"Well… why don't you leave?" Tommy suggested.

"I agree, staying here isn't going to do you any favors, and sometimes it's best to just run away," JP said.

"Are you nuts?!" Takuya snapped back. "If the Kokuwamon just ran away, the Goburimon will just track them down and round them up all over again, and then the Kokuwamon would be back to square one!"

JP frowned at Takuya. "And what do you suggest then, wise guy? That the Kokuwamon should fight?"

"Guys, don't fight! Especially in front of the Kapurimon!" Zoe spoke up.

"Should we do something?" Biyomon asked.

"Nah, let them fight it out," Lopmon replied. "Sometimes that's the best way for people to resolve things."

"We're not really fighters…" The first Kokuwamon explained. "And running away is considered impossible because Goburimon security is just too tight."

"Well… it seems like those are your only two options." Takuya pointed out.

"I suppose… if we had to choose, we would choose the running option." The first Kokuwamon replied.

"Well, if you run now, you'll find you can never stop running, worrying about getting caught again for the whole time you are running." Takuya replied. "But if you fight back, then you can be free forever, and never have to worry about getting captured again."

Takuya took a breath before speaking again. "But you won't have to do it alone. We'll help you beat the Goburimon and their boss."

JP however, didn't like the decision. "Hey, who died and made you leader anyway? What if we don't want any part of this fight?"

"Well… fine then, what do you guys think?" Takuya asked, looking at Tommy, Zoe, Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon.

Zoe looked at the Kapurimon on her lap. The Kapurimon gave Zoe an innocent smile. Zoe picked up Kapurimon and nodded. "I'm totally in. I want to help free the Kapurimon and the Kokuwamon."

"I'm also in. These guys don't deserve a life of slavery, I know what it's-" Tommy said before stopping. Wait… what was I going to say? 'I know what it's like'? No I don't. I've never been anyone's slave… right? "Um… I know what it's like to be bullied."

"You already know we're in. Our friend was taken captive, so we want to save him too," Patamon said with determination.

"We're not leaving him here," Biyomon agreed.

"But we are making a plan before we go charging in there," Lopmon sternly stated.

Takuya sweatdropped at Lopmon's insistence. "Okay, okay! We'll make a plan. Geez… I'm not that stupid…"

"Says the boy who charged at Cerberumon without a plan." Patamon retorted.

"How many times are you going to bring that up?" Takuya huffed.

The other Kokuwamon seemed to be inspired by the group's determination to fight.

"If you think we'll be able to fight back, then we'll do it!" Kokuwamon cheered.

"This may be the most important moment in our lives!" Another Kokuwamon said.

The Kapurimon all jumped around excitedly. JP himself was the only one who wasn't into this. He was quickly reminded that he was the only one in the group who wasn't a Digimon, nor did he have the power or abilities of a Digimon. He was just… human.

Lopmon's ears twitched as he heard a high pitch voice near an open window. "I knew it, anyone who turned down Alkaline Pie is trouble! Snimon's not going to like this."

Lopmon nodded as he watched the Minomon quickly leave the area. "Okay, phase 1 is complete. The Minomon will alert their big boss about this rebellion. So we better take that into account."

"By 'big boss', do you mean Snimon?" Biyomon asked.

"Assuming this Snimon is the one in charge, yeah," Lopmon confirmed.

Patamon took the book out from his belly warmer and quickly flipped through the pages. "Ah… Snimon. It's an insectoid Digimon. He flies around and mainly uses his Twin Sickle attack to slice through his enemies. Says he's a Champion level Digimon, so he's gonna be quite tough."

"Hold on, why was 'phase 1' letting the enemy know what we're going to do?" JP asked.

"We want to draw out Snimon. If we want to fight back, we gotta make sure we take down the big boss or he'll just come after the Kokuwamon himself when they're ill prepared," Lopmon explained.

"Ah, so that's why you needed the Minomon to know!" Tommy exclaimed with a bit of a grin. "You're very smart, Lopmon!"

"And if we take out Snimon, there's no need for the Kokuwamon to come back here." Takuya added with a grin of his own. "And if we can cause enough damage to the factory, it will be useless to anyone else who tries to pull something similar like Snimon is doing here."

"Exactly." Lopmon smiled. "I also have faith that you guys will be able to defeat Snimon. You've taken on Digimon stronger than him after all."

"You mean Cerberumon?" Takuya asked. "What level was she at?"

"She was Ultimate level, higher than Champion, though I like to think we weakened her by the time you got to her," Patamon remarked.

"And you've fought with other Champion level Digimon, like Wizardmon and Woodmon, and the latter had that strange power backing them up," Biyomon added.

"I see why you think we'll be able to take on Snimon," Tommy said.

"Alright," Takuya said before he turned to the Kokuwamon. "Does anyone have a map of the factory? It'll help us lay down a good plan for this attack."

"Yes, we do have a map." The first Kokuwamon replied. "We were given one when we were brought here, so we could know the layout of the complex and the actual factory itself."

"Great! Then that will be helpful." Takuya grinned as the first Kokuwamon brought out the map and placed it on the… 'table' that was inside the clay house.

"Okay, we're going to do this tonight." Takuya began to explain as everyone gathered around him to peer at the map.

"Zoe is going to cause a distraction right here, at the main gate, with Biyomon helping her out." Takuya explained as he pointed at the main gate itself. "They are going to try to get as many of the Goburimon as possible over to the gate."

Takuya looked over at Zoe and Biyomon, who were standing next to each other. "Do you think you two can handle it?"

"No problem," Zoe replied.

"It'll be easy," Biyomon added.

"Okay, with that settled, the rest of us will head into the factory and destroy what we can while looking for Snimon. If we can make our way to the assembly line and destroy it, we will take out the factory." Takuya continued. "But, if what Lopmon is saying is correct, Snimon will be aware we're up to something, so we can't drop our guard."

"We will want to try to head into the prison cells near the bathrooms," Lopmon said as he hopped up onto the table Takuya was using for the map. "Right over here… Once we get there, we can release the Kokuwamon that are imprisoned there. They can help us fight back, including our friend. But if Snimon does find us before we can get to the Kokuwamon, we'll have to split into teams, one team fend off Snimon while the other team release the trapped Kokuwamon. Once the team manages to release the Kokuwamon, they will rejoin the defense team to take out Snimon."

"And who will be on the defense team against Snimon?" Tommy asked as he peered at the map as well. "Because we have only two of us to help against Snimon if Zoe and Biyomon are providing the distraction."

"Agunimon has the power to match a Champion Digimon, so he'll be leading the defense team," Lopmon said. "Patamon will go with him since he seems to work well with Aguniomn, wind makes his fire stronger after all. Meanwhile, Tommy, you and I will go release the trapped Kokuwamon. While you may not have the raw strength of Agunimon, you still have more than enough power to break through the cells."

Tommy nodded. "You got it!" He said. "I won't let you down, Lopmon!"

"Then I guess I will handle the big boss." Takuya joked with a grin. "This should be interesting."

"You'll definitely be needing my help with that attitude." Patamon said as he shook his head.

"And finally… JP, you're in charge of evacuating the Kokuwamon who don't wish to fight and the Kapurimon," Lopmon stated.

"Really? He's not coming to help us?" Takuya asked.

"He could, but…" Lopmon turned to JP. "Does he want to?"

"Lopmon's right, you know," JP said as he looked at Takuya. "I have no business of helping you with the battle. You guys don't need me, you probably don't even want me. I'd just get in the way. I can't become a Digimon like you guys, nor do I have any abilities that a Digimon could do…"

"H-Hey! It's not that JP." Takuya exclaimed. "It's just we don't want you to get hurt. I mean… you may find your Spirit soon, and we don't want you to get hurt so badly you can't use it."

"Oh sure, that's the reason why." JP grumbled.

"What are you saying, JP?" Takuya huffed.

"I'm saying you guys are on your own. You don't need me to help you with this, as I said." JP replied. "I'm just the human sidekick here, the one who doesn't do much of anything."

"We understand what JP is going through," The Kokuwamon spoke up. "Before you came along, we wouldn't dream of fighting back. The only one of us who thought of doing that was the strange one who refused to eat batteries. You gave us hope, it's something we haven't had in a long time."

"You showed us how strong we can be if we just believe in ourselves," Another Kokuwamon said.

JP sighed as he walked over to a wall. "It's never that easy…"

One of the Kapurimon looked at JP, frowning in concern.

"Should we do something about JP?" Biyomon asked in concern. "This kind of attitude may repel the Spirit…"

"It won't help if we try to interfere, he has to learn this on his own," Lopmon replied.

Patamon nodded. "Give it time. JP will come around. The ones chosen by the Spirits always do. They just need to be given a bit of room to grow first."

"And once he does… the whole gang will finally have their Spirits," Lopmon said quietly.

"And a step closer to…" Biyomon hesitated.

"Let's not think about that. We still have time before we have to worry about that. Let's focus on the upcoming battle," Patamon said softly, hoping to comfort his two friends.

"What are you three talking about?" Zoe asked. "You seem pretty confident that JP will get his Spirit soon."

"We just believe in JP, even if he doesn't believe in himself." Lopmon smiled. "Just as we believe in all of you."

Takuya grinned. "That's what I like to hear!"

"Don't let it get to your head." Patamon warned. "It will only inflate your hot ego even more."

Takuya deflated at Patamon's next words. "Aw man… You really know how to ruin a good mood…"

"Patamon's had his share of letting his ego inflate, which caused him to crash and burn~" Biyomon teasingly grinned.

Patamon grumbled. "You really ruined my mood…"

Lopmon snickered as he put his hand over his mouth.

"So when are we putting this plan into action?" Tommy asked.

"When the sun goes down. We want it to be dark so it'll be hard for the Goburimon to see," Takuya answered.

"Wow, I'm impressed you were able to come up with such plans, Takuya, even if you had some assistance from Lopmon," Zoe complimented.

Takuya blushed as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I… would make battle plans for my toy soldiers…" He admitted. But something about this felt familiar too, like he had done something similar before. But why? Why does this feel familiar? I'm sure this is the first time I'm doing something like this…

"I think that's cool!" Tommy smiled.

"Of course you would think it's cool," Zoe chuckled, being reminded that Tommy was an 8 year old boy.

Meanwhile, JP decided to walk outside for some air. He saw the sun was starting to set already. The winds blew his hair and his clothes a little.

Am I really that weak though? Lopmon and Tommy both seemed to think I'll get a Spirit of my own, but… how can I just believe that? Would someone like me really be worthy of a Spirit? And even if I do get one, would I be able to use it? If I'm supposedly destined for a Spirit… how long will it be until I get one? After all… everyone else has one, but I… I'm still just me… JP thought sourly to himself as he pulled out his D-Tector and looked at it. A lot of good this thing does for me when it doesn't have a Spirit…

"Hey, mister!" A childish voice spoke up from below JP.

JP looked down, seeing a Kapurimon looking up at him with big, wide, yet innocent, eyes. "Can we really go back to the forest tomorrow?"

Despite his misgivings, and his self pity, JP realized that these Kokuwamon and Kapurimon had it much rougher than he did. At least he wasn't a slave to some big Digimon. He bent down to Kapurimon and put a hand on its metal helmet. "Don't worry, kid. We'll make sure you guys get home."

"Gee, thanks mister!" Kapurimon giggled. "I can't wait until we get back home!"

JP wasn't sure why the Kapurimon wanted to come to him of all people for reassurance, JP hadn't exactly shown that he was the most confident of the group. But he felt better reassuring the kid in his own way. I just hope this plan works… for the Kokuwamon and Kapurimon's sake.

As the sun went down, the 3 moons rose up into the night sky, everyone had gathered up. JP stood with the Kapurimon and the other Kokuwamon who chose not to fight. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but some of the Kokuwamon had to flee so they could take care of the Kapurimon in case things didn't go well.

"Alright, it's go time, everyone!" Takuya said as he took out his D-Tector from his pocket. "Time to put the plan into motion!"

Takuya looked at Zoe and Tommy. "Are you guys ready?"

"Ready!" Zoe and Tommy both said at the same time.

"Good luck with the Kapurimon and Kokuwamon, JP." Tommy smiled. "We'll see you later, okay?"

"Uh… yeah, sure, just don't get hurt out there," JP replied, seeing how Tommy still seemed to believe in him.

Takuya held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his canine teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Zoe followed Takuya's lead. The magenta outline of her Spirit appeared visible on the screen of her D-Tector as she held it up. Fractal coding appeared on her left hand and she slammed the D-Tector against it as she brought the two together. Zoe then called out the familiar phrase she knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her body became data as her clothes ripped away. Coding surrounded her in a cocoon of sorts and the power of her first Spirit flowed into her. Her hair became longer, flowing past her waist and turning a purple color. Her body grew in height, increasing her strength and speed. A bikini-like outfit appeared on her body as gloves, and high boots formed on her arms and legs, with shoulder guards appearing as well as a visor that covered her eyes. Butterfly-like wings appeared on her back and she landed, letting out a cry as she unleashed a kick before she came to a stop and said her name. "Kazemon!"

Tommy followed Zoe's lead. The light green digital form of his first Spirit appeared on the screen of his D-Tector and he formed the familiar ring of fractal coding around his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. He lost his hair and his body became white as snow. His fingers became like paws almost and he gained a more cub-like appearance to his body. Green chest armor formed on his body and his feet gained green and red boots. A headband that had the image of a bear on it formed on his head, and he gained a shoulder pad on each side, but one was red while the other was gray in color. He slid down and landed as a mushy pile before he reformed and grinned, calling out his name. "Kumamon!"

JP felt a twinge of jealousy when he saw Agunimon, Kazemon, and Kumamon in place of Takuya, Zoe, and Tommy, but he had to focus on his part of the plan for the moment.

"Alright, let's go!" Patamon called out.

Kazemon and Biyomon flew towards the main gate. Like with Patamon's wind and Agunimon's flames, Kazemon built up her own wind while Biyomon prepared a fire attack.

"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon shot out green flames from her beak that swirled around like a twister.

Kazemon shot out some wind to make the Spiral Twister attack much stronger, causing it to explode on the gate.

Sirens began to sound, as flames danced in front of the gate. Minomon came down on their strings from the tops of their heads, all shouting the same thing. "WARNING! WARNING!"

Kazemon rushed forwards, having heard enough of that. "Go away, you mouthy pinecones!" She snapped.

"Don't make us blast you!" Biyomon warned.

The Minomon yelped as they quickly scattered away.

"Time to make some noise," Biyomon said.

"You bet~" Kazemon grinned. "Let's start with the sirens!"

Kazemon summoned winds to her fingertips. "Hurricane Wave!" She unleashed the attack on the blaring sirens, destroying them easily.

Biyomon decided to add her fiery twister to the winds. "Spiral Twister!" Tee green flames were added to the pink winds, causing the actual gate structure itself to get destroyed. Kazemon ran through, with Biyomon following her, just as an explosion erupted behind the two of them.

"I think that has caused enough noise to wake the Goburimon~" Kazemon giggled.

"Oh yeah," Biyomon agreed. "And now for some taunting. Come out, come out, wherever you are! You've angered us with your crappy food, we demand to see the manager!"

"Oh, good one~" Kazemon grinned.

The Goburimon all started running out with their clubs in hand.

"Wow, they make a good team," Kumamon whispered as he, Agunimon, Patamon, Lopmon, and the Kokuwamon group were hiding behind some boulders.

"Yup, and that's our cue to move," Agunimon said. "Quick, follow us!"

Agunimon, Kumamon, Patamon, and Lopmon started running into the factory with the Kokuwamon flying behind them.

While this was going on, JP was leading the rest of the Kokuwamon and Kapurimon up a hill, getting away from the battle zone. JP, however, couldn't help but look back. He didn't feel good about leaving the others, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to help them much.

Back with the battle, Kazemon and Biyomon were having an easier time with the Goburimon, mostly because they could fly. Kazemon kicked one Goburimon away before doing a handstand and spinning around, kicking two more in the face in quick succession.

Biyomon was flying above one Goburimon, pecking away at his head like a woodpecker. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Inside the building, the Kokuwamon piled onto a group of Goburimon.

"Power Surge!" The Kokuwamon paralyzed the Goburimon with their electric attack.

"You want our electricity? Then take it! Power Surge!" The Kokuwamon destroyed the factory's generators with their attacks.

"Where are the cells located at?" Agunimon asked.

"I know where they are," Lopmon said.

They heard a loud buzzing sound not too far away.

"What was that?" Patamon asked.

"That might be Snimon," Kumamon answered. "It definitely sounded like a big bug."

"We'd better hurry and find the cells then." Agunimon noted. "If Snimon is getting close, we've got to move before he gets us."

Agunimon then looked at Kumamon. "You and Lopmon know what to do. Head to the cells and free the other Kokuwamon. Patamon and I are going to take on Snimon."

"Be careful, Snimon may not be alone," Lopmon warned.

"Don't worry, we'll be careful. You guys be careful too, just in case there are more guards at the cell," Patamon warned as well.

Both groups then split up, heading in their respective directions. The Kokuwamon split up as well, the ones brave enough to face Snimon went with Agunimon and Patamon, while the other Kokuwamon followed Kumamon and Lopmon.

"Patamon, are you sure we can take on this Snimon?" Agunimon asked as they were running down the hallway.

"If this is just a battle with Snimon, then yes," Patamon answered. "If he's got more Goburimon, then it'll be a lot harder, but maybe still doable. The real threat is if Snimon gets powered up by the unknown enemy like Woodmon did."

Agunimon shivered at the reminder of Woodmon. "Yeah… That felt just… wrong… what happened with Woodmon. It was like I… froze up because of the wrongness I felt. I just hope that doesn't happen again, because I'm gonna be in big trouble if it does."

"Don't worry about it. Instead, prepare for it," Patamon said. I doubt those guys will come back so soon. It seemed like it took a lot out of them to use the data that they did to power up Woodmon. But still, it would be best to be ready just in case.

They kept following the buzzing sound until they reached the room where the factory was making the fans. They saw a large, green, insectoid monster with sickles on its arms.

"What is this!? I was told humans were in the factory! You are clearly not human!" The Digimon, presumingly Snimon, hissed at Agunimon.

"Yeah, well too bad for you, since I'm your opponent." Agunimon growled back, getting into a fighting stance. I can't just rush in. I need to be careful since I don't know how Snimon will fight. If that… strange thing… happens again, I can't freeze up.

There were Goburimon in the room as well. Patamon looked around, trying to analyze the situation. I don't see any strange data being sent into Snimon… or the Goburimon. Good… it looks like we've avoided the worst case scenario. Though having to fight off all these Gorbuimon and Snimon will be no easy task either.

"We'll help you fight," Kokuwamon said.

"The Goburimon outnumber us, let's hope Kumamon's group can join us as soon as possible," Patamon said.

"Over here!" Lopmon called over to Kumamon.

"Whoa, that's a lot of cells," Kumamon noted.

"Power Surge!" The Kokuwamon were keeping the Goburimon guards at bay.

"I'll help you get them out," Lopmon said. "We better hurry."

"Right." Kumamon nodded before he took a deep breath. "Crystal Breeze!"

"Blazing Ice!"

The two ice attacks froze the bars on the cells, making it easy for the Kokuwamon to break through.

"Thank you!" One Kokuwamon exclaimed, running up to Lopmon. "It's about time you got us out of there!"

"It's so nice to be free again!" Another Kokuwamon said in relief. "No more being scared witless!"

"Kokuwamon! I'm glad you're okay!" Lopmon smiled at the Kokuwamon that ran up to him.

"Hey, so uh… maybe you should just call me 'Ko' while we're here. To prevent confusion and all," Lopmon's friend suggested.

"Yeah, that might help," Lopmon agreed.

"Hey, so… you're Lopmon's friend, right?" Kumamon asked, seeing Ko and Lopmon interacting with each other.

"That's right!" Ko replied, looking up at Kumamon. "Ah, you must be one of the Legendary Warriors I've heard about."

"Yup, this is Kumamon, the Warrior of Ice. Agunimon, the Warrior of Fire, and Patamon are fighting the big boss right now, so we're going to meet up with them," Lopmon quickly explained.

"You can count me in. I've been wanting to get a good shot at that overgrown fly for bringing me here and trying to get me to eat batteries of all things!" Ko grumbled.

"Yeah… that was definitely gross…" Kumamon admitted. Wow, he really doesn't like the batteries.

"Let's go, if we hurry, we may be able to give your friends the backup they need." Ko said determinedly. "Besides, Snimon may have Goburimon with him."

"We want to fight too. We want to get our freedom back and not always be scared!" The other Kokuwamon spoke up.

"Alright, then let's go!" Kumamon spoke up.

Everyone ran down the hallway. Some of the Kokuwamon stayed behind to keep the Goburimon busy, and to keep them from joining Snimon.

It didn't take long for the group to find Agunimon and Patamon in the large room. Agunimon was throwing his Pyro Darts at Snimon. Snimon was blocking the Pyro Darts with his sickles. Patamon flew over Snimon's head.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shot out a large air bubble at Snimon's head, hoping to knock him off balance.

Snimon was hit by the Boom Bubble, but as he was at the Champion level, it didn't do much other than knock him for a slight loop. "Hey! Cut that out, you little runt!" Snimon swung his sickle at Patamon.

Patamon yelped as he quickly moved away to avoid getting sliced in half.

"They need help, come on!" Lopmon quickly said.

Kumamon, Lopmon, Ko, and the other Kokuwamon started running and flying in, but the Goburimon quickly jumped them. Kumamon jumped away from a Goblin Strike fireball.

"Uh-oh… that's a lot more Goburimon than at the cells…" Ko gulped.

"Well, we can't just sit back and let Patamon and Agunimon get hurt." Kumamon said. "We have to help them!"

"Unfortunately, these Goburimon are making it impossible to get to them," Lopmon warned.

"Ready to play, teddy?" Goburimon grinned.

"Hey, if he was a real teddy, you'd all be dead where you stand," Lopmon hissed.

The Goburimon started laughing. "Oh, let's be afraid of the little teddy bear! He's gonna hurt us so much!" One Goburimon snickered.

"What's he talking about?" Kumamon asked Ko. "He doesn't actually mean a teddy bear, does he?"

"He's… got some past trauma with a teddy bear, don't ask," Ko sighed.

"You ain't getting near our boss!" The Goburimon shouted. "Goblin Strike!"

The Goburimon threw fire balls at the 3. Kumamon, Lopmon, and Ko quickly jumped out of the way. Kumamon wasn't used to having to fight against a bunch of enemies at once, but he knew he had to do something. He heard Agunimon yelling out, he was in trouble.

Maybe I can freeze multiple Goburimon at once… Kumamon thought.

Kumamon took a deep breath, ready to attack, when a familiar yet unfamiliar voice spoke in his head.

"That's right, Kumamon. Freeze them all, you're stronger than them, and I want you to make an example of them."

This caused Kumamon to stop and hesitate, which cost him.

One of the Goburimon saw Kumamon was hesitating and grinned, bringing to his hand a fireball. "Goblin Strike!" He threw the fireball at Kumamon directly, following it up with a swing of his club at the smaller Digimon.

Kumamon yelped as he was hit by the Goblin Strike attack, only to receive a blow to his stomach courtesy of the club that followed.

"Kumamon!" Lopmon yelled when he saw what happened. "You guys are gonna pay! Tiny Twister!"

Lopmon quickly spun around, turning into a little twister and began gathering up as much Goburimon as he could before he had to hop out of the twister he created. The Goburimon that were caught up in the twister yelled as they were being spun around.

"Shock them!" Lopmon called out to Ko and the other Kokuwamon who weren't busy fighting at the moment.

"You heard him guys!" Ko exclaimed. "Let's show these Goburimon we're not weak as they think we are!"

The Kokuwamon horde began to charge up their electrical attacks. "Power Surge!"

The combined electrical attacks zapped the Goburimon silly.

Of course, there were still more Goburimon, and Kumamon wasn't feeling at his best right now. Kumamon was able to get back on his feet, but he was hesitating too much.

What's wrong with me? Kumamon frowned. I know I'm not this slow…

Goburimon charged at Kumamon. Kumamon took his gun out from his back and started to fire snowballs at them, pushing them back.

"Good, Kumamon, keep it up. You're making me proud~" The mysterious voice said in Kumamon's head.

"Ack!" Kumamon hissed as he stopped firing his gun.

The other Goburimon saw this as an opportunity and ran at the little bear with their club.

"Tiny Twister!" Lopmon created another twister to push the Goburimon away from Kumamon.

Lopmon landed in front of Kumamon. "What's wrong? I know you're a better fighter than this!"

"I… I don't know…" Kumamon replied nervously. "I… keep having these memories… of a voice… and yet… while it sounds friendly… it's… like it's not… I feel scared to do what it wants."

"A voice?" Lopmon blinked. Is he… somehow remembering…?

Lopmon shook his head, they were in the middle of a battle. "You have to ignore that voice, Kumamon. You're not doing it for the voice, you're doing it to help the Kokuwamon. And Agunimon and Patamon need our help!"

Kumamon realized Lopmon was right. He had to remember that. More was at stake than just some voice's words. He had to remember he was fighting for something more, something bigger, than some voice's satisfaction. Slowly, Kumamon took in a deep breath before letting it out.

"You're right…" Kumamon said. "I can't get distracted now."

Meanwhile, JP was looking at Kazemon and Biyomon fighting against the Goburimon, and more Goburimon were coming. They were starting to get tired, and JP wondered if things were getting worse from the inside. They may be strong, but they were getting outnumbered.

JP looked down at his fists. I hate not being able to do anything! I hate being so useless! Why is everyone able to become a Digimon but me? Takuya's got the Spirit of Agunimon, Zoe has Kazemon, and even little Tommy has the ability to turn into Kumamon. Patamon, Lopmon, and Biyomon are able to do more than I could, and all the Kokuwamon… all I'm good for is just complaining and getting in the way. Why am I still here?

"Maybe I should've just headed home…" JP muttered.

One of the Kapurimon began to hop past JP, a Kokuwamon chasing after it.

"Wait! You can't go down there! It's too dangerous!" Kokuwamon exclaimed.

The Kokuwamon managed to grab Kapurimon's tail to keep him from going any further.

"I can't just stay here! I have to help too!" Kapurimon said.

"You're too small, you'll only get in the way," Kokuwamon warned.

"I know I'm small! But remember what those humans said? We just have to believe in ourselves! No matter how small we are, we can make a difference if we try!" Kapurimon argued.

"That's true, but you also must believe in others to fight when you can't." Kokuwamon replied. "If you just rush in, what is the point in believing if you don't make it back?"

JP looked down at little Kapurimon. Kapurimon wanted to fight against Snimon, who was a Champion level Digimon, but the little guy wouldn't last a moment against such a strong Digimon.

Making up his mind, JP walked forwards. "He may not be able to do anything, but I can."

Kapurimon looked up at JP who gave Kapurimon a reassuring smile before running down the hill. So what if I can't Spirit Evolve? What kind of person would I be if I didn't at least try to help the others out? I may be useless in the fight, but there has to be another way I can help!

"Go get them!" Kapurimon cheered as JP ran down the hill.

Kazemon and Biyomon had grown tired as the fight dragged on. Kazemon got sloppier as she grew tired, and one of the Goblin Strikes managed to hit her in the stomach. This caused her to start falling. Biyomon quickly flew down at Kazemon, using her talons to grab her shoulders and stabilized her in the air, allowing both of them to fly up into the sky.

"I think we need to retreat, you're getting banged up, and I'm also reaching my limit," Biyomon said to Kazemon.

Kazemon nodded. "Yeah… I can't take another hit like that." She agreed. "Let's get out of here while we can. I just hope we bought the boys enough time."

The two of them quickly flew away as the Goburimon started cheering, believing they won. Little did they know, the war was just getting started. While the Goburimon were too busy cheering over their victory, JP was running past them from behind. He knew Kazemon and Biyomon had to retreat, so this was his only chance to get into the factory. He didn't know what he could do, he just knew that something was pushing him to help… the ones he believed were his friends. The only friends he had.

Hang on, guys! Here comes reinforcements! JP thought determinedly as he ran into the factory. He was not going to abandon the people he was with. They were pretty much the only ones who could even begin to understand him, and he felt he had to do something to help them.

Meanwhile, back in the factory, things were starting to take a turn for the worst. Kumamon, Lopmon, Ko, and the other Kokuwamon were doing their best to fight back, but it was clear they were getting tired. Kumamon was not yet used to being a Digimon, or being in battles in general. And whatever was going on with Kumamon was messing with his head. More Goburimon kept showing up, one after the other.

"How many Goburimon does this guy have?" Lopmon frowned in exasperation.

Kumamon and Lopmon had to run from a horde of Goburimon chasing after them. Ko quickly flew over them, powering up his attack.

"Duck!" Ko called out before blasting out electricity from his head and hands. "Power Surge!"

Kumamon and Lopmon quickly dove to the ground as the electric attack went over them and zapped the Goburimon behind them.

The Goburimon behind Lopmon and Kumamon got shocked silly, crying out as their hair stood on end.

At the same time, Agunimon and Patamon were fighting Snimon, but like with Kumamon, Agunimon was not really used to being a Digimon yet. He was adapting faster than Kumamon, yes, but he still wasn't entirely sure of what he could and couldn't do in his Digimon form. Agunimon decided to go with one of his weaker attacks. Fire flared from his left wrist armor and he hurled bits of flame at Snimon. "Pyro Darts!"

Patamon flew at Snimon while he was trying to block Agunimon's Pyro Darts. "Petit Rush!"

Patamon flew straight at Snimon like a torpedo, and tackled the giant bug's head with all of his weight.

"Ow! You little rat!" Snimon hissed as he swatted at Patamon with one of his giant sickles.

This gave Agunimon an opening and he took it, rushing at Snimon. Agunimon tackled Snimon to the floor, giving Patamon some breathing room. Patamon quickly recovered from being swatted and didn't waste this opportunity to attack while Agunimon tackled Snimon.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shot out a giant air bubble.

Snimon was hit by the Boom Bubble attack, but he wasn't out yet. Angered now, Snimon used his strength to push Agunimon back, and the two sickles glowed red.

"Twin Sickles!" Snimon shot out two energy sickle attacks at Agunimon.

"Look out!" Patamon pushed Agunimon from behind, making Agunimon fall to the floor, with only bits of his hair getting cut from the energy sickles.

"Oof!" Agunimon hit the ground, the wind knocked from his lungs by the impact. He was briefly stunned, struggling to get air into his body so he could move.

Agunimon struggled to his feet, feeling his lungs screaming for air as he took deep breaths to try and get the aching to go away.

Unfortunately for Agunimon, Snimon saw him struggling to get to his feet and grinned evilly before unleashing another Twin Sickles attack at the Warrior of Flame.

Agunimon turned, sensing the attack incoming. He shakily held up his arms in a defensive move, concentrating his fiery energy into the shield move again. But his concentration was shaky at best, and the first energy sickle broke through the shield, penetrating it while the second energy sickle hit Agunimon right in the chest, throwing him back.

A cry of pain escaped Agunimon as he was sent flying back into the wall, causing a dent. His armor on his chest was burned where he had been hit by the Twin Sickle attack as well. Agunimon hissed in pain, feeling his chest aching. Agunimon saw Patamon moving towards Snimon, but the little Rookie couldn't get in close due to the Twin Sickle attack, Patamon had to dodge, he was far more vulnerable than Agunimon was. One strike from that attack could cost Patamon his life.

Meanwhile, JP was running down the hallway. He spotted some Kokuwamon who were putting the Goburimon they defeated into the cells.

"Hey, where are the others? I'm going to help them fight!" JP requested.

"They're in the central room last I saw." A Kokuwamon replied. "If you need help getting there, some of us can guide you there."

"That'd be appreciated," JP said.

"Then hurry, follow me. They're at the end of this hallway!" The Kokuwamon said as he flew ahead, and JP hurried after him.

All this running… I really have to get into shape… JP inwardly groaned.

JP made it into the central room. There, he saw Kumamon, Lopmon, and the Kokuwamon being surrounded by the Goburimon. They were backed up into a wall. Kumamon looked exhausted, and Lopmon didn't look much better. Most of the other Kokuwamon were knocked out. There was only one Kokuwamon left conscious on the battlefield, and it was surrounded as well.

Kumamon took a deep breath, trying to freeze the Goburimon, but his icy breath only made them a bit cold. His energy had run out. Kumamon may revert back to Tommy at any moment.

Agunimon and Patamon weren't faring much better. Snimon managed to kick Agunimon towards the railings, and Snimon was now trying to push Agunimon into the machinery below. Agunimon was doing everything he could to push back and not fall. Patamon was trying to help but tackling Snimon over and over again with his body, but Snimon was ignoring Patamon's attempts.

Agunimon gritted his teeth, trying to hold Snimon back with his enhanced strength, but it was all he could do to keep himself from being pushed over. This guy's… strong… Much stronger than I realized…

Agunimon could feel Snimon slowly overpowering him, meaning he had no time left. He had to think of a plan. Feeling the railing against his back, a desperate plan came to mind. Agunimon gripped Snimon's pincer/sickle arms tightly and began to slowly lean backwards, using the railing as a balancing force before he threw Snimon over his head and down towards the machinery.

Snimon hit the main support pillar of the machinery floor below, the throw having tossed him quite a distance. JP was running over, avoiding the Goburimon as they were mostly invested in the Digimon than in him. JP saw Snimon coming up from the machinery, holding out his sickles at Agunimon.

"Twin Sickles!" Snimon's sickles glowed red before he slammed the sickles into Agunimon, shoving him several feet away.

Patamon tried to come in with an attack, but Snimon was quick to react and used his tail to slam Patamon into the ground. Patamon couldn't move, his body was too injured. And Agunimon wasn't faring much better.

"Ugh… Patamon…" Agunimon grunted out as he saw Patamon on the ground. "He needs… my help…" Agunimon managed to get back to his feet. "I can't… let Patamon… die…"

"Look at what we have here, lunch meat~" Snimon grinned as he looked down at Patamon.

Lopmon looked up, seeing the situation was dire, but he also spotted JP nearby. He looked over at Ko.

"You're the only one here who's conscious and can fly. Hurry, go over to JP over there," Lopmon quickly said to Ko. "You might be able to help him help Agunimon and Patamon."

Ko nodded. "You got it." He then gulped as he flew up to where JP was. "I hope I make it in time…"

"Hey! JP!" Ko called as he approached the chubby boy. "Lopmon sent me to help you!"

"Huh?" JP blinked, seeing a Kokuwamon flying over to him. "Oh, perfect timing! Look, there's a crane over there."

JP pointed at the crane. "I'm gonna need you to give me a lift… Do you think you can do it?"

"I'll try." Ko replied. "I don't expect to have an easy time of it, but we have no time left. Snimon could get the victory if we don't move now."

Ko flew behind JP and grabbed the back of his outfit with one set of arms while grabbing JP under his arms with his main set of arms. "Ready?"

"N-not really, but… we have to do this," JP said, seeing that Agunimon and Patamon were in trouble.

Ko lifted JP up. Dang, he's heavy. Though I have no room to talk. At least I'm able to lift him.

Snimon was right in front of Patamon. Agunimon hissed as he was trying to do something, anything, to get Patamon out of there. But he knew if he made another move as he was now, he was likely going to revert back to Takuya.

"Almost there…" JP said as Ko got him close to the crane.

Ko quickly dropped JP into the crane.

"Whatever you plan to do, you better do it now!" Ko quickly said. "Our friends are about to become bug bait!"

JP nodded, looking over the controls for the crane quickly before he found the main lever controls. He grabbed the controls and pulled the levers, making the crane turn around. The crane itself slammed into Snimon, knocking him away from Agunimon and Patamon. Snimon hit the opposite wall, his sickles getting embedded in the wall itself.

The Goburimon saw this and got scared, they quickly began running away, not wanting to be hit by the crane themselves.

"Wow! Way to go, JP!" Kumamon smiled, seeing what just happened.

"Nice job getting JP there, Ko!" Lopmon called out.

Seeing that Snimon was further away, Agunimon quickly ran over to Patamon. Patamon managed to push himself up to his feet.

"I'm… I'm okay…" Patamon said softly, though he was pretty banged up.

"Are you sure?" Agunimon asked worriedly. "You took quite a bit of damage…" Although he was one to talk; Agunimon was just as banged up, if not more so.

"It's not… over yet," Patamon warned.

"Look out!" Ko warned JP.

Snimon held out one of his sickles, and had it fire out a red energy attack at the crane where JP was. Ko acted quickly and pushed JP out of the crane just before the red energy sickle sliced right through the crane.

"Whoa! T-thanks, Kokuwamon!" JP said gratefully that this Kokuwamon was brave enough to get him out before he got sliced like hot butter.

"No problem." Ko replied. "Oh, and by the way, you should call me Ko for now. I'm Lopmon's friend."

"You are? Well it's nice to meet you, Ko!" JP smiled.

They heard another crash. The crane fell on the wall Snimon was clinging onto, breaking it down. The debris and smoke covered Ko and JP as well. JP coughed and Ko quickly flew down to put JP down.

"Hey… look there!" Kumamon called out, seeing something glow brightly from behind the now busted wall.

"Is that…?" Lopmon asked, seeing the glowing figure as well.

"It's a Spirit…" Patamon weakly smiled, seeing it as well. "We… finally found it… The metal surrounding it… must've been too thick… for the D-Tectors to detect it."

Agunimon had never felt so relieved to hear that news. "If that was a pun… I'm not exactly going to complain about this one."

JP saw the object in front of him. "This… must be…" He trailed off as he stared at the Spirit, as if entering into a trance. Electricity appeared in JP's irises as he saw an image of a blue-armored beetle-like humanoid standing before him. Images in his mind showed him merging with this humanoid beetle.

With a cry, JP drew out his D-Tector and aimed it at the Spirit. "SPIRIT!"

The Spirit was sucked into his D-Tector, the symbol of Thunder appearing on the screen.

"It is time…" The female voice said.

JP took a moment to stare at the symbol of Thunder on his D-Tector's screen. He was shaking, he almost couldn't believe it.

Ko stood beside JP. "Don't just stand there, hurry and activate it! I don't think Mr. Bug is gonna stay asleep for long!"

JP held up his D-Tector as the green outline of his Spirit became visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he held it up. JP then held up his left hand as fractal coding formed around it, his D-Tector held in his other hand. Slamming the device against the ring of coding, he brought the two together. JP then called out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Coding encircled him as his clothes ripped away and his body became data, the power of the Spirit flowing into him. Blue and yellow armor formed on his body as he grew in height and strength. On his back, wings formed before they were covered by two halves of a hard shell and on his head, a horn grew. His eyes became green as a faceplate covered his mouth and he felt the power of thunder flowing into his body. He landed, slamming his fists together as he cried out his name. "Beetlemon!"

The fractal code cocoon dissipated, revealing the new Legendary Warrior for all to see.

"Would you look at that? JP Spirit Evolved!" Agunimon said in awe.

"I knew he could do it!" Kumamon smiled.

"Heh, never doubted him for a second," Lopmon chuckled, proud to see JP managed to overcome his doubts.

Patamon sat down before taking the book out of his belly warmer. "Looks like JP managed to become Beetlemon, the Warrior of Thunder. … Why it's Warrior of Thunder and not Warrior of Lightning is beyond me. Thunder makes it sound like he's the Warrior of Loud Sounds…"

"Lightning does make a thunderous noise." Agunimon pointed out.

"But he uses electricity, not the sound of thunder…" Patamon muttered before closing the book and putting it back into his belly warmer. "Oh well, doesn't matter. I guess 'thunder' has a nicer ring to it."

"Look at you all draped in armor, and looking like a giant beetle," Ko chuckled as he looked at the newly evolved Beetlemon.

"I… I can't believe it! I'm Beetlemon! I actually Spirit Evolved!" Beetlemon exclaimed. "Yahoo!" He even did a little jumping dance in place, he was so excited.

"And Biyomon thinks I'm a dork," Ko chuckled.

"Aww, look at that! Enjoy your little dance, bug boy. Soon you will taste the fury of Snimon!" Snimon sneered as Beetlemon glared at him, annoyed at his little celebration being interrupted. "Although I can't say I understand why a human was able to be seen as worthy by a Legendary Warrior, but I won't let a human get away with messing up my factory!"

"Bring it on!" Beetlemon challenged.

Snimon charged at Beetlemon.

Beetlemon saw the incoming Snimon and charged as well, but he dodged the sickles coming down at him and kicked Snimon away as soon as he was behind the big green bug. Beetlemon had moved so fast, it was like it was trying to hit a bolt of electricity.

Ko flew up, to avoid getting hit by Snimon himself. Snimon turned back at Beetlemon and lashed out his sickles in an attempt to pierce through Beetlemon's armor like he did with Agunimon earlier. However, unlike with Agunimon, his sickles barely left a scratch on Beetlemon's armor. Beetlemon's armor was much thicker and stronger than Agunimon's armor was.

While Snimon was distracted, Ko flew behind Snimon. "Let's see how you like this. You wanted my electricity? Then here, have some! Power Surge!"

Ko shot out electricity from his hands and head at Snimon's spine. Snimon let out a yelp from the jolt.

Snimon glared at Ko. "You little insect! Take this! Twin Sickles!"

Twin energy sickles were let loose at Ko, who yelped and dodged, but barely. The red energy sickles came close to hitting him by mere inches.

Seeing Snimon was distracted, Beetlemon charged in, hitting Snimon with his horn and pushing Snimon into the base of the pillar.

Snimon grunted as he hit the pillar. Beetlemon grinned. "Beetlemon one, green guy nothing! Wahoo!"

Snimon regained his senses and charged at Beetlemon.

"Look out!" Ko warned Beetlemon.

Beetlemon saw the incoming Snimon and grinned before he spread his back covers, allowing his wings to come out. He crouched and then jumped up, taking flight above Snimon. "Missed me~"

"Wow, so he can fly!" Kumamon noted. "Now Kazemon isn't the only one."

The group were watching in awe as Beetlemon, with some help from Ko, was handling this pretty well. It was good, because they were all too tired or too injured to help much.

"Well, he is a beetle," Lopmon chuckled.

Snimon growled as his sickles glowed again. "Ultimate Twin Sickles!"

Snimon shot out 4 energy sickle attacks at Beetlemon. Ko held out his hands and quickly sent out electricity at the energy sickles, greatly weakening them as they hit Beetlemon. Due to Ko weakening the attack, and Beetlemon's heavy armor, the 4 energy sickles barely laid a scratch on Beetlemon before the energy broke and faded away.

"Now's your chance!" Ko called out.

Beetlemon nodded and let his energy flow. Electricity flowed over his fists as he held them up over his head and clasped his hands together.

"Let's end this fight!" Beetlemon declared as he brought his fists down towards Snimon as he descended down. "Thunder Fist!" His electrically charged fists slammed into Snimon's head directly.

Snimon let out a scream of pain as he fell back. Beetlemon landed in front of Snimon, seeing Snimon's fractal code coming out of his body.

"Where your power was once used for evil, let the power of thunder return you to good!" Beetlemon said as he held up his D-Tector. He pressed the button on the side, and the scanner lit up as the symbol of Thunder appeared on the screen. Beetlemon swung his arm, scanning the fractal code. "Fractal code… Digitize!"

The fractal code was collected, and once it was scanned, the scanner went dark as Beetlemon held his D-Tector to his chest. Snimon himself was turned into an egg, and the egg floated out of the building.

"Nice job! You did it!" Ko praised.

"Way to go, Beetlemon!" Kumamon called out.

"I knew you had it in you, big guy!" Lopmon smiled.

"Nice work!" Agunimon called out, a smile on his face.

Beetlemon looked like he would burst out glowing at the praise.

"We should get the Kokuwamon out of here. I doubt the factory's gonna be running any time soon until it gets new management," Lopmon said.

"Hopefully one who doesn't enslave Digimon for it to work," Patamon remarked.

The others nodded at Lopmon and Patamon's words.

"You heard them, guys!" Agunimon said. "Let's get out of this place."

"I'm with you on that one," Kumamon remarked. "What about the Goburimon?"

"They'll likely find a new job since their boss is… well, gone," Lopmon answered. "We shouldn't worry about them, they're already long gone."

"And the Minomon?" Beetlemon asked as he approached them.

"They're probably in the same boat," Lopmon replied. "Let's just focus on getting the Kokuwamon out of here, some of them lost consciousness during the battle."

The others nodded, agreeing the Kokuwamon came first. Though while the battle had been long and grueling, it was a relief to see they had won. Now the Kokuwamon could go back home, free from this factory.

Chapter Text

ZAFT: Here we are with another update! Also, it's getting close to July 4th. Just over a week away. Time sure flies, huh?

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, it definitely does. 4 years ago, I was at a hospital diagnosed with cervical cancer, now I'm at a point where I may be officially called cancer free. Which I am thankful for.

ZAFT: All I can say to that is I'm happy for you.

DarkFoxKit: Thank you. I'm also still in disbelief that it's been a year since I last updated on my own account. So it's refreshing to finally be updating a story I've been working on on my account again. I apologize to those who were only looking at my account for things I write. Sometimes I update on ZAFT's account too.

ZAFT: Yeah, that can be confusing. XD Anyway, onto the chapter!

Chapter 7: A Mountain of Trouble

The group were now with the Kokuwamon outside the factory, having defeated Snimon.

"You're free now. You can all go back to your homes." JP said as the kids had reverted back to their human forms after leaving the factory's remains.

All the Kokuwamon cheered happily.

"Thank you so much for helping us! We are forever grateful!" The Kokuwamon said.

"I can't wait to go back home to the trees again!" The Kapurimon cheered as well.

"I'm glad they're all happy. We did a good thing here." Takuya smiled.

"What about the Wind Factory? Isn't that important to the Digital World?" Zoe asked.

"Nah, the Digital World has tons of winds. The Wind Factory was just trying to sell them," Biyomon answered before she looked over at one Kokuwamon, who was likely Ko. "I'm glad you're alright. You had us worried when we didn't see you again for weeks."

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you worried." Ko grumbled. "Blame those Goburimon for capturing me. Although I didn't make it easy on them even after I got caught."

"I'm just glad you're alright." Patamon said with relief. "It'd be weird to not have you around."

"Nice to know I'd be missed. "Ko joked back.

"At least we have… somewhat the whole gang back together," Lopmon said.

"Really? What about Labramon and-" Ko began.

"Labamon's with Koji," Lopmon answered. "The rest of us are here though."

"Yeah… Um… is this okay though?" Ko asked. "Weren't we supposed to not… well… follow them?"

"There's been strange things happening around here lately," Biyomon warned. "There are some creatures using Digimon to try to take us out. So we decided it would be better if we stuck together for now. Safety in numbers."

Ko couldn't show it on his face, but he was frowning mentally. He had been aware things could change with their involvement in this, but to hear it for himself was concerning. But he also knew that with these new creatures running around, safety was paramount, and larger numbers could do wonders. "I see what you mean."

"It's also why we were worried about you," Patamon added. "So we're relieved to know you're okay."

"Yeah, well I'm glad to be leaving. I was not eating batteries, I don't care if I am a Kokuwamon, that stuff is for PDAs and portal games, not for eating," Ko grumbled.

"Wow, you really do sound like you grew up somewhere else from the rest of these guys," JP noted.

"Of course I did. I don't live in forests or anything like that," Ko replied.

"Well, since the other Kokuwamon are leaving, would you like to come with us?" Zoe asked.

Ko waddled over to Zoe and hugged her. "Yes, I would!"

"Way to turn on the cute act," Biyomon grumbled.

"Aww, you're all so cute!" Zoe smiled.

"Well, we should probably take a moment to get some rest, then continue on," Lopmon spoke up. "We still have a long way to go before we get to the Forest Terminal."

Tommy yawned. "I think a break would be a good idea. I feel like I need some sleep after that battle. It was a tough one…"

"Yeah, it definitely was, we all had to work together to get through that," Takuya agreed. "Hopefully things will settle down from here."

"Yeah," Tommy agreed. But I wonder what those images in my head were… and if they mean anything… Have I been here before?

Lopmon looked at Tommy, noticing the little kid was looking back at the now abandoned factory with a far away look in his eyes.

Back at the HQ for the Legendary Warriors working for Cherubimon, BlackGatomon had been sleeping when she woke up to Grumblemon's annoyed tone.

"What? Human find more Spirit?" Grumblemon said before growling.

BlackGatomon stretched out, now that she had woken up, she might as well see what was going on. She hadn't been out since she and Duskmon went to Fortuneteller Town. She had been worried about being attacked alone again, and she wouldn't get so lucky. But she was worried if she started slacking off too much, the others would kick her out.

BlackGatomon hopped down from the ledge she was napping on and walked over to Grumblemon. She was surprised to see a Minomon was talking to Grumblemon.

"What're you grumbling about now?" BlackGatomon asked.

"New human get Spirit." Grumblemon replied grumpily. "Need to get more Spirit before they find missing Spirit for them."

"Speak proper English for once please," BlackGatomon replied in annoyance.

"He's saying that there are humans in the Digital World, and they're taking the hidden Legendary Spirits, and using them!" The Minomon spoke up. "They already ruined the Wind Factory with those powers! Who knows what they'll do next!"

"Is that so?" BlackGatomon said with interest before she gave a teasing smirk. "Sounds like these humans are doing more with those Spirits than you all are."

"Watch mouth." Grumblemon growled. "Not care if Duskmon's partner if black kitty push buttons too much."

"Well, what do you plan to do about these humans then?" BlackGatomon asked. "How many of them are able to use a Spirit?"

"All 4 of them are able to!" Minomon answered.

4, huh? BlackGatomon noted. Not 5? Unless one of them wasn't with the others.

"It was just 3 of them before, but the 4th one managed to get the Spirit of Thunder that had been hidden in the factory for generations," The Minomon explained. "At this rate, the Beast Spirits are sure to fall into their hands!"

"They have no Beast Spirit yet, right?" Grumblemon said.

"As far as I know, I hadn't seen any of them use the Beast Spirits," Minomon answered.

"Good. We get Beast Spirit before humans." Grumblemon grinned. "Then they be helpless to greater power!"

"But we don't know where these Beast Spirits are, right?" BlackGatomon noted.

Grumblemon frowned. "No, we don't. Ranamon is still looking for her Beast Spirit. She only one without one. But Beast Spirits are hidden well."

"Well, instead of wasting time looking for these Beast Spirits, it might be best to lure them into a trap, then use your own Beast Spirit to take them out," BlackGatomon suggested. "Or, if you don't have patience for that, get stronger by consuming parts of the Digital World like Lord Cherubimon had been doing."

Grumblemon looked down, as if considering BlackGatomon's words. There was merit in planning a trap, but he wasn't really one for traps. And getting stronger would take time. Yet the prospect of trapping these humans and claiming their Spirits for Lord Cherubimon was too enticing. "Me have perfect trap in mind~" Grumblemon grinned as he looked up.

BlackGatomon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You do? This should be entertaining, coming from the gnome."

"Me know the perfect spot, a terrain those humans won't walk well." Grumblemon smirked. "And find fractal code, make me stronger too!"

"Would you like some help? Or is someone as strong as you confident enough to handle those humans alone?" BlackGatmon asked in her teasing voice.

"Me can handle humans." Grumblemon grumbled. "Me not weak like they are! Me pure Digimon, not human tainting Spirits!"

"Hmmm, so you can handle the humans? I don't think we need to worry then~" BlackGatomon giggled. "I'm sure Lord Cherubimon will be happy to hear you stamping out the humans and bringing back all the Spirits they took."

"Yes! That right! You watch, me will take those Spirits from those humans!" Grumblemon grinned before he burrowed underground.

BlackGatomon let out a sigh. I hope you guys are able to handle what's about to come your way.

"That wasn't like you." A familiar voice spoke up from behind BlackGatomon. "Normally you'd ignore what Grumblemon is planning. Why did you goad him?"

"Why? I just think it'd be interesting to see what he'll do," BlackGatomon replied, looking back at Duskmon. "He wants to win Lord Cherubimon's favor so badly, we might as well see what lengths he'll go through."

Duskmon sighed. "Normally I'm not one to say this, but I really hope this doesn't backfire on you, or us for that matter. Grumblemon is not exactly the brightest of us out there."

"Are you worried about Grumblemon failing or getting mad?" BlackGatomon asked. "Either way, I'd say that's not like you. You normally don't care if they fail or not either way."

"I just don't want anything to happen to one of our own." Duskmon replied. "We are only five Warriors, and we can't afford to be careless or reckless."

"I wouldn't worry about it. Grumblemon can slip away easily if things get bad. And he has that Beast Spirit of his," BlackGatomon pointed out.

"I suppose…" Duskmon said as he looked at BlackGatomon. "Do you plan on going out again tonight? You've been cooped up here for a while, and you once told me that it was boring to stay here all the time."

"Do you have a destination in mind or are you hoping to just go on a stroll?" BlackGatomon asked. "We haven't been assigned any missions yet. Ranamon and Mercurymon are already taking care of getting fractal code for Lord Cherubimon."

"Just a stroll would be nice. We shouldn't waste our energy unless we have a mission." Duskmon replied. "Besides, I don't want to risk getting caught up by that… thing that attacked you, especially after coming back after a mission."

"Yes… I don't know what that Gouda guy wanted, but I sure as heck don't want to find out," BlackGatomon muttered. "It might be in our best interest to help me get stronger, so I can defend myself if I should get attacked alone again. I don't wish to be a helpless kitty that you have to keep an eye… or six on."

"All the better to see you with, my dear~" Duskmon chuckled.

"Was that an attempt to flirt with me?" BlackGatomon laughed.

"No, but I couldn't resist." Duskmon admitted sheepishly.

Heh… he definitely wasn't the type to do that before I got here. I think he's starting to remember his… humanity. BlackGatomon smiled to herself. "Well, for now, a stroll around base should be fine. But where's Arbormon?"

"Last I heard, he went to visit a place called 'Burger Town'. I suppose he wanted to try one of their famous burgers," Duskmon answered.

"Burger Town?" BlackGatomon blinked before her mouth started to water. I haven't had a burger in ages! I used to get sick of that stuff, but now I want one. "... Maybe we should go there one of these days, just to see if those burgers really are good."

"Maybe we should." Duskmon agreed. "That chicken I had was really good last time we were out."

"I know, right? It's good to get out and try some new cuisines," BlackGatomon chuckled before they walked outside.

BlackGatomon noticed it was darker than usual tonight. She looked up at the sky, seeing two of the three moons were in their new moon phase, while the third one was starting to wax. Though the darkness wasn't an issue for her or Duskmon, both of them were able to see in the dark.

"Looks like we'll be walking in the shadows tonight," BlackGatomon chuckled. "Should be fitting for us though, right?"

"Indeed. The darkness makes me stronger," Duskmon remarked.

"But sometimes it's good to have some light in your life," BlackGatomon said softly.

"Yes, but only so much light can be handled before it becomes too much." Duskmon replied. "Life needs the shadows too."

"Oh I know," BlackGatomon replied. "I was just thinking… You're the Warrior of Darkness, right? Is there a Warrior of Light?"

Duskmon was silent before he spoke up. "According to the tales, yes." He replied. "But I've never met this Warrior of Light."

"I wonder… if you did meet with the Warrior of Light, would you hate him or would you get along?" BlackGatomon asked.

"It's hard to say." Duskmon admitted. "I work for Lord Cherubimon. If the Warrior of Light was on our side, then I probably would get along with him. If the Warrior of Light is against us though… I wouldn't say I'd hate him, but I wouldn't hesitate to strike him down either."

"All in the name of Lord Cherubimon, huh?" BlackGatomon chuckled lightly. "Let's hope we won't have to fight these other Legendary Warriors then."

The air bit at his skin as Koji made his way along a very narrow pathway on the mountain he was climbing. He was having to literally hug the rocky cliff-face so he didn't fall. The pathway he was on was only wide enough for him to inch his way along.

"I didn't think the path would get this narrow." Koji grumbled. He had his jacket off and tied in a way that was holding Labramon on his back.

"Maybe this was a bad idea…" Labramon frowned, trying not to look down. "Are you sure I'm not weighing you down too much?"

"No, you're light enough. My own dog was heavier than you as a puppy. Carrying him was like carrying a backpack of heavy books." Koji replied.

"He must've eaten a lot. We got lucky just to have food on one day," Labramon remarked.

"Yeah… but we should get through here soon… maybe find a forest filled with fruit we can pick or something…" Koji said, trying not to fall.

Labramon would love some food right about now, but they needed to make it across this mountain first. "The rumors about the captive KaratsukiNumemon shouldn't be too far…"

Then Labramon's ears perked up when she heard voices. She looked up from her position on Koji's back. "Koji, it looks like there's an opening in that wall up there."

Looking up, Koji saw what Labramon was pointing out. "I see it! It seems we may have found the captives." He exclaimed before he began to climb up the cliff-face. "We'll be on solid ground soo, Labramon."

"Just be careful," Labramon said, not wanting Koji to slip and fall in his haste to get up there.

Thankfully, Koji managed to climb into the cave, dragging himself and Labramon onto more solid ground. Labramon hopped off of Koji's back, and she saw the snail-like Digimon behind some bars.

"Look! We have visitors!" The snail-like Digimon said in surprise.

"Hello, I'm Labramon, and this is my friend, Koji," Labramon greeted. "He's a human. Are you KaratsukiNumemon?"

"We are!" The snail-like Digimon replied. "Oh, we're saved!"

"Are you okay?" Koji asked the KaratsukiNumemon.

"We're all fine, but we're locked up in here!" One of the KarasukiNumemon cried out.

"Please release us, we wanna go home!"

"My husband is very worried!"

Koji began checking the cage, and he looked at the lock. "We don't have a key to this thing."

"We'll just have to break them out," Labramon suggested.

Koji nodded before he picked up a rock and started hammering at the lock. Labramon deadpanned.

"What are you doing?" Labramon asked.

"Trying to break them out," Koji replied.

"Quite wasting time using a rock to break through iron! Use Lobomon and that sword of yours to break them out," Labramon sighed. "The one who captured them will be back any minute now!"

Koji nodded and reached for his D-Tector, but a movement behind him made the boy whirl around. The only thing Koji saw before something grabbed him was a shadowy form with glowing eyes. He didn't even have time to Spirit Evolve, he was grabbed so fast.

"Koji!" Labramon shouted before turning to the shadowy figure. "You!"

Labramon growled at the shadowy figure. She jumped at the shadowy figure. The shadowy figure slammed a sledge hammer into her side. Labramon let out a whimper of pain as she was forced out of the cave. Koji gasped, seeing Labramon in pain as she was falling.

The next thing Koji knew, he was also thrown out of the cave with a shout. He cursed his decision to try and use a rock to try and break the captives out. Damn it… That was a really poor plan I had… Koji thought as he felt it was his last thought he would ever make.

Meanwhile, Takuya's group were trying to stock up on food in a town they reached.

"What? No money? Get out!" A male voice shouted from inside a shop. Screaming could be heard as two boys were tossed out first along with two Digimon. Then another boy and a girl, followed by two more Digimon, were tossed out on top of the first two boys and Digimon.

JP and Takuya groaned as Tommy, Zoe, Biyomon, and Lopmon landed on top of them, and Kokuwamon and Patamon.

"Please come back, when you're not just a bunch of deadbeats!" The Digimon at the entrance to the shop exclaimed angrily.

"But we're really hungry, and we do have money!" Zoe protested as she took out some coins from her wallet and showed it to the large, beetle-like Digimon. "See?"

The Digimon just shut the door in her face.

"What a jerk…" JP grumbled.

"Can I take a look at that money?" Patamon requested.

Zoe held out the money to Patamon. "Here."

Patamon studied the money. "What is this?"

"Those are yen," Zoe answered.

Patamon frowned before shaking his head. "I'm afraid that won't be viable here." He said. "These are barely worth 3 dollars."

"What?" Takuya frowned.

"The Digimon here use American dollar currency," Kokuwamon explained. "I'm afraid yen just isn't worth much."

Takuya groaned. "What a waste… We came here for nothing then?"

"I hope not." Tommy frowned worriedly. "We need food and supplies."

"Well, how do we get viable currency then?" JP asked grumpily.

"We could try taking some part time jobs around here," Lopmon suggested. "Although with how urgent it is for us to get to the Forest Terminal, I'm not sure if we really have the time to be working at jobs."

Patamon handed Zoe back her coins. "Let's look around. Maybe someone can help us out."

"I hope we can get a decent job that isn't too dangerous for us." Zoe murmured. "I mean, we're just kids. We can't do too much heavy work or anything like that."

"You also have the Spirits of Legendary Warriors," Biyomon reminded. "If anything, you guys would be able to do most of the heavy work in this town."

"But is anyone even hiring? Besides, I'm pretty sure most of us, if not all of us, have no work experience…" Takuya grumbled. "And one of us is an 8 year old child…"

"I can work if I need to!" Tommy huffed.

"Well, like I said, we can look around town and see if there's someone that might be able to help us, or is hiring for some quick, easy, and odd jobs," Patamon suggested. "We only need enough money to stock up on food for the trip."

"But where do we start?" Zoe asked. "There are so many places we could look."

"We could try splitting up into groups, then meet back here and see what we find," Lopmon suggested.

"But what about…?" Biyomon whispered.

"We're in a public place, I doubt they would attack us in broad daylight," Lopmono pointed out. "They don't seem to want to draw attention to themselves, so we'll be fine."

Kokuwamon didn't like the idea of splitting up, but if they wanted to find a job, the group had no choice. "Okay, but we need to be careful anyway. We've had one close call, and I don't want us to get too careless." He whispered back.

"We'll go in groups of 4," Lopmon spoke up, looking at the human children. "Some Digimon may respond better to a group of human children, some Digimon may respond better to a group of Rookie Digimon. So you guys go together, and we Digimon will go with each other."

Patamon looked at Lopmon. He realized Lopmon needed to talk to them privately if he was splitting them all up like that.

"You think so?" Tommy asked. "Well, it's worth a shot."

"I hope we can find some work." JP grumbled. "I'm starving here!"

"Just put on your best cute face, I'm sure some Digimon can't resist that~" Biyomon grinned.

"We'll meet back here in an hour, sound good?" Lopmon asked.

Everyone else nodded before the groups split off in different directions. The human children went one way while the Rookie Digimon went another way.

When the group of Rookie Digimon were out of earshot from the human group, Lopmon turned to his friends. "Guys, we need to talk."

"I figured that's why you wanted us to split up from them," Patamon remarked quietly.

"Why? What's wrong?" Kokuwamon asked.

"Are you worried about them all having their Human Spirits?" Biyomon frowned.

"Well, that does mean they're halfway there to getting their Beast Spirits," Lopmon admitted. "But no, that's not what I wanted to talk to you guys about. Now that we're all here… well, almost all of us, and Takuya and the others have, at least, their Human Spirits now, I think it might be a good time to train with them."

"Really?" Biyomon asked. "Why do you want to start doing that now? I thought they were pretty good with their Spirits before."

"You saw it in the catcher. You know what they'll be facing ahead. We can't be there to help them once they all get their Beast Spirits," Lopmon stated bluntly. "And it's not just for their sake. It's for us too… Due to our circumstances… we are unable to digivolve past this stage. So that leaves us vulnerable, especially knowing we have people coming after us specifically."

"So it's for both our sake and theirs." Patamon noted. "This way they can handle themselves, and we could handle ourselves despite not being able to digivolve past our current stage."

"But will that be enough? I mean… even with training, we'd still have the power of Rookie level Digimon," Kokuwamon pointed out. "The only reason we were able to defeat Sniimon back at the Wind Factory was because we had the Legendary Warriors helping us out."

"As much as I don't want to agree with Kokuwamon, he's right. We'd be no match for truly dangerous opponents." Biyomon frowned. "Without the Legendary Warriors, we'll be… easy targets."

"We can't keep relying on Takuya and the others to keep us safe," Lopmon sighed. "We're going to have to start learning to take care of ourselves, especially once the first of them finds their Beast Spirit. We still have time, but…"

"I can help us through most of this if I have to," Patamon said. "Because of my unique powers."

"Yeah, but I suggest trying not to use that form if you can avoid it. It'd be disastrous if any of them see you use that form," Lopmon sighed. "And that's not all. I think one of them had started… remembering."

"What?" The other three Digimon asked in shock.

"Which one was it?" Biyomon asked in concern.

"Tommy," Lopmon answered. "When we were fighting off the Goburimon back at the Wind Factory, Tommy, as Kumamon, started to hesitate and got sloppy in the battle. That wasn't like him. He kept telling me he was seeing images and hearing a voice that sounded familiar to him, but he was sure he had never heard that person's voice before. He was looking at the Wind Factory, as we were leaving, with familiarity, like he had been there before."

Patamon looked down in thought. "That… could be either a good thing or a bad thing…" He admitted. "And I'm not sure how to react to that to be honest."

"Yeah, we didn't think any of them would… remember while they're here," Kokuwamon agreed. "What should we do in that situation? What would happen to us and to this world if they remember?"

"Calm down, this is no time to start acting like a Kokatorimon with his head cut off," Biyomon said.

"Hey! You're the avian one here!" Kokuwamon huffed.

"Guys, please! We need to focus!" Lopmon spoke up, slapping both Kokuwamon and Biyomon's cheeks with his ears to get them to stop arguing. "Now… I don't know what will happen if one of them remembers, but… I doubt that their 'benefactor' would be happy about it. If they start to suspect one of them is remembering… there's a chance he might send someone to suppress the memories, so the process can continue."

"Then we have to be alert for that if it happens." Patamon said seriously. "We can't take any chances, not if we want to stop their 'benefactor' from succeeding."

"But how do we help Tommy with those memories? I mean… now that we're away from the Wind Factory, surely that won't be a problem anymore, right?" Biyomon asked.

"Well… memories are like… save files in a video game. You can delete it to start on a new save file, but the data for the save file isn't always deleted completely. You're just overwriting the save file with a new one. But if the old data were to come out… there's a chance it'll keep going until it takes over the save file again," Kokuwamon said.

"Are you sure you're not just making that up?" Biyomon frowned.

"It's rare, and pretty much phenomenal if something like that were to happen, but it's not impossible," Kokuwamon replied. "A skilled hacker was able to retrieve their lost save data. And there had been videos talking about how some people got an old save file that overwrote their new one."

"So we have to make sure the old save file overwrites the new one." Patamon mused. "Or at least make sure the old one doesn't get overwritten completely."

"I don't think that's the issue here," Lopmon said. "The whole point of this… the entire thing already overwrote the 'old save data'. What I'm worried about is what will happen if one of them remembers completely. There's a lot of unknown results that could happen. The best case scenario is that Tommy remembers, and he'll help us out with everything. But that's more wishful thinking than anything."

"And… the worst case scenario?" Biyomon dared to ask.

"... Everything in this world, with us included… could get erased," Lopmon warned. "Or rebooted… and in that case, we'd be no better off than they are right now. We'll lose everything, our memories, who we were before… we'd just be Digiimon living in this world like any other."

The other three Digimon went silent, not sure how to react to that.

"Then… we have to make sure the worst case scenario doesn't happen, or at least try to mitigate it as best we can." Patamon admitted at last.

"So that means keeping Tommy from remembering?" Kokuwamon asked.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, we can't control whether or not Tommy remembers something," Lopmon sighed. "All we can do is keep an eye on him and hope for the best."

"And if Tommy seems confused or concerned, we help him try to work through it as best we can." Patamon added. "We may not be able to prevent it, but we can help him through it."

"Well, I suppose. If it happens, maybe it was destined to happen," Biyomon sighed.

"Who knows, maybe it'll turn out to be for the best. If we have just one of them on our side… it won't be so bad," Kokuwamon remarked in a hopeful tone.

"Maybe…" Lopmon said softly.

"What's wrong?" Patamon frowned.

"I just… if one of them starts remembering… who's to say the others won't?" Lopmon replied.

The other three Digimon went silent again. This was new territory for all of them, so they didn't know how to react, but all they could do was try to help as best they could.

"What about… what we saw before? Did Tommy being at the Wind Factory trigger anything then?" Kokuwamon asked.

"I don't know, it was hard to tell as the catcher didn't show everyone during the battle," Lopmon sighed. "Most likely this happened because of us, we're interfering. So it might be weakening 'the process'."

"And if we keep interfering, there's a chance the children could remember." Patamon said somberly. "We have to be prepared in case that happens."

"If that does happen, and the worst case scenario happens…" Lopmon began slowly. "... Well… we'll just deal with it if it happens. Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best."

"Yeah, I always like going with that mindset," Kokuwamon remarked.

"Well… we're past the point where all the children got their Human Spirits. So what happens now?" Biyomon asked. "I think the catcher showed them climbing a mountain, didn't it?"

"Do you remember why they would be climbing a mountain?" Patamon asked.

"I think it was to help some snails… the KaratsukiNumemon," Lopmon answered. "My si- my friend told me about them before."

"Then we need to prepare for that." Biyomon said. "It means they will be encountering one of their first real enemies next."

"So that means one of them will see the Karat- Kara… uh…" Kokuwamon sweatdropped. "How do you say that name?"

"KaratsukiNumemon," Patamon said. "I think it's Japanese?"

"And yet Lopmon is able to say it just fine?" Biyomon raised an eyebrow.

"I've been repeating the name before we came here so I wouldn't butcher the name!" Lopmon huffed.

"Still, that name is a mouthful." Kokuwamon grumbled.

"Better start practicing then~" Biyomon joked back.

Kokuwamon huffed.

"But do they actually find the KaratsukiNumemon here?" Patamon asked.

"Did someone call us?" A timid voice spoke up, catching their attention.

"Huh?" The 4 turned around, seeing a snail-like Digimon poking their head out from one of the smaller buildings.

"Are you… a KaratsukiNumemon?" Lopmon asked.

"Yes." The snail-like Digimon replied. "I am. Why do you ask?"

"Ah, we, uh…" Patamon noticed a sign that was written in Japanese kanji, but he was able to read it. "We saw that you're looking for heroes, and you're willing to give them a free meal?"

"You know some heroes? Well don't just stand there! Tell me! Where are they?!" The KaratsukiNumemon asked eagerly.

"Whoa, hold your… shells for a moment. We're actually traveling with some people who would be able to be these heroes you need," Biyomon said.

"They were able to overthrow a tyrant who was keeping Kokuwamon captive," Kokuwamon explained.

"Really? That's wonderful!" The KaratsukiNumemon smiled.

"Just wait here, we'll go get them for you," Lopmon said.

The four Rookie-level Digimon ran off to find the human children.

"Talk about luck, we were standing right next to the 'next goal' point," Kokuwamon said.

"At least it was convenient," Biyomon remarked.

"What about the whole training thing you were talking about, Lopmon?" Patamon asked.

"We'll train after they get some food in their bellies. I doubt anyone would be able to focus on training while they're hungry," Lopmon answered.

"So we all eat first, then we train?" Kokuwamon asked. "That sounds good to me."

"I bet the kids will be happy to eat as well." Patamon chuckled. "They really can complain when they get hungry."

Takuya sighed as he was sitting on a bench. He, and the others, hadn't had much luck in finding anyone hiring or looking to hire a bunch of children.

"They won't even buy my chocolate bars…" JP grumbled as he sat down beside Takuya.

"Even though we're in a different world, we're still looked at as just children…" Zoe sighed.

"Well… have we tried asking them in our Digimon form?" Tommy asked, who was sitting on the ground.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" JP asked. "I mean, for all we know, it may backfire on us."

"Well, we've tried everything else, but we were looked down on or just plain turned away." Takuya pointed out. "What else do we have to lose? If we haven't tried it yet, we may as well give it a shot."

I feel like there should be an inn here… but I don't think I saw an inn… Why would I think there would be? Tommy frowned to himself. I stayed at a lot of inns while traveling… No, no I didn't. I never traveled outside of my hometown.

Tommy didn't understand these conflicting thoughts, and it was bothering him.

"Hey guys!" They heard Patamon calling out to them.

The four kids looked over as Patamon came into view with his fellow Digimon.

"Patamon?" Takuya asked as he stood up. "Did you find a job or something?"

"Yeah, well, something like that," Patamon said.

"We managed to find some KaratsukiNumemon who could use some help. They're willing to give anyone who helps them a free meal," Lopmon explained.

"We recommended you guys, since we figured you'd be able to help them," Biyomon added.

"And be able to get that free meal for all of us~" Kokuwamon finished in a grinning tone.

"Free food?! Why didn't you just say so?" JP grinned eagerly. "Let's go meet these KaratsukiNumemon!"

"I like this guy, he knows my style~" Kokuwamon said as he flew after JP, who was already running down the street.

"Wait! Do you even know the way there!?" Patamon called out to JP.

"I'm all for a free meal!" Takuya smiled as he took off after JP and Kokuwamon.

"Hey, wait for the rest of us!" Zoe shouted out.

The group chased after JP and Kokuwamon. They reached the location where the KaratsukiNumemon were waiting, with Kokuwamon having led JP there.

"You guys?" KaratsukiNumemon blinked. "Aren't you children?"

"Nope! We're heroes!" Takuya stated with confidence.

"Really?" The KaratsukiNumemon looked with hope.

"Yep!" JP grinned as well. "We're here to help you!"

"Just give a chance, we'll be able to help you with whatever you need!" Zoe smiled.

"Of course, we may look small, but we have experience," Tommy added.

The KaratsukiNumemon looked at Kokuwamon, Biyomon, Patamon, and Lopmon. They nodded to the KaratsukiNumemon to confirm they were indeed the heroes they were talking about earlier.

"Welcome then, heroes! Please, follow us, it's urgent we get to the tracks before 3 o' clock," The KaratsukiNumemon instructed.

"Okay…?" Takuya blinked, unsure of why they had to be at the tracks at 3. "Lead the way."

The KaratsukiNumemon led the children into some bushes outside of town. There was a tunnel and a train track ahead of them.

"So… what are we doing? Waiting for the train?" JP asked.

"Why are we hiding in some bushes then?" Takuya grumbled.

"I don't know, but whatever the reason, it had better be good." Zoe huffed. "I hate sitting in these bushes like this…"

"They were in such a hurry to get here, they didn't even tell us what they wanted us to do other than to wait here," Tommy remarked. "I hope it's nothing shady…"

"I think they're being genuine about wanting help," Lopmon replied. "Though I don't appreciate the leaves and twigs getting caught up in my horns."

"I'm sure these guys have a plan of some kind." Patamon replied. "They wouldn't suggest this if they didn't have some kind of plan."

"Wouldn't getting train tickets be easier?" Zoe asked.

"I doubt we'd be hiding right now if they could afford a train ticket," Biyomon pointed out.

"So… are we hijacking a Trailmon?" Kokuwamon questioned.

As if on cue, a Trailmon was coming by. They could hear the whistle it blew, and the Trailmon itself humming a tune.

As the Trailmon entered into a nearby tunnel, three KaratsukiNumemon came down on the last train car, holding one rope each. Suddenly, there was a jerking and out of the bushes came a small train cart with the four kids and four Rookie-level Digimon inside it.

"WHA!" The group yelled as the small train cart landed on the tracks, now being towed by the Trailmon.

"Okay! That was not fun! I almost fell onto the dang tracks!" Lopmon yelled.

"I hope their plans aren't as crazy as this one!" Takuya grumbled.

The KaratsukiNumemon were slithering on the ropes towards the minecart.

"Is this even safe?" Tommy frowned.

"I hope it's safe." Biyomon muttered. "But somehow I get the feeling we may be in for a ride."

"Like we aren't already…" JP grumbled.

The 3 KaratsukiNumemon got into the minecart, and it was then they decided now was a good time to explain the situation to their heroes.

"One day, this mean and strong Digimon called Grumblemon showed up at our home on the mountain," One of the KaratsukiNumemon explained. "He demanded our mountain's fractal code."

"But we don't even know where it is, but Grumblemon thinks we're lying about that," The second KaratsukiNumemon stated. "So he took our women in exchange for the fractal code."

"We're peaceful Digimon, so we can't really fight such a strong Digimon like Grumblemon by ourselves," The third KaratsukiNumemon added. "That's why we needed heroes to help us."

As the KaratsukiNumemon finished their explanation, the Trailmon came out of the tunnel.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of this Grumblemon," Takuya said with confidence.

Lopmon, Patamon, and Biyomon were all silent. They gave each other a worried look.

"I'm not sure that I understand though. Why can't Grumblemon just take the fractal code?" Zoe asked.

"That's because the fractal code is likely hidden," Lopmon said.

"Hidden?" JP asked.

"From what Bokomon told us, all solid matter in the Digital World is made of data. Everything from the ground, to mountains, to even the ocean itself. They are made from a source of energy called 'fractal code'. Some fractal codes are out in the open, while others are hidden," Patamon explained.

Biyomon giggled. "You're starting to sound like Bokomon. Maybe it's the belly warmer?"

"Don't make me smack you with my wing." Patamon warned, but he was slightly blushing, which ruined the threat he made. "I mean, really! This belly warmer makes me sound like Bokomon?"

"I'd say it does~" Lopmon joked.

Patamon just rolled his eyes at Lopmon's joke. "It's just convenient to have. It keeps the items I need in there safe and sound."

"So it's like… a bag of holding?" Tommy asked curiously.

"Yeah, something like that, though I'm not sure if it can hold infinite items," Kokuwamon replied.

"I'm surprised you know what a 'bag of holding' is," JP remarked.

"I like video games, so I kinda have to know what a bag of holding is if there is a similar item in those games." Tommy admitted sheepishly.

"Not you, I meant Kokuwamon. Do Digimon even have video games in this world?" JP asked.

"You'd be surprised what we have in this world, and what we know." Lopmon grinned.

"So…" One of the KaratsukiNumemon spoke up. "Will you be able to help us get our women back?"

Takuya grinned. "Of course we will! We won't let someone capture innocents for their own gains!"

"Yeah, and it's not fair to their loved ones who want them back either." Zoe agreed.

"We'll make sure to teach this bully a lesson," Tommy promised.

"Of course, we'll do what we can to help," JP said before he smiled and licked his lips. "Now… about that meal…"

"Uh…" Takuya suddenly spoke up, looking nervous.

"What the heck is that up ahead?" Biyomon frowned.

There were a couple of loop-de-loops ahead of them, and the tracks looked like they led straight up the mountain walls.

"W-w-what? Who made these train tracks!?" Lopmon yelled, looking quite pale himself.

"We're supposed to ride through that in this!? Are you snails INSANE!?" Takuya shouted as everyone started to freak out.

The Trailmon went down the tracks, causing the small cart being towed along behind to move around. The kids and non-KaratsukiNumemon Digimon had to hang on for dear life as they went through the loops and soon the Trailmon was climbing up the side of the mountain.

"At least we seem to be slowing down!" Takuya yelled.

"Actually, I think we're speeding up!" Tommy shouted back.

While the Trailmon was able to cling to the tracks using speed and some other unknown means, it left one burning question in the children's minds.

"How is this thing staying on the tracks?!" Takuya wondered aloud.

"Actually… I don't think it is." One of the KaratsukiNumemon replied, causing the kids, and the other Rookie Digimon, to start screaming even more.

"GRAB ONTO US!" Lopmon shouted at the kids.

Lopmon grabbed the nearest child to him. Biyomon grabbed onto someone's arm. Patamon grabbed onto another arm. Kokuwamon grabbed onto someone as well just as the minecart flew off the tracks, and the rope tied to the Trailmon snapped completely.

Lopmon inflated his ears, letting him and the person he grabbed onto to float in the air. Patamon and Biyomon needed to flap their wings with more effort to stay airborne.

It turns out, Lopmon had grabbed onto Tommy. Patamon had Takuya. Biyomon was holding onto Zoe. And Kokuwamon was holding onto JP.

"Whoa, that was too close!" Takuya gulped.

"We need a spot to land, guys, we can't hold onto you forever!" Patamon warned as he was straining to keep himself and Takuya in midair.

"Uh…" Takuya looked around frantically. "There! Those fence posts! We could land on those!"

"Think you can make it there, Kokuwamon?" JP asked nervously, not wanting to fall.

"I'll try…" Kokuwamon replied, clear strain in his voice.

Lopmon had it a little easier than the others, since he didn't need to keep flapping to stay in the air, and Tommy was likely lighter than the others as well due to his small size. They moved over to the posts, careful to descend slowly so they didn't drop the children.

"We're lucky that you guys can fly, otherwise we'd be done for," Tommy said in relief.

"Yeah… Thanks." Zoe said gratefully. "This saved our butts…"

"I'm just glad we're not gravel pancakes." JP muttered.

When they managed to land the children on the posts, the kids sat down, their legs dangling in-between the gaps on the posts. The 4 Rookie Digimon landed beside the child they had grabbed onto to take a break.

"Now what do we do? We're kind of stuck here." Takuya frowned.

"Hey, heroes! Why are you down there?" The voices of the KaratsukiNumemon called out to them from above.

The group looked up, seeing the snail Digimon sticking on the side of the vertical wall of the mountain like it was no big deal.

"Unlike you, we can't cling to walls!" Takuya shouted back up. "We'd fall easily!"

"How do you propose we get up to you?" Zoe asked back up.

"Couldn't Tommy stick to the walls if he spirit evolved?" Lopmon asked.

"And couldn't you and JP fly?" Biyomon added, looking at Zoe.

"Well we don't want to use our Spirits unless we have to," JP grumbled.

"And falling off of a mountain counts as not having to?" Lopmon raised an eyebrow.

Before anyone could respond to that, a rope ladder was thrown down at them, leading up towards one of the KaratsukiNumemon's houses, which was also on the side of the mountain.

"Come on, heroes, use this to climb up. It's fun!" One of the KaratsukiNumemon smiled.

Takuya gulped. "Well, it's better than just waiting to fall…" He muttered as he gripped the rope ladder tightly. He was glad he was wearing gloves; they absorbed the sweat that was forming on his hands.

Takuya began to climb up the ladder, with Tommy following him as closely as he could.

"Oh gosh… this is nerve wracking…" JP gulped as he and Zoe looked up, seeing Takuya and Tommy climbing up.

JP looked at Zoe. "Well, uh… lady's first?"

"Hold up," Kokuwamon spoke up. "JP, you should go up first. After all, you wouldn't want to give Zoe the wrong idea, do you?"

JP looked at Zoe before glancing down at her outfit. He then blushed a beet red. "O-oh! Uh… I… I guess I will go first then…"

Zoe blinked at JP's odd reaction, raising an eyebrow as he began to climb up the ladder ahead of her. While climbing a rope ladder on the side of a mountain was scary, facing Zoe's wrath was definitely scarier.

"What's gotten into JP?" Zoe asked curiously.

"He probably didn't want you to see him as a coward," Biyomon chuckled, covering for JP. "You know how boys can be."

Zoe giggled. "I guess that's true. Boys can be so eager to please girls, am I right?"

Biyomon chuckled. "That may be true for most boys, but not all."

"If you two are done having your girl talk, we should start moving as well," Lopmon spoke up.

"He's one I can think of," Biyomon pointed out. "We'll meet you in the house since we can fly up there."

"Speak for yourself," Lopmon grumbled.

Patamon rolled his eyes before he took Lopmon's arms and pulled him up into the air.

Zoe followed JP up the ladder, the whole group heading up to the house the ladder was leading to.

"You're almost there!" One of the KaratsukiNumemon said as Takuya was reaching the doorway.

"That's great!" Takuya grinned, but his heart was racing in his chest so fast he was sure it would jump into his throat. Aw man… Why did we have to agree to this job? Free food isn't worth nearly falling to our deaths!

Tommy, who was behind Takuya, noticed a shadowy figure in the window of the house, but he couldn't see who was in there. "Wait… who's that?"

Tommy looked up, seeing Takuya was already climbing into the house. Tommy was worried who this stranger could be, and called out. "Hey, wait!"

But it was already too late, Takuya already climbed halfway into the house.

"Hey, didn't think I'd see your face again so soon," Labramon chuckled as she looked at Takuya halfway in the door.

"Huh?" Takuya blinked as he saw Labramon as well as a familiar boy. "Wait… Koji? Labramon?"

Koji lowered the stick he had been holding. "You're the ones these guys found to help out?" He asked, incredulous.

Everyone else peered in behind Takuya, with the order being Tommy, JP, and Zoe.

"So this is what the hold up was?" JP asked.

"Koji?" Zoe asked in surprise.

"Yeah, none of us could find any food either…" Takuya groaned as he felt his stomach grumbling.

"Don't lump us in with you!" Koji grumbled irritably before he looked at the KaratsukiNumemon. "Don't expect these guys to help you at all."

"I'll help you right upside the head!" Takuya growled.

"At least give us a chance." Tommy frowned.

"And at least get in before you all fall down," Lopmon spoke up as Patamon flew them in, followed by Biyomon and Kokuwamon.

"Wow, so this is what it's like to live in a house on a mountain," Kokuwamon remarked as he landed on the floor, or rather, wall of the house. "It must be weird to sleep like that."

"I'm pretty sure they grew up here, so it's normal for them," Biyomon said.

The other children climbed in as well, deciding that falling from such a height would not be a fun time.

"For crying out loud, do you have to be so insulting?" Takuya grumbled to Koji.

"You guys will only just get in my way." Koji replied. "Can I help it that you're not up to my level? You could barely hold your own against that Raremon."

"That was back then! I've gotten a lot better now!" Takuya hissed.

"Hey, Labramon, how've you been traveling with Koji?" Lopmon asked the dog Digimon.

"It was fine. We mostly walked, and fought with hostile Digimon," Labramon replied. "I see you guys found Kokuwamon."

"Yup. I was stuck at a factory which was enslaving Kokuwamon," Kokuwamon answered. "It was just bad luck that I happen to be a Kokuwamon too."

Labramon grimaced. "That is bad luck… I'm sorry that happened to you."

"At least the others saved me, so I can't complain too much." Kokuwamon grumbled. "But all that working was not a good time, especially all the scaring and making me and the other Kokuwamon release large amounts of electricity. But the worst part was… there was no meat! They only had batteries to eat! Can you believe it!? It was torture!"

"Oh, uh… I'm glad you don't have to suffer through that anymore," Labramon replied, not sure how to react to Kokuwamon's reaction to having to eat batteries and not meat.

"Well, on the plus side, at least he got to witness JP getting a power up~" Patamon grinned.

"Yeah, it was really cool!" Kokuwamon smiled. "Like watching a character from an anime finally getting an awakening!"

JP was trying not to blush at that. "It wasn't that impressive…"

"Oh really? You actually did a little dance when you evolved for the first time~" Kokuwamon snickered.

JP went even redder in the cheeks. "I was just happy!" He exclaimed.

"Really? So he was able to…?" Labramon looked at the other Rookie Digimon.

"Yeah, he is," Lopmon confirmed. "They all can now."

"All of them?" Labramon frowned. "I-I mean that's great, now they can defend themselves when they need to!"

"Yeah." Patamon confirmed. "But Lopmon and the rest of us need to talk to you about something important as well. It would be good for both us, and the children."

"Although, I'm not so sure how willing they are… to work together as they are now," Biyomon said.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked.

Tommy tapped Zoe on the arm and pointed at Takuya, who was having a glaring contest with Koji.

Patamon groaned as he followed Zoe's line of sight. "Those two really need to stop acting like such spoiled children. They won't be able to save the Digital World at this rate."

"Just give them some time, they'll work it out eventually," Lopmon said.

"You seem pretty confident about that," Tommy noted.

"I've seen my share of people who don't get along at first," Lopmon shrugged.

"Everyone!" A KaratsukiNumemon spoke up, approaching the group.

This KaratsukiNumemon stood out from the others, as he appeared to have a mustache, though it was made of slime instead of facial hair. The mustached KaratsukiNumemon bowed to them for a moment before speaking up. "My thanks to all of you for coming. Now, you can't save our women on an empty stomach, so we'll bring you all that promised meal."

"Alright!" The group of humans, except Koji, cheered.

The group were sitting together as they stared at what was their free meal. The meal was a big pile of green, white, brown, and yellow cabbages.

"Are these… cabbages?" JP frowned. "It's all rabbit food!"

"I'm not sure if we can even eat this…" Takuya frowned as well.

Tommy was looking at the pile of cabbages. Why does this feel familiar?

Zoe approached the pile of cabbages herself. Why do I feel like I've eaten this before?

"I didn't want to eat more vegetables after escaping the battery factory…" Kokuwamon whined.

"Hey, at least rabbits get to eat," Zoe said before she picked up one of the cabbages and took a bite.

Zoe's face lit up at the flavor of the cabbage. "Molto bono!" She exclaimed. "Dig in!"

"Huh? Is it really that good?" Patamon asked.

"I mean I like vegetables, but I usually prefer them seasoned. Cabbage are usually used in meals, not the meals themselves," Biyomon said.

"Hey, don't forget, the Digital World doesn't always have conventional foods," Lopmon pointed out.

The humans of the group each picked up a cabbage and took a bite each. Their faces lit up at what they were tasting.

"Mine tastes like chicken!" JP exclaimed with a grin.

"Mine's just like a potato!" Tommy exclaimed happily.

"Mine's just like asparagus!" Takuya grinned.

The others looked at Takuya like he was weird.

"What? I like asparagus," Takuya defended.

Patamon took a white one and bit into it. "Hmm… tastes like ham."

"Here, you try one too, Lopmon. I mean you are a rabbit Digimon, aren't you?" Tommy grinned.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Lopmon rolled his eyes, but he took the offered cabbage and took a bite. "Coconut… not bad."

"Please… please taste like meat," Kokuwamon prayed before he bit into his cabbage. When Kokuwamon took a bite… "I got bacon!" Kokuwamon actually jumped into the air and did a little flip. "Oh sweet meat! I love the taste of you so!"

Biyomon rolled her eyes. "Really, getting that excited over the taste of bacon."

"I haven't had any meat for weeks!" Kokuwamon huffed.

"Why don't you try one, Biyomon?" Zoe suggested.

"Sure, might as well," Biyomon replied as she took one of the brown cabbages.

Despite having a beak, Biyomon was capable of chewing her food. She took a bit out of the cabbage. "Looks like I got asparagus too. Good thing I like those too."

"So I'm not alone!" Takuya grinned.

Everyone looked at Biyomon like she was weird as well.

"What?" Biyomon asked. "Asparagus is good!"

"Not everyone likes asparagus." JP grumbled. "It tastes weird."

"Only if you're picky," Biyomon grumbled.

"She's always got a weird sense of taste," Kokuwamon chuckled.

"Oh hush, not like you're any better," Lopmon said. "Mr. Carnivore."

Labramon was munching on some cabbages too, though she was sitting with Koji, who was sitting in the corner, away from the group. Koji was eating his own cabbages, not really saying much.

"At least the food here's better than mushrooms and berries we find in the forest," Labramon remarked.

"Yeah, but I don't know about working with the others." Koji replied. "They may just get in my way. I don't even know how capable they are with their Spirits. Takuya couldn't hold his for long enough when he evolved to save me and Tommy against Raremon."

"That did happen a while ago though. And you had trouble holding onto your form for a long time too," Labramon pointed out. "It sounds like they all are capable of spirit evolving now though. So maybe they can help. That Grumblemon was strong, he took us by surprise and threw both of us out of the cave before we could react. It might be good to have some help, don't you think?"

Koji snorted, but had to agree with Labramon. They had been caught by surprise with that mysterious Grumblemon. Help would be perhaps the best chance they had at saving those poor KaratsukiNumemon trapped in that cave. Even if the others weren't able to hold their Spirit forms for long, at least they could buy some time to stop Grumblemon, or at least distract him so someone could go save the trapped snail Digimon.

"I don't like it, but you have a point, Labramon." Koji conceded after some thought. "Grumblemon was tough, but if he had to fight more opponents, we may have a chance."

"And this will see if they are truly able to help the KaratsukiNumemon," Labramon added.

"Well, at least Koji talks and listens to someone," Lopmon muttered, having heard their conversation.

"I'm surprised he bonded with Labramon so quickly," Patamon said. "Do you think it's because she's a dog?"

"Well, people tend to bond with dogs pretty easily, unless they hate dogs, which Koji clearly doesn't," Lopmon pointed out.

"Kinda makes me wonder what Koji thinks of us then," Biyomon remarked. "He's always talking about how the others would slow him down, but he never really mentioned us."

"Maybe we could ask him." Kokuwamon suggested.

"Either you are that dense, or don't realize how stupid that idea is." Biyomon grumbled.

"What? It's a legitimate question, isn't it?" Kokuwamon pouted.

"We rather not bother him with such a question," Lopmon sighed. "He may like Labramon, but we've hung out with the other human children. So we're likely just as 'useless' as them in his eyes."

"I mean to be fair, we haven't done much to prove ourselves either," Patamon grumbled. "The moment they first saw us, we nearly got eaten by Cerberumon. Not the best first impression."

Lopmon grimaced. "That's true. But we have proven ourselves to the others, haven't we?"

"We helped them, even if it's not through combat exactly," Biyomon said.

The human children were mostly too busy eating and tasting different cabbages to pay attention to what the Digimon were talking about. Well, most of them. Tommy was watching them with curious eyes.

They always seemed to be worried about something. I wonder what they know that we don't. Tommy wondered.

"So how did Koji and Labramon end up here?" Takuya asked one of the KaratsukiNumemon.

"They fell from the sky," KaratsukiNumemon answered.

"Huh?" Takuya blinked. "They did what?!"

"They fell." The KaratsukiNumemon repeated. "Right into one of the hay piles in our village."

"To be more specific," Labramon spoke up, having heard the question. "We were thrown out of the cave where the women were being kept. We ended up falling into the village, right into a pile of hay. It's what saved us from a nasty fall."

"Oh… wow, talk about being really lucky there," JP said.

"Wait, you saw where the girls were being kept?" Zoe asked, surprised.

"Do you have a map of this mountain?" Koji asked.

"Of course," The mustached KaratsukiNumemon replied. "I'll unfold it for you all to see."

"It'll be good to make a plan on how we'll save them. And for that to happen, the others need to know where the cave is located," Koji said.

"That's a good strategy. Glad to see you're willing to work with the rest of us," Lopmon remarked.

Koji just huffed. "I'm only doing this so you don't get left behind me. I don't need you to be slowing me down, not knowing where the cave is and just searching blindly."

Everyone else sweatdropped at Koji's remark.

"Well… at least he isn't saying we're not up to the task." Takuya chuckled nervously. Geez… It's not like being a bit nicer would kill him.

"This is why asking him would've just proved fruitless," Lopmon grumbled.

"He's a nice guy, he just has trouble opening up to others," Labramon sheepishly explained.

With the meal finished, Koji set the map of the mountain down for everyone to see. The others gathered around to see the map.

"Grumblemon has the captives right about here," Koji said, pointing at a location on the mountain side. "We'll have to get in and out quickly."

The KaratsukiNumemon all looked on nervously, clearly worried about their loved ones being held in the cave. Sensing their worry, JP looked up and smiled at them. "Just relax."

The KaratsukiNumemon all smiled as well, seeing how confident the children seemed.

"Yeah, we got this." Takuya grinned. "No need to worry with us around."

"You all do seem to know what you're doing," The KaratsukiNumemon remarked. "Do you think you'll be able to face Grumblemon?"

"We're hoping to get the ladies out before Grumblemon sees us," Tommy said.

"But if a fight does break out, we'll be able to handle ourselves." JP grinned. "Because we are Legendary Warriors!"

Something about JP's words seemed to spook the KaratsukiNumemon though, as most of them, if not all, scrambled back away from the five kids and five Rookie Digimon.

"What's the matter?" Zoe asked, seeing how the KaratsukiNumemon suddenly looked like they wanted to run.

"You mean… all of you are Legendary Warriors?" The mustached KaratsukiNumemon asked, shaking a little.

"You don't just announce that you're Legendary Warriors, what if there are spies for Cherubimon? Do you want to get assassinated?" Lopmon scolded.

JP grumbled. "I didn't mean to… I was just responding."

"You know, Lopmon has a point." Patamon scolded JP. "You kids have to be more careful with that, especially since Cherubimon could find out and then we'd be back to square one if he gets your Spirits as well."

"I guess we should be better about that. It wasn't like I hadn't transformed in front of Digimon before," Takuya remarked, remembering how he did it in front of the Candlemon tribe, and the Kokuwamon not that long ago.

"I guess I did too…" Zoe said, remembering how she transformed in front of the Floramon.

"At this point, I'd be surprised if Cherubimon didn't know about humans turning into Legendary Warriors…" Tommy sighed.

"I think we have a more pressing issue right now," Labramon spoke up. "Those snails don't seem to be too happy right now."

Labramon was right. The group could see the KaratsukiNumemon had gathered around in a corner, and seemed to be discussing something in a frantic manner.

"What's gotten into them?" Zoe frowned.

"Maybe they just have a hard time believing you're Legendary Warriors," Kokuwamon suggested. "If I hadn't seen it for myself, I'd have trouble believing that too."

"Although having humans in the Digital World at all is also pretty unbelievable too," Biyomon added.

"I don't know… They seemed scared of us." Labramon pointed out. "Or rather, of you kids."

"But… why would they be scared of us?" Tommy asked in confusion. "We're just kids, right?"

"You also said you're Legendary Warriors. Believe me, the last thing most people want is for children to be in possession of great power," Lopmon pointed out.

"I think it has more to do with the fact we said we're Legendary Warriors." Takuya noted. "They seemed scared of us after JP announced that."

"Hmm…" Lopmon frowned.

Patamon, who was sitting next to Lopmon, whispered to him. "Is it just me or does Takuya seem more… aware of the situation than he usually is?"

Lopmon nodded in agreement to Patamon's comment.

"What should we do? Should we let things play out or…?" Patamon asked quietly.

"We can't interfere too much, but… there's no telling what would happen if things change if we don't…" Lopmon replied.

"What are you two whispering about?" Koji asked, having heard their discussion.

Lopmon and Patamon stiffened up and quickly looked at Koji.

"N-nothing important!" Patamon quickly said.

"We're just trying to decide how to rescue the girls too, yeah," Lopmon said nervously.

Koji frowned, but he accepted Lopmon's story. "Okay. Any ideas you have would be useful to hear at the very least."

Luckily, before Patamon and Lopmon had to come up with a cover story, the mustached KaratsukiNumemon nervously approached the group with a nervous smile.

"It's time to go to bed!" The mustache KaratsukiNumemon said.

"Uh… Okay…?" Takuya raised an eyebrow. He was not getting a good feeling about the look of the mustached KaratsukiNumemon. A quick glance at the others told the boy they were getting similar, if not the same, feelings. "But shouldn't we just rescue the girls?"

"N-no, it's getting late, and it wouldn't be good if you had to tackle the job while you're tired. You should get some rest, and do the job in the morning," The mustached KaratsukiNumemon quickly explained with a strained smile.

Lopmon, Patamon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Labramon looked at the KaratsukiNumemon. They were debating with themselves about something, but none of them said anything.

"Um… what do you guys think?" Zoe asked, mainly looking at the 5 Digimon partners.

The Rookie Digimon had been their guides, and they had been pretty good at guiding them through the Digital World. Of course, that simple question also put the 5 Digimon on the spot.

"You want us to decide?" Patamon asked nervously.

"Why us?" Biyomon asked, also feeling nervous.

We didn't anticipate this! Kokuwamon thought to himself, fiddling his 'hands' together.

"You guys have been helping us through the Digital World so far, and even while Koji refuses to admit it, I'm sure Labramon has been a big help to leading him around too," Zoe said, eyeing Koji for a moment as if daring him to say otherwise.

Koji remained cool and silent.

"Zoe's right, you guys have been a great help so far." JP smiled.

"You also helped each of us gain the confidence we need to find our Spirits," Tommy added.

"You give us too much credit, you guys did most of the work," Lopmon said sheepishly.

"Well, yeah, but we wouldn't have been able to do what we did without you helping us." Takuya pointed out. "Like when I fought Cerberumon. Without you two helping me, I'd have had a harder time against her."

I guess this is what happens when we decided to go with them. Lopmon sighed. "Hey, I think a good night's sleep could do us all some good. We haven't been able to eat or sleep well since we left the wind factory."

Takuya sighed. "That's true." A yawn escaped the boy. "And some sleep would be good. I feel like I'm about to pass out from walking all day, not to mention that 'train ride' was very nerve-racking."

"We all could use some sleep, I think." Zoe agreed. "We don't want to be too tired for the rescue mission tomorrow."

"I'd rather do this now…" Koji sighed before looking at Labramon.

Labramon looked up at Koji.

"But if these guys think we should save our strength, then I guess we should," Koji finally said.

Patamon and Biyomon looked at Lopmon with worried looks on their faces. Lopmon just looked down with a mental sigh.

I hope this doesn't turn out bad. Lopmon thought to himself.

"We'll sleep near you guys, just to make sure nothing goes wrong," Kokuwamon suggested.

Patamon nodded. "After the whole Candlemon thing, we don't want to take any chances."

Kokuwamon blinked as he looked at Patamon. "What happened with the Candlemon?"

Patamon sighed. "We'll explain it later. It's kind of an interesting, if not a bit long, story."

"It was definitely interesting," Tommy chuckled sheepishly, remembering what happened with the Candlemon all too well.

Later that night, the KaratsukiNumemon brought big leaves for the group to lay on for the night, since they couldn't sleep on the beds, due to the beds being on the walls. The KaratsukiNumemon were quick to leave them alone after that.

"We'll give you guys some privacy, and, uh… see you in the morning," The mustached KaratsukiNumemon quickly said before leaving.

Everyone laid down on the makeshift leafy beds. Since they had no pillows, Tommy took off his hat and laid his head on it, using it as a pillow. The rest of them tried their best to get as comfortable as possible. Though they were starting to get used to sleeping just about anywhere. At least they were in shelter this time, even if it was on the side of a mountain.

The Digimon stayed near each of the children. Patamon laid near Takuya, Labramon was laying next to Koji, Lopmon was curled up next to Tommy, Biyomon was roosting near Zoe, and Kokuwamon was lying on his back next to JP. Lopmon couldn't help but notice they seemed to be laying near the same children they saved earlier. He wondered if it was a subconscious decision.

Due to their fatigue, it didn't take long for the children to fall asleep, with only two of them still awake. Takuya and Koji. Koji was laying near the edge of the leafy bed. Takuya was laying not too far away. Takuya shifted a little, trying to get comfortable, before he turned around and ended up facing Koji.

Koji grumbled. "What?" He was clearly not happy about being near the goggle-wearing boy.

Takuya blinked. "Huh?" His mind raced as he tried to come up with something to say. "Uh… Hey, you know, I think it's pretty cool of you to try and help out the KaratsukiNumemon. I may not have gotten a good impression of you before, but I think that's changed."

Koji turned over, having his back face Takuya, and facing Labramon instead. "They helped me first, but don't think this means I'll be helping you after this. Labramon is the only one I need here."

Takuya grumbled as he turned over so he was facing away from Koji. And here I thought Koji was getting better about being more open… I guess I was mistaken…

When Takuya had rolled over, he saw Patamon looking back at him. Patamon looked like he wanted to look away, but he gave Takuya a small smile.

"Don't let him get to you… I'm sure Koji will come around," Patamon said quietly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Takuya sighed. "I just was hoping he would be more accepting of us, but I guess it takes time instead."

"Yeah…" Patamon said as he started to look down.

"Hmm? What's with you lately? You and the others have been looking nervous since we got here," Takuya asked.

"It's just… we're surprised at how much you guys trust us. We haven't… known each other for that long, and… we haven't really done that much to help you guys," Patamon answered. "Why put that much trust in us?"

"You helped us more than we could ever imagine." Takuya replied. "And you guys know this world better than us humans, so we kinda need your help anyway."

"I guess… though you guys will soon learn your way around the Digital World," Patamon replied. "One day you may not really need us anymore."

Takuya blinked before he looked down, considering Patamon's words. "Maybe… but I hope that day doesn't come too soon… I'd hate to have you just leave us…"

Patamon was silent for a moment before he gave Takuya a smile. "Just keep doing what you're doing, Takuya. And let's not worry about that right now. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah… See you in the morning." Takuya said softly.

Takuya then closed his eyes and let sleep come to claim him.

Chapter Text

ZAFT: Hope you all are ready for the Fourth of July coming up!

DarkFoxKit: Meh… for me that just means my neighbors are going to spam their fireworks all night, making it noisy for me.

ZAFT: Ooof… That sucks… Well, it will be a quiet fourth where I am. Fireworks were canceled in Chicago.

DarkFoxKit: Wait, really? Why?

ZAFT: Crime rate, and they didn't want to stretch the police thin.

DarkFoxKit: Oof… well, make sure to stay safe. But for now, let's get on with the chapter.

Chapter 8: The Legendary Warrior of Earth

Takuya was woken up from his sleep when he felt wind blowing against his face. His body felt stiff, and something was squeezing his waist and chest uncomfortably so. Instead of the softness of a bed, grass, leaves, or whatever he had been laying on against his back, it was something rough and hard. Takuya slowly opened his eyes, trying to see what was going on.

Drowsy, Takuya's eyes started to clear up as he saw what looked like the rocky ground that was far away.

"Guys, wake up!" A voice called out frantically.

"We're dangling from a mountain!" Another voice called out.

"Hurry, wake up now!"

Takuya's eyes snapped open fully when he heard the voices. "Huh?! W-what the heck?!" The boy exclaimed as he stared at the ground below. "What's going on here?!"

Takuya wasn't the only one to wake up and found themselves dangling on the mountains. The rest of them soon woke up, and saw they were tied up by some rope, and they were staring down the mountain. They all screamed and freaked out.

"Why are we up here!?" JP shouted.

"I don't like it up here!" Tommy yelled.

"Don't struggle! You might break the rope holding you!" Lopmon warned, who was tied up as well.

Takuya saw Patamon, Labramon, Kokuwamon and Biyomon were all tied up, so they couldn't fly.

Koji growled as he looked up. The KaratsukiNumemon were above them. "You dirty snails! What are you doing?!"

"You're awake? Good! Now listen up! We'll give you back to your partner, in exchange for our women!" The mustache KaratsukiNumemon stated.

"You dirty sneaks! Is that why you brought us here?" Takuya yelled.

The mustache KaratsukiNumemon shook his head. "It's you who are the dirty sneaks! Sending your little Digimon minions to tell us you are kind and helpful strangers, when you're really Legendary Warriors!"

"I don't understand!" Zoe wailed. "What's wrong with that?! And what do you mean 'our partner'?!"

"Last I checked, they didn't have any partners in the Digital World!" Biyomon called out.

"The time for your games is over, soon you'll be back with your ally!" The mustache KaratsukiNumemon stated.

"What are you talking about!?" Koji yelled.

"We don't have any allies that would care about giving you back your women!" Labramon called.

"Don't play dumb! We know you're all with Grumblemon!" The mustached KaratsukiNumemon shouted.

"What!?" The children reacted in shock.

"Why would you think we're with Grumblemon!?" JP shouted. "We don't even know the guy!"

"I think there's a misunderstanding here!" Tommy yelled.

"Grumblemon was the one who threw me and Labramon out of the cave!" Koji exclaimed.

"That was a clever trick, to make us help you so you'll gain our trust!" Another KaratsukiNumemon stated. "Not to mention you messed up our hard work piling that haystack."

"I don't think they're going to listen to reason…" Kokuwamon sighed.

"This is why I said not to reveal you're Legendary Warriors to others! So stuff like this doesn't happen!" Lopmon grumbled.

"Look, what can we do to prove to you we're not in cahoots with Grumblemon?" Zoe called.

Before anyone could say anything, something caused a large hole in the side of the mountain.

A voice emanated from inside the hole that was created. "Now give fractal code, or bad things happen!"

"Says who!?" Takuya demanded.

"Says me, Grumblemon!" A gnome-like Digimon stated as he came out of the hole, revealing himself to the group.

"That's Grumblemon?" JP frowned.

"Look at that symbol on his chest!" Zoe pointed out.

"It looks just like one of the symbols on that wall back at the Candlemon village!" Tommy recognized.

"So Grumblemon is a Legendary Warrior?" Takuya asked with a frown. "Well… that would explain things…"

"You think?" Koji hissed.

Grumblemon was studying the children that were tied up. "Human children? You the ones who took Legendary Spirit?"

"What? How do you know about that?" Koji demanded.

"So you are the human children causing trouble lately!" Grumblemon grinned. "Finally, me had been waiting for you!"

"Grumblemon!" The mustache KaratsukiNumemon called out, holding out some blades over the ropes. "If you want to save your allies, give us back our women now!"

The kids began to freak out when they saw how close the blades were to their ropes.

"Me, allied with human children? Don't make me laugh! Me only after Spirits they have!" Grumblemon laughed. "Now me claim Spirits from human children for Lord Cherubimon!"

Grumblemon took a large sledgehammer out from the mountain, and everyone began freaking out.

"Wait, what's going on here? You mean you aren't allies!?" The KaratsukiNumemon asked in shock.

"That's what we've been trying to tell you!" Tommy cried.

"Oh, this is bad!" Patamon gulped.

Grumblemon smirked before he swung the sledgehammer at them.

"Try to move up!" Lopmon shouted frantically to the panicking children.

Luckily, since all of them had learned how to battle at some point, they were able to move their bodies up despite being tied up, barely dodging the sledgehammer that hit the mountain side hard enough to cause it to shake. The KaratsukiNumemon dropped their blades to hang on.

Koji growled as he saw what was going on, but he also saw an opportunity to get free. He pushed off the wall and swung up, the spinning blade coming at him. The blade cut the ropes around his chest and arms, allowing Koji to fall free. He knew what he had to do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his D-Tector.

"Koji!" The others called out for him.

"He'll be fine! He knows what he's doing!" Labramon shouted. I hope…

There was a bright flash of light to where Koji was falling as he activated his Spirit.

Pulling out his D-Tector, Koji was quick to act next. He held up his D-Tector and the white digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the energy of the Spirit entered his body. His eyes became red as his hair shortened and turned almost platinum in color. A white helmet covered his head as white and blue armor covered his body. He grasped the familiar beam sabers and swung them a few times before clasping them around his waist and firing off his arm laser. "Lobomon!"

Now as Lobomon, he grabbed onto the rope that was still tied to the post. He used it to swing himself at Grumblemon, kicking him right into one of the houses.

While Lobomon was dealing with Grumblemon, the KaratsukiNumemon quickly slithered down to the others, quickly pulling them up onto the posts, and untying them.

"I'm so sorry." The mustached KaratsukiNumemon said. "I've made a grave mistake."

"There's no time for that right now." Takuya said. "We've got to act now! Koji's going to need our help."

Speaking of Koji, they saw Grumblemon kicking Lobomon down into more houses.

"Koji may have some fighting experience, but Grumblemon is in his element here, and he's probably been fighting as a Digimon far longer than Koji has." Labramon frowned worriedly.

Lobomon was now dangling from one of the houses, hanging on with just his two hands. Grumblemon stood over him and grinned.

"Once you die, me can just take your Spirit!" Grumblemon stated before he stomped his foot on one of Lobomon's hands.

Lobomon cried out in pain as he felt the pain of Grumblemon's armored foot on his hand. He released the hand that had been stomped on from gripping the edge of the hole, leaving him hanging there by just one hand. Grumblemon sneered as he stomped on Lobomon's other hand, causing the armored humanoid Digimon to cry out in pain again, but he didn't let go. Instead, Lobomon just clung even tighter. He wasn't about to let go this high up.

"We have to help him!" Zoe quickly said.

"You guys better hurry and Spirit Evolve before it's too late!" Kokuwamon quickly said.

"We'll see if we can do anything to help," Biyomon said.

"Be careful, Grumblemon is a Legendary Warrior too," Lopmon warned.

"We will." JP replied as the other human children got out their own D-Tectors.

The other four kids called forth their own fractal code around their hands as the outlines of their Human Spirits appeared on their D-Tector screens. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" The four children cried as the rings of fractal code became cocoons surrounding them.

When the code cocoons dissipated, the other four Legendary Warriors were shown in place of the human children.

Without any time to waste, Beetlemon, Kazemon, Agunimon, and Kumamon went to help Lobomon.

In the house, Grumblemon raised up his hammer to slam it onto Lobomon directly, causing the Warrior of Light to gasp. He couldn't dodge the blow to come, and if he tried, Grumblemon would just stomp down on his hand again to keep him in place.

However, before Grumblemon could slam his hammer onto Lobomon, something grabbed onto his hammer. Confused, Grumblemon looked up to see Beetlemon had grabbed onto the hammer.

"Careful, you could hurt someone with this," Beetlemon stated before he picked up the hammer, and Grumblemon along with it, onto the outside walls of the house, where Agunimon was waiting.

Meanwhile, Kazemon flew into the house while holding onto Kumamon. She landed over the hole Lobomon was dangling from.

"Give me your hand," Kazemon said to Lobomon.

Lobomon looked down.

"Cut the macho act and give me your hand," Kazemon grumbled, a little exasperated that Lobomon was still holding onto his pride.

"It's either that or you fall to your doom," Kumamon stated coolly.

Realizing Kumamon was right, Lobomon didn't like it, but he accepted he would have to swallow his pride and accept help for once. He reached up his free hand and took Kazemon's hand in his own.

Without any hesitation, Kazemon pulled Lobomon back up into the house so he wasn't hanging there and vulnerable.

Meanwhile, above them, Agunimon and Beetlemon were duking it out with Grumblemon.

"Pyro Darts!" Agunimon was throwing fiery darts at Grumblemon.

Grumblemon used his sledgehammer to block the fiery darts.

Beetlemon gathered electricity into the horn on his head and charged at Grumblemon. "Lightning Blitz!"

Beetlemon's electric horn hammered into Grumblemon. Grumblemon let out a yell as he was thrown back into the mountain walls. But this allowed Grumblemon to dig into the mountain.

"That's not ideal…" Beetlemon frowned.

Back in the house, Lobomon looked up at Kazemon and Kumamon, they just helped him. He couldn't believe it. But maybe they weren't as useless as he originally believed.

"Thanks…" Lobomon said.

"I'm just glad you actually accepted our help," Kumamon replied.

"Yeah… Maybe I was being a bit prideful…" Lobomon admitted, a slight flush rising on his cheeks. "And… Maybe I was wrong about you guys…"

"Hey, don't mention it, everyone needs help once in a while," Kazemon said.

"Okay, listen, here's the plan… I'll deal with Grumblemon, you two get the women, and the rest of the KaratsukiNumemon, to safety," Lobomon instructed. "You got it?"

"Actually, Lopmon and the others are doing that right now," Kumamon explained. "Since they can't fight, they left Grumblemon to the rest of us."

Lobomon blinked in surprise before he shook his head. "Okay, that changes things. I guess those other Rookie Digimon aren't that useless either." He admitted, forcing down his pride a second time. He then looked back at Kazemon and Kumamon. "Do you think you two can handle fighting Grumblemon with me?"

"We've managed to handle ourselves up to this point, so let's see if we can keep up with you, big boy." Kazemon grinned.

Lobomon just cleared his throat before he jumped up to join Agunimon and Beetlemon. Kazemon and Kumamon were about to join them, but they both looked around for a moment.

"Kazemon, this might not be the best time to bring it up… but doesn't this whole thing feel familiar to you?" Kumamon asked. "I mean I feel like… we've battled someone like Grumblemon before on the side of a mountain… it's not just me, is it?"

"No… Now that you mention it… I feel it too." Kazemon replied uneasily. "I feel like I've done this before, but I can't remember doing this."

"Neither can I… but it feels like we did… I've felt this way too back at the wind factory." Kumamon frowned. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, but we can't worry about it right now." Kazemon replied. "We can try to figure this out after we defeat Grumblemon."

"Right…" Kumamon nodded.

Kazemon picked up Kumamon and flew him up the hole of the house, putting him down near the others.

"What's going on?" Kazemon asked when she noticed how agitated the others looked.

"We can't find Grumblemon," Agunimon answered.

"What?" Kumamon blinked. "But weren't you guys fighting him?"

"Grumblemon dug into the mountain." Beetlemon explained. "We don't know where he could come from."

"So you lost him?" Lobomon frowned. "He could be anywhere!"

Meanwhile, Patamon, holding onto Lopmon, Kokuwamon, holding onto Labramon, and Biyomon flew into the cave where the girl KaratsukiNumemon were being held.

"There, that's the cave!" Labramon pointed out.

The Digimon landed onto the floor of the cave. They saw the female KaratsukiNumemon behind bars.

"Look! More Digimon!"

"Are you here to help us?"

"Yes, we're here to help you. I brought some help this time!" Labramon smiled.

"Oh, it's you! You were here earlier with that human child!" The KaratsukiNumemon smiled in recognition.

"Alright, stand back, we'll bust you out," Biyomon warned.

The KaratsukiNumemon quickly moved as far back as they could.

"Alright, altogether now!" Patamon said before he blew up like a balloon. "Boom Bubble!"

"Blazing Ice!"

"Spiral Twister!"

"Power Surge!"

"Retriever Bark!"

All 5 attacks collided with the bars, tearing the bars apart, and freeing the KaratsukiNumemon.

"Right this way, ladies!" Kokuwamon gestured outside.

The female KaratsukiNumemon left the cave almost too eagerly. They were just glad to be free.

The rest of the KaratsukiNumemon were there to greet their formerly captive fellows. It was a big happy reunion at the moment.

"Alright, we should get you all out of here. It'd be dangerous to stay here in case something happens," Lopmon quickly instructed.

"Me see you~"

That caused the Rookies to freeze for a moment before they turned around, seeing Grumblemon just appearing in the now broken cell.

"G-Grumblemon!?" The Digimon shouted in shock.

"You think you smart, but you fall into trap!" Grumblemon snickered.

Grumblemon took out his sledgehammer.

"Run!" Biyomon shouted. "RUN!"

The KaratsukiNumemon didn't waste any time getting the heck away from there. Biyomon, Kokuwamon, Patamon, Lopmon, and Labramon quickly ran to the entrance of the cave, but Grumblemon hit the side of the cave with his sledgehammer, causing a rockslide to cover the cave entrance just after Kokuwamon and Biyomon flew out. Leaving Patamon, Labramon, and Lopmon inside.

"Oh no! They're trapped!" Biyomon gasped.

"What do we do!?" Kokuwamon gulped.

"Go get the others, now!" Biyomon quickly said. "This shouldn't be happening…"

Kokuwamon didn't hesitate to go back to the battle site. He just hoped he would be back in time to prevent something bad from happening to the others.

"What do you want from us, Grumblemon? We're not Legendary Warriors!" Lopmon demanded.

Grumblemon was looking at Lopmon for a moment. "Maybe not, though something about you is familiar… have we met before?"

"No, I don't believe we have," Lopmon replied. "And I'd prefer not to meet you again after this first impression."

"Why'd you trap us here?" Labramon growled.

"You with humans! You be perfect for leverage." Grumblemon smirked.

"As if we'd let you use us against our friends!" Patamon snapped.

"Oh, you not get choice!" Grumblemon sneered sinisterly. "You be perfect bait! Humans give up Spirits to get you back safe!"

"Like he said, we're not going to let you do that!" Labramon snapped before she lunged at Grumblemon, biting his hand with her teeth.

Grumblemon yelped as he felt Labramon's bite. "OW!" He began to try and shake Labramon off.

Lopmon and Patamon didn't hesitate to run at Grumblemon while he was dealing with Labramon. Lopmon tackled Grumblemon with his horns, and Patamon punched Grumblemon's nose. It was a crude way to fight, but they were small, weak, and trying to survive, they were desperate. They were trying not to give Grumblemon any time to retaliate.

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon shot out an icy wind that froze Grumblemon's feet and lower waist, trying to keep him from moving. Something's wrong…

Patamon shot out a Boom Bubble at Grumblemon's hands, making him drop the sledgehammer.

This shouldn't be happening. Grumblemon was supposed to be fighting with the Legendary Warriors. Lopmon frowned as he used his claws to scratch Grumblemon's face.

Labramon shouted out with her Retriever Bark at Grumblemon's ears.

Why is Grumblemon here? Why is he paying any attention to us at all!? Lopmon continued thinking as he was shoved into the ground by Grumblemon's hands.

Soon, Labramon and Patamon were punched down, and hit with the sledgehammer. All 3 of them were down.

"Me get Spirits from kids with you as leverage. You surrender, you live." Grumblemon grinned.

It can't end like this. Lopmon frowned. Think… think… "The children don't care about us."

"What?" Grumblemon frowned. "You lie. Minomon saw you hanging out with kids."

"They just want to use us to get them around the Digital World," Lopmon stated. "We're just taking them to a destination, then we go our separate ways. They only protect us so we can guide them. That's all. They're not interested in anything more than that. And they can find any other Digimon to guide them. Who wouldn't help a Legendary Warrior after all, right?"

Grumblemon didn't know what to think, but if what he had seen with Duskmon and BlackGatomon was any indication, he wasn/t about to be fooled so easily. He grinned at Lopmon. "Nice try! But me no fool! You important to children, even if you deny it!"

"What?" Lopmon frowned, surprised his tactic wasn't working. "Why would you think we're important to them?"

"Y-yeah, we're not important at all to them," Patamon spoke up.

"They just like traveling with someone, they can easily replace us," Labramon added.

Before Grumblemon could respond, the rocks that were blocking the cave entrance were shattered by Beetlemon and Lobomon's sword.

"Labramon! Are you alright!?" Lobomon called out in a worried tone.

"Patamon, we're here to rescue you!" Agunimon shouted.

"Are you hurt at all, Lopmon?" Kumamon yelled while being carried by Kazemon.

"That answers your question?" Grumblemon grinned.

"Shut up…" Lopmon grumbled.

"You may have Spirits, but me have Digimon close to you!" Grumblemon sneered. "You give me Spirits, or they get it!"

The Legendary Warriors frowned as they saw Grumblemon standing over the injured 3 Rookie Digimon.

"Were we too late?" Biyomon frowned in worry.

"Maybe, they look like they got beaten up pretty badly…" Kokuwamon said in concern.

Did we mess up? Did we get too close to them? Lopmon frowned to himself.

Lobomon clenched his fists. There was no way he, or the others, were giving up their Spirits. But he didn't want to lose Labramon either. A quick glance at the others revealed they were also concerned about the other three Rookie-level Digimon as well.

"A hostage situation… what do we do?" Beetlemon asked. "We can't just give him our Spirits."

"But if we don't, he might kill them." Kazemon frowned.

We might've gotten too comfortable… thinking we knew what was to come. We let our guard down. Lopmon realized.

Lopmon looked over at Labramon and Patamon. While they were hurt, they both had a defiant look in their eyes. They haven't given up yet.

We may have let our guard down, but so did Grumblemon. Lopmon realized.

Lopmon and Patamon nodded to each other as they subtly reached out to Labramon, who lied still, but had her eyes slightly opened, watching them reach out to her.

"Just let them go!" Agunimon begged. "They haven't done anything to you!" Despite looking like he wasn't that phased by what was going on before him, Agunimon was freaking out deep down. And he wasn't the only one; every one of the other Legendary Warriors were slightly freaked out. Then again, they had never encountered a hostage situation before either.

Kumamon frowned. Even he was out of ideas. They could try to attack, but he didn't want Grumblemon to kill the Digimon that had been helping them get this far and teaching them about the Digital World.

I shouldn't have left Labramon behind. I should've kept her close. Lobomon gritted his teeth, and his hold on his sword tightened.

"What wrong? Take too long and they become Digi-Eggs!" Grumblemon warned, smirking at the other Legendary Warriors.

When Lopmon and Patamon's ear and wing reached Labramon, the little dog let out a whisper. "Cure Liquor."

Labramon licked them, giving them healing liquid.

Patamon and Lopmon felt the restorative effects of the Cure Liquor taking hold. Their wounds were slowly healing, and they felt their strength returning as well. But they had to 'play dead' a little longer. They couldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

"Who give me Spirit first?" Grumblemon grinned.

Kumamon noticed Patamon and Lopmon were waiting, and they didn't look that beaten up anymore. He wasn't sure what they were planning, but he figured they were waiting for an opportunity. And he was going to give it to them.

Kumamon jumped out of Kazemon's hold, landing in the cave.

"Kumamon? What are you doing?" Agunimon asked, surprised.

"You want our Spirits?" Kumamon asked. "Then come and take it."

"What?!" The others were shocked.

"Kumamon, we can't!" Agunimon protested. "If we do, then the Digital World will be in even more danger!"

"I hate to admit it, but Agunimon's right." Lobomon agreed. "It's too much of a risk and danger."

"If we do nothing, then we'll lose our Spirits and our friends," Kumamon stated, looking back at them. "We need to trust in them."

"What do you mean?" Beetlemon asked.

"Warrior of Ice as smart as ever, be first to give Spirit," Grumblemon said as he walked towards Kumamon. "Hand over the Spirit before me have to beat it out of you."

As Grumblemon walked past the 3 Rookies, Lopmon and Patamon stood up on their feet. Labramon couldn't heal herself, so she had to stay down. But she did her job, now the rest was up to them.

Lopmon and Patamon charged at Grumblemon, both of them tackling the gnome as hard as they could right at the Legendary Warriors. Grumblemon let out a yell as he was launched forward. Kumamon didn't waste time grabbing Grumblemon and threw him out towards the others.

Grumblemon yelped as he was thrown from the cave. Seeing this, the other Legendary Warriors were quick to react to the incoming gnome Digimon.

Without as much as a second thought, Lobomon struck first, swinging his light sword at Grumblemon as hard as he could. "Lobo Kendo!" The glowing white energy blade slashed into Grumblemon's exposed left arm, leaving a nasty slash wound.

Beetlemon was next to attack. "Time to bring you down, you annoying gnome! Thunder Fist!" Beetlemon sent gathered electricity from his hands at Grumblemon as well.

"I'll make sure the winds will bring you down! Hurricane Wave!" Kazemon shouted as she shot out little twisters from her fingers at Grumblemon, who was now spinning in the air and getting quite dizzy.

Agunimon saw his chance to attack as well. "Time to end this!" He shouted as he jumped up and concentrated his fiery power so that flames flickered from the openings in his armor. "Pyro Tornado!" He spun around, fire enveloping him in a twister.

The fiery twister engulfed Grumblemon, and Agunimon emerged to give the gnome Digimon a nasty kick to the stomach.

Grumblemon let out a scream as he hit the mountain hard.

"Jeez, after all that, he's still in one piece," Beetlemon grumbled.

Lobomon knew he should focus on defeating Grumblemon, however his worry for Labramon made him ignore the Warrior of Earth, and ran into the cave to check on Labramon.

Lobomon knelt down beside Labramon. "Labramon, are you okay?" He asked, concern audible in his tone of voice. He was also shaking slightly, worried about the Rookie Digimon.

Labramon looked up at Lobomon and gave him a small smile. "I'll be fine… just need some food and rest later… You need to… focus on… Grumblemon…"

"Is everyone alright?" Agunimon asked, looking at Patamon and Lopmon.

Kumamon had been checking on Lopmon and Patamon too.

"They look to be alright considering how beat up they were earlier," Kumamon said.

"You can thank Labramon for that. She has the ability to heal," Lopmon explained.

"But we're still pretty banged up. We're no match for a Legendary Warrior, I'm afraid," Patamon sighed.

"We need to defeat Grumblemon before he comes back and gets another 'bright' idea." Lobomon growled out. "I hate that annoying gnome."

"I think all of us are in agreement about hating Grumblemon." Beetlemon huffed. "We can't just sit here yapping away. He's bound to come back."

"We'll take care of them, you just beat that Grumblemon," Biyomon spoke up as she and Kokuwamon landed in the cave.

"Don't worry, big guy, Labramon is our friend too. We'll make sure she's okay," Kokuwamon said to Lobomon.

Lobomon hesitated, but he knew he had to give these other Digimon a chance, so he nodded after a few moments of hesitation. "Just… be careful. I don't want anything to happen to her." He admitted.

"Heh… don't worry, we'll take care of you. Now go, before Grumblemon regains his strength," Lopmon said.

The other Legendary Warriors looked at them worriedly, but they nodded. They had a fight to finish. However, as they came out of the cave, they noticed the sky had darkened considerably. It started to rain.

"Ugh… Great… It's raining." Agunimon grumbled. "This will make it harder to use my fire."

There was a sudden flash of lightning.

"That's loud… and dangerous. I don't think we should be this high up during a thunderstorm…" Kazemon frowned nervously.

"Maybe not… but this might give us an advantage when that annoying gnome comes out," Beetlemon said as he saw the mountain looking wet, and some of the rocks and mud were falling from the rain.

"How badly were you guys hurt?" Biyomon asked the other Digimon in concern.

"Yeah, you looked like you got beaten up quite a bit," Kokuwamon added as he carefully helped Labramon onto her feet.

"We could've gotten hurt a lot worse… we were lucky Grumblemon wanted us alive to use as hostages," Patamon answered, sighing.

"But we also realized just how outclassed we really are compared to Legendary Warriors," Lopmon said. "If Grumblemon hadn't lost focus on us, and knew about Labramon's healing powers, we would've been done for."

"Yeah, that was a pretty bad situation to be in," Biyomon agreed.

"They… really grew attached to us… didn't they?" Labramon weakly noted.

"They… I guess they did…" Lopmon frowned. "A part of me believed they would've left us to die because there was no way they would give up their Spirits for some Digimon they just met a week or two ago. But I was… lying to myself. I had hoped to avoid this… potential issue when we decided to go with them."

"Well, we can't help it, I suppose." Patamon grumbled. "We'll just have to be more alert, and be more prepared for if this happens again."

"But the fact that it did happen is what worries me," Lopmon said as he looked at the others. "Why would Grumblemon suddenly come after us? Why didn't he stay focused on the Legendary Warriors? Why would he think we were important to them?"

"I mean we were traveling with them, wouldn't that be a big enough hint?" Kokuwamon asked.

"Yeah, but… they had other Digimon following them before, and Grumblemon never cared about them." Lopmon frowned. "What else has changed? What have we influenced since coming here?"

"I don't know, but I think we should keep an eye out for anything that hasn't happened before." Kokuwamon replied. "We can't be too careless like we were this time."

"I don't think being too careless is the issue here…" Patamon frowned. "The truth of the matter was before our eyes. We can't deny it anymore. The children have grown attached to us."

"And that is a fate worse than if we were to get wiped out here…" Lopmon added grimly. "You know what needs to be done when the time comes… and when it does… how do you think they'll react?"

"I'd hate to see how the kids will react." Biyomon admitted. "They would be heartbroken…"

"We can't just stick with them though." Kokuwamon pointed out.

"You think I don't know that?!" Biyomon snapped. "I'm well aware of what we can and can't do here!"

"Jeez, no need to get snappy at me!" Kokuwamon quickly said, raising up his arms in defense.

"It's… my fault… I stuck with Koji… despite knowing the consequences…" Labramon frowned.

"It's my fault too… I thought it'd be easier to keep an eye on them if we stuck with them instead of just watching from afar," Patamon admitted. "Lopmon and Biyomon suggested we stay away from them, but…"

"What's done is done," Lopmon spoke up. "Lamenting about how we should've gone about things won't help us now. Instead, we should focus on what we can do."

The other Rookie Digimon nodded in agreement.

"Lopmon's right." Patamon said. "We need to stop moping and focus on what we can do to help. Those kids may be strong, but they will need our help if it comes down to it."

"They'll have to learn to handle things on their own later, and we should prepare them for that," Biyomon commented.

Lopmon heard Beetlemon shouting out an attack. "I think things are about to escalate, we better prepare ourselves."

"Then let's go." Patamon said as he began to flap his wings and hovered off the ground, before picking up Lopmon.

As he flew out of the cave, the others followed him, with Kokuwamon carrying Labramon.

Outside the cave, Beetlemon was taunting Grumblemon. "Hey, where are you Grumblemon? C'mon out, you fraidy cat! Or are you just going to hide like the annoying little gnome you are?"

Grumblemon, finally recovered from the onslaught, came out of the mountain and tried to hit Beetlemon with his sledgehammer.

"Look out!" Kazemon warned.

Beetlemon managed to dodge the sledgehammer, and it was time to put his plan into action. "Thunder Fist!"

Beetlemon summoned lightning to his fist and punched into the mountain. The lightning from his fist went up the mountain, seemingly missing Grumblemon.

"Hehe, nice shot dorkus!" Grumblemon taunted.

But Beetlemon just gave a smug chuckle of his own. "Who said I was aiming at you?" He chuckled.

A loud rumbling got Grumblemon's attention as the rocks above came crashing down. Grumblemon's eyes went wide as the torrent of water and rocks came down on him with such force, it pushed him out of his little hole and down the mountain's side.

"Nice shot!" Agunimon exclaimed with a big grin on his face.

"Hey, where are the KaratsukiNumemon?" Lobomon asked.

"Over there!" Kumamon pointed out, he was currently being carried by Kazemon again.

They saw the KaratsukiNumemon were off of the big mountain, and had been slithering onto one of the smaller ones together.

Seeing the KaratsukiNumemon all together again was a relieving sight.

"Wow… I'm glad they are alright." Beetlemon admitted. "It must be nice to be back with your family."

"Hey, why's the mountain glowing?" Agunimon asked, who was hanging onto a rope ladder.

Biyomon flew in beside Kazemon. "What the heck?"

Kokuwamon flew in as well, still carrying Labramon. "Is that…?"

Patamon came up as well, carrying Lopmon. "Oh… that's…"

"The mountain's fractal code…" Lopmon finished.

Indeed, in the large hole Beetlemon created, there was a large string of code exposed for all to see.

"I didn't think I'd expose it with that plan of mine…" Beetlemon admitted.

But as soon as Beetlemon said those words, Grumblemon reappeared from another hole he dug into the mountain.

"Uh oh! Grumblemon's back!" Kazemon exclaimed as she put Kumamon on the rope ladder with Agunimon.

Lobomon was on the post where the rope ladder was, and he could only watch as well.

"I see…" Labramon frowned, seeming to know what was about to happen. "Kokuwamon… put me near Lobomon."

Kokuwamon just gave a silent nod before he flew over to the post. "Here… she might be safer with you right now."

Lobomon blinked, but he didn't protest. Instead, he took Labramon into his arms. "Thanks." He said gratefully.

Patamon flew closer to Agunimon and Kumamon.

"Are you guys alright?" Patamon asked.

"We heard a loud noise," Lopmon added.

"We're fine, but… I don't know for how long." Kumamon frowned.

"Thank you for finding fractal code for me," Grumblemon said to the group. "Can't find without you. Now rid you with Beast Spirit!"

Grumblemon held up a figurine in his hand.

"Wait… Is that…?" Agunimon gasped. "I've never seen a Spirit like that before!"

"Execute!" Grumblemon exclaimed as fractal code surrounded him. "Slide Evolution!" The fractal code dissipated, revealing a new Digimon in Grumblemon's place. "Gigasmon!"

The new Digimon was dark tan all over his body save for the chest and stomach, which were a lighter tan color, and he had lighter tan marks on his arms and legs. His eyes were brownish orange, and he had spikes from his shoulders, knuckles, knees, head and his elbows. The Digimon also had a large nose as well.

"Who is that Digimon?" Lobomon asked, feeling nervous for some reason. "And why does it feel like I've seen this Digimon before?"

"You're not the only one…" Beetlemon admitted. "I'm getting that feeling too."

"I know I am…" Agunimon gulped. "I feel like I've faced this Digimon before more than once, and yet… This is the first time I've seen this enemy…"

"So you guys are feeling that too?" Kumamon asked.

"This isn't the time to be thinking about that!" Biyomon shouted. "He's going to attack!"

Gigasmon grinned before he jumped into the air and began spinning around. "Quagmire Twister!"

The large twister was coming at them. Kazemon, Biyomon, Beetlemon, and Kokuwamon had to fly away quickly, but the others hanging onto the rope ladder and the post were vulnerable.

"It's coming!" Lopmon shouted.

"We have to get away from here!" Agunimon quickly said.

"We're not going to be able to outrun it!" Lobomon warned.

"Brace yourselves!" Patamon shouted.

The Quagmire Twister reached the group, spinning them around in a dizzying manner, breaking the rope ladder and the posts completely off the mountain. Soon, Kumamon, Lopmon, Agunimon, Lobomon, Patamon, and Labramon all began falling.

Yup, I'm gonna be sick from all this… Lopmon groaned.

Kumamon had an idea hit him, as if it had been done before. "Hey, grab onto me!" He instructed before turning his body into a large spiked icy mass and sticking to the cliff-face. "Frozen Tundra!"

Kumamon grew his body into large icicles as big as he could to catch the others. Lopmon, Lobomon, Labramon, Agunimon, and Patamon landed on the crystals that Kumamon made.

"Oh that's cold…" Patamon shivered.

"Tell me about it." Agunimon hissed, feeling the cold rushing through his body. He had to push down the urge to use his fire to warm himself up lest he hurt Kumamon. "I'm feeling it worse than you right now…"

"Just try to hang on," Kumamon said.

Beetlemon tried to stop the Quagmire Twister, but when he did, he ended up getting spun around before crashing into Kokuwamon, making him fall. Beetlemon quickly turned around and grabbed onto Kokuwamon. At the same time, Biyomon was sucked into the Quagmire Twister, since she wasn't fast enough to avoid it. She let out a yell and Kazemon quickly flew in to grab her and get her away from the twister.

"Hang on!" Kazemon shouted as she managed to grab onto one of Biyomon's wings. "I've got you!"

Biyomon gripped Kazemon's hand tightly.

"Execute. Slide evolution!" Gigasmon called out after landing, and a cocoon of data wrapped around him, changing him back into his previous form. "Grumblemon!"

Grumblemon smirked at the group, seeing how they were scrambling just to stay on the mountain. "You more pathetic than me thought. Didn't take much to put you down. Here me thought you actually strong!"

"Execute!" Grumblemon called out, surrounding himself in a cocoon of data once again. "Slide evolution! Gigasmon!"

"Wait a minute!" Agunimon exclaimed. "What's going on here?!"

Why does this seem so familiar? Why do I feel like I know that form, what it's called? Agunimon thought in confusion. I don't understand…

"He can change forms!?" Lobomon frowned.

"He has two evolutions!" Patamon pointed out.

"Normally that's common among Digimon, but this is really bad for us." Lopmon frowned.

"Now I take fractal code in name of Cherubimon and finish you off!" Gigasmon stated.

As if to taunt the other Legendary Warriors, Gigasmon began to eat the fractal code of the mountain, sucking it into his mouth. As soon as the code was gone, the mountain began to rumble. "Fractal Code Digitized!"

"He's eating the whole mountain!" Beetlemon shouted.

"I can see that!" Kokuwamon yelled over the storm and the shaking.

"There's nothing we can do now…" Kazemon frowned.

"Our mountain is no more!" The KaratsukiNumemon shouted as they watched in horror seeing their home being consumed.

The mountain trembled and shook, holes began to appear on the once majestic mountain as more of its fractal code was being eaten away. Kumamon eventually lost his grip on the mountain walls, as it was all crumbling underneath him.

Agunimon, Patamon, Lopmon, Labramon, and Lobomon all screamed as they fell away from the mountain, unable to escape or find a way to save themselves. They quickly grabbed onto each other's hands and paws.

"Whatever happens, don't let go!" Agunimon shouted.

Kazemon, Biyomon, Beetlemon, and Kokuwamon were all blown away as well, unable to stay stable in the air. With the mountain crumbling away, it caused the heavy winds to blow them back. Both groups were falling further and further away from each other.

"I… can't hold on… much longer!" Lopmon shouted as his tiny hands weren't meant for gripping for long.

"Lopmon, hold on!" Kumamon shouted, feeling Lopmon's hands slipping.

The heavy winds and the fall was making it harder for them to hold on. Soon, Lopmon slipped out of their hands, as did Patamon, and even Labramon ended up letting go due to her paws being unable to grip their hands. They all screamed as they spun around in the air.

"Guys!" Agunimon cried out, but he couldn't do anything. Patamon was too far away for him to grab onto. Kumamon and Lobomon could only watch in distress as Lopmon and Labramon also were separated from them.

Agunimon, Lobomon, and Kumamon were falling through a tunnel. It turned out, they ended up going through some kind of tunnel through some of the mountains that was left after Gigasmon consumed the big mountain. They got separated from Kazemon, Beetlemon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, Patamon, Labramon, and Lopmon as well. Their energy was low, so their Spirits ended up degenerating them back into their human forms while they were still falling.

"How long is this tunnel!?" Tommy shouted.

"How should I know?!" Koji shouted back

"This tunnel seems to go on forever!" Takuya screamed. "Does this ever end?!"

As if to answer Takuya's question, the boys were soon flung out of the tunnel and into the open skies.

"... None of us can fly…" Tommy stated.

Then they fell, again. They all screamed until… they landed on something soft, spongey, and bouncy. They all blinked in shock and disbelief that they were still alive. Then they fell back down, realizing they were in a giant ball pit with giant, colorful balls.

"H-how are we still alive?" Tommy asked after they managed to land, though they had to find their way out of the ball pit.

"The ball pit?" Takuya asked in a joking tone.

"That's not funny…" Koji grumbled. "We just fell from high in the air into a ball pit, which shouldn't have saved us."

Tommy frowned as he pushed some of the balls out of his face. "Where… are we?"

"It looks like a giant… playground, I think," Takuya said. "... But the real question is what needs a playground this big?"

"Why do I get the feeling we're going to find out?" Tommy groaned.

Takuya looked around, something feeling very… familiar about this place. "I… feel like I've been here before…"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Koji muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you implying something?" Takuya growled.

"Guys, can we not fight and just get out of here?" Tommy spoke up.

The 3 boys had to pull each other out of the large ball pit. Once they were out, they began walking around the area.

"What do you think happened to the others?" Takuya asked.

"I don't know… we all got blown away when Grumblemon began eating up the mountain." Tommy frowned. "Zoe, JP, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon got blown in the opposite direction, so I doubt they're anywhere near here."

"But what about Lopmon, Patamon, and Labramon?" Takuya asked in concern. "They were with us and then we got separated from them."

"And to make matters worse, Labramon was still injured when we got separated." Koji frowned. "I don't know if she can last much longer without treatment."

Tommy frowned as well. "They probably didn't fall too far from us… but I couldn't tell you where they are…"

"Great, so we have to find them as well as the others." Takuya sighed. "Well, we'd better start looking for them, we won't find them just standing around here."

"We also need to figure out where we are," Koji grumbled.

As they looked around, they couldn't help but notice how there were a lot of neat looking toys scattered around the place. Then they saw what looked like a flying toy robot in the sky.

"Is that… a robot toy?" Takuya asked.

Tommy stared up at the robot toy. He felt like he had seen it before, though it could've just been something he saw on TV with his parents. Still, despite the situation, he was a little kid. So he couldn't help but smile with interest.

"A flying toy robot! That's so cool!" Tommy smiled as he ran after the robot.

"Hey, wait up!" Takuya exclaimed as he chased after Tommy.

"Get back here!" Koji called as he chased after Tommy and Takuya. I don't know which of them is worse, the little kid or the goggle kid. At least Labramon never ran off on her own.

The toy robot landed near some more toys. Tommy saw a cool looking race car track for toy cars. He always wanted one of those, though his brother wouldn't stop nagging at him when he asked his parents to get him one. Now he finally had a chance to try it out.

"Hey, check it out!" Tommy said as he ran over to the race track, and put a toy car on it.

The toy car began moving on its own through the race track. "That's so cool! It actually moves on the track!"

"Where did the flying robot go?" Takuya asked, looking around for the flying robot.

"Don't sit down!" Koji growled out. "We don't have time for this!"

"Koji, just calm down. We're not going anywhere, so we can at least try to figure out where we are, and the best way to do that is to look around." Takuya explained.

"Jeez… don't encourage this behavior. Tommy's supposed to be one of the Legendary Warriors, yet here he is acting like a baby," Koji grumbled.

"I should be the one saying 'jeez', you're acting just like my big brother," Tommy responded back. "Besides, who leaves good toys like these lying around? We might as well try them out, it could lead us to some clues."

"I fail to see how playing with toys could give us clues." Koji grumbled.

"Hey, at least try to act like a kid." Takuya huffed back.

"What does that mean?" Koji growled back.

"You're about the same age as me, right? Why are you acting so grown up?" Takuya retorted.

"I'm only acting this way because someone has to," Koji replied. "We're not here to play with toys or play games, we're here to get to the Forest Terminal and save this world. We don't have time for this."

Tommy let out a sigh as he picked up the car as it came across him and put it down on the grass. He turned to the two boys. "Well, if you don't have time to investigate the toys, then we should move on." Koji really is just like Yutaka… Although I am worried about Lopmon and the others.

"Finally…" Koji grumbled.

"But where would we start to look?" Takuya asked as he looked around. Again, something about this seemed familiar to him, and he didn't know why. I swear, this place feels so familiar, but I can't figure out why… Have I really been here before or is it just my imagination?

"Is something on your mind? You haven't responded to what I said," Koji spoke up.

"Huh?" Takuya blinked as he looked at Koji. "Sorry. It's just… I feel like I've been here before, but I don't remember coming here until now." He admitted.

"Really?" Koji raised an eyebrow.

Takuya looked at Tommy. "Come to think of it… didn't you say something about 'us too' before? When we started saying something felt familiar?"

Tommy looked up at Takuya. He had been feeling that sense of familiarity with this place too, but he tried to ignore it since he didn't know why he felt that way, and it was clear Koji didn't want him getting distracted.

"Yeah…" Tommy answered. "Every now and then I get a sense of deja vu. Like I've been here before or experienced something like it before, but I don't know why since I have no memory of experiencing anything like this before."

"Yeah… I've been getting that too." Takuya admitted. "Like when I saw the fractal code of the Woodmon. Something about that was familiar, like I had seen that before."

"Are you sure you're not just imagining it?" Koji asked. "Look, I don't understand it either, but that's not important right now. We need to find Labramon and the others as quickly as possible."

"Oh, I see why you're so uptight, you're worried about Labramon, aren't you?" Takuya pointed out.

Koji blushed. "I… S-So what if I am?! Aren't you worried about Patamon and Lopmon?" He retorted.

"Of course I am!" Takuya replied back, feeling his anger growing slightly. "But I'm being serious when I say I feel like I've been here before when I haven't been to this place until today!"

Tommy frowned, wondering how long they were going to argue. Tommy didn't notice something was at his foot before he tripped over it. Tommy groaned a little, having landed on his face. Koji and Takuya were still too busy arguing to notice he fell. Tommy turned around to see a little pig toy was sitting there, looking all cute and innocent. Tommy blinked before he reached out and picked it up. Is this thing a toy or a Digimon?

Tommy poked around its head before he pushed down the odd black ear, causing the pig to start oinking cutely. Tommy flinched back for a moment, worried the pig was gonna spring to life and kick him or something. But all it did was oink a little.

"Tommy, are you serious?" Koji groaned.

Tommy looked up, seeing that Koji and Takuya were looking at him. They likely stopped arguing and saw him 'playing' with the pig toy.

"Look, we decided that this isn't the time to play around," Takuya lightly scolded.

"No, that wasn't it…" Tommy frowned, feeling rather embarrassed that he was caught 'playing' again, even though he wasn't really intending to play with another toy.

"Then why did you pick up that pig toy?" Koji asked as he folded his arms, clearly not pleased.

"I tripped over it and thought it was a Digimon…" Tommy admitted.

"Don't be stupid, anyone could tell that's a toy," Koji grumbled, thinking Tommy was lying to make an excuse for why he was playing with another toy.

"I didn't…" Tommy frowned.

"Hey, don't start crying on us," Takuya said, thinking Tommy was going to start crying because of what Koji said.

This, of course, insulted Tommy. He just narrowed his eyes and turned away from them. "I wasn't going to cry!"

"Okay, I'm sorry I assumed that!" Takuya said as he held up his hands. "Look, let's just get moving. I want to find Lopmon, Patamon, and Labramon sooner rather than later."

Tommy frowned as he looked down at the toy pig in his arms. He missed having Lopmon with him. Lopmon seemed to understand him better than the others did.

Takuya noticed Tommy's frown and sighed. "Oh man, now I feel bad…"

"Why? Because of him? Little baby has to grow up some time," Koji grumbled.

"You have to grow up some time, Tommy, you can't always rely on Mom and Dad to handle everything," Tommy remembered his brother's voice saying to him.

"Hey, you have to remember that Tommy is only 8 years old!" Takuya snapped at Koji's cold attitude.

"All the more reason he needs to stop acting like a spoiled little kid." Koji grumbled back.

"Do you even have any brothers or siblings younger than you?" Takuya snapped back.

Koji paused for a moment. His first instinct was to say he had a sibling, but he stopped. Of course he didn't have any siblings, he didn't know why he would think otherwise.

"No, I'm an only child," Koji replied.

Takuya felt his anger dissipate at that. "Oh… I… I didn't know…"

"I don't know what it's like to have a brother." Koji continued, but he frowned as he said that. He felt like he did know what it was like to have a brother, but he couldn't figure out why. It was confusing to him, and it showed on his face clearly.

"It's not always what it's cracked up to be," Tommy said softly as he put the toy pig down. "But listen, I'm sorry if you see me as a little kid who gets in the way. But I am trying to help in my own way. Believe it or not, I think there are unconventional ways these toys can help us."

"Like what?" Koji asked.

Tommy pointed at a toy train that was running on the track. "We're all a bit tired from that fight with Grumblemon, right? How about we use that to get around this place?"

Takuya chuckled. "That's a smart idea, Tommy."

Koji huffed. "Or a dumb one."

"Hey, do you have anything nice to say?" Takuya shot back.

Koji just looked away from Takuya, trying to act like he didn't care about what the other boy was saying.

"Well, Takuya and I can ride the train. And you can stay here, and trudge on foot as much as you want," Tommy stated. "We'll let you know what we see when you eventually catch up to us."

Koji shot a glare at Tommy, but he felt his legs aching from the walking and from being in that fight. "Fine…" He reluctantly conceded. "We'll do your dumb train ride."

"Alright, let's hop aboard!" Tommy smiled.

Tommy and Takuya ended up riding on the head of the train, while Koji was stuck on the caboose. He was feeling quite embarrassed, and hoped there was nobody else watching him riding on the toy train with these children. Though admittedly the train was getting them around a lot faster than on foot.

"Well, isn't this faster?" Takuya asked as he looked back at Koji with a grin on his face.

"Just don't mention this to the others…" Koji grumbled, feeling his face burning with his blush of embarrassment.

As the train was moving down the tracks, something moving caught Tommy's eye. It looked like a giant teddy bear that was walking.

"Hey! It's a giant walking teddy bear!" Tommy exclaimed happily.

But then Tommy suddenly got a sense of unease as he looked at the teddy bear. He suddenly felt like his heart was beating much faster in his chest. There was something off about the teddy bear, or something about it that made him very uneasy.

What's this feeling? Am I… scared of that teddy bear? Tommy frowned.

Takuya, however, remained oblivious to Tommy's sudden sense of fear and unease towards the teddy bear.

"Hey, maybe that teddy bear knows the way to the Forest Terminal." Takuya said. "Why don't we go ask?"

"I'm game." Koji said, feeling like the other boy had had a good idea for once.

Takuya looked at Tommy. "Hey, c'mon Tommy. We're going to ask how to get to the Forest Terminal, or at least where we are or if he'd seen the others."

"A-are you… sure that's a good idea?" Tommy asked. "We… don't know anything about that bear…"

"What? You can't be scared of that thing, it's just a teddy bear. Heck, you're a teddy bear when you Spirit Evolve," Koji pointed out.

"I am not!" Tommy snapped. What am I doing? I shouldn't be scared of a teddy bear. This is ridiculous.

Tommy got off of the train and followed the two boys, though he stayed behind them.

"Hey! Hey!" Takuya called to the teddy bear. "Hey, buddy! Wait up!"

The teddy bear stopped and looked over at them. Then it immediately ran at them.

"Look out! It's going to attack!" Tommy suddenly shouted.

Before Takuya could react, the bear grabbed Takuya and threw him to the ground. Tommy gasped for a moment. Then the bear raised up his paw and smiled. "I am still undefeated!"

Then the bear picked Takuya up on his feet, and turned him around to face the bear. "Now we wrestle for the championship title!"

"Wrestling…?" Tommy asked. "Aren't you going to turn all dark and evil, and attack us with your claws or something?"

The teddy bear Digimon turned to face Tommy. "Why would I do that? I just want to play and have fun!"

Tommy was about to answer, but he had no answer to that really. He had no idea why he would even think of the teddy bear turning all dark and evil in the first place. "I… don't know…"

"Are you crazy, Tommy? This teddy bear could crush us!" Takuya exclaimed as he grabbed Tommy's hand and ran with Koji behind them.

"Hey wait! The championship!" The teddy bear called after them as it chased after them. "Oh, I get it, you wanna play 'tag'!"

"This guy is nuts!" Koji yelled. "And fast!"

"Why would a teddy bear want to wrestle with humans?! We're not giant teddy bears!" Takuya wailed.

Tommy wasn't sure what to think of the strange situation they were in, but he saw what looked like a big pirate ship ride he would see at an amusement park or a fair. "Quick, hide on the ship!"

The three boys ran onto the ship and ducked down as low as they could.

"You guys are good at this!" The teddy bear exclaimed as it ran past the ship. Slowly, the three boys peered over the edge as they heard the heavy footsteps leaving the area.

The 3 boys slowly lifted their heads up from the ship they were on, glad to see the teddy bear was running off in the other direction.

"That was a close one… who knew teddy bears could be so dangerous?" Koji frowned.

"I think one of my cousins has a fear of teddy bears, and he may be right on this one," Takuya remarked.

"I don't know about him… I don't think he's malicious, but I still feel uneasy with him," Tommy said, still trying to figure out why he thought the bear may be dangerous even though it looked, and sounded, like the teddy bear just wanted to play, after all, while he may have been a little rough with Takuya, it didn't look like he really hurt the boy.

"I certainly didn't want to do this wrestling thing… And certainly not as a human…" Takuya grumbled. "Besides, you didn't get thrown down by him…"

I feel like there are worse things than getting thrown down by that teddy bear. Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Come on, let's get off of this-" Koji began to say when the ship they were on suddenly started moving, swinging up, causing the 3 to yelp and hang onto something.

"Why is this thing moving!?" Tommy yelled as he clung onto a post. "Nobody's managing it!"

"I don't know, just hang onto something!" Takuya shouted back as he gripped the sides of the ship so hard, his hands began to ache.

"This is so not our day!" Koji exclaimed as he also gripped the sides of the ship. "Someone needs to stop this thing so we can get off of here!"

The ship started to swing higher and higher, allowing them to see something they weren't expecting to see. There were trees on the horizon that looked like they were below where they were. They also saw more land that looked far away. They saw clouds that were a lot closer to them than the land was.

"What the heck…? Are we… floating?" Takuya asked, looking very confused.

"Floating? That doesn't make any sense!" Koji yelled, though he was also seeing what Takuya was seeing.

"M-maybe we're… on a floating island? I mean this isn't quite our world, remember?" Tommy spoke up.

"A floating island? That… may be where we are." Takuya admitted. Why does that sound familiar? I feel like I'm experiencing deja vu somehow…

Tommy frowned before the ship started to swing again. Tommy had never been that good with fast rides, and he was starting to get a little motion sick.

"I-is anyone else starting to get a little sick?" Tommy asked.

Koji grew a bit pale in the face at Tommy's words. "Don't look in my direction, kid!"

Takuya balked. "H-Hey, don't point him at me!"

It's a good thing I haven't eaten since yesterday. Tommy groaned.

The ship finally started to slow down until it came to a stop. Seeing how the ship had finally stopped, Tommy quickly crawled off of the ride just in case it would suddenly start up again, though he needed a few minutes to… settle his stomach.

"H-hey, are you okay, Tommy?" Takuya asked as he followed Tommy off the ship. Koji also exited the ride, never so glad to be back on the ground. Err… the floating island…

"Y-yeah… yeah… just… give me a minute," Tommy answered.

"Hey, if you want, I could give you a piggyback ride," Takuya offered.

Koji huffed. "Give me a break. The kid can walk, can't he?"

Takuya growled at Koji. "Hey, he just got off of a ride that made him sick! It wouldn't hurt to give the kid a break from walking, would it?"

"Sure, if you want to get hurled on." Koji retorted. "Besides, what if we're attacked while you're carrying him? You'd be too slow to run away. Why don't you think about these things?"

"Hey, at least I think about others, unlike you!" Takuya retorted grumpily.

"It's fine, Takuya, I can walk," Tommy spoke up, wanting to stop this argument. "I've been through worse."

Takuya blinked as he looked at Tommy. "Are you sure?" He's been through worse? I know we've been through combat but… something like that sounds worrying…

"Yeah, I mean compared to falling off a mountain that's being eaten by a monster, that ride was pretty tame," Tommy explained. "Besides, I want to find our friends too."

"Yeah, good point." Takuya said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We know we're on a floating island, but where are Lopmon, Patamon, and Labramon? We didn't get a good enough look from that ride."

"That's assuming they even fell on the same floating island we did," Koji pointed out.

"They probably did, they weren't too far from us when we got separated in the air," Tommy said. "I'm sure they fell into the same tunnel we did."

"Then we need to keep looking for them." Takuya said before looking around and he saw what looked like a house of some kind just ahead of them. "Hey! Why don't we see if there's anyone in that building that can help us?"

"Is that… a house decorated as a cake, or a giant cake made to look like a house?" Tommy asked, seeing the building himself.

"Who cares? If someone can help us, I don't care what 'house' they live in," Koji remarked.

"C'mon, let's go." Takuya said as he began to walk to the house. "Maybe someone lives there. We won't find the others just standing around."

The boys walked into the house, unaware that they were being watched.

"Human children on our island?" A black lego-like Agumon remarked.

"Yes, they're here, like I said they would be," A shadowy figure said from behind the toy-like Digimon. "But they're not the main targets you should be worried about, ShadowToyAgumon."

"You mean those Digimon that fell onto our island?" The ShadowToyAgumon asked. "The ones you emphasized as a threat?"

"But of course. You see, those 3 Digimon don't belong here," The shadowy figure explained. "Them being here is disrupting the balance of this world. The only way to save the balance is by destroying them."

"Then we shall find those three Digimon and eliminate them as well as capture the three humans. They will be useful down the road." ShadowToyAgumon snickered evilly.

"If they become too much for you, don't be afraid to use this," The shadowy figure said as they gave ShadowToyAgumon a small jar that had a mysterious green liquid ooze inside. "Be warned, don't take too much at once, as it will corrupt your Digi-Core."

"Oh, we will definitely make use of this~" ShadowToyAgumon grinned as he took the jar carefully in his toy-like hands. "You have been a most generous ally."

"Just doing my duty of preserving what should be preserved," The shadowy figure replied.

ShadowToyAgumon turned to the big yellow teddy bear who was playing with the kids earlier. "Monzaemon, capture one of them and lead the others into the castle! We know at least one of those Digimon is in the castle, we must find the other 2 before they get away."

Monzaemon looked decidedly terrified though. "W-why can't we all just get along and play with each other?"

ShadowToyAgunmon glared at the pacifist bear. "We'll never get anywhere if you refuse to cooperate."

"Why don't you try giving him that special liquid? Just a drop though," The shadowy figure suggested.

ShadowToyAgumon grinned sinisterly. "An excellent idea." He said as he took off the lid of the jar and dunked one of his claws into it. Removing his claw, ShadowToyAgumon approached Monzaemon. "Here, a little… gift… for you." He chuckled darkly as he held his claw out and let the liquid drip onto Monzaemon's body.

Monzaemon, while he seemed naive and playful, knew that wasn't a gift of goodwill. But he stood frozen as the liquid dripped on him, and was absorbed into his body. Fractal code surrounded Monzaemon's body, and transformed him. Gone was the friendly looking yellow teddy bear, and in his place was a black, torn up, mean looking bear with a large claw on his left hand. He had an unnatural glow on his body as well.

"Ooooh, I like this stuff already~" ShadowToyAgumon grinned sinisterly.

Meanwhile, Takuya, Koji, and Tommy were inside the house. It looked like the place had shelves and stands all over the place. There were colorful different kinds of sweets and toys on these shelves and stands. But what was most surprising was it looked like someone had been eating some of this stuff. They saw an open jar, and some empty sticks. They heard what sounded like someone munching from behind one of the stands.

"Do you guys hear that?" Takuya asked as he tried to determine where the munching was coming from.

"Yeah, it sounds like someone eating." Koji replied, getting tense. "We're not alone here…"

"Maybe it's the person… err… Digimon, that lives here…" Tommy suggested nervously.

"Why would they be hiding behind something if that were the case?" Koji asked.

"Hmm?" The muncher stopped eating when they heard voices.

The group tensed up, realizing the muncher likely knew they were there.

Suddenly, something white jumped onto one of the tables of the stands and blinked in surprise. "Koji?"

Koji blinked as he saw the muncher. "Wait… Labramon?!" He exclaimed, both shocked and relieved to see the Rookie level Digimon he knew so well. "Was that you eating out of sight?"

Koji saw what looked like pink sparkling frosting on Labramon's muzzle.

"Well yeah, I wasn't sure if I had to pay for these, and I needed food to heal my wounds," Labramon admitted before she jumped off of the stall and ran over at Koji and the others, wagging her tail. "Look, I'm feeling a lot better now! And I'm glad to see you guys! I thought I was alone here."

"Yeah, we did too." Koji agreed as he knelt down and patted Labramon on her head when she reached the three boys. "I was really worried about you."

Takuya snickered. "Wow, it looks like Koji's a sweetheart after all if he's being this kind to Labramon!"

"Shut up! Labramon has been helping me while you guys were stumbling around," Koji grumbled, trying not to blush.

"Wait, what about Lopmon and Patamon? Weren't they with you?" Tommy asked.

Labramon frowned and shook her head. "They weren't with you?"

"No." Takuya admitted. "We got separated and have been looking for them ever since we wound up here. In fact, you're the first one we came across."

"Well, I'm glad we found Labramon, but we can't just leave Patamon and Lopmon alone here." Koji said as he stood up. "We need to get moving and see if we can find them."

Tommy walked over to one of the stands that had cotton candy on them. He smiled as he picked up a yellow cotton candy to try it out. It was good. Tommy then picked up a pink cotton candy and walked over to Takuya.

"Here, try some!" Tommy smiled. "We haven't eaten since yesterday, so we should at least have a snack before we have to do any fighting, right?"

Takuya felt his stomach growling. "I think that's a good idea actually. We do need to get our energy up so we can Spirit Evolve again if we have to."

Koji frowned. "What are you two doing? We don't have time sitting here stuffing our faces with candy. We have to get to the Forest Terminal, we're not here to have fun at a carnival! Are you listening to me?"

"What am I supposed to do? We're floating on an island, and none of us can fly!" Takuya pointed out.

"And you're just giving up? It's like you don't want to help your friends, look at what you're doing now!" Koji scolded.

"I don't see you coming up with a plan," Takuya argued.

"Hey, Koji?" Labramon spoke up, holding a blue cotton candy by the stick with her mouth. "You should eat something. Being hungry is making you grumpy and grouchy. And Tommy's right, you can't fight at your best if you're hungry."

Koji frowned, but he did have to admit, eating something would do wonders for his low energy levels. That, and his own stomach growled in agreement with Tommy and Takuya. With a sigh, Koji took the cotton candy from Labramon and took a bite as well. "Fine, I'll eat, but only to rebuild my energy."

"That was the idea," Tommy sighed. So dramatic…

"But look, I'm not just eating, we also have to think about the other Legendary Warriors," Koji spoke up, not wanting to lose the momentum he had when scolding them earlier.

"You mean that Grumblemon?" Takuya asked as he furrowed his eyebrows a bit. "What about him? We got our butts kicked by him."

"It's not just him. The fact that a Legendary Warrior was on the enemy side, who's to say the other 4 aren't as well?" Koji pointed out. "We have to prepare ourselves for the worst case scenarios. We weren't able to take Grumblemon, so we wouldn't stand a chance against the others if they turned out to be on the enemy side as well as we are now. And then what would happen to us if we lose?"

Tommy slowly put his arm down that was holding the cotton candy stick. It wasn't that what Koji was saying was wrong, but something about what he was saying was bringing up an unsettling feeling in his gut. It was like he was listening to someone else speaking, coming up with battle tactics, preparing for another battle, preparing him for something. It was unpleasant, and Tommy didn't like it, even if he couldn't think of who or what.

"I hate to admit it, but you do have a point." Takuya grumbled. "But we can't worry about that now, we need to focus on Lopmon and Patamon. Finding them needs to be our priority. Then we can talk battle plans and all that after we find them. Besides, can we not talk about this right now?"

"I understand we need to find the others, but why talk about this later? Because you don't want to talk about it in front of Tommy?" Koji asked. "I don't care if he's young, he's here, he's a Legendary Warrior like we are. He has to face this reality whether he wants to or not."

Tommy blinked as he realized Koji and Takuya had their attention on him. Tommy looked up at them. "Sorry, it's not that. I just… I'm not sure, I've been feeling weird all day. But if I've been holding you back, I am sorry. I'm just trying to help."

"Koji's gotten used to focusing on the mission and dangers," Labramon explained. "It's just hard for him to think he's not wasting his time while being in a toy-like place. I know I'd feel the same if the food didn't help heal me."

Takuya smiled and walked over to Tommy. "It's okay. Koji's just hard to warm up to. But he will, don't worry." He said gently as he patted Tommy's hat in a reassuring manner. "C'mon. Let's see if we can find Lopmon and Patamon."

"Labramon, did you see where the other two fell?" Koji asked.

"I was pretty out of it when we were falling," Labramon admitted. "I think I remember seeing one of them falling towards a big castle though, but I'm not sure where the other fell to."

"Then we should head to this castle to see if we can find which one of them fell there." Takuya suggested. "Who knows? We may find the other one along the way."

"And maybe we'll find someone who can help us get off this island," Tommy added, smiling a little.

"Fine, I suppose it's better than wandering around with no plan," Koji sighed.

"That's the spirit." Labramon smiled.

Takuya noticed Koji lightened up a little more with Labramon around. He then grinned. "Who knew having Labramon around would make you act more openly and a bit lighter?" He joked, unable to resist using Koji's element in a pun.

Koji blushed. "Do you always make puns?!" He exclaimed, trying to hide his blushing face.

Tommy couldn't help but smile a little at that, this felt more like banter rather than a full blown argument now.

The 3 boys and Labramon began leaving the supposed candy store.

"Have you noticed how empty this place is?" Tommy asked as they were walking. "Besides that teddy bear, we haven't really seen any Digimon that live here."

"Yeah… It's very strange." Takuya agreed. "It's like this place is deserted or something."

"All the more reason we should be on our guard." Koji grumbled. "We don't know if something is lurking here, or if the Digimon that lived here were all taken out or what."

"If the Digimon were taken out, what were they taken out by?" Takuya asked.

"Not sure. Could've been one of the enemy Legendary Warriors. Grumblemon was able to devour an entire mountain after all," Koji said.

"Those poor KaratsukiNumemon, they lost their home." Labramon frowned. "There wasn't much we could've done to stop it…" Could we have though? Would it… have been the right thing to do? We aren't supposed to… interfere too much.

"Yeah… and we got beaten by Grumblemon, so we couldn't stop it ourselves." Koji growled, clenching his fists. "We had the power to beat him, but he just got stronger and then we not only lost to him, but the KaratsukiNumemon lost their home as a result of us losing."

Tommy and Takuya both frowned as well.

"I don't like what happened either. But it looked like all of the KaratsukiNumemon were able to evacuate in time before Grumblemon consumed the mountain," Takuya said. "I'm sure they'll be alright."

"Probably. Our main concern is facing Grumblemon again later, and the potential other Legendary Warriors if they turn out to be working for the enemy." Koji frowned.

Takuya grumbled. "Yeah, but we need to find Patamon and Lopmon first, then JP, Kokuwamon, Zoe, and Biyomon. Once we find them, then Grumblemon and the other Legendary Warriors can be talked about. I don't want us to come up with a plan and leave the others in the dark."

"We will find Lopmon and Patamon first, but it might be wiser to meet up with the others at the Forest Terminal, since that's where we were going to begin with," Koji suggested. "I'm sure they'll have the same idea too."

"I'm confident they will," Labramon agreed.

As they were walking, however, Tommy suddenly got a tingle down his spine. He felt goosebumps going over his body as he felt a malicious presence coming up from behind him. He turned around, only to see a sight that was from his nightmare earlier when he saw that teddy bear. The bear was in his darker, more sinister form, with that large claw.

What? How!? Tommy gasped, shocked that the bear was in that form, but even more surprised he had imagined that form way too accurately.

The shock caused Tommy to hesitate for far too long, giving the dark bear enough time to reach out and grab the boy, holding him so tight that Tommy couldn't get to his D-Tector.

Only Labramon saw what happened to Tommy while Takuya and Koji were busy talking. She let out a gasp. "Tommy!"

Takuya and Koji looked back at Labramon's gasp, only to see what looked like a giant, messed up teddy bear carrying Tommy away.

"What the?!" Takuya gasped. "Isn't that the same bear from before?!" But Takuya, despite saying that, was having serious deja vu all over again. He was sure he had seen that teddy bear before as well. He froze for a moment as he had a flash of himself facing down that teddy bear with someone at his side, but he wasn't sure who. It looked like one of his twin cousins, but it was too fuzzy to make out clearly.

Gasping, Takuya shook his head. Wow, okay… that was weird… Why did I have that flash… like a memory or something?

"What are you doing!? He's getting away!" Koji yelled, snapping Takuya out of it.

Takuya realized that Tommy was in trouble, and shoved down the weird flashbacks and hurried after the bear. "What happened to that bear!?"

A name popped into Takuya's mind. "WaruMonzaemon."

"That bear… it's called WaruMonzaemon." Takuya said. "I… don't know how I know the name, but it came to me."

"WaruMonzaemon? Well whatever, let's just Spirit Evolve and-" Koji began to say when WaruMonzaemon turned to face them with a sinister grin.

Tommy blinked, he suddenly had a bad feeling. "Watch out, guys!"

"What's he doing?" Labramon frowned.

"Heartbreak Attack!" WaruMonzaemon summoned a black heart that floated towards Takuya.

Takuya gasped, having the feeling he should avoid that floating black heart. Aw crap! This isn't going to be good if that hits me!

The black heart ended up hitting Koji though, who was behind Takuya. It popped in front of Koji's face, and Koji suddenly lost all will to continue the chase, he couldn't even stand anymore. He was down on his hands and knees and started tearing up.

"W-why… am I so sad all of a sudden?" Koji sobbed.

Labramon frowned before she ran ahead, growling. "Retriever Bark!"

Labramon unleashed a wave of loud barking at WaruMonzaemon, making him have to cover one of his ears with his free arm. Tommy hissed as he was hit by the attack too.

Takuya growled. "Be careful, Labramon! You're hitting Tommy as well!" He exclaimed as he took out his D-Tector from his pocket. "But thanks for that! I can take it from here!"

Takuya didn't hesitate to call forth his fractal code around his left hand. He held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Now evolved as Agunimon, the Warrior of Flame wasn't going to get WaruMonzaemon get away with trying to kidnap Tommy. "Let him go!" Agunimon exclaimed as he lunged at WaruMonzaemon, a fist drawn back; he wasn't having fire coat his fist because he didn't want to hurt Tommy.

WaruMonzaemon was hit by Agunimon's punch, which caused the bear to stumble back a bit, but he still stood strong.

"That's one strong bear." Agunimon frowned.

"He's an Ultimate level Digimon," Labramon warned. "Like Cerberumon was."

Koji was still crying, it was clear he was out of commission for this fight.

Agunimon knew he couldn't risk using his fire, but he still had the physical strength of a Digimon, so he figured going close quarters was the next best thing if he didn't want to hurt Tommy. WaruMonzaemon might be strong, but he has only one arm free. That means he can't fight as effectively. I can use that against him…

Agunimon threw his weight into a roundhouse kick, aiming at WaruMonzaemon's head from the evil Digimon's right side. If he can't use his other arm to fight back, I think I can do this.

WaruMonzaemon glared at Agunimon. He may have the kid in one of his arms, but his other arm had his claws.

"Bear Claw!" WaruMonzaemon show out his claw at Agunimon.

Agunimon barely had time to move, the claw swiped at his side, nearly piercing through his armor.

Shit! Okay, maybe this won't be so easy, but I can't hesitate. Agunimon thought as he ducked under another swipe of the claws. He used his position close to the ground to do a sweeping kick at WaruMonzaemon's legs, trying to knock the other Digimon down and make him drop Tommy.

WaruMonzaemon wobbled around as Agunimon was kicking at his feet, but he held onto Tommy. Tommy wasn't feeling so great at being moved around like this.

Labramon was moving around behind WaruMonzaemon while Agunimon was trying to get WaruMonzaemon to trip up.

"Nobody picks on a little kid while I'm around," Labramon hissed before she ran at WaruMonzaemon and tackled him from behind, biting at his back.

WaruMonzaemon yelped as he felt Labramon bite into his back. Seeing Labramon and what she was doing, Agunimon flipped himself onto his hands and kicked up at WaruMonzaemon's lower jaw, throwing WaruMozaemon's head back with the blow.

Agunimon smiled, seeing how working with Labramon looked like they were going to save Tommy from this deranged teddy bear.

Tommy looked up at WaruMonzaemon, seeing how he was barely able to keep his grasp on the boy. Seizing his chance, he elbowed against the bear's side. This caused WaruMonzaemon to let out a yelp as he let go of Tommy, not expecting Tommy to hammer into him like that. Tommy quickly ran away from WaruMonzaemon.

"I'm free!" Tommy called out.

Seeing Tommy was free, Agunimon couldn't help but grin. He flipped away from WaruMonzaemon while Labramon jumped away from WaruMonzaemon herself. "Nice work, Labramon!" He called with a grin.

WaruMonzaemon suddenly ran at Agunimon at breakneck speed. Agunimon gasped, not expecting that.

"Heart Break Attack!" Without warning, WaruMonzaemon shoved a black heart into Agunmon's face, leaving him no room to dodge this time.

Agunimon was hit by the attack and he fell to his knees, feeling tears coming to his eyes, like he couldn't hold back the feelings of sadness and uselessness he was experiencing.

"W-why… do I feel like this…?" Agunimon whined.

"Agunimon! What's wrong?" Tommy called out, before recalling the attack that was used on him and Koji earlier. Heart Break Attack. "Oh… no…" It destroys their will to fight, feeling them with despair.

Tommy took his D-Tector out from his pocket, about to Spirit Evolve to save Agunimon. However, WaruMonzaemon saw this, and threw out another Heart Break Attack at Tommy.

Tommy's eyes went wide, and he tried to dodge, but he was too close. The heart popped in front of Tommy's face.

"Tommy!" Labramon called out.

Tommy fell to the ground. Strange memories started to invade his mind. At first he was thinking about his parents, and how he couldn't make any friends at school. Then he thought about his brother being disappointed in him for being such a spoiled brat. But then he thought of a boy in armor he had never seen before, giving him a disappointed look that hurt him more than anything Grumblemon did. He thought about Takuya, Koji, Zoe, and JP hating him, and wanting to hunt him down. It all made him filled with despair, so much that it crushed him, and nearly knocked him out cold.

"T-Tommy?" Labramon looked at the boy in concern. With the others, they just started crying, but Tommy was as still as a statue. "Are you… alright?"

Tommy was silent. He couldn't find the strength to speak, he was so distraught and detached from what was going on. Labramon was getting a bit freaked out at how silent Tommy was.

"T-Tommy! Tommy! Snap out of it!" Labramon exclaimed, running over to him.

WaruMonzaemon was intrigued, his Heart Break Attack never caused anyone to go silent before. Then again, he hadn't been a WaruMonzaemon for long. But this gave him the opportunity he needed. Agunimon was surrounded by fractal code, changing him back into Takuya, he had lost the will to keep up his Digimon form. WaruMonzaemon picked up the still crying Takuya, and ran towards the castle. Takuya hadn't been the target he was aiming for, but he would do.

"Oh, this is bad… please, wake up!" Labramon begged.

With WaruMonzaemon getting further away, the effects of the Heart Break Attack soon wore off. Koji finally stopped crying, and he regained his senses. Only to see Labramon distressing over Tommy, who was lying on the ground.

"Labramon? What's going on?" Koji asked as he got to his feet and ran over to her and Tommy. "What's wrong with Tommy?"

"I don't know! He's been like this since he was hit by WaruMonzaemon's Heart Break Attack. And Takuya was taken away…" Labramon frowned in worry.

"What?!" Koji exclaimed. "Of all the rotten luck… Okay, we need to snap Tommy out of this… trance he's in and get to the castle to rescue Takuya."

Hmm? Where am I? … I was… I was in the Digital World with the others… wasn't I? But… Which part of the Digital World am I in…?

Why did I get Kumamon? It was to save my friends from Candlemon… Takuya… no… it was… that boy and his group, wasn't it? No… it was Takuya… wait… why do I… have two different set of memories? They contradict each other…

Who's that? A man? He has… a Digimon with him, I think… No, I never met this man before. But… we're all talking to him…

Wait… Takuya, Zoe, JP, Koji, and… someone else… I think… someone who looks like Koji… They're all looking at me like I'm the enemy. What did I do wrong?

No… is this… real? Or is this… fake?

"TOMMY! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Koji shouted.

"It doesn't seem to be working…" Labramon frowned.

Koji frowned. "... I've never had a brother or anything when I was growing up… but I can't help but feel scared, seeing Tommy like this. I know I was being hard on him, but I didn't want to treat him any differently from the rest of us, because I could see that he is able to fight and think of plans. I didn't want him to get distracted with all these toys and sweets."

"Maybe instead of seeing what he was doing on the surface, you should've listened to what he was saying about what he was doing with the toys and sweets?" Labramon suggested.

Koji thought back on when Tommy was playing with the car, or followed the robot toy, or when he was holding that toy pig. Tommy said he was studying the toys to see if they would give a clue to who was here. And they ended up riding on a toy train that helped them get around. And when Tommy suggested they tried to eat sweets, he also mentioned that they couldn't fight well on an empty stomach, and it wasn't like there was any other food lying around.

Koji felt guilt hit him hard. "Wow… Now I feel like a real jerk." He muttered as he looked down at the ground. "Tommy was trying to help us, and I just treated him like a burden, a useless kid…"

"From what I can tell, Tommy is pretty smart for a kid his age, almost frighteningly so," Labramon remarked. "It makes me wonder what kind of trauma he went through to get like this."

Tommy opened his eyes, and pushed himself up.

"Tommy! Are you okay?" Labramon asked in concern.

"You're back with us," Koji said in relief. "What happened to you?"

Tommy frowned as he looked at Koji for a moment and looked around. "I… I'm not sure… Are we… dreaming?"

"W-what? W-why would you ask that?" Labramon asked, her heart stopping for a moment. No, no, no!

"I just… feel like I'm in a dream…" Tommy answered softly. "Like I have two sets of memories… I don't know which is real and which is fake…"

Koji frowned. "That Heart Break Attack must've really messed with your head. Just try to shake it off, okay? I need your help to rescue Takuya."

"Takuya?" Tommy frowned. "What happened to him?"

"That messed up bear took him away." Koji replied. "That stupid Heart Break Attack stopped all of us, including you, cold so he would get taken."

Tommy looked up, seeing the castle in the distance. He still felt odd, like this whole thing was surreal. He wasn't sure what to make of it. But… even if this entire thing was fake, a dream of some kind… Koji, Takuya, Labramon… Lopmon… and the others… they had to be real. And Takuya was in real danger. Tommy knew this wasn't the time to hesitate. He could try to piece all of what he saw together later, after they saved Takuya.

"Let's get to the castle… We have to go there anyway to find Lopmon or Patamon," Tommy said.

"Are… you sure you're okay?" Labramon asked in concern.

"I'm… I'll be fine," Tommy answered, though he didn't look all that fine.

"Are you sure?" Koji asked, clearly concerned about Tommy. "If you don't think you can handle this… I won't make you come with me…"

"Koji, I know I'm a kid, but I am still one of the Legendary Warriors," Tommy stated in a determined tone. "Takuya saved me more than once. It's time I repaid the favor."

Koji frowned a bit before sighing. "Okay. But I'm not going to hold it against you if you decide to stay out of the fight." He then hesitated before speaking again. "You… looked pretty shaken up by that Heart Break Attack…"

Tommy looked away for a moment. "... I've got… some things to figure out… but let's focus on saving Takuya first."

Koji couldn't help but feel worried for Tommy, whatever was going on with him wasn't normal, but Tommy was right, they needed to focus on rescuing Takuya, and the Digimon in the castle. Labramon was looking at Tommy, while she appeared to be concerned for his well being, and she was, she was worried about something else.

"Then let's get going," Koji said.

Koji and Tommy began moving, before Koji realized Labramon was lagging behind. "Are you coming, Labramon?"

"Y-yeah, I'm coming," Labramon answered as she began walking with them. Whatever that Heart Break Attack did… it must've broken a seal on Tommy's mind. Tommy already loosened the seal before according to Lopmon, so this just made it far worse… I don't know what to do in this situation. I just hope we find Lopmon and Patamon quickly.

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: Here's a new chapter.

ZAFT: And we're slowly getting closer to the big reveal of what is different here~ XD

DarkFoxKit: Not that it'll change anything.

ZAFT: Now onto the chapter!

Chapter 9: Trouble on Toy Island

Lopmon was staring out at the edge of the island he was on. When he had landed on this island, it didn't take him long to realize where he was. Sure, he himself had never been on the island before, but he had heard about it from Patamon. It was a large floating island filled with toys, and stores filled with sweets. It was like a child's paradise. There was no doubt in Lopmon's mind that they were on Toy Island.

He figured Takuya, Koji, and Tommy all fell here too. He saw Patamon falling towards the castle earlier, who had been too much in a daze to fly away when they had been falling. He didn't know where Labramon fell, he just hoped she was alright. Lopmon ended up near some plushies, which broke his fall. He knew he probably should be looking for the others, but instead he was sitting at the edge of the island, contemplating.

Lopmon had been troubled since the incident on KaratsukiNumemon's mountain, or what was left of it. They had known about Grumblemon when the KaratsukiNumemon mentioned him, and likely their distrust of Legendary Warriors when JP blabbed about their identities to them. And yet, they chose to not interfere, to not warn the others about the possibility of the KaratsukiNumemon trying something while they were asleep. Maybe they could've prevented the entire thing altogether. But if they had interfered where it changed the course of what was intended to happen, Lopmon wasn't sure what would've happened to them.

But there was another thing that had been troubling the little rabbit. It would seem that spending time with the human children had caused them to start bonding with them. Of course, Lopmon knew logically it was inevitable if they continued to stay with them. It wasn't like they were treating the human children as idiots, or incompetent children. They were helping them any way they could, giving them information on Digimon or the Digital World, even helping them find their Spirits. But despite that, it still surprised Lopmon at how quickly they had bonded. How hesitant they had been when they were forced to choose between them or handing over their Spirits to Grumblemon. The fact that Grumblemon didn't just ignore them, and tried to capture them.

"Isn't that troubling you?" Lopmon whispered, seemingly to nobody in particular. "Maybe we've already interfered more than we should've. This was why I wanted us to stay away from them…"

But Lopmon knew it was impossible to stay away from the children. They had bonded too closely, and it was not possible to just distance from the kids.

"But… one day we're going to have to leave them… there's no escaping that…" Lopmon frowned. "Would it be better to leave now before the bond gets bigger, and thus harder to break?"

"Talking to yourself, huh?" A voice spoke up from behind Lopmon, causing Lopmon to quickly turn around.

"Who are you?" Lopmon demanded. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't look like you belong here."

The owner of the voice chuckled. "I could say the same to you."

Lopmon was looking at what looked like a white colored looking doll that had a smiling face, and two ears that looked like they were small sacks sewn onto the sides of its head. There were no hands or feet on the arms and legs, and it had the top of its head tied off in a knot. There was also a pin, or was it a nail, pushed through its chest and out the other side.

"Oh, I apologize, that was rude of me. I don't really have a name, not since I had been discarded by my last owner. But everyone calls me… Milk," The rag doll stated.

Lopmon looked at the self-proclaimed Milk. "... You're one of the ones sent here to sabotage our mission, aren't you?"

"Why would I reveal what I'm doing here?" Milk proclaimed with a sinister grin. "That would ruin all the fun, now wouldn't it?"

"It's pretty obvious that you… dairy products are here to mess us up," Lopmon pointed out. "You don't belong in this world."

"And neither do you," Milk replied. "Wouldn't it be better for the world… if you and those who came with you just… left this world? Your presence alone has already caused major interferences. It's causing the Legendary Warriors to change in their behavior, following an uncertain, and unwanted path."

"We're here because of the path set out for them now," Lopmon argued back. "It leads them down to a path of darkness. Is that what you want for them?"

"A path where they become the heroes? Where everyone is saved thanks to them? Where they can work together as true Legendary Warriors?" Milk answered back. "Why would you want to take that away?"

"Because that's not… who they are," Lopmon replied.

"And who are they then?" Milk asked innocently. "They can be who they want to be here. Why wouldn't they want to take advantage of the power they hold?"

"Because this isn't how it happened… it shouldn't be," Lopmon stated.

"Or should it? Is it because you're afraid of what will happen if they worked together from the start?" Milk replied. "After all, if the children continue following the path laid out for them, wouldn't it reach the best possible outcome for everyone? They'll become stronger, their teamwork would be in sync. They'll be able to truly save the Digital World. Something, I was sure, you and your friends had wanted too. So why try to stop it?"

Lopmon hesitated. "... Why do you care? You don't belong in the Digital World to begin with."

"Ah, but neither do you. At least, not in this way." Milk replied.

"But I have more personal stakes in this than you. What's your reasoning for doing this?" Lopmon asked.

"Who knows? Perhaps I'm just filled with bitter energy towards humans in general after being thrown out, discarded, and used for voodoo practices," Milk answered. "But instead of questioning my motivation and morality, you should question yourself. Is what you're doing really better for everyone, or just yourselves?"

"I don't need a rag doll to judge my actions," Lopmon hissed.

"And who is the big bad Cherubimon in this story?" Milk asked. "Oh, wait… don't tell me… you still don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" Lopmon frowned.

"No, no, it's best you figure it out on your own~ That is, if you can last long enough to," Milk giggled a creepy giggle as his head twitched like it was glitching out.

Lopmon gasped as he quickly moved to the side, just barely dodging a sudden beam of purple light from the doll's mouth.

The beam missed Lopmon, but it hit a tree nearby, causing the tree to glitch out. Milk pouted. "Awww! You dodged! That ruined the fun!"

"Stop using that power here! You're going to break the world!" Lopmon snapped.

"Nothing a simple 'reset' can't fix~" Milk grinned ominously.

Lopmon narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll stop you."

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon shot out an icy wind from his mouth.

The icy attack flew at Milk, who just moved to the side with a little spin. "Aww~ You missed~ Want to try again?~"

Lopmon ran forward and jumped, spinning around at Milk. "Tiny Twister!"

Milk jumped to the left, but the twister wound up hitting Milk on the face. "Owowowow!"

While Milk was recovering, Lopmon jumped onto Milk's body to pounce him to the ground. Milk just grinned at Lopmon before phasing into the ground, and out of Lopmon's grasp. Lopmon frowned before he jumped away. Milk floated back up into the sky, his head twitching again.

"You're too weak to do any real damage. You should know this by now," Milk giggled. "The fact you can't even digivolve says a lot about you. How do you hope to prevent those children from continuing down their chosen path if you can't even defend yourself?"

"That wasn't the point of the mission. We're supposed to guide them, not fight for them," Lopmon argued.

"And yet you've already had to fight with them, or for them in one case." Milk giggled again. "But now you're becoming more and more useless as the kids are getting stronger, like they should be."

Milk flew at Lopmon, grabbing him by the ears and threw him into the sky. Lopmon yelped as he was falling headfirst. Milk flew up to Lopmon and turned upside down to face him.

"Is this just a game to you!?" Lopmon snapped, not caring that he was falling. "Their lives are in real danger!"

"Are you sure this isn't a game that you feel you can't lose?" Milk responded back. "Maybe I'm actually doing the right thing here."

"No! You're only keeping them trapped here!" Lopmon snapped as he managed to turn himself around in the sky and spread out his ears to slow his descent. "I didn't come here to just let them go through this whole thing again until it breaks them!"

"Oh? Who said anything about breaking them? We're just trying to make them stronger!" Milk replied with a giggle. "And you will only hinder that~"

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon shot out more icy wind at Milk.

Milk's feet froze as he moved up to avoid the attack. "My, my, seems someone's quite agitated. Maybe I hit a chord?"

"Just shut up!" Lopmon hissed.

"You are so easy to make agitated, aren't you, little bunny~" Milk snickered. "Well, I'd love to stick around, but I have some work to do back on the island. So enjoy your trip~"

With those words said, Milk flew back up towards the island, leaving Lopmon to fall. Lopmon frowned, seeing how he had no way back up the island. I'm sorry… you guys will have to do this without me.

Lopmon inflated his ears and let the wind carry him to wherever it will. He had no idea where it was taking him, he just hoped he wouldn't end up somewhere that would land him in more trouble.

Takuya grunted as he was pushed into what looked like a playroom, landing on his stomach with a grunt. "Ow…" He groaned as he sat up, rubbing at his stomach where he had landed on a small toy. "That hurts…"

"T-Takuya!?" A familiar voice spoke in shock.

Takuya's gaze snapped over at the familiar voice. His eyes landed on a small orange hamster-like Digimon with wings coming from the sides/top of his head. "Patamon?!"

"What…"

"What are you doing here!?" Both Takuya and Patamon asked the other at the same time.

"I fell here after we were blown away by Gigasmon's attack," Patamon answered. "The ShadowToyAgumon wouldn't let me leave for whatever reason."

"That stupid teddy bear brought me here." Takuya grumbled. "I swear, teddy bears are the worst!"

"Ugh, stop it, you're sounding like Lopmon…" Patamon groaned, rubbing his head.

"Lopmon's afraid of teddy bears?" Takuya blinked.

"Nevermind that," Patamon said. "This bear… do you remember his name?"

"Um… I think it was WaruMonzaemon." Takuya replied. "But there is another one called Monzaemon too, that chased me, Tommy, and Koji, wanting to play with us."

"WaruMonzaemon…" Patamon frowned looking troubled about something.

"What is it?" Takuya asked. "Do you know the guy?"

"Not personally, no," Patamon answered. "But… um… I think Monzaemon is WaruMonzaemon. Someone must've corrupted him. I'm just… surprised he took you here and not… I don't know, Tommy, since he's the youngest one in the group."

Takuya rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I actually stopped Tommy from being taken." He admitted. "But I guess I was the trade-off, considering I'm the one here right now."

Patamon frowned more as he looked even more troubled upon hearing that.

"What's wrong?" Takuya asked.

"N-nothing! I… uh… I mean that I don't like that you got captured," Patamon quickly said.

Takuya blinked before he sighed. "Yeah, well… To be honest, while I don't like it either, I'm kinda okay with it, if it means Tommy isn't here, all alone and scared."

"I think Tommy could've taken care of himself if he had to," Patamon sighed. "And he wouldn't be alone… I mean I'm here."

Takuya chuckled. "True, but to be fair, Tommy is just a young kid. I'd hate to think about him trapped here."

"Well… now you're trapped. What do you plan to do?" Patamon asked.

"Spirit evolve? I mean… WaruMonzaemon never took my D-Tector away," Takuya answered.

"Sure, you could do that. But… how confident are you in fighting off hordes of ShadowToyAgumon?" Patamon asked.

"I don't know… what are ShadowToyAgumon?" Takuya asked.

Patamon pointed out the window. "Look down into the courtyard. What do you see?"

Takuya blinked as he looked down from the window. He saw what looked like black grass covering the entire courtyard.

"Black… grass?" Takuya asked.

"No… those are ShadowToyAgumon," Patamon revealed.

Takuya grimaced. "Oooh… That's a lot of ShadowToyAgumon…" He gulped. "I… even as Agunimon I may not last that long against all of those guys…"

Takuya looked over at Patamon, and noticed that he had a lot of scraps and scratches. He thought that was from Gigasmon, but he didn't remember Patamon having all of those scratches.

"What happened to you?" Takuya asked in concern.

"I tried to escape a few times… didn't work out so well…" Patamon sighed. "I mean… maybe I could've escaped the ShadowToyAgumon, but… there's someone else here who's trying to keep me from flying away."

Takuya's face became serious upon hearing that information. "What? Who could be keeping you from just leaving?"

"Someone sinister…" Patamon frowned. "I can't escape without some help."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Takuya asked.

"Hold it!" Patamon spoke up. "Don't get all reckless now! You're not going to make it if you jump out of the window. And if you try going through the door, WaruMonzaemon is waiting."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Takuya grumbled. "If we stay here, we are just sitting ducks!"

"The easiest thing you could probably do is purify WaruMonzaemon," Patamon answered. "Maybe you could… try playing with him?"

Takuya blinked. "Seriously? You want me to play with that bear? But I'm not… I don't… know if it would work…"

Patamon frowned as he sighed. "You could try fighting him, I guess."

"Yeah, surely I should be able to take down a teddy bear!" Takuya said.

Takuya took out his D-Tector. While he was spirit evolving, Patamon looked out the window, wondering since Takuya was here, if Tommy was out there with Koji right now. Would the two even get along?

When Takuya was finished, he was Agunimon. "Alright, time to bust out of here!"

Agunimon made his way to the door and prepared himself for the fight to come. WaruMonzaemon stood there, looking at him.

"You're not allowed to leave," WaruMonzaemon stated.

"We'll see about that." Agunimon growled as he got ready to fight. I hope I can pull this off. Fighting in close quarters will be tricky…

Patamon stood beside Agunimon, looking at WaruMonzaemon, wondering who would make the first move. WaruMonzaemon just kept watching Agunimon.

Realizing WaruMonzaemon wasn't going to make the first move, Agunimon decided to do that instead. He clenched a fist and threw a punch at WaruMonzaemon, hoping to catch the other Digimon off guard.

WaruMonzaemon flinched back as the punch hit his chest. Though with Agunimon so close, this gave WaruMonzaemon a chance to swipe his claw into Agunimon's shoulder, digging into his armor.

"Move back!" Patamon called out.

Agunimon kicked WaruMonzaemon in the stomach to get some breathing room, but that also caused WaruMonzaemon's claws in his shoulder to be torn out, leaving a very bad gash that had penetrated through his armor. Agunimon's hand went to his shoulder, gripping the wound tightly.

Dang it… Why… Why does this feel familiar? Agunimon thought as he tried to push through the pain. I feel like… I've felt this pain before… gotten a wound like this before…

"Go back into your room," WaruMonzaemon demanded. "If not, I'll have to hurt you and drag you back in there."

"No way!" Agunimon hissed as he ran at WaruMonzaemon again, removing his hand from his shoulder. "I'm no one's prisoner!"

Agunimon tried different attacks on WaruMonzaemon. He tried using Pyro Tornado, but the tight corridor made it impossible for him to use the attack well. He was only able to make a small tornado, which WaruMonzaemon easily destroyed with his claw. Agunimon tried using Pyro Darts, which seemed to hurt WaruMonzaemon, but the attack itself was too weak to stop him. WaruMonzaemon charged at Agunimon and tackled him into a wall.

Agunimon grunted as he felt his shoulder flare with pain. Ow! My shoulder… He tried to keep the pain off of his face, but to no avail. It was clear he was in a predicament now.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon shot out his air bubble at WaruMonzaemon to try to stop him or slow him down.

"That is enough! Heart Break Attack!" WaruMonzaemon shouted as he shot out the black heart bubbles at Agunimon and Patamon.

Agunimon couldn't dodge the attack, being pinned to the wall, and Patamon was not able to dodge due to the close quarters of the fight.

Agunimon was filled with despair as thoughts about failing, and losing everyone came to mind. Then that nightmare he had back at home, just before he left for the Shibuya train came back to him. Where he stood on a ravaged battlefield. Tommy, JP, Zoe, and Koji were lying on the ground. And a shadowy figure claimed them as his.

Then Agunimon thought about his baby cousins, and how these bad Digimon would come to their house and hurt them, just like they did with Tommy. And there would be nothing he could do about it. He saw them screaming out to him for help. Agunimon lost the will to fight, and transformed back into Takuya.

"I… I can't… save anyone…" Takuya whimpered as he felt the despair becoming too much for him. He couldn't help but cry now.

"Takuya…" Patamon frowned as he fell to the ground.

WaruMonzaemon walked over to Takuya and picked him up. He then walked over to Patamon and picked him up as well, taking them both back into the room. "Stay here."

WaruMonzaemon then closed the door.

"Takuya… hey… Takuya… try to snap out of it," Patamon spoke up.

Takuya was still crying, but the feelings of despair began to go away. "S-Sorry… I… I just… that stupid… I can't stop crying… Stupid bear…"

Takuya looked at Patamon. "Why… aren't you crying?"

"It's not the first time I had to face despair…" Patamon answered. "I… try not to let it take me over."

Takuya slowly began to calm down. "You've… faced despair before?" He asked as he sniffled, wiping at his eyes.

"I may not look it, but I am a lot older than you," Patamon answered. "I've been through a lot of things. But when you get hit with despair… you have to remember there's still hope somewhere. We may not be able to get out on our own, but I doubt the others would leave us here to rot."

Takuya was now feeling calmer and he sighed. "Yeah… Yeah, you're right. We just… have to hope the others can save us. Koji's strong, and Tommy's clever. And with Labramon and Lopmon, they are even stronger."

"... About Lopmon…" Patamon frowned.

"Are you sure, Labramon?" Koji asked.

"Yeah… the trail leads into the castle," Labramon answered. "WaruMonzaemon and Takuya's scent goes in there."

"Then we have to get in there somehow." Koji said as he eyed the brightly colored castle. "But that thing is… quite colorful."

"That castle?" Tommy asked. "It doesn't look so bad. It looks like a giant toy castle."

Labramon frowned as she looked at the drawbridge. "This smells like a trap."

"Well, we need to get in there to rescue Takuya." Koji said. "But I agree, we need to be careful because we don't know what could be waiting inside."

"Hey… is that Takuya up in that window?" Tommy pointed up.

Koji and Labramon looked up at the window, seeing Takuya's back at the window.

"Hey Takuya!" Tommy called.

"Down here!" Koji shouted.

But Takuya gave no response.

"I don't think he can hear us." Tommy frowned.

"Yeah, we're too far away." Koji agreed. "Let's see if we can get inside the castle."

"Are you sure we should step on the drawbri-" Tommy began to ask, but Koji was already running ahead. "Okay, I guess we're doing this."

Tommy and Labramon ran after Koji. But then they saw two black toy-like Digimon standing on the other side of the drawbridge.

"Who are they?" Koji asked.

"They look like ToyAgumon… but all black," Labramon said. "Something's not right."

"You mean the ToyAgumon aren't supposed to be all black?" Koji asked as he eyed the black ToyAgumon before them.

"We better move," Tommy said.

However, before they could do anything, the drawbridge underneath them began to fold up. They all yelped as they fell into the moat below. Tommy flailed around as he didn't know how to swim. Labramon pushed Tommy's back with her head to bring him to the surface, and Koji quickly swam up to the surface as well.

"We have to get out!" Koji spoke up as Labramon came up in front of Tommy.

Tommy held onto Labramon to keep himself afloat. "How? This moat is pretty deep!"

"Plastic Blaze!"

Toy fire balls started to rain down on them. The fireballs, while they looked like harmless plastic toys, exploded on impact.

"Duck!" Koji yelped before he took a deep breath and dove under the water.

Labramon and Tommy had to duck underwater to avoid the explosions. They started swimming, trying to get away from the drawbridge and the line of fire.

When they were back up in the surface, Labramon coughed a little. "I don't know why we're being attacked, but we have to find a way out."

"Is there a ramp out of the moat or something?" Koji asked.

Something invisible from behind them began to giggle before firing a beam into the water, causing a large wave to form behind them. Koji, Tommy, and Labramon all gasped in shock at the sudden appearance of the wave. They let out a scream as they were bombarded and forced underwater.

Dazed, and unable to tell which way was up, Koji and Labramon had trouble trying to swim back up, and Tommy flailed around underwater in a panic. Luckily for them, something else was swimming underwater. A black and white panda bear grabbed onto Tommy, Koji, and Labramon, and quickly swam into a secret hole into the castle's underground cavern. The Panda bear pulled them out of the water.

"Once again, I, Pandamon, have foiled my fiendish foes, the sinister ShadowToyAgumon." The panda bear, Pandamon, said.

Tommy, Koji, and Labramon took a moment to cough out some water and recover from nearly drowning.

"Did you take us here so you can hurt us yourself?" Koji hissed.

"Koji, if he wanted to hurt us, he would've just left us to drown," Tommy scolded before smiling at Pandamon. "Thank you for saving us."

"Can you please tell us what's going on here?" Labramon requested as her fur was soaked and dripping with water.

"I've taken you to my hidden cave under the castle," Pandamon explained, dropping the vigilante accent he was using earlier. "I've been forced into hiding since the ToyAgumon had been corrupted by Cherubimon. Now they are ShadowToyAgumon, and they plan to take revenge on any human child they find for abandoning them. At least, that's the story of their motivation. In reality, Cherubimon just brainwashed them into thinking all human children are bad, probably to hunt down the ones who came into the Digital World. And one other being had been seen around here, telling visions of humans and 3 Digimon coming here that don't belong."

Koji blinked. "Another being? What kind of being could be able to tell the future?"

"And is this being a Digimon?" Tommy asked.

"I'm not sure. They didn't seem like a Digimon," Pandamon answered.

Labramon frowned.

"They warned that the 3 Digimon that would fall here with the humans must be captured and taken out," Pandamon continued. "Though I don't know why."

"That's not good… I wonder if they captured Lopmon and Patamon." Labramon frowned.

"I don't know who they caught, but the fact remains we have to save our friend, and whomever else was captured." Koji said seriously.

Tommy rubbed his head.

Koji looked at Tommy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… just… have a headache," Tommy answered.

"Okay… but if it gets worse, let me know." Koji said. "I don't want you to slow us down if your headache gets worse."

Koji and Tommy yelped when Labramon shook herself to try to dry her fur, getting water all over the place. Though she mostly did that to distract them.

"Sorry, I don't like having wet fur," Labramon apologized.

"Just don't get us soaked next time…" Koji grumbled. "I was already starting to dry off when you soaked us…"

"I apologize about what happened to you. Toy Island is supposed to be a children's paradise," Pandamon sighed. "Monzaemon remained in good spirits, but I'm afraid it would only be a matter of time before the ShadowToyAgumon does something to corrupt his poor, innocent soul."

"Monzaemon… was that yellow bear, right?" Tommy frowned.

"Yes. All he wants, more than anything, is to just play with others," Pandamon answered.

"I knew he wasn't such a bad guy…" Tommy said. "But then why did he… turn evil?"

"If something turned Monzaemon evil, then it clearly wasn't willingly." Koji huffed. "We need to find the one who turned Monzaemon evil, or at least do that after we rescue our friends."

"Are you sure it isn't Monzaemon who's evil and turned the ToyAgumon evil, not the other way around?" Tommy asked.

"I am sure… why do you ask?" Pandamon asked.

Tommy frowned. "... I'm… not sure either… I guess my mind's a little messed up from the Heart Break Attack."

"Try not to think about it too much, Tommy," Labramon said. "The point is we need to fight our way into the castle if we want to save our friends."

Koji nodded. "And we'll need you to stay focused, Tommy. Labramon and I can only do so much on our own."

"If you want to save your friends, I can take you to the castle's courtyard," Pandamon suggested. "But I must warn you that the courtyard will be swarming with ShadowToyAgumon. Are you sure you'll be able to face them all down on your own?"

"Can't you help us?" Labramon asked.

"I would if I could, but despite my Ultimate level status, I am a peaceful Digimon. I wouldn't last very long against an army of ShadowToyAgumon," Pandamon explained.

Koji sighed. "I guess it's just us three then." He rubbed his head with one of his hands. "We'll just have to be fast if we want to get into the castle."

"Are you sure about this? We may have to fight," Tommy said as they followed Pandamon through the cave.

"Then we'll fight if it comes down to it," Koji said.

"So you really intend to stop the ShadowToyAgumon?" Pandamon asked.

"We're a lot stronger than we look," Koji answered.

"If that is what you wish to do, I won't stop you. Just be careful, the ShadowToyAgumon have abilities they normally shouldn't have," Pandamon warned.

Koji, Tommy, and Labramon nodded.

"We'll be careful." Tommy replied.

"I wish you the best of luck then," Pandamon said as he pointed at stairs that were leading up to a door. "These stairs will lead you to the castle's courtyard. Be wary, the ShadowToyAgumon will be waiting for you."

"We'll be fine." Koji reassured Pandamon. "And thanks for the help." He added, not wanting to seem ungrateful.

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Tommy smiled, looking more sincere than Koji.

"We owe you for saving us and taking us here," Labramon agreed.

"Don't thank me, just stop the ShadowToyAgumon," Pandamon replied.

Koji, Tommy, and Labramon walked up the stairs.

"I never had to fight against toys before," Tommy remarked.

"I don't think any of us have to." Koji admitted. "I've never fought toys either, so it's a bit… weird for me to say the least."

"Just treat it as you would with any other battle so far," Labramon said as they stood in front of the door.

Koji nodded, as did Tommy.

"Okay, let's do this then." Koji said, trying to keep his nerves calm so as to not freak out Tommy.

The threesome emerged from the tunnel into the courtyard of the castle. Koji, Tommy, and Labramon all looked up at the castle, which loomed over them despite its lavender coloring.

"Couldn't they have picked any other color besides lavender?" Labramon asked. "If they wanted to make the castle look all evil and ominous, why not black and red? Or some other dark colors to represent the oh-so-evil edginess that these ShadowToyAgumon had become?"

"Maybe they hadn't had the time to give the castle a paint job?" Tommy shrugged. "I doubt making the castle look all evil and hostile was on their top priority list."

"Well, whatever the reasoning, we can't drop our guard just because the color looks so innocent." Koji warned.

They were quickly halted by a horde of ShadowToyAgumon.

"That didn't take long," Labramon said.

"Human children," One of the ShadowToyAgumon stated. "How thoughtful of you to gift wrap yourselves for us, and one of the troublemaking Digimon. We will take you into the castle so long as you cooperate and do exactly what we say."

Koji didn't like the sound of that. "We didn't come here to do what you want." He growled out.

"We came here to save our friends," Tommy added.

"That's too bad. Then we will capture you ourselves," The lead ShadowToyAgumon said. "WaruMonzaemon is too busy looking after the human child he brought here and the Digimon that don't belong, so we'll use what's left of this gift that an ally of our's gave us to handle you brats."

"What gift?" Labramon frowned.

"You'll soon find out," The ShadowToyAgumon replied before holding out what looked like a vial with glowing green liquid inside. "ShadowToyAgumon, prepare yourselves, we must absorb this power to take down the humans who have stolen the Legendary Warriors' powers!"

Koji, Labramon, and Tommy all prepared for a fight.

"That green stuff can't be good if these guys are using it." Koji warned. "We have to be careful if we fight these guys."

"What is that green stuff anyway?" Tommy asked. "It looks like the stuff that was covering the fractal code of the Woodmon."

Labramon was glaring at the glowing stuff. I know what it is… it's the only thing that really burns my nose… If I'm right, we're in for a tough fight if they use that.

Labramon jumped at the ShadowToyAgumon, trying to grab the vial from him. This caused a bit of a pile up. The other ShadowToyAgumon tried to yank Labramon away as she scratched against the ShadowToyAgumon with the vial. "Don't take that liquid! You don't know what it will do to you!"

"You just don't want us to be victorious!" ShadowToyAgumon replied. "Our ally would never give us something that would be harmful to us!"

"Who is this ally of yours then? Were they even a Digimon?" Labramon hissed as she struggled against the other ShadowToyAgumon.

"Labramon! We gotta help her!" Koji quickly said.

"Plastic Blaze!"

"Look out!" Tommy warned as both he and Koji fell to the ground to avoid the attack, which hit the wall, causing a small explosion. "We better spirit evolve!"

Koji was already ahead of Tommy, taking out his D-Tector from his pocket. "Way ahead of you." He said.

Koji held up his D-Tector and the white digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the energy of the Spirit entered his body. His eyes became red as his hair shortened and turned almost platinum in color. A white helmet covered his head as white and blue armor covered his body. He grasped the familiar beam sabers and swung them a few times before clasping them around his waist and firing off his arm laser. "Lobomon!"

Despite what was going on, Tommy looked at his D-Tector. I wonder if… this is real too?

Tommy squeezed his D-Tector. This isn't the time to hesitate. I can think about this later.

Tommy held up his D-Tector as the light green digital form of his first Spirit appeared on the screen of his D-Tector and he formed the familiar ring of fractal coding around his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. He lost his hair and his body became white as snow. His fingers became like paws almost and he gained a more cub-like appearance to his body. Green chest armor formed on his body and his feet gained green and red boots. A headband that had the image of a bear on it formed on his head, and he gained a shoulder pad on each side, but one was red while the other was gray in color. He slid down and landed as a mushy pile before he reformed and grinned, calling out his name. "Kumamon!"

Now that they were in their Digimon form, they could start fighting back.

"Howling Laser!" Lobomon shot out a beam of light at the ShadowToyAgumon, at least the ones trying to grab at Labramon, getting them off of her.

"That wasn't too hard," Lobomon commented.

But then, several more ShadowToyAgumon came into the area.

"There's no end to them." Kumamon frowned. "Labramon, let go! We can't fight them if you're in the crossfire!"

"This is more dangerous than you realize!" Labramon called as she grabbed the vial with her teeth, trying to pull it away from the ShadowToyAgumon. "Digimon can't handle this stuff without going berserk!"

Lobomon felt a chill run down his spine when he heard Labramon's words. If she was this desperate to get that vial away from the ShadowToyAgumon, then it had to be bad news. "Hang on! Let me help you!"

"If you won't let it go, then I'll just take it!" The ShadowToyAgumon hissed at Labramon.

Labramon frowned, and saw the ShadowToyAgumon opening its mouth. Labramon's eyes went wide, knowing what he was about to do. She quickly let go of the vial and ran away just before he shot out a small Plastic Blaze from his mouth, shattering the vial, and causing the contents to splatter at the other ShadowToyAgumon. Lobomon stopped when he saw this green stuff sprinkled on these ShadowToyAgumon, and they were absorbed into their bodies.

"W-what's… going on…?" Lobomon asked, feeling chills running down his spine, as if an instinct was telling him something bad was happening to the ShadowToyAgumon. It was unnerving, feeling something in his chest racing at the sight of that green stuff.

"What was that stuff? And what's it doing to them?" Kumamon frowned, getting just as bad a feeling as Lobomon was.

The ShadowToyAgumon were all writhing on the floor in pain. Labramon frowned as she stood beside Lobomon and Kumamon.

"That stuff they took… it's toxic to Digimon," Labramon warned. "It can mutate them, give them strange powers they normally shouldn't have. Or it could completely destroy them if it gets into their Digi-Core, they won't be reborn as eggs if you don't purify them fast enough."

"What? What is that stuff?" Kumamon asked, horrified by this.

"... Ectoplasm," Labramon answered.

As soon as Labramon revealed what the glowing green stuff was, the ShadowToyAgumon suddenly began glowing green, and their eyes turned red. They quickly started stacking on each other, creating what looked like a giant glowing green dinosaur rex, with horns on the side of its head, and on its nose.

"EctoGreymon." A voice spoke to Lobomon and Kumamon.

"Did… they just become a new Digimon?" Lobomon asked warily. He didn't like the glowing green dinosaur before him. Something about it just screamed 'wrong' to him, like it wasn't natural or something.

"Oh no…" Labramon gasped.

It wasn't just the strange Digimon before them. His very existence was causing the world around them to start glitching out. Fractal codes began showing themselves when they shouldn't. Pieces of the architecture started to turn into blurry bits of data. The clouds that got near them turned blocky, and began to blink in and out of existence.

Labramon paled as she looked down at her paws, seeing that they were starting to glitch up as well. Her body was starting to show a bit of fractal code, and parts of her body were starting to turn into bits of data.

This world… can't handle this power… Labramon grimly thought.

A white floating ragdoll had been watching this while invisible. "What a fool. I warned him not to use too much of it."

Meanwhile, Takuya was recovering from his defeat with WaruMonzaemon. He wasn't sure how to go about this, but then he sensed something was off. It was invading and burning. Then he saw Patamon's body didn't look right. His orange was blinking to black, his blue eyes started flickering to a strange neon green.

"Huh? What's happening!?" Patamon yelled, grabbing his head.

"I… I don't know." Takuya admitted. "But… things feel… wrong… like something… terrible is happening… But… What about you? What's happening to you?!"

Patamon quickly looked out the window and saw the strange looking Digimon. "What in all of the Ghost Zone…?"

The room they were in started to glitch out as well. The TV turned on, showing green static. The toys began to levitate off the ground. The walls and floor started to become blurry data. The furniture began to show their fractal codes.

"That's… too much ectoplasm…" Patamon hissed, grabbing his chest like he was trying to hold something back.

"Wait… Ectoplasm?" Takuya gaped. He remembered his aunt and uncle tended to mess around with some sort of glowing green stuff, at least last time he had visited before moving to Japan, but had been mentioned the glowing green stuff was really rare to find in the human world.

"Ectoplasm… very bad… for the Digital World…" Patamon warned as he gritted his teeth and struggled to breathe.

Takuya gasped, seeing that Patamon wasn't looking so good.

"H-Hang on… I… I… Someone will stop this…" Takuya said, trying to remain calm, but he was feeling his heart racing. What in the world is ectoplasm doing here in the Digital World?! I thought it was so hard to come by in the human world. How did someone find enough to bring here?!

Meanwhile, back in the courtyard, Lobomon picked up Labramon, seeing that she wasn't looking so good.

"We have to stop this thing! It's messing up the world!" Lobomon hissed.

"I can see that!" Kumamon replied.

The EctoGreymon looked down at them with its glowing red eyes. It opened its mouth, building up something inside.

"EctoBlast!" EctoGreymon shot out a large green ball of fire at them.

"Look out!" Kumamon shouted.

Lobomon and Kumamon jumped away from the massive attack. It exploded on the ground, leaving a crater. The crater itself was glitching out like crazy, more fractal code began appearing.

"We can't let that thing use that attack too much, it's going to rip the world apart!" Kumamon warned.

"No duh, I can see that." Lobomon hissed as he looked at the EctoGreymon again. He had to put Labramon down somewhere safe so he could fight back more effectively. But it didn't look like anywhere was safe.

Kumamon jumped as high as he could, knowing they had to do something quick, and Lobomon had to keep Labramon safe. Kumamon took a deep breath as the EctoGreymon started to open its mouth again.

"Crystal Breeze!" Kumamon shot out his icy wind as hard as he could.

The icy wind covered EctoGreymon's maw in ice, sealing it shut. Seeing this, Kumamon stopped using his current attack to switch to another attack. "Frozen Tundra!"

Kumamon turned his body into an icy stalagmite and tried to pierce through the EctoGreymon's chest, hoping that would be enough to reveal its fractal code. Unfortunately, EctoGreymon acted quickly. Despite its maw being sealed by ice, it was able to turn around and slam Kumamon into a wall with its powerful tail.

"Darn it!" Lobomon hissed. He was stuck on the defensive with protecting Labramon, and all he could do was watch as Kumamon fought this thing on his own. "I can't do much like this!"

Kumamon hissed from the wall, his body returning to normal. EctoGreymon then ran forward, charging at Kumamon. Kumemon yelped as EctoGreymon jabbed his horn into Kumamon's body. This horrified Lobomon for a moment, until he saw Kumamon's body dripping like liquid. EctoGraymon's horn stabbed through a liquified body, though that still hurt Kumamon a lot. Kumamon managed to melt himself onto the ground before reforming. But he laid on the ground, badly injured. He didn't look like he could keep fighting.

"L… Lobomon…" Labramon spoke up weakly. "Put… put me… next to… Kumamon…"

Lobomon didn't hesitate to hurry to Kumamon's side to do just that. Using his one free hand to hold up a light saber to block another physical attack from the EctoGreymon.

"What are you planning to do?" Lobomon asked as he kept the EctoGreymon at bay.

"Take care… of him… fight…" Labramon weakly answered. "Keep… fighting."

Lobomon nodded. "I'll see how long I can hold this thing at bay. Just… don't take too long with your plan." He said before turning back to the fight and giving it his full concentration.

EctoGreymon managed to break through the ice around its mouth and let out a roar that sounded echoey and unnatural. It charged at Lobomon with its horns.

Lobomon narrowed his red eyes before he pulled out his second sword and ignited its blade. He then held up his swords in a blocking move and caught the EctoGreymon's charging horn in between his blades.

EctoGreymon was large, and strong. Lobomon was having trouble holding the giant dinosaur back. He was being pushed, his feet being dragged on the ground. Eventually, EctoGreymon lifted up its head and opened its mouth.

"EctoBlast!"

Lobomon's eyes went wide when he saw the massive green flame building up in EctoGreymon's throat, ready to end his entire existence.

"Crystal Breeze!"

From behind Lobomon, a blizzard flew across him, freezing EctoGreymon's mouth in mid-attack. This caused the EctoBlast to explode within itself, making it fall on its back with a shaking THUD.

Shocked, Lobomon turned around, seeing Kumamon, still a bit injured, but fine enough to get back on his feet, standing there. Kumamon had an arm around his stomach, probably the spot where he was impaled earlier.

"T-Thanks…" Lobomon said shakily, having never expected to nearly be blasted to death. "Are… you okay though?"

"Okay enough… to keep fighting…" Kumamon answered, taking a moment to breathe. "Labramon used some kind of… healing move on me… it wasn't enough to… fully heal me… but she healed most… of my biggest injuries."

Lobomon wasn't sure if Kumamon fighting in his current condition was a good idea, but since he needed all the help he could get, he didn't protest Kumamon helping him. But I will keep an eye on Kumamon in case he starts to falter. Then I will take over more directly so he doesn't get hurt worse.

Labramon weakly pushed herself up as she looked up to see the EctoGreymon getting back up, and chomping down on the ice in its mouth. It wasn't over yet.

EctoGreymon let out another echoey, unnatural roar. It charged at the two Legendary Warriors again. Lobomon quickly stood in front of Kumamon, knowing the little bear wasn't going to be able to take another direct hit like that.

C'mon… This had better work… Lobomon thought as he readied for another round of combat. I need a move that can at least do some damage. Howling Laser takes too long to charge. I need a different technique… one that can help me turn this around…

Unknowingly, Lobomon's light swords began to glow slightly as he subconsciously pushed energy into them. I can't let this thing hurt Kumamon or Labramon any further!

Kumamon noticed the swords were becoming brighter. What's going on with Lobomon's swords?

Lobomon's eyes glinted as he then let out a shout and swung his swords, creating two shockwaves of pure light energy that were unleashed from the blades.

This blew back EctoGreymon enough to stop his charging.

"Whoa, what was that, Lobomon?" Kumamon asked, never having seen Lobomon use that move before.

Lobomon blinked as he stared at his swords. "I… I don't know… I just… didn't want you two to get hurt anymore and the next thing I know… My swords were pulsing with energy… and then that shockwave attack…"

"Can… you do that again?" Kumamon asked, seeing that the EctoGreymon was starting to recover from that.

Lobomon looked back at EctoGreymon and frowned. "Maybe… No time like the present to try it." He said as he got ready to fight again. He narrowed his eyes as he concentrated, and to his surprise, he saw his swords were beginning to glow brighter again. A grin formed on Lobomon's lips as he realized that yes, he could do that move again. With another shout, he let loose two more shockwaves of light energy at the EctoGreymon.

EctoGreymon growled at the shockwaves before it jumped up into the sky… and floated.

"It can fly!?" Lobomon realized in shock.

EctoGreymon wobbled unsteadily in the air.

"It's… not used to its powers…" Kumamon also realized.

EctoGreymon growled as it attempted to land on them to crush them.

"Use that shockwave on it now!" Kumamon quickly said, getting an idea.

Despite his wounds, Kumamon began running. He shot out his unspoken Crystal Breeze on the ground, turning most of it to ice. His boots took out his skis as he used the ice to move much faster with little effort.

Without any hesitation, Lobomon once more gathered energy into his swords before he unleashed two more shockwaves at the floating EctoGreymon, this time shouting out the new attack's name. "Howling Shockwave!"

EctoGreymon let out a roar of anger as the shockwaves prevented him from crushing the annoying Legendary Warrior just under him.

Kumemon reached the wall and jumped, melting parts of his hands to stick to the wall and tried climbing it. His wound hurt him, so it slowed him down more than he would've liked. Come on… I have to get up there…

Lobomon kept distracting EctoGreymon as Kumamon reached the top of the wall he was climbing. This may be our best chance.

Labramon looked up, seeing EctoGreymon was losing its patience, and Kumamon on top of the castle just behind it. It might already be too late.

Kumamon used his Crystal Breeze to create an icy ramp. He hoped this would give him the momentum he needed to finish this.

Kumamon took a few steps back, then he ran forward, taking out his skis again as he reached the icy ramp.

However, Lobomon had run low on energy from the time it took Kumamon to get to where he needed to be. He wasn't able to make any more shockwaves, and his blades were running low on power. This pause gave EctoGreymon the time it needed to swipe Lobomon into a wall with its tail.

Lobomon cried out as he hit the wall. The impact left an imprint of his body in the wall, and he felt his chest hurting slightly when he breathed in shallow breaths. Ow…

Kumamon's eyes went wide, seeing the EctoGreymon was opening its maw again for that deadly attack. He had no time to stop it this time, he wasn't going to be able to reach EctoGreymon before it could unleash the deadly attack on Lobomon. Kumamon was already in the air as he reached the edge of the icy ramp.

Lobomon's red eyes went wide as he saw the open maw with the glowing green fireball starting to come out of it.

Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Lobomon almost didn't see it, but something white and pink ran up his shoulder and jumped forward. Lobomon gasped.

"Retriever Bark!" Labramon let out the loudest sounding bark she ever did.

The loud noise broke EctoGreymon's concentration, causing the EctoBlast to go off to the side, barely missing Labramon and Lobomon, hitting, and destroying one of the walls of the castle instead.

"Do it!" Labramon shouted at Kumamon.

Kumamon, relieved to see Labramon just saved Lobomon with that stunt, put everything into this next attack. "Frozen Tundra!"

This time, Kumamon turned his entire body into an icy spear, and shot through EctoGreymon's back, piercing it. EctoGreymon let out an anguished scream as its fractal code began to show on its body, and showing the ectoplasm dripping from it.

Lobomon gritted his teeth as he pushed off the wall and landed on his feet. "So that's… this… ectoplasm, huh?" He hissed out between pain-filled breaths. He staggered forwards, reaching for his D-Tector and taking it off his person. "Time to… purify this thing…"

Kumamon landed on the ground, turning back into his original form, and rolling on the floor. "Ow…"

"Hurry, Lobomon," Labramon said before coughing a bit.

Lobomon nodded as he faced the fractal code of EctoGreymon. "Let the light purify you of this vile ectoplasm!" He said as he pressed the button on the side of his D-Tector, the screen showing the symbol for Light. "Fractal Code… Digitize!" He swung his arm, the scanner latching onto the contaminated fractal code and scanning it. The fractal code began to lose the ectoplasm, and the deed now done, the scanner went dark as Lobomon held his D-Tector to his chest. "Purification, complete!"

Kumamon managed to push himself up to his feet, and saw another fractal code coming out of the EctoGreymon.

"That must be the original corruption from Cherubimon," Labramon realized, already starting to feel better after Lobomon purified the ectoplasm part.

"I'll take care of it," Kumamon spoke up. "I hate it when toys go bad."

Kumamon held out his D-Tector, then he pressed the button on the side of it, the screen showing the symbol for Ice. He began swinging his arm, having the scanner latch onto the fractal code. "Fractal code… Digitize!"

It took about a solid minute for Kumamon's D-Tector to completely purify the contaminated fractal code, but he was soon finished as the rest of the fractal code went into the D-Tector.

Once the purification had been completed, EctoGreymon transformed back into the hundreds of ToyAgumon he was before. Though this time they were in different, bright colors instead of all black.

The world around them finally calmed down. There was no more glitching, no more pieces of data flickering in and out of existence, no more fractal code that shouldn't be showing. There was only physical damage to show that the fight even happened in the first place.

"I think… we returned… those ShadowToyAgumon to… normal…" Lobomon said, grimacing as his free hand moved to his aching chest. "Ow…" Do I… have a broken rib or something…?

"You two should turn back, let your Spirits rest," Labramon suggested in worry.

"Is that safe…? I… rather not… have a hole in my stomach… when I become human again…" Kumamon frowned.

"Trust me, you'll be okay," Labramon answered, seeming confident about that.

Lobomon certainly didn't feel like he could hold his Digimon form any longer. Fractal code surrounded him as he reverted back to his human form. Now as Koji, the boy fell back onto his butt. "Ow… I feel like a walking bruise…"

Kumamon did the same, fractal code surrounded him as he turned back to his own human form. His stomach hurt a little, but there was no visible injury there.

"I'm okay?" Tommy blinked, patting his stomach.

"Yeah… your Spirits take all the damages you suffer," Labramon explained. "You might still feel some phantom pains though. Just let your Spirits rest for a bit, and maybe eat some food to help recover energy faster."

"You look like you're doing better yourself," Koji noted.

"The ectoplasm was what was hurting me. Now that you got rid of it, I'm doing a lot better," Labramon explained.

"How did you know our Spirits took all the damages?" Tommy asked.

"I've done some research," Labramon answered.

Koji sighed. "At least that's some good news… It must take a lot of damage to actually hurt our human forms if what you're saying is true."

Tommy frowned as another thought started to creep into his mind.

"Oh gosh… what happened to us?" The ToyAgumon began asking.

"What happened to our castle!?" Another ToyAgumon shouted.

"Looks like they don't remember much about being ShadowToyAgumon," Labramon noted.

"Wait, what about Takuya? We have to go help him now! Who knows what that bear is doing to him!" Koji spoke up, quickly getting to his feet.

"What about our Spirits? We can't use them now," Tommy spoke up.

"We can't just sit here, he could be hurt from that fight too!" Koji quickly said.

Tommy frowned, but he was worried about Takuya too. "Then let's go see if he's alright."

The three of them quickly ran into the castle, hoping that Takuya would be okay.

Meanwhile, in the castle, Takuya saw the glitches had calmed down. Though during the whole thing, Patamon hid himself under a beanbag and refused to come out. Takuya looked out the window, seeing the courtyard looking quite destroyed. But the strange glowing dinosaur was gone, and instead of all black, he saw colorful looking Digimon on the ground.

"W-whoa… What happened? Where did all of these colorful Digimon come from?" Takuya wondered as he stared down at the piles of colorful Digimon.

Takuya shook his head. "Wait… does that mean… Koji and Tommy did it?"

Patamon crawled out from under the beanbag, his fur looking all messy. Though he looked to be normal again. He rubbed his belly warmer as if to make sure it was still there before sighing in relief.

"Oh good… I'm glad that's over," Patamon sighed in relief.

"Yeah, but… what was going on?" Takuya asked as he looked at Patamon. "It was like… the Digital World was coming apart or something."

"Like I was saying. There was too much ectoplasm in the area. The Digital World… and most data in general, can't function properly with ectoplasm. The ectoplasm eats away at normal data, and causes it to unravel. It affects Digimon too, which was why I was…uh, starting to look weird," Patamon explained in more detail now that things had calmed down.

Takuya furrowed his eyes slightly. "Would… Would that happen to us Legendary Warriors in our Digimon forms if we were exposed to ectoplasm like that?"

"That depends. I suppose if you were just facing down a foe with a lot of ectoplasm, you, theoretically, should be fine. Your Spirits are strong, and your humanity keeps you from being too badly affected by the external ectoplasm," Patamon explained. "But ectoplasm is deadly if it somehow gets inside of you, whether you're human or Digimon. Internal ectoplasm could hurt you if not destroy you, so be wary of that."

Takuya frowned a bit. "How do you know so much about ectoplasm anyway? Some of my family lives in a city called Amity Park that is supposedly haunted, but they know so little about this ectoplasm."

Patamon looked surprised by Takuya's comment. "What? … Did you say Amity Park?"

"Yeah?" Takuya replied. "It's a city in my world, so I doubt you'd know anything about it."

"... Who's this family you're talking about?" Patamon asked.

"Um… my aunt Maddie and my Uncle Jack…" Takuya replied. "Why?"

Patamon looked away for a moment, seeming to be quite shocked about something.

"Do you… know them or something?" Takuya asked hesitantly.

Patamon looked back at Takuya. "N-no, no, of course not. I… was just surprised since you… never spoke about your… uh… family before."

"I… didn't really want to because my aunt and uncle are a bit… eccentric to put it nicely." Takuya admitted. "I didn't want to be made fun of because they believe in ghosts and all that."

Patamon looked at Takuya curiously. "You don't… think ghosts are real?"

"It's… a far-fetched thing to prove, and… they're trying to break into another realm altogether." Takuya grumbled. "I've never seen a ghost myself, so how can I believe they are real?"

Takuya… is only 12 years old… so this must be… Patamon frowned. I see… he still has his normal life up until this point.

"Well, stranger things have happened. After all, you're seeing Digimon, and in a whole different world," Patamon replied. "Would it still be that far-fetched for ghosts and a world of ghosts to exist? Heck, maybe someone from your family will be able to turn into a ghost, like how you're able to turn into a Digimon."

Takuya grumbled. "That will be the day." He huffed, folding his arms. "Someone being able to turn into a ghost would be them basically dying. At least according to my aunt and uncle anyway."

"Well… you're… not wrong there," Patamon sighed, rubbing his head. "Do you have anyone else in that family you want to talk about? Maybe… get some stuff off your chest? We might be here for a while."

"I guess." Takuya sighed as well. "I'd rather not have to deal with my older cousin and her… tendency to psycho… err… to analyze me in a mental study. She is so annoying, pretending to be a know-it-all, when she is only a year older than me!"

"Heh… she definitely sounds annoying," Patamon chuckled. "Though, as… Lopmon would usually tell me, she likely does it because she cares a lot. She just… kinda does it a bit too bluntly."

"Tell me about it." Takuya huffed. "I love her, I really do, but her blunt nature can get a bit overbearing at times."

Patamon looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. "You said she's the older cousin? Does that mean you have other cousins?"

"Yeah, twins actually." Takuya said with a bit of a fond smile. "They are a year younger than me, and… well… they can be very annoying with their pranks on me."

Patamon covered his mouth as he snorted a little. "Heh… sounds like they're quite the troublemakers."

"Oh yeah, they're pretty scary when they want to be," Takuya said. "Though I haven't seen them since I moved to Japan. The last time I saw them, they were 6 years old. I wonder if they've changed at all over the years."

"Maybe, after all, time has a way of changing things," Patamon said. "Or they could still be the little 6 year old brats who love pranking you. I'm sure they miss you though, and would do what they can to help you if they knew you were in trouble."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Takuya agreed with a chuckle. "But I'd hate for them to be here in this place, with no way to defend themselves."

Patamon gave a small sigh. "Might not have a choice…"

"What?" Takuya asked.

"I mean it would be a bad choice to leave them here, right? At least they're not here," Patamon chuckled before sighing. "... Takuya… do you… regret getting on that train that led you to this world?"

Takuya frowned before he shook his head. "No. I don't." He admitted. "I don't regret it at all."

"I see… Then… do you think it might've been better to have gotten Agunimon's Spirit if you were older?" Patamon asked.

"What? No way. I mean maybe it might've been better if I was older and all that, but the Digital World needs help now, so it's good I got Agunimon's Spirit now," Takuya replied.

"... Yeah, I… can see where you're coming from," Patamon sighed.

Takuya frowned, noticing Patamon's melancholic reaction. "Is there something wrong?"

"Sometimes… reality doesn't work the way we want it to…" Patamon replied.

Takuya blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

Patamon gave a sigh, but didn't give an answer.

Koji, Tommy, and Labramon were running up a spiraling stairs. It was quite high.

"We should be getting to the top soon," Koji said.

Labramon frowned in concern before she spoke up. "Wait, if you two are going to fight WaruMonzaemon… maybe you should try to find an alternative way?"

"Why?" Koji asked.

"Look at what his Heart Break Attack did to you and Tommy," Labramon pointed out. Especially Tommy. "I… don't know what will happen if you both get caught up in that again. And this staircase and hallway is too narrow to dodge the attack."

"But where could we go?" Tommy asked. "We don't know this castle very well."

"Not what I meant. I mean isn't there any other way we could handle WaruMonzaemon? Cherubimon wasn't the one who corrupted him, it was the ShadowToyAgumon," Labramon pointed out. "A Digimon that is significantly weaker than Cherubimon."

Tommy blinked. "So you're saying it's possible to purify him without having to fight?"

"Um… It's possible we could defeat WaruMonzaemon without combat. He is a big teddy bear after all." Labramon replied.

"What good will that do? I'm not gonna wrestle him to change him back," Koji huffed.

WaruMonzaemon stood in front of them. "Trespassers aren't allowed."

"Stand down, or we'll have to make you," Koji threatened.

WaruMonzaemon glared back.

Tommy frowned as he looked at WaruMonzaemon. He started to recall more about this bear. He remembered playing with him at some point. While he was still uneasy with WaruMonzaemon, maybe playing with him was the key to helping him. He just wasn't sure if Koji would go with it.

Tommy knew he needed to make a move before Koji did. "Hold on, Koji. Let me try something."

Koji stopped. "What could you possibly have in mind that could work?" He asked, skeptical at best.

"Let the kid do what he needs to, Koji," Labramon spoke up. "He's been helping you this entire time after all."

Koji looked skeptical, but nodded. He wasn't going to protest Tommy's idea, whatever it was. If Tommy was going to do something, he was going to help the kid with his idea.

Tommy stepped forward and looked at WaruMonzaemon. "Do you want to play a game?"

Koji balked. "What?! You want to play a game with him?!"

WaruMonzaemon looked intrigued. "What kind of a game?"

"Do you like playing video games?" Tommy replied, ignoring Koji.

WaruMonzaemon laughed. "I love video games!"

"Do you have a fighting game?" Tommy asked.

"I most definitely do," WaruMonzaemon replied.

"Perfect. We'll play a round of that," Tommy said. "If I win, you let our friends go. If you win, you get to play with us. How does that sound?"

WaruMonzaemon grinned. "Then you'd better get ready to enjoy being my playmates~"

"Tommy, what are you doing?" Koji hissed.

"I know what I'm doing," Tommy replied. "Just trust me. The big guy just wants to play, that's all he ever wanted since we saw him. I think it's about time we let him have what he wants."

Koji didn't like the plan, but at the moment, there weren't any other ideas he could come up with, and fighting this messed up teddy bear in close quarters would be a bad idea. "I don't like this… but if it's the best option we have, we have to do it."

WaruMonzaemon grinned before he gestured Koji, Tommy, and Labramon to follow him to another door, separate from the one where Takuya and Patamon were.

"I have a private playroom right here. This will be where we will fight it out in the game," WaruMonzaemon stated.

"Fine by me," Tommy replied.

"This is a one-on-one duel. Your friends aren't allowed to interfere, if they do, then I win by default," WaruMonzaemon warned.

Tommy nodded. "I understand. Koji, Labramon, just try to watch."

Koji growled, but he did nod. "Okay, but the moment something happens, we're coming in." He promised.

"If WaruMonzaemon tries to cheat or attack me himself, then that's free game for all of us," Tommy answered before he looked at WaruMonzaemon. "After all, if my friends aren't allowed to interfere, then you're not allowed to sabotage me either. This needs to be a fair game after all."

WaruMonzaemon grinned. "Fine by me~ But you won't win either way."

WaruMonzaemon booted up the TV, and turned on the game console. He took one of the controllers, and handed Tommy the second controller.

I hope you really know what you're doing, Tommy. Koji frowned, feeling anxious that he could only wait and watch.

While this was going on, back in the room Takuya and Patamon were, Takuya was bored. He wasn't sure what to do other than wait for Koji, Tommy, and Labramon to find him. He was hoping maybe when Koji and Tommy arrive, they could team up and knock out that annoying teddy bear. But he wondered what was taking them so long.

Patamon looked over at a bookshelf. "Hey, Takuya? Why don't you try reading one of these books to help pass the time?"

"What could these books be?" Takuya asked grumpily. "Most of them are possibly little kids' books."

"Well, you never know, some of those children books could be nostalgia," Patamon replied. "Besides, would you rather be bored out of your mind all day?"

"No." Takuya grumbled before he picked up one of the books. "I guess some little kids books being read is better than being bored."

As Takuya was looking through the books, Patamon knew this was the perfect opportunity to speak to the invisible resident they had here. He flapped his wings to fly up towards the ceiling, and glared at something. His blue eyes glowed green, which allowed him to see the invisible white ragdoll with a nail in its stomach floating there.

"I know you're there," Patamon whispered. "You can't hide from my eyes."

"Awww, you can see me~" The ragdoll snickered back in a whisper of its own. "How cute~"

"You're not a Digimon," Patamon hissed. "Were you the one responsible for summoning that giant, unnatural Greymon earlier?"

"Yes, and no," The ragdoll replied. "I did give the ShadowToyAgumon a gift to use in an emergency. I was hoping they could take out the annoying Labramon who didn't belong here. But alas, they got too hasty, and ended up using the whole vial, which resulted in that unusual Greymon. Not my doing, that was all of their doing."

"But you still gave them that vial in the first place," Patamon replied. "You know how dangerous it is to mix Digimon with ectoplasm, don't you? You could've destroyed this world if the others hadn't been able to stop that Greymon."

"Maybe, though at worst, I would probably get a huge scolding from my boss before they do a full reset to fix the world right now," The ragdoll chuckled. "Oh, by the way, you can call me 'Milk'."

Patamon wanted to make a comment about the name, but decided he had more important things to worry about right now. "You would like a reset, wouldn't you? It would erase all of our hard work."

"And there's a chance you and your annoying, meddling friends would have a much harder time meddling with the… process. The world won't be as generous anymore, you'd be more like us, unable to even be seen by the Legendary Warriors, let alone interact with them," Milk replied. "Oh, but you do still have something like that hovering over you, don't you? Maybe this is actually crueler~"

Patamon felt his fur puffing up. "You're twisted, you know that? Trying to turn those children into something they are not meant to be? That's cruel right there."

"It's not up to me, I'm just trying to do my job," Milk replied. "And how do you know this was not how they're meant to be? They are chosen by the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors. This path that's laid out for them is their true destiny, a destiny you are trying to stop."

"You think that, but it's not." Patamon hissed. "They aren't meant to be what they become due to this… world!"

"Whether you like it or not, you won't stop this progress," Milk hissed back. "You can try all you like, but we're not the only ones you should be worrying about, little boy. The master of this world has a much bigger influence on this place than you or I could ever hope for. You'll only just waste your time and tire yourselves out if you keep going down this road."

"It's something I'd rather do than have the children become what you want them to become!" Patamon hissed in a warning tone. "Now… what've you done with Lopmon? I saw you toss him off of the island from the window."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him. I'm sure he'll find his way back to you sooner or later," Milk replied. "After all, you're still in the easy going 'tutorial' stage. But that won't last forever. So better enjoy it now while you still can. Perhaps I'll see you later, little boy."

With that ominous message, Milk flew through the ceiling, and flew away from the island altogether. Patamon frowned as the ragdoll left.

That one's going to be trouble… Patamon frowned.

"Patamon? What are you doing up there?" Takuya asked.

Patamon looked down before he descended and landed. "Was letting my wings stretch out since I've been here for a while now."

Takuya blinked. "Okay… If you say so." He said before looking back at the books. "It's kinda weird to be 12 years old and reading books for first graders and stuff to be honest."

Patamon looked at the pile of books for a moment before he sensed some familiar data nearby. He gave a smile. "Forget about the books. I think our friends are nearby."

"Huh?" Takuya blinked. "R-really?" He was beginning to feel a bit excited and relieved at the chance of a rescue.

Patamon ran over to the door and opened it up. "WaruMonzaemon's not here… I wonder if they're fighting him right now?"

Takuya headed over to the door himself, then he heard what sounded like shouting coming from another door nearby.

"Come on! You need to get back up!" Koji's voice shouted.

"If only I could heal you…" Labramon spoke up.

"Take that!" WaruMonzaemon's voice shouted.

"No! Quit kicking me! Ugh!" Tommy's voice yelled in distress.

"Uh oh…" Takuya gulped. "I think… they're in trouble…"

Patamon looked up at Takuya. "Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation? You're a Legendary Warrior too!"

Takuya's face became serious as he nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He agreed. "Let's go back the others up!"

Takuya rushed towards the door where he heard the fighting. He shoved it open, ready to Spirit Evolve, but he stopped short when he saw Tommy sitting in front of a TV, holding a game controller, laughing. While WaruMonzaemon… or rather, former WaruMonzaemon, who was now back in his yellow, less scary looking form, was sitting beside Tommy holding another game controller. What else was surprising was Koji and Labramon, mostly Koji. Koji was sitting next to Tommy, watching the game with intensity, something Takuya never thought he would see, especially after Koji kept getting fed up with Tommy's childish antics.

"Alright! That's it! I win!" Tommy cheered as he fit bumped the air.

"Aww, you managed to defeat me at the last second. Way to go, little friend," Monzaemon said in a good nature way.

"You came pretty close there, but dang, you play better than most kids I see at the arcade," Koji complimented.

"Yeah, way to go, Tommy!" Labramon smiled, wagging her tail.

"Um… What's going on here?" Takuya blinked, confused as heck. "Why are you guys playing video games?"

"Hey Takuya, hey Patamon!" Tommy greeted. "Well, I just won your freedom!"

"And WaruMonzaemon seemed to have turned into Monzaemon during the game," Koji noted, which surprised him.

"I apologize for kidnapping you earlier," Monzaemon apologized to Takuya. "But when this little boy decided to play with me, I remembered my true self, and became me again. I had a lot of fun playing."

Tommy blushed when Monzaemon began rubbing his head, even though he had a hat on. In a way, it also helped him, because after playing with Monzaemon, that uneasy feeling he had around Monzaemon finally went away.

"So you… just needed to be played with?" Takuya asked, still a bit confused. "I… guess that works…" Huh… I guess there are ways to purify Digimon without fighting them after all…

"Don't expect it to be this easy with other Digimon," Koji spoke up. "The only reason this worked was because Monzaemon was corrupted by the ShadowToyAgumon, not Cherubimon. So it was easy to get him to return to his normal state."

Takuya grumbled. "You always have to point out the worst case scenarios, don't you?" He huffed.

"Heh, well even so, sometimes it takes a young child to help someone. Being able to just be a kid can be good too, and help remind those who need it to take a break every once in a while," Labramon said before she looked at Koji. "Right, Koji?"

"Whatever…" Koji huffed, not wanting to admit he had been pushing himself, and the others, a bit too hard lately.

"You see, Takuya? Fighting isn't always the answer," Patamon chuckled. "Though I suppose this might be one of the few exceptions. There could be more in the future, so try to keep an open mind about it."

Takuya nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." He replied. "But hopefully we won't encounter any Digimon like that for a while."

"Are you okay though?" Tommy asked Takuya.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Waru- well, Monzaemon didn't treat me bad or anything. The only time I got hurt was trying to fight him to escape, didn't work out so well," Takuya answered sheepishly.

"We figured it'd be difficult to fight him in such a narrow hallway," Koji said.

"But what about you guys? I couldn't see the fight that well from the window, but Patamon and I saw you fighting with that big, green monster earlier," Takuya pointed out.

"Honestly, that fight took a lot out of us, we probably won't be able to Spirit Evolve for a little while," Koji answered. "Tommy got impa-"

"We had some trouble, but we were able to purify it, returning the ToyAgumon to normal," Tommy interrupted, not wanting Koji to tell Takuya how he got impaled as Kumamon.

Koji scowled at Tommy. "Why try to downplay what happened? We can't hide it forever."

"Hush," Tommy hissed back.

Takuya blinked, feeling like he was missing something.

Patamon cleared his throat. "Well, now that we're altogether, we should find a way off this island."

"Wait, what about Lopmon?" Tommy asked. "We haven't found him yet, have we?"

"Lopmon fell off of the island," Patamon revealed. "I saw him fall, but his ears should allow him to land safely somewhere."

"Huh?!" Tommy, Labramon, and Koji all gasped.

"Then we need to find where he landed!" Koji said seriously. "Who knows where he could be right now!"

"He shouldn't be out there alone…" Tommy frowned.

"Don't worry, guys, we'll find him, I promise," Takuya spoke up. "He's our friend too."

"Well, then we better see if we can find a way off of this island," Labramon spoke up.

"Monzaemon, do you know how to get off of this island?" Tommy asked.

"I think the ToyAgumon should be able to fly you down on one of their airplanes," Monzaemon answered.

"I don't know about this…" Koji said nervously. "But… if we have to find Lopmon, then we should go for it. I just hope these airplanes are not going to fall apart on us…"

"Don't worry, this island is being carried by one of the airplanes right now," Monzaemon assured. "The planes don't break easily."

"I didn't need to know that…" Koji groaned. We're being held up by ONE airplane!?

"Come on, we should go before Koji has a heart attack," Labramon sweatdropped. "Hopefully while we look for Lopmon, we'll find the others too."

"Agreed." Takuya replied. "I hope this won't backfire on us."

Everyone headed outside of the castle. They saw some damages as they were moving, most likely from the battle with EctoGreymon. Tommy just hoped he could keep himself together until they found everyone. He had been putting everything into the back of his mind to keep himself from freaking out and asking questions he may not want the answers to.

Labramon needed to tell Patamon about this development with Tommy, but they needed to wait until they could talk in private.

When they reached the exit, they saw Pandamon standing in front of the ToyAgumon.

"There you are," Pandamon said. "The ToyAgumon are now all back to normal, thanks to you. We'll probably be spending a long time rebuilding the castle and this courtyard, but we couldn't be happier."

"That's right, we owe you kids for saving us from Cherubimon's corruption," One of the ToyAgumon said, and Labramon wondered if that was the same one who had the vial of ectoplasm earlier.

"We just did what we had to do." Koji replied. "We weren't going to let this world fall apart because of some stupid evil Digimon."

"We're just glad that you're all okay," Tommy said.

"Hey, since you're here, could one of you help us get down from this island?" Patamon requested.

"Of course, we can do that easily." The ToyAgumon smiled.

"Then let's go." Takuya said. "We need to find a friend of ours, and we'd rather not wait around."

"Of course, follow me," The ToyAgumon said.

Takuya, Patamon, Tommy, Koji, and Labramon were sitting on the back of a huge airplane. The ToyAgumon was sitting on the pilot seat, taking off into the air.

"Whoa, this is so cool!" Tommy smiled. "So this is what it's like to fly!"

"Yeah, it's really amazing, isn't it?" Patamon grinned.

"Even more so when you're able to see it for yourself," Labramon agreed.

"I do have to ask, Tommy, how come you weren't scared?" Takuya asked.

"I'm not scared of flying," Tommy replied.

"I meant with WaruMonzaemon. You seemed really uneasy with him before," Takuya pointed out.

"Well, at first I was pretty uneasy with him. I just had a feeling he might be evil for some reason," Tommy admitted. "But then I realized that he only wanted to play. He may be an Ultimate Digimon, but he seems to have the mind of a child just wanting a friend to play with."

"I guess…" Takuya sighed. "But… Why would you think he was evil? Did… something happen or something?"

"I… don't really know… I seem to have two different memories of Monzaemon… among other things," Tommy answered, frowning a little.

"Two different memories?" Patamon frowned.

Labramon looked over at Patamon. "I'll… tell you more later."

Takuya blinked before frowning in confusion. "That's… quite odd… Why would you have two sets of memories?"

"I don't know… I think it might be…" Tommy began before pausing.

"Might be what?" Koji asked.

Tommy shook his head. "We should wait until we find the others. I don't want this to be on our minds until then."

"Probably a good idea," Labramon agreed, also not wanting Takuya and Koji to think about this either as that could potentially make things worse.

"Hey, if you look down, you can see the TV Forest from here," ToyAgumon spoke to them. "I can land you guys somewhere close to it if you'd like."

"Landing close to TV Forest would be a good idea." Takuya said. "This way we can find a place to rest after that."

Takuya wasn't sure what Tommy meant by having two sets of memories, he hoped Tommy was alright though. But they did need to focus on finding the others as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Zoe, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and JP were riding on a log that was taking them across the river.

"If we weren't too tired to Spirit Evolve, we'd fly out of here…" Zoe grumbled.

"Let's just hope this river takes us to land soon… I don't do well with water," Kokuwamon sighed.

"We need a place to rest, and this river leads who knows where." JP grumbled as well. "It had better not lead us off a waterfall or something."

"The stream isn't strong enough for a waterfall right now anyways, so we should be good…" Biyomon said.

Suddenly, they heard a splash nearby.

"What was that?" Biyomon asked, looking around.

"I think something's swimming in the water," JP pointed out.

They saw a shadow swimming towards them.

"It's not a dangerous Digimon, is it?" Zoe nervously asked.

"I hope not…" Biyomon gulped. "But I don't know what Digimon that could be just by the shadow alone…"

"It's getting closer, we better prepare ourselves in case it's hostile," Kokuwamon warned.

The group nervously watched as the shadow got closer and closer, until it reached the leg they were drifting on. Then a small pink and brown arm came out of the water, grasping onto the log, before pulling up a familiar face.

"Hey… guys? A little help here…" Lopmon spoke up, holding onto the log.

JP grabbed Lopmon by one of his paws and pulled him up onto the log. "What are you doing here?" He asked Lopmon in concern.

Lopmon took a moment to breathe in some air before answering. "I ended up falling here, I guess. I was on a floating island, and I… fell from it. I used my ears to glide across the world, and I guess the wind took me here."

"You… fell from a floating island?" Zoe blinked. "Where… Where would this island be?"

"Somewhere way back there," Lopmon answered before shaking his head. "Wait, can't you two just Spirit Evolve and fly there? Why are we riding on a log?"

"Everyone's too tired and hungry to use their powers right now," Kokuwamon explained. "That fight with Grumblemon didn't exactly leave us all healthy."

"So we've been kinda stuck here, drifting for a while," Biyomon added.

"I was thinking about trying to catch a fish, but I doubt any fish would come near us as long as we're moving on this log," JP sighed.

"Great…" Lopmon sighed as well. "Well, we should be getting close to shore, I saw it while I was descending here."

"Anything is better than just drifting around on this log." Zoe grumbled. "I will be so glad to be walking on solid ground again."

"Have you seen the others while you were on that island?" Biyomon asked.

"Not really. I think they did land on that island though," Lopmon answered.

"Then that could be the first place for us to look… once we get our strength back," Zoe said.

After a few more minutes of drifting, they finally came up on shore in the shallows. The group pulled themselves out of the water, walking up onto the grassy land.

"Is that a field of sunflowers?" Lopmon blinked, looking at the tall sunflowers ahead of them.

"Obviously it is." JP noted. "Who knew they could get this tall in the Digital World?"

"Oh great, so we have to go through a field of sunflowers? We could get lost in there…" Kokuwamon groaned.

"Don't be such a pushover," Biyomon grumbled. "We should try, we might be able to find some kind of help. Someone's gotta be growing these, right?"

"I guess only one way to find out," Zoe said.

Lopmon gave a sigh. He hadn't expected to land where Zoe and JP were. He wondered if that was even a coincidence at all, or if someone manipulated the winds to take him here for whatever reason. Either way, he was stuck with them for now, he might as well help them find a way back to the others, and then try to figure out what to do from there. I just hope we don't get attacked by another one of those sabotagers before then.

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: So since it seems not a lot of people are reading this, we're going to slow down on the updates for a bit. No point in burning myself out for a story that's barely getting any attention.

ZAFT: But make no mistake, we do plan to continue the story. We hope more people will read it as it gets further in though.

DarkFoxKit: Until then, slowing down and taking a break is a good way to not burn out. Hope to hear from more people soon.

ZAFT: So enjoy the chapter we have posted in the meantime~

Chapter 10: The Digi-School

"How long have we been walking in this maze of flowers?" Kokuwamon grumbled.

"Come on, it's only been about a minute. I know you're not a huge fan of flowers, but at least try not to complain so much. At least you're not in water anymore," Biyomon grumbled, getting a little fed up with Kokuwamon's whinings.

Lopmon was on top of JP's head, looking around.

"This field of sunflowers is huge!" Zoe exclaimed. "Who knew it would go so far? I can only see sunflowers in all directions!"

"This place is like a jungle," JP remarked.

"I'm sure there's an end to these fields of flowers, we just have to keep going," Lopmon said.

"Do you even see an end?" JP asked.

"Well… not, just more sunflowers," Lopmon replied.

"Then get off my head, I'm not a hat person," JP grumbled.

"Jeez, fine Mr. Grumpypants," Lopmon replied before hopping off of JP's head.

JP huffed. "How much further do we have to walk? I'm getting tired here!"

"We'll try taking a break once we get out of this field," Zoe sighed.

"Maybe we should've tried getting some fish before leaving the river," Biyomon sighed.

"And risk falling off that log?" JP groaned. "I'd rather take being hungry over drowning."

"I meant when we were on shore," Biyomon grumbled. "It would've done us all some good to have something to eat."

"Yeah, but do any of us know how to fish without a fishing pole?" Lopmon asked.

JP, Zoe, Biyomon and Kokuwamon all sighed.

"No…" JP grumbled. "I certainly can't fish, and certainly not without a rod."

"None of us can." Zoe sighed. "I just hope we can find our way out of here."

"I mean if it comes down to it, we could try eating sunflower seeds, there's plenty here," Lopmon chuckled.

"What!? No way! I rather eat batteries!" Kokuwamon shouted in horror.

"Why the dramatics? Sunflower seeds are good," Biyomon replied.

"Yeah, for a bird like you! You practically live on that stuff," Kokuwamon huffed.

"Just like you live off of batteries, but you eat meat instead," Biyomon grumbled.

Kokuwamon just huffed again. "Don't bring meat into this!"

"Can we please not argue about food? It's making me hungry!" JP whined.

"They argue about food a lot," Lopmon sweatdropped. "One of them's a vegan, the other is a carnivore."

"Let's just keep walking and then worry about food, okay?" Zoe sighed.

JP then tripped over a rock that made him fall flat on his face. "Ow!"

Since Lopmon was in front of JP when he tripped, he ended up getting smooshed by JP as well.

"At least the grass was soft for my face…" JP mumbled.

"That wasn't the grass your face landed on…" Lopmon groaned.

JP sat up quickly. "Oh! Sorry, Lopmon!" He apologized, only for something to dart out in front of him. "W-wha?!"

The small thing that had darted out in front of JP was a small orange Digimon with one horn on its head, red eyes, and a cream-colored face.

The little thing seemed just as startled as JP was and stopped to turn to look at them. "Huh?"

Lopmon shook his head as he pushed himself back up on his feet, looking at the new comer. Zoe, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon were looking curiously as well.

"What is that?" Zoe asked.

"That's…" Lopmon began before a woman's voice called out.

"Tsunomon, get back here! You know you shouldn't be running off on your own!"

Suddenly, a giant cactus looking creature came out from some of the flowers. It had two feet, and it was wearing red boxing gloves on its hands. It had three holes for a face. The group flinched back in shock at seeing this new Digimon.

The cactus Digimon looked at them, surprised as well. "Huh? Oh, oh my! What a surprise! I wasn't expecting guests today, especially human guests!"

"Human beings? Here?" The smaller Digimon that the giant cactus called 'Tsunomon' said in shock.

"Um… Yeah?" Zoe blinked, not sure what to make of the situation before the group.

"I hope you were only looking for that little guy out of concern." JP said warily. "We've… had some not so good experiences with random Digimon lately."

"Oh, I do apologize about startling you. I'm not trying to hurt Tsunomon. I'm a teacher actually, and he ran off during school," The Digimon explained. "My name is Togemon. Now just give me a moment."

Togemon reached over and grabbed onto Tsunomon's horn while he was still looking at the humans in shock.

"H-hey! Let me go! I never want to go back to that nasty school!" Tsunomon shouted, though he was more throwing a tantrum than being in actual distress.

"Dang, and I thought I didn't like school," Kokuwamon remarked.

"I didn't know Digimon went to school." Zoe noted in surprise. "What's it like to go to school for Digimon?"

The group began to follow Togemon down the path, glad for a guide to get out of this giant field of flowers.

"That's where young Digimon go to learn the necessary skills for when they become adult Digimon," Lopmon explained.

"What kind of skills, eating and jumping?" JP chuckled. "That sounds like my kind of school."

"Mine too~" Kokuwamon agreed.

"I doubt that's all there is to it." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"I haven't really been to a Digi-School myself, you could say Bokomon pretty much homeschooled us," Biyomon remarked.

"I've been to one," Lopmon said. "It's actually pretty fun. There's a lot you could learn about Digimon and our culture."

"This is quite exciting though, I've heard about humans, but I've never seen a real one before," Togemon said. "While you're here, why don't you come to the school? I'm sure the children would love to see you."

"I've already seen them! Just take me home, I have grass to watch grow!" Tsunomon shouted angrily.

Zoe smiled. "We'd love to see your school, but I'm afraid we don't have time. We need to find our friends."

"Not to mention we have to get to the Forest Terminal for something important and all that," JP added.

"Yeah, I'm sure our friends miss us too," Lopmon said, and it had been on his mind earlier when he was on the Toy Island. He hoped the others didn't get themselves hurt trying to look for him.

"Oh, but I was hoping you'd join us for the afternoon snack time," Togemon said.

All at once, the group, especially JP, perked up.

"Did you just say 'snack time'?" JP asked as his mouth began to water. "We are there!"

"JP!" Zoe groaned.

"What? We were in need of food, remember?" JP pointed out.

"JP has a point, you do need to eat in order to get your strength back up," Kokuwamon said. "It'd be foolish to turn down a free meal."

"As much as I don't like to agree, Kokuwamon is right on this one," Biyomon sighed. "We could all use a break and some food."

"I guess, but…" Zoe frowned before she looked at Lopmon. "What do you think? Do you think we should stick around at the school?"

Lopmon blinked. "Why ask me?"

"You just seem to be… the most sensible one, I guess?" Zoe replied.

Lopmon raised an eyebrow, seeing how Biyomon was chuckling at him. Lopmon gave a sigh. "While we may be in a hurry to find the others and get to the Forest Terminal, I do have to agree that it would be wiser to rest and eat before moving on. We got lucky with meeting with friendly, docile Digimon this time. But we might end up facing with hostile Digimon if we keep going, we wouldn't want to be caught while still tired and hungry after all."

Zoe was about to speak when her stomach growled, making her blush. "Okay… I think my stomach answered for us…"

"Great! We're almost there!" Togemon smiled before she led them out of the sunflower field. "There it is."

The group emerged into a clearing, where they saw what looked like a small hut that had several small Digimon around it.

"Huh?" JP blinked. "That's the Digimon School? It looks like something the three little pigs would build! I've seen garages bigger than that!"

"JP! Don't be rude!" Zoe scolded.

"The school's building is for small Digimon. Most of the activities takes place outside, which is why we have such a big field," Togemon explained.

"Maybe it looks smaller than it is because we're so far away from it," Kokuwamon suggested to JP.

"Come on, let's take a closer look at it," Biyomon said.

"Put me down! I don't want to go back!" Tsunomon struggled.

Lopmon looked at Tsunomon as they were walking down the hill, heading towards the school.

"Welcome humans, to our school, where we learn and play all day! We think our teacher's really cool! So we hope you'll want to stay! Welcome humans to our school, where we learn the Digi-Rules! We play and play, that would be cool!" The group of young Digimon assembled before Zoe, JP, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Lopmon sang happily while Togemon played an old phonograph that emitted music, except for Tsunomon, who was just silently pouting to the side.

A school where they learn and play all day. That sounds really nice. JP wistfully thought.

Each of the young Digimon introduced themselves after they finished singing.

"I'm Yarmon!" A little dark blue and gray Digimon with green eyes introduced happily.

"I'm Jyarimon!" A red ball-like Digimon with black eyes and ears similar to Patamon's introduced.

"I-I'm YukimiBotamon…" A small white Digimon with black eyes said nervously.

"I'm Nyaromon!" A small cat-like yellow Digimon with a long purple and yellow striped tail and red eyes exclaimed.

"Call me Conomon!" A small brown ball Digimon with black eyes and three horns on its head introduced, wagging its long brown tail.

"Koromon is my name!" A small pink Digimon with red eyes and two antennae on its head happily said.

"And I'm Zerimon!" The light green Digimon with a matching tail to Conomon, but one horn on its head, finished off.

Some of the names were a bit of a mouthful, Zoe and JP weren't entirely sure if they could remember all of their names. But despite that, Zoe smiled, she loved cute creatures. These tiny Digimon were the cutest she had seen.

"Aww, you're all so cute!" Zoe smiled as she bent down to YukimiBotamon.

YukimiBotamon was very timid, so having Zoe bend down to her caused her to accidentally shoot out an icy wind from her body. Though luckily, because she was a Baby Digimon, the worst it did was cause some frost to appear on Zoe's arm and shoulder, making her a little chilly, but nothing to the degree of Lopmon's Blazing Ice attack.

"YukimiBotamon! I've told you a thousand times to not ice over any visitors!" Togemon exclaimed, obviously very upset at YukimiBotamon's attack on Zoe.

"Oh, it's okay!" Zoe said sheepishly. "It didn't hurt. Just felt a bit chilly, that's all!"

"I'm so sorry about this," Togemon apologized.

"I probably startled you, didn't I?" Zoe said gently to YukimiBotamon.

"Y-yeah, just a little bit," YukimiBotamon shyly replied.

"Ah, don't mind her. Zoe can get a little excited when she meets small and cute Digimon for the first time," Lopmon chuckled. "The first time I met her, she kinda dragged me down a hole."

"S-she did?" YukimiBotamon asked nervously.

"It was an accident!" Zoe exclaimed. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"Come on, Lopmon, don't scare her more than she already is," Biyomon huffed.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Lopmon chuckled sheepishly.

"But that sounds like quite a way to meet someone," Kokuwamon remarked.

"I was falling and Lopmon was nearby, it was a reaction," Zoe grumbled.

Tsunomon gave a grin. "Well, I was by myself when I met them, and I wasn't scared one bit!"

Every one of the other Digimon were not impressed. "Whatever…" They all said as one, making the others, except for Tsunomon, sweatdrop.

The other Digimon just moved away from Tsunomon, leaving him alone. Tsunomon frowned as the others watched them leave.

"Wow… who knew kids could be so mean these days?" Biyomon remarked. "Then again, I guess I didn't get along with my peers either."

"We weren't exactly all that popular in our own schools," Kokuwamon agreed.

"I thought you said you didn't go to Digi-School," JP pointed out.

"Not… this kind of school," Biyomon replied. "It's… complicated."

"Either way, there seems to not be much change between different schools," Lopmon said.

"That was mean, that's for sure." Zoe huffed. "I wonder what the problem is with those young Digimon and Tsunomon."

"Now that you've met the students, how about you join us for 1st period?" Togemon spoke up, catching their attention.

"Uh… what would that be?" JP asked, not sure if he wanted to sit through a lecture of math or literature, he had enough of that at his own school.

Inside the school building, it had a rather cozy and homey feel to it. Because it was so small, it felt more like a classroom than a whole school. But it was comfortable. Though there weren't any chairs for JP and Zoe to sit on since most of the chairs appeared to be stumps that were only for the small Digimon to sit on.

Togemon stood at the podium, in front of the students. "Storytime!"

"So they tell stories for first period?" Biyomon asked in wonder.

"That's way better than listening to our old teacher droning on about old English," Kokuwamon remarked.

"You guys learn English at your school?" Zoe asked, intrigued.

"Oh, maybe you can say something in English for us?" JP asked, looking excited.

"Uh…" Biyomon and Kokuwamon looked back at them for a moment.

"Aren't we already speaking English?" Biyomon asked Kokuwamon.

"I think to them we're speaking Japanese, just as we're hearing English from them," Kokuwamon whispered back.

"Guys, stop mentioning your time at school," Lopmon grumbled.

Biyomon and Kokuwamon did stop mentioning it, thankfully for Lopmon.

"Today, instead of a regular old story, our human guests will be telling us stories all about the wonders of the human world!" Togemon said with pride. "Would you kids like that?"

The young Digimon all cheered happily and bounced up and down on their stumps, save for Tsunomon who was just staring at the wall instead of looking at Togemon.

Lopmon couldn't help but look at Tsunomon, feeling bad for the poor Digimon. Being alone at school with no friends was a hard place to be in.

Togemon looked to the side at Zoe, JP, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Lopmon. "Then perhaps the big blue human would like to go first?"

It was then the group realized they never really introduced themselves to Togemon.

"Um… You can call me JP." JP said awkwardly. "And… you mean me?"

"Yes, I do. You can come up and talk, Professor JP." Togemon said warmly.

"Professor!?" JP replied in shock. "I'm no professor, I'm only in the 7th grade."

"Oh don't be so modest, your class awaits you 'Professor'~" Zoe teased, lightly elbowing him on his shoulder.

"This could be a good chance for you to wow them, 'Professor'~" Kokuwamon suggested. "Think of the stuff you could talk about that would blow their minds!"

"Or just talk about what it's like at home, that should be simple enough," Biyomon remarked.

"Guys, you're making him nervous," Lopmon sweatdropped.

JP walked awkwardly to the front of the classroom, but he didn't look very comfortable with speaking. His face was filled with nervousness.

Alright… just stay calm… They're nothing more than little kids… So little they don't even have legs… JP thought to himself. Here goes nothing…

"Um… so the human world… has all kinds of things… like, uh…" JP wracked his brain that went completely blank when he stood in front of the class.

So JP decided to go with his old magic tricks, hoping that would be enough. He held out a line of colorful looking handkerchiefs. "Tissues to wipe your nose with, if you have any…"

"Oh gosh… he's dying out there…" Lopmon whispered, even the children were looking a little uncomfortable for JP's sake.

"And… toothbrushes to… uh… fight off plague from your teeth, which is always important," JP continued as he put his hands together, and then showing a string of toothbrushes now instead of the handkerchiefs.

"You do have to admit, he's pretty good at doing those magic tricks at least," Kokuwamon said.

"Who knew he had stage fright though?" Biyomon commented.

"Yeah… I feel kinda bad now. Maybe one of us should step up to save him," Zoe suggested.

"I'll do it. I've done more than my share of talking to people on stage," Biyomon volunteered before she ran up to the podium and jumped on top of it. "These children should learn something important while they're young so they can retain it as they grow."

JP, relieved, but also kinda bummed out that he made a fool of himself, walked off to the side while Biyomon took over.

"Now it's important to protect the life around you. Whether that's trees, fishes, animals, or just nature itself," Biyomon went on. "If you don't learn to respect life, then life will treat you just as badly. You don't want to end up growing up in a world full of waste and pollution, do you? It's imperative that you-"

Biyomon blinked when she stopped her little lecture and noticed everyone, but Tsunomon, were gone. "Hey, where'd they go?"

The small Digimon were bouncing around the humans again, which was kind of awkward for JP and Zoe. Kokuwamon and Lopmon looked over at Biyomon.

"Heh… kids, so young, so mean, am I right? No respect," Kokuwamon chuckled. "Although maybe your lecture could use some work."

"They're just excited to play with humans, species that are just spoken in stories and legends in this world," Lopmon explained, hoping to soften the blow on Biyomon.

Biyomon pouted. "It still sucks I was pretty much ignored…"

After Storytime was pretty much over, and Togemon got the kids under control, she made an announcement. "Since we had a late start, it's already time for Recess! The children have been so excited, it'd be good for them to let out their extra energy."

Everyone headed outside. It appeared that there was a natural playground outside. The tree trunks were carved in a way to be used for sliding down. And there was a large boulder used as a jungle gym for the young Digimon to play on.

"Now this is my kind of playground." Biyomon smiled.

"Of course you'd like it," Kokuwamon grumbled.

"Hey, what can I say? Living things are meant to live and interact with nature~" Biyomon replied smugly.

"This looks like it could be fun!" Zoe smiled.

"Yeah!" JP agreed, feeling more comfortable now that he wasn't speaking in front of others.

The other Digimon kids immediately joined the humans in their play time. YukimiBotamon no longer seemed to be afraid of Zoe, and willingly jumped into her arms as Zoe was ready to slide down the tree trunks. Conomon and Zerimon joined in, wanting Zoe to hold them as well. Zoe smiled as she was more than happy to hold these little cuties as she slid down.

"That was fun!" Zoe smiled.

"Let's go again!" Zerimon bounced happily.

"Yeah, again, again!" Conomon agreed.

Meanwhile, with JP, he had Jyarimon, Yarmon, Nyaromon, and Koromon with him.

"What do you want to play?" JP asked the kids.

"Digi-Wrestling!" The small Digimon cheered as they jumped up and down near JP.

"Okay, that sounds like fun!" JP smiled, though he wasn't sure what 'Digi-Wrestling' was.

Nyaromon had a glint in her eyes. She jumped up suddenly. JP blinked as he watched her jump up high, calling out what might be an attack.

"Galactica Magnum Tail!" Nyaromon fell towards JP, turning around to show her tail.

JP blinked as Nyaromon stopped for a second in front of him, then smacked his cheek with her tail, though not enough to do any actual damage.

JP tried to hold in his laughter. His face looked funny, but he managed to succeed in holding in his laughter. "Oh, you got me!" He said, faking being hurt.

With a loud groan, he fell onto his face, causing Jyarimon, Yarmon, and Koromon to start bouncing on him happily.

"Since we're all just playing, maybe we should join in?" Lopmon suggested to Kokuwamon and Biyomon.

"But we're not really kids… wouldn't it be kinda awkward to join in?" Kokuwamon asked. "It'd be like teenagers playing with preschool kids on a playground."

"Biyomon seems to think otherwise," Lopmon pointed out.

Kokuwamon blinked before turning around, seeing Biyomon sliding on the trunk with YukimiBotamon on her back, laughing.

"Ah… well, uh…" Kokuwamon nervously said.

"Live life a little, Kokuwamon," Lopmon chuckled before he headed towards the jungle gym rock.

Tsunomon was the only one playing alone on the rock. Lopmon approached him, and started to climb up on the rock.

"Hey, Tsunomon," Lopmon spoke up. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Tsunomon looked at Lopmon in surprise. "You… want to hang out with me?"

"Sure, why not?" Lopmon replied. "Everyone else is too busy playing with JP and Zoe anyways."

Tsunomon looked torn between being happy and apprehensive. "That… would be nice… but are you sure you want to hang out with me…? No one else does…"

"I don't see why not," Lopmon replied as he climbed higher. "Besides, you looked pretty lonely playing by yourself."

"I just can't see why a rock would be better than an actual jungle gym," Kokuwamon grumbled as he joined Lopmon and Tsunomon on the rock. "All you do is climb it."

"What are these young Digimon going to do in a jungle gym, Kokuwamon? They don't have any hands or feet to grip most of the bars," Lopmon pointed out before looking at Tsunomon. "This is Kokuwamon, he's a friend of mine. He's all about the tech stuff, so this is kind of out of his element."

Tsunomon looked like he was closing himself off. "That's… pretty awkward…" He said, trying to avoid speaking too much. He wasn't used to having so many Digimon hanging out with him.

"I'm just saying, I've never had to play with a boulder before," Kokuwamon sighed.

"Well, maybe you could latch onto it and see if you can extract any electricity from it. After all, the Kokuwamon we met were able to extract electricity from trees," Lopmon pointed out.

"Oh… you're right, that could come in handy for the future," Kokuwamon agreed before he slipped and fell from the boulder. "Whoa!"

Kokuwamon ended up landing on his head. "Ow…"

Tsunomon couldn't help but laugh when he saw that.

"You really can't stick to boulders very well, can you?" Tsunomon said with a joking grin.

"I'll get it right, someday!" Kokuwamon mumbled from the ground.

"You know, the top of this boulder has a nice view," Biyomon said as she landed on top of the boulder herself.

"Hey, no flying allowed, that's cheating!" Lopmon huffed.

"There aren't any rules against flying," Biyomon responded back.

Lopmon rolled his eyes. "Most of my friends have the ability to fly. It can get a bit annoying at times."

Tsunomon laughed. "I can see why! You're on the ground while they are able to get airborne."

"It's a nice place for a perch too," Biyomon remarked as she looked down at them. "Come on, try climbing up!"

Lopmon and Tsunomon began to move up on the boulder. Despite not having hands, Tsunomon was able to hop on the boulder without falling off.

"So… why are you 3 hanging out with me anyways?" Tsunomon asked.

Kokuwamon was attempting to cling onto the boulder. "We figured you might be lonely playing by yourself."

"We know what that's like," Biyomon added. "We weren't exactly popular at our own school."

"We know what it's like to be left behind by your peers," Lopmon said. "And we figured we'd try to make things a little less lonely for you. Besides, it seems most of them want to play with our human friends than with us anyways."

"Well, the other Digimon have only heard of humans, never seen one before, so it makes sense they would be more interesting to hang around with." Kokuwamon chuckled.

Lopmon rolled his eyes.

"Well… thank you. It's nice being able to play with others again." Tsunomon smiled a little. "Although it would also be nice to play with everyone again, since you guys are only here for one day…"

"Hey Tsunomon!" JP's voice called out. "Why don't you guys come hang out with us?"

Tsunomon looked over at JP in surprise, though he wouldn't say no to being able to play with the other children again if they would let him.

Koromon, Jyarimon, and Yarmon, who had been bouncing on JP, looked over at Tsunomon for a moment. Then almost immediately, they groaned. "Not him!"

The immediate disgust didn't go unnoticed by Tsunomon, he frowned as the 3 young Digimon moved away.

"Hey guys, where are you off to?" JP asked, surprised at how quick the children left.

"Well, that was rude." Biyomon frowned.

"Jeez, you'd think they thought Tsunomon had a disease or something with the way they're treating him," Kokuwamon remarked.

Koromon did stop to look back at Tsunomon for a moment. He gave a sad look, which Lopmon noticed, before turning around and followed the other kids.

"Fine, I didn't want to play with those losers anyways," Tsunomon huffed. "I have other friends now."

Lopmon, Kokuwamon, and Biyomon looked at each other, frowning. But they decided to stay with Tsunomon until Recess was over.

"Looks like you messed up, JP," Zoe said as she watched the other kids leaving.

"What? We were having fun, I didn't want Tsunomon to be left out," JP said. "I also thought Lopmon, Kokuwamon, and Biyomon would like to join in too. Aren't they young Digimon as well?"

"Not everyone wants to be part of the fun," Zoe huffed.

JP frowned. "What's gotten into you?"

Zoe sighed as she looked away. "Nevermind that."

"It's time for P.E.!" Togemon announced. "Today we will be doing Football!"

It took Lopmon, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon a little bit to realize Togemon was talking about Soccer, and not the American version of Football. Although, they weren't sure how Digimon without feet were supposed to play a game like Soccer.

Their questions were soon answered when they watched the children using their heads to 'kick' the ball around. The ball itself looked like a stack of grass and hay all tied together into the shape of a ball. Koromon headbutted the ball and was heading for the goal while the rest of the children were bouncing behind him.

"Jeez, I can't tell which are the kids, and which is the ball," JP commented.

Koromon was hitting the ball around, and Tsunomon hopped up beside him.

"I'm open. Pass it here, Koromon!" Tsunomon said.

But Koromon seemed to ignore Tsunomon, much to Tsunomon's despair.

Koromon instead pushed the ball towards a rock, which was the other team's goal. Nyaromon was the other team's goalie, however, and she saw the ball coming. She jumped up high.

"Atomic Bomber Tail!" Nyaromon shouted as she slammed the ball away with her tail.

Koromon turned around, seeing the ball landing near Tsunomon. Tsunomon smiled, seeing this was the perfect opening for him to get a score. Tsunomon jumped at the ball, only for Koromon to suddenly jump in as well, which caused him to crash into Tsunomon.

"Ow! What was that for?" Tsunomon groaned out.

Koromon frowned as both his and Tsunomon's foreheads were now hurting from the crash. In truth, Koromon hadn't been sure about letting Tsunomon play with them, because of how everyone reacts to Tsunomon. But things were only getting worse between them.

"Are you both alright?" Togemon asked in concern.

"That was mean of you, Tsunomon!" The other kids scolded.

"Why'd you headbutt Koromon like that!?"

"You're such a big meanie!"

Tsunomon looked on in confusion. "But I was the one who got hit…"

"I'm sorry… it was an accident…" Koromon frowned softly.

"That was on purpose." Jyarimon grumbled. "Tsunomon's always like that."

"I am not!" Tsunomon retorted. "You heard Koromon! It was an accident!"

"Poor Tsunomon, I don't get why the other kids won't play with him." JP frowned as he watched all of this unfold.

"They probably think he doesn't fit in with them…" Zoe answered softly. "I know just how he feels…"

"You? I always thought you were one of the more popular girls in school," JP said, surprised to hear about that.

"You'd think the same for me too, but no," Biyomon sighed. "People who are different from the crowd are usually seen as outcasts."

Kokuwamon grumbled. "As we know all too well…"

"I feel bad for Tsunomon." Zoe said sadly. "He just wants to play with the others, but they look down on him. I guess back in my school, everyone thought I was a snob because I wouldn't get the same dolls as they do, or wouldn't follow them to gossip in the bathroom. I guess it doesn't help they also think that way because I lived abroad."

"Really? Where did you live?" JP asked.

"I used to live in Italy." Zoe replied. "But my parents moved to Japan due to their jobs."

"Italy? I'm surprised, you speak Japanese fluently," JP remarked.

"I've taken lessons on Japanese since I was little," Zoe answered. "My parents figured it would make things easier for me. They knew we would likely be moving to Japan before long, and didn't want me lost in a world I couldn't understand. Problem is, everyone else couldn't understand me. They wanted me to be more like them."

"Is it really that bad though? I mean why not just go with them? It's better than not having friends, isn't it?" JP asked. After all, that's what I've been trying to do. More than anything, I wanted to have friends. Real, actual friends.

Kokuwamon, Biyomon, and Lopmon looked at them.

"Sounds like they have their own issues too," Kokuwamon noted.

"Everyone does, Kokuwamon," Biyomon sighed. "We're not the only ones who struggle in life."

"Even the popular kids who are worshiped at our school have their own problems," Lopmon said. "Everyone has more to them than they show. Look at Labramon."

"Yeah, I know, but… I guess it's easy to forget these kids have their own issues to deal with." Kokuwamon admitted. "Given what they are and all that…"

"I won't pretend to be someone I'm not just to have people like me, JP," Zoe said.

"Yeah… I guess that makes sense…" JP sighed. After all, it hasn't worked out for me either.

"Still, nobody likes feeling alone," Zoe sighed.

"Maybe we should see why the other kids have a problem with Tsunomon," Lopmon suggested. "It might help fix up the issue between them. Or at the very least, help us understand the situation more."

"That sounds like a good idea," Zoe said with a smile. "I don't see anything else that could work, so we may as well give it a shot."

"I just hope it doesn't cause even more issues though." JP admitted.

"P.E. is over, it's lunch time!" Togemon called out.

That was when the group remembered why they were here in the first place, to get some much needed food so JP and Zoe could Spirit Evolve again and go find their friends.

"Right after lunch!" JP drooled.

Zoe's own stomach growled again. "Right… Food first." She agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and get some food before they're all eaten!" Kokuwamon quickly said, looking just as excited as JP to get some food.

When everyone was back inside the school, Togemon was bringing out what looked like a large bowl. It was filled to the brim with what looked like white balls of dough.

"I have some tasty meat buns prepared for you all, and don't worry, I've added veggie buns for those who don't like eating meat," Togemon announced.

"Thank goodness," Biyomon said in relief. "Although if it was made with something that isn't meat, but tasted like meat, I wouldn't mind that."

"Kind of like those cabbages we ate at the KaratsukiNumemon's place?" Lopmon chuckled.

"Yeah, something like that," Biyomon replied.

"Awesome, so do we need to fall in line or something?" Kokuwamon asked.

"Alright everyone, open wide!" Togemon called out, and the children, except Tsunomon, and surprisingly, Koromon, opened their mouths wide and excitedly.

Togemon tossed up the meat buns and began to punch them at the young Digimon and their guests.

JP and Zoe looked on uneasily, but they decided to go with the flow and opened their own mouths wide. Kokuwamon, Biyomon, and Lopmon were less than thrilled about this way, however. They yelped as the buns were coming in at them fast like baseballs. They ran around, trying to avoid getting pelted.

Lopmon grabbed onto a book and used that to try to shield himself from the buns that slammed into the book. "Waah! I'm beginning to question your teaching methods!"

The meat buns were knocked into the mouths of the young Digimon, and even into Zoe and JP's mouths as well.

JP and Zoe found the meat buns were actually really good, despite coming at them at a high speed.

"Wow… that's what I call fast food!" JP joked once he had finished chewing and swallowing his meat bun.

"Ugh, now I know how a taco feels…" Kokuwamon grumbled, covered in meat before he licked some off of his arm. "... But that does taste pretty good."

Biyomon managed to catch some of her buns, and she took a bite out of some. It had spinach and cheese inside. "Now that's good."

Lopmon decided to eat the ones he caught with the book shield, just glad to not have been pelted. If he had tried catching these things with his mouth, he was worried he would've choked. Seriously, who feeds children like that? That's dangerous! Then again, none of these kids have a throat, so I guess they can't choke… maybe…

Everyone seemed to be eating just well except for Tsunomon and Koromon. Though the kids didn't seem to have a problem sharing their food with Koromon, they completely left Tsunomon out.

Lopmon looked at the two, noticing how Koromon had been eyeing Tsunomon. He wondered if they had been friends before Tsunomon started getting the 'outcast' treatment.

Koromon picked up one of the meat buns with his antennae and hopped over to Tsunomon. "... Maybe you should stop being stubborn and eat something."

Tsunomon glared at Koromon. "Why should I? I'm not hungry."

"Why even bother trying to talk to him, Koromon?" Yarmon asked.

"Stay out of this," Koromon responded before looking at Tsunomon again. "You know, you've been pretty distant and mean since that day. Maybe you should stop being such a loner."

"As if I had a choice! Everyone keeps treating me like I'm some kind of monster! Even you kept leaving me behind!" Tsunomon snapped, glaring at Koromon.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't been trying so hard to show off, you wouldn't be in this situation!" Koromon snapped back.

"Maybe I am trying to prove I am not the monster you see me as!" Tsunomon hissed. "Ever since that day, even you left me, as if I did something wrong to you!"

"You did! You changed into a monster!" Koromon shouted.

Everything went silent for a moment after that outburst.

"Yeah!? Well if I'm just a monster to you all, then I might as well go out and live like a monster!" Tsunomon yelled before he jumped out of his seat and rushed outside.

Koromon immediately regretted what he said. "N-no, wait! I didn't mean that!"

It was too late though. Tsunomon was already running away. Koromon wilted on his stump, regret showing in his red eyes. "Oh no…"

"Come on, we have to catch Tsunomon!" Zoe quickly said.

"I'm right behind you!" JP hurried with Zoe.

"I should go after Tsunomon, I am responsible for him," Togemon said.

"It's fine, let them catch him, you have to watch the rest of the children," Biyomon said.

"This is all my fault… I need to go apologize to him," Koromon said before he quickly jumped out of his own stump and hurried out as well.

"Oh, come on, really?" Kokuwamon groaned.

"I'll go after him," Lopmon said. "You guys catch up with JP and Zoe."

Biyomon and Kokuwamon nodded.

"Okay, let's go, Kokuwamon." Biyomon said. "We don't want JP and Zoe to get too far ahead of us." She then turned and flew out after JP and Zoe.

Kokuwamon groaned again. "This is more trouble than it's worth, I swear…" He grumbled, but followed Biyomon anyways. "Wait for me!"

Lopmon hurried out as well. Since he wasn't able to fly, he wouldn't be able to catch up to JP and Zoe, which was why he decided to go after Koromon instead. Though he took notice that the winds were starting to pick up, and the sun was being covered by dark clouds. Is it going to rain? Oh crap, as if we needed more problems.

Chapter Text

DarkFoxKit: Hello, sorry about taking so long to update. I haven't really been motivated to write much lately, so it makes it difficult to keep writing. And I can't help but wonder if this story is getting any attention.

ZAFT: It is, I'm sure. People just aren't reviewing as much, maybe it will get more reviews soon, we'll see. ^^' … I hope…

DarkFoxKit: Well, either way, we'll try to keep going for the time being.

Chapter 11: The Courage to Protect

Tsunomon was hopping away fast, with JP and Zoe running after him. They were rather surprised at how fast Tsunomon was, given that he didn't even have any legs or feet.

"Tsunomon! Please, come back, just hear us out!" Zoe called out, but Tsunomon kept going.

"Or at least slow down!" JP whined. "C'mon buddy! Slow down!"

But Tsunomon kept hopping away as fast as he could.

"Aw man! Who knew a little guy without legs could be so fast?!" JP panted.

"I think we need to work out more!" Zoe panted.

"I just want to be left alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Tsunomon shouted back at them.

Biyomon and Kokuwamon finally caught up to JP and Zoe.

"Aren't you guys going a little too far from the school?" Biyomon frowned.

"Yeah, what if you get lost?" Kokuwamon asked.

"We need to get Tsunomon back." Zoe pointed out. "He can't be running off out here by himself."

"Yeah. and if worse comes to worst, we can just Spirit Evolve and fly back." JP replied.

"We know. We're more worried about Tsunomon getting lost than you guys," Kokuwamon answered.

"Especially since there could be hostile Digimon nearby." Biyomon frowned.

Then heavy winds suddenly picked up, blowing them back a bit, and causing them to lose track of Tsunomon as they started reaching the woods.

"Aw man!" Zoe groaned. "Now how are we going to find him?!"

"We'll fly ahead and see if we can see him," Biyomon quickly said.

Both Biyomon and Kokuwamon flew up high, trying to find the little Digimon.

"TSUNOMON!" Zoe called out.

"Please answer us, buddy!" JP called out as well.

"Biyomon… those clouds in the sky don't look too friendly…" Kokuwamon said in worry.

Biyomon frowned as she looked up at the sky herself. "We need to find Tsunomon, and fast… I don't like the looks of those clouds."

"Wait, did you hear that splash?" Kokuwamon asked.

Biyomon frowned, but she quickly looked around and saw something orange splashing around in what looked like a muddy pool of water. Her eyes went wide.

"That's Tsunomon!" Biyomon yelled. "ZOE! JP! OVER HERE! TSUNOMON NEEDS HELP!"

JP and Zoe ran over, only to see Tsunomon having trouble in the muddy water. "Oh no!" JP gasped.

"Hold on!" Zoe called out. "Biyomon, help me out!"

"What are you going to do?" JP frowned.

Biyomon flew down to Zoe, grabbing onto her shoulders with her talons and lifted her up. Biyomon was strong enough to lift Zoe if she had to, but there was a limit on how far she could go while holding Zoe. She brought Zoe over Tsunomon, and tried to get Zoe as close to Tsunomon as possible without dropping her in the water.

"Try to give me your horn!" Zoe called out to Tsunomon as she reached her hand out.

"That's dangerous!" Kokuwamon called out.

Kokuwamon would help, but he had no way to safely hold Zoe with his taser-like hands. Her clothing was too thin, he could accidentally zap her skin if he tried. At least with JP, he had thicker clothing on.

"I almost got it," Zoe said as her hand almost reached Tsunomon's horn.

But then another strong gust of wind went by, causing Biyomon to lose her balance and her grip on Zoe. "No!"

Zoe fell into the water. Biyomon nearly dove in to get her, but Kokuwamon quickly flew at Biyomon to stop her.

"Don't! You'll end up stuck in that muddy water too!" Kokuwamon warned.

"But Zoe and Tsunomon will drown if we don't do something!" Biyomon yelled.

"What should I do!?" JP frantically looked around for a stick or something he could use to get them out.

"Why don't you try Spirit Evolving!?" Kokuwamon replied.

"Oh, right!" JP remembered he had the ability to Spirit Evolve.

However, before JP could use his D-Tector, there was a bright glow coming from the water, catching their attention.

"H-Huh?" JP blinked, not sure what to make of what he was seeing. However, before he could process it, a form emerged from the water, holding onto Zoe gently. It was wearing a light blue fur pelt that had darker blue slash marks on it, similar to Lobomon's scarf, and had a yellow body with a blue and pink stomach. The creature had red eyes as well as sharp teeth sticking out of its mouth and a horn on its head as well.

JP let out a bit of a scream as he didn't expect this new Digimon to suddenly come out of the water.

"Relax, JP, I think that's Tsunomon," Kokuwamon said. "He just saved Zoe."

"Tsunomon?" JP blinked.

The new Digimon walked out of the water, carefully placing Zoe down, letting her cough out the water.

"I'm… called Gabumon in this form," The Digimon revealed. "I'm sorry if I scared you…"

Biyomon landed next to Gabumon. "You could digivolve?"

Gabumon frowned before fractal code surrounded him, reverting him back to Tsunomon. "Yeah… I can."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Kokuwamon stated.

"It is… it's why everyone treats me like they do now…" Tsunomon sighed. "Including Koromon… who used to be my best friend."

Lopmon was not built for running. His short legs were making it difficult to catch up to this fast bouncing pink ball. "Koromon! Stop running!"

"Why?! I need to find Tsunomon! It's my fault he ran away!" Koromon replied back.

"And what do you think you're going to do once you find him!?" Lopmon shouted back. "As you are now, you're more likely to make things worse between you two!"

Koromon stopped hopping when he heard Lopmon's words. He looked back at Lopmon. "I'd rather mess up in a well-meaning manner than not try at all."

Lopmon was glad that Koromon stopped, because he didn't know how much longer he could've kept running. "I'm not saying you shouldn't keep trying… just stop and think about things first… you don't want to make things worse, do you?"

Koromon looked down. "No… I don't…" He admitted. "But I feel so bad for what I said to Tsunomon… I feel like a horrible friend…"

When Lopmon finally caught up to Koromon, he sat down. "So you and Tsunomon used to be friends, right?"

"Yeah… we used to be pretty close. We've been together since we hatched in Primary Village, we were practically brothers," Koromon answered.

"So… what changed?" Lopmon asked.

Koromon looked down for a moment of hesitance. "I… I guess I became afraid…"

"Afraid? Please explain," Lopmon said.

"It happened a week and a few days ago…" Koromon began.

Flashback

Koromon and Tsunomon were playing with the other children outside. Togemon was in the building, preparing food for lunch time. The children were playing with a ball, having fun together. Tsunomon and Koromon were practically inseparable. They were always on the same team, and usually did things together.

As the other team were knocking the ball around, Tsunomon smiled as he approached Koromon. "Hey, Koromon! There's something cool I can do. I discovered it last night just before I went to bed."

"Really?" Koromon asked, noticing Tsunomon sounded excited. "What is it?"

"I'll show you and the others when the time is right~" Tsunomon grinned.

"Oh cool, it must be something really exciting if you want to show the others too." Koromon smiled before yawning.

"Everything alright?" Tsunomon asked.

"Just been skipping nap time lately," Koromon replied. "I've been having weird and scary dreams lately."

"Really? What kind of dreams?" Tsunomon asked, concerned for his friend. "Are they really that bad?"

"I wouldn't say the dreams are bad per say, just… really weird and scary." Koromon replied before yawning again. "I keep waking up after each one in a startled state. I'm not sure how to describe it, but… I think in the dream, I was different… like really different. I think I was big and strong, and able to move around the world easily."

"Oh? What's so scary about that? That sounds pretty cool." Tsunomon smiled.

"Well, I also had to fight a lot. A lot of big and scary Digimon. Other children Digimon are either scared of me, or I had to protect them from the real danger. And I kept seeing this darkness that started covering the world," Koromon explained. "Usually after the darkness covers me, that's when I wake up, feeling scared and startled."

Tsunomon shivered. "The darkness part sounds scary…"

"Yeah, it is…" Koromon answered.

"But other than that, I think being able to fight off big and scary Digimon to protect others isn't such a bad thing. It'd be like the stories Togemon tells us, like the Legendary Warriors." Tsunomon smiled.

"I… guess. I'm just not sure if that's a life I want though," Koromon replied.

"Well don't worry about it. It's just a dream after all," Tsunomon chuckled.

Koromon gave a small smile. "Yeah, you're right. How about we forget about it and go play with the others?"

Tsunomon grinned. "Sure! Let's go! I wanna practice soccer, since that's tomorrow's P.E. activity!"

Tsunomon and Koromon happily bounced off with the others to play. Nyaromon, however, hit the ball a little too hard with her tail, causing the ball to go flying. The other children quickly bounced after the ball, only for them to see the ball getting caught up on branches of a tree. The tree itself wasn't that tall, but to the children it may as well be as tall as a building, because none of them were tall enough to reach the ball.

"What should we do?" YukimiBotamon asked.

"We could try headbutting the tree to see if the ball would fall," Koromon suggested.

"The ball is really wedged up there." Jyarimon pouted. "I don't know if that will work."

"Maybe we should go get Togemon," Yarmon stated.

Tsunomon smiled. "It's okay, guys. I can get it down."

Everyone turned to Tsunomon, a little surprised about what he said.

"How? You're no taller than the rest of us," Conomon pointedly replied.

"Just watch~" Tsunomon smiled.

A cocoon of fractal code surrounded Tsunomon, blinding the other children for a moment.

When the fractal code dissipated, there was a new Digimon in Tsunomon's place, causing the children to gasp. "Look at me now!" The Digimon replied with a smile. "I can digivolve! Is this cool or what?"

Walking over to the tree, the new Digimon merely poked his horn into the ball and removed the ball from the tree. "There, piece of cake!" He said before he blinked, seeing how the children were looking afraid of him, they were all gathered in a pile, shaking. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Even Koromon was looking at him with eyes full of fear.

"Koromon? Are you-"

"S-stay away!" Koromon shouted.

"Koromon, it's me, Tsunomon! I mean I turned into Gabumon, but I'm still me, you know that, right?" The Digimon that claimed to be Gabumon, said in concern.

Koromon looked at Gabumon. He stopped shaking as he stared into Gabumon's eyes. The other children were still shaking though.

"H-he's a monster!" Nyaromon yelled.

"He's so big and scary looking!" Jyarimon shivered.

"He also stabbed our ball!" Zerimon screamed.

The other children quickly ran away back to the building, leaving just Koromon and Gabumon.

"I don't understand… why is everyone so afraid of me?" Gabumon frowned.

Koromon frowned. "... It's because… you've changed…"

"How?" Gabumon asked. "I may be a different Digimon right now, but I'm still Tsunomon in the end, right?"

"Was… this the 'super cool' thing you wanted to show me before? The thing you discovered last night?" Koromon asked.

"Yes…" Gabumon replied, unsure of what Koromon was getting at.

"I can't believe it… you can already digivolve…" Koromon said, looking down and away from Gabumon's eyes. "We're still only in pre-school… how can you already digivolve? How long will it be before the others start digivolving? And we leave school and our friends and family behind? I'm… I'm not ready for all of that…"

Koromon looked like he was starting to have an anxiety attack, his face was becoming pale, his pupils began shrinking, and he was having trouble breathing. Flashes of those dreams he had began going before his eyes.

"H-Hey… Koromon! Koromon!" Gabumon called out, trying to get Koromon's attention. "Are you okay?!"

Seeing that Koromon wasn't responding to him, Gabumon quickly covered himself in fractal code, turning himself back into Tsunomon. "Koromon! Look at me! It's me, Tsunomon!"

Koromon looked at Tsunomon, and he started calming down, seeing the familiar face of his friend instead of the face of a strange, new Gabumon.

"There… you see? I'm still Tsunomon," Tsunomon said soothingly, hoping to keep his friend calm.

Koromon managed to start breathing normally again, but he frowned. "Tsunomon… You… you've made a mistake… you shouldn't have digivolved."

"Why not?" Tsunomon asked, confused. "I was just trying to help get the-"

"Don't help!" Koromon snapped suddenly, interrupting Tsunomon.

Tsunomon flinched, surprised by Koromon's reaction. Even Koromon was surprised at his own reaction. Koromon turned around, unable to look at Tsunomon.

"I'm sorry… We're just not… not ready for digivolution yet," Koromon said quietly. "Just… don't digivolve anymore."

Tsunomon felt hurt. "B-but… Digivolving is normal… Why can't I do what is normal for us? One day, you'll digivolve too, Koromon."

"That may be so, but that won't happen any time soon," Koromon replied. "Unlike you, I'm not strong or brave. I… I don't want to get bigger and stronger."

"What?" Tsunomon asked. "Why not?"

"I just don't, okay!?" Koromon snapped, looking back at Tsunomon. "We're still too young to worry about all of that. But whatever, if you want to digivolve, then do your own thing. Leave me out of it."

Koromon bounced away from Tsunomon.

"H-Hey! Koromon!" Tsunomon exclaimed, bouncing after his friend. "Hey! I'm sorry!"

Koromon didn't answer back Tsunomon, and kept going.

End of Flashback

"Even though I digivolved to help get the ball down… all everyone else saw was a big, furry monster," Tsunomon sighed as he explained his story to JP, Zoe, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon. "Koromon even reacted pretty badly to me, even worse than the others. I had never seen him react like that… I must've scared him really badly…"

"Wow… That must've really hurt you." Zoe said, feeling sorry for Tsunomon. "And you were just trying to help too…"

"That's not nice." JP huffed. "Talk about ungrateful children."

"Besides, your Gabumon form wasn't scary at all. You saved my life, and for that I'm really grateful." Zoe smiled at Tsunomon, making Tsunomon blush a little.

"But I am surprised that the other children are scared of Tsunomon. Isn't digivolution normal among Digimon?" Kokuwamon asked.

"I think the young Digmion usually digivolve around the same time. Tsunomon was able to digivolve much earlier than the other children," Biyomon guessed. "So it must've freaked them out. Although… from the sound of it, I think Koromon's issues with Tsunomon's digivolution run much deeper than because he looked 'scary'."

"You think so?" JP asked.

"Do you remember when Tsunomon mentioned that Koromon told him about scary dreams?" Biyomon asked. "I think Koromon's issues with Tsunomon being able to digivolve stem from those, at least to an extent. And hearing how he had a near panic attack after realizing Gabumon was Tsunomon, that doesn't sound like the usual fear of a simple scary looking monster. It sounded like he was stressing out about something else related to your digivolution."

"But why would that dream make him scared of my digivolution?" Tsunomon asked. "In his dream, he only mentioned fighting off scary Digimon and some kind of darkness."

"It's possible he hadn't told you the full truth about his dreams," Kokuwamon said. "You never managed to really talk to him since that day you digivolved in front of everyone, right?"

Tsunomon shook his head. "No… Mostly because of his reaction towards me." He admitted. "I didn't want to make him panic or freak out again…"

"It looked like he was feeling guilty about how he and the others were treating you," Zoe noted.

"You think so?" Tsunomon asked.

"He seemed more reluctant to leave you behind," JP said, remembering how when the others left when he suggested Tsunomon to play with them, Koromon stopped and looked back at Tsunomon before leaving with the others.

"And he apologized when he crashed into you when both of you dived for the ball, even if the others were blaming you for it," Kokuwamon brought up.

"And he looked like he was trying to make a peace offering with that meat bun," Biyomon explained. "But he was too afraid and stiff to properly articulate it to you, which is probably why he came off as standoffish when he offered it to you. After you ran out due to his outburst, he started going after you himself to apologize."

Tsunomon blinked. "Really? He came after me? B-But why? He was so against me digivolving, and now he's trying to apologize to me?"

"I guess despite his fears regarding your digivolution, you both still have that bond between you two," JP said. "I'm almost a little jealous."

"Koromon probably needed some time to process what happened. But he was probably too afraid to come to you himself after his initial reaction to your digivolution," Biyomon said. "And your peers also didn't help with their attitude towards you. It's easier to go with the crowd than against them."

Tsunomon remembered how Koromon shushed Yarmon earlier when he told Koromon not to bother with Tsunomon.

"I can't say I blame him, but he really didn't handle things well," Zoe said with a sigh. "But if you're willing to talk to him… we can take you back to the school."

Tsunomon looked down, unsure of what he wanted to do. But he did want to make amends with Koromon at least, so he made up his mind. "That would be nice, actually. And… I do want to see if Koromon and I can work through this. I don't want to be alone anymore…"

"I just hope Lopmon's able to help Koromon through his issues so he can talk to Tsunomon…" Kokuwamon said worriedly.

"It's Lopmon, knowing him, he might as well be the Therapymon," Biyomon replied.

"I never told Tsunomon the full extent of my dreams…" Koromon sighed to Lopmon.

"I'm guessing the parts you didn't tell him is why you acted so badly towards his digivolution?" Lopmon softly asked.

"Yeah…" Koromon frowned. "My dreams… they didn't just involve me. It involved Tsunomon as well. In the dream… we were different Digimon. Bigger, stronger, scarier looking… we digivolved together and got stronger together. Then one day… we ended up fusing into this one big, powerful Digimon. That's when it all begins, and… when it all ends. I… tried to ignore the dreams, especially since it seemed ridiculous. But… in the back of my mind, I was always worried about it somehow coming true… and… when Tsunomon suddenly digivolved before my eyes, I became terrified. Not of Gabumon, though the form of Gabumon took me by surprise at first. I was…"

Lopmon noticed Koromon had trouble trying to find the right words about how he felt. "... You were scared that Tsunomon digivolving meant that dream of yours was a lot closer to happening than you wanted it to?"

Koromon nodded. "I was… And I just lashed out at Tsunomon for it… I feel so bad for it… But I was just so afraid… I didn't want the dream to come true, especially when I didn't feel ready. I thought it would help if I distanced myself from Tsunomon, using the fear of his Gabumon form as an excuse. But… I was just being a coward, and I was hurting my friend for it…"

"It looks like you've already realized what you did was wrong," Lopmon noted. "But why does that dream scare you so much? Wouldn't you like the idea of being strong and fighting against evil?"

"I… well… I thought I did… Togemon always told us stories about the Legendary Warriors, and the Royal Knights who protected the Celestial Digimon," Koromon replied. "All of us were excited at the idea of digivolving and becoming stronger to fight against evil one day, and maybe become legends like the Legendary Warriors and the Royal Knights. But… well… It's… different when I experience… or I guess, dream about it?"

"The dream showed you just how truly hard and scary it is to be a warrior, to have to fight against evil Digimon and the chaos they bring," Lopmon said softly. "The reality of being such a warrior shouldn't have been put into your mind until you've matured enough to be able to take such an experience. You're at a stage where you're supposed to just have fun, and want to grow and get stronger, not get ready to be a soldier for a war."

Koromon nodded. "Yeah, I should be having fun and all that, but those dreams… they just keep coming and it scares me… It made me afraid of wanting to get stronger… What if one day, I do become stronger? Would I have to fuse with Tsunomon and fight, just like in my dreams? I… don't want this to end, not so soon…"

Lopmon put a comforting ear on Koromon's back. "I know how you feel. I may not be as young as you, but I am still a kid myself. I'm always worried about growing up, and being forced to take on more responsibilities than I ever wanted. I watch as those around me, my friends, my family, become stronger, evolving into more complex beings. Sometimes I feel like they're leaving me behind while I'm struggling to keep up with them. Change is scary, growing up is scary. You'll face a lot of hardships as well. But… it's not the end of the world."

"What do you mean?" Koromon asked.

"I've come to realize something, once the thing you're afraid of happens, it's not as bad as you feared it to be. And you'd be surprised at what you're capable of in the moment. Before you know it, you overcome the thing you've been dreading, and… you're passed it. You feel free, and stronger than ever," Lopmon explained. "Let's say you do digivolve like Tsunomon did. What's the worst that can happen? That things won't be quite the same anymore?"

Koromon frowned, but he did respond. "You're right… Things won't be the same anymore. I will be getting stronger, but that is what makes me so afraid… I'm afraid of facing down whatever may come, because my dreams may become reality…"

I wonder if those dreams may be… memories of a past life. Lopmon wondered. It's unusual, but not completely impossible, for non-Celestial Digimon to retain bits and pieces of memories of their past lives. That must be what's troubling Koromon so much.

"Those dreams of yours, they're not going to go away I'm afraid," Lopmon bluntly stated. "But you don't have to suffer through them alone. It helps to have a close friend to talk to about them. Besides, you don't know for sure that if you digivolve, your dream would come true. You decide your own future, Koromon."

Koromon nodded. "I know, but I'm not sure I am ready to face it… I feel like staying small forever would be better for me, but we can't stop the urge to get stronger…"

"I understand the feeling, but staying small isn't living," Lopmon said. "It'd be no different than being stuck in prison. And everyone you're close to will eventually leave you behind."

Koromon sighed. "Yeah…"

"But despite what happened between you and Tsunomon, you still want him back, don't you?" Lopmon asked.

"Y-yeah… but… I really screwed up." Koromon frowned. "I don't think Tsunomon would ever want to talk to me again. I said some really awful things to him… things I didn't mean. I don't think Tsunomon is a monster, but… I was still afraid… of what his digivolution meant."

"It's not too late you know," Lopmon said. "You can still talk to Tsunomon, and let him know how you really feel. I'm sure Tsunomon misses you as much as you missed him. But you can't let your fear stop you from trying."

Koromon looked up. "You… really think he misses me? Even after what I said to him?"

"I noticed he would look at you longingly, despite how he gripes about the others," Lopmon answered. "And when you had your outburst, it hurt him enough to make him run away. It shows that he takes what you say to heart more than the others, meaning he still cares about what you have to say to him."

Koromon flinched. "That makes my outburst seem even worse…" He admitted.

"All the more reason to talk to him about how you feel," Lopmon said. "Miscommunication is often the reason that leads others to war. Same with friendships ending over miscommunication."

Koromon flinched again before sighing. "I suppose you're right… I just feel like a coward because I can't work up the courage to do so, even though I want to. But… I won't be able to set things right with Tsunomon if I don't talk to him."

Koromon looked over at Lopmon. "Have you ever had this problem? Having a hidden fear that you feel you can't even tell the one closest to you?"

Lopmon let out a small sigh. "More than I would like."

Suddenly, Lopmon felt a raindrop on his head. He blinked before looking up, seeing the dark clouds quickly taking the sky. The small raindrop soon turned into pouring rain, along with the sound of thunder.

"Oh, come on, I just got my clothes dry too," Zoe groaned as it started pouring.

"All this water better not make me short circuit…" Kokuwamon grumbled, getting under some leaves to try to mitigate the water on him as much as possible.

There was a sudden flash of lightning, and the loud boom of thunder followed after. JP yelped as he squatted down and covered his ears.

"Are you kidding me?!" Zoe grumbled. "You're the Warrior of Thunder and use electric attacks all the time, and yet you're afraid of lightning?"

"That's not fair, Zoe! Just because I can use those attacks as a Digimon doesn't mean lightning and thunder doesn't still scare, or hurt, me as a human," JP replied, trying to defend himself while also trying not to panic from another loud boom of thunder. "I'm sure Takuya would still burn in fire, and Koji would be blinded by bright light."

Tsunomon had no idea what JP was going on about. Last he checked, humans couldn't become Digimon. But that wasn't his concern right now. He was looking up at the clouds, seeing how heavy the rain was falling.

"He has a point," Biyomon said.

"I guess, but still, it just seems so odd," Zoe remarked.

"Can we go back to shelter? I don't think my circuitry likes this weather," Kokuwamon spoke up, having electricity on his hands and head sparking a little out of control.

"I can't say I like this weather either. I'm not a waterfowl after all," Biyomon grumbled, seeing that her feathers were getting soaked.

"This is bad," Tsunomon spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "We need to get back to school, quickly."

Tsunomon bounced ahead.

"Hey, Tsunomon, what's the big hurry?" Zoe asked.

Zoe, JP, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon quickly followed after Tsunomon. They all stopped when they saw the river they came in earlier was already starting to rise up into the flower fields.

"Uh oh…" Tsunomon said with a fear-filled tone in his voice. "The water's rising… Togemon said the last time this happened, the river overflowed and flooded the school. We have to get back or the others will be washed away!"

"That's terrible!" Zoe shouted. "We have to do something!"

"Why would you build a school where it can get flooded easily whenever it rains hard? Seems like a flawed system," Kokuwamon grumbled.

"There's no time to worry about that," Biyomon said.

"Whoa… the water's rising…"

Everyone turned when they heard the voice. They were surprised to see Koromon and Lopmon nearby, looking at the water themselves.

"If this keeps up, the river's going to flood and wash away the school." Koromon frowned.

"But it just started raining, and it's already this bad?" Lopmon replied worriedly.

"Lopmon! Koromon!" Zoe called out. "Over here!"

"Oh, hey guys! Looks like we caught up to you after all," Lopmon said as he and Koromon hurried over to the others.

Koromon and Tsunomon looked at each other for a moment, they both looked away awkwardly, not sure who should start talking.

"Um, so the school might get washed away if nothing's done soon," Lopmon said, noticing the awkward atmosphere.

"Y-yeah, but what can we do about it?" Biyomon asked. "Also, don't get too close to Kokuwamon. His body isn't taking the rain too well, and electricity is flying off of his head and hands."

"It's not that bad!" Kokuwamon spoke up before some of the electricity sparked brightly. "... But best not to touch me right now."

JP frowned before coming up with an idea. "Zoe, we should Spirit Evolve. We were able to gain back some energy after eating some food earlier. We'll be able to get back to the school faster by flying. And we might be able to use our powers to prevent the school from being flooded."

Zoe nodded. "Yeah. Good idea. I don't want to see those young Digimon getting washed away either."

Then Zoe smiled a little, seeing how JP was taking charge when others were in trouble. Maybe he wasn't such a quirky, lazy guy after all. Well, maybe still quirky.

"Spirit Evolve?" Koromon asked curiously.

"You'll see." Zoe said as she took out her D-Tector.

The magenta outline of her Spirit appeared visible on the screen of her D-Tector as she held it up. Fractal coding appeared on her left hand and she slammed the D-Tector against it as she brought the two together. Zoe then called out the familiar phrase she knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her body became data as her clothes ripped away. Coding surrounded her in a cocoon of sorts and the power of her first Spirit flowed into her. Her hair became longer, flowing past her waist and turning a purple color. Her body grew in height, increasing her strength and speed. A bikini-like outfit appeared on her body as gloves, and high boots formed on her arms and legs, with shoulder guards appearing as well as a visor that covered her eyes. Butterfly-like wings appeared on her back and she landed, letting out a cry as she unleashed a kick before she came to a stop and said her name. "Kazemon!"

JP smiled before he took out his own D-Tector. "Time to get into action." He said.

The green outline of his first Spirit became visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he held it up. JP then held up his left hand as fractal coding formed around it, his D-Tector held in his other hand. Slamming the device against the ring of coding, he brought the two together. JP then called out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Coding encircled him as his clothes ripped away and his body became data, the power of the Spirit flowing into him. Blue and yellow armor formed on his body as he grew in height and strength. On his back, wings formed before they were covered by two halves of a hard shell and on his head, a horn grew. His eyes became green as a faceplate covered his mouth and he felt the power of thunder flowing into his body. He landed, slamming his fists together as he cried out his name. "Beetlemon!"

Now evolved, Kazemon and Beetlemon were ready to head back to the school.

"Whoa! I didn't know humans could digivolve! That's so awesome!" Tsunomon shouted in awe.

"That's definitely unexpected, but…" Koromon said as he stared at the two former humans, they gave off a majestic feel, and a feeling of safety and security. "... definitely not unwelcome." Is that what it's like to become a strong Digimon?

"Well, time for a ride, hope you two aren't afraid of flying," Beetlemon said before he picked up Tsunomon and Lopmon.

Kazemon picked up Koromon. Biyomon perched herself onto Kazemon's shoulder since she didn't feel confident flying in the storm.

"Kokuwamon, you can ride on my back," Beetlemon suggested. "My body should be able to absorb your electricity, so it won't hurt me."

"Alright," Kokuwamon said, relieved he wouldn't have to fly through this storm himself.

Kokuwamon latched onto Beetlemon's back, though careful to avoid holding onto his wings. He wasn't sure if Beetlemon needed his wings to fly since he never saw Beetlemon's wings move when he flew, but Kokuwamon steered clear of the wings just in case.

"Let's go." Beetlemon said. "We need to get moving."

Kazemon nodded. "Okay."

With that said, both Beetlemon and Kazemon took flight. It was not easy to fly in the rain or the storm, but the two Legendary Warriors managed to stay airborne and keep on their flight path.

Koromon looked down as Kazemon was carrying him. He had never flown before, at least outside of his weird dreams, but it felt… wonderful. Despite the winds and rain pelting his face, it was almost freeing. The presence of these two strong Digimon made him feel safe, like everything was going to be okay. He thought back on the smaller Digimon in his dreams, and why he and Tsunomon were always protecting them. They likely felt like this too, like they could be safe because they were around to keep them safe. It was a nice feeling despite the situation looking pretty grim.

"I see the school up ahead!" Biyomon called out. "It looks like Togemon got all the other children on the roof of the building."

"Good to see, but I don't think the school will last long." Beetlemon said with concern. "We need to hurry."

"Let's get the others on the roof before we do anything," Kazemon suggested.

The two Legendary Warriors hurried, reaching the building. Beetlemon and Kazemon slowly put Tsunomon and Koromon onto the roof of the building.

"There you go," Beetlemon said.

"Thanks!" Tsunomon smiled.

"Yeah, thank you." Koromon smiled as well. "But aren't you scared?"

"To be honest, Kazemon and I may be a bit scared, but I'm not about to sit back and cower if I can do something to help." Beetlemon replied.

Despite being in a scary situation, they're still willing to protect us. Koromon realized, and admired them for it.

"Lopmon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, you guys get on the roof too," Beetlemon instructed. "You've been a great help, but you should leave this part to just Kazemon and me."

"We wouldn't want to lose you guys to the storm too while we're trying to stop the flood from coming in," Kazemon explained.

"We understand," Lopmon said before he hopped out of Beetlemon's hand and landed on the roof. "Do what you have to do."

"We trust you'll be able to handle yourselves," Biyomon said as she hopped off of Kazemon's shoulder and landed on the roof as well. "We'll keep an eye on everyone else here."

Kokuwamon hopped off, standing a good distance away from the others to not shock them. "I'll be okay… hopefully."

Beetlemon nodded. "Okay." He then looked around. "We'll have to divert the water somehow, with something big we can find and use."

Beetlemon then saw what looked like a good object to use to divert the soon to be coming flood. "Like one of those rocks! They look big enough to do the job!"

"Why JP, you're quite brave when you wanna be~" Kazemon smiled teasingly, though she appreciated seeing this side of Beetlemon.

Beetlemon felt his cheeks burning with a blush. "I-I… Thanks…" He coughed, trying to stay focused on the task at hand. "Ah… anyway, let's get to work."

The waters started to cover the sunflower fields, and was heading down into the valley where the school was.

"Let's do this quick!" Kazemon called out.

Beetlemon landed on the ground right in front of the boulder and brought up his fist, bringing electricity to it. "I summon the power of Thunder Fist!"

Beetlemon punched the ground, sending electricity around the large boulder, loosening it from the ground. As the water got closer, Beetlemon grabbed onto the boulder and used all of his strength to lift it up.

"Dang, that's quite the impressive strength," Biyomon whistled as she watched this.

"Digimon are stronger than humans, and that includes these kids in their Digimon forms." Kokuwamon chuckled.

"I still can't believe that JP and Beetlemon are the same person!" Tsunomon exclaimed in amazement. "He seemed so scared before, but now… Now it's like nothing can scare him!"

"It's not that he's not scared," Koromon said as he was watching too. "It's that he believes protecting us is more important than his fears."

"You're starting to see the bigger picture here, and why the stronger Digimon help the weaker ones." Lopmon smiled.

Beetlemon set the boulder down between the school building and the incoming flood waters. He stood behind the boulder, trying to keep it from getting washed away as the waters hit the boulder, causing it to separate, but the harsh waters were pushing back.

"Kazemon! Use your wind to stop the waters from going around me!" Beetlemon called out.

Kazemon nodded. "You got it!" She exclaimed as she flew down and hovered above the ground some distance behind Beetlemon. "Hurricane Wave!" She shot out wind at the water, keeping both sides of the water separated.

The children all began bouncing as they cheered on Kazemon and Beetlemon.

"They're doing it! That's amazing!" Togemon complimented, relieved to see they were going to be alright.

"Guys, maybe don't bounce so much, the roof is wet!" Lopmon spoke up.

It was too late, over, the kids all slipped on the roof, and some of them fell to the ground. But Tsunomon had been closest to the water. He ended up falling into the water and getting washed away.

"TSUNOMON!" Everyone cried out in alarm.

Tsunomon yelled out for help before his horn got caught on the tip branches of a tree that managed to stay above the water, and keeping him from being completely washed away.

"Tsunomon! Hold on! I'm coming!" Togemon cried out.

"If you get in that water, you'll be swept away too!" Biyomon warned.

"But I can't just leave Tsunomon out there!" Togemon replied frantically.

"I'll try to get him!" Biyomon said as she tried to fly up, but the winds kept blowing her back, so much so she almost got blown away.

Kokwuamon quickly grabbed onto Biyomon, though he ended up shocking her when he did. "S-sorry! But flying isn't recommended right now!"

Lopmon looked at Tsunomon, and how far away he was. "Tsunomon! If you want to survive, you need to digivolve!"

"Wah!?" Tsunomon shouted.

"Koromon told me about that!" Lopmon explained. "We'll try to rescue you, but you have to hang on! You'll need hands if you want to hang on!"

Tsunomon looked torn on what to do. Yes, Lopmon had a point, but he didn't want to be seen as a monster again.

"Tsunomon! I know I said not to digivolve again, but please, don't listen to that version of me!" Koromon called out, surprising Tsunomon. "I'm sorry! I was wrong to tell you that digivolving was bad! I was just scared about things changing! But I don't want you to get swept away, so please, digivolve Tsunomon!"

Tsunomon felt torn still, but he didn't want to not have the chance to explain things to Koromon. And it sounded like Koromon was genuinely upset and wanted to apologize. Taking a deep breath, Tsunomon concentrated and let fractal code surround him before it dissipated to reveal his Gabumon form.

Now having hands, Gabumon grabbed onto the tree branch and held on as tightly as he could.

"Okay, Togemon, help me form a chain! We'll save Gabumon while Beetlemon and Kazemon hold off the flood!" Lopmon quickly instructed. "Kokuwamon, Biyomon, I'll need your help to reach Gabumon!"

"Are you sure? I might shock you," Kokuwamon asked.

"I've taken worse," Lopmon said. "Come on!"

"If it'll save Tsunomon, then I'll do it!" Togemon quickly said before she got to the edge of the roof.

The other babies were watching from the ground, seeing the other Digimon bravely trying to go into the current to save Gabumon. Koromon was one of the few who was still on the roof with them.

Togemon held onto Biyomon's talons. Biyomon held onto Kokuwamon's feet, the only place on his body that wasn't sparking with electricity. Kokuwamon held onto Lopmon's feet. Lopmon felt some of the electricity from Kokuwamon going through his body, but he knew he could take it. Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Lopmon were in the current, with Togemon acting as their anchor. Lopmon was reaching out to Gabumon with his ears. Gabumon had one hand on the branches, and reaching out to Lopmon's ear with the other.

"Come on… come on…" Koromon nervously said. "If only… if only there was more I could do…"

Koromon realized that Tsunomon was able to digivolve before the other children. Koromon wondered if he stopped holding back, maybe he could…

Suddenly, a log was being washed down the current, and coming up fast as it bounced off of the rock Beetlemon was pushing back.

"Oh no… LOOK OUT GUYS!" Beetlemon shouted.

Koromon's eyes went wide when he saw the log coming towards Gabumon. One hit from that, and Gabumon was a goner. Koromon remembered all those times he had with Tsunomon since they both hatched in Primary Village at the same time. When Koromon was a Botamon, and Tsunomon was a Punimon. They were like brothers, always sticking together, even when they had separate families. Koromon wanted to give Tsunomon a proper apology, but he would never get that if he didn't do something now.

I can't let this happen. I must be brave… I must have the courage to protect my best friend! Koromon thought to himself.

Stealing his determination, Koromon jumped off of the roof and gave a shout as fractal code surrounded him. "Koromon digivolve to… Agumon!"

In the place of Koromon was an orange-yellow colored dinosaur with green eyes and white claws on its arms and feet. Now in his new form, Agumon landed on the ground with his feet, and ran towards the boulder. Kazemon and Beetlemon looked at Agumon in surprise. Agumon landed at the top of the boulder.

"Time for Pepper Breath!" Agumon called out, shooting out fire from his mouth at the boulder, which gave him enough force to be propelled towards the log.

Lopmon and Gabumon were hanging on for dear life as they saw the log getting close to them.

Is this how I go out? Because crushed by a log and being washed down stream? I wonder how the others would react to that. Patamon would likely be very upset with me… Lopmon frowned.

As Agumon was close to the log, he held out his sharp claws. "Claw Attack!"

Agumon's claws tore through the log, completely breaking it before it could slam into Gabumon and Lopmon. They, Kokuwamon, and Biyomon looked on in surprise at seeing this new dinosaur Digimon as he grabbed onto one of the branches himself after tearing the log apart.

Agumon gave Gabumon a smile. "It's okay, Gabumon. Let's get you to safety."

Gabumon stared into Agumon's eyes, a sense of recognition hitting him. "K-Koromon?!"

Agumon nodded in response before he reached out and took one of Lopmon's ears. Gabumon was surprised, but he reached out and took Lopmon's other ear.

"I got them! Pull us back, Togemon!" Lopmon called out.

Togemon began to pull the Digimon chain back as steadily as she could. "Hang on, everyone!" She instructed.

Not long after Togemon pulled them all to safety, the rain finally stopped, and the sunlight began peaking through the clouds. Gabumon and Agumon helped get the babies to safety on the ground, while checking the ones who hit the ground earlier for any injuries, though it looked like everyone was alright.

Beetlemon and Kazemon's work wasn't done yet, however. Now that they successfully saved the school from the flood, they decided to use the rest of their strength to build a sturdy fence around the school to help move the water away from the school should it happen again.

While they were doing that, Lopmon, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon were watching in pride as all the children Digimon hopped around Gabumon and Agumon, all excited.

"You guys gotta teach me how to digivolve!" Yanmon shouted.

"Yeah, I wanna be as big, strong, and brave as you two!" Zerimon smiled.

"Can you tell us how you digivolved?" Jyarimon asked excitedly.

"I wanna be able to become strong too! You two look so cool!" Conomon exclaimed.

"Is that really you two under there?" YukimiBotamon asked excitedly.

"You mean I don't scare you anymore?" Gabumon asked, surprised by this turn of events.

"You guys aren't scared of me either?" Agumon questioned.

"Nope! You two were really awesome out there!" Nyaromon smiled.

"Thanks guys," Agumon said before he looked at Gabumon. "But I owe you a real apology, Gabumon. I know I've hurt you the most after you digivolved for the first time. I… know I wasn't being fair to you…"

"You're right you weren't being fair." Gabumon grumbled. "Your words really hurt me."

"I know… and I'm sorry. I know I can't take back everything I said to you, but… I was afraid of things changing so quickly when I saw you digivolved," Agumon admitted. "That dream I had… it involved both of us, and… we ended up having to do a lot of scary things that I became afraid that it would all come true when I saw you digivolved. I didn't know what to do, so I panicked. I decided it would be better to stay small and weak forever, but you being there always reminded me that digivolving was inevitable. But… I regretted treating you like I did…"

Agumon looked back at Gabumon's eyes. "I know I don't deserve it after the way I treated you… but… I still want to be friends with you. If there's anything I can do to make up for how I acted, then please tell me."

Gabumon was silent for a good long while as he thought about Agumon's words.

"You were really scared of digivolving because of those dreams?" Gabumon asked.

"Y-yeah…" Agumon answered.

"And yet, you digivolved to save me," Gabumon pointed out. "Why?"

"Because you were in danger. I… had to stop being afraid if I wanted to save you," Agumon explained. "I needed to stop make excuses and come to terms with my own fears if I wanted to save you. Just like the humans did. You're still important to me, Gabumon, even through this rough patch between us."

"I see… How do you feel now that you've digivolved?" Gabumon asked.

"Honestly… it's…" Agumon began as he looked at his claws, flexing them a bit. "... not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it feels… freeing."

Lopmon gave a smile at that, knowing Agumon took his words to heart.

Gabumon gave a smile as well, hearing that his friend overcame his fear of digivolving now. And Agumon was genuinely sorry about how he treated Gabumon. If Agumon could grow past his fear of digivolving in order to save him, then Gabumon could forgive Agumon for how he treated him. Besides, he figured it would be best to just let things go, rather than keep it in mind and let it ruin their friendship again. His new friends had been right, about him and Agumon sharing a bond that still existed despite their rough patch.

"I'm glad you overcame your fear." Gabumon said. "I mean it. Without you, I'd probably be washed away by now."

"And we can't wait to digivolve ourselves." Nyaromon smiled. "I hope I get to be as cool as you two!"

"All's well that ends well, right?" Biyomon chuckled, looking at Lopmon. "I take it you helped Agumon with his fear of digivolving?"

"I only pushed him in the right direction, he did the rest himself," Lopmon answered.

"Heh, that's our Therapymon," Kokuwamon chuckled, feeling a lot better now that the rain had stopped.

"Therapymon?" Lopmon frowned. "All I did was talk to him."

"Yeah, but you seem to do it better than anyone else." Biyomon chuckled.

"I can't thank you enough for helping save our school and the children," Togemon said to the 3 of them. "Is there anything I can do to thank you and your human friends?"

"Maybe you could help us move around faster?" Kokuwamon asked. "Flying is good and all, but it takes a lot of energy."

"Hmm… we might be able to make something by the time your friends are done fixing up the fences around the school," Togemon said.

It was late in the afternoon by the time Zoe and JP finished building the fences, and they reverted back to their human forms. They congratulated Agumon on his digivolution, and his courage to save Gabumon. Not long after, they were looking at what looked like a big sailboat made out of grass, hay, and wood.

"Whoa…" JP and Zoe said.

"We made this boat in arts and crafts for you!" Togemon gestured. "It's the least we could do after everything you've done for us. We hope it'll help you."

"Thanks very much, it should definitely help us get around a little," Biyomon said politely.

"We should be able to find the others with this." Kokuwamon agreed. "Hopefully we won't have trouble finding them."

"I even made more snacks for you for the trip," Togemon said as she put a basket of meat and veggie buns for them in the sailboat.

"Oh thank you so much! That will definitely help keep our strength up for a while!" JP smiled, though he was mostly happy to have food for the road that wasn't just granola bars and canned food.

"Well guys, it's been fun, but it's time for us to go," Lopmon said to the children.

"Yeah… and Lopmon? Thanks… for everything," Koromon, who was back to being in his In-Training level, thanked.

Lopmon looked at Koromon and smiled. "I may have helped point you in the right direction, but you were the one to find the courage you needed to digivolve and help Gabumon. Don't forget that courage, Koromon."

"I won't forget it!" Koromon replied. "After today, I don't plan to forget it anytime soon!"

"That's good." Lopmon smiled before he hopped into the sailboat.

Zoe, JP, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon joined Lopmon on the sailboat.

"We hope you kids learned something from all of this," Biyomon said.

"Hey, Tsunomon, you're not afraid to digivolve anymore either, are you?" JP asked.

Tsunomon shook his head. "Nope! Not anymore!" He exclaimed with a big grin. "I think digivolving is awesome now! Especially since you humans can apparently digivolve as well! You are so cool! I wanna be just as strong as you two one day!"

"That's great! I'm glad you're willing to digivolve to become stronger too!" Zoe smiled.

"What about you, Koromon?" Lopmon asked. "Are you still afraid to digivolve and how that will affect your future?"

"I'll admit, sometimes I feel uneasy about it. But that's okay, because I realize that the fear makes it worse than it actually is. I'll keep digivolving too, alongside Tsunomon. I'll be brave and strong, and use that courage and strength to help others, like you guys did, and like the Legendary Warriors from the stories did as well." Koromon smiled.

"Actually, Zoe and JP are two of the Legend-" Kokuwamon began when JP and Zoe quickly clamped Kokuwamon's mouth shut.

"Uh… Yeah… We need to get going now!" Zoe said, hissing it to Kokuwamon. She didn't want another misunderstanding to occur.

"Thanks for everything, especially the snacks!" JP smiled as Biyomon pulled out the sail to let the winds blow it.

Everyone waved to Togemon and the children as the sailboat began moving with the wind.

"Goodbye! We hope to see you again!" The children called out.

"Be safe on your journey!" Togemon called out.

"That was nice. Never thought school could be a place to actually learn something worth anything," Biyomon admitted as the sailboat was heading towards a forest.

"Yeah, I'm just glad Tsunomon and Koromon were able to make up, and aren't afraid to digivolve anymore," Lopmon said.

"Yeah. Those two really are true friends to each other, despite their mishaps." Zoe agreed with a smile. "Tsunomon really showed his true colors, being a loyal friend and Koromon, he just needed a little push in the right direction to become as courageous as he is now."

"Yeah. And the other children finally changed their minds about Tsunomon," JP remarked.

"Which was a relief, I'd feel guilty if we left with the way things were before we arrived," Kokuwamon said.

"Aww, you're getting a soft spot~" Biyomon grinned.

"I've always had one!" Kokuwamon huffed.

"You know something, JP… maybe I've changed my mind about you too," Zoe admitted. "At least just a little. I can see that you can be brave and take charge when you need to, instead of as someone who just whines and thinks about his stomach all the time."

JP pouted a bit before grinning slightly. "Yeah? Glad you did."

"I said 'just a little'." Zoe teased back, making JP pout again.

"Aw man…" JP groaned.

"But hey, that's progress!" Kokuwamon encouraged.

"True." JP smiled.

"The wind definitely feels nice after a storm," Lopmon said as he stood at the front of the sailboat, letting the wind blow his fur and ears. Despite all the hardships, Tsunomon and Koromon's friendship remained strong. Maybe that means there's hope for us yet when the time comes.

Lopmon's thoughts were interrupted when he heard what sounded like a plane engine. Looking up at the sky, he saw an airplane flying away, but there were 5 figures falling from the sky, 4 of them using parachutes. It took Lopmon a moment to realize who these 5 figures were.

"Oh! Look guys! Our friends found us!" Lopmon pointed out.

Zoe, JP, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon all looked up, and sure enough, there were four familiar faces.

"Hey!" It's Takuya, Tommy, and Koji with Labramon and Patamon!" JP exclaimed with a grin.

Meanwhile, in the sky, Takuya, Tommy, Koji, Patamon, and Labramon were looking down. They had requested the ToyAgumon pilot to drop them at the entrance of the forest, and to their surprise, they saw what looked like a sailboat coming their way.

"Hey, what is that?" Koji asked, suspicious of this strange boat.

"It looks like a sailboat. I didn't know you could ride on it outside of water," Tommy remarked.

Labramon sniffed the air. "I smell familiar scents coming from that boat."

"Who's in the sailboat?" Takuya asked. "We can't really see it from here."

"I smell… Lopmon? And… Biyomon, and Kokuwamon… I think JP and Zoe are there too!" Labramon spoke up, smiling. "It looks like we found them, or they found us."

"Awesome!" Takuya grinned. "We're finally reuniting with the others!"

"It's about time." Koji agreed. "Being split up is never a good idea if we can avoid it."

"Talk about the perfect timing!" Tommy smiled. "I'm glad Lopmon found the others!"

Patamon sighed in relief as he was gliding down next to the other 4, since he had wings and could fly, he didn't need a parachute. "Good… everyone's back together again."

Everyone cheered as Takuya, Koji, Tommy, Labramon, and Patamon landed, and JP wrapped up the sail to stop them from moving.

Patamon all but tackled Lopmon in a hug. "You had me worried, Lopmon! I thought we wouldn't see you again for a long time!"

"Jeez, Patamon, chill out a little. I'm fine, see?" Lopmon replied.

"You were knocked off of the island! How could I not be worried?!" Patamon exclaimed.

"Man, you guys won't believe what we had to go through!" Takuya said.

"You probably won't believe what we did too," Zoe chuckled.

"How about we all get on the boat and let it take us to the forest while we catch up?" Biyomon suggested.

"May as well. I've never been in a boat that can sail on land." Takuya grinned. "It could be fun."

"Jeez, act like a kid, why don't ya?" Koji grumbled.

"And there's nothing wrong with that." Labramon grinned.

As everyone rode on the sailboat, they all told the other about what they went through. Each person also had a Digimon sitting next to them or on their lap. Takuya had Patamon on his lap, Zoe had Biyomon perched on the boat's side next to her. JP had Kokuwamon next to him. Koji had Labramon on his lap. And Tommy had Lopmon on his lap.

"So you had to fight against a strange ecto-y dinosaur that almost destroyed the world?" JP asked, surprised.

"Yeah, and it really wore us out." Koji replied. "At least, me, Labramon, and Tommy at any rate. Takuya and Patamon got themselves captured by this teddy bear."

"Hey! It wasn't my fault I got caught!" Takuya huffed. "I didn't think that would happen!"

"A teddy bear? Jeez, I don't blame you for getting captured," Lopmon shivered.

"No way… you're actually scared of teddy bears?" Takuya blinked, remembering Patamon mentioning that Lopmon was scared of teddy bears, but he hadn't been sure that was actually true or if Patamon was overexaggerating.

"Takuya, as far as I'm concerned, the only good 'teddy bear' is Kumamon, and he's not actually a teddy bear," Lopmon huffed. "He's more of a snow bear."

"You considered me a 'teddy bear'?" Tommy asked.

"Well, in a cute bear sort of sense, not an evil demonic creature using their cuteness to deceive you from their true nature," Lopmon answered.

"Aww, even Lopmon thinks you're cute," Zoe giggled.

Tommy blushed at Zoe's words. "Y-You're just saying that!" He exclaimed.

"Hey, Kumamon is kinda cute." Biyomon agreed with a giggle of her own.

"Probably the cutest of the Legendary Warriors~" Kokuwamon added.

"Come on, stop saying I'm cute…" Tommy pouted.

"Well, he may be small and cute, but he's just as deadly as any other Legendary Warriors," Labramon said. "I mean he was able to help defeat that EctoGreymon."

"Not to mention he was the one who turned WaruMonzaemon back to normal," Koji added.

"But I'm impressed that you guys helped out a school of young Digimon," Patamon said. "You prevented a flash flood from washing them away and even mended a friendship."

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy." JP admitted. "I was sure that the rock I was using to separate the water would wash away with me barely clinging onto it."

"It just goes to show how strong you guys are in your Digimon form, and how you're getting stronger the more you use them," Kokuwamon noted.

"I can't believe all the stuff we went through after we got separated," Zoe chuckled. "I feel like we all grew from it a little, you know?"

"Yeah, I'd say we have." Takuya agreed with a grin. "Even Koji here has learned to open up a bit around us."

Koji huffed. "Only because you guys were the only ones I was around." He grumbled.

"Don't act like that. You know you like being around us~." Takuya said cheekily.

"Not when you act more like a kid than the youngest one here," Koji huffed.

"Speaking of which… didn't you have something you needed to tell us, Tommy?" Patamon asked.

Labramon frowned, she still hadn't had a good time to tell the others about what happened. But she hoped Tommy himself would reveal it when he told them.

"What's this about?" Lopmon questioned as he looked up at Tommy.

"Well…" Tommy hesitated. "... I know some of you have been feeling a strange sense of deja vu lately, but I was feeling it strongly when we were at the wind factory, and when we were on Toy Island. Then… WaruMonzaemon hit me with his Heart Break Attack, and… it did something to me. I started seeing two different events, very different yet similar events to what's been happening to us. But they contradict each other, one couldn't have happened over the other. Like… I met with other humans at the wind factory, and I got Kumamon when I was trying to help a group of humans I've never seen before. And yet, I feel like those happened to me. It's like…I have two different sets of memories."

Lopmon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Patamon's eyes all went wide. Labramon knew they wouldn't like hearing that, but at least now they know what the problem was.

"Two different sets of memories?" JP asked with a concerned look on his face. "That doesn't sound normal."

"I remember I felt something familiar at KaratsukiNumemon Mountain, but I just brushed it off as an odd feeling. But if what you are saying is true, Tommy, then… would the rest of us experience this situation you are in right now?" Zoe asked in confusion.

"I think the Heart Break Attack might've just messed with Tommy's head," Koji said. "It did mess with mine when I got hit by it. But… it did look like it affected Tommy much harder than it did me."

"I got hit by it too," Takuya admitted. "When I tried to escape before. It doesn't make us see different memories though."

"Are you sure you didn't just… dream it all up?" Zoe asked Tommy.

"I don't know… But seeing those visions… or memories, or whatever they are… it's making me question about the world we're in right now," Tommy admitted. "Those other memories… I think I was older there. But that should be impossible, right? Because I just got Kumamon in those memories, yet I have Kumamon now. I'm just… worried what it means if those memories are real. What if… the world we're in now isn't real?"

"That's impossible, how can this world not be real? You feel pain when you fight. Everyone is living out their lives normally here," Lopmon spoke up.

"Yeah, and you know all of you are real, and so are we. There's no way we're all just dreams," Patamon added.

"But we can't ignore the rest of us having this feeling of deja vu." Koji pointed out.

"Yeah… And when I first purified a Digimon of ectoplasm, I had a flashback of doing something similar before." Takuya admitted. "Even though I'm sure I had never even seen real ectoplasm before."

"It's too much to just be a coincidence, right?" JP asked.

"Have you experienced any deja vu feelings too?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah. When I got my Spirit, and when we were helping the Kokuwamon," JP answered. "I was more focused on… other things to really think about it at the time though."

"What does this mean then? That the Digital World isn't even real?" Koji asked.

"Do you… think we're not real?" Labramon asked.

"No, I… I just want to know if any of this means anything," Koji replied.

Lopmon took a breath and let it out for a moment. "Whatever you think this world is, it's as real as all of you are. That means you are in real danger when you fight. After how Grumblemon defeated all of us combined, it might be in our best interest to think about doing something we've been holding off for a while."

"And what would that be?" JP asked.

"Training," Lopmon answered. "You've all been getting by on instinct and luck, but that can only carry you for so long. Grumblemon as Gigasmon defeated us because we weren't coordinated as a team, and we aren't strong enough individually to go against his raw power when he uses his other form."

"Training?" The five kids asked as one.

"Yes." Patamon confirmed. "It will not only help you get stronger, but also learn just what you can do in your Digimon forms."

"It will also help us to be able to take care of ourselves if we should get attacked during the battle," Labramon added.

"So another hostage situation won't be as likely," Biyomon said.

"It will help increase your performances in battle as well," Kokuwamon stated.

Koji looked down in thought. "I do remember… During the fight with that 'EctoGreymon', I did something I never knew I could do; I used a new move, and I had no idea I could do that move."

"The Legendary Warriors likely had all sorts of abilities, and what you guys have now are just the surface knowledge," Patamon explained. "There could be more that you all could learn. But you'll never know what you're capable of if you don't have any training."

"But how would we even train?" JP asked.

"The best way to see what you're all capable of is to spar," Lopmon stated. "With each other, and with us."

"So we fight against each other?" JP asked. "That sounds like it would hurt…"

"It's a spar, meaning you and your opponent only stop when one or both of you are exhausted." Patamon explained.

"Do you think it's a good idea?" Zoe asked a little nervously. "We've never really tried fighting each other."

"It might not be a bad idea," Tommy said. "It could help us get a better understand of each other's techniques. I'm more worried about sparring against… well, you guys, Lopmon. You're not exactly fighters."

"Yeah, that's why I suggested it," Lopmon said. "We need to be able to fight too."

"We can handle ourselves." Patamon reassured Tommy. "But that's why we are doing this; to get you kids used to fighting better, and to help us get stronger as well."

"I'm up for it." Takuya said. "It may be fun to see what the rest of us can do."

"I'm down," Koji remarked. "I'd like to see what the rest of you are capable of too. Tommy definitely surprised me, so I look forward to seeing what the rest of you can do."

Tommy tried not to blush at the Koji-compliment.

"I guess if it would help, we can give it a shot," JP agreed.

"Then… if we are doing this, when and where should we train?" Zoe asked.

"Maybe just before we reach the forest. There's enough room here to move around," Biyomon suggested. "And less likely for Agunimon to set a forest on fire with his fire attacks."

"Hey! I wouldn't set the forest on fire!" Takuya huffed.

"We can't take chances." Biyomon replied.

Takuya grumbled, feeling a bit insulted.

"Well, who would we pair off with?" Tommy asked. "There are five of us humans and five of you Digimon."

"If we're talking about you guys sparring with each other, that depends on who you want to try sparring against," Kokuwamon said.

"Like you could spar against Takuya," Lopmon suggested to Tommy.

"And Zoe could spar against JP," Biyomon said.

"Koji could also spar with Takuya, or against Tommy," Labramon suggested.

"As for us, we can discuss that later," Patamon said.

"I guess we should stop the boat, and Spirit Evolve then." Koji suggested. "So we can start sparring."

JP stood up and pulled up the sail so the wind would stop moving the boat. They all got out of the boat to stretch out for a bit.

"So who will be fighting whom?" Lopmon asked.

"I think JP and Tommy could start sparring while Takuya and Koji start sparring as well." Biyomon suggested. "Then Zoe could spar against Tommy or JP, whomever is not exhausted. That could be the start at least."

"I guess we should go ahead and Spirit Evolve then," JP said.

"You guys go ahead and do that, we'll watch from the side," Labramon said.

As all the Legendary Warriors Spirit Evolved, Lopmon, Patamon, Labramon, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon all backed away to not get caught up in the crossfire. But they also needed to use this time to talk about a plan. Because they knew they were in big trouble if something didn't change soon.

Chapter Text

ZAFT: Well, another Monday update. Have both readers this time too! That’s good to see!

DarkFoxKit: Yup. By the way, I’ve gotten into the Digimon virtual pet lately. Strange how I’ve been a Digimon fan for years, but this is my first time playing the virtual pets that they originated from.

ZAFT: I had the Digivice virtual pets as a kid, but I don’t have any now… T-T

DarkFoxKit: Well, if you ever have the interest and money, I know some places are still selling the Digimon 20th for like 15 bucks. There’s also a cool fan-made project called W0rld that allows you to play with your Digimon v-pet in an online MMO game. But that’s enough ‘advertising’ now. Let’s get into the story.

Chapter 12: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Plans

Agunimon and Lobomon stood on the opposite sides of each other. Lobomon took out his two lightsabers as he charged at Agunimon. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Agunimon! Lobo Kendo !”

Agunimon jumped to the side as he then rolled once and got to his feet. “Not bad, but you’ll have to do better than that.” He grinned.

Lobomon just aimed his left arm at Agunimon and fired off his long ranged attack. “Howling Laser!”

Agunimon saw the incoming attack and raised his arms in a defensive move, calling forth that shield of his. The shield flared into existence, blocking the attack.

Lobomon saw the shield and blinked. “Okay, that’s new.”

“Believe me, I’m still trying to figure out how I learned this move.” Agunimon admitted. “But I can’t deny it’s been useful.”

“Do you have a name for it then?” Lobomon asked.

“No. Not yet…” Agunimon admitted sheepishly.

“Well try to think of one,” Lobomon said. “But that won’t stop me from continuing this spar. Lobo Kendo !”

“Pyro Darts!” Agunimon shot out his flaming darts at the incoming Lobomon.

Meanwhile, Beetlemon and Kumamon stood on the opposite side of each other. They were further away from Agunimon and Lobomon.

“Instead of just making it one-on-one, we should make it a free-for-all with Kazemon,” Kumamon suggested.

Kazemon and Beetlemon blinked before looking at Kumamon.

“Why do you want to do that?” Kazemon asked Kumamon.

“Because we’d be too tired to give Kazemon a fair one-on-one without her waiting for us to rest,” Kumamon answered. “And, realistically, we’d likely be attacked by multiple Digimon instead of just one. So this will help us prepare in case we get attacked by multiple enemies.”

Beetlemon blinked before looking down. “That makes sense. It would also help us learn to react to such a situation since most enemies will not be so willing to fight one on one.”

Kazemon grinned. “Well, I hope you’re able to handle two flying opponents then, Kumamon.”

“I welcome the challenge.” Kumamon smiled.

“Then let’s do this!” Beetlemon said before he lifted up his fist, having electricity spark on it. “Thunder Fist !”

Beetlemon came at Kazemon and Kumamon. Kumamon took a deep breath and blew out an icy attack without calling out the name, freezing the ground under Beetlemon’s feet. Because Kumamon didn’t shout the  name, Beetlemon had been ill prepared for what Kumamon just did, and started to slip and slide on the ground, making him miss both of them by a mile, and he ended up falling on his face.

“Ow…” Beetlemon groaned as he looked up. “That really caught me by surprise.”

“Don’t get so down, Beetlemon. It’s all about getting better at using our abilities.” Kazemon giggled.

Kazemon flew up into the air and summoned little twisters on her fingers. “Hurricane Wave!”

Kazemon blew back Kumamon, who was far lighter than Beetlemon was, who managed to stand his ground.

“You gotta do better than that, Kazemon!” Beetlemon said before he flew up into the air too, his horn sparking with electricity. “Lightning Blitz !”

Kazemon dodged the attack easily, being able to fly and not on the ground. “You’ll have to do better than that!” Kazemon quipped before standing on her hands and spinning around with her legs spread apart. “Tempest Twist!”

Beetlemon was hit by Kazemon’s kick, though he was able to take it pretty well. Instead of us just trying to punch or ram into Kazemon, since that wasn’t working out so well, Beetlemon decided to summon lightning into his hands like he was about to use Thunder Fist, but then he discharged the electricity in the air. Not even Kazemon could dodge electricity in the air. Her body got zapped.

“OW!” Kazemon yelped before she fell to the ground, her body twitching from the electrical attack. “I… hate electricity…”

“Looks like I’m able to utilize the electricity for more than just a punch, awesome!” Beetlemon said excitedly.

Suddenly Beetlemon was pelted by snowballs. The snowballs were cold, and they made it difficult for him to fly because they were freezing his wings.

“You should never forget about the other enemy in the area, letting your guard down is a death sentence,” Kumamon stated to Beetlemon as he was holding out his gun that was shooting out snowballs.

“Darn it…” Beetlemon hissed before he turned to face Kumamon. “Little sneak… Let’s see how you like this!” He gathered more electricity in his hands and directed it right at Kumamon.

However, since Kumamon was on the ground, he managed to move his body out of the electricity’s way as it hit the ground and dispersed.

“Lightning does better in the air than on the ground without a solid matter to guide them,” Kumamon replied.

Kazemon was a bit shaken, but she was far from out. She wasn’t going to let a little electricity stop her. She got back to her feet and moved into the air again.

“Hurricane Wave!” Kazemon shouted as she shot out a large wave of wind at Beetlemon.

This time Beetlemon got blown away due to his wings being stiff from the snowballs. Kazemon looked down at Kumamon while Beetlemon was recovering from the sudden wind attack. Kumamon looked up at Kazemon. Something felt familiar to both of them as they faced each other like this.

Kazemon wasn’t sure why, but she felt like she was facing Kumamon down in a confrontational manner just by hovering over him like she was. It made her very uneasy, but she shook her head, trying to keep her mind on the spar.

Kumamon wasn’t sure why, but it suddenly felt… wrong to be facing Kazemon like this. He didn’t have a problem facing Beetlemon, so he didn’t understand why he felt this way with Kazemon.

“Alright, here we go!” Kazemon called out.

“Time to make you leave!” Kumamon imagined Kazemon saying, even though she didn’t.

This distracted Kumamon enough for Kazemon to created little tornadoes on hers fingers. “Hurricane Wave!”

Kumamon was blown back by the attack. While he was feeling dazed, Kazemon took this opportunity to spin around and kicked him with her feet. “Tempest Twist!”

Kumamon yelped as he was kicked back.

“You attacked that player. We won’t let you carry on indiscriminate attacks on humans!” Kumamon heard the other Kazemon shouting at him.

Stop it! What’s going on? I fought with Kazemon before? Were we enemies or something? Why? Kumamon questioned, putting a hand on the side of his head. Aren’t we comrades and friends? Why were we confronting each other?

Kazemon paused when she saw Kumamon was acting strangely. “Is something wrong, Kumamon?” She asked as she slowly hovered down in front of him.

Kumamon shook his head. “N-No… I’m… I’m fine…”

“Clearly not, you seem distracted.” Kazemon frowned. “Maybe you should take a break. I don’t want to hurt you more if you’re not feeling up to it.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Beetlemon asked as he came over, seeing that they were talking.

“Kumamon’s acting a little weird, and I’m worried about him,” Kazemon replied.

“What are you!? What makes you different from me!?” Kumamon heard his own voice shouting.

“My comrades and I protect humans and Digimon, not try to hurt them.” Kazemon’s voice replied.

“I haven’t done anything wrong!” Kumamon heard his voice again.

 Kumamon shook his head again. If these memories were fake, why did they feel so real to him?

“Maybe I should sit this one out,” Kumamon finally said. “I’m not feeling too well. You and Beetlemon can keep going though.”

Beetlemon and Kazemon looked at Kumamon in concern.

“Are you sure?” Beetlemon asked.

“Yeah,” Kumamon replied. “It’s not a good idea to spar when I’m not feeling at my best.”

“Okay. You get some rest then,” Kazemon said in concern.

“Thanks,” Kumamon said, smiling a little seeing that Kazemon did care about him, and wasn’t accusing him of hurting others like the one in his vision was.

Fractal code surrounded Kumamon, turning him back to Tommy, and he walked away while Kazemon and Beetlemon faced each other.

While this was going on, Lopmon, Patamon, Labramon, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon sat in a circle with each other.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re stressed out about what happened with Tommy, and we need a plan,” Lopmon said.

“Yeah, but what can we do?” Labramon asked in concern. “Tommy… having two sets of memories… That’s not a good sign.”

“But what does it mean?” Kokuwamon asked.

“It means that he remembers what happened… before…” Biyomon answered grimly. “He has his memories of what happened here, and now he’s getting memories of what happened before coming here.”

“And… what would happen if he fully remembers…?” Kokuwamon questioned, though he was afraid of the answer, it needed to be said.

“We don’t know,” Patamon replied. “We were only warned of the possibility. The consequences of, at least, one of them remembering their past, is unpredictable. It could mess up this world, and leave us trapped within it. It could also force a… ‘reboot’, I guess, on us too, which means we’d lose our memories of who we were, and become a part of this world.”

“The master of this world would probably prefer that…” Biyomon grumbled.

“We can’t just ignore it though.” Labramon pointed out. “We need to find a way to help Tommy through this… and keep ourselves prepared for what could happen should he remember fully…”

Lopmon had been pretty quiet as he was thinking about this.

“What are you thinking, Lopmon?” Patamon asked. “You seem to be the closest one to Tommy, aren’t you more worried about this?”

“I’m not the closest one to Tommy, I just happen to be around him more often,” Lopmon grumbled. “And in any case, of course it troubles me. But we can’t control what his mind is doing, now can we?”

“So… should we just… leave so we don’t get caught in the impeding doom?” Kokuwamon asked.

“We don’t know if that’s what’s going to happen. That’s just the worst case scenario,” Lopmon sighed. “Let’s… try to flip our way of thinking.”

“What do you mean?” Labramon asked.

“Instead of thinking of this as a bad thing… what if this was a good thing? A blessing in disguise?” Lopmon pointed out.

“How so?” Biyomon questioned.

“Didn’t we come here to help them get out of… well, the trap set for them?” Lopmon pointed out. “Having them remember is unstable, and risky, but the fact it happened to one of them, and the world hasn’t started crumbling before us, is a good sign. We could explain things to him as much as we’re allowed to, and he could become our ally. He could help deter the sabotagers since they’re not allowed to be seen by any of them anyways. He could not just help cover for us when we have to inevitably leave, but he can maybe even guide the rest of them out when we can’t anymore.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Patamon asked. “I mean… yeah, it’s a good idea, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on a young kid his age.”

“I know that. But considering what he’s been through before, I think he can handle it,” Lopmon replied. “And… I know he’ll want to help them when he realizes the situation they’re in.”

The other four Rookie-level Digimon looked at one another. They knew Lopmon had a point, but that didn’t mean they liked it.

“I don’t like this.” Labramon admitted at last. “But you have a valid point. When… we have to leave… the children will need someone to guide them through this.”

“But I don’t understand, why Tommy? Why just him?” Kokuwamon asked. “It could’ve been any of them, Takuya, Koji, JP, Zoe… but it’s Tommy who loosened the seal on his memories?”

“Tommy’s a smart kid. And he’s been through a lot… bad and traumatizing experiences aren’t so easily forgotten,” Lopmon answered. “He must’ve been somewhere where most of his bad memories were triggered, and that’s what caused the seal to loosen so much.”

“That makes sense, even if it really sucks…” Kokuwamon sighed.

“But is this really a good thing? I’d feel bad to put this kind of pressure on him…” Biyomon frowned.

“To be honest… it’s the best thing to happen so far. When we took on this mission, we weren’t at all sure if we would be able to guide them enough to get them to escape the trap once we’re forced to leave. The world, and the  master of the world, are putting rules on us that make it near impossible for us to win this game,” Lopmon stated. “At least once we’re forced to leave, the others will still have someone who knows what’s really going on to get them out.”

As much as the others hated to admit it, Lopmon had a point.

Biyomon then chuckled. “This could be a work around for those rules too if we look at it as a good thing.”

“And knowing Tommy, he’ll definitely want to do this. If it had been anyone else, they would think the same,” Patamon agreed before giving a small smile. “This might just work.”

“Hey guys? Mind if I joined you?” A familiar voice spoke up, getting their attention.

The group saw Tommy walking over to them.

“Speak of the teddy bear…” Lopmon whispered with an amused tone.

“Of course not, you’re welcome to join us. Actually, we were thinking about talking to you about something important anyways,” Patamon said as he gestured for Tommy to sit with them.

“I take it you’re done with your spar though?” Labramon asked.

“Yeah, I am.” Tommy replied as he sat down next to the five Rookie-level Digimon. “I’ve been getting a headache, so we figured it might be best if I sit out for now.”

“Are you alright?” Biyomon asked.

“I’m alright now…” Tommy answered. “I guess those weird memories started popping up again. I just wish I knew what they meant, and if I need to be worried…”

Patamon and the other Digimon looked at one another, feeling uneasy about the whole thing.

“Well… I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about…” Kokuwamon offered up. “I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing.”

“I guess…” Tommy said before he looked at them. “What was it that you guys wanted to tell me?”

All the Digimon hesitated to speak up. It was Lopmon who decided to explain. “Well, Tommy… the truth is… we have more than just one reason to follow you guys. We’ve been sent here on a mission specifically to help you all.”

Tommy blinked in surprise. “Y-You were?” He asked, not sure what to make of this revelation. “W-why didn’t you tell us that from the beginning?”

“It’s not something we can just tell you. It’s a risk just telling you this now,” Lopmon answered. “There are… laws and restrictions put on us. We can’t say certain things, they just turn into light energy from our mouths if we tried. Besides, you guys didn’t know us at the beginning, you might find it suspicious that we were here specifically for all of you.”

“It got harder when some of us got split up due to circumstances,” Kokuwamon said. “Like when I got caught in the Wind Factory.”

“And when I went with Koji, who didn’t want to go with the group for a while,” Labramon said.

“Or when I tried not to let myself get attached to you guys,” Biyomon added.

“But now we’re all together again,” Patamon said before hesitating. “Okay, maybe not all of us, but most of us are here. And we’ve been discussing on the best course of action.”

“We can’t tell the others about our true mission. It could put us in danger,” Lopmon warned. “The only reason we’re telling you this now is because of your… other memories.”

“My… other memories?” Tommy asked, confused. “You mean the ones I’ve been having of people I’ve never met, and the incidents that feel so familiar but foreign at the same time?”

“Yes.” Patamon replied. “That’s exactly why.”

Tommy furrowed his eyes in confusion. “But why am I having these memories?”

“Those memories… regardless of what you think, they’re very much real. All of those memories you have, the people you have met yet never met before… they all happened to you,” Lopmon revealed.

“Then… What about the memories I have now?” Tommy asked, feeling a bit distressed. “Are they all fake? Is everyone else fake?”

“Tommy, I assure you, everything happening now is also real.” Patamon said gently. “But… That is all we can really say due to the restrictions placed on us.”

“But I don’t understand… how could both of my memories be real?” Tommy asked. “They contradict each other… I… I had a memory of Kazemon fighting me earlier. She seemed to think I was an enemy, it didn’t seem like a friendly spar at all. And I was yelling back, asking what she was, and that I didn’t do anything wrong. How could that have happened?”

“Okay… listen Tommy…” Lopmon said. “There’s something you need to know in order for that to make sense, and why we’re here in the first place… You, Takuya, Koji, Zoe, and JP are all very much real people. We are also real. But… about how you all got here…”

Tommy frowned, seeing how Lopmon’s words carried some heavy weight to them.

“I will warn you, Tommy… once you know about this, you’ll have a heavy burden placed on you,” Lopmon warned. “But… you are our best hope of… helping us complete our mission.”

Tommy looked down in thought. It seemed like Lopmon and the others had a big burden on them, and they could only do so much with the restrictions they had on them. And the little Digimon really did want them, the children, to succeed in whatever mission they had here in the Digital World. And if this could help explain his two sets of memories as well, he was willing to listen. Tommy wasn’t sure he was ready to handle this burden Lopmon was talking about, but he wanted to help in any way he could.

Finally, after some thought, Tommy looked up and nodded. “I’ll do my best to help you and the others, Lopmon.”

“Alright… but even though you don’t have the same restrictions as we do, I do request that you don’t tell the others what you’re about to hear. There’s a good chance something bad will happen if they all know, we’re already taking a chance telling you,” Labramon warned.

Tommy nodded. “I promise I won’t tell them.”

“Okay. Then here’s the truth about why you have two sets of memories…” Lopmon began.

Lobomon slashed at Agunimon with his Lobo Kendo, dual wielding the two lightsabers.

Agunimon blocked with his armored forearms, calling forth his shield close to his arms, grunting as he held the glowing blades back. “Not bad…” He grunted out before pushing the swords back. He then called forth fire from his silver wrist armor, throwing it at Lobomon. “Pyro Darts!”

Lobomon blocked the Pyro Darts with his lightsabers easily.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” Lobomon challenged before he pointed one of his arms at Agunimon. “Howling Laser!”

Lobomon shot out a bright laser at Agunimon.

Agunimon dodged the laser and held out his arms at his sides before slamming his fists together. Fire formed around his fists. “No it isn’t!” He said before punching at Lobomon. “Pyro Punch!”

The first fiery punch was blocked by Lobomon’s swords, but the second Pyro Punch hit the other humanoid Digimon in the side. Lobomon was sent stumbling back as he held his side. “Ugh… That was no weak punch…”

Agunimon gave a cheeky grin. “Don’t mess with fire, because you’ll get burned.”

“Can you get any more childish?” Lobomon groaned before he got back to his feet. “Your punch may be strong, but don’t forget, that could leave you vulnerable to the enemy!”

With Agunimon so close, Lobomon was able to slash him with his lightsabers.

Agunimon grunted as he was hit by the light swords. One slashed at his chest armor, leaving a burn on it, the other nicked his right side. Agunimon smirked before he grabbed one of Lobomon’s arms in his hand. “Gotcha!”

Agunimon then grabbed Lobomon and managed to flip the other Warrior over his head to the ground. Lobomon grunted loudly as he landed on his back, the wind knocked from his lungs.

“Do you give up yet?” Agunimon grinned.

“Not… even… close!” Lobomon replied before he had his foot kick Agunimon back before he rolled over on the ground to get back to his feet.

“Ow…” Agunimon groaned as he rubbed at where he had been kicked. “Not bad…”

Lobomon smirked. “Let’s see how you like this little move!” He declared before his lightsabers began to glow brighter as he channeled energy into them.

Agunimon’s eyes widened as he saw what was going on. What the heck? What’s going on with Lobomon’s swords?

Lobomon’s eyes glinted before he let loose with his newest move. “Howling Shockwave!” Swinging his lightsabers, Lobomon unleashed two shockwaves of pure light energy at Agunimon.

Agunimon did not expect the new move, so he was hit by both shockwaves and blown back. Agunimon hit the ground on his back, groaning as he managed to sit up slightly. One shockwave had hit his chest armor while the other had hit his lower leg armor, creating burn marks on his armor.

“Ugh… What was that?” Agunimon asked once he regained his senses.

Lobomon gave a ghost of a smirk. “A new move I learned on Toy Island while trying to save your sorry butt.”

“Oh come on, are you going to keep bringing that up?” Agunimon groaned.

“Only until I lose interest in it,” Lobomon snickered. “Now… had enough?”

“Not yet.” Agunimon replied with a grin as he got back to his feet.

“Alright then.” Lobomon grinned. He ran at Agunimon and his lightsabers glowed brighter with energy once more.

Seeing the swords glowing, Agunimon held up his arms in a defensive move and Lobomon unleashed his Howling Shockwave attack again.

Agunimon concentrated as fire flickered from the openings in his armor on his shoulders, wrists, knees, and ankles, forming into that shield again. The name of the move slipped out with Agunimon not even aware he said it. “Plasma Sphere!”

The shield blocked the Howling Shockwave attack, but the shield did get cracked, showing the power Lobomon’s new move had.

“So it looks like I’m not the only one who learned a new trick,” Lobomon commented.

“Yup! And I finally have a name for it!” Agunimon grinned.

“Good for you, but you can’t stay on the defensive forever!” Lobomon replied before he ran up to the Plasma Shield and started to hammer away at it with his swords.

Agunimon grinned as a new idea came to mind. “Oh, I won’t!” He exclaimed as the sphere began to become conical and Agunimon then began to draw the fire towards him as he spun around, forming his strongest move. “Pyro Tornado!”

As Lobomon was engulfed in the flames, he tried one last attempt to hit Agunimon. “Howling Laser!”

Agunimon, due to creating the tornado, had no way to dodge or block the incoming attack. Agunimon yelped as he was hit point blank by the Howling Laser right in the chest.

The Pyro Tornado died down, dropping a burnt Lobomon to the ground. Agunimon and Lobomon were surrounded by fractal code, turning back into their human forms.

They both took a moment to catch their breath before sitting up.

“I guess… you’re a lot tougher than you look…” Koji admitted.

Takuya grinned back. “You’re… not bad yourself…” He replied back. “That new move of yours… has some power behind it…”

Koji chuckled. “Yeah… but it saved my butt so… I can’t complain.”

“How do you think… the others are doing?” Takuya asked.

“We were done a little while ago,” JP spoke up.

“Yeah, we were just watching you two go at it,” Zoe chuckled.

“You guys sure have a lot of stamina to have kept going for as long as you did. Either that or you both were running on pure rivalry alone,” JP snickered.

Koji and Takuya blushed.

“W-we were not running on pure rivalry!” Koji protested.

“Yeah! We were just having too much fun sparring!” Takuya added.

“So you were running on your rivalry?” Zoe snickered. “That’s boys for you~”

Takuya groaned as he buried his head in his hands. “Me and my big mouth…”

“When did we even become rivals?” Koji questioned.