Adventure 08: Shattered Reign

by lordtrayus

World War Three continues to rage and the Ultimate Evil is getting closer to achieving victory. While a new enemy threatens from the digital world, it seems as if humanity itself is starting to become a threat as the Digidestined find themselves surrounded and their very existence hanging in the balance as villainous schemes, rising fears and warped devotion threaten them all...

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

Chapter Two

Losing Control

"You're sure of this?" Ebonwumon asked grimly, and Zhquiamon nodded.

"Yes. The Guardians' castle has fallen, all within are dead, the Digi-eggs are gone and there's no sign of Gennai among the dead." He reported and the four other Sovereigns exchanged dark worried looks, grim muttering filling the room.

"Is there any sign of who attacked them?" Baihumon asked, and Zhquiamon shook his head.

"No, all we saw was the dead bodies of the Guardians, butchered. Whoever attacked them meant business, and didn't stop until they got what they wanted. Which puts us in a very difficult position." He said, and the Sovereigns all nodded, looking grim.

"Are you sure all of the Guardians are dead?" Azulongmon asked and Zhquiamon scowled.

"As far as I can see, but remember, Gennai was creating more clones of himself since he got there, there's no telling exactly how many there were. And what's more, there was so sign of Gennai himself in the castle at all, which means he could very well have been dragged off." He said, just as the door to their sanctum opened and BlackWarGreymon appeared in front of two Mekanorimon, who were carrying a wounded and flickering Troopmon on a stretcher.

"This is the only survivor of the attack." BlackWarGreymon reported, ushering the wounded Troopmon up to the Sovereign's seeing stone.

Ebonwumon looked at the dying Digimon and shook his head sadly, they didn't have long at all and there was nothing they could do.

"You have fought bravely friend. Show us your bravery one last time, tell us who did this to you." Baihumon urged and the Troopmon groaned as he turned to look at the dog Sovereign.

"He has been taken prisoner..." he gasped, clutching the widening hole in his stomach, and Baihumon looked at him in alarm.

"Who took Gennai prisoner, who attacked you?" he asked, but before he could say anything else, the Digimon disappeared into data, making Azulongmon curse.

"Blast, we needed what he knew."

"We know enough old friend. We know Gennai has been taken, that is what matters, now we can make plans." Fanglongmon said, nodding in dismissal to BlackWarGreymon who took the two Mekanorimon and left the room, shutting the door behind them.

As soon as the door was shut, Azulongmon turned to the others.

"We must now take steps, we must alert Alphamon to take the Knights and the weapon to a new location, we cannot run the risk that their security may be compromised, if the Ultimate Evil gets its hands on that weapon then all of us are surely doomed." He said urgently, to the nods of Ebonwumon.

"I agree. I do not wish to think that Gennai would betray us, but he may have no choice. We must take action, if Gennai breaks and the enemy finds out about what we are building, it will stop at nothing to get its hands on it. I agree, the knights must be moved." He said, and Baihumon gave them a scolding look.

"Gennai would never betray us." He said firmly, but Zhquiamon sent him a look.

"He may not have a choice old friend. I agree with them, the knights must be moved. But it still puts us in a dangerous position. Gennai knows a lot more than just about what the knights are up to." He said worriedly.

"He knows a lot about us, our plans, the Digidestined, this is a catastrophe." Ebonwumon said, to general nods of agreement.

"If our unknown enemy makes Gennai talk in any way about anything, then we're all up a gum tree. We need to take action, and do so quickly. We must act. An unknown enemy has got his hands on one of the most knowledgeable, learned and individually powerful beings in the digital world. The knowledge he has on the Sovereigns and on the Digidestined is next to unrivalled, and the possibility of that knowledge now falling into enemy hands is now a very real and very worrying threat. If Gennai is made to talk, and I'm assuming that whoever attacked his castle is no gentleman hence he could very well torture Gennai into giving up information he shouldn't, he could undo everything. We are left with three options my friends." Fanglongmon said, and the other Sovereigns looked at him nervously before he continued.

"The first is the most difficult, we have to change all the plans we have laid down for the coming conflict, but I don't think that's a feasible solution. Creating the weapon drained us of a lot of our power and restarting will further weaken us. It will also involve a lot of work that we simply don't have time for since the Ultimate Evil has become so powerful recently. So I'm afraid that while it is feasible it is impractical. The second is the most preferable. We find him, find out who holds him and we rescue him, and hopefully the Digi-eggs before its too late. Thirdly, we take extreme action and ensure Gennai's silence. We kill him." Fanglongmon concluded, to the shocked looks of the others.

"Is this what it's come to? Something goes wrong so we start exterminating our allies?" Ebonwumon demanded and Fanglongmon growled.

"I don't like it any more than you do. But we are at war, and Gennai has been captured by the enemy. He knows enough to destabilise our entire war effort, and as a result we must take action to make sure he doesn't tell what he knows. As we cannot change our plans in the time we have left, we must make do with the plans that we have, which is either rescue or assassination. We are at war. Since Daemon's defeat, the Ultimate Evil's influence has spread, not waned. The Dark Area has nearly tripled in size, there are rumours that the Seven are regaining their lost power and will soon ride out of the Dark Area. Evil is spreading back into the continents of the world, our power is waning by the day and the war in the real world strengthens our enemy's power. We don't have the luxury of taking the low road anymore, we must be firm and decisive, and act." He concluded, hating how far things had come that they were now having to consider killing Gennai.

Azulongmon scowled, things were bad enough as it was and now they potentially had to kill Gennai. However, while their power had certainly waned, it was not so diminished yet that they couldn't at least exasperate the plans of the Ultimate Evil, but Fanglongmon clearly had something else up his sleeve, as he was looking nervously around the room, waiting for one of them to challenge him.

"Say we agree to this, how do we plan to carry this out? We all have our own missions to carry out, and we're going to have to watch the northern frontier now that we've lost Gennai unless you plan to reduce the amount of protection around the weapon." Baihumon said, and Fanglongmon nodded.

"I know that. Which is why I intend to ask the Eighteen for help." He said, and the reaction was as he had expected.

Azulongmon gave a furious roar that shook the entire room at the mention of the Digidestined kids who they were all depending upon. Ebonwumon groaned and glowered at Fanglongmon while Baihumon gave a low growl of his own. Zhquiamon gave an exasperated screech and all Fanglongmon did was roll his eyes until they had stopped.

"Are you through?" he asked in a bored voice, to the scowls of the others.

"You want to work with the Eighteen after everything that's happened? If we ask them for a favour they'll tell us to take a long walk off a short pier." Ebonwumon said, though beneath the ire there was a tinge of sadness to his statement.

"Exactly. Our relationship with the Digidestined was once good! We got on, we worked together against the darkness that threatened existence. Well now that darkness is the strongest it has ever been, and every day it gets stronger. I know they are partly to blame for this state of affairs, but we are just as bad. And quite frankly, they are too powerful now. We need them on our side, or else we will all fall. It's time to put the past behind us, and build bridges. We must make our peace with the Digidestined. It is the only way." He intoned and Azulongmon growled.

"It is not the only way, they have shown that they want nothing more to do with us. They made their bed, they can lie in it." He said stubbornly, only to have Fanglongmon roar at him angrily.

"Enough Azulongmon! Much of our current situation is due to your belligerence with them." He snarled, and the dragon growled in response.

"My belligerence? They are arrogant, disrespectful little children who have the gall to give us orders and make demands of us, us, the Digimon Sovereign!" he thundered, only to the exasperated growl of Baihumon.

"As we have done to them since they arrived here, and we have continued to do so without admitting that they have grown up. They have become young adults, they aren't kids anymore, yet we still treat them as kids that we can boss around and manipulate, and the fact that we've been less than forthcoming with them has unsurprisingly earned their ire. We haven't dealt with them fairly, and as a result, they haven't dealt with us fairly. And to be frank, they are quite justified in their arrogance, they are now strong enough to defeat us should it come to that." He said with a scowl, and Ebonwumon gave him a scolding look.

"It hasn't gone that far yet, yes we don't get on anymore, but they wouldn't kill us. Teach us a lesson certainly, but kill us, no." He said, and Azulongmon scowled.

"I don't trust them. Given half a chance, they would kill us." He said dismissively and Zhquiamon sent him a filthy look.

"I can't believe you think that! I know things have not been good with them for quite some time, but they wouldn't kill us, if for no other reason than they know that despite our interactions recently, we are allies in this war." he screeched, and Azulongmon scoffed.

"Believe what you will. We have reached a parting of the ways my friends. The Digidestined no longer trust us, and given half a chance they will turn on us, you know I'm right." He said, but Fanglongmon overrode him.

"Whatever our feelings, this has gone on far enough. We all need to be working together, not having our silly little spats, they're risking everything. We must make peace with the Digidestined. Besides, we need their help. We cannot investigate what happened to Gennai on our own. They can get places we can't, and hopefully will be able to defend against whoever it is." He said, and the others all looked at each other, before Baihumon gave a sigh.

"And there is something else that we cannot deny. More and more Digimon are refusing to listen to us until we mend fences with the Digidestined. After all, they wield the power of the gods, the power of the Eighteen, and their Digimon can assume super form. That combined with the fact that many of our closest supporters are also very loyal to them means that our own power is waning considerably through our own doing. We are finding it harder and harder to remain in control of the digital world, and people are looking more to them as their leaders than us." He explained, and Fanglongmon nodded doggedly.

"Exactly. The people are turning against us, dissatisfaction and resentment are playing a part, as is fear. We must make our peace with the Digidestined." He insisted, and Ebonwumon shook his head wearily.

"I know you wish to mend fences old friend, but they are young, impetuous and stubborn. They may not wish to mend fences with us." He warned, and Fanglongmon nodded.

"Exactly. Which is why I will tell them anything they want to know. And besides, as we haven't spoken since they gave us the other Relics, I think it is time we return them to them. Perhaps that will get me enough weight that we can actually sit down and talk." He said stubbornly, and Azulongmon chuckled.

"You truly are a stubborn old creature. Very well, try and reason with them, not that I think it will get you very far. They're lazy, arrogant and disrespectful." He grumbled, and Zhquiamon chuckled.

"So you keep telling us Azulongmon. And loathe though you are to admit it, and dangerous to us as it is, part of you does admire them for it. As I do." He said, and the dragon just scowled.

"Very well. Go if you must Fanglongmon. Try to reason with them, but do not trust to hope. We will keep an eye on things here." Azulongmon said, and the large lizard nodded respectfully.

"Very good. I shall head to their world and have it out with them. Wish me luck." He said as he plodded off, and Azulongmon looked after him as he left, his face clouded with worry.

"I have a horrible feeling old friend that luck isn't going to do you much good." He said grimly, and he noticed how none of the other three contradicted him.

XX

It was said that some people could predict a storm with just signs in the air. Tai could predict an oncoming temper tantrum from Hawong in much the same way. The first clue was the fact that only Margaret was around, and the fact that she was sitting firmly on her side of the door, usually it as obvious that she could easily drift in and out but today she seemed to be made of stone. Secondly, Hawong was sitting at his desk, his eyes wild and furious. Thirdly, he, Davis and Rana had all been summoned which meant they were in for a real drubbing, and worst of all, the leader of the children who had been kidnapped by Oikawa and had become Digidestined was also present, Hiroshi.

After Diaboromon's last defeat, Hawong had also taken them under his control, though due to their age and the fact that all of them moved in a different circle, he hadn't taken over their group nearly as effectively. The fact that they were much less powerful and didn't draw attention to themselves the way the Eighteen had had also helped them escape Hawong's wrath, and as a result he had allowed them to continue with what they were doing, provided that when they became sixteen they started doing as he instructed, and so far, that idea had worked, even with the war, because they were underage other than helping with clearing up there was no real reason for Hiroshi's lot to become involved as the Eighteen were at the beck and call of the prime minister.

That was now over, because now all the known leaders of the Digidestined in Japan were now in Hawong's office, and he did not look happy.

"How could it be that there's a powerful group of Digidestined out there that you don't know about?" he demanded angrily, and Rana, predictably, narrowed her eyes, though she was joined by the other two.

"Quite easily actually. Do you have any idea how many kids in the world could be Digidestined? Anyone who has ever seen a Digimon could potentially be a Digidestined. And I don't just even mean evil ones. Any kid who sees one of ours in the street could become a Digidestined. We're up there defending the country every time we're attacked, that could easily make new Digidestined as well. Not to mention all the kids who were caught up in the original fight between Greymon and Parrotmon, everything Myotismon did, every invasion since then and of course Diaboromon's attacks, all of them could have made these kids Digidestined." She explained, and Hawong scowled.

"And that isn't all. When we delivered the power of the Megacore, we didn't have to go to each of them individually to do it, we just released it. We couldn't do that in foreign countries but we could do it here, so we could easily have missed loads of Digidestined, there's no telling how many of us there are in the country." Davis added, making Rana smile smugly as he backed her up.

"Excuse me prime minister, but what am I doing here?" Hiroshi asked nervously.

"You are here because you are Digidestined, and quite frankly, your group has flaunted your responsibilities long enough." The prime minister said irritably as he glared out of the window after he got to his feet.

Hiroshi looked hesitantly at Tai, who shook his head and looked at Hawong, who turned back to them, his eyes narrowed.

"The point is, the press is in an uproar. A charity concert attacked by unknown and uncontrolled Digidestined who we have no idea what they're after, and there are enough of them to successfully challenge you lot, what am I suppose to think?" Hawong demanded, and Tai looked at a nervous Hiroshi.

"We don't need Hiroshi's group to help us if that's what you're worried about." He said, earning him a scathing look from Hawong.

"Not from where I'm standing. You have led me to believe that you lot are the most powerful Digidestined in the world, but those Digidestined fought you and as they escaped I'm rather led to believe that you aren't." He sneered, and Rana had to suppress a grim flash of triumph, as far as she was concerned this was Hawong's true face. However, she did restrain Davis before he furiously launched himself at Hawong, she felt that it was her birthright to be able to smack Hawong one day.

"We're more than capable of dealing with this new group of Digidestined." He snarled, and Hawong arced an eyebrow.

"Really? Then how did they escape?" he asked, and Tai rolled his eyes.

"Because we weren't trying to hurt them. They aren't evil Digimon like Daemon or Diaboromon, they belong to partners, and we know full well that it would destroy us if we lost our Digimon. And besides, they didn't want to attack us, they even apologised for doing it, which believe me, is a novel thing for people trying to kill us to do. And we can't just kill them, we need to know more about them, find out who they are, what they're after, and why they attacked us in the first place." He explained, and Hawong scowled.

"So you've suddenly lost your spines?" he demanded, and Rana glared.

"No, we did our job, we protected you, and because we didn't know who they were or what they wanted, we held back, that's all. But we will find these new Digidestined, and if we need to, we'll stop them." He promised and Hawong nodded.

"See that you do. And now that Hiroshi will be joining you, I expect he will be brought up to scratch, the last thing I need is one of his lot getting killed. You may go." Hawong said irritably, and before their mouths got them into trouble they left the office.

"I'm glad to see he's returned to form." Rana said scathingly, and Tai glowered along with her.

"I think he's just worried about those kids who attacked us." He said, and Davis scoffed.

"No, he's annoyed because he doesn't control them like he does us." He said grouchily, and Tai had to admit, that probably was part of it.

"What good does he think we'll do?" Hiroshi asked nervously as the four of them left the government building, and Tai scowled.

"I don't know Hiroshi. Just go and round up your group, we'll see what you can do, if nothing else you can help when we get invaded." He said, the kid nodded before trotting off, and Rana shook her head in disgust as a small flurry of snow started to fall.

"His group are too young to be doing this. Besides, what does Hawong think we need them for? We can reach Super for Christ sake, none of his group can even reach Mega!" she said in disgust and Davis shrugged, patting her hand as he did so, which didn't go unnoticed by Tai.

"They're older than we all were when we first went to the digital world, and they can digivolve their partners, and some of them are quite handy. And any extra help for us can only be good." He reasoned, but Tai didn't look convinced.

"Not if we spend our time protecting them it won't be. They haven't been in combat before, all they really do is help clean up after the attack and with the occasional phantom Digimon, not much else, putting them on the front lines with us could get them killed." He said worriedly, and Rana looked at her cousin.

"So what do we do?" she asked, and he sighed.

"We divide and conquer. Alright, Matt and I will train up Hiroshi's group, try to bring them up to speed. Davis, find those Digidestined that attacked us, Hawong's right about one thing, we need them found and fast so get on it. Rana, be there when Yolei and Izzy get onto the Sovereigns and then call me when you get on to them. I want to talk to them." He said and started to walk away, when Davis called after him.

"She could easily talk to them for you, you have to trust someone sometime Tai." He said, partly earnest and partly teasing, but all he received was a glare in return.

"And I'm trusting her to make sure Izzy does his job. I'll talk to the Sovereigns myself, remind them their existence depends on us being in a good mood with them, and that good mood means they don't keep anything from us, like adult Digidestined. Don't you have a job to do?" he asked irritably before heading off, Agumon falling into step behind him as he did so, and both Davis and Rana sighed.

"You know, I remember a time when he wasn't always a bad tempered jackass." She lamented, and Davis nodded.

"I remember when he trusted us, that was nice too." He said mournfully as Veemon and Tsukimon appeared.

"What's up with you guys?" Veemon asked and Davis sighed.

"Tai. He doesn't let us do anything remotely like we used to do anymore. I've been assigned evil Digidestined tracking duty." He grumbled, and Rana smiled softly.

"At least that actually has a purpose, it's a lot more glamorous than calling the Sovereigns to tell them Tai wants to talk to them. Yours is actually important. Maybe he trusts you a bit more." She reasoned and Davis laughed mirthlessly.

"After everything recently? I wouldn't be surprised if he's just having me look for them so he can take the others and go and deal with it himself." He said, and by others he meant the rest of the original eight, for the last eighteen months it seemed more and more that everyone who basically hadn't fought the Dark Masters was being forced out of every decision making process possible. Davis and Rana had also been subordinated to the original eight, and while they didn't mind that per se, considering they had basically been commanders, being made into errand runners and troops was a bit infuriating to say the least. The others, Matt, TK and Kari in particular were trying to soothe out the growing resentment between the parties but it wasn't going very well. Davis, Rana and most of their group were coming to resent basically being treated as the dogsbodies of the original eight. Yeah they hadn't been there in the digital world originally but they had more than proved their worth dozens of times and what was basically a long drawn out and subtle degradation was starting to annoy them all, and if Tai didn't watch it, it could explode in his face.

"Right, I'm away to become Tai's private secretary. Good hunting." Rana said, squeezing Davis' hand before leaving with Tsukimon and Davis sighed as he looked at her retreating back.

"She'll come around one day Davis don't worry." Veemon assured him and Davis looked at him sadly.

"You don't have to tell me that every time you know. Besides, she's with Derek now, and I want her to be happy. So, I'll just soldier on." He said, and Veemon gave him an appraising look.

"You know Davis, you've really grown up." He said proudly, remembering back to the mess that Ghoulmon had created two years before.

Davis grinned.

"Thanks pal. Now, let's go hunt us some evil Digidestined who've upset the Prime Minister." He said as they headed off to find their mysterious attackers.

XX

The two pronged tower building he had bought with funds from the Russians and Chinese was of great help to Kanalaka. An extensive underground facility existed right beneath it, where Hypnos had set up a lot of its functions and needs and wants, and while the command centre was above ground everything else was out of sight of prying eyes. And the over ground part of the building was of great help to Kanalaka in and of itself, because it kept the prying eyes of Ryo's group from finding out what was going on down in the basement. And that was very handy, because he sincerely doubted that Ryo and his group would remain loyal to him if they knew what was going on in the basement. After all, the kids currently sitting opposite him were very fond of their Digimon, and of the strange creatures in general so would most likely not appreciate what he and Yamaki were doing. To be frank most of the adult's Digimon didn't like it either, but still, they didn't do anything to try and stop them, and he didn't think the kids would be quite as lenient.

"Apparently Hawong has summoned the other Digidestined in Japan since he now knows about us." Ryo said, scowling across at Kanalaka who waved his hand soothingly.

"He's just done it as a precaution my boy. And besides, according to my information none of them can go beyond Ultimate, which means they can't pose a threat to you even if they get lucky. They're untrained and inexperienced, they will pose no threat to you." He assured them and Jeri looked at him nervously.

"But we don't want to pose a threat to anyone. The Eighteen aren't the enemy." She said nervously and Takato nodded.

"Jeri's right. And we actually don't pose a threat to them, they could have easily destroyed us." He said, and Henry nodded.

"Yeah. We may be able to reach Mega but they can reach Super, and everyone knows that the three Celestial Digimon can do, we wouldn't stand a chance." He reasoned, but before Kanalaka could say anything Syakomon's shell opened and the little mollusc Digimon looked at Henry pityingly.

"You place too much importance in levels young one. And in the Celestial Digimon. The three of them, MagnaSeraphimon, MagnaAngewomon and Kerubielmon are incredibly powerful and should not be lightly confronted, true, but their power is waning. The great darkness is growing and soon their power will dim, as will the power of all the Eighteen. And if need be, that is when we will need to strike." He said, and Henry shared a dark look with Ryo, who sighed.

"How do we know the Eighteen are bad? I mean all they've ever done is protect the two worlds, we've got no proof that they're evil." He said and Kanalaka chuckled.

"Oh to be young and be able to divide the world into categories of good and evil. I never said the Eighteen were evil my boy. I said they are becoming addicted and corrupted to their power, the power Hawong has seen fit to invest in them. Don't you see? They were far too young to be given such power, and it's gone to their heads. Surely you all see it? They are becoming corrupted, and twisted by their power. After all, they are the most powerful Digidestined in the world, and they know it. Power always corrupts." He said wisely, and Rika, who had the same relationship with him as Rana did with Hawong, glowered at him menacingly.

"And how do we know you're not corrupted by power?" she asked and Kanalaka chuckled.

"Because my pretty I'm too new to the world of politics, and since Hawong is effectively running the show without reference to any of the rest of the Diet or the cabinet, I have very little power anyway." He lamented, but she continued to look at him suspiciously, making him hide a smile.

"Where's the proof that they're corrupted by power? They've done everything they've ever been asked and protect Japan which includes all of us and you, and you want us to fight them?" Leo asked in disbelief, Liollmon draped over his feet.

"Not to mention they're too powerful for us to fight head on, none of them went to all the forms they could go to. We won't stand a chance." Kenta complained, and Kanalaka once again wondered why someone so whiny was a Digidestined.

"We are acting pre-emptively my friends. The Eighteen's power is already beginning to corrupt them, they already believe themselves above the law, view themselves as Japan's last defence against the darkness and that arrogance is spreading into all their other works of life. Very soon now, their corruption will start to show. And if nothing else, they work directly for Hawong, a war monger who caused this dreadful war for his own purposes. How can they be good and serve someone such as him?" he posed to them, and Takato looked hesitantly at Ryo, who sighed.

"Yeah, they serve Hawong but look at them, some of them hardly have a mean bone in their body, look at Kari for example, she's the bearer of Light, how is she meant to be evil?" he asked, and Kanalaka smiled.

"Because she is the most powerful my boy, her power will corrupt her before the rest." He said, affecting a sad voice, and Ryo, Takato and Henry exchanged looks, while Rika continued glaring at him, and Jeri, Kenta, Kazu and Leo were looking at their companions worriedly.

"You might be right." Henry said reluctantly, and Kanalaka leaned back, affecting a look of understanding.

"I know it's distasteful, but you lot may be the only ones who can stop them, and hence the only ones who can save Japan. And never fear, you will have me, Yamaki and the others behind you all the way." He assured them, ignoring Jeri's shiver (she didn't like Yamaki, he gave her the creeps).

"And we appreciate it." Ryo said softly, and Kanalaka smiled.

"I'm glad. We're a good team, and I think we more than proved our worth in the battle with the Eighteen, we certainly threw them. We can hold them off, and as time goes on, we will get stronger, strong enough to stop them should they ever threaten Japan, or act to protect Hawong if and when he goes too far." He said gravely, and with that, the uncertain looking kids stood and traipsed from his office and Kanalaka leaned back, watching them as they left.

"You ought to contact the Sovereigns." Syakomon said, and Kanalaka looked at his partner in surprise.

"Your rulers?" he asked, and the little mollusc nodded.

"Yes, many are beginning to fear the Eighteen as much as you do. They could be natural allies in all this because you're right, the Eighteen do pose a threat." He said, and Kanalaka mused on this.

"We will keep them in reserve my fine little friend, should things go wrong with my original plan. Now, shall we see how Hypnos is getting on with my digivice?" he asked, and the little Digimon leapt into his hands as he swept through the bare, grey corridors.

The various Hypnos agents were dedicated to dealing with the digital menace, however, only four of them, the four highest ranked members, Yamaki, his girlfriend Riley, her partner Tally and their security man Klein were the only ones that Kanalaka had trusted with Digimon partners, the better to further his own initiatives. Fortunately Syakomon didn't know just how he had come by the other Digimon, or even how he had come by him in the first place.

He entered the large globe like room that acted as their command room, Riley and Tally on their overhanging chairs tracking all the Digimon currently in the city. He could see the various Digimon belonging to the Eighteen and the former kidnap victims, and he could also see Ryo's group walking away from the building. And the mass of Digimon that was in the building, well more accurately, in the cavernous basement beneath them.

"No new Digimon activity to report sir." Riley informed Kanalaka as he entered the room, setting Syakomon down on the table before he headed over to Yamaki.

Syakomon looked warily around the dark room, the only light coming from Yamaki's terminal and the lights on the board. She was around here somewhere.

"I know you're here, so why not come out of the shadows you art accident?" he hissed, and he leapt almost a foot in the air as Mikemon sprang mercilessly onto the table, her sharp claws going right for him.

"Mikemon!" Dobermon barked, and the cat cowered, retracting her claws and hanging her head as the dog in charge of the Hypnos Digimon approached, growling.

"It's only a little fun." She purred in her exotic voice, and Syakomon glowered at her.

"For you scavenger, not me. Keep your claws to yourself." He snapped, and she shot him a look of loathing.

"Are you causing trouble down there Mikemon?" Riley called, and the cat flattened her ears.

"Of course not, just a friendly chat between friends." She said with dignity, leaping off the desk and vanishing into the shadows.

"Thank you." Syakomon said, and Dobermon growled in acknowledgement before plodding over to Yamaki.

"He just isn't one for socialising. With anyone really, believe me, I've tried." Starmon said from his and Yakiimon's post guarding the door.

"Yeah, he's one cool customer." Yakiimon added grimly, and Syakomon sighed wearily.

This management lark was stressful.

"Yamaki, how come the alterations to my digivice?" Kanalaka asked as he sat down beside Yamaki at his terminal.

Yamaki nodded, his dark glasses glinting as he did so as he returned Kanalaka's dark grey D-3 to him.

"Yes. This will increase the control you have over Syakomon." He said and Kanalaka smiled.

"So it will-?" he asked, referring to what was really going on with Yamaki's experiment, and Yamaki nodded.

"Yes sir, it will give you complete control, you'll be able to use it however you see fit." He told him, and Kanalaka smiled.

"Excellent. And the neural clamps?" he asked, and Yamaki nodded, grinning in anticipation.

"They have been fine tuned even further and have boosted our control by over ten percent." He reported and Kanalaka nodded in approval, that would make everything much easier when the time came.

"Very good, but it could be better could it not?" he asked, and Yamaki nodded.

"Of course, it's a work in progress we're always improving it sir." He said, and Kanalaka nodded, just as an alarm started blaring.

"Riley, another wild one?" Yamaki snapped getting to his feet as she and Tally began tracking the signal that was flashing up on the screen.

"Yes sir, tracking now." She responded and Yamaki glowered at the screen.

"You see why we need to take action, why we need to help each other? Only together can we stop these monsters emerging into our world, it's in a big enough mess as it is without them showing up and causing even more damage. Together, we'll crush them." Yamaki vowed and Kanalaka placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Indeed we will. I'll round up one of the kids to deal with this don't worry. And then, when all is said and done, the threat the Digimon present will be at an end." He assured him, a small smile on his face before he left the room, picking Syakomon up as he did so.

Dobermon growled at Mikemon to chase her off from below Riley's chair and sat down beside Yamaki.

"Yamaki, I must say, I don't like what we are doing down in the basement, or what you're doing to his digivice, it can only lead to trouble." The dog told him curtly, and Yamaki glared at him.

"I don't care Dobermon. And the basement is none of your concern Dobermon." He growled and Dobermon looked at him in annoyance.

"Yamaki, you can hate it however much you want, but I am your partner, we are in this together. And what you are doing in the basement is wrong, immoral and cruel, you are warping-"

"Enough!" Yamaki barked but Dobermon barked back, making Yamaki retreat a little, and above them Riley and Tally continued to work, trying not to listen to what was going on beneath them.

In the shadows Klein shrugged at Starmon and Yakiimon who were looking on in interest as Dobermon and Yamaki had their latest clash as this was hardly the first. Dobermon didn't like what was going on down below, none of the Hypnos Digimon did but the others kept quiet but as the unofficial leader of the four Hypnos Digimon, Dobermon saw fit to challenge Yamaki over what was going on in the basement. And what he was doing with Kanalaka.

"No, it is not enough. What you are doing down there is sick. And what is more, you are altering the Digivices in ways they were never meant to be, it's dangerous!" he growled, and Yamaki glared at him.

"It helps you lot digivolve to Mega, so I don't see why you're complaining." He said bitterly, and Dobermon glared.

"Because it isn't natural, you can't force our digivolution, you're lucky it hasn't backfired on us like it did with that Digitamamon you experimented on. I told you what happened with Tai's Agumon, you risk a whole lot more. And you are giving Kanalaka's digivice too much power. If you keep altering it and give him the power he wants you to give to him, you think he will keep you around? If you give him what he wants, nothing will stop him, and Syakomon may not be much in his Rookie form but his Mega form is incredibly durable and I might not be able to protect you." He intoned and Yamaki glowered at him, but upon seeing the earnest expression on his gravelly voiced partner's face, he did soften ever so slightly.

"Why do you keep trying to protect me? I never asked you too, I don't need you to." He said, and Dobermon padded away and then sent a sad look back at his partner.

"Because it's my job, and odd though it is, I enjoy, despite how you want me to disappear." He said and padded off, and Mikemon leapt from the shadows to follow him.

"A word of advice Mikemon, don't antagonise him." Yakiimon warned, and she flicked her ears.

"Me?" she asked innocently and followed Dobermon, while Yakiimon looked at Starmon, who gestured helplessly.

Yamaki looked after where Dobermon had disappeared. He didn't understand why Kanalaka had seen fit to give him a Digimon. He made no secret about his hatred for the Digimon, and how he despised their constant attacks on this world of theirs. He thought they were simple monsters that got too big for their boots. But then Kanalaka, after recruiting him to help him with his project called Sentinel and bringing him into the wider aim of his plan, had gifted him with his own navy digivice and the domineering form of Dobermon, and despite his initial reluctance had made Dobermon digivolve after altering his digivice like he had with the others. And despite knowing how he felt about his kind, Dobermon still stayed by his side loyally, for whatever reason.

It just didn't make sense. He was just data wasn't he?

"You shouldn't be so hard on him." Riley chided softly as she tracked Leo as he headed to intercept the new Digimon.

Yamaki scoffed at his girlfriend's ignorance. She had a very good relationship with Mikemon, for all intents and purposes the two were good friends, with Mikemon some strange mixture between friend, sister and pet. She even allowed Mikemon to curl up on her bed with her at night, while he forced Dobermon to wait outside the house like a proper dog. She was too close to her little cat friend, and he could only imagine how hurt she would be when they finally got rid of them all.

"He isn't a he, he's an it, he's data." Yamaki insisted coldly, and Tally looked down at him curiously.

"If he's just data, why do you keep saying he's a he rather than an it?" she asked perceptively.

She also had a good relationship with her Digimon, viewing him as some sort of nephew or something, someone to have fun with and protect at the same time, and as a result they were very close. And over in the corner, Klein and his partner Starmon were more akin to partners, confidantes, colleagues, they were all wrong. He would show them.

"Just do your job Tally." He snapped and the two went back to work while Starmon and Yakiimon looked on sadly.

XX

"He isn't used to people challenging him." Mikemon counselled as she approached Dobermon, who growled at her.

"Go away." He snapped, and she flicked her tail haughtily.

"No. You know I'm right. He's an arrogant elitist, he believes in restrictions and rules, everything has to be neat and fit into his own narrow view of the world. You, and the rest of us, don't fit into that mould, yet you still try and get through to him. He doesn't want to be your partner, he never did." She said, but she wasn't saying it to be cruel, she actually wanted to help, and she saw Dobermon sag a little bit.

"I know." He said mournfully, and the dog like Digimon sounded so despondent that she began to purr his favourite song to cheer him up.

After she finished purring 'Ain't Nothing But A Hound Dog', she looked at him sadly, squatting on her back two legs with her front two in front of her (how the hell he did this without pain she didn't know, it strained her to hell), and then she looked up at him sadly.

"Then why put yourself through it?" she asked pityingly, and he gave her a slight sigh in response.

"Because I can't help it." He said in defeat, nudged her fondly with his nose and headed off, and as she stretched back to walk on all fours again, she looked at him and contemplated her companion's predicament.

XX

"Can't you talk to him?" Nefertimon asked as they soared over the city on their patrol and Kari scowled.

"What do you think I've been doing? I've tried, Matt's tried, we've all tried, we can talk to Tai until we're blue in the face but he just won't listen to us. He's pushing all of us away, even me and Matt. Ugh, maybe Ken was right." She said musingly, and Nefertimon snickered.

"With the little comment that stopped you and Yolei talking about Home and Away?" she asked, and Kari smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe he's right, maybe Tai just needs to get laid, it might calm him down, or at least give him something else to think about, I don't know." She moaned, while Nefertimon sniggered beneath her.

"And yet everyone aside from TK, Patamon and I still think you're an angel." She taunted and Kari grinned.

"And it will stay that way big mouth. Especially since Tai seems to be sticking his head in the sand about me growing up, and the way he's been acting the last thing we need is him getting wound up about something else. Besides, and don't tell him this, but I don't think TK would win in a fight." She said musingly and Nefertimon laughed.

"Kari, he would be protecting his right to you. For you, he'd fight anyone and do anything, you know that. Even your increasing ass of a brother." She said, and Kari flicked her metal ear, causing herself more pain than Nefertimon.

"He's still my brother. And he might be slightly less stressed if you and Patamon would stop raiding his food cupboards every other night." She said in amusement.

"Oh we can't do that, that would mean Tai would win our eternal battle of wills, I can't have that. I assume you want to be on the winning side? That is my side." She said smugly, and Kari laughed.

"And what happens when you win? I assume your definition of defeat will be when he starves himself to death." She said, but Nefertimon shook her head.

"No, I would win, it would mean I broke him and that he starved himself to death in order to spite me, hence I win by default. Besides, him killing me wouldn't make him win either, I would just come back, hence I would win once again. The only way I can actually be defeated is if he manages to make his flat Gatomon proof, or at least make his cupboards Gatomon proof. If he makes it totally impenetrable then I will have lost and he will have won" she explained, and Kari shook her head, her Digimon was insane and out to drive her brother just as mad.

"And you win?"

"When he finally admits my natural superiority, consents to a lifetimes supply of tuna, salmon and other associated fish products and goes stark raving bonkers." She said brightly, and Kari laughed again, before her vibrating digivice alerted her to something.

"Kari?" Nefertimon asked, hearing the noise, and she stopped, hovering above the city.

"There's a Digimon nearby, nearly directly below uuuussss!" Kari finished with a scream as Nefertimon abruptly dived to the surface.

There was indeed a Digimon as they reached a level closer to the ground, Musyamon was leaping from building to building, his sword drawn, apparently looking for trouble.

"Shall I take him?" Nefertimon asked the windbeaten Kari who was clutching her partner a bit tighter than she ought to with one hand and trying to fix her windswept hair with the other.

"Wait, look." Kari said, as a tan coloured large cat leapt up from street level with a boy on his back.

"One of those kids again isn't it? What do we do?" Nefertimon asked as Liamon landed in front of Musyamon, bringing the Digimon up short and making him brandish his sword.

"We see what happens naturally." Kari said, the two of them watching carefully as Liamon prowled, prepared to pounce at any moment.

"Shogun Sword!" Musyamon yelled, leaping for the kid, but Liamon was much quicker, his mane glowing.

"Thunder King!" he roared, and a jagged beam of lightning shot loose from his mane and crashed right into Musyamon's chest, sending the Digimon tumbling across the rooftop.

As the Digimon skidded to a stop, the kid rose his wrist, revealing a small electronic device, rather like an ipod, which he pointed at Musyamon. The defeated Digimon gave an angry growl as he was turned into a data stream and hoovered into the device.

"Well that's a new trick. Should we go and introduce ourselves properly?" Kari asked and Nefertimon groaned.

"If we really must, but if I get stuck in his little GameBoy with Musyamon, I won't be happy." She grumbled as she flew over to the rooftop as Liamon's partner patted his muzzle proudly.

"Good job buddy, that should keep them happy." He said as Nefertimon landed silently.

"Keep who happy?" Kari asked interestedly, making the kid and his partner jump, and the big cat slinked protectively in front of his partner.

The spiky brown haired kid looked at her warily as Liamon growled slightly.

"You're Kari right?" he asked nervously and she nodded.

"Yeah, see the thing is, we don't know who you are, you lot don't come up on our Digimon analyser, unlike your friend there." She said tartly.

Liamon: A powerful Champion level Digimon, he is rare and powerful, eager to take on any challenge and subject his foes to his Thunder King attack.

"Fancy gadget." Liamon admitted, slightly proud with the praise, and Nefertimon looked at him curiously.

"So is his, what is it?" she asked curiously, and the boy showed them his device.

"We call it the D-Tainer. Alright, if you really must know, my name is Leo." He said, and Kari smiled.

"Well that's a little bit of progress I suppose, at least we know who you are now, what about your friends, and where they came from? Because we thought we at least kept an eye on all the Digidestined in Japan and poof, there's suddenly loads of us, and now we have Hawong nagging us, so what are we meant to do about that?" she asked, and Leo shrugged.

"Not my problem, we have a job to do." He said dismissively, and Kari narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, so do we. Ever since your little stunt at the concert, Hawong and my brother have wanted you and your friends found and brought in, and lucky me, I found one of you first." She said, and Liamon growled threateningly.

"Easy boy. She's just curious." Leo said but took a step back all the same.

"Yeah. Look, I don't know why you attacked us but whatever the reason was, we can work it out. Come and talk to us, we won't hurt you." She promised but the younger boy looked at her sceptically.

"Yeah right. Look, I didn't want to attack you, we had to, we were told to. And for what it's worth, you guys put up a pretty good fight." He said brightly, as if that would make her ease off as now Nefertimon was slowly stalking towards them.

"I'm the one who should be saying that to you. Who told you to attack us? You're not evil otherwise you'd have pounced already, so what's the game?" she asked curiously.

Leo looked at her nervously, and Liamon made a movement with his shoulder that looked like a shrug as Leo pondered what to do.

"Look, don't ask me anymore, just don't, I shouldn't be talking to you as it is." He said, and Kari smiled gently.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, what do you think I keep her around for?" she asked pointing to Nefertimon, who looked at her in what Kari could only assume was disgust.

"My wit, vivacious charm and stunning good looks obviously, and the fact that I keep saving your ungrateful ass and am your natural partner in crime in driving your brother bananas." She said with annoyed dignity making Kari and Leo smile and Liamon chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Nefertimon asked the other Digimon who looked at her curiously.

"You, you're weird." He said in a teasing voice, and she raised her hackles.

"Weird, I'll give you weird." She growled but Kari laid a hand on her flank to soothe her.

"Look, I'm not asking much, just come with us and explain things to us, we need to talk about all this, otherwise we'll just wind up fighting each other again." Kari reasoned, but Leo backed off, and Liamon edged further in front.

"We can't, we're not allowed to." He said nervously and she sighed in irritation.

"Look, I just want to know why you attacked us, talk to us, whatever it is we can work it out ok?" she asked, and Leo looked at Liamon uncertainly, just as an alarm started to blare over the city.

"You know, the Chinese have lousy timing." Kari cursed, as Leo leapt onto Liamon.

"Hey! Cat's Eye Beam!"

"Thunder King!"

The two cat Digimon fired their attacks at each other, blowing one another backwards and Liamon used that as his opportunity to escape, leaping off the building, making Kari curse as the kid and his Digimon landed at street level and ran off.

"Damn him." Kari cursed again, and Nefertimon looked at her.

"Do we go after him?" she asked, but Kari shook her head as the first of the Chinese planes were starting to come into view.

"No, we've got to deal with this lot, Hawong will have our hide if we don't protect the country first. Come on, let's go." She said, leaping onto her partner's back as the Eighteen once more headed off to war.

XX

MagnaSeraphimon cursed as he repaired the damage the battle had once again done, honestly, he and Gatomon ought to start a repair service they should get paid for their time and effort. The battle had been nothing more than a raid to destroy morale, a few u-boats and a squadron of planes from one of the Chinese's pocket aircraft carriers had been all that had been involved. Birdramon, Nefertimon and Kabuterimon had been more than a match for the planes, Ikkakumon and Submarimon had easily deal with the u-boats while Seadramon had scuttled the aircraft carrier, so once again Japan was safe. However, in the resulting chaos, any leads on the new Digidestined had been completely lost, which was what had brought the Eighteen and Hiroshi's band of nine to the park while people once more tried to get back to their lives in a nation at war. The park was perfect as due to the recent fight and the cold weather making your breath rise visibly in front of you, no one was going exploring and they could chat uninterrupted.

"So we don't have any idea where they went?" Ken asked, and Davis shook his head.

"None, they vanished as soon as the shots started firing so we've got no leads on them." He explained and Matt frowned.

"Alright, these kids come out of nowhere, have adults with them and are clearly able to digivolve at least to Ultimate, shouldn't we be worried about this?" he asked, picking at the grass.

"By all rights these new kids shouldn't be able to threaten us that much, after all we can digivolve to Super." Izzy said.

"So could Diaboromon, Daemon and Myotismon. Just because we're meant to be the only ones able to do it doesn't mean we are." Cody reasoned, which they had to admit made sense.

"And even if they don't pose a threat to us, they could still pose a threat to this lot." Michael said, pointing to the Hiroshi's group of Digidestined.

"But if they can only go to Ultimate surely we should be able to fight them too." Noriko pointed out, but Sam shook her head.

"Not necessarily. Since Hawong only just put you out in the field you don't have much experience. We know your heart is in the right place, but you're just too new, and these guys gave us a run for our money." She said kindly, and Takashi and his partner Bearmon sagged visibly.

"Don't we get points for enthusiasm?" Takashi asked mournfully and Sora smiled.

"You did do pretty good the problem is you've not really fought Digimon yet, that's all." She said soothingly, which seemed to brighten them up a bit.

Tai looked at the new kids that they had been forced to take on. In an ideal world he wouldn't have them here, Hawong should never have gotten them all involved, they were just kids. Hiroshi was sitting with his partner Ararumon, who was basically Palmon with a blue flower instead of a pink one. Takashi, the small boy with the green jacket which he still wore was partnered with Bearmon, a curious and cheerful little Digimon. Noriko, the girl who's Dark Spore had bloomed earlier than the others was now partnered with Psychemon, who was a pink bellied version of Gabumon. There was Keiko, the girl who had wanted to open a bakery and she was partnered with BlackAgumon. One of the youngest boys who Oikawa had taken was now partnered with Chuumon, who was sitting on his shoulder, compulsively picking lint of his companion's jacket and fretting about him sitting on the ground. Another boy called Yoh had Crabmon with him, while his friend Sakura had her partner Elecmon sitting on her knee. A further girl called Anna was standing beside her little red Muchomon, and the last member of the new group Syaroan was partnered with Mushroomon.

"So we can hang around with you guys?" Takashi asked hopefully and Tai was about to say something when Rana nodded.

"Course you can. If for no other reason that we could use a break." She said with a grin, and Keiko smiled back.

"Cool, can we train with you guys?" BlackAgumon asked eagerly, and Davis shrugged.

"We don't really train, we usually just wing it. Hmm, maybe that's why the bad guys keep kicking our asses." He mused when he felt Tai's hand on his shoulder.

"A word. You too Rana." He said coldly, and the two rolled their eyes at each other before following him into the trees, while Matt, Sora and Kari exchanged dark looks with one another, totally oblivious to the happy chatter of the new Digidestined.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tai hissed and Rana glared.

"Tai, we need them. Like I said, if for no other reason we could do with a break. If Hiroshi's group can take over some of our work, so much the better. Besides, I know you don't like it but do you really think Hawong will be alright with us not helping them? We need to train them up a bit sure, but they can be helpful. And if the other kids we met are bad guys out to get us, they need to be able to defend themselves from them in case they go after them." She reasoned.

Davis nodded, his eyes narrowed at Tai.

"And like Rana said, any help we can get the better, let you guys focus on uni and us on school a little bit more. And besides, the more Digidestined we know, the better our chances of being able to track down the final members of the Eighteen."

Tai scowled.

"We've already tried that lot smart ass, and they aren't." He said irritably, and Rana hissed between her teeth.

"He wasn't being a smart ass, he was just being smart, odd though it sounds." She said, smirking at the aggrieved look Davis gave her.

"With them taking on some of our duties, we can focus more on the two we're missing." Davis reasoned and Tai deflated a little.

"Hmm, maybe you're right. Sorry." He muttered, and Rana's gaze softened a little.

"Or is it because we decided without you?" she asked, and Tai shook his head.

"No, not that," he said, his voice wavering slightly which probably meant that was partly to do with it, "they're just so young." He said unhappily, and Davis nodded.

"Compared to us they're younger sure, but they're only a year or two younger than Cody, which still makes them older than you guys were when you first went to the digital world." He reasoned and Tai bit his lip.

"Or is it because they're not members of the original eight so hence aren't as good?" Rana asked coolly, and Tai turned to give her a glare, but she held her ground and Davis also moved closer to her for backup.

Tai scowled irritably at the two of them.

"That isn't it at all, is that really what you think?" he asked, and Rana arced an eyebrow.

"Do you blame us?" she asked waspishly, and Tai hesitated.

"Tai, we're not against you being in charge or relying on the others but you can rely on us too, and recently you've been forcing us out. You've been trusting them with more and more, and everyone who wasn't an original Digidestined with less and less." Davis said, and Tai was about to say something else when Hawong's car pulled up, revealing the Prime Minister and Margaret, both dressed in warm winter clothing, and Tai gave the other two a dark look.

"This isn't over." He warned, and the two of them exchanged significant looks as he moved to meet the prime minister.

"Good work all. Any sign of our new miscreants?" he asked, and Joe shook his head.

"No. Kari had one just before the Chinese attacked but their attack made her lose him." He reported and Margaret sighed.

"I suppose there is very little you can do until they actually show themselves again. What was the one you encountered doing Kari?" she asked, and Kari looked at Izzy.

"I forgot to say, they've got some fancy new gizmo. Whatever it is, it turned the Musyamon who he made short work of by the way, into a data stream and basically downloaded him into it. What do you reckon?" she asked, and Izzy, Yolei, Ken and Sam all adopted their thinking faces.

"Here we go, Mensa eat your heart out." Tentomon said to their appropriate Digimon.

"Usual bets?" Hawkmon asked, and they all nodded, their gazes fixed on their partners.

"A way to carry Digimon around in your pocket, they must reconfigure his data to turn him into a smaller form and store him for transport, but what happens to them after they get transported?" Ken asked, making Tentomon, Candlemon and Hawkmon curse as they handed a dollar to a smug Wormmon.

"I don't know, he didn't stick around to tell me." Kari said in disapproval, making the others sigh wearily.

"Well as if we didn't have enough to worry about, a rogue Digimon entered the real world while the Chinese were attacking us." Hawong reported, and looked at Sam, who groaned.

"Why do I get a feeling that it's upset my ass of a father's delicate disposition?" she asked irritably, and Margaret looked at her apologetically.

"Because your father isn't the only one, all the religious leaders of the world are going off their head, the Digimon, Kuwagamon I believe, emerged in the middle of Vatican City, right in St Peter's square, during a blessing by the Pope. It's caused chaos, religious leaders across the world are demanding action, people are saying the Digimon have gotten too far out of hand and need to be culled if even our sacred places aren't safe from their invasions. The Kuwagamon was destroyed by Italian Digidestined, but the damage was already done, it killed four people and destroyed part of the Basilica. As soon as the news broke your father was on the air an hour later, now armed with even more ammunition for his rhetoric." She explained, and Sam groaned, rubbing her temples in angry exhaustion.

"Great, what's he saying now?" she asked wearily, and Hawong sniffed disapprovingly.

"More of the same, only now everyone will be much more willing to listen to him. I know it wasn't the Digimon's fault, but this is going to be seen as having gone too far, it emerged in the middle of the Vatican for Christ sake. People will tolerate them appearing in the middle of their cities and of places like the Pentagon and the Arc De Triomphe or even that swarm of Poyomon that interrupted the House of Commons, but the Vatican, that's an entirely different box of frogs. So, with that as new ammunition he wants us to take actions to exterminate all Digimon, which I assume include yours, and wants us to buy the DDR weapons from the Americans so we can destroy any others that may emerge into our world." He said with disdain, wincing at the rising anger evident on all their faces.

"Will you cave?" Cody asked, and Hawong shook his head.

"No of course not, all he is at the moment is a political firebrand. Problem is he's gaining more and more support across the country, from parents, the aggrieved, conscientious objectors and now, a lot of religious people. And there's the people who just don't like Digimon on principle." He said, and Michael looked at him curiously.

"But if he gets more support?" he asked hesitantly, and Margaret pursed her lips.

"That could be dangerous. While the Prime Minister keeps your more powerful human opponents, politicians, the police etc at bay, if Sam's father keeps up with his exterminate all Digimon lark and he receives their backing, it could make your lives very difficult indeed." She said worriedly.

"For now however, you're safe. Though most people do not like it and are very ungrateful, they know without you lot there's a good chance we'd already have lost the war. you also have the backing of the prime minister and the military, whom in particular will not want to give up one of their greatest weapons so for now you're safe and I intend to keep it that way. However, now with this Digimon invasion of the Vatican, despite being unintentional, not that most people are listening to it, more and more people are going to get behind his desire to destroy the Digimon." Hawong explained, and Agumon scowled.

"What's the point in protecting this world? We risk our lives every day which is more than most of the people in the city do, and all we get in return is a death sentence. We should let you all burn." He fumed.

Matt shot Cody a worried look. With the public's reaction to their own Digimon over the last eighteen months, the Digimon had become increasingly irritated, wondering why they were putting themselves in harm's way for a world that didn't want anything to do with them, and a large part of which actively detested them.

"Hey, we're on your side buddy." Tai soothed, but the lizard and several of the other Digimon were looking grumpy, even Armadillomon, though that may have been because Cody had just sat on his tail.

"The rest aren't." He retorted bitterly, and Hawong made the wise decision to steer the conversation away from that topic before things got bloody.

Tai then turned to Sam, his eyes narrowed.

"I thought you had talked to your father?" he asked and she looked at him with such fire that he took a step back for fear of injury.

"I have spoken to him, I've explained all of this until I'm blue in the face, nothing I say goes into that thick skull of his. He thinks all Digimon are an abomination, something evil sent to corrupt all of us and turn us against our parents. He believes they're spawn of the devil and we've been corrupted at the most basic level by hanging round with them. I told him if it wasn't for them Japan would have fallen and he told me it would be better for Japan to fall than to rely on our Digimon. He also told me that he didn't want me seeing you guys anymore because you further corrupt me." She spat, and Tai winced.

"Geez Sam, I'm sorry, I had no idea things were so bad between you guys." He said awkwardly and Candlemon scowled.

"When the arrogant judgemental prick is basically trying to live her life his way and stop her seeing everyone she cares about? Of course they're bad." He said, his once apathetic feelings for Sam's father having transformed into full blown hatred over the last eighteen months.

Margaret looked across at Hawong, who was wearing the same look of concern on his face as she was on hers.

"I'll try talking to him again, but now there's been a Digimon in the Vatican, he'll want to listen even less. And now he'll get the boost of all the other religious leaders, they'll all be queuing up to join forces with him now, mark my words." She said wearily, and Hawong nodded to himself, time to draw the conversation away from this.

"Is everything ready for the arrival of the Mexican ambassador?" he asked Tai, figuring he'd have cracked and told someone by now.

However, judging by the hostile glares Tai was now receiving from everyone, including Agumon, he actually hadn't cracked and told anyone. Interesting. And now, both Hawong and Margaret were trying hard to suppress their grins as the rest of the children fixed their leader with a look of profound irritation.

"The Mexican ambassador? Yet again you're blocking us out, you didn't tell us anything!" Davis said in exasperation, but Matt patted the air calmingly.

"Simmer down Davis, he didn't tell any of us." He said, giving Tai a dirty look.

"I forgot. In a nutshell, a Mexican ambassador is coming here to discuss defecting." He explained sheepishly, and Yolei's eyes widened.

"That could..."

"Change the entire course of the war. Now, when he arrives I want you to stick to him like glue, if he goes to the toilet, I want you there wiping his bottom, understand? This is very important, and we can't afford any mistakes this time." Hawong said, and Rana scowled.

"It wasn't our fault last time, that was Daemon." She sneered waspishly.

Hawong rolled his eyes and nodded.

"I know, I just want you to be extra careful with the Mexican ambassador. Someone raises their hand to scratch their head, you tackle the buggers, got it?" he asked, and they all nodded.

"Got it. Hmm, so if we do that..." Tai said, just as the air started to crackle just outside the park.

"Now what?" Biyomon asked, as the entire group ran to the gate to see a digital gate opening.

"Looks like vacation's over. Lopmon, put the bloody knitting away!" Betamon yelled in exasperation, and the little rabbit sighed and stuffed her half knitted hat into Mara's bag before taking her place at the end of the line of Digimon, all preparing to leap into battle.

"I suppose it has been a while since we were attacke,d I was hoping the Ultimate Evil had forgotten us." Veemon said whimsically, and Hawkmon chuckled.

"Fat chance my dear Veemon after what we did to Daemon. Now, which less than savoury fellow are we getting this time?" he asked as the portal opened, and as one the Digimon sprang forwards.

"Wait!" Cody shouted, bringing the Digimon to an abrupt halt as the Digimon emerged into the real world, his four eyes glittering as he did so.

"Fanglongmon!" Mimi exclaimed in surprise as the Sovereign emerged fully into the world, the portal closing behind him.

"Another one of your Sovereigns?" Hawong asked Palmon.

"Told you Baihumon was the most normal looking one." She said cheerfully, but as he took in the large lizard (who was now causing massive traffic jams due to emerging in the middle of a busy junction), he frowned and looked at the little plant Digimon.

"I thought you weren't getting on with the Sovereigns?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yep. Which means one of two things, either he wants something from us or he has a death wish." She said brightly, and Margaret shrugged when Hawong looked at her for explanation.

"Digidestined, it has been some time." Fanglongmon said in greeting, but before Tai, who was already scowling, could open his mouth, Matt kicked him in the shins, making him yelp instead.

"What did you do that for?" he ground out in annoyance, and Gabumon looked at him hopefully.

"I don't know why he did it, but it looked fun can I do it too?" he asked hopefully, but Tai shook his head while glaring at Matt.

"Don't go in all guns blazing, find out what he wants first." He counselled, and Tai grinned awkwardly.

"I was going to do that." He said in a pseudo-dignified tone as he turned back to the Sovereign.

"You buy that?" Rana asked with amusement, and Matt grinned.

"Do I look stupid?" he asked, and she giggled.

"Fanglongmon, been a while." Tai said, nodding at the Sovereign coolly.

"It has indeed children." He said, and Armadillomon yawned.

"If that's all they're going to be able to say, I'm going for a nap." He said, and Cody poked him, slightly scolding but slightly amused too.

"Don't be rude, and don't go to sleep you might miss something." He warned.

"Um, not wishing to be rude or anything but our traffic hardly moves as it is, and you are blocking a very busy junction, could you please move over a bit?" Hawong asked hopefully, and Fanglongmon looked around to see the long rows of traffic tooting their horns, their drivers and passengers shaking their fists at him and he chuckled.

"Oh of course, so sorry. I am Fanglongmon." He said in greeting, and Hawong gave him a very weak smile as the cars started moving again.

"Henry Hawong." He said in reluctant greeting as several cars blazed past, strings of invective coming from their windows.

Fanglongmon settled himself in the middle of the mark, out of the way, and the Digidestined followed him, all of them perplexed as to his unexpected appearance, after all, they weren't exactly on speaking terms nowadays. As soon as he settled down he turned to look at the wrong footed group and sighed, looking at them pleadingly.

"I suppose you want to know what I'm doing here." He asked, and Michael nodded.

"Yeah, we've not exactly been on good terms ever since you showed us how much you really value us." He said scathingly, making Betamon grin in appreciation, true it was a cheap shot but it was still a good one.

"Indeed not. This has gone on long enough. We need your help." He said, and Kari and TK, who had made silent bets, looked at each other and a grinning Kari took five quid from her boyfriend.

"Our help? After everything you waltz in here and expect us to drop everything to help you? Take a hike." Joe said angrily and Fanglongmon bowed his head sadly.

"We have our differences of late, no one is disputing that. And we have treated you unfairly. We have been harsh, dismissive and unappreciative of you. We aren't as blameless in our fallout as we would like to believe. So, for that, I truly am sorry." He said humbly, and Tai looked a little taken aback, he hadn't expected the Sovereign to apologise.

"Yeah well, I suppose we haven't exactly been fair to you lot either at times." He admitted sheepishly, garnering shocked looks from the others.

"Perhaps not. You must understand, both our worlds are at stake, as is our reign, however our desire to protect the latter has impeded our relationship with you. And due to our foolishness we are all now in danger. Our relationship with you has weakened our power, and our hold on the world. Which is why we need your help." He explained, and though they were all very pleased to have the apology, they were still less than inclined to help him.

"So you're losing power so you come and expect us to help you?" Sora asked in disbelief, and Fanglongmon shook his head.

"No Sora. We needed to repair our relationship. We were a good team once. Remember the final battle with Ghoulmon? Back then we showed just how we could achieve together, and we need to be able to do that again. We were friends once, before ego and arrogance, mostly on our part, wrecked our relationship. However, while I have felt we should reconcile for quite some time, there is now a greater need to do so. But first, I must know, is there any chance that we can put aside our differences and work together again, as we once did?" he asked, and the kids went deathly quiet, while their Digimon, Hawong and Margaret looked on in great interest.

Tai looked at Davis, Rana and Matt, and received three discreet nods, and Tai then turned, his face not entirely trusting, back to Fanglongmon and nodded.

"We can give it a try." He said hesitantly and Fanglongmon chuckled.

"I knew that you had wisdom about you. And, loathe though we are to admit it, we have kind of missed you. Here, the crests and Relics of the final two members of the Eighteen, I need not tell you to keep them safe." He said, and Tai nodded, taking them from his extended claw.

"So what brought on the sudden change of heart?" Tsukimon asked curiously, and Fanglongmon growled.

"Aside from the fact that we work better together, and despite Azulongmon trying to deny it we did miss you slightly, new developments have occurred. Gennai has been taken." He explained, and the Digimon looked at each other nervously.

"Taken? As in kidnapped?" Wormmon asked in shock and Fanglongmon nodded.

"Yes, an unknown but powerful enemy attacked the fortress of the Guardians and slaughtered all within before putting the place to the torch. However, there is no sign of Gennai anywhere, and the solitary survivor told us of his capture before he succumbed to his injuries. However, he didn't tell us who has taken him, but considering the damage and the deaths of all but Gennai, whoever it was is incredibly powerful." He said gravely, and Tentomon looked at Izzy thoughtfully.

"Not only that, Gennai has information on us and the Sovereigns, if they break him..."

"He could spill the beans about everything, and give the Ultimate Evil all sorts of ammo to use us. Brilliant." Lopmon groaned.

"Exactly. Gennai knows more about you and us than anyone, and if the Ultimate Evil should break him, then we're all going to be in severe danger. That's why we need your help, we need to find him and rescue him before it's too late." He explained, and Tai frowned.

"But you said yourself you don't even have any idea where he is, how are we meant to find him if you can't?" he asked and Fanglongmon frowned.

"To be frank, I have no idea, all I know is we have limited time, even now Gennai may be being tortured into giving up our secrets. The enemy is already growing in strength by the day. The darkness in the north has spread, several towns there have been abandoned. There have been rumours of enemy troops moving beyond the Dark Area, carting brave or foolish Digimon too close to their borders back into the darkness. Darkness is beginning to spread back into the Dark Ocean, Digimon are fleeing their homes. The last thing we need is for Gennai, however reluctantly, to give our enemy more power against us. The digital world is getting weaker, our power and your own is beginning to wane, and the divide between the worlds grows more diminished by the day, hence why so many Digimon have entered this world. Something happened to weaken it to this extent and now its barely holding together, very soon now nothing will stand between the forces of the Ultimate Evil and emergence into this world. The darkness is rising, and very soon now we will be powerless to stop it, that's why we must save Gennai, or all is for naught." He said worriedly, and the Digidestined shared troubled looks.

Hawong bit his lip, moving further back into the shadows. There was a time that he hadn't believed the Digidestined's warnings about the rise of the Ultimate Evil, this ancient, faceless threat that threatened all worlds with conquest, believing it to be a figment of the overactive imagination of a group of arrogant little busy bodies. However, as he had realised the lengths Devimon and his allies were prepared to go to in order to exterminate the Digidestined, he had seen more and more just how much danger the children were in. And as the war had progressed and their enemies had become more lethal (he still had dreams about their final battle with CacoDaemon), he had realised his own complicity in their increasingly dangerous position. Time and again over the last eighteen months he had debated rigorously with himself about whether he should come clean to the Digidestined, tell them of his treachery, his treason and his alliance with Devimon. However, he felt he wouldn't be able to help them if he was arrested, and then their enemies be the political or digital would move against them and doom his country, the Digidestined themselves and the world, so he had kept his peace. And he also did not want to come clean to the Digidestined, because though he had tried to deny it, he had become fond of them and he didn't think he could face them once they learned of his treachery. So he had kept quiet, and now, his alliance was putting both worlds in ever growing danger, and yet he still kept quiet.

Coward.

"We'll look for Gennai, don't worry." Mara assured the Sovereign, and then Izzy looked at him.

"But we want some information first." He said, and Fanglongmon nodded.

"Of course." He said, apparently taking the wind right out of Izzy's sails as he kind of ground to a stop in confusion.

"Well we were attacked by a group of other Digidestined, how many live in Japan that you know of?" Joe asked, and Fanglongmon frowned.

"All of you lot, and this lot here is all we truly know about. I suspect there are others but if they've never been to the digital world there is no way for us to track them I'm afraid. Who were they?" he asked.

"Powerful kids, they've been at it for a while because their Ultimates and Champions were a match for ours, and one of their Digimon seemed to spend their time as a Mega level. Are you sure you don't have any information on them?" Yolei asked, but Fanglongmon shook his head.

"Not that I know of. However as soon as I get back I'll try and find out. Powerful Digimon you say, any clues?" he asked, and Kari nodded.

"Yeah, one's called Leo and is partnered with a Liollmon. There's a Renamon and a Leomon in the group as well." She explained and the lizard nodded.

"I'll investigate what I can." He said, preparing to rise.

"There's one other thing." Gabumon said, and the Sovereign looked at him curiously.

"Which is?"

"How are adults able to be Digidestined?" Palmon asked, and Fanglongmon's eyes widened.

"What do you mean adults? Technically you lot are adults and are Digidestined." He said, but Sora shook her head.

"That isn't what we meant. When we were attacked, there were at least four adults with them, about ten years older than us, with Digimon who they were able to make digivolve. How did that happen?" she asked, and Fanglongmon looked at them nervously.

"There ought to be no way that could happen. Adults are not meant to be Digidestined, they aren't meant to have partners, it's impossible. You lot are now the oldest after all." He directed to the eight, and Patamon looked at him curiously.

"What about the ones who originally fought Apocalymon?" he asked, and Fanglongmon frowned.

"They're all dead as far as we know, and regardless, they would be in their forties if not their fifties now, but that's too old for what you're looking for." He mused, and seemed to be searching for an answer within himself.

"So you have no idea?" Hiroshi asked nervously, and the Sovereign shook his head.

"No child I do not. However, I do have some suspicions, but before I voice them I must confer with the others. But either way, this is not meant to happen. Something is going on, in this world as much as ours. Digidestined, I ask you to stay away from the adults as much as possible until we know more, there is too much at stake and there are too many unknowns. But whatever is going on here, there is something not right. Stay away from them." He asked, and Tai nodded.

"Sure, but...?"

"I'll have answers for you soon, now I must return home and confer with the others. Thank you for understanding." He said, and headed for the edge of the park.

"Does he suddenly seem squirrely to you?" Noriko whispered to Takashi who nodded.

"Yeah, but why, why would adult Digidestined upset him so much?" he whispered back as the group of Digidestined followed the Sovereign out onto the main street.

"It's getting serious isn't it?" Tai asked, and Fanglongmon nodded.

"Indeed it is. Evil is growing Tai, in this world as well as the digital world. Be careful, our enemies know more than we do and they're gaining in strength and power. Use caution, or very soon we will all be surrounded by our foes. Protect those young ones as much as you can. Be on your guard, I fear the true danger may very well be in this world rather than ours." He said worriedly, and Margaret looked at Hawong.

"You reckon he might be right? Something about those adult Digidestined seems to have frightened him a hell of a lot, what if there is something going on here?" she asked, but a nervous looking Hawong said nothing as Fanglongmon came to a stop in the main square of the government district.

"Fanglongmon-" Tai began, and then several things happened at once.

There was suddenly a blinding flash right above them, making the kids yell in fright and Fanglongmon roar as the pain suddenly blinded him. As they had their sight returned to them, a black lightning bolt suddenly lanced across the sky, but rather than disappear it stayed where it was, a jagged black scar, like dried blood cutting across the sky. It was upon seeing this that Kari and Ken suddenly collapsed, to the cries of TK and Yolei as their loved ones collapsed for no apparent reason. Fanglongmon growled in fear and alarms started blaring across the city, the alarm that had been installed for a full out Digimon attack, unused for the last year and a half, now ripping apart the cool air. A bitterly cold wind then whipped out of nowhere as the entire group of Digidestined clustered together, Fanglongmon growling untrustingly while Izzy shoved Hawong and Margaret to safety in the middle of their formation where TK, Yolei, Gatomon and Wormmon were trying to revive a now cold and shaking Kari and Ken, both of them with their teeth chattering, their skin ashen and a slight sweat starting to collect on their foreheads. Joe was at their side, trying to find out what was going on, as the Digimon moved to the front of the group, all of them, even those form Hiroshi's group, all poised and glaring up at the lightning bolt in the sky while the kids clustered together for warmth and protection as a heavy snow fall began, with hail stones starting to hammer down. Behind them people were running for shelter, fearing whatever was to come, screams and panicked cries beginning to pierce the air. And then it went virtually silent.

"What's happening to them?" TK asked, not liking the eerie silence that had descended upon the city.

"I've no idea, it was when that rift appeared, we need to keep them warm. God it's freezing all of a sudden." Joe cursed, wrapping Kari and Ken in blankets Lopmon had recently finished knitting (why Mara carried so many of her creations around in her bag was anyone's guess).

"What's going on?" Keiko asked nervously, sticking close to BlackAgumon.

"Digimon." He growled, eyes narrowed and bloodthirsty.

"Tai, we need to move Kari and Ken, they can't stay here, especially if we're about to have to fight. And what's with the weather all of a sudden?" Michael demanded as another bitterly icy wind battered them all as hail and snow continued to pound on them.

"Here, this might help keep the snow off them." Margaret said, putting up an umbrella which Hawong held in position over the two fallen Digidestined, looking at them in shock, whatever this was it couldn't be good.

"Tai, the bolt's widening!" Agumon exclaimed and as one the group looked up to see that he was indeed correct, the bolt was now widening to create a large rift, black, infused with red and purple gasses, filled with crackling brilliant white lightning. And with that, the things living within it began to descend. Hundreds upon hundreds of Digimon started to descend from on high, swooping down on the Digidestined, swirling around them, boxing them in with their sheer numbers.

"Who are these guys?" Davis asked, and Gabumon pointed.

"Some of them are new, but he isn't! There's dozens of Spectremon!" he exclaimed and Matt looked up in alarm to see the powerful Digimon that had necessitated their first digivolution to Super swarming all around the area, apparently leading the hordes of other Digimon.

"Bakemon's in hats?" Yolei asked in shock as she held a shivering Ken to her protectively.

"They're not Bakemon, they're Soulmon." Armadillomon supplied.

Soulmon: Champion level Digimon, these shy spooks may look like a cheap knock off but they're even more lethal than a Bakemon, able to take control of a person's soul and use it for its own ends

"Tai, what do we do?" Davis asked as Hiroshi and Takashi squirmed closer to him as the Soulmon, Spectremon and the other two sorts of Digimon, all of which numbering in the hundreds formed a massive auditorium around them, trapping them in the centre of a large sphere of enemy Digimon.

"Those ones there, they're called Shademon!" Mushroomon cried, pointing to the Digimon hanging below the Spectremon.

A black formless mist with shining yellow eyes, long chains hung from the cloth like material covering where its head ought to be, and long needle like finger nails, the creature looked nearly as intimidating as Spectremon did.

Shademon: The Ultimate form of Soulmon, these evil creatures were once the souls of Digimon, corrupted by death and the powers of darkness to serve the darkest of masters. His Screaming Shade will make you wish for death before the end.

"And the others?" Yoh asked of the ones hanging below the Soulmon.

"They're called Spiritmon." Crabmon responded, looking at the little glowing balls of light with red eyes and a hat like Soulmon's.

Spiritmon: A Rookie level ghost Digimon, his Ghost Grinder attack will really send your teeth chattering.

"Why don't we attack?" Elecmon asked, and Sakura gestured to their numerous opponents.

"Because we're surrounded in case you missed that, and outnumbered at least twenty to one, and we're two Digidestined down." She scolded, and Tai looked up to the rift with his telescope.

"What do you see?" Biyomon asked, being surrounded by all these Digimon who were just standing there leering at them was making her nervous.

"Nothing yet, and it's making me nervous." Tai said, not liking being surrounded, and the lack of the ghost army attack was making him very edgy.

"We're surrounded. These creatures are not of the true digital world, there is something else about them, these things come from the Dark Area, they are abominations." Fanglongmon growled, and Ararumon nodded.

"No kidding, but why are they just standing there and not doing anything to us?" he asked nervously.

"Should we attack them?" Tentomon asked nervously, loathe to admit he was just as nervous as the new Digimon.

"Either way, the eyes have it, look!" Patamon yelled as a large vivid blue eyeball descended from the rift and Agumon made a little noise of fear, while Gatomon groaned at Patamon's pun.

"We need to go, now!" he said, but before Tai could even begin to question him, a high cackling came from the eye itself.

"What the hell is that?" Mimi demanded in revulsion as the eye descended.

"It can't be." Fanglongmon whispered as the eye fell slowly towards the earth, the cackling echoing in their ears as it did so.

"Can't be what?" Cody demanded as Armadillomon edged closer to him, as if for his own comfort rather than protection.

"Candlemon?" Sam asked worriedly, she had never seen her partner so scared before as he was now.

There was then several cracks of lightning and six swirls shot out of the rift, all of them spiralling and twirling through the air, round each other like a group of snakes as they swirled down to the surface. One swirl was made of burning red hot fire, the one next to it was a torrent of stormy blue water. A shimmering clear swirl that seemed to warp the air with heat was in the centre, matched by a shining silver and gold aura that was also heading to the ground. The final two, one was a kaleidoscope of colours, all fighting for dominance and the other was pure black with white flecks, like night given form.

"Tai, we need to go, now!" Agumon said in fear, but it was too late as the six clouds reached the ground with a thunderclap each, the high cackling from the eye making their arrival all the more scary.

The one that emerged from the multicoloured swirl came forward first, chuckling darkly. Clad in white armour, he had a black t shaped visor on his head. Swirling blue robes seemed to surround his body, stretching back into the air effortlessly. One of his arms appeared to be a lions head with a sword emitting from the mouth while the other was a lizard head shrouded in metal.

The golden and silver swirl landed next, and what emerged was another Digimon. Clad in a purple dress with a large fan like headdress behind her shoulders, the ribs of which were black while the insides were also purple. A headdress of purple and white feathers adorned her head, covering her hair. Her eyes, visible through under a black scarf that covered her forehead and her eyes were pure white, and her mouth was small and cruel. She had long spiderlike fingers, all alabaster in colour, and in one hand was clad a long spindly looking black wooden wand.

The fiery one landed next, revealing its occupant. Clad in gleaming red hot armour, tinged with black, his head was that of a serpent, with a long ponytail made of fire coming from his dark green visage. Wings made of smoke and what seemed to be molten lava emerged from his back. Well built, he had a sickle in one hand and magna bolas in the other, and he has no legs, instead having a long and coiled tail.

The next one to emerge came from the blackness itself. She had long, thin batlike wings, clawed at the tips. She had furry legs, akin to CacoDaemon's, with strong grey feet tipped with curved, lethal looking talons. Her body was clad in a dark robe, from which emerged her long thin arms covered in black fur, with long needle like silver talons tipped with red that clacked together when she moved them. Her face was that of a panther, her wicked green eyes glaring out at them, her thick and fierce fangs growling in her mouth.

The one that came from the shimmering smoke trail was the most bizarre yet. Large red bird like feet topped with black talons emerged first, moving into blue legs. A skirt of steel like white feathers surrounded his waist, before giving way to his strong red torso, his muscles black and toned. Long grasping hands emerged from arms, red in colour, were topped with more lethal black talons. A ring of dark blue feathers emitted from his back and he had two skeleton like wings, red and topped with black with glowing red orbs within them. His face was red and beaked, with red and orange jagged hair emerging from the back of his head.

The final one emerged from the tempest of water. With legs that looked like fish tails, she was wearing a long flowing aqua dress that left most of her legs uncovered, and a sting like tail emerged from her back. Her slightly greenish skin was mostly bare, with a string of shells around her chest to protect her modesty, and she had thick blocky wings like a manta rays emerging from her back. Her arms were worn with coiled seaweed, and an eel like bracelet was wrapped around each wrist. Her face looked mostly human, though her eyes were large and round and completely black, akin to a sharks. Around her neck was a necklace of jagged shark's teeth, and within her own mouth she also had jagged teeth. Two sort of antennae with glowing orbs of light hung slightly from the top of her head, which was covered in thick, flowing aqua hair, embroidered with more shells.

The cackling from the eye then reached a high note as the top of it opened and in a shaft of light, three more Digimon were revealed. All of them seemed to be stooped old women, with long beak like noses. Long thin fingernails marked their hands and their beaked noses emerged from covering black robes. Each of them had empty eye sockets, devoid of anything but a single glowing eye hovered in front of them. Wisps of blue hair hung from the head of the tallest, green from the middle and purple from the shortest and they were all leering down at the Digidestined from on high.

"Who are these guys?" Sora demanded irritably, and the leading woman with the blank eyes smirked.

"We are the Primordials. And your new gods." She stated, only for her statement to fall on deaf ears.

"Gods? Bit full of themselves aren't they?" Davis asked, but Veemon shook his head nervously, and even Fanglongmon was trying to back away.

"Not really." Veemon answered feebly and Davis looked at him worriedly, Veemon never got scared.

"Gods? Uh oh..." Izzy whispered, his brain filling in the blanks.

The lead one with the arms looked at the others, and shook his head.

"I don't believe they know how to act appropriately around their gods. Bow!" he hissed, and with a gesture the kids and their Digimon were forced into a very painful bow against their wishes.

"They're hesitant brother, it's to be expected." The water one said with a sadistic purr, enjoying the looks of pain on Joe's face as his back protested its treatment.

The leader raised his hand allowing them all to stand again, and Tai scowled.

"Gods are you? Well we can do without your sort here. Get them guys!" he ordered, but to his immense surprise none of the Digimon made any move.

"Tai, they aren't kidding, they actually are gods. Ancient gods." Agumon said, and Tai looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, we need to go, now." Izzy hissed, and Tai turned to face him.

"Don't we have enough problems with the Digimon not fighting, I don't need you joining in!" he scolded, but Izzy looked up at the Primordials.

"Tai, they're gods, they're ancient gods. Think about it! They're probably the ones who defeated the original pantheon, the ones who gave us the crests!" he exclaimed and the Primordials all laughed.

"Hmm, we knew you weren't unintelligent. Indeed we are little child. Allow us to introduce ourselves, in order of appearance we have Chaosmon, Anankemon, Erebumon, Nyxmon, Chronomon and finally me, Thalassamon! My three nieces up there are the Fates, Atroposmon, Lacheismon and Clothomon!" the water deity said.

"Matt, these are actually are gods, the Primordials, our most ancient forms of worship. These are the ones who replaced the pantheon you embody, Izzy's right! And the Fates control past, present and future, trust me, we don't want to be fighting them!" he said urgently, and Matt turned to Tai.

"Tai, they're terrified, we need to go, now!" he urged, but Tai shook his head.

"We outnumber them Matt, we can take them." He said, making Anankemon throw her head back and laugh.

"Foolish little human, you dare defy your deities? We are your new gods, you will bow before us and pray to us, if not, you will learn what happens when you displease us." She hissed malevolently, and Tai grinned.

"Really? Will woe betide me? A plague of some sort? Please, you guys are a joke." He challenged, to the groans of the others.

"Tai, normally I'd agree with you but the Digimon are scared, we can't fight them, besides we need to get Kari and Ken out of here!" Davis ground out, but Tai shook his head.

"No, we need to stop these guys. Agumon? Time to face your fears buddy, we can deal with these guys. Together right?" he asked, and Agumon's uncertainty vanished, and he smiled.

"Course we can partner." He replied, and Gabumon nodded.

"They're only cloaked in mystique, we can tackle them!" he said, and the Digimon all nodded at each other and leapt at the Primordials, who were all laughing.

"Tai, call them back!" Matt urged, but Tai waved him off, confident in their side's chances.

"I have a bad feeling about this." TK moaned.

"Foolish little non-believers." Nyxmon growled as the Digimon sprang into action.

"Agumon super digivolve to...WarlordGreymon!"

"Gabumon super digivolve to...SaberGarurumon!"

"Biyomon super digivolve to...SapphirePhoenixmon!"

"Tentomon super digivolve to...GoliathKabuterimon!"

"Palmon super digivolve to...QueenLillymon!"

"Gomamon super digivolve to...WarPlesiomon!"

"Patamon super digivolve to...MagnaSeraphimon!"

"Gatomon super digivolve to...MagnaAngewomon!"

"Veemon super digivolve to...ColossusVeemon!"

"Wormmon super digivolve to...Tarantulamon!"

"Armadillomon super digivolve to...Genghismon!"

"Hawkmon super digivolve to...Valhallamon!"

"Tsukimon super digivolve to...Teradramon!"

"Candlemon super digivolve to...VulcanMeramon!"

"Betamon super digivolve to...GigaSeadramon!"

"Lopmon super digivolve to...Kerubielmon!"

However the Eighteen's Digimon weren't the only ones to leap into battle.

"Ararumon digivolve to...Arbormon!"

"Bearmon digivolve to...Grizzmon!"

"Psychemon digivolve to...Moosemon!"

"Elecmon digivolve to...Thundermon!"

"Mushroomon digivolve to...Woodmon!"

"Muchomon digivolve to...Kokatrimon!"

"Chuumon digivolve to...Sukamon!"

"BlackAgumon digivolve to...DarkTyrannomon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to...Coelamon!"

"Crank it up guys, we can help take down these arrogant jerks!" Takashi encouraged.

"Arbormon digivolve to...Petaldramon!"

"Grizzmon digivolve to...Pandamon!"

"Moosemon digivolve to...Mammothmon!"

"Thundermon digivolve to...Mamemon!"

"Woodmon digivolve to...Cherrymon!"

"Kokatrimon digivolve to...Hippogriffmon!"

"Sukamon digivolve to...Garbagemon!"

"DarkTyrannomon digivolve to...MetalTyrannomon!"

"Coelamon digivolve to...Whamon!"

With the twenty five Digimon leaping at the Primordials, Sora had to admit she felt a little better, but this was still foolhardy, if these guys were indeed the ones who had defeated the old gods, they weren't going to be pushovers.

"You've got information on them?" Hawong asked Izzy, who had been typing away at his laptop.

Chaosmon: The leader of the Primordials and the most known in the pantheon, the God of Chaos wields two mighty weapons, the Bantyo Blade and the Dark Prominance, however his End Paradox can bring any life clashing to an end if he so desires

Anankemon: The Goddess of Destiny, she is the mother to the Fates and has all their powers and more. Her wand is the source of her power, but her attack is little used and virtually unknown.

Erebumon: The God of Hell, this Digimon used to decide the punishments of those who had sinned. His Tartarus Sickle sends any soul screaming to his domain, where they are subjected to torture at his hands for the rest of eternity

Nyxmon: The Goddess of Night, this powerful Digimon takes her power from the darkness, and her Midnight Slash and her Nightmare Ripper attacks make her a true terror of the sundown

Chronomon: The God of Time, he is able to bend any and all things to his will with the use of time. The most powerful of the group, he wields the Vanishing Touch, able to eradicate all trace of a Digimon, provided his Chrono Flare and Chrono Corona don't do it first

Thalassamon: The Goddess of the Sea, she commands the elements, wielding the Tempest Maelstrom to wash her enemies clean away

The Fates: Atroposmon, Clothomon and Lacheismon, they wield the power of Past, Present and Future Strikes, and Past, Present and Future Claws respectively, though they can join together to form the Storm of Fate

Chronomon laughed as the Digimon attacked, and simply raised a hand in a stop gesture, and abruptly all of the Digimon came to a stop.

"Silly children to defy your gods. Now, bow before us, or suffer!" Chaosmon threatened angrily.

"We won't bow to you." Rana said boldly, and Chronomon turned to Chaosmon, looking at him with a bored expression.

"Shall we show them the price of defiance?" he asked, time still frozen around his enemies and trapping them, despite the tirade of abuse being thrown at them.

Chaosmon nodded.

"I think so brother dear. We are your gods, and you will obey us. If not, there are consequences. Now, which one?" he asked musingly, looking at the trapped and angry Digimon.

"Guys, get free, you can do it!" Tai yelled but Matt was looking on worriedly, they couldn't do it at all, time around them was frozen, they were frozen in place and unable to break free, and the Primordials were looking pissed. Maybe they were gods.

"Tai, we need to get out of here." He said, but Tai, despite not looking as confident as he had done a minute ago, shook his head.

"We can handle them, don't worry." He said.

"Tai, they can't move!" Cody yelled as Chronomon glared at them.

"WarlordGreymon I think. Tai needs to learn wisdom and humility." He hissed, and with a flick of his finger Chronomon released WarlordGreymon. He charged forward, before coming to an awkward stop, preparing himself to fight Chaosmon.

"You are brave boy, but stupid. Now, feel the wrath of the gods!" Chaosmon thundered, before Anankemon placed a hand on his arm.

"I don't think so. I'll play with this one." She said, strolling to the front.

Chronomon and the others grinned, releasing the other Digimon, who hung back nervously.

"Tai, we need to go! Look at them, they aren't concerned about how outnumbered they are, this is a trap!" Matt hissed, but Tai ignored him as he looked at WarlordGreymon.

"Don't worry Tai, if they don't want to fight, I'll fight them all myself." He vowed, and Anankemon laughed.

"You little fool. I am a god. You have no chance against me." She purred, but WarlordGreymon prepared himself anyway.

Laughing, she saluted him with her wand, and beckoned him to attack.

"Conquering Fires!"

The attack blazed towards her, but before it even got halfway, she simply raised a finger and it petered out into nothing, leaving only hot air in its place.

"Impossible." Michael gasped, and Fanglongmon roared in alarm.

"Get out of here now!" he yelled in desperation, and the new kids started whistling for their Ultimate levels while Anankemon, laughing mockingly, stood still and raised her wand.

"Tai, they're too strong!" Sora cried as SapphirePhoenixmon got ready to shoot into the air.

"WarlordGreymon, pull back!" Tai yelled finally seeing sense as the younger Digidestined started to flee, followed by Fanglongmon.

"Spindle of Destiny!" Anankemon said gloatingly, and a thin golden line of threat shot from her wand and attacked itself to WarlordGreymon, who looked down in bemusement, and Tai could feel himself relaxing, and the others stopping to observe.

"Is that it?" WarlordGreymon asked, and Anankemon grinned evilly.

"In and of itself, no. Sever Force!" she hissed, and her biggest and index fingers turned to gold scissors, and she then cut through the thread attached to WarlordGreymon.

Everyone was silent, focused on the exchange, not a person was moving, even dared to breathe. At first it seemed nothing had happened.

Then WarlordGreymon disintegrated into data.

He was gone. She had destroyed WarlordGreymon. Killed one of their strongest Digimon without any effort at all. Tai looked at where his partner had been, where his data was vanishing into nothing. He was gone. Agumon was gone, he'd lost his partner. Anankemon had destroyed WarlordGreymon.

All of them looked on in numb shock, he was gone, dead, just like that. WarlordGreymon was gone.

And then finally Tai's voice started to work again.

"NO!" he screamed as the Primordials began to laugh, with Chaosmon patting his sister proudly on the arm before turning his deadly gaze onto the kids and growling.

"As we said, we are your gods, and you will bow before us!"

Poor Agumon has been destroyed! These Primordials mean business, they are not nice people believe me. And believe it or not, they are far from full strength at the moment. Tai should have listened shouldnt he?

But now we have truly begun, we have our villains, internal problems between the Digidestined, the new group of Digidestined is around to lend a hand and we're trying to fix things with the Sovereign, but is it too late? These new villains mean business and there are indeed threats within their own world for the kids to deal with. Things are only going to get worse from here on out as things start to spiral out of control.

So what will happen next? How will Tai cope with the loss of his beloved partner? What's wrong with Kari and Ken? How are there adult Digidestined? And just what do the Primordials have planned for the real world, and for the legacies of the gods they have defeated once before?

Only time will tell!

Until next time (and it will be a while) please read and review!