Digimon: Digidefenders

There was no natural source of light. Other sources of light came from control panels that
displayed various readouts. A woman in a military uniform, known only as "The Commander" sat
at her command station. Control panels were around her and operators sat at those panels.

"Commander," a voice called out. "Anomaly detected."

"Where?" She asked with a voice that held no emotion.

"Shinjuku, Japan."

"On screen." The people in the control room turned to face the main view screen positioned
right in front of the Commander's control station. It showed a blue shaft of light rising into
the sky.

"So he's finally done it. And so it begins."

"Crossover detected," a technician announced. "Ontario, Canada. Coming on screen." The
screen split. On the left was the anomaly in Japan. On the right, flashes of numbers
appeared. They were mostly 0s and 1s. Suddenly the numbers became a form. It looked like a
large white polar bear.

The Commander gripped something around her neck. "So, they have started."

"Yes, Commander, GPS is tracking it. It's heading South-East... towards New York City."

"Commander," one of the younger operators spoke up. "Are you going to handle it."

The Commander gripped the object around her neck even harder. Some of the other operators
scowled at him for making such a rude question.

"No," she replied. "I think it's time we initiate the DD project."

"Yes, ma'am," the control room echoed. They began reprogramming their terminals just like
they did during practice drills.

"Prepare the digiports. Target them towards different sections of the globe. I want the
retrievals datalinked here as soon as they receive them."

"Ma'am, what about cards?" A technician asked.

"That," the Commander replied. "Will be up to them."

"Datastream established," one officer called out.

"Read out exit points," the Commander instructed.

"Yes, ma'am. New York, Brazil, Paris, Moscow, Ethiopia, China, Japan, and Australia."

"Eight," the Commander murmured almost to herself. "Okay, begin datalink."

"Datalink started."

The Commander sighed. "Let's hope this works. They could be our one chance for victory."



"Victory! Veedramon digivolves to Aero Veedramon and using his V-Wing Blade, blows Unimon
away!"

Albert cursed. "Why didn't I see that coming? I should've digivolved when I had the chance."

"I guess you're not as good a player as you boasted," Stephen smirked.

"Oh yeah, we'll just see about that. I want a rematch."

"Another one? Al, that's the third rematch you've asked for in a row. Just admit defeat so we
can all move on."

"No, I know I can win this time. All I needed was a chip card and..."

"Give it a rest, Al. It's not the cards, it's the player." Stephen and Albert turned to see
the boy lying against an air duct, eyes closed.

"But Rick, I was just ready to DNA-digivolve."

"You're just a sore loser," Stephen argued.

"Hey, why don't you and Rick play. Rick's an excellent Digimon player."

Rick scowled and got up. "I didn't bring my deck."

"You can use my deck," Albert argued.

"You mean the loser deck," Stephen joked.

Rick just got up and left the rooftop where he and his friends usually played Digimon after
school. He didn't want to tell the others, but he wasn't as confident about playing the game
as they might've thought. He didn't have the instinct that most Digimon players had. He reached
into his pocket and took out a card, his best card. A Betamon card.

Rick walked down eighth avenue passing an electronics store. As he stopped to look at a display
computer, he noticed the screen glowing abnormally. Suddenly his name popped up on the screen.
Rick looked around to make sure nobody was around. Nobody was, in fact, not even the store's
clerk noticed it.

Quietly, Rick snuck inside, thankful to the fates that there wasn't a bell. He turned the
monitor around. Energy shot out and formed a strange device in his hand. It was shaped like a
watch but it had buttons and a small video screen on it. There was also two slots. A large
one along the side and a small one on the back.

"Cool," Rick commented as he put it on. "I wonder if I can get cable on this thing." He
started pushing buttons.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing?" Rick twirled around to see the clerk scowling at him.

"If you wanted to see the display model, you should've asked. I swear, you kids, you think
everything you can touch is yours..." As the clerk complained about "today's delinquents,"
Rick's hand with the strange device on it touched the monitor. Numbers began flashing on the
screen of the device.

"You have two seconds to get out of here before I decide to call the poli..." Out of nowhere,
energy emitted from the monitor and swallowed Rick.

"Huh? Where'd he go?"



The sun was just about setting over the Arc d'Triumph. 13 year old Marisa LeChon leaned against
the side of the large structure, within eye distance from the Eiffel Tower and Versailles
Palace. She was delibrately waiting for the sun to go down. Not to see the sunset, but to
drive her mom crazy. Normally, she would be home by 3:30 (Paris time), but after her
mother gave her a scolding due to staying out too late, especially on weeknights, she started
staying out just long enough to make her worry. But she was about to be thrown a curve
ball.

"Marisa!" Marisa gasped and turned to see her mother coming out in trenchcoat and high-heels.
"There you are. So this is where you've been sneaking off to."

"Mom..."

"Don't give me any excuses, young lady, you're already in deep trouble as it is."

"I wasn't going to give you an excuse," Mari snapped.

"Don't snap at me, you little... This is the fifteenth time you've been out late. You think I'm
running a hotel here?"

"With the number of boyfriends you bring home per week? Yeah, I think you're running a hotel,
or at least a brothel."

"How dare you! Get to your room now!" Mari thumbed her nose at her mother but went to her
room. She could hear her mother complaining on the phone, complaining about "how could I have
produced such a little brat. I don't know where I went wrong."

With contempt in her, Mari booted up her computer and logged onto the Internet. She was just
about to explore her favorite web sites when the screen began to glow.

"Now what?" She asked exasperated. "This better not be one of those lousy pop-up ads."

The screen deposited a strange watch-type device into Mari's lap.

"Yuck." Mari picked up the device and stared at it. "It isn't even my color. What is this..."

Her computer monitor began to flash digital numbers. Her device also flashed numbers. Mari was
sucked into the screen.



"This is Nicole Chavez reporting live from Rio de Janero, Brazil. Behind me, you can see what
remains of Flight 239 to Cancoon, Mexico. The plane crashed in an area of the rain forest just
outside of the city. Over 100 of the 250 passengers and crew on board Flight 239 died on
impact, an additional thirty are already being air lifted to Bermuda for treatment. Although
the engine didn't explode because the plane turned upside down when it crashed..."

Behind the tightly-dressed reporter, children froliced not caring that they were getting
more attention from the media-watching public than the reporter was.

One child however wasn't as giddy as the others were. He sat against the side of a building
with his knees pulled up against his small chest.

A woman came up to him. "Jorge, are you all right?"

"Yes, Senora Hernandez, I am all right. I am just sorry for the plane crash."

"So am I, Jorgito, it is always sad when people die."

"Do you think this will cause an international incident?"

"What do you know of international incident?"

"It does not take a genious to realize that one country will blame another and we will be
caught in the middle. It's a bad cycle."

Senora Hernandez smiled and rubbed his head. "Jorge, you are too young to worry about such a
thing. You must learn to relax." And Senora Hernandez returned to her house.

Jorge got up and took a walk around his neighborhood. He noticed that the reporter set up a
laptop with satellite uplink so she could communicate with her news agency. The curiosity of
a ten year old overpowered Jorge's elder-like mind and he went up to it.

Suddenly the screen started to glow. A watch-like device fell into Jorge's hands.

"What the... what is this thing? How did..." The computer screen glowed again and sucked Jorge
into it.



Moscow was immersed in darkness, but to certain people, it was day 24-7. One of those people
was Nikolai Pavelnik, of the Northern region of Moscow. He was the type of kid who took nothing
from anybody. And when people did something that ticked him off, he replied whether it as his
business or not. As a pair of would-be-rapers were about to find out.

"No, stop, let me go!"

"Shut up, you little tramp, or we'll cut your throat!" Nikolai turned to see a woman between
two men. One of them was holding her arms back while the other was trying to rip off her blouse.

"Stop it! For God's sake, stop it!"

"God will save you only after we're done with you."

"The lady asked you to stop it." Nikolai appeared behind the trio.

"Hey, Ron, look at this, kid's trying to be a hero."

"Shouldn't you be in school, kid?"

"Shouldn't you have white makeup, rubber nose, and be in the circus."

"Kid's a real comedian," Ron commented. "Tell you what, kid, I like you, so I'll let you off.
We'll even let you watch as we taste this little piece of flesh."

Nikolai looked around and spotted a trash can lid. He picked it up. "I'd be surprised if this
actually worked." He threw the lid like a frisbee. It hit dead target on Ron's friend and he
went down.

"Son of a..." Ron rushed at Nikolai. Right before the older man was about to pound the kid
into submission, Nikolai ramed his foot in Ron's stomach. Not stopping, Nikolai pivoted on the
ball of his foot and introduced Ron's head with the heel of his other foot. The guy landed in a
heep by his already knocked out friend.

Nikolai wiped his forehead and took a breath, he then turned to the woman, who was already
buttoning the three buttons that the two would-be rapers managed to get undone before Nikolai
intervened.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

The woman smiled. "Yeah. Hey, thanks, kid, you're all right."

"Thank you. I guess I forgot to warn them I'm two-time city-wide Kickboxing champion."

"Well I better get going." Before she left, she turned to him and gave him a wink. "The name's
Pamela. Maybe I'll pay you back sometimes." And then she left.

Nikolai turned to look at the two thrashed rapers but noticed something else. A suitcase laying
on the ground. Nikolai figured it belonged to Pamela. The case itself had no tag, but maybe
something inside it did.

Nikolai unzipped the case and opened it up. A laptop laid in there, strapped in by velcrow.

"Sweet," Nikolai commented. "Hope it's got a full battery." Nikolai hit the power button.
"Hope there's no password." But sure enough, the first screen he came to had the command:
ENTER PASSWORD... Nikolai was about to type in anything when the password screen disappeared
and an Internet screen appeared. But instead of a web site, Nikolai's name appeared.

"Huh? Why would my name be on the Internet?" The screen started to glow and something fell
onto the keyboard of the laptop, a watch-type device with buttons and two slots.

"For me?" The screen glowed digital numbers and sucked Nikolai up. In four seconds, the only
things in the alleyway were some trash cans, two K-Oed rapers, and an open laptop.



The village was nicknamed The Pit Fall (a rough translation of the native tongue).
But officially, it was referred to as "Adeis Adeba." There weren't many people who lived there,
and those who did were part of an extreme minority, the parishoners of a long-forgotten religion.

The boy had no roots, no true identity. The citizens called him Eli. The others insisted that
he was part of the village despite the mystery of his origin, but he certainly didn't feel like
a part. His only comfort was in a strange sun-like symbol that was carved into a huge rock.

"Praying again, Eli?" Sanjara walked up to him.

"Yes," he replied. "Hopefully, the gods can help me in my quest.

"Eli, the past is in the past, you must concentrate on the present." Sanjara shook her head.
"I don't know what we're going to do with you."

"I'm sorry, San. I am being obsessive again, aren't I."

"You are only human, Eli. Come to bed."

"I'll be there in a minute, I just want to take a walk."

"Well don't be too long." Sanjara threw her long coiled hair back behind her shoulder and went
away.

Eli got up and went to the outskirts of the village. It was very quiet, just the way he liked
it.

Suddenly, he stepped on something that didn't feel natural. Eli looked down and came face-to-
face with a skull. Eli screamed and staggered back. It was a full skeleton.

"A... a skeleton. Wh... what happened?" He asked the empty air. He looked around and
discovered something. A small gray screen laid near the skeleton's hip bone. Ever so gingerly,
Eli picked it up. The writing was in English. Eli had picked up some of the language when the
United Nations Humanitarian Relief people came by last month.

"Log... on...l...ine. Log online. Is that what it says? Why does it say..." The palm pilot
that he held began to glow as it connected to the Internet vie a satellite uplink. The glowing
screen deposited a strange watch-type device onto his feet.

Eli staggered back with fear. What was this strange device that literally popped out of nowhere?

"Sanjara," Eli called silently, but nervously. But none heard his call. Eli picked up a stick
and poked the watch-device with it. Nothing happened. Eli poked it a few more times before
deciding it was safe to pick up. It felt cool to the touch. Eli touched the device to the
palm pilot, he was sucked into it.



"Commander," an officer called. "Over half of the retrievals have been acquired. We're still
waiting for China, Japan, and Australia."

"Good, keep it up."



"There you go, Ling," the girl said as she tied the bandage. "Just be sure to keep the bandage
on until you get to the hospital."

"Kay, Chi," the child said. The child's mother turned to her. "Thank you so much, Chi. It's
a good thing you were here when Dara broke her leg."

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. Pom," Chi said with a little bow. Ling and her mother left but not
before Mrs. Pom stopped to speek with her mother.

"You are so lucky to have Chi. She's a big help with the neighborhood children."

"Yes, her father and I are proud of her." Chi blushed but because her back was turned, the
two women didn't see it. She always blushed when people complimented her.

"Mom, I'm going to go onto the Internet," she called.

"All right, dear. Dinner's in an hour."

"Kay." Chi went into their family's computer room. The computer was primarily used by her
father for his work as a video programmer, but the other members of the family were allowed to
use it as well.

Chi logged on and accessed her favorite web site, a streaming-band radio station from Japan.
Although she didn't know the language, she could make out some of the language including
"strange," (okashii) "company," (ittai) and "monster" (kaijuu). Just as Chi was settling down,
the music turned off. Chi panicked, afraid that she messed up her Dad's computer.

The screen began to glow. What Chi could only guess as an electronic watch came out of the
screen. Chi screamed.

"Chi, is everything all right?" Her mother called from the kitchen.

"No... I mean yes... I mean nothing to worry about," Chi stuttered.

"Okay."

Chi took a deep breath and picked up the watch. As she did that, the screen glowed. Chi
dropped the device but she was still sucked into the computer along with it.



"I'm telling you, Guriko, there's something funny about that tower."

"You're dreaming, Shinji. My Dad tells me there nothing but an Internet Service Company."

"Then tell me what an Internet Service Company is doing with a SWAT team."

"Huh?"

"I saw it last night. They were hauling something big with that helicopter." This argument had
been going on for a while. Shinji believed that there was something strange about the
Sakiyuchi company that ran the towers with all the satellite dishes. But Guriko, who was
spending the night at Shinji's house, was skeptic.

"Whatever. Hey, did you hear about Takato?"

"Why, what happened to him?"

"Apparently he and his friends got into some huge fight."

"What a dork."

"Who are you talking about?"

"All three of them, arguing over nothing." Shinji looked up from his bed. "Um... Guriko, did
you leave the computer on?"

"No, it's not my house." Shinji got up and tip-toed into the next room. Sure enough, the
computer screen was glowing. Shinji was going to turn it off when the watch-type device flew
through the screen and hit him on the head.

"Ow." Shinji picked the device up off the floor. "What the..." Suddenly the screen began to
glow and pull him in. Shinji grabbed the chair but the pull was too strong.

"Shinji, what's..." Guriko came into the room only to find it empty and the computer still on.



The night was warm and crisp. Ashley ran across the Outback, Dinga trailing behind her horse.

"You're enjoying this night run, aren't you, Dinga?" Ashley asked with a laugh. Dinga let out
a playful bark. Ashley burst into laughter. It was the life. Her school life was right, she
was going to inherit her father's sheep herding profession. She didn't have a boyfriend, but
so what, she was 15. It wasn't like she didn't care about people, but it was more of a guardian
role.

"Hey Dinga," Ashley called. "Let's stop a minute, I need to check my e-mail." Ashley hopped
off her horse while Dinga ran around smelling everything smellable.

Ashley reached into her backpack and took out palm pilot. Flipping the top up, she took out a
digital pen and activated the power button. Because there were no ISPs in her part of Australia,
she had to use satellite uplink to link to the Internet. She expected the Sydney Home Page to
pop up, but instead something else popped up, or actually, popped out.

"Whoa!" Ashley backpedled as the watch-shaped device laid in front of her. Making sure it
wasn't hot, she picked it up. Just like all the others, she was sucked into the Internet.

Dinga sniffed the palm pilot, then the ground around it. Then she looked up at the night sky
and howled.



"We got them," a technician cried.

"Good. Digiport open, datalink here. Everybody clear out." The technicians quickly cleared
the room. Eight of the screens around the room began to glow. Energy shot out and formed into
human shapes. Rick, Jorge, Marisa, Chi, Nikolai, Eli, Shinji, and Ashley all fell onto the
floor.

"Anyone get the license number of that computer," Shinji groaned.

"That hurt."

"What happened to me?" The others were just as disoriented.

"I'm sorry if the trip over has been uncomfortable," the Commander apologized. "But it
was imperative that we get you over here." Everybody got up and looked around.

"Hey, where are we?"

"This doesn't look like Moscow."

"You, tell us where we are!"

"I'm sorry, but I can not disclose this location. Let's just say you're in a safe place."

"Who do you think you are, Sergeant Slaughter?" Rick joked.

"For now, you may call me the Commander."

"Okay, 'Commander'," Mari said making quotes with her fingers. "Why have you kidnapped us?"

"Technically, I haven't kidnapped you. I only sent out the devices, they chose you."

"You mean these things? What are they?"

"You know," Rick said. "They kind of look like Digivices from the Digimon card game."

"That's because they are."

"What, you've got to be kidding me. Digimon is fictional," Shinji protested.

"Several years ago, a group of scientists created a new form of artificial intelligence. These
intelligences were so independent that they chose bodies for themselves based on data taken
from the Internet. The result was Digital Monsters, or as you call them, Digimon.

"So, what does that have to do with anything?" Eli asked.

"There's a certain... someone who has taken a prejudicial attitude towards Digimon. He has
been trying to destroy all of them. But as a result, he is weakening the very fabric that
separates the Internet with our world. It allows the Digimon to crossover into our plane."

Seeing she had everybody's attention, the Commander continued. "To return the Digimon back to
the Digital plane and stop this heartless antagonist, a vanguard must be formed. The Digivices
seeked out owners that they feel worthy to use their power. The results were you being brought
here."

"But why us?" That was Eli.

"I'm not sure. The program was already created. All we did was implement it."

"You have got to be out of your mind," Mari said. "You kidnapped us and now expect us to
protect the planet against something that doesn't exist?"

"Maybe we should hear her out," Chi suggested.

"Shut up, shrimp."

"Hey, easy there, ice princess," Nikolai said.

"Why don't you make me!"

"Enough," the Commander snapped. She went over to a monitor. "This image was taken a few hours
ago in Ontario." The white polar bear appeared.

"I know that Digimon," Rick said excitedly.

------------------Digimon--------------------------------------Database-----------------------

Name: Frigimon
Level: Champion
Type: Icy Snow Digimon
Attribute: Vaccine
Attack: Sub-Zero Ice Punch, Snow Ball

Rick: It's Frigimon, a champion level Digimon. His fur is thick to protect his body from his
own Sub-Zero Ice Punch attacks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So how do we send it back to the Digital world or wherever it came from?" Jorge asked.

"You must battle him and destroy him," the Commander instructed. "Once you defeat him, his data
will return to the Digital plane, safe from his grasping claws." Chi noticed that the way the
Commander said 'his' was with disgust.

"You expect us to battle that?" Ashley asked. "How?"

"With Digimon of your own?"

"But Digi..." Mari then remembered the previous discussion. "How are we suppose to get our
own Digimon?"

"The cards."

"You mean the card game?" Rick asked reaching for the Betamon card in his pocket.

"Yes. When the cards are scanned into the D-4s, the data configuration within the card makes
the Digimon on the card bio-emerge."

"You mean like this." He held up the Betamon card.

"You have a card with you, this makes things much easier. Slide it through the digivice."

Rick gave the Commander a weird look, but ran the card down the side of the Digivice.

"Ha, I knew nothing..." Mari's boast was interrupted as 0s and 1s flashed across the screen.
The card also began flashing 0s and 1s. The card grew and morphed its shape. The result was a
strange amphibius-type creature with a horn on its head.

---------------Digimon------------------------------------------Database-----------------------

Name: Betamon
Level: Rookie
Type: Amphibius Digimon
Attribute: Virus
Attacks: Beta Slugger, Fin Attack

Commander: For those of you who don't know, Betamon is a rookie Digimon with an energy attack
called the Beta Slugger. It performs admirably under water.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Betamon yawned. "Hiya," he greeted.

"Y... you talked," Rick gasped.

"Of course I talked, can't you?" Betamon's voice sounded like a small boy's. Rick carefully
picked up Betamon.

"You're real. You're really real!"

The others were too awestruck to comment. Surprisingly, the first one to get their voice back
was Chi.

"That was incredible."

"I knew she was telling the truth all the time," Nikolai said quickly.

"Rick, it's up to you and Betamon to defeat Frigimon."

"O... okay," Rick said. "How do I get there?"

"The same way you got here, through the Digiport."

"You mean a Digiport really exists?"

"Of course, it transforms your body into digital information and sends it to another computer.
The process is called datalink. To access it, command the Digiport to open then datalink
followed by your destination."

"That's kind of like the television show," Shinji commented.

Rick aimed his Digivice at the computer screen while picking up Betamon and carrying him under
his shoulder. "Digiport open, datalink to Ontario, Canada." Just like before, the screen
swallowed up him.



Rick and Betamon materialized from a computer in an apartment building. It was still on but the
user wasn't in the room.

"Whoa, what a rush," Rick commented.

"Can we go on that ride again?" Betamon asked.

"Maybe later," Rick replied. Seeing nobody in the apartment, Rick picked up Betamon and left.

Chaos reigned outside. The police had set up a baracade in front of Frigimon.

"Fire," the Captain commanded. Bullets poured into Frigimon.

"That won't work," Betamon commented.

"How do you know?" Rick commented.

"Frigimon is made of data. You can't destroy data, just delete it."

"But isn't it the same thing?"

"No, data can't be destroyed, just reconfigured. And sometimes the reconfigurement results in
nothing."

"Wow, you're pretty smart for just a little guy."

"Thanks. Uh... what'd I say again?" Rick sighed.

Frigimon laughed. "What are you trying to do, tickle me? Take this, Sub-Zero Ice Punch!"

A blast of white energy struck the cops and turned them into solid ice statues.

"Stop!" Rick called as he and Betamon stood between the frozen cops and Frigimon.

"Ooh, what have we here, someone trying to be a hero. Well, hero, take this. Sub-Zero Ice
Punch!"

"Beta Slugger!" An energy burst struck the punch and counteracted it. Frigimon brought his
fist down to squish Betamon but Betamon rolled out of the way.

"Betamon, why don't you digivolve?" Rick asked not believing he was saying that.

"Only you can... Beta Slugger!... do that for me."

"How?"

"How should I know? Beta Slugger!" Ryan looked at his D-4. How to make Betamon digivolve?

As if it could sense his question, a button on the side of the Digivice lite up. Rick carefully
pressed it.

DIGIVOLUTION

Betamon's body was coated in numerical data. The data reconfigured Betamon's body into
a long serpentine shape.

"Betamon, digivolve to... Seadramon."

--------------Digimon--------------------------------------------------Database-----------------

Name: Seadramon
Level: Champion
Type: Aquatic Digimon
Attribute: Data
Attacks: Ice Blast, Ice Winder

Frigimon: It's Seadramon, Betamon's champion level. Although he can fly, he does his best
under water.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't believe it," Rick said for the umpteenth time. "He did it, he digivolved."

Seadramon slithered forward and wrapped his body around Frigimon. Frigimon gagged.

"Ice Blast!" Seadramon blasted Frigimon's head. The giant Digimon fell back.

"Hit him one more time, Seadramon!" Rick shouted.

"Ice Blast!" A spear of ice pierced Frigimon's head. His body dissolved into data which then
was absorbed into the D-4. Seadramon then turned back into Betamon.

"I thought you said that data couldn't be destroyed."

"It wasn't. It returned to the Digital plane, but not before copying itself into your Digivice.
Here, download it."

"Download it? How?"

"Say Digi-download Frigimon data."

"All right. Digi-download Frigimon!" Numbers sped along the screen of Ryan's D-4. Betamon's
body breifly flashed numbers.

"Plaw!" Betamon spat at the statues and they melted, turning back into officers.

"Huh, what happened?" The Captain asked. Betamon quickly hopped into Rick's arms and acted
very silent.

"Hey, kid, where did it go?"

"Where did what go?"

"The giant polar bear."

"I didn't see any giant polar bear."

"Great, how am I going to explain this to my Sergeant?"



Rick datalinked back to the control room. The others had watched the battle through a GPS.

"Now you see what we're up against," the Commander said. "Until the barrier is strong, the
Digimon will keep pouring into our world. And like animals, Digimon out of their own territory
can act hostile."

"I'm positive that Betamon and I won... hey, where is Betamon?"

"That's the problem with rookie-level Digimon. They don't have enough energy to remain in
physical form. They returned to their card state."

Rick reached into his pocket and took out the Betamon card. The Commander handed him a small
plastic case with a string attached. "You can keep it in here until it's needed again."

"Wait a minute." Mari stepped between Rick and the Commander. "You're doing this under the
assumption that we actually care about what's happening."

"So you don't care about what happens to your planet if Digimon run wild here?"

"That's not what I mean and you know it. I mean you take us from our homes, and expect us to
put our lives on the line for what? If you ask me, you're some psychopath with no regard for
human life. You have no right to force us to put our lives on the line for nothing."

"Why that little..." Chi put a hand on Nikolai's back stopping him from finishing the sentence.

"You're right, Marisa. I have no right to force you to put your lives on the line. So I'm going
to give you each a choice. Accept this task, or refuse it. If you accept it, don your D-4. If
not, then hand me it and I'll find someone else to do it, someone willing."

"I'm in whether I like it or not," Rick said as he put his D-4 on his wrist.

"I want to help out, so I'm in too," Chi said putting her's on.

"Me too." That came from Ashley.

"Hey, who knows, it might be fun," Nikolai said putting on his.

"You have a strange definition of fun," Shinji said. "I'm in also."

"You're going to need all the help you can get," Jorge said. He donned his as well.

Eli put his on without any comment.

Everybody looked at Marisa. She was the only one who hadn't put hers on. Their looks were
ones of confusion, wonder, and even a little snippity.

"Oh, sure, give me the guilty conscience. All right." Marisa put hers on.

"Then it looks like the Digidefenders are assembled."