Miss Anonymous hp: Thanks for the review! Yeah, Kouji's leg should get bandaged, but Aim is not always the courteous type. He's evil, what else can I say? As for Kouichi getting mad about it, he doesn't really know its happened now does he? Hee hee! He'll soon find out. Lastly, Shinya as a warrior was a thought I had to think about carefully before deciding to do it, but he fit in so perfectly I decided to anyway. I hope you like what's coming up!

JC7: Haha! I love cliff-hangers, and I will continue to do them for my own delight. I'm glad its working. (evil snicker). I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the characters as I add them, because they're all ending up here sometime. And I hope I portray them as their characters should be, so let me know if something ain't right. Thanks!

Before I move onto Chapter 3 of my story, I would first like to say this:

I do not own Digimon or its characters, so don't get too upset with me. They're not mine ,so I can't claim any rights over them. However, Aim is mine, and I'll know if you steal him. (although I'll probably just comment on your story and say "isn't he a cool character?" instead of getting mad.)

And for those of you who have expressed a wish to beat Aim up for hurting Kouji, You can go right ahead as soon as you catch him. It's harder than you'd think!

Guess what? New OC this chapter! Heh heh heh!

(----------)

Henry stared at the D-arc in his hands with growing apprehension. The last time he had used it was three years ago, when Terriermon was cruelly taken from him and deleted forever. He had tried to forget all about the digital world, and his favorite little buddy, but such good and important memories couldn't be washed away forever. His flashing D-arc indicated that no matter how hurt he still felt inside, he still had to make a choice. The digital world was calling for help, and he could either push aside his hurts and help them, or just ignore it.

Henry sighed and shook his head. Who was he kidding? He didn't go through all of that just to turn into a pouting teenager who only cared about his comfort zone. Terriermon or no, he still had to help them. He had been born to do it. Besides, the short but furious earthquake centered around him and Suzie was enough to alert him to the possible danger he was in. Not only would he have to help the digimon, but he would have to protect his sister.

Suzie. She was such a pain sometimes. She always wanted to be independent and carefree. And sometimes she was too mature for her own age. She was 11, and still was acting like she was Henry's age. She still wanted to do everything he got to do. He was often annoyed by her, but he still loved her. He didn't want anything to happen to her.

He glanced over to her now, and watched her intently. She seemed surprisingly calm, and studied his face the same way he studied hers. Suddenly she smiled. "Henry, you know that I'm not staying behind."

"I suppose I don't have any say in it, anymore than I did back then." Henry stuck his D-arc in his pocket and stared out the house window at the calm and empty street.

"This isn't going to be like back then," Suzie said quietly. She stood up and walked over to her brother. "Did you even read the message on your D-arc?"

Henry nodded. It was a strange message, speaking of a new threat to the digital world that had come from outside. Presumably, it had come from humans, but how this had happened the message didn't say. It simply said that the digital world was unable to help this time, and it was pleading for Henry to step in and save their world once again.

"Mine says that there is a war going on, and that we're in it right now." Suzie glanced at her message. "It also says that the digital world needs someone to go there to try and help them out." She fidgeted and glanced up at him apologetically. "It's asking me to go."

Henry nodded. His message had also included something about that. Henry, your sister is needed here, at the digital world. But you must stay behind. You cannot help over here this time. Your kind need you there. "I know," he whispered. This was all the more reason to try to protect her more. "It's going to be dangerous over there," he warned. "Don't get hurt."

"I wont." Suzie smiled optimistically and hugged her brother. "I'm more worried about you. I think you have it harder than me this time."

"This time?" he gave a wry chuckle. "It was always harder for me because I did more than you."

"That's because you're older." Suzie stuffed her D-arc in her pocket and rushed upstairs to her room.

"Where are you going?" Henry called after her.

"To pack!" her voice carried down the stairs. "I don't want to go there unprepared!"

Henry grinned. She never failed to think about situations wisely, now that she wasn't a hyper-active six-year-old. She was growing up so fast. "Good thinking." He murmured. "The only question I have no is, how do I go about looking for this new threat and, once I find it, how do I stop it?"

He'd probably soon find out the answer to at least one of those questions.

(-----------)

Ryo Akiyama gazed at the silvery disc in front of him as his eyes switched into focus. It took him a minute to realize that he was no longer unconscious. His stiff neck told him that he was still hanging upside down in the top of a tree, and a cramp in his leg informed him that no matter how hard he tried, his leg was trapped tight in the trees with vines and branches. He had no more strength to try and get down.

Groaning, he lifted his swollen arm and rubbed his face. It felt red and hot as all the blood had been rushing to his head. His head was splitting. How long had he been hanging here in this tree, upside down and dangling, with no strength to try and get out?

Then he remembered the disk. Glancing up (which in reality was down) he focused again on the silvery glint and reached for it out of curiosity. It was just out of reach. He ran out of energy and collapsed, panting. It was just too hard to do anything, as every movement caused more blood to rush into his head.

"I'm just going to make myself pass out again," he huffed, trying to breathe properly. It was harder than ever now, since he'd been up here for hours. Shouting for help was no use, as it only caused him to black out, and he was far enough up that no one could hear him or see him in the midst of the full branched tree. He'd probably be up here forever if someone didn't get a kite stuck up here or something.

He was beginning to panic, but knew that if he did, things would not go so well. That would just make the situation worse.

Ryo grumbled to himself, complaining about his situation. If it hadn't been for the stupid earthquake, he wouldn't have gotten into this mess. Well, that's not true, he thought. This all started two years ago, when I got kidnapped. He shuddered at the memory.

Two years ago, Ryo's world had been turned upside down when a spaceship the size of a small jet had landed right in front of him. He had been walking home from school, trying hard to forget his urges to find another way back to the digital world, and did not know what to think. When an army of over twelve men in battle suits and armed with strange, new-age looking guns had jumped out and kidnapped him, he was too stunned to fight back. That was his first introduction to space.

Since his capture, several things had happened, and he had learned quite a bit. The first and most important thing he learned was that there was a huge war happening in the skies, and Earth had just now been included. There was a war going on over his very own planet, which could change the course of history for eternity. One side wanted to turn Earth into a giant resource and training facility for the war, and the other wanted to protect its individuality. In other words, there was the side that was Earth's enemy, and there was the side that was Earth's ally, and Earth was supposed to remain oblivious to the fact that either side existed till it was too late.

Somewhere in the middle of his capture, Ryo had gotten rescued by the opposing side; the side that was fighting to keep Earth and its Solar System out of the war. They had been focusing on confusing Earth's satellites into thinking their ships of war did not exist, and so far they had done an excellent job. However, his rescue had proved to be disastrous, and the rescue ship had crashed onto a remote planet, leaving Ryo injured and dying, and missing his right arm.

He woke up three months later in a hospital with a mechanical arm.

Ryo glared at his fake limb. He hated it. He hated it because it wasn't real, it wasn't a part of him, and it was a daily reminder that a war was going on for which he could do nothing about. Sure, the "good guys" had returned him to Japan, but they couldn't offer him the kind of life he used to have. They couldn't change the past. Now that he knew what was happening in space right now, he couldn't sit back and ignore it, pretending like it wasn't happening. How could he ignore it, when the proof of it was right there in front of him? His unnatural metal arm flashed in a tiny beam of sunlight breaking through the leaves, and he clenched his hand into a fist. He would never be normal again, and he had them to thank for it. He was a freak. Part metal. A "cyborg."

Ryo hated that word, but that was what they called him up in space. Just because he was part metal. He tried to stop thinking about the war and his hatred for his metal arm, and glanced around him. How had he gotten up into this tree anyway?

Ah yes. The earthquake.

Ryo had been spying on someone, a person he thought to be an enemy of Earth, when the earthquake had suddenly shaken him from his hiding place and thrown him into the tangling vines of the strange tree growing in this forest. The person he had been spying on vanished, assuming the earthquake meant that he was in danger. That left Ryo tangled in the vines of a giant tree, hanging upside down, with the blood rushing to his head. He had been like this for hours. It happened to be around this time that he had gotten a call from Rika. Being as annoyed as he was, he wasn't ready to talk to her, and ended up getting upset. He passed out from yelling. At least now he was awake again.

The silvery disc flashed in the tiny spot of sunlight that was reaching it, piquing his curiosity again. Deciding he didn't have anything better to do, he decided to try something else. Sticking his mechanical hand out toward it, he focused on using his arm's suction device to suck the object into his hand. Thankfully, there were a few advantages to having a mechanical arm, no matter how strange and unnatural it seemed. For instance, it was stronger, and had a lot of cool gadgets. Like the suction device he was using right now. At first all he got was branches, but finally, right before he blacked out again, it flew into his outstretched hand. Sighing with a sense of satisfaction at being at least able to do something, he blacked out again.

(--------)

Davis stared at the sight before him, his mouth hanging open. He tried pinching himself to see if he was just dreaming, but the pinching did nothing but hurt. He could still see the gigantic space ship that had just landed in the clearing.

He had been taking a walk, dreaming about asking Kari out for the school dance, when the earthquake hit. That surprised him. Being out in the forest, he had not where to go, and had run around frantically trying to find shelter until it finally stopped. That was how he had come upon the clearing. It was in a construction zone, with a bulldozer sitting silent and still next to a pile of dirt. The place looked like a park that was going to be remodeled, and was now restricted to access from the public. And sitting right in the middle of the empty park was a ship.

Davis didn't need anyone to tell him that it was a spaceship. He knew it was. It was too obviously one to be anything else! Carefully, he hid behind a clump of trees, and watched to see if anything came out. After several minutes, with still nothing happening, his curiosity got the better of him. Carefully, he came out of hiding to go check it out. It couldn't hurt just to look now could it?

He crept forward, and then dashed up to the ship. He half expected it to vanish like a mirage, but now that he was one foot away from it, he could reach out and touch it.

It was real.

Awed, he ran his hand along the cool metal. It felt alive under his hand, humming faintly. It was exciting. I'm touching a real spaceship, he thought. I can't believe it! Wait till TK hears about THIS! He inspected the whole ship, and was impressed by its design. It was shaped like a Blackbird jet, only with larger engines and spectacular landing gear. It was shiny, and had several turrets lines along its wings and hull. It was obviously a war ship, and it was huge. It could probably fit over 100 people inside!

He noticed a kind of symbol painted on one of the engines, so he timidly walked up to inspect it. It was the strangest symbol he'd ever seen, and somehow, just looking at it sent shivers down his back. Something about it was dangerous, something he couldn't place his finger on. The symbol was a black diamond outline with a black spider on the inside. Over the spider were the letters NW in red. NW….. what could that stand for?

"What do you think you're doing?" someone behind Davis asked coldly. Startled, Davis jumped back and whirled around to face whoever was behind him. After staring at the strangely disturbing symbol, he was sure he'd find a threatening enemy.

He found himself staring into the face of a tall man with a hard face. The man was wearing an army uniform that looked important, and he had strange medals and badges all over his suit. He glared down at Davis suspiciously.

"I'm sorry," Davis instantly knew that he had been stupid, but he couldn't back out now. "I just thought it was cool. I've never seen a spaceship before."

The man's face twitched, and he walked past Davis to the ramp leading into the ship. "I don't like uninvited visitors," he commented dryly.

"Well, I'm sorry, I'll leave…' Davis backed away as the man gave to protest. Still, he hesitated to leave without asking why it was here, and where it had come from. "…I'm just wondering one thing though…." He sucked up enough courage to stare the man in the eyes politely and asked, "where did you come from?"

The man scrutinized the 14-year-old boy before him, and glanced up at the sky. "Can't you guess?" he asked sarcastically. "If you'll excuse me, but I'm on a very important deadline, and I can't linger." He walked into the ship, turned around, and gave a slight nod in farewell. "Perhaps we'll meet again sometime."

Davis nodded, and then bowed politely. As quickly as he could, he rushed away from the spaceship into the cover of the trees, and watched as it fired up its engines and vanished into the atmosphere.

"Wow…." Davis whispered, still watching the sky where it used to be. "No one is going to believe this!"

(----------)

Rem literally was pulling her hair out and screaming in frustration. She paced back and forth through her father's mansion, muttering and worrying over her problem. She was a short girl of about 15-years of age, and although she looked normal enough, she was probably the furthest thing from a normal 15-year-old anyone can get. She was dressed in a tight leather suit that was easy to move in, with tall buckled boots and gloves that matched. A belt with guns and ammunition was strapped loosely to her waist, and she wore a stylish helmet over her hair and ears. The overall color of her suit was black and deep purple, her favorite color. She had custom-designed this suit for herself two years ago, and had never wanted to change its style.

Rem was a bounty hunter. At least, she was training to be one. Her father and mother were two of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, and the fact that they were still alive after so many years was impressive. They had made so many enemies, that just traveling from one world to another could be dangerous for them or their family. They had agreed to train Rem, their youngest child, on the condition that she did everything required of her without exception. Usually, she was excellent at training and keeping herself in order. She had been brought up by the best, and was quickly becoming one of the best. She had never made any mistakes.

That is, never until this day.

Rem dramatically screamed at the top of her lungs, knowing full well that there was no one in the house save her brother, her butler, and herself. She heard someone coming up behind her, and kicked them as hard as she could. She didn't care who she was kicking, because both her brother and her butler were better than her, and could easily avoid the kick, or twist her leg and throw her to the ground. In this situation, the someone behind her grabbed her leg and tossed her to the ground. Frustrated, she glared up into the face of the one who had knocked her over. It turned out to be her brother David, and he only smiled and gave her the thumbs up sign before walking away.

Still screaming, Rem turned over, face to the ground, and screamed until she had no more breath. Then she was quiet.

"What now?" David had come back. He usually waited until Rem calmed down before attempting to talk reasonably to her.

"I lost it," She said in a mortified voice, her face in the ground. She lay still, moaning. "I'm going to die."

"No you're not." His voice was matter-of-fact, and calming. Yet it did nothing for her.

Rem gulped, and turned over to stare up at him helplessly.

"I lost my disc," she whispered, shivering uncontrollably.

David stared at her blankly, pondered for a minute, and then nodded. "Yeah, you're going to die."

"What am I going to do David?" Rem jumped to her feet and grabbed his arm. He was much taller than she was, much more muscular, and more highly trained as a bounty hunter. But he was also loving, and he cared for her very much. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her when she needed help.

"Look for it! Where have you been the last week?" David smiled casually, but the look in his eyes was serious.

"Like, everywhere!"

"Not really, cuz you're not allowed to leave Earth alone till you're 16. You're 15." David grinned at her, and placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks for that useless bit of information. The point is I have no idea!" Rem brought herself to a sitting position on the floor and hugged her knees, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I can't lose it! It's got all of my updates, and security, and information, and money, and everything else that is even remotely important and more! I need it back or Dad will refuse to let me continue on as a bounty hunter!"

"Yes I know." David sighed thoughtfully. "Use your jet pack. Go look in the most recent places you've been. Don't come home till you find it. I'll cover for you. Oh, and call me whenever you need a refill on fuel. I'll help you out. But I have to stay home to cover for you, you know?"

"David, you're the best." Rem smiled weakly at him. He was offering to make excuses for her while she was looking for her, but she didn't think that did any real good. The most important thing a bounty hunter could own was their disk. It was a small information disc that could hold mountains of information, and was specifically secret and different than any other. If someone could get a hold of another bounty hunter's disc, they'd be able to find out everything about them, steal all their money, and more. She hoped nobody dangerous had fund hers. "Lets see…" she said slowly, "The last place on earth I visited…. Um…. Italy and Japan."

"Something tells me to start in Japan." David chuckled.

"Why? I was thinking Italy."

"Everything happens in Japan. Trust me, it has to be there." David looked serious, so Rem nodded.

"Okay, thanks. I guess…. Well, I'll head out then. Call me if there's trouble."

"Okay. Oh wait… just how did you lose it?"

"I'm not sure." Rem blushed. Here was the embarrassing part. "I was fighting, and my arm got whacked against a tree. I blacked out for a second, but then got right back into the fight. I won, but when the mission was done, I couldn't find my disc. I looked everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found." A tear slipped down her check again, and she hastily put up her veil to cover it. She was required to wear a veil by order of the law, but she hated to remember why. It's a stupid, racist law, she thought, but in order to be a bounty hunter like her parents, she had to do it.

"And that was in Japan?"

"Um… I don't remember. Japan or Italy."

"Japan."

"How can you be so sure?" Rem frowned.

David laughed a knowing laugh and stared at her full in the eyes. "Oh I know. I just do. You will too someday. You'll see what I mean."

Rolling her eyes, Rem strapped her jet pack on, and zoomed off into the air to search for her disc. She knew as well as David that if she took a ship, she'd be found. But she could cloak herself and her jet pack. Besides, her parents wouldn't be so worried about her this way. David always knew how to make excuses for her.

"Well, Japan, lets get to work. Me against you, looking for my disc. You better show me where it is…." She felt her heart fall as she wondered, "How on earth am I going to know where to look or where to start?"

She tried not to feel depressed, and decided to start where she'd had her fight…. If she could find it….

(---------------)

Izzy stared at the message on his computer, frowning intensely. He had been researching the mysterious earthquake, when the message came. It was serious and confusing. It read:

The war has begun, and you will soon be in the midst of it. Stay inconspicuous, and you can help us. Do not stand and fight yet, for the time is not right. We at the digital world are suffering from the same war, but we cannot help you this time. You must stop this on your own, because the problem comes from your kind. We can only bring those to our world who will not be noticed if they go missing.

Prepare for the threat! Do not waste your time by trying to find out how to stop it. For that will come in time. First, find out what the problem is. And for your own safety, do not let yourself get separated from the others. It is much harder to fight alone.

The message stayed long enough for Izzy to read it and begin to worry, and then it was gone. He sat staring at the computer screen long enough to let it sink in, and then decided on a plan of action. He needed to find out what threat was so dangerous to both worlds that a war was beginning.

"Why do I have the sinking feeling that this is not going to be as easy as just saving the digital world?" he groaned. Clicking away on his computer, he began to search for any clues. What exactly was he looking for anyway?

"Please," he whispered to himself. "Give me a clue. Anything!" But asking himself wasn't doing anything. He needed to talk to the rest of the digidestined. Everyone had gotten different messages, and he knew that he needed to talk to them about what they had learned. Dialing Tai's number on his phone, he began to search for the origin of the earthquakes. He could still find nothing.

"This is Tai…" Tai sounded slightly out of it.

"It's Izzy. I have to talk to you. Can you come over?"

"We have to talk. I'm calling a meeting." Tai lowered his voice, sounding worried. "There's a lot we should discuss."

"I agree."

"Meet the rest of us where we used to meet when…."

"Alright."

"And Izzy?" Tai's voice was full of warning. "Make sure you're not followed."

Izzy agreed, and hung up. Perhaps this was much more serious than even he could dream up.

(-----------)

Well? What do you think? Please review and tell me. Yeah, I know it's Sci-fi, but sometimes you just have to write sci-fi. Sometimes you can't help it. At least I can't. I'm excited about this story because I know where it's going. Hee hee! I really hope you like it. So once again, PLEASE tell me how I'm doing. So far I haven't gotten any complaints, so I assume I'm not offending anyone or messing up the characters. Just let me know what your opinions are. I might change some stuff if you have a serious objection to it.

And is my rating okay? I have it on T because of the war thing…. And Kouji getting shot…. Oh nevermind. I'm blabbing. Enough already.

Aim: How come you didn't write about me this time?

Me: Cuz I wrote about you last time.

Aim: And why does everyone hate me? You make me look like a monster!

Me: You are.

Aim: (indignant) No I'm not. I'm reasonable. I'm just a bad guy. It's not my fault you made me that way.

Kouji: Yeah well, you shot me!

Aim: (shrugs) So?

Rika: That means we hate you.

Aim: Great, so everybody hates me. Oh well. I don't need to be liked by my enemies.

Me: Okay well, good-bye till next time! (Better cut this off before they start fighting. They're not best of friends…)

rika195 (the dork)