Silver Rain

by TallyFox

The third, and possibly last in my elmental series... this is almost crossover, but don't dismiss it for that, 'kay? If you want more of my Digimon elemental series, just say the word... I need to catch up on my Sonic fanfiction, though.

Rain of Silver. A Digimon fanfic

By Tally-Fox, AKA Ally Webb.

*

Just a quick authors note: This story took me two months to write, due to technical hitches along the way. In fact, the last time I had problems, I almost felt like packing the entire story in, and never writing another fanfic again. So I'd like to thank everybody at the Sonic Foundation Message Board. Guys, I may have never met any of you in the flesh, but I still love you all to bits! Thanks for complimenting my insanities with your own, and getting me hooked on Digimon and anime in the first place.

Love Always, Tally~Fox: Sunday, 17 December 2000.

*

This is the Digiworld. Parallel to Earth and unhidden… yet camouflaged from to the eyes of even our greatest scientists.

The earth's digital network, that which links every modern computer on Earth to every other, is the foundation of this Digital existence. The very basis of an entire world, filled with life forms never to be seen on any other planet. The Digiworld is nowhere on earth; yet everywhere. This paradox is the first step to understanding the concept. Accept this, and you may just have the open-mind required for a Digidestined child. These are children of our own world, sent to find their digital companion and help protect the universe from it's own evil.

But the Digidestined children are no longer children. Years have gone by, and the eldest is now sixteen. He has been travelling between the two worlds since he was twelve, and as far as he is concerned, would have been a lot better off without this interrupting his studies to become a doctor.

But the work experience here is better than any you'd find on Earth.

*

Kido Jou, known affectionately to his friends as Joe, was never the bravest kid in the universe. Far from it, he was the type who would die of shock should he see a mouse. But he was the most dependable, responsible person Mimi had ever met. Of course, when she was younger, she had also found him to be the most irritating hypochondriac she had ever met, but over the years she had realised that this was all part of his charm.

At that moment, he was in conversation with his fun-loving partner, Gomamon. They made an unlikely team, Gomamon being rather carefree and a bit of a joker, but they were still very close. And when you got down to it, aspects of their personalities had rubbed off on each other. Joe had been more good-humoured recently, and the seal-like Digimon had been a little more cautious of his actions. Mimi could never really see how Palmon had changed her, even if Sora insisted the partnership had caused the pretty New York girl to become less vain. She thought she had never been vain at all, though! There really could be no shame in being confident of looks like hers, after all.

She sighed, toying with her hair absent-mindedly. On the subject of looks, the last four years had treated Joe very well. His hair had been allowed to grow long, wild and tousled to his shoulders. Even with glasses, she noted that he had nice eyes. And in her less-than-humble opinion, he was the most attractive male Digidestined. And she, as the most attractive female, would make his perfect match.

"Ever wondered what Little Miss Princess is thinking, Iz?" The brunette girl pulled her hair away from her eyes, nodding towards Mimi. "Seems to be showing a lot of interest in our rookie doctor."

Izzy looked up from his computer, watching his friend curiously. Before he'd met Shinri, he had considered himself to be a rather good judge of character; possibly due to the way that he distanced himself from people and was often more of an observer than a participant. But she often spotted things that even he did not notice.

"Oh c'mon, Shi," he grinned. "Mimi and Joe? I think that's highly unlikely!"

"Perhaps. But you have a scientific mind, and the common sense to realise that the unlikely is often the most likely. I'll leave you to ponder that one over."

She stood up, and strode over to where Taichi and Yamato were standing. It seemed as if the beginnings of an argument were flaring up between the two boys, and Shinri had obviously noted that as she approached them. Izzy turned back to his computer, looking up at Mimi every now and again. She was inspecting her nails, but would occasionally look up at Joe, smiling quietly to herself. It wouldn't be all that unlikely, after all. He might keep an eye on this.

Sora was in charge of preparing meals for the ten Digidestined. Today, she was setting beside the warm fire, boiling some vegetables. They were odd, purple roots, and all that they had eaten for the past few weeks, but there really was very little else to eat. She heard yelling from the other side of the clearing, and looked across.

Typical. Matt and Tai had fallen out again, and it seemed as if she would have to be the peacemaker. Leaving the meal, she got up and approached them, resting her hand on Tai's shoulder.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked. Tai spun around vehemently, pointing at Matt.

"He's disrespecting my orders! I asked him to take care of Kari and TK, and they've gone off somewhere!" Matt scowled.

"For God's sakes, Tai! You always have to be the leader! And besides, normally you're nagging me to let TK do more stuff, he's twelve now!" He folded his arms defiantly, looking away. Shinri groaned.

"Tai, he's right! What, don't you trust Kari to take care of herself, even after she and Pewilly saved me from catching pneumonia?!" Tai looked at her as she yelled at him, then sighed.

"I do trust Kari. I just think TK is still the same whinging little kid he was when he was eight."

"What?!" Matt leapt forward and pushed Tai to the ground. Sora yelped in surprise, and Shinri rolled her eyes.

"I'm sick of this! If anybody's still a whinging little kid, it's you two!" She screamed. Matt stopped mid-punch, looking up at her.

"Shinri, look…"

She glanced down at him as if he was something very distasteful, and then walked away. Sora followed her, and Matt glared at Tai.

"Now see what you did!"

"Me?"

There was a sigh from above them, and they looked up to spot a pair of familiar faces. TK bit his lip and shook his head.

"Matt, why do you always have to fight?"

"Yeah, Tai?" Kari added.

"Possibly basic territorial instinct. The two primary males, in a situation such as our own, are bound to disagree over various matters, especially those that involve their own power. In this case, the way you two are treated." Izzy commented from behind them, not even looking up from his computer. Tai and Matt both sat up, exchanging glances.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? That we're not even evolved above some dumb animals?" Tai commented. Izzy shuffled in his seat on the log uneasily.

"Well, sort of," he noted Tai's angry expression. "That is to say, that none of us really are. If you look at human nature in general, it is basically an advancement of animal instinct."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Well, thank you Doctor Doolittle." He finally commented, walking away. Tai shrugged.

"Don't see how you sitting at that machine all day is animal instinct." He told Izzy. The younger boy smiled.

"Basic search for knowledge."

"Uh-huh." He got up, and picked up the large shell that was being used as a cooking bowl. It didn't burn his hands, as he was wearing his gloves, but he could still feel the warmth against his skin. He wondered what it would be like to be back home, just lounging around and watching TV, not having to play guessing games as to what the food was. Not meaning any offence to Sora, of course. It was just that he preferred to eat vegetables when they were the colour he expected.

*

Sora eventually found Shinri by the lake. She didn't seem all that upset, after all, merely a little disappointed. She had not been on the Digiworld so long as the others, but one of the earliest things she had noticed was the subliminal competition between Matt and Tai. The ever-strengthening friendship between TK and Kari did nothing to help this. Shinri had become so sick of the constant feuding, that she had made Matt promise her that he would try his hardest not to argue with Tai. But he had betrayed his word, and as far as she was concerned, that meant he had little or no respect for her. She watched the lake calmly, as Cubomon rested her head on her lap.

"You okay, Shi?" Shinri instantly spun around as she heard this nickname, her face falling when she saw Sora. The only person who usually called her that was Izzy, who she considered to be her best friend on Digiworld. There was no complex love story or anything, just a close mutual understanding. And whenever she needed a laugh, Tentomon was always around with him!

"Just fine. I just thought friends were supposed to keep their promises."

"And boyfriends?" Sora teased. Shinri jumped to her feet, letting Cubomon fall to the ground.

"Don't be so stupid, Sora! Matt is just… a friend. Not even a very close friend, and I don't see how you can suggest that!" She yelled violently, clenching her fists. Sora took a few steps backward.

"Okay, okay! Sorry, Shinri, I was just kidding!"

"Sorry." The other girl smiled bashfully. "Just over reacting, y'know me. 'S okay."

Sora nodded and hugged the other girl. Neither realised that they were being watched. Matt sighed, noting the nonchalant way that Shinri had referred to him. Okay, so he wasn't expecting her to agree with Sora on the boyfriend matter. But he thought that they were close friends! He had fished her out of trouble quite a few times, and Kari hadn't been the only one who had contributed to saving Shinri from getting sick. He'd leant her his sweater, and caught a cold himself as a result. And now apparently, they were not even 'very good friends'. He was just a guy, some nuisance that just hung around and she didn't even care!

"What is wrong, Matt?" The familiar voice of Gabumon asked. The boy leant back against a tree morosely, and whispered his reply.

"Nothing. It's my fault anyway, isn't it, if I can't even keep a simple promise and not fall out with Tai!" As his voice broke into a yell, he stood up, and ran back towards their campsite. Gabumon sprinted after him, as first as his short, chubby legs could carry him. As far as he was concerned, he thought as he ran against the breeze, humans could keep their emotions! Matt was being ridiculous, Shinri was just attempting –and failing- to cover up the obvious. But he was too blind to see it .

*

"It's beginning to bug me, really," Izzy said to Shinri. "That I keep calling you Shi. I just shorten your name without thinking, and you know what it means, don't you?"

The girl sniffed at the boiled vegetable she had been given for supper, and suddenly lost her appetite. "Not really. Having been born in Europe, my Japanese is not as good as yours!"

Sora looked up at this conversation curiously. The tag had started when Pewilly shortened Shinri's name, not knowing the meaning of what he was saying. Nobody really wanted to point it out, but with Izzy and now herself accidentally calling their friend by that name, it seemed time to explain.

"Well," Joe began. "It means 'Death'."

"Uh-huh."

Izzy continued. "It seems kinda weird calling you that." Shinri nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

"That means myself and my brother… death and thunder."

"I guess so." He agreed. She nodded once again, stroking Cubomon's head fur, and handing her rejected meal to Gabumon. He grinned gratefully, and swallowed it whole.

"So, finally I have all ten of you kids together!"

Tai leapt out of his seat, looking around in surprise. "Who's there?" All the others stood up, their Digimon taking on fighting stances immediately. The voice laughed, and a figure began to appear through the bushes. Mimi grabbed Joe's arm and buried her head in his chest, too frightened to look. The figure slowly drew closer, until Sora recognised him.

"It's Gennai!" She exclaimed. Indeed, it was the old, moustachioed man, looking decidedly smaller in the flesh. He was old and grey, with his arms perpetually behind his back.

"Hey, kids! Or really, can I consider you kids anymore?" His smile was warm and fatherly. Izzy approached him in amazement.

"But… you're really here and not a hologram? Why?"

"I have orders for you kids. You need equipment that cannot be found on the digital world, so I will need you to separate."

The group looked from one to the other. They often separated, due to personal choice or sometimes even force. But never had they been told that they must leave others behind on the Digital World like this.

Tai spoke up. "How exactly must we separate? I mean, who goes where?"

Gennai pulled out a piece of paper, and consulted it. "Well, Taichi, I have been sent here to create the portals. Firstly, Takeru and Hikari must stay here."

"Well, okay then."

"Then, Mimi, Shinri, Yamato and Koshirou will all be sent to Earth. Taichi, you Pewilly, Sora and Jou will go to Mobius."

"That's my home world." Pewilly explained.

"What about the Digimon?"

"Any Digimon will be safe on Mobius, as it's citizens have high appreciation of other life forms. Earth, as you know, is another story."

Mimi smiled, picking Palmon up and hugging her. "I'm sure we'll cope Gennai! Ooh, wait 'til I get to the mall!"

Gennai chuckled, then turned back to the others. "Your Digivices will tell you when you are near the recquired object. I have installed the software you need on Koushiro's computer." He took a few steps backwards. "Now good luck… and God speed!"

And he was gone. Everyone turned to Izzy, who began to browse his files until he found an unfamiliar one. Clicking on the small icon beside it, he called up a large, 3D map of the universe, hanging in the air in front of them.

"Specify your desired location." A mechanical, feminine voice chimed. Izzy typed in 'Mobius'. A bright beam of light shot out from one of the small worlds, and onto the ground below. "Travellers to Mobius, please step inside." Pewilly was about to, when Izzy yelled for him to stop.

"I just saved this program onto a disc. Use it when you want to get back." He told the hedgehog, handing him a floppy. His friend nodded, and strode into the light. Epsmon followed him, as did Taichi, Sora, and Jou.

"Be careful, Joe!" Mimi called after them. Shinri winked at Izzy, who continued his work on his computer. Finding Earth, he zoomed in on his home town of Odaiba.

"You guys ready?"

Matt hugged TK. "Now you take care of yourself, okay? One moment, Iz." Silently, Shinri and Mimi stepped towards the spot where Tai and the others had stood but a few seconds before. Izzy typed his commands, and the strange beam of light appeared once again from the 3D map.

"Like something outta Star Trek," Shinri whispered to Mimi. The two stepped through with their Digimon, and seemed to fizz out. Yamato and Tsunomon ran after them, and Izzy got up and attempted to follow. But it was as if there was some invisible field in his way.

"The computer must be left behind, or you will be unable to return. Please copy this program to disc." The voice ordered. Izzy looked to the two younger children helplessly, then down at his computer.

"It'll be safe with you, won't it?" He ventured. Tentomon sighed.

"No, Izzy, they're going to use it as a Frisbee whilst you're away."

"Very funny." Izzy rolled his eyes, then handed his faithful laptop to TK. "Promise me you won't let a thing happen to it."

TK looked at his friend cautiously. It was like a paranoid mother leaving a young baby with a sitter for the first time, or something. He grinned and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I'll guard it with my life, Iz."

"Thank you." Izzy smiled, and turned towards the teleporter. With a wave, he stepped through and disappeared.

*

Sora rubbed her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings. It was a desolate urban waste ground, with the greyest colour scheme she had ever seen. Concrete buildings and factories seemed to be the only signs of life, and the sky was the colour of a pair of Tai's unwashed socks after a game of soccer. The air was thick and left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she choked as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Well, welcome to my home!" She spun around to face Pewilly, who cast his sad eyes across the scenery. "It's not much, but… well, it's not much."

Tai approached them, supporting Joe who was coughing violently. "You mean you lived here?"

"Not here. This is Robotropolis, the biggest Mobian city left. It never used to be like this." He sighed, brushing a gloved paw across his snow white spines. "I lived in a little village named Knothole."

Tai looked down at his Digivice scrutinizingly. "Whatever we're looking for can't be here. There's no reaction."

"Well, I hope we get somewhere soon. I think I'm going to choke, and this smog is reeking havoc with my sinuses." Sora rolled her eyes at Joe as he whinged. Slowly, they began to follow the over sized hedgehog as he ran towards an abandoned trash heap.

"Robotropolis is a very dangerous place. But this used to be our safe haven." He ran up to a mound of rubbish. Tai looked back at the other two and shrugged.

"Strange place for a hideout." He commented. Pewilly stopped, and turned back as they caught up. Glancing around conspiratively, he began to speak.

"Uncle Chuck? It's me, Pewilly!"

In front of their shocked eyes, a door began to slide open. As it did, Pewilly walked through, being a good deal shorter than the three human children. They exchanged glances, then crawled through into the mound of refuse.

Inside were a variety of monitors, all over the walls. Joe looked around, realising that if Izzy had been with them he would have been in hysterical delight, as if it was a dream in motion. The technology was like none he had ever seen, but he still got the feeling that somebody lived there. As if to answer his hunch, the host appeared. Joe screeched and hid his head in his hands.

"Oh man! It's a monster! This is it, we're all gonna die!"

Gomamon sighed. "Y'know Joe, if you weren't my best friend I'd be amazed by your cowardice." He looked at the being who had recently arrived. "Yikes!"

"Forgive me if I've alarmed you," the strange, metal creature said. "But… you startled me too! You're the first non-evil humans I've seen in years!"

"How do you know they're not evil?" Agumon asked pointedly. Tai punched him in the shoulder, and the robot laughed.

"Good judge of character. Plus, Pewilly wouldn't have shown you my home unless he'd had total faith in you."

Pewilly nodded in agreement, and Biyomon eyed the stranger with doubt. Perhaps he thought he could trust them… but she didn't even know what he was!

"This is my Uncle Chuck. He was robotiscised a long time ago, and is the Freedom Fighter's main spy in Robotropolis." The hedgehog explained, wrapping an arm over the robot's cold, metal shoulders.

"Freedom Fighters?"

"You'll meet them later. That's my brother, Sonic… we've no proof that we are related, but we like to say we are. Then there's Tails, Bunnie, Rotor, Ant, Amy, and Princess Sally…"

"Princess?" Joe gaped. Pewilly nodded.

"Uh-huh, she's cool. Then there are the guys at Angel Island… I'm guessing Tal went back there?"

Chuck nodded his head creakily. "And what a fuss that was! Tails didn't want her to go, but her father wanted her to stay with Knuckles and Julie-Su. Poor little fox, he was real upset by that."

Tai sat down and rested his head between his hands. "I don't understand this! Who are all these people?"

"Sorry!" Pewilly laughed. "I just wanted to catch up, but you have no idea!" And he began to explain.

Mobius, once a beautiful planet, was currently under the control of a fiendish overlord named Doctor Ivo Robotnik. He was a disgustingly obese man, whose goal was to put the entire planet's inhabitants through a torturous process that would change them into his mindless robotic slaves. He had thrown the most powerful of the Mobians into a parallel dimension named the Void, and few had escaped. The Freedom Fighters had assembled to destroy Robotnik and reclaim their homes. Epsmon and the three humans, who had not yet heard this story, looked on in amazement, as he finished with a flourish.

"And that is my world. Not your ideal holiday destination, and as a Freedom Fighter, it's impossible to get life insurance!" He grinned. Chuck laughed slightly, and for some reason Joe felt reminded of Gennai. He handed them each a chilli-dog, and began to show Pewilly a monitor at the east of the room. Joe eyed the food in distaste, holding at arm's length.

"Y'know, I hate these things. I think I'm gonna be sick!"

Sora frowned at him. "Joe, watch your manners!" He turned away, grumbling under his breath.

"I've just installed a device that monitors the entire of Mobius. You can zoom in on activity in any one area. But the weird thing is…" He put a steel paw to his head and sighed. "I dreamt this design, Pewilly. And in my dream I saw it was vital that I built this port."

Joe, who had given his chilli-dog to Gomamon in disgust, peered over. "That's so you can hook it up to a Digivice! Izzy had it on his computer!"

"A Digivice?" Pewilly showed his to Chuck, and plugged it in. The screen went haywire for a few seconds, and he thought it was going to explode, when it zoomed in to an image of the forest. The screen soon showed a bird's eye view of a little village, with a red flashing light over one of the huts. Pewilly leaned closer.

"Whose hut is that?"

As if in response, the monitor displayed a small data base. Agumon read it carefully.

"Name: Miss Amy Rose Hedgehog, Status: Single, Age: 14… What is this?"

"That's Amy! D'you think this thing is trying to tell us that she can help?" Pewilly asked. Sora shrugged.

"Could be. There's no risk in trying."

Pewilly turned to Chuck, and wrapped his white furry arms around his Uncle's cold steel ones in an awkward embrace. "We're going to Knothole then. If Amy has whatever it is we're looking for, we should have it soon."

He turned to the door, with Epsmon hot on his heels. Sora smiled sweetly at Chuck, bowing slightly.

"Thanks, you've been a great host."

"And you have been a lovely guest, my dear."

Joe nudged Tai in the ribs. "Now I know I'm gonna be sick!" Gomamon and Agumon sniggered.

As the eight travellers continued, they traipsed through a deep forest. Even here, the trees seemed slightly wilted to Pewilly's eyes. He was sure they had not been the last time that he had made this journey.

"What's it like in Knothole?" Biyomon asked, fluttering beside his shoulder. Joe, who was gasping for breath as he struggled to keep up, nodded.

"Yeah, do we have to eat any more of those chilli-dogs?"

"Of course! Sonic loves them, and we eat them quite often."

"Shimatta."

Gomamon giggled from his perch on Joe's shoulder. "You what, Joe?"

"I said… um… they'll make me fatter!"

"Who're you kiddin'?"

As they continued, Tai and Sora lagged behind in silence. Even Biyomon and Agumon had wandered ahead of them now, and were sharing some private joke with Epsmon and Gomamon. Sora looked at them as they giggled, occasionally stealing a quick glance at the boy who walked beside her.

She'd always thought that he looked weird without his goggles. His hair was scruffier, but she still thought it seemed kinda cute. And he had such deep brown eyes…

"Sora?"

"Huh?" Tai waved a hand in front of her face and she seemingly snapped out of her trance. Looking at him, she paused for a second, and he looked at her with some concern.

"You okay, Sora?"

"Yeah, Tai, great." She noticed him still looking at her, and glanced back cautiously. "Tai, I've been thinking…"

"Yeah?"

"About my crest and stuff. I…" She stopped, wondering if it was really worth the hassle. If she was to tell him about her recent thoughts, he could react in one of two ways, and she was less than prepared for rejection. She sighed, and brushed a loose strand of hair from her eyes. "Nothing."

*

Izzy found himself in one of the most familiar places in the world. He loved his school computer lab, the one place where he truly felt free from the hassles of his life. Sure, he had a very happy home life, but he always felt sorry for his mother as she struggled to keep the truth about his adoption from him. He had found out by accident, and although it had cleared up a few things in his head, he couldn't help but feel that things could be better for his ignorance.

"Hey, Izzy!" He spun around in surprise and sighed, remembering how he couldn't escape all his troubles this way. Although Miyako was an okay friend, he had no further feelings for her, despite her best wishes. She smiled in what she hoped was an endearing way, and moved closer.

"If you're looking for Matt and the others, I think they went back to his place." She smirked. "Threesome, huh?"

"You are sick." He pushed past her in disgust that she would say such a thing about his friends. As he reached the door, he threw a stony glare at her.

"I won't be around for long, I hope. And I also hope that you'll leave me alone if you're going to be like that to my friends!" She turned her nose up at him and continued her typing, as he slammed the door for effect.

As he walked through the halls, a thought crossed his minds viciously. Putting a hand to his pocket, he pulled out a set of keys and turned back to the door, making sure nobody was watching him.

"I'll teach her to insult my friends! And I'm sure one of the teachers will come and rescue her eventually."

Sure, it was slightly out of character for him, but he felt very offended by her comment. As he heard the comforting 'click' of the key turning in the lock, he felt a hand on his shoulder. With a gulp, he rotated to face Daisuke. The other boy grinned menacingly.

"Man, are you gonna see trouble when the principal discovers her perfect pupil's been locking girls in classrooms!" His smarmy tone grated on Izzy's nerves. He backed away.

"Okay, I'll let her out! I can't afford to waste time, I have work to do!"

"Well, you'll have to do it in detention, won't you?" Daisuke looked up and down the hallways until he saw a young man approaching. "Hey, sir!"

Izzy groaned, and then realised something. Looking through the glass window, he saw not one, but two familiar faces inside. He was going to be in a lot more trouble than he thought. He had to get Tentomon out before he was spotted, and fast!

*

Mimi stood in front of the mirror, brushing her sleek pink hair. Palmon had fallen asleep on one of the dining room tables, and was snoring loudly, as Cubomon struggled to turn the radio on. She finally managed it, and Mimi dropped her brush as loud music thundered from the speakers. Gabumon cradled his head in his paws.

"This is far too noisy!"

"But I love this song!" Mimi grabbed Shinri's hands and began to dance around the room with her, giggling madly. It was a song Shinri had heard before, but she had never realised it to be popular in Japan. The lyrics were all in English, and Mimi began to sing.

"C'mon, you've gotta join in!"

Shinri drew away, shaking her head. "No way, I can't sing!"

"You know you want to!"

"No way!"

Mimi let out an over-exaggerated sigh, and flopped into one of the chairs. "Well, if one of my best friends doesn't want to sing with me…"

"Fine! If you have to use emotional bribery!"

Mimi giggled and grabbed her hairbrush again, holding it as if it was a microphone, whilst standing on the table. This was her stage, she was a superstar. As she began to sing, however, the bathroom door slammed open. Matt ran out, clutching a towel around his waist, and switched the radio off.

"Well, what was that for?" Mimi looked crestfallen. Shinri frowned at Yamato as he struggled to keep his modesty.

"Just don't sing, Mimi, 'kay?"

"Can Shinri sing, then?"

"No!" The girl shouted. Matt smirked.

"Well, there's your answer. No singing!" He slammed the door behind him, angrily. Shinri looked at Mimi and shrugged.

"Maybe he's having a bad hair day?" She suggested. Mimi tutted, tossing her head arrogantly.

"He's always having a bad hair day! I need some chocolate to cheer me up!" She strode across the room arrogantly and threw open the fridge door. Gabumon followed her, wringing his paws.

"You know, Matt and his dad don't often have much in the way of food that's… well, edible." He paused. "My goodness!" This last part was said as he peered past Mimi, at the startling array of chocolates, ice cream, a full size turkey… there was even a bottle of champagne, which Mimi pulled out and eyed greedily. Shinri took it from her in surprise.

The bathroom door opened, and Matt emerged wearing a black T-shirt and faded gray jeans. He stopped when he saw Shinri with the bottle.

"Where the heck is that from?!"

Shinri rolled her eyes. "Your fridge, where else?"

Matt shook his head. "Dad never bought this stuff! It was only ever me and him here, nobody else." He paused, as if considering this, then gasped. The bottle fell to the floor, and Gabumon jumped to catch it like a goal keeper in a game of soccer. Yamato leant back against the fridge door and sighed.

"Dad… he must have met somebody…"

"Huh?" Mimi looked perplexed, and he groaned, resting his forehead in one of his hands.

"Don't you see? What he means is, he thinks his dad has a girlfriend or something! Remember, his parent's are divorced?" Shinri pointed out. She looked at Matt for some signal of agreement. He merely sniffed, wiping his eyes, and she realised that he was struggling to hold back the tears. Feeling terrible for her lack of tact, she put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. " Oh, Yama, I didn't mean to upset you! I haven't seen my dad in so long, I guess I'd forgotten how hard all this is…"

He nodded, moving past her to pick up a photo from a shelf. It was a small portrait, of himself, TK and his parents. He looked so young there… part of a happy family, all smiles. Strange how things change in so few years. Mimi looked over his shoulder, smiling.

"That you? Oh, look at little baby TK, he's so sweet!" She gushed. Shinri grinned slightly at her reaction.

"It's so strange. I always wanted us to be together again. And the fact is, what hurts me most…" he pounded a fist against the table, and threw the photo to the ground. The glass of the frame shattered. "What really kills me is that he didn't wait to talk to me!"

He stopped, shoulders heaving, and collapsed onto a chair. As Mimi fetched him a glass of water, Cubomon hopped onto his lap and Shinri sat opposite him.

"It might not be as it seems. Perhaps he was just having a dinner for some friends, or work colleagues…"

"Nice try, but I don't think so."

There was a pause, as Shinri inspected her bracelets in search of words. "I'm sorry, Yama."

"I know. Me too."

*

Pewilly raised his head and sniffed the air, with a happy sigh. He had never really been sure what it was, but there had always been something about Knothole village, with its natural honeysuckle scent. He'd taken it for granted when he had been growing up, but now… it was like a song of his childhood, a long-lost memory resurrected.

Tramping behind him, Kido Jyou wrung his hands. This place smelt too flowery. There were probably bees around, and he hated bees! All their stinging… what if somebody had an anaphylactic shock? He was sure he did not have anything in his pack to treat that! And what if hedgehogs didn't eat human food, and they had to eat worms or –he shuddered- even worse, more chilli dogs?! The mere thought made his stomach turn.

"We're nearly there!" The white hedgehog called from ahead, his voice reflecting his happiness. Joe rolled his eyes and sighed.

Gomamon poked his head out of Joe's pack, grinning wildly. "Better not be anti-social when we meet Pewilly's friends!"

"Shut up, Gomamon."

"Gee, I'm charmed."

Pewilly did not pay any attention to this, and marched on ahead. Finally, they reached their destination. It almost seemed to creep up on them, one second they were in a dense forest, the next in a village. Sora looked around in amazement. Creatures of many species were all around her, hedgehogs like Pewilly, badgers, foxes, rabbits…

"Pewilly!" A pretty young ground squirrel ran up to the group, and hugged the young boy. "What in the name of Mobius are you doing here?"

He struggled from her grasp, just as she landed a kiss on his cheek. "Had to come find something, Sal. Apparently, there is something in Amy's hut that we need to save the world." Tai laughed at hearing it put like this, and Sally frowned at the mention of Amy's name.

"I'm sure all that little pink pincushion has in her hut is make up and beauty magazines. And goodness knows she needs them!"

"Sally?" This was an unexpected reaction. Sal sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry, honey. It's just she's being so awkward recently! And… I don't know, things aren't looking up!"

Pewilly bit his lip in concern. "How so?"

" We got into a bit of trouble recently, and many of our best men are now in casualty. Some were even killed. But, I suppose Amy didn't consider how much stress I'm under as leader of these Freedom Fighters when she decided to flirt with Sonic!"

"Uh-huh." The white hedgehog looked back at Tai, and whispered: "Trust a girl to get worried about her boyfriend when this place is in trouble!"

"I can totally understand."

"Huh?" Tai looked at Joe. "What, worried Izzy might be putting the moves on Mimi as we speak?" He sniggered, and Jyou went crimson.

"No! I just can see, it's hard to be the responsible one."

Sally nodded, smiling at him, then looked down at Epsmon. "Who's this?" Pewilly followed her gaze.

"This is Epsmon, my digimon partner. Epsmon, this is Princess Sally Acorn."

Sora gasped. "Princess?"

She nodded. "Not that my status stands for anything anymore- since Robotnik took over, I'm just another Freedom Fighter."

"Even if you are the leader!" Pewilly grinned. Sally returned the smile, and straightened her vest top. She was about to say something, when a sudden breeze parted the trees and a voice could be heard calling out to them.

"Incoming!!!!"

She and Pewilly pressed their backs against trees at the side, urging the others to do so. A little perplexed, they did so. However, it only took a few seconds for their reasons to become evident. There was the sound of a sonic boom, and a blue blur zoomed into vision. Tai hit the ground, pulling Sora down with him, as the navy cloud pulled itself to a halt, inches from his nose. It slowly began to lose it's blurriness, and formed the appearance of a hedgehog, highly similar to Pewilly except for in colour.

"Hey," he grinned. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog… although of course, you've probably heard of me!" Pewilly smirked at his adopted brother's over-inflated confidence. "After all, I'm only the fastest thing alive!"

"Nice to see problems aren't getting' you down!"

The two hedgehogs grinned at each other, each obviously having a lot to say. Sora didn't really want to break up their reunion, but there were other matters to attend to, bigger than this. She cleared her throat.

"Uh… Look, do you know where Amy is? It seems we need to speak to her urgently."

Sonic frowned. "I'm not all that bothered about where Amy is." He stole a quick glance at Sal.

"But we need to know!"

Sally looked him pleadingly. "The fate of a world hangs in the balance, Sonic…"

"And she can do anything about it? Yeah, right!"

Sally sighed and shook her head. If the Digidestines could not find Amy, then what would happen to their world? Perhaps she had enough to worry about with the state of Mobius. But if she could be to somebody else's aid, she was duty bound to help them. Not only that, but Pewilly was a friend…

"Sonikku…!"

She turned around, trying not to show contempt at the flushed colour of Sonic's cheeks. A young, female hedgehog was jogging towards them, her pink dreadlocks waving in the wind. The Princess of Mobius sighed.

"Amy… looks like you're needed, for once."

*

Kyoushiro ran through the halls as fast as he could, glancing quickly over his shoulder every so often. Tentomon was flying just to his right, flapping his insectoid wings so urgently that they gave off sparks, that crackled and made Izzy's hair feel static.

"Why are we running from Daisuke, Izzy?"

"Because," The boy panted, wishing that he had never skipped gym class to do his computer studies. Perhaps then he would have been fitter. "I don't want to get detention!"

"What's that, Iz?"

"Just move it!"

He turned a corridor hurriedly, not looking where he was going. And so, it was no surprise when he collided head first with another student, scattering papers everywhere. The fact that it was Jun, Daisuke's sister, could be considered a little more unexpected.

"Oh!" She glowered at him angrily. Then, a metamorphosis over took her features as she recognised him. "You… you're Yamato's friend, aren't you?"

Izzy got up, picking up her books for her whilst stealing a look over his shoulder. Daisuke was probably still struggling to rescue Miyako. "I am, yes."

"You wouldn't happen to have seen him recently, would you?" She smiled, her cheeks a rosy tinge. Izzy was about to answer that Matt was home, right now, when a more fiendish thought came to him. Matt was always complaining about the way Jun seemed to think he was in love with her, when he honestly could not stand to be around her… perhaps he could change that?

"I think he's with his girlfriend, now that you mention it."

"He's with… his girlfriend? What do you mean, I thought Yama-chan was in love with me?!" She glared at him angrily. He fumbled mentally for a reply, when his digivice filled in for him, emitting aloud bleep as she leant closer. He looked up, to see that she was wearing a large, and very ugly, silver pendant. The digivice must have been reacting to that!

"Look, I have to go now…"

Jun grabbed him by the collar. "Tell me everything about her! Is she tall, short? Is she blonde… Oh man, it's 'cause he hated my hair isn't it…?!"

Izzy began to realise his mistake. "Er… I have to go, this is important!"

"My life is falling apart before me and something else is more important?!" Jun wailed.

"Yes!"

Kyoushiro looked at Tento and smiled in relief, as the girl took a few steps backward in shock. She pointed at the Digimon, her fear reflected in her eyes. "That thing… can talk?"

"Yeah, I thought the same thing when I first heard you. Come on, Izzy!" He took to the air, and Izzy sprinted after him through the school corridors, leaving the stunned girl to pick up her discarded papers alone.

*

Joe couldn't help but stare as the pretty young hedgehog flounced towards them. She was very pretty, and personally he couldn't understand why Sonic would claim not to be interested in her…

What was he thinking? This was depraved, she wasn't even human! And she seemed reasonably young, about twelve, far too young for him. Of course. And then, there was that nagging thought in the back of his mind, asking him, yes, but is she beautiful because she looks so much like Mimi? He shrugged it away, diverting his attention instead to Pewilly, who suddenly seemed rather uncomfortable.

"Oh, Pewilly-chan!" She squealed, hugging him tight. He struggled to get away from her grasp, not managing to until she had landed a fuschia pink kiss on his cheek. He wiped it away instantly, glad that his gloves did not stain easily.

"Hi, Amy."

She clasped her hands in front of her, smiling in a way that she hoped was endearing. "I've missed you so much!"

"Uh-huh."

Realising that they were getting nowhere this way, Tai pushed forward, Agumon at his heels. He put a hand on Amy's shoulder, and she clutched it, pouting girlishly. Sora frowned.

"Amy, we need your help-"

"Oh, I'm more than willing to help you!"

Sally nudged Sora in the ribs. "You can see just why she annoys me, right?" Sora nodded.

"Amy, according to our digivices, there's something in your hut that can help us to destroy our enemies in the Digital World."

Amy just looked perplexed. Tai began an attempt to explain, when Sora stopped him. "Don't bother. I don't really think she has all too much upstairs, y'know?"

"More than you, you flat freak…!"

"That is not what I meant!" Sora blushed. Gomamon giggled slightly, and she shot him a killer stare.

Sonic rolled his eyes, then frowned at Amy. "Normally a chick-fight would be cool to watch, but I gotta go." He landed a kiss on Sally's cheek, then zoomed off, a blue blur on the horizon.

Amy motioned to the crow of Digidestines, skipping ahead. "My hut's this way, c'mon!" Joe followed obediently, with Gomamon jumping around in his pack. Sora kicked a stone against s tree, and it ricocheted back into Agumon's ankle. He howled in pain, then ran with Tai after Joe and Amy.

"Let's not go with them." Pewilly said. "Amy really gets on my nerves when she's in this kinda mood."

Sally shook her head and sighed. "Tell me, when isn't she?"

*

Matt lay on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. He still couldn't face it, what on earth would he sat to TK? The two of them had always hoped their parents would get back together again. When they had first split up, Yamato had been convinced that it was only a temporary thing, that soon, they'd all be a family again. And now, he realised, he must have been wrong.

There was a knock at the door. He didn't wonder who it was, couldn't find it in himself to care. From the kitchen, he could hear Mimi playing loud music again. Something from the Sailormoon soundtrack, he thought. Not that he would know from watching it or anything, of course.

"Matt, can I come in?"

Shinri's voice. A second followed.

"Matt, it's me, Gabu! Are you okay?"

Yamato sighed, "Go on, come in." They did, and both kneeled by his bedside. Gabumon handed him a thick slab of milk chocolate, which he eyed suspiciously. Gabumon placed it on the quilt carefully.

"Mimi says this is god when you're upset."

Shinri was sitting with her back to them, toying with her crest. "It's because of the chemicals in it. They induce hormones or something that make you happier." She commented. Matt looked down at her in surprise.

"How'd you know that?"

She grinned. "I know a lot of things."

The music filtered through the crack of the opened door. Mimi was singing still, but Matt didn't feel like telling her off.

'When I think about the first time/ I thought I found someone who cared for me/ But things were not as they appeared to be-'

"That's kinda how I feel, I guess," Matt whispered. Shinri turned to look at him, and Gabumon leaned closer. "I feel like Dad's… I don't know, it's like he betrayed me. I never wanted him to meet somebody else. If he and Mom weren't together… I didn't think they should be with anybody."

Shinri nodded understandingly.

"I know, I'm selfish to think that-"

Gabumon shook his head. "You aren't selfish Matt! It is more than understandable, you must realise this!"

Matt broke off a square of chocolate, slipping it into his mouth thoughtfully. Mimi was still wailing.

'Ever since I can remember/ Just like a brother you've been strong and true/ Always been the one to see me through-" He smiled to himself, and hugged Gabumon. The wolf digimon nuzzled against his shoulder, happy to see a lift in his friend's mood. Finally, Gabu drew away.

"We'll leave you in peace, now." He walked out, closely followed by Shinri. But when she reached the door, she spun around and sat on Matt's bed. He looked up in surprise.

"What…?"

She took his hand, prising the chocolate away from him. "I wanted a piece!" She broke off a corner, then handed the bar back to him. She left, winking as she shut the door. Matt sighed, breaking off another square.

"Rainy Day Man/ You're much more than a friend/ I would give anything just to see you again-"

*

Amy's hut was completely pink on the inside. Rose curtains framed the window, a fuschia quilt covered a sugar plum bed. Even her wardrobe , shelves… a pink palace, a Barbie doll's boudoir.

"Er… rather feminine, isn't it?" Joe commented. Amy nodded, her fringe bouncing.

"Of course, I am a girl!"

Tai nodded, taking out his Digivice and slowly walked around the room, constantly watching the little red dot. As he neared the wardobe, it began to flash on and off, bleeping loudly. Agumon jumped ahead of him and swung the door open. Rummaging through piles of clothes, he finally found something useful. A crossbow.

He handed it to Tai, and the digivice bleeped even more noisily. Tai nodded, and handed it to Gomamon who put it in Joe's pack. Amy was shocked.

"But… that's mine!"

Joe put a hand on her shoulder. She was smaller than him by about two feet. "We have to, Aims. Please?" She grinned at him girlishly, then hugged him.

"Anything for you, Joe-chan!"

Joe was so busy blushing, he didn't notice the faces Agumon and Goma were pulling behind his back.

*

"She's got the power/ Oh, she's got the power…!" Mimi warbled loudly, as Izzy opened the door. He shook his head and looked at Tento.

"Walking in to insanity. Typical." He muttered. Mimi didn't even notice him, as he began to search for Matt, wondering how the three Digimon could sleep through all that noise. Shinri was sitting on the table, resting her head in her hands as she read the blurb on the back of the CD case. He tried the door to Matt's room. Locked.

"You okay, Yama?"

"Just trying to keep the noise out. Y'know, I used to like that song."

Tentomon turned around. "Mimi, shut up!" The pink haired girl begrudgingly obliged, dropping the hairbrush that she had been using for a microphone. Matt unlocked his door and walked out. Izzy could see that his eyes were red rimmed, as if he had been crying. He began to ask why, when Shinri stopped him.

"It's kind of a long story. I don't think he wants to tell you just yet."

Izzy nodded, and then smiled. "You'll never believe it! I know what we're looking for! I found it, it's a silver pendant, but I couldn't get it."

"Why not?" Mimi asked, fetching a few drinks.

"Well, for one thing, it's around Jun's neck…" Matt dropped his glass of milk on the floor. It smashed, but nobody went to clear it up. The noise awoke the sleeping Digimon, however, and they all sat up with a start.

Shinri was confused. "Who's Jun?"

"She's a girl who…" Izzy began.

"She has a crush on me, but I don't like her!" Matt yelled. "I suppose now we have to get it away from her? Count me out, I bet I know what you're scheming!"

Izzy was taken aback. "Hold on, Yamato! She told me she never wants to see you again…"

"Alright!"

"Because I told her you had a girlfriend."

Matt frowned. "Izzy!"

Gabumon shook his head. "But he doesn't."

"I know that!" Kyoushiro was exasperated now. "But she doesn't, and if it stops her from pestering you…"

Matt sighed, leaning back against a chair. "well, that'd be a relief. So what now?"

"We head to the school, and get that pendant!"

*

Mimi was still listening to Shinri's CD player when they got to Odaiba High School. It had been the only way they could bribe her to leave the house, they had never realised she'd liked Sailormoon so much! There were many students hanging around in the school corridors, and they then realised just how impossible it would be to find one solitary student.

"Before anybody suggests it," Izzy said. "I don't think it would be a good idea to split up."

Cubo smirked. "Yeah, who knows how badly that girl might beat Matt if she finds him alone!" Yama shuddered, and Shinri shot a warning glance at her Digimon.

They decided to go to the area of Jun's locker, which was down the corridor to their left. As they carefully travelled the halls, Cubo's ears pricked up.

"Uh-oh."

Izzy looked worried. "Uh-oh?" He looked down at the vixen. Beside her, Gabu furrowed his brow in concentration.

"I hear it too, she's coming!"

Cubomon nodded her pink furry head. "And she is no way happy!"

Sure enough, there at the other end of the corridor was Jun. She spotted them almost instantly, and came running as fast as she could, screaming Matt's name. Her eyes were ablaze with anger, and Izzy suddenly felt a little scared as he realised they were in for a fight.

"Yamato, how could you do this!" She shrieked, stopping in front of them and grabbing him by his shirt collar. He gasped in shock, as she raised a fist to punch him. He was almost afraid to fight back, after all, you shouldn't punch girls. Or so they always said.

"Leave him alone!" Shinri grabbed Jun by the shoulder, and spun her around to face her. Cubomon sat by her partner's heels, snarling, and Gabumon stood in front of Matt protectively.

Jun saw red. "Are you the girl who's taken Yama away from me then?" She sneered. "Tell me, are you happy?"

"What are you on about?"

"You know exactly what I'm on about!"

Shinri put a hand to her left arm, stroking the bandage thoughtfully. It had been a few weeks since she'd had all that trouble, so maybe it would be okay… But it had been a deep wound, so maybe she wasn't in a position to fight, and-

What was she thinking? Yama wouldn't stick up for himself if Jun tried to hit him, he was brought up to think girls were weaker and you should never fight with them, she was sure. And there was no way she was going to let this annoying little skunk hurt any of her friends. She took a step back –Jun was getting too close for comfort- and aimed a side-kick to the stomach. Jun screamed as she stumbled backwards, and Shinri felt glad that she was wearing her favourite boots. She didn't have enough confidence in her own unarmed combat to believe that it was merely her own skill.

Jun jumped up, fists at the ready. There was no way she was going to be defeated! This girl had stolen her boyfriend, and she was not going to get away with it!

Shinri looked at her in amazement. "Why are you prepared to fight over Matt? Or do you just need to take out your anger on someone?"

"Huh?"

"Matt and I aren't dating. And even if we were, do you really need a guy that much you have to fight for him?"

"I…"

Shinri ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it back out of her eyes. It bounced back over her ears.

"Aren't you worth more than that, Jun?"

Jun stood her ground. This girl was trying to confuse her, she had to be! After all, what was more important than having a cute boyfriend? She would bet anything that this was just a delaying tactic. The little slut probably couldn't fight. Well, Jun herself did not particularly want to fight, in fear of messing up her hair… But if she had to-

"You're lying! You're just afraid of a real fight, you know as well as I do that there's nothing more important in the world than this!"

Shinri was genuinely surprised. "Well, if that's your entire existense summed up, Jun, I know I don't envy you."

"Bakana Kuso Yaro!"

Matt gasped, never having heard such words from Jun before Shinri looked at him, expectantly, and he nodded. Yes, this did translate as bad as she thought it did.

"Jun, I… Oh, I give up!" She swung a punch that hit Jun in the jaw. Jun gritted her teeth and slapped Shinri on the face. The other girl shook her head sadly. "I don't know why I'm bothering with this, you know a slap can never hurt somebody all too bad. And you aren't really fighting for any reason." Jun aimed a kick at Shinri's stomach, but Gabumon grabbed her leg, stopping it in mid-air. Shinri looked down at him and smiled.

"Have it your way, Jun. Do you really want to fight me?"

Jun paused before answering. "Yes!"

"So be it," shrugged Shinri. "But be warned, if you play with fire, you're more than likely to get hurt."

Mimi took off her headphones for a moment. The volume had been turned up loud, and Shinri could hear every word.

"Give me the strength to carry on/ With all our love we can't go wrong…!" The young Digidestine felt a smile creep across her face at the irony. Jun was the sort of sad person who would take this as a sign that her love for Matt would let her win. Sad, really.

"I'll make it easy." She smiled. Jun, as if possessed by the music, swung a punch to Shinri's stomach. It hit, but this was a blow from hands that were more accustomed to applying make up than wounds. Shinri nodded, ignored the slight twinge, and kicked Jun in the shoulder. She was taken aback by this, literally and metaphorically, as she hit the wall she wondered how a girl shorter than her could kick her so high?

Matt approached Jun, and she smiled, reaching out so he could help her up. He shook his head. Izzy came up, and un-did the clasp on Jun's necklace. She struggled to stop him, but Cubomon bit her on the hand, and she wailed in pain.

"What are you doing…?"

Izzy looked at Matt. "Time to run?" The older boy nodded, and they began to sprint down the corridor. Behind came the loud shriek:

"Thieves!"

*

Izzy did not feel at all foolish as he sat beside the campfire hugging his precious laptop computer. Even Tentomon had to giggle though, as he looked like he was being reunited with a long lost child.

Pewilly was helping Shinri take the bandage from her wounded arm, as Joe had told her it should now be healed. The surface atmosphere was basically one of friends reconciled, but deep down, everyone was focussed on one thing and that alone. How to defeat Ryan and his Digimon?

"I never asked before… did you get this wound on the Digiworld?" Pewilly asked, discarding the bandage and inspecting the scar with a grimace. Shinri nodded, and rolled her sleeve back over it.

"She ran into a fight with her half-brother Ryan. All I can say is: Nice guy, shame about the axe." Takeru reported.

Kari shook her head. "Plus there's the attitude, the murderous instincts, the psychopathic streak… other than that, he's a total honey!"

Pewilly pulled a face. "Sounds like it!"

Across the other side of the clearing, was the cave. Nobody was allowed to enter, at risk of their own life, with the exception of Epsmon and Agumon, the two reptilian Digimon. They were focussing their attacks to melt the silver, so that they could coat the heads of the arrows with it. As a result, the heat was far too high for humans, and any of the furry Digimon. As for Palmon… she would be literally fried to a crisp!

"How's it going?" Tai yelled at a safe distance from the cave's entrance. Agumon poked his head out.

"We're at nearly 900 degrees celsius!" The little lizard yelled back. " Got about 60 or so to go!"

Tai nodded, still yelling. "Great!"

Kari gave him the arrows –she had been elected as the one to wield the crossbow- and he waited for a while longer. After ten minutes, there was a triumphant yell, Epsmon scattered out to grab the arrows, then flew back in. As he ran back out, this time with silver coating on Kari's arrows, he grabbed Shinri's knife, and dipped that too into the silver. Agumon ran to hand it back to her, and she inspected the precious blade.

"Epsmon said he had to do that… he didn't know why, he just had to." Agu told her. She nodded, and dipped it in the bowl of cold water with the arrows.

Patamon yawned, stretching his wings out as he nuzzled against TK's leg. "We should get some sleep."

"Not in there!" Palmon cried. Izzy agreed.

"I don't particularly want to be cooked, so my vote goes with the idea that we all sleep outside tonight." Nobody thought otherwise, so they all stayed put, until one by one they all drifted away to sleep. Kari was last. She could not shake the intense feeling of dread from her heart and mind, knowing tomorrow's battle would prove whether or not she really had it in her, to use a murder weapon. What scared her was that she thought she did.

*

Pewilly awoke to the sound of voices around his head. He opened his eyes wide as he saw something incredible… all the Digimon but Epsmon had gone Ultimate, or in three cases, Mega! He smiled down at Epsmon, who danced around by his ankles.

"Change me, change me!"

Pewilly sighed, thrusting the Digivice into the air. "Digivolve!"

There was a blinding flash of light, and a large golden dragon took Epsmon's place, as the little reptile had just transformed to his champion form. He looked down at Pewilly and winked.

"Let's take it to the next level!"

The white hedgehog ran one paw through his spikes, and inhaled sharply. "Digivolve!" There was another white spark, filling the clearing, and Pewilly shielded his eyes from the light with his arm. When he looked again, he found himself staring face to face with a black dragon, eyes glowing red as the sunset. But his scales were not an ugly coal black… they shone like jet, as if polished by dark light. At his breast was a green emerald, embedded in between the scales. Pewilly leant out to touch it, and felt a shiver of power run through his veins, confirming his suspicions. It was a Chaos Emerald, that meant it was about… he made a quick mental addition, the third one that he'd ever touched. If he was anything like Sonic, it would take only three or four more before he made his transformation. He'd always wanted to control chaos powers, like Sonikku, Knuckles, and even little Tails. One day, he knew, his time would come…

"Hey, Pewilly?" Shinri's voice. "We just found out what your crest was!"

"Huh?"

"When Basilimon digivolved to Jetdragmon… that's who he is now- we saw your crest with it's true light. Bravery."

Pewilly looked confused. "Isn't that similar to Tai's?"

"Uh-huh, but that just means that you and Tai share a dominating trait. Kari's Light and my Intuition also seem different ways of interpreting the same thing."

She helped her rodent friend climb onto his Digimon's back, then scaled Chromakitsumon's shoulder blades. From Metalgarurumon's back, Yama winked at her, and she smiled back. Tai turned around from his position in the lead with Wargreymon.

"We all ready to go?"

Shinri gave the 'thumbs-up' signal. "Everything's A-OK!"

"Then let's make a move!"

*

Mimi looked at Joe as she listened to her music. Sora had joked that they would have to surgically remove her from the headphones at this rate, but music was one of her few escape routes from all the trouble they were landed in. Her escapism. She loved music, and could go all day just sitting with her tunes playing continuously.

"Time to separate! You know the drill!" Tai called. It had been pre-arranged that at this point, Taichi, Kari, Pewilly, Shinri, and Takeru would separate from the others, leading ahead. Their plan was to cause a stir at Rai's very own base, weaken him and the entire of his army, and then Shinri would contact Izzy for back-up. There was no way it could fail, especially with at least one Mega in each of the teams, a masterstroke, Tai thought.

Shinri blew kisses over her shoulder at their friends as the Alpha team continued. Matt waved sadly, unable to shake the feeling of dread that overcame him. He could sense that something was going to happen to his friends. He wanted to yell out to Tai that the plan would not work, but he knew that once Tai had an idea in his head, he went with it! There was nothing to do but wait.

Then he felt the breath on the back of his neck, and realised. He would have to fight first.

*

TK and MagnaAngemon marched beside Shinri and her Ultimate Digimon, whom they had taken to calling Chroma. She was a strong kitsune, with metal armour protecting her shoulders, breast, and stomach. Her tails –there were now seven- were a glossy violet, as was all her fur but the tips of her scruffy fringe and around her eyes, a rose pink.

"Feelin' okay, kid?" She grinned at Takeru. He nodded, and Shinri winked.

"We're gonna win, y'know… how can we lose?"

TK smirked. "He could be more powerful than us and destroy us all with one minor attack." The four began to laugh at this, and Chroma tossed her head arrogantly.

"Like even!"

As they all giggled, they didn't notice the sets of eyes gazing at them, as if to bore holes in their back. They were so distracted, that it was a few minutes before any of them even felt the slightest twinge of suspicion. Shinri paused, looking behind her.

"Someone's here," She whispered, pulling out her knife. "And they don't feel friendly!"

*

"Matt" Joe's scream seemed loud enough to awaken the dead. Mimi started, pulling off her headphones, as Megakabuterimon swooped down to attack the creature.

Matt felt as if his body was frozen to the spot. He couldn't move, feeling as if the thing had total control over him. It seemed somehow… familiar. His brain ran around in circles collecting thoughts until it found one that it was satisfied with.

"It's Etemon!"

Sora looked at the orange gaseous form behind Matt and shrieked. "He's right!"

The phantom Etemon shifted his gaze, now looking at her. She felt a surge of fear run down her spine, as Garudamon gripped her tightly.

Matt shook his head as his mind cleared. Tai had left him in charge, he had to do something! But he had no way of telling whether this spirit could be harmed by physical attacks. He looked up at Izzy, who was typing furiously. He looked down to see Yamato gazing up at him, and gave his friend the 'thumbs up' sign.

"He's a Mega now, but if we all attack at once…"

Matt grinned. "Got it!" He yelled out the command to the other Digimon, just as Megakabuterimon swerved just over the ground, letting Kyoushiro hop to the ground. He nodded to Matt, who charged forward on Metalgarurumon's back.

Jyou rushed towards him as Zudomon thundered forward with the hammer. "What are you doing? Are you suicidal?"

Matt laughed wildly, clutching onto Metalgarurumon's back. "Always wanted to be a kamikaze pilot!"

Etemon looked from blazing purple eyes at the five Digimon that were charging towards him. Of them, the only one that was not an Ultimate, was a Mega, so they really had the advantage on that behalf. Yamato grabbed forward at the creature's arm, but his hand passed right through. At the same moment, Zudomon's mallet went straight through the evil creature's back, narrowly missing Metalgarurumon's nose. Etemon laughed maniacally, throwing his transparent head back and chuckling at the sky. Mimi fumed.

"You stupid overgrown monkey!" She screamed. "Yeah, that's right Mister, I'm talking to you! Why don't you do something about it?!"

Undoubtedly, the overgrown ghost ape with supernatural powers was not used to being shrieked at by teenage girls. Lilymon stood next to Mimi, arms out in preparation to attack.

"Yeah, that's right, pick on us why don'tcha? Just 'cause we're not as strong as you… You think!"

Lilymon took this as her cue. "Flower Cannon!"

The powerful blast of energy surged past, going straight through the creature's stomach. This time it was hurt, falling to the floor. Sora punched the air.

"Alright, go girl! And again!"

"Flower Cannon!"

It was a direct hit. Etemon collapsed to the ground, arms and legs flailing wildly, before Metalgarurumon jumped onto his shoulders and ripped at the phantom with metal claws. Etemon wailed, and was deleted with little ceremony.

Yamato looked down at the ground where the creature had stood only moments before. As hedid, a resounding scream filled his ears, two voices calling his name. Shuddering, he suddenly felt scared for the safety of the others, not sure that they would be too careful.

"I have to help them!" He said, out loud. Sora shook her head, realising exactly what he was talking about.

"Matt, Tai is our leader, we need to have faith in him! He and Pewilly can take care of themseles, and I know Shinri would never let anything happen to Kari and Takeru!"

She put a hand on Matt's arm in an attempt to stop him fro leaving, but he pushed her away forcefully. "Sora, mind your own business. Just because you think Tai is God's gift, doesn't mean we all think he's capable!"

Sora looked hurt, but Yama just frowned at her and shook his head. "C'mon, man." He muttered to Metalgarurumon. The armoured wolf marched up, and Matt climbed onto his friend's back carefully.

"Matt… Shinri will hate you if you start acting as if she can't take care of herself!"

Matt looked down at the girl, as she tucked her short orange hair behind her ears. She was sure he could not argue against that. But his face wore an expression that challenged her to oppose him, a frown that signified how she could never understand. She sighed, and turned away.

"Your grave, Yama. Just don't expect me to help you out when you fall into it."

*

Pewilly and Jetdragmon swooped down through the air, his reptilian wings cutting the clouds like hot knives through butter. Below them, Tai was shouting at Wargreymon with words of support, as Shinri stood protectively over TK. He'd obviously been hurt by the strange little creatures that were swarming around the grounded children and their Digimon. On closer inspection, they appeared to be brised purple slime creatures, throwing black sludge at the Digidestines. Jetdragmon pointed his nose down like a ferocious spear, plunging it forward to strike the creatures. He appeared to be about to collide with the ground, but at the last minute swerved to behead a few of the creatures with his blade-like wings. Shinri cheered, grinning at Pewilly as he leapt from his partner's back.

Angewoman let an arrow fly, piercing a group of the creatures and pinning them to a tree. She winked at Angemon, who struck forwards with his staff.

"Shish kebab!" Kari grinned, hopping out of the way from one of Chroma's attacks.

A stray Digimon looked at Shinri and the two younger kids with a glint in his vile green eyes. Perhaps if he could destroy one of those pathetic children, his lord and master, the great Rai, would commend him above all of the other DarkNumemon. The DarkNumemon were basically resurrected forms of the original Numemon, Viciously benign zombies who were programmed to fight for the New Wave Kaiser and his army. The Numemon bared his fangs, and leapt.

"TK!!"

The yell came from between the trees. Yamato and Metalgarurumon leapt forward, both filled with rage as they saw the DarkNumemon dig it's disgusting little fangs into Takeru's arm. His face went pale with shock as it began to suck at his vein, and Kari squealed in disgust, trying to rip it away from him. But still, the creature held fast.

"Shinri!" Pewilly ran as fast as he could, snatched the knife from the surprised girl, and slashed into the creature's slimy skin. It began to fade to grey, the wound pouring out a sickly mustard coloured blood, and further faded until it was deletd. TK collapsed, and Shinri caught him just before he hit the ground.

"Thanks, honey." She smiled at Pewilly, taking her knife back. The arm was red and raw, with sore pussy wounds at regular intervals. She cringed slightly, wishing she had some water to soothe it.

Matt sprinted to her side, holding a scrap of blue material. Behind him, the Digimon were still fighting, Tai screaming commands; but every few seconds, Angemon would steal a desparate look over his shoulder, searching for his partner, Takaishi Takeru.

"Here," Yamato panted, handing the strip of cotton to Shinri. "Tai asked me to give you this."

She nodded, and wrapped it around the wound, hoping that this would prevent the boy from losing anymore blood. However, he had already undergone a lot of pain, and the torn of piece of Tai's shirt was not enough to help.

"Does anybody have any water?" Kari asked, urgently.

Pewilly shook his head. "Unless Shinri's hiding any in her backpack, Joe's the only one who had any."

"Joe, of course!" Kari yanked the Digivice from Shinri's shoulder, hitting a button and yelling urgently. "Izzy, we need Joe to come here straight away!"

She looked at her friends, and their suddenly fearful expressions. Following their gazes to the sky, she gulped, grasping her bow and arrows even tighter as the dark shadow crossed her face.

"Correction, Iz," Shinri's voice, so calm it sounded terrified. "We're gonna need all the backup you can send!"

*

Tai had seen the prehistoric looking digimon as it soared overhead, also. An adrenaline rush absorbed him, as he realised that this was the battle they had come so far for, to defeat the ferocious creature that screeched and swooped overhead. It's claws were like rough diamonds, glistening even under all the dirt that coated them.

"Don't think you can beat us with that overgrown, featherless budgie, do you, Ryan?!" He called. Pewilly smirked.

"No way can he! Me an' Basilimon mashed him before!" The hedgehog smirked, giving his digimon the thumbs up sign. As they began to celebrate what seemed an almost certain victory, Kari opened her eyes wide in shock, clutching Shinri's fingers as if her life depended on it.

"He's too powerful…" She whispered, looking up at Shinri for some kind of answer. "He's more than Mega!"

Pewilly shook his head in disbelief. "But… that's not possible!" He looked to the newly arrived Izzy for support. "Is it?"

There was a brief pause as Izzy searched his mind for an answer. Technically, he presumed, it was possible, but not something he really wanted to wish for. Finally, he looked at Matt and shrugged.

"At first, we didn't know there was anything above Ultimate…"

Matt sighed. "Or Champion…"

"Or Rookie. Or Mini…"

Shinri groaned. "Let us all have a moments silence in thanks for the fact that this conversation can go no further."

Joe wrung his hands in despair. "What do we do? He's more powerful than anything we've got?!"

Shinri's moment of silence was instantly installed, and the group fell into a kind of tired, hopeless hush. Pewilly looked from one of his friends to the other, before punching the air and yelling, making everyone jump.

"We can't just give up! We're the digidestines, and nobody's gonna take that away from us, right?"

Shinri beamed at his new found confidence, and grabbed his fist in the air, still holding TK tight. "Nobody can stop us! We're an unbeatable team!"

Mimi smiled and nodded. "We sure told that nasty ghost earlier!"

"And we have technology on our side!" Izzy put his hand forward. Slowly, the others began to join forces, realising that they had only their own confidence to rely on now. They were more than afraid, but didn't somebody once say that you should use your fear to your own advantage?

"With us, Yama?" Shinri asked, when all the others were together. Matt grinned.

"Couldn't be without you!"

Tai, who was standing further away still, screamed. The others spun around, each taking a fighting stance. Shinri winked at Kari, who looked afraid still. "This fight isn't just for the Digimon, you know. We all have to put ourselves at risk."

"Uh-huh!" Pewilly looked at Joe. "Take care of TK for us!" He dropped to the floor, rolled into a ball, and began to spin himself like a chainsaw. Finally, he sped off, ricocheting against a tree to strike the evil Digimon above them in the wing, cutting a bloody gash in it's leathery skin.

"How'd you do that?" Matt called out, obviously impressed as Pewilly fell straight back onto his knees, grimacing at the crimson blood on his quills. He shrugged.

"Guess it's a hedgehog thing."

Shinri looked up from where she was standing, still stabbing at one of the DarkNumemon. "I think it's majorly cool!" Pewilly blushed, and went into another spin.

Kari sat in the tree beside Izzy, as he typed furiously. He was trying to read some of the weaknesses of the huge Digimon on his computer, as Kari carefully positioned her bow and arrow. Below them, Sora bit her nails in worry as Garudamon was sent flying backwards, reverse digivolving into Biyomon as she did.

"This is war!" Tai screamed, feeling the rage rush through his veins. He grabbed Shinri's knife , and hopped onto Jetdragmon's back.

"What are you doing?" Pewilly called. He leapt onto the Digimon's tail, climbing up carefully until he was right behind Tai. "You sure aren't gonna fight without me!"

Tai turned, smirked at his friend and gripped the dragon's scales as hard as he could, as Jet performed various aerial stunts. "We're going to go hand to hand with the man himself!"

"Huh?"

Tai waited until they were above Ryan and his Digimon by about three hundred metres, then looked at Pewilly. "Jump… now!"

"Are you crazy?! What if we miss?!"

Tai grinned. "You can land on your feet, can't you?"

"I'm a hedgehog, not a cat!"

But still, he had no choice. Taking Tai's hand in one of his paws, he nodded to his friend, summoning all his courage, before leaping.

Plummeting towards either the ground or the digimon's back, he saw his whole life flash before his eyes. Tai landed on his feet somehow, but Pewilly twisted in the air as he fell, landing flat on his back to see a young human face staring down at him. It was a boy, aged about ten, and he wore a black velvet cloak stained with mud and blood. He sneered at him, taking an axe from a strap across his shoulders and preparing to bring it down; to hear the crunch as Pewilly's neck snapped and his bones splintered.

"Watch it, man!" Tai yelled. This took Ryan by surprise, and he spun around to face the brunette boy. Yagami Taichi inhaled deeply, gathering all his courage as he gripped the knife so tight that the blood drained from his knuckles and his fingers went pale. Suddenly, up against the axe, a knife didn't seem so promising. But if he could destroy Ryan, then there would be no need to hurt the Digimon. Perhaps without their leader, they could be persuaded to abandon their evil tendencies.

"Who are you talking to? I don't have to do anything for anybody!"

Pewilly picked himself up, glaring. What a brat, it amazed him that Shinri could ever have the patience or self-control not to stab the spoiled little runt in the ribs.

Tai looked down at the child with the same tough disdain. Despite the kid's obvious attitude problem… No, Shinri or Yamato had attitude problems at times, this kid was at a similar level to Hitler! Tai clutched the weapon tighter.

"Reckon I'm afraid of that little knife?" Ryan glowered, eyes dancing with anger. "Idiotic freak!"

Tai laughed, blowing his hair out of his eyes. "That is a crap insult!"

"Better than you!" Rai was irate, and Tai chuckled again. It seemed to him, although he was not totally sure why, that Ryan was a bit of a sad case. A total loser, thought he was cool but the other kids only liked him because he was spoilt and his parents always bought him the coolest new video games as soon as they came out, and he didn't even realise it. Pathetic.

*That's right!*

"Huh?" And then he realised. Somehow, Shinri had managed to communicate with him telepathically. Her voice was once again in his mind.

*Tai, our crest power is being increased by the minute! That's why you and Pewilly-kun were stupid…* Tai frowned, which somehow caused her pain, as she yelped. *I mean, brave enough to jump onto TerrorInazumamon's back!*

As this discourse of minds progressed, Ryan realised that something was up. With a fiendish grin, he threw a hand into the air, an elaborate flourish.

"Inazuma! Grab this brainless freak!"

*Tai!* This time it was Kari speaking to him. As the digimon threw his head back, twisting his neck to snap over his own shoulder blades to grip Tai between the jaws of his foul-smelling mouth, she let the first of her silver arrows fly. Aiming right for Rai's stomach.

This would have been fine. In fact, it would have been great, had Pewilly not chosen this to be his moment. He threw himself forwards at Ryan, pulling him down and raising a fist to strike the boy around the face. The punch hit with a sickening thud, sending blood across Pewilly's snow white fur. He prepared his second strike, when the agony hit him. He screamed, looking down at the blood soaked shoulder, where the arrow had pierced his fur and flesh and grated it's silver tip between his bones. He suddenly felt weak, yet not afraid, and fell backwards. Ryan leaned over him and smiled, raising his axe and wiping the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You are gonna die…"

"Not today, not while we're here!"

Pewilly looked up, supporting himself on his good arm and following Ryan's horrified gaze. It was Jetdragmon, but… the hedgehog smiled triumphantly. He had digivolved again! His appearance was now more than akin to that of a Chinese dragon, and his sapphire scales glittered like the sea in moonlight. Shinri sat on his back, one hand reaching out to grab Pewilly as she flew past. Luckily, he had the typical light metabolism of all Mobian hedgehogs –it helped them to be more streamlined as they were an incredibally fast species, Pewilly's own adopted brother was able to break the sound barrier.

"Ace timing, huh?"

"Very cool!" He climbed onto his digimon's back carefully, but speedily, trying his hardest not to look down. He wrapped one arm around Shinri 's waist to keep his balance, then noticed Tai. The poor boy was still trapped between TerrorInazumamon's powerfl jaws, and he was gagging whenever the powerful reptile exhaled.

Pewilly was concerned. "What do we do about him?"

"Leave it to the guys." She looked down at the others, and shouted. "NOW!!"

There was a huge, joint attack from all the Digimon, aiming at the evil creature's stomach.

"Flower Cannon!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

As they all hit, TerrorInazumamon screeched, his wails blood curdling and even more painful than the actual attacks, Sora thought, as she clutched her ears in excruciating suffering. Still, he flew on, and Shinri just nodded to herself, whispering; 'Now.'

To Kari, this was the loudest shout. Loading her second arrow and aiming, she closed her eyes and silently prayed. She wasn't sure who she was praying to, but whoever it was, she hoped they were damn well listening! The arrow flew up into the sky, before hurtling down like a silver hailstone or drop of rain. As it fell, everything seemed to her to go in slow motion, and everybody stared at the arrow. After this, she would still have one, but if her second failed too, she would be completely incapable of trying again, it would damage her confidence so much…

*Perfect aim! Alright, Kari-girl!*

"Huh? I did it!"

Mimi looked up to see the Chinese dragon swim through the sky and catch Tai on his back. Tai was dripping with saliva, but Shinri still hugged him, recoiling with disgust and laughter as she felt the foul liquid soak through her clothes. They landed back on the ground, and she instantly 'attacked' Matt by hugging him.

"He's gone! Dude, that was the coolest thing ever!" She gave the 'victory' sign, dancing around and laughing. Sora looked at Tai and giggled.

"I'd hug you, but… let's just say I'm a little more sane than certain people!" She gace Shinri a sideways glance. "You were very brave, Tai."

There was another scream. Even Shinri stopped her laughter, and turned around to see TerrorInazumamon being deleted. As his data disperesed, Ryan fell, faster, faster, until he reached his optimum speed. There was a crash behind a nearby clump of trees, and a deathly silence. Shinri bit her lip, her stare following the place where Rai had fallen.

Izzy put a hand on Shinri's shoulder, in a gesture of comfort. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

Izzy sniffed slightly, a tear rising to his eye. "I… I don't believe we've done this. Destroying evil digimon, well that's one thing, but he was a human!"

"And being a human makes you something special? Really, it's all the same when you think about it." Shinri looked at Pewilly, embracing Izzy as he sobbed quietly. "I see Pewilly as equal, I see Chroma as equal. Look, Izzy, just because he was my brother…"

Izzy nodded. He couldn't shake the overbearing guilt, but perhaps she was right. And then, Ryan hadn't been a very nice guy, had he? Perhaps…

"Hey, Iz?" He looked up and ahead, to realise that they had all began to head home without him, leaving only Tentomon. "You coming?"

"Uh-huh. Just go ahead." Tentomon nodded, and flew away. When Izumi Kyoushiro was quite sure that they were all gone, he fell to his knees, picking a few wild flowers as he did so. Then, he lifted himself to his feet again. It seemed more like the sort of thing Mimi would do, perhaps, but he felt that to rob somebody of life was the worst thing he'd ever been a part of. He didn't want to hurt the others by saying so, but this was the least he could do.

And so, he fell to his knees and began to build one, child-sized, grave.

*

Boring part: I don't own Digimon, they belong to Toei. But someday… The lovely Pewilly Hedgehog and Epsmon are copyright to… well, Pewilly, actually. Shinri and Cubomon belong to me, as did Ryan and Inazumamon.