Disclaimer: Digimon and all its characters are not owned by me. This includes every single digimon that makes an appearance in this chapter, aside from Morodemon, who is of my own creation. I do however, own the six new human characters. :P

A/N: This is the beginning of one of the main subplots, as well as an introduction to several new characters. It's probably a lot to throw in at once, but I tried my best to give a good characterization to everyone, even if it was subtle. A lot of brainstorming went into this.

Every single digimon that's introduced here is in fact an official digimon - I spent quite a lot of time at the Digimon Wiki looking up information on evolution paths, attacks, and physical characteristics. Morodemon is the only one who is not - I made him. Also, I've come to the realization that Japan uses the 24 hour system, not 12, so 6:30 PM would be 18:30. I don't think I'm going to change this within this story where everyone mostly uses the 12 hour system, but if anyone really, really wants me to change it to make this more authentic, I have no problem doing so. I may have references to both.

As a reminder, I don't use the Hurricane Touchdown movie as part of canon here, so there is no Willis with his Terriermon. I do use the Tag Tamer games, something that is going to come up a bit in later chapters.

All right then. Here we go!

*Edit 5/14/2011*

I've made a few readjustments here and there to take time into account. Fairly subtle, but they're there.


3 – Vestia City


Davis did not like Vestia City.

It was a cold, metallic place filled with smog and sputtering neon lights, where the sounds of gears turning could be heard in every corner. Wide cracks and potholes littered the streets, old rusted railcar tracks crept around buildings, having clearly not been used in a long time, and the broken light posts and burnt signs spoke of long fights. Every building loomed dangerously over them, with the shades closed on every window and several boarded up doors, the paint chipped and the walls covered in faded graffiti. Even the streets were devoid of life, aside from the occasional digimon scurrying from one location to another as quickly as they could.

It was also raining.

He bitterly pulled the hood of his raincoat further down over his face. "You were serious in your email? It's almost always raining here?"

The older boy at the head of the group, tall and sporting his own raincoat sighed. "Yes. Torrentially."

Makoto's team consisted entirely of high school students. It was something that Davis had found strange the first time he had worked with them, but any feelings on the matter vanished they moment they started battling. After all, with everything the Digidestined were involved in, what experience and willpower mattered much more than age.

Six partner couples made up Makoto's team, and Davis had worked with four of them before. Makoto, Arisa, and Yuriko, each paired respectively with Liollmon, Dracmon, and Syakomon, were all in their second year, though they each attended different schools; from what he knew, the only reason they had even met was because of the Digiworld. The fourth person was a third year student who attended the same school as Yuriko, a boy called Hideo, partnered with Hagurumon

The last two were a pair of twins, Kouji and Kouki, both in their first year at the same school as Joe. The older Digidestined had been the one to introduce them to the Digiworld and help them become accustomed to battling and the dual lifestyle that came with it. The two seemed to catch on easily, and had just joined Makoto's team. They were the only ones that Davis had not yet met earlier until that day.

"So, uh, how's your first week as part of the team been?" he asked in an attempt to be friendly.

The two boys glanced at each other. "Nerve-wracking," Kouki, the one whose sandy colored hair was spiked, answered with a grimace.

"I mean, we knew what we were getting ourselves into," Kouji chuckled, "but it's still weird to think about."

Then he raised one of his eyebrows, green eyes questioning. "Seriously though, your first time in the Digiworld... you kind of popped in, got attacked, fought back and then popped out?"

Davis blinked. "That's a weird way to put it..."

"I'd say that description fits quite well," Ken answered without missing a beat. The two shared a quick glance. Nothing about the Digimon Emperor business.

The two digimon walking beside the twins, looking uncomfortably damp with the rain soaking their fur, smiled at their partners. "So much calmer now," Terriermon, Kouki's partner, commented as he tried in vain to wring out his ear. "Kouki and Kouji just appeared in front of the TV that we kind of knew we were supposed to wait by, and we ran around with Joe and Gomamon showing them stuff."

The other, Lopmon, turned and looked up at Ken, who was holding Wormmon under his raincoat. "What about you Wormmon? How'd you meet Ken?"

"Guys, as great as it is that you're bonding, don't forget, we're here on a mission," Makoto reminded them with a frown, his black hair wet and barely visible from under his hood. "This is Vestia City, we have to careful here."

"Plus, I have no idea what the fight schedule is," his partner, Liollmon, grimaced while attempting to curl around his partner's legs and stay dry. "We might have to run if it turns out there's one today."

They were milling around in a cluster in what might have once been the town square, though it was anyone's guess as to what it was used for now. A rusted and green chipped statue of a dragon stood beheaded in the center, broken fragments strewn around it; even the spiked fence they were standing at showed signs of damage, with a few stray weeds growing from the cracks beneath.

Davis growled as he pulled his raincoat tighter around him. Kinda' sketchy, Tai? It looks like a freaking warzone. I wanna' know what normal sketchy is, if this is only 'kinda'. Damn, I hate waiting. Where are Arisa and Dracmon?

The only girl currently present, Yuriko, looked worried as she continually glanced around the corners of the square, at each of the small alleys between streets that led towards them.

"I don't like this," she stated, her hazel eyes darting from place to place. "Something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Makoto asked, not turning towards her as he continued to keep a watch on the square.

She grimaced, pulling down the hood of her raincoat a little more, attempting to push her auburn hair away from the wet air. "I dunno. Intuition I guess."

Her partner Syakomon, who bounced next to her with his shell wide open, had a small frown on his face. "It's in the rain," he said, closing his eyes.

After a few moments of letting the water pour into his shell, he finally sighed and closed it, leaving only his eyes visible. "Yeah. This doesn't feel good."

Davis frowned. He really wasn't fond of the whole 'I can sense that things are off' thing, in particular because the only people he knew who could do it were perpetually under attack or targeted by evil. The fact that he and others generally needed an explanation of what was being sensed did not make it any easier.

"Is it an attack?" he asked, glancing at Syakomon.

The digimon's expression was unreadable through his shell, though his eyes had a worried look. "Don't know. I can't tell. It just doesn't feel right."

Well nothing feels right, I mean look at the place...

Clearly, Davis was not the only one who felt uncomfortable there. Hideo kept shifting back and forth, occasionally helping his partner Hagurumon with the umbrella he had brought for the occasion. The twins, both digimon and human, continuously glanced back and forth nervously about the square, while Yuriko and Syakomon seemed more anxious about potential fighting than anything else. Even Ken and Wormmon looked unsure about the situation, despite the great amount of experience they had. Only Makoto and his partner Liollmon looked at home, keeping a calm, casual demeanor though both were tense and ready to spring into action at any given notice.

It grows on you, they had both said. Well, if they were used to coming to this city, then Davis supposed he should just trust them…

Davis jumped as he heard a beep from his pocket. He glanced around and realized that the sound had echoed from the others as well; he immediately pulled his out, trying to use his raincoat to keep the rain from soaking it.

Two on my tail, GO! - Arisa

Makoto slammed his own D-terminal shut. "Damn. Well, that's the signal then."

Davis nodded, glancing at Veemon, who looked prepared and ready.

'Run' means we head to the safehouse and she meets us there. 'Go' means she needs backup.

"Time to get into action then," he grinned, giving the group a mock salute. "See ya at the safehouse."

Ken nodded. "Don't be reckless. Go for it."

The group sprung into action.

Davis pulled out his D3, gazing at it for directions while everyone else began running in what he knew was south. It was the reason they had oriented themselves in the square, because according to Makoto this way they could move in the way they needed to.

Up the other way, north...

"C'mon Davis, let's go!" Veemon shouted as started forward.

Davis came after him.

The rain did not make it easy. He immediately grimaced as water showered on his bare face, feeling the wet spattering on his skin and the air chilling it. As often as he had had to play soccer in the rain, he still never really liked having to spend any large amount of time in action in a storm. At the very least though, he was wearing a raincoat, which mean the majority of his body was being spared from the downpour.

He hoped the others made it out of the open quickly. What he knew about Vestia City was only that which had been told in the email, and what he had seen there... which so far did not like much.

They ran down a couple blocks, taking a left at the broken telephone wires, a right at an upturned car... Davis gripped his D3 in his hand, knowing that he had to be ready to help Veemon digivolve at any moment, and that Arisa was supposed to be somewhere in this region...

Where is she... come on, where is she... there!

"This way!" he shouted to Veemon, and the two turned down a street, Davis still following the trail of a blinking dot on his D3's screen.

The sounds of combat soon reached them, booms and explosions with intermittent shouts.

"I think now's about a good time," Veemon yelled as they neared where it seemed the fighting was taking place. What looked like a car door suddenly flew out from behind the near corner.

Davis chuckled. "Yup. Go for it!"

Light burst from his D3.

"Veemon digivolve to… ExVeemon!"

He never got tired of seeing his partner as a draconic, larger version of his smaller self, so filled with strength and powerful energy. He grinned and pumped a fist into the air. "All right!"

ExVeemon went ahead, turning the corner with a loud shout. Davis followed him, the rain suddenly forgotten as adrenaline filled his blood and he ran to the action –

"Twin Sickles!"

"Whoa!"

He ducked as the stray attack flew over his head. Well then...

He gazed at the scene. ExVeemon had engaged in combat with Snimon, grabbing the mantis digimon's arms so as to keep him from using his blades; the two grappled in the air, trying to push the other off balance and get the advantage in their fight.

He immediately looked at the other pair. He saw what looked like a Bakemon with a large wizard's hat – Soulmon, he reminded himself – and recognized Sangloupmon fighting back, now free to focus on only one digimon now that ExVeemon had joined the fray.

He smiled. They were in the battle.

"Hey kid! Over here!"

The sound of the storm nearly drowned out the voice. He looked around and saw a girl waving to him, her short bleached red and blue hair soaked and plastered to her head.

"Arisa!" he shouted, running toward her.

She was watching her partner fight, both legs bent in preparation to jump away at any given notice. Davis noticed that unlike when he had seen her barely half an hour earlier, she no longer had a raincoat, and her entire body was drenched, down to her t-shirt and ripped jeans.

"So what happened?" he asked as he reached her, noticing that she had out her knife. Guess it's good she always carries one...

She made an annoyed face. "I'll explain at the safehouse. Looks like Corrosion doesn't like humans. We had to run for it."

Davis grimaced. "And that's why you're missing your jacket?"

"Yeah. Not a problem," she shrugged turning back to the action. "WaruMonzaemon'll hold it for me til' the next time I visit."

He decided not to ask exactly how Arisa knew WaruMonzaemon well enough that the digimon would be willing to hold things for her, but he did recall that she had been to Vestia City several times.

The fight before them, now with ExVeemon as part of it, was beginning to look very one-sided. Soulmon had his arms up in the air, screaming "I give up!" as Sangloupmon chased him up and down the street.

Arisa grinned and shouted, pumping her fist with the knife into the air. "Yeeaaah! Go Sangloupmon, knock 'im out!"

ExVeemon had successfully maneuvered Snimon into the side of one of the buildings, broken glass and concrete flying everywhere.

"So, you give up yet?" he shouted.

Snimon gave a roar. "Not a chance!"

And without warning, he curled up and kicked outward, hitting ExVeemon in the stomach.

It was just enough to make him cringe; Snimon took that moment and pushed forward, freeing one of his sickles and biting ExVeemon in the shoulder at the same time.

He gave an angry shout in response and grabbed Snimon by the neck. "Get off!" he yelled as he tried to pull his opponent away.

Davis found himself yelling. "Punch him! Punch him!"

It annoyed him that all he could do at that particular moment was cheer his partner on; there was no Ken and Stingmon to DNA digivolve with, and he wasn't exactly sure how to share more of his energy to power the digimon more. He remembered a certain battle months earlier, using his D3 to fend things off, seeing Kari as light burst from her hands...

The first fight after that made both of them mad. They wanted to jump right in like they did before, but couldn't.

man, that must have sucked hardcore for the older kids after all the Middle World stuff…

ExVeemon successfully pulled Snimon away, throwing him back at the building. He glared at his opponent, his chest glowing. "Ex - "

"Slamming Attack!"

Snimon rammed his body into ExVeemon, sending them both crashing to the ground below. The draconic digimon let out a cry as he made contact with the hard pavement; it released a loud snapping sound as it broke, sending a cloud of dust into the air that quickly dissipated as the rain pulled it back down into a slurry.

Davis had had enough. He saw Snimon raise his bladed arms, and in a rush of both fury and panic, he looked around wildly for something to throw. He saw a several small blocks of broken concrete, raced to the nearest one, and picked it up, straining slightly from its weight.

Somewhere in his head a voice was telling him how horrible an idea this was, but he lobbed the block anyway. "Hey! Over here ya moron!"

He was apparently stronger than he thought, as the block flew and hit Snimon squarely in the head.

The digimon paused briefly to look towards him, but that was all the distraction ExVeemon needed.

With a roar, he pulled himself up, grabbed Snimon by the shoulders, and headbutted him.

"Take that, you!" he shouted as his opponent reeled back, too stunned to do anything else. "Ex-Laser!"

Snimon let out a cry as the attack slammed into him, sending him flying back into the building. His body made contact, crashing through windows and walls, until it skidded to a stop and lay in a heap within, unmoving.

Davis let out a long sigh of relief, remembering the email again. You fight 'til someone gets knocked out. That's how it works here.

ExVeemon picked himself off, blinking some rainwater from his eyes. "Thanks Davis," he waved to his partner.

He replied with two thumbs up. "Any time!"

The digimon grinned toothily, then gazed back into the building, squinting at Snimon's still figure. "So, uh, what do we do with this guy?" he scratched his head.

"Leave 'im. We aren't part of the gangs," Sangloupmon answered as he padded towards them, the Soulmon unconscious and held delicately in his jaws. "Don't wanna' give the idea that we're trying to impersonate 'em."

Davis blinked. "Uh, how's that supposed to work?"

"Li'l something each gang does to their opponent's bodies after they win a fight. It's how everyone knows exactly which gang it was that won," came Arisa's voice as she jogged up to him. "Veritas likes to stack them on top of each other."

Sangloupmon shrugged and unceremoniously dropped Soulmon on the broken pavement. "Well, that's that. Sorry ExVeemon, Davis," he added, turning to them. "We got you two involved... so looks like you'll be subject to that part of the honor code 'round here, even if you're not members."

He shrugged, remembering the conversation they had had when he volunteered as the primary backup. "It's fine. We're used to having everything around after us," he replied in an almost offhand manner.

Arisa smirked and patted him on the shoulder, dripping wet and all. "And that's why I like you. Used to stuff, don't back down. If you ever feel like joining the Nightwolves, I can put in a good word for you," she added, winking.

She had said the same thing after their last mission together. "Sounds cool, but I'm too busy with the Digiworld," he answered with a weak laugh.

She tilted her head at him. "You said that last time too," she noted with a raised eyebrow and amused smile. "Anyway, we got things to talk about. Safehouse. Sangloupmon?"

The digimon in question nodded. "Yeah. Everyone, on."

And he trotted in front so they could mount.

Arisa pulled herself on easily, holding tightly onto her partner's fur; Davis glanced back at ExVeemon, who was making a face as he gingerly poked his shoulder.

"Yo?"

ExVeemon shook his head. "Sorry."

Moments later, the light faded and Veemon stepped forward, looking back and forth between the building where Snimon lay, and his shoulder. "I can't believe he bit me... Snimon aren't supposed to bite…" he stated in disbelief.

Davis shook his head, helping up his partner as he grabbed hold of Sangloupmon's wet fur and pulled himself up, settling behind Arisa. He winced at how it squelched and let rivulets of water run down the digimon's back.

"Man, I hate this rain," he grumbled.

Sangloupmon and Arisa both snorted, and their mount quickly sped off through the streets amidst the rain.


Ken knew and trusted Davis, but that never stopped him from worrying when he ran off with Veemon to fight. Perhaps it was leftover sentiment from some of the more serious battles they had been in, or knowing that the pair could be reckless by themselves, but he forced himself to remember that they could take care of themselves. After all, they were going as backup, not as the main force.

He sighed, sitting tensely at the table, his raincoat hung over the back of his chair. He ignored some of the looks from the others in the room, and instead glanced at the door again. He frowned, then back to his D3 in his hand. Still no sign of Davis and Arisa. But there was a very strange time in the corner of the screen.

"You know Ken, checking every minute isn't going to make them get here faster," Wormmon spoke from the table.

He sighed. "I know... I just worry, knowing him and Veemon."

"Dude, relax," Hideo called from the counter. "Here, take your hot cider."

The 'safehouse' was really a small bar owned by a gruff, but sympathetic ogre-like Fugamon. Makoto and Liollmon had saved him months earlier, and they had become friends to the point where the partners were regular visitors. It had been through Fugamon they had first learned of the rumors regarding Morodemon's activities.

Ken recalled the email. There's always been gang wars and whatnot, but Morodemon and the rest of Corrosion are breaking the honor code. And considering what the honor code is, this is something we need to be concerned about.

Hideo wandered over to the table with the cider, his brown hair still wet due to the run from the square. "It'll be fine," he smiled, setting it down in front of the younger boy. "Hyogamon's got Witchmon out there just in case."

Ken sighed and accepted the cider, though he offered it to Wormmon first.

The digimon shook his head. "You drink first, you were the one being rained on. And I thought Hyogamon didn't want anyone in the gang getting involved?" he asked bemusedly.

Fugamon, cleaning up a few glasses, snorted. "He doesn't. But if Morodemon's really up to what the rumors say, then we got a good reason to get involved." He turned Yuriko, who was sitting at the counter with a pensive look on her face. "You done with that, or do you want more?" he pointed to her empty mug.

She shook her head. "I'm good, thanks."

Fugamon took the mug, narrowly missing Syakomon sitting on the counter, while Hideo grinned at her. "Milk tea. You're at a bar, and the only thing you want is milk tea?"

She rolled her eyes, flipping back her auburn hair. "I like my mental acuity. You're one to talk, Mr. I Want a Cappucino Now."

"It has a greater amount of caffeine. And in no way does espresso impair cognitive abilities in the short term."

Fugamon shook his head at the two. "Y'all are pansies."

Ken had to smile, even as everyone else in the room laughed. It was a good thing that Fugamon was friends with Makoto and Liollmon; if it had not been for that connection, it was unlikely that the group of them would have been as welcome as they were. As far as he knew, this was only the second time his team had been to Vestia City, but Fugamon and the rest of the Orc Hands were being very welcoming to them.

Except for the fact that Arisa and her partner had known Fugamon before they had even joined up Makoto's team… but then again, they had been Digidestined for longer than most realized.

The rest of the team was lounging around the room, waiting. The twins and their partners sat at the same table as Ken, looked significantly tenser than the others, sipping their drinks nervously while constantly glancing at their digivices sitting before them in hopes that two signals would soon appear on the screen. He couldn't blame them; after all, he was worried about Davis and Veemon, and they were concerned about everything as well.

What surprised him though was how incredibly nonchalant the others were being.

Makoto and Liollmon were busy talking with a large Deltamon in the corner (a member of the Orc Hands, at least as far as Ken knew), while Hideo and Yuriko threw jokes and insults each other. The three of them were still dressed in their school uniforms, though Yuriko had taken to wearing leggings underneath her skirt; on the opposite side, Kouki and Kouji had changed into something more casual, and both had what looked like various tools and other supplies on their belts. Probably Joe's influence, Ken thought.

The two of them and their partners seemed tense, occasionally drinking from their mugs, but not talking as they sat, staring steadfastly at the digivices on the table.

Hagurumon noticed and floated over to gently whap both Terriermon and Lopmon with his gears.

"Relax, it's fine," he said cheerfully. "Dracmon and Arisa, they're tough. They've been coming here longer than Liollmon and Makoto, they know their way around. And Veemon and Davis are veterans in fighting. Don't take everything so seriously."

Both sets of twins gazed at him.

"We just… want to make sure we're prepared if anything goes wrong," Lopmon intoned solemnly.

Definitely Joe's influence.

Wormmon suddenly let out a shout. "They're coming!"

Ken immediately held up his D3. He saw it on the screen – two dots laid almost atop each other, nearing their location and moving in a straight line as though along an alley.

He sighed in relief and clipped it back onto his belt. "Looks like everything went well then," he leaned back in his chair.

Makoto had apparently noticed as well, as he gently waved off the conversation with Deltamon and turned expectantly towards the door. Liollmon stayed there, but both digimon seemed eager to see what news the last of the team had. Even Fugamon stopped rinsing the mug in his hand, and Hideo and Yuriko stopped their friendly bickering in anticipation.

Moments later, the door creaked open, and two soaked humans atop one large digimon slipped into the room.

"Arisa!" all the humans on Makoto's team called, as their partners shouted, "Sangloupmon!" Ken and Wormmon waved to Davis and Veemon, both of whom were wet and slightly disgruntled looking.

Arisa pulled some of the dripping hair from her face as she hopped down off her partner. "Nice to see you too."

"Dry off first," Fugamon pointed to the rack of towels hanging beside the door.

She smirked knowingly at him as Davis and Veemon jumped down. "I know, I know. You hate wet floors."

Veemon all too happily grabbed himself a towel, while Davis quickly removed his raincoat, revealing the jacket, boots, and jeans he had taken to wearing in the Digiworld. He for the most part was still dry, but the same could not be said for Arisa, who began to wring out her shirt.

"What happened to your raincoat?" Hideo asked when she squeezed some water out onto the floor.

She frowned. "Had to leave it. I'll explain in a sec. Sangloupmon, you really gonna' stay that way?" she gazed over at her partner.

The digimon gave her a toothy grin. "I like being Sangloupmon. I get to walk the shadows, be all powerful and cool…"

"It's not helping my floor," Fugamon pointed out at the digimon's dripping fur. "Change back now. We don't have enough towels to dry you."

Sangloupmon made a snorting noise, but he complied anyway, and his body began to glow. Moments later, he stepped forward as Dracmon, pouting as Arisa dropped a towel on top of him.

"No more fur," he grumbled. "Not cool."

The twins looked relieved to say the least, but Ken noticed Davis' somewhat annoyed look as he approached the table.

"How was it?" he asked as the other boy hung is raincoat on the back of a chair and sat down in it.

Davis sighed. "Fine, nothing to worry about. We beat them pretty fast."

"Then what took you so long to get back?"

The other boy slumped tiredly in his seat. "Sangloupmon was convinced that someone was following us. He ran around for a while to lose them."

Ken blinked, just as Veemon came to join them. "There was someone following you. Hyogamon had Witchmon tail you guys to make sure nothing went wrong."

Davis and Veemon both sat still for a moment, gaping in horror.

"Hey, you two want something to drink?" Yuriko called from the counter.

Davis turned straight towards Dracmon and Arisa at the same time Veemon turned to Yuriko.

"It was Witchmon following us!" he shouted, waving his arms wildly.

"Yeah, two hot cocoas!" Veemon exclaimed in excitement.

It was rather strange watching the two of them, Veemon seeming much more concerned about having a warm drink, and Davis apparently upset because they could have come to the bar earlier.

Dracmon and Arisa glanced at each other, looking fairly unconcerned.

"Well, awesome, you knew she was there," Arisa commented, the corner of her mouth curling upwards.

"I'll say sorry when she gets here," Dracmon shrugged. "Why the hell you didn't tell us, I don't know," he added offhandedly directly to Fugamon.

The digimon glowered at them in response. "I forgot, okay?"

Davis just groaned and turned back to Ken. "They're insane, both of them," he answered, shaking his head.

Ken had to smile. It was an interesting change for him, having spent much of his time fighting alongside those Davis and the others; the occasional afternoon with other teams gave him insight into how other groups interacted and went about dealing with the problems that arose. Having worked with them multiple times before, he knew that Makoto's team was fairly close, and it was obvious that the two sets of twins were fully welcomed as members.

He glanced over at them. They had relaxed significantly the moment Sangloupmon had strode through the door, drinking from their mugs and gazing at the group contently.

I'm glad this team works well. I'm happy that I can help out with them too. I hope the others are doing okay too.

Dracmon bounded forward to the counter, hopping up on a stool in one well learned movement. Arisa, having towel dried herself, joined him and sat herself next to Yuriko, who grinned welcomingly at her.

"Hey Fugamon, ya got any beer?" the still damp girl asked casually.

The digimon scowled at her. "You got any money?"

She smirked and flipped him a few coins. "That good?"

Makoto, who had come up to the counter, frowned at her all through this. "Arisa, I am glad to see you, but you know we're on a mission."

She waved him off. "I know, I know. But this is my type of place, my kind of people. Let me be in my zone. Besides," she added as Fugamon gave her a bottle, "I never got a chance to finish my last one. What the hell you got, orange juice?"

Makoto snorted. "Orange juice and taurine. Warm milk for Liollmon. So, you settled down yet?"

She crossed her legs, leaning back a bit on the barstool as she relaxed against the counter and took a sip. "Yep. Report time?"

"Yes," Deltamon rumbled from the corner. "I think we'd all like to know what Corrosion's up to. And how two Corrosion members knew you were on our side and attacked you."

As a whole, everyone currently in the room turned to her attentively, particularly Fugamon and Deltamon, who leaned forward in anticipation. Ken noticed Davis and Veemon grimacing a little, and Wormmon gave them both a quizzical look before turning his attention to the pair at the counter.

As Dracmon was given a glass by an interested Fugamon, Arisa gave a loud, irritated sigh.

"Well, it's not so much that they knew we're on your side as that Corrosion now has a 'kill humans on sight' policy," she angrily slammed the beer bottle on the counter. "Damn Snimon… course then he started slicing up the rest of the bar, and everyone ran, so we ran too."

"He still called a Soulmon to chase us out," Dracmon grumbled. "We figured by then we should get help. Didn't matter if we busted our cover by that point." He picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp.

Ken immediately winced. He had no idea exactly what was in that glass, but knowing Dracmon, it could only be something foul.

He thought briefly on Arisa's statement. It was fairly rare now that digimon went out of their way to attack Digidestined, and even if some didn't accept how their worlds were connecting, the general population trusted them and allowed them the freedom to do their work. According to TK and Kari, the Digiworld seemed extremely tame compared to when they first came and had a lot of digimon after them, whether due to evil influences or because they were hungry.

Even his own hazy memories of an earlier time told him that the Digiworld had once been more dangerous for humans in comparison to now. He recalled wandering the landscape with Wormmon, fighting off digimon, yet recruiting them at the same time, and trying to coordinate with another boy on the other half of the world.

He suddenly frowned and lost focus on everything around him as a familiar thought came to him, one that rose every now and then and only continued to tug at the back of his mind… something that bothered him greatly each time it came up…

The sound of someone throwing open the door brought him back to the present and nearly made him spill his cider.

Witchmon stomped in, her clothes soaked as a puddle began to form beneath her.

Her maddened gaze was aimed directly at Arisa and Dracmon.

"And you're here?" she shrieked, waving her arms around wildly and spraying those closest to her with water. "Do you know how hard it was to follow you guys?"

Dracmon cringed, trying to look apologetic. "Sorry. We weren't told you'd be watching out for us. I just tried to shake off whoever was following."

Witchmon blinked and paused for a second, her face growing more and more red by the moment. Then she whirled at Fugamon. "You didn't tell them?"

The large ogre-like digimon cowered under her fierce glare. "…oops?" he said in a tiny voice.

Witchmon strode directly across the floor, seemingly not caring that she left a wet trail in her wake. Then in one smooth movement, she reached over the counter and smacked Fugamon upside the head, nearly knocking him over.

Ken was unsure whether to be amused at the sight or feel empathy for the hapless bar owner. Arisa and Dracmon clearly thought it was funny as they both snorted and tried not to laugh; Syakomon was gurgling little bubbles, and in the corner Liollmon had covered his snout with a paw and was pointedly looking at the floor as his body shook. On the opposite side, Davis, Yuriko, Hagurumon, and Hideo seemed to share Ken's sentiment as they glanced at each other unsurely, while nearly everyone else looked terrified.

Makoto on the other hand just shook his head in exasperation, apparently used to it.

Witchmon huffed and sat herself down. "I thought you would have stopped doing this. Information is important. And I want a Dead Mon."

Fugamon rubbed his head and began searching behind the counter, mumbling an apology while keeping his eyes low.

The witch digimon huffed, spinning on her stool to face Arisa and Dracmon. "And speaking of information, what have I missed? What do you two know? Good job 'shaking me off', by the way, since you did."

Dracmon grinned. "Thanks. We haven't said much, 'cept Corrosion's gonna go after any human now, whether or not they're involved."

Witchmon frowned. "That is odd. Well, keep going then."

With that, she sat and watched them expectantly, not even looking at Fugamon when he slid her a cold bottle.

Arisa took a hefty chug from her own bottle, then leaned back, crossing her legs and sighing. "All right. Well first off, Morodemon's smuggling weapons into the city. Some Veritas think he wants a leg up in the next big fight, but using outside weapons is supposed to be taboo. And Corrosion knows that, which makes this just plain weird. And they were behind the break-in at the Neura Plant."

Neura Plant. That chemical manufacturing place that doubles as an energy source for Vestia City. This sounds suspicious.

Perhaps it was speculation, or the fact that he had spent much of the previous day doing detective work at Miro Sanctuary, but from what Ken knew of the city's culture, this sounded like more and more of a threat.

"What got stolen again?" he asked for clarification.

"Ten kilos of redmead and maybe twenty-five or so of waste. Redmead makes sense at least…"

"Because it's the main ingredient in greada," Yuriko shuddered and grimaced at Arisa. "Which, from what we've been told, is primarily sold by Corrosion these days. Arisa, you seriously tried that stuff once before you joined us?"

She shrugged. "I was curious."

Dracmon grinned at his partner. "You were pretty funny before you passed out. And you kept running around threatening to kill people with a pen."

"Hmm, maybe I'll take it again then, I'm carrying my knife this time."

"No," Makoto stated very firmly. "You will only be taking it if we need you on a berserk rampage. Which is hopefully never."

She huffed at him. "You're no fun."

"Anyway," Dracmon continued, addressing everyone again, "We have no idea why they grabbed twenty-five kilos of waste. We might need to look into that. And on another note, it looks like Corrosion's recruiting."

"Like, actively?" Liollmon asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "But no one does that here…"

His voice trailed off and he looked to Deltamon for confirmation.

The large digimon nodded in response. "Just doesn't happen, unless someone's trying to up their numbers going against another gang. Sounds to me like Corrosion's getting ready for it."

"It's disturbing," Witchmon noted, folding her claws together. "How're they going about it?"

"Quietly," Arisa answered, brows furrowing. "Don't know much, but the digimon I overheard said something about Morodemon. No relation to the Corrosion leader, is there?" she glanced over at Fugamon.

The digimon was silent, busying himself with what looked like reorganizing shot glasses and acting as though he had not heard her.

Davis groaned loudly. "Did you forget to tell us something else?" he said in exasperation.

Even Makoto looked suspicious. "What's going on?" he asked, eyes narrowing. "Something happened that you didn't tell me about?"

Fugamon's brows furrowed as he slammed one of the glasses down on the counter.

"Morodemon is the leader of Corrosion. Ferademon digivolved."

The look of horror on Arisa and Makoto's faces was enough to tell Ken that this was something they needed to worry about. Their partners were equally shocked.

"…shit…" Arisa muttered, gripping her bottle tightly. "So he's a Mega now…"

Fugamon glared angrily at the shot glass, then grabbed a bottle from the rack, unscrewed the top, and poured some into the glass. "Yeah. He's a Mega. Blows us poor bastards outta the water, huh?" he laughed darkly as he picked up the glass and downed it.

The others turned to gaze at each other solemnly as the digimon took his glass and reached over to the sink to wash it.

"That explains a lot," Hagurumon stated, staring at the floor as one of his gears turned loudly. "Not many digimon reach that level of power… and that power is something that any sane digimon is wary of."

"From both sides, either if they have it or don't," Hideo added, glancing at his partner worriedly.

Fugamon had finished washing his glass, and he glared at it as he grabbed a dishrag to dry it. "Yeah. We didn't hear anything out of the ordinary 'til Morodemon reached Mega a few weeks ago… I think the power's gotten to his head. But he's a Mega. Ain't nothin' much we can do without another one."

Wordlessly, all the humans and their partners turned and looked directly at Veemon and Wormmon.

Both digimon blinked. "Why are you looking at us?" Veemon asked.

Wormmon glared at him. "Mega. We make one."

"Oh yeah, right."

Fugamon, Deltamon, and Witchmon were absolutely dumbstruck.

"You – you serious?" Deltamon stepped forward, accidentally knocking a table over as he leaned over to look at the two tiny digimon. "You guys? Mega?"

Davis looked a little confused at the awe that the Orc Hands were showing.

"I thought everyone knew about this already," he said slowly, gazing at the rest of the team.

The older humans exchanged glances.

"Well, maybe all the Digidestined and Chosen Digimon know," Makoto answered with a frown. "I think that knowledge is rarer in the Digiworld."

"And we should probably keep it that way," Hideo added, looking directly at the still shocked trio of digimon. "So you guys, don't say anything about it, 'kay? In case we need to get the upper hand?"

They nodded dumbly.

"Y-yessir," Witchmon shuddered, staring at Veemon and Wormmon again. "You two… wow…"

Ken immediately thought back to the number of Mega ranked digimon they had fought. From what he recalled, they were always enemies of great power, something that the others had had to struggle with. MaloMyotismon had been one… so had BlackWarGreymon… and beyond those were the Dark Masters and Apocalymon that the older group, along with TK and Kari, had faced…

He brought a hand to his chin. "It's troublesome, but I think we have the capabilities to handle it. Besides Veemon and Wormmon when they digivolve, we also have two other Megas and an Ultimate who might as well be a Mega. But I honestly hope that it doesn't come down to that sort of fight, if we can talk to Morodemon and get him to tone down his activities…"

Arisa suddenly choked, sitting up straight and knocking over her bottle. She righted it quickly, but the glint was in her eyes as she smiled and gazed at the others.

"You know, we might be able to get him to behave. I say we use the Old Bex."

The Orc Hands, as well as her partner, Makoto, and Liollmon looked at her in interest.

"You think that'd work?" Fugamon asked, tilting his head.

Witchmon leaned forward. "I think it will," she stated haughtily. "When else are we going to use it?"

Liollmon and Makoto both looked a little hesitant. "Are you guys sure?" the digimon of the pair asked with furrowed brows.

Dracmon shrugged and glanced at his partner. "I'm all for it," he answered. "But I'm not in the gang, so I can't say for sure. Besides, isn't Hyogamon the one who has to make the decision?"

"Yes, he is…" Deltamon nodded with a sigh. "And I wanna' make a statement along with this. If Corrosion's goin' after humans, then it should be humans that do this."

Everyone else seemed thoroughly confused. Davis raised his hand, his face a prime example of bemusement. "Uh, just for all us folks out here, what is the Old Bex?"

The Orc Hands immediately gave them slightly apologetic looks.

"Sorry," Fugamon grunted. "Basically, we take one of Corrosion hostage, and the ransom is Corrosion's good behavior."

They stared at him.

"That's the weirdest ransom I've ever heard of," Kouki commented with a slightly bemused look on his face.

Deltamon shrugged. "Doesn't get used much, but it works well."

Ken frowned. He normally disliked the idea of capturing an enemy, but from a strategic standpoint, it could also be a good way of acquiring some information about the entire situation. And if the ransom was good behavior… it might be a way of controlling Morodemon and stopping him from continuing whatever activities he was in the midst of planning.

Not to mention it might be safer too. I think everyone would rather we not have to directly fight him with all the power we have… we've dealt with this enough times in the past.

"I think it's a good idea," he spoke, startling both Davis and Veemon as they turned to stare at him. He ignored them. "As long as we treat our hostage well and Morodemon actually does behave and end all of this he's doing."

Wormmon gazed at him, tilting his head to the side. "Ken…"

"If it's something used here among the gangs, it's something I'm all right with using," he explained soberly. "And Deltamon, you said you wanted us to do this?"

The large digimon nodded. "Yeah."

"It's got the added plus of keeping the Orc Hands safe for a while too," Yuriko pointed out as she finished off her drink. She set the glass down on the table and wiped her mouth. "Since Corrosion is already going to attack humans on sight, it doesn't really matter whether or not we're the ones who do it. We get targeted either way."

Makoto set his drink down on the counter, his eyes narrowed as he gazed at the floor. "We'd still need to talk to Hyogamon about it. I'm not sure if it's the best course of action, but I trust Arisa's judgment. Most of the time," he added offhandedly, and she just grinned back at him. "What about the rest of you, what do you think?" he addressed the rest of his team.

Yuriko raised her hand. "I'm in."

Syakomon bounced on the counter in reply. "Me too."

Hideo and Hagurumon made eye contact, then nodded in a silent agreement. "We think it's for the best," Hagurumon stated.

Everyone knew that Ken approved of the plan, but Davis seemed rather taken aback by everything. He bit his lip, glancing at the others around, that gazed at him and Veemon.

"I… I dunno," he answered hesitantly. "We're gonna' try to basically kidnap another digimon, right? I'm not really okay with that."

The others seemed to understand, though Witchmon looked annoyed and Deltamon had an exasperated look on his face. Fugamon just chuckled.

"You're so innocent kid," he leaned forward to rest against the counter. "Tell ya what, since Corrosion'll be trying to kill you anyway, fight back and knock 'im out. Then you capture him. That way, it's self defense and you're arresting him as one of the authorities, or something like that. Sound good?"

Davis blanched. "Uh…"

Fugamon apparently decided to move on. "And what about you guys?" the digimon turned towards both sets of twins, who looked just as unsure. "You've been awfully quiet."

They looked at each other.

"I'm okay with it," Kouki and Terriermon answered, as Kouji and Lopmon spoke at the same time, "I'm not so sure."

They paused at the disparity.

Kouji sighed and threw his arms up in the air. "Well then, I suppose I'll take Fugamon's interpretation, since everyone seems to want to go ahead with this."

Lopmon seemed even more unsure of it, but he nodded firmly as he caught his partner's eye. "I'll… I'll follow you."

And that's everyone. Kind of.

Makoto nodded, looking pleased that his team was ready to go, even if some had misgivings about what they were planning to do. "Well then, that works. Once we talk to Hyogamon - "

There was a loud bang at the door, and it swung open violently, revealing the pouring rain and winds from outside. A large figure stood in the entrance, shaded by the difference in lighting from inside and out; he stepped in proudly, holding his head high as he made his way in, the rainwater dripping from his muscled limbs.

Then he grabbed a towel and began to dry himself off.

"Well speak of the devil, here he is," Deltamon rumbled with a curved smile. "Hey leader."

Hyogamon waved as he rubbed the towel over his head. "Hey, I'm back. And…"

He gazed over the array of humans and digimon sitting in the bar, and his eyes immediately narrowed.

"Okay. Fill me in," he stated brusquely, slamming the door behind him.

Fugamon grabbed a glass, apparently preparing something for the Orc Hands leader. "Welcome back brother. We got confirmation that Corrosion's up to no good," he answered with a gruff tone. "We're thinking of using the Old Bex."

Hyogamon raised an eyebrow.

"Old Bex? That serious huh?" he mused. "And how exactly would you go about doing that?"

Ken brought a hand to his chin thoughtfully. An idea was forming in his head as he glanced at the assembled humans and digimon around him. "Well, what we could do..."


Aaaaaand it's me again.

Davis was thoroughly displeased with his role this time, as he sat on ExVeemon's shoulder in the middle of the street. Rain still poured down on top of him, but per Ken's instructions, his hood was now down, which meant that the heavy stream of droplets had soaked his hair, his head, and was currently going down his neck to the rest of his body.

He shivered, feeling significantly colder and wetter than earlier.

If this doesn't work and I'm just out here for no reason, I am going to hit you, Ken.

ExVeemon strode definitively, splashing in the water that covered the pavement. "You doing okay up there?" he asked.

Davis grimaced. "Yeah," he answered. "It's a lot like some of those really rainy soccer games."

Doesn't mean I liked playing in them though… at least there I was moving, so I didn't feel as cold…

"Well, hopefully we'll see some action soon," the digimon rumbled in response, apparently with the same sentiment as his partner regarding the rain.

They were now in the same place they had fought with Snimon and Soulmon earlier, with the damaged building and signs of their earlier battle all over the place. Soulmon was gone, no longer unconscious on the ground; one look into the large hole in the building told them both that Snimon had also vanished.

Davis grit his teeth and glanced around as ExVeemon continued forward. According to Fugamon, this area was neutral territory, which generally meant that anything could happen… and if Arisa was right about Corrosion automatically attacking any human they saw…

"Human!"

Right on time.

ExVeemon jumped out of the way as Vilemon shot down from a ledge, landing with a loud splashing thud. Davis had to hold on as the enemy digimon launched himself at them, and ExVeemon moved, evading the claw swipes and circling away to keep his back away from any walls.

"Oi! Cut it out!" the draconic digimon shouted in protest.

Vilemon just glared, kneeling on the ground and gazing up. "You're his partner. I'll take you down along with him!"

"Hey, I can have human friends!" ExVeemon shot back. "They're nice. Get your own human, don't take mine!"

Davis tried extremely hard not to grin at the confused expression on Vilemon's face.

"But – human – Morodemon said - "

"I don't care what Morodemon said!" Exveemon roared angrily. "He's my human, so leave him alone!" Then he paused, frowning. "What did he say?"

Vilemon grumbled, giving Davis a nasty glance. "Digidestined are threats to the gangs. All humans in the Digiworld are Digidestined. We gotta' take 'em all out."

Davis frowned. Well that was easy…

"Well, if you didn't notice, Digidestined have been chilling around Vestia City for months, and they haven't done anything, so I dunno what he's talking about," ExVeemon snapped. "So if you don't mind, I'm gonna' finish taking my human out on a walk, so outta the way or I'll sic' 'im on you."

Man, ExVeemon, you are awesome and you act good.

Vilemon grumbled, and for a moment Davis thought he saw a flash of something in the digimon's eyes.

"Sorry then," he grunted. "'Cause in Corrosion, Morodemon's words are law. Demon Darts!"

ExVeemon yelped and ducked, holding Davis in place as the attack flew over their heads. Davis winced a little at his partner's grip, but was thankful that at least it was less likely he might go flying off. What looked like a spray of small, sharp objects launched at them again; ExVeemon jumped to the side and floated in the air, glaring angrily while still holding him there on his shoulder.

Then he opened his mouth again, but was interrupted by another voice.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Davis yelped as a thin, four legged wolfish digimon with a long snout pounced into the middle of the street, facing Vilemon with bared teeth.

"What exactly is going on?" he growled. "First Snimon busts up WaruMonzaemon's place going after Arisa and Dracmon, then here you go after this kid? I thought humans weren't involved!"

The other digimon pointed a clawtip at him in response, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't you be sayin' anything, Fangmon!" Vilemon shouted back. "You Trickster lowlifes are gonna' get it, now that we got Morodemon!"

Fangmon opened his mouth as though to respond, but suddenly froze at the mention of Morodemon.

ExVeemon took the opportunity to reply for him.

"Him being a Mega doesn't change anything!" he yelled, lowering his head carefully so his horn was leveled with Vilemon's face. "You can't bully everyone else around just because you've got someone on your side who's that powerful."

Fangmon shot him a look. "Stay outta' this. You're not involved."

Vilemon glared at all of them. "Well, they are now. You should be the one to stay out, Trickster, or maybe Morodemon'll hear 'bout this and have all of ya eliminated."

The knowledge that Morodemon was a Mega apparently caused Fangmon to stop completely, as he grit his teeth in what looked like frustration mixed with fear.

"This isn't right," he muttered under his breath, barely audible to Davis. "We have that honor code for a reason…"

Hearing all the digimon talk about this 'honor code' made Davis begin to really wish he had read Makoto's email closer. He remembered something about how fights were set up and that no one outside the gangs got targeted unless they decided to involve themselves in a conflict, and that the entire code was put in place mostly so there was enough order to maintain this particular lifestyle without things being shut down by any authorities – who apparently were fine with it as long as nothing devolved into utter chaos. He didn't really recall anything else very clearly.

Vilemon clearly seemed self-righteous in his loyalty to Morodemon, as he crouched low in preparation to attack. ExVeemon still stood in a defensive position, ready to move the moment anything came at them; Davis glanced to the side and realized that Fangmon wanted to help, but was concerned about the others in his group…

He leaned a little to the side. "It'll be fine, we can handle it," he said quietly. "Let the other Tricksters know."

Fangmon grimaced, but nodded in response, glancing back at Vilemon. The other digimon's eyes were darting between them, calculating as he watched them.

"Interesting," he mused briefly. "Well then. Nightmare Shocker!"

The waves of dark energy rippled through the falling rain, changing the trajectories and bending the droplets on their path down. ExVeemon dove out of the way, still holding on tightly to Davis, the attack fading as it made its way down the street.

Fangmon stepped back, staring helplessly.

"Go already!" Davis shouted at him.

He could not look any longer, and forced all his attention towards holding on as ExVeemon continued to evade attacks. There were sharp, pointed things flying at them, the dark energy, and high pitched sounds that hurt his head. It was difficult for him to decide whether it was those sounds, or the sudden movements of his partner that was causing a gradual sick feeling and growing need to vomit.

ExVeemon finally found an open spot.

"Ex-Laser!" he shouted, pulling his shoulders back and shooting the beam at Vilemon.

The other digimon agilely dodged, and the stray attack continued off to hit and cause a nearby lamppost to explode in a shower of sparks. He gave a shout and flew up into the air, spinning as he launched the whole of his body at them, claws outstretched and mouth wide open in an unnerving grin.

ExVeemon responded by roaring and jumping up to meet Vilemon in combat.

Davis had to grab tightly onto his partner's neck in order to stay on, made more difficult as his hands slipped on the wet skin. Despite straining even his fingertips to keep a hold and not find himself flying off, he marveled at the digimon's fighting ability as he watched everything move in an almost sped up time – Vilemon clawed, ExVeemon batted it away and released his own blows, kicks, a grab, a strike, a bite – and then they were once again on the ground, both roaring at each other, ExVeemon much more majestically than the other.

It was only in that moment that, as Davis glanced around, he noticed Fangmon had vanished. He assumed the digimon had left, just as he had shouted earlier; he certainly did not want him and the other Tricksters becoming targets due to an altercation like this.

And that reminded him…

"Hey, square!" he shouted into ExVeemon's ear.

The digimon's eyes widened. "Oh yeah."

With that ExVeemon turned on his heel and began to run.

Vilemon was not quite as pleased.

"Get back here!" he yelled, jumping back into the air to chase them.

Davis blanched as the digimon easily matched and then passed their speed.

"Run faster!" he yelped as Vilemon lessened the distance between them.

"I can't run faster!" ExVeemon shouted back in response, turning his head to look at the approaching digimon behind them. He gulped at the sight. "Uh, am I allowed to fly yet?"

"No! Run!"

Davis decidedly felt very stupid, sitting as his partner clumsily ran down the street through the rain, wings flapping awkwardly as he practically bounced from side to side, all while Vilemon flew in the air after them. He could tell ExVeemon felt even stupider, hating the fact that he could probably out-fly their pursuer, but had to run for the sake of what had been planned…

"Demon Darts!"

He turned and yelped at the sight of the attack. "Duck!"

ExVeemon did, and Davis winced as sharp pointed objects whizzed past them.

"I hate this!" ExVeemon wailed as he continued to run, the rain pounding at them from above as he slogged through puddles and navigated around broken pieces of rubble.

Not remembering exactly how they had found their way through the streets to the site of the earlier fight, Davis grabbed out his D3 to give it a good look. There was a cluster of dots at the edge of the screen, glowing teasingly at him as if gloating about how none of the others were in this position.

Well, it was either me or Arisa, and Ken figured ExVeemon ran slower… which he does, but that doesn't make this any more fun to have to do!

ExVeemon vaulted over what looked like broken scaffolding, landing in a mini river that flowed into the nearest drain. He went straight back to his running, growling more than once as one of his wings hit the corner of a concrete block, or a flailing elbow made contact with a metal beam. Vilemon had no need to worry about obstacles such as these as he merely flew above them all, focusing nearly all his attention on trying to catch them.

Then another voice shouted from behind.

"Vilemon, why are you – human!"

Davis turned again to look, and saw that now a Devidramon had joined the chase.

Another Corrosion member!

"Who's… behind… me?" ExVeemon panted as he continued to run, clearly unused to using his legs for this purpose for any long period of time.

Davis winced. "Devidramon joined."

"… NOW can I fly?"

Davis threw all caution to wind.

"Go for it!"

"GOOD!"

ExVeemon's last step became a jump, and he launched into the air, wings spreading wide as he took flight. The movement shook away rain and water droplets, and for a moment Davis felt the water in the wind spray across his face, and combined with the exhilaration of being high off the ground with his partner as his support, wanted the feeling to last…

"Nightmare Shocker!"

ExVeemon swerved to the side to dodge, and Davis yelped as he his stomach leaped. He felt his partner's large claw hold him firmly in place, something he was thankful for as dark waves of energy passed by. He heard Devidramon shout something that was lost in the wind, and in a streak of panic, he checked his D3 again.

His heart lifted at both the screen and the view before them. "Go!"

Flight sped them past obstacles, through rain, and towards their destination. Then the building-lined streets expanded, opening up to the square. They soared right across it, over the twisted metal fence and the broken dragon statue, Vilemon and Devidramon right behind them...

A green warrior of a digimon shot through the air and tackled Vilemon.

Davis grinned. Right on time.

Stingmon easily maneuvered Vilemon's limbs out of the way, slamming the other digimon into the ground. The pavement did not break, and Vilemon gazed up at him, too stunned to act.

Above them, Devidramon stopped in midair and stared in shock at the sight.

ExVeemon flared his wings to slow himself and turned sharply. He lowered his head, the spike in front as he changed directions to go straight towards the digimon –

"Thunder of King!"

Davis jolted as he saw bright lightning shoot through the rain-filled air, and Devidramon barely dodged the bolt, shaken back into action by the closeness. From below, a lion-like digimon let out a loud roar, shaking the water from his mane and gazing up in prideful challenge at the other.

On his back sat Makoto, the hood of his raincoat thrown back to reveal his now soaked black hair, holding the same look as his partner Liamon in his gold eyes.

"Challenge one, challenge all," he called upwards, determined.

Devidramon laughed. "Well, guess you Chosen and us Corrosives are alike, huh? I'm happy to fight you."

Liamon snarled. "Good. I am too."

And he leaped high into the air, wide jaws and outstretched claws at the ready as Makoto gave a raging battle cry.

Davis could no longer watch as ExVeemon moved again, this time to the corner of the square beside the remnants of what looked like a bronze statue in a humanoid form. The digimon landed on the ground with a splashing thump, shaking himself and spraying water droplets everywhere.

"Okay, off you go," he motioned to the cracked stone pedestal and bent metal, releasing his claw from his partner at the same time.

Davis nodded. "Yeah," he carefully hopped down, finding himself still making a loud splash regardless of his attempts to stay dry. But really, it's not as bad as some soccer days.

You know what, screw that. My hood's down and it's pouring.

"Go for it!" he shouted encouragingly, and ExVeemon gave him a toothy grin before flying back into the fray.

Liamon fought Devidramon tooth and claw in the background while Makoto yelled out strategic points and cheered, and ExVeemon flew to join Stingmon's side; Davis took that time to gaze around and remember where Ken said he would be hiding.

Frowning, he ran up to the pedestal.

"You here?" he asked to the air.

"Yes," came Ken's voice, and the boy in question poked his head up from behind the stone. "How'd it go?"

Davis shrugged as the sound of combat raged nearby. "Well enough. We got two."

Ken frowned as he glanced over to the battle. Davis followed his gaze just in time to see Vilemon launch an attack at ExVeemon while simultaneously dodging a strike from Stingmon, digging an angry claw into the digimon's arm.

Stingmon let out a shout of pain and tried to shake Vilemon away, but the smaller winged being gave a cackling laugh as he held on.

"Demon Darts!"

Ken yelled out fearfully for his partner, eyes wide as the digimon took the full brunt of the attack. Davis watched, almost distantly, as Stingmon recoiled, falling backwards –

ExVeemon flew back to him, having dodged the earlier attack. "Stingmon!" he shouted, and with a growl he wrapped his arms around Vilemon's body and dug his teeth into the digimon's shoulder.

Vilemon let out a cry. "Gerroff o' me!" he struggled against ExVeemon's strong grip and the jaws clamped down on him.

Stingmon kicked him. "How about you get off of me?" he countered as he violently shook the other digimon away.

It was more than enough, and ExVeemon was pulling too hard, as Vilemon distinctly let go. The force of it was more than ExVeemon expected; he gave a muffled shout as he went careening backwards, Vilemon still in his arms.

On the other side of the square, Devidramon floated high in the air above Liamon, staring down in distaste. Both digimon had their eyes locked on each other, watching for any movement the other made.

Unable to physically reach him, Liamon bent low again, his wet mane crackling.

"Thunder of King!"

The lightning flashed, Davis had a sudden fleeting feeling of something… powerful, yet familiar. He couldn't quite touch it, and as he continued to watch Devidramon dodge, and Liamon charge the electricity through his mane again, he pushed it aside to focus on the combat before them.

Weird though…

He saw Stingmon dive down at Vilemon, still being held in place by ExVeemon; Devidramon gave an angry roar as he darted from side to side, making it difficult for Liamon to target him. Then without warning, he spun and called out, a long piercing sound that echoed throughout the city.

Both Makoto and Liamon stopped for a moment, eyes widening in horror.

"He's calling for reinforcements!" another voice said hurriedly, and Davis turned to see Arisa run towards them, dripping wet again and armed with her knife. She had a frustrated look on her face. "We have to finish this fast."

Davis wanted to ask where she had come from, but held back from commenting as he and Ken nodded in response.

"Right," Ken glanced back to where Stingmon and ExVeemon were busy with Vilemon. "Hurry!" he called.

Stingmon nodded as ExVeemon grappled with their opponent, who had a maddened but exhausted look on his face. He flew around in an attempt to cut off any backwards escape that Vilemon might attempt, and with a brief look at ExVeemon, sped forward and delivered a sharp blow to the back of his head.

To everyone's relief, the digimon went limp.

"Wish it were always that easy," Arisa muttered, gripping her knife.

"He was already tired out," Ken noted as ExVeemon carefully released the unconscious digimon onto the wet concrete. "It doesn't seem like he was very used to fighting more than one opponent at the same time."

"He's a newbie then. All the higher ups can deal with it."

Davis snorted, knowing exactly how Arisa had this sort of knowledge, but quickly turned his attention back to Liamon and Devidramon's battle. Makoto was yelling something unintelligible, as Devidramon dove in to attack and Liamon leaped up to meet him.

"Crimson Claw!"

"Critical Strike!"

Davis didn't see the contact, but knew from the moment that Liamon landed that something was wrong. The digimon collapsed forward on one paw, and grimaced as he lifted it off the ground. Makoto gazed down, gripping his partner's soaked fur and gritting his teeth at a sight that Davis could not see from their location.

Devidramon was still aloft, apparently unharmed though he seemed significantly more wary than before. His eyes glowed red as he stared down, and Davis was suddenly aware that the digimon was using another attack, a different one than before…

Stingmon rammed bodily into Devidramon, at the same time that four Soulmon appeared from one of the alleyways.

Arisa's eyes narrowed. "Well shit. Makoto hasn't given the signal yet?"

Davis shook his head. "Nope. Not since I got here – and there he goes," he added as he saw the boy in question raise his right arm high into the air, holding up two fingers and shouting.

"About time," came another voice, and Sangloupmon suddenly appeared from the shadow of the pedestal, glittering with reassembling data. He let out a howl, nodding at the trio of humans, and broke into a run directly at the Soulmon.

The four digimon floated forward in a formation, unafraid by the single digimon charging at them. However, they failed to notice four more figures spring out from behind the corners of the nearby streets.

"Gauntlet Claw!"

"Guardian Barrage!"

"Gatling Arm!"

"Spurting Ink!"

"Aaaaaugh!"

Three of the Soulmon managed to dodge in time, but the last unfortunate one bore the brunt of all the attacks. As he dropped to the ground with a splash, the remaining three turned to face the five Champion digimon facing them.

"You're Chosen digimon!" one of them shouted, his eyes showing beneath his hat in a glowing rage. "More reason to destroy you and your human partners!"

Turuiemon reentered his battle stance, both blades before him and ready, while his brother Gargomon aimed his gun directly at the Soulmon. At the sides stood Guardromon and Octomon, fanning out to cut off any escape paths, while Sangloupmon skidded to a stop and padded forward to stand amongst the group.

"Five of us, three of you," Guardromon droned with a metallic sound. "The odds are not in your favor."

The three Soulmon only seemed more maddened.

"Tch, don't go writing us off," one snorted, floating up menacingly. "We're stronger than we look. Necro Magic!" he shouted, waving his arms into the air.

The attack went straight for Turuiemon, who flipped out of the way in time and leaned close to the ground, gazing upwards with a blade ready. His eyes narrowed as he met the gaze of the Soulmon who had just attacked.

Gargomon moved towards his twin, keeping his gun pointed. "We'll deal with them from long range," he stated. "You guys do your thing."

Turuiemon and Sangloupmon nodded. "Got it."

Their area erupted into combat.

Davis could barely see everything as the action moved quickly – Guardromon and Octomon stayed in the rear, unable to move as quickly as the twins, but firing into every opening that appeared. They were still in constant motion, changing positions to take advantage of whatever opportunity they saw, while before them…

Sangloupmon shifted in and out of his enemy's shadow, attacking with the layers of multiple sharp blades on his legs and biting at each chance. Turuiemon practically flew between bursts of energy, a blur that connected and sent the Soulmon flying into the pellets of Gargomon's gatling gun. Davis was impressed to see how well the twins worked together, obviously used to each other's movements and openings, as Turuiemon kept the attention on himself in close range, creating the openings to let his brother use.

It reminded him of his own partner and Stingmon, and he turned his attention back to Devidramon. With Vilemon unconscious, the two had joined Liamon's fight against the digimon – and if Arisa's words were anything to take into account, Devidramon must have been a high ranking member of Corrosion.

He fought with skill, attention all around him and watching the motions of the trio. Liamon would leap up, and Devidramon would instead duck under, keeping the two flyers from immediately pursuing him; each time the others came close, he lashed out with his claws, something that made Stingmon wary and left the other two scrambling to coordinate their long range abilities.

"Ken, you think Paildramon would be of any help?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the battle.

The other boy shook his head. "No. We don't want to kill Devidramon… and considering the others, it might be more dangerous if that's what it came to."

Arisa frowned at both of them. "Well, guess I'll trust kid genius," she turned away, gripping her knife and gritting her teeth. "This is taking too long…"

In the midst of everything, Davis now saw that the last four members of Makoto's team had revealed themselves. Kouki and Kouji kneeled close to the ground be the edge of the square's rusted fence, watching their partners and cheering them on; Yuriko and Hideo also stood together by the dragon statue, slowly venturing closer as they seemed to also be looking for openings their partners could use.

It seemed they had no need to worry. The Soulmon seemed unaccustomed to fighting in such close quarters, as one accidentally hit one of his own allies, resulting in an angered shout back.

"Well sorry my aim sucks!" the first one retorted, just as Turuiemon catapulted over his head.

"Ninja Fist!"

The flurry of punches was too much for the Soulmon, who let out a cry and fell to the ground, his hat barely staying on as he did.

The defeat of one of their trio threw the rest of their combat into chaos. The last two Soulmon panicked, firing attacks indiscriminately as they tried desperately to make an opening for them to escape.

In some ways, their lack of control made them more dangerous, as the two close range fighters found themselves dodging and trying not to be hit. Some of the attacks reached past them; Octomon gave a shout as one went flying over his head, while Guardromon barely withdrew an arm in time.

Gargomon used the confusion to his advantage.

"Outta the way!"

Turuiemon moved immediately, but Sangloupmon only stopped briefly and stared back at him. Then, to his surprise, Turuiemon reappeared next to him and grabbed him the scruff of the neck, dragging him to the side.

"Wha - "

Gargomon aimed his gun.

"Gatling Arm!"

The spray hit both Soulmon. One went down in the onslaught, while the last struggled for a bit longer before succumbing to the attack.

Davis released a loud cheer, pumping a fist into the air. He heard Arisa's loud exultation, and Ken's shout as well; the other humans in Makoto's team seemed excited as well, as they all jumped up and yelled out to their partners.

Devidramon seemed less pleased. He roared in frustration, bringing one claw high as he aimed a blow at Makoto on Liamon's back. "Crimson - "

Stingmon rushed at him and grabbed the claw. "I don't think so."

Devidramon growled. "Why you…"

Before he could retaliate, ExVeemon flew in from the side, biting down on Devidramon's other shoulder, grabbing onto the free claw the moment the digimon roared out in pain.

"Now!" Stingmon shouted.

Makoto grabbed on tightly as Liamon kneeled close to the ground, mane crackling with electricity.

"Thunder of King!"

Devidramon struggled against ExVeemon and Stingmon, but they held him firmly in place as the bolt of thunder reached him. They let go barely in time, the thunder striking the digimon, freezing up his muscles and causing his entire body to contract.

Davis felt that odd sensation again, the familiarity and the exhilaration.

Where have I felt this before? And… no, today hasn't been the first time…

He pushed the feeling aside again as Devidramon fell to the ground with a large thump, splashing water all over the place as he did. He did not move.

Davis let out a long sigh of relief. The fight was over. They had won.

And now they had six unconscious digimon to deal with.

He began walking towards the center of the square, closer to where Liamon and Makoto stood by the prone Devidramon. He saw the other humans doing the same – the Ken and Arisa following him, the twins ecstatic about the victory, Yuriko and Hideo conversing quietly as they went, though smiling. The rest of the digimon from Makoto's team came as well, though Turuiemon and Guardromon seemed busy rearranging the Soulmon.

As they convened, he turned to Makoto. "Okay, so what now?" he asked, scratching his head.

Makoto gave Liamon a hearty pat, saying something to his partner. Then he hopped off and jogged up to Davis, pulling some of the wet hair away from his face. "Well, we wanted one of them right?" he said, motioning to the pile. "We grab one and leave the rest."

Several of the humans frowned, and a couple of the digimon looked similarly displeased with that statement.

"The rest of Corrosion is gonna' know that we're the ones that took one," Yuriko pointed out. "Especially when they wake up and discover that one 'mon is missing, and remember that we were the last ones they fought."

Sangloupmon snorted. "Of course they're gonna' know," he rumbled. "Which is why we leave behind the Sign."

Davis blinked in confusion. "The Sign?"

Several of the others seemed to share his sentiment, and Sangloupmon sighed.

"I'll do it, you three tell them," he motioned to Arisa, Makoto, and Liamon, before trotting off toward the pile.

The three glanced at each other briefly, while Liamon shook himself, favoring his paw and making an irritated noise at it.

"So, you know we're pulling off the Old Bex, right?" Makoto began as he watched his partner. "The Sign is what tells everyone that it was the Old Bex. You leave the Sign wherever you captured them, and in a week, if the gang has shaped up, you let the hostage go," Makoto explained, pulling the wet hair from his face again.

There was a collective breath of understanding among the group.

"Makes sense," Hideo nodded, and he turned his head to gaze at Sangloupmon. The digimon had bent over a one of the smaller broken pieces of concrete and was busy carving something into it. "Anyway, let's hurry before the other reinforcements get here. Let's go with Vilemon, he's smaller and is probably higher ranking than any of the Soulmon."

Yuriko chided him playfully. "You're assuming that because there are multiple Soulmon and we took them out fairly easily, that they're lower in ranking than Vilemon? Soulmon-ist."

Both Guardromon and Octomon quietly muffled their laughter as Hideo crossed his arms indignantly.

"Can you blame me? They seem like grunts."

"Soulmon-ist."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to revert," Guardromon stated with a helpless shrug. "This rain is going to make me rust otherwise."

"That's fine," Hideo answered, smiling in understanding. "If someone else grabs Vilemon?"

"I'm on it," Octomon grunted, and he pulled himself along the ground towards Vilemon's location to take the digimon.

Davis glanced around to see where his own partner had gotten to. He saw ExVeemon flying around the edges of the square with Stingmon, doing some sort of perimeter check; he decided to leave the two to their work, and turned his attention to Sangloupmon instead, who had lifted the piece of concrete and was carrying it in his mouth.

He blinked hard when he saw exactly was written on it.

"That's… the kanji for 'sign'," he pointed as the digimon neared them.

Sangloupmon nodded. "Yup, that's the Sign," he replied in a slightly muffled voice.

"… that's it? Why is the Sign the kanji for 'sign'?"

"For the same reason that the thing we pulled is called the Old Bex."

He decided he wasn't going to continue this line of conversation.

Ken shrugged, along with the twins who seemed to take it in stride. Sangloupmon continued on towards where Octomon had made his way to, and Davis glanced around the square again. He knew that the digimon twins had not returned to their group yet; then he saw the pair still standing by the pile of unconscious Soulmon, keeping watch and whacking one occasionally at any signs of stirring.

Guardromon had returned to his Rookie form, and now Hagurumon huddled next to his partner, grumbling a little about the rain. "I don't like being wet," he muttered with a sour expression on his face.

Davis nodded in agreement, feeling the rain still pouring over his head and down his collar, seeping into the clothes he wore under his raincoat. "Amen to that."

Ken tilted his head to the side, gazing at Makoto and Davis in concern. "Are you two going to put your hoods back up?" he asked, frowning. "And Arisa, do you need something to keep dry?"

Makoto responded by pulling his back on and smiling, while Davis just sighed.

"I'm already kinda wet, no point," he answered. "Dunno about you," he added as he turned to Arisa, whose hair and clothing clung to her body, making her seem something like a drowned cat.

An oddly happy one though, considering the look on her face.

"I don't think I can get any more soaked," she shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. I like the rain."

Davis wrinkled his face in. Arisa saw his discomfort and just winked. "Isn't it so wonderful?" she exclaimed, holding her hands out and beaming. "The feeling of the cold water pouring onto your face, your clothes sticking to you, and how good it just feels?"

"It does not feel good."

She smiled mischievously at him and laughed. "You're cute, kid," she leaned over and ruffled his hair.

Davis batted her hand away. "Stop that."

She just grinned, crossing her arms as Sangloupmon and Octomon made their way back towards them, Vilemon held tightly in the latter's tentacles.

"Got him," Octomon reported, bobbing Vilemon's body up and down a little in affirmation. "Back to the safe house?"

Makoto nodded. "Yeah. Liamon, can you grab the others? We're moving out."

Liamon nodded and bounded away towards where Turuiemon and Gargomon were still keeping watch over the Soulmon. Davis waved over to where Stingmon and ExVeemon were still circling the square; both changed direction and flew back over to them, their bodies glowing.

He reached up as Veemon dropped into his arms, though he winced a little at his partner's weight.

"We did it," he commented with a grin.

His partner beamed up at him. "Yup, sure did! All in a day's work."

He put Veemon down, and noticed Ken busy speaking with Wormmon, promising him something warm when they got home; to the side, Turuiemon and Gargomon also returned, the energy around them showing their intent of returning to their own Rookie forms.

Makoto climbed atop Liamon.

"We're going ahead with Octomon," he stated. "Make your way back, and be careful."

The others nodded, and Arisa gave a mock salute.

The three of them sped off, Octomon with surprising speed despite his lack of mobility compared to Liamon. Yuriko watched her partner with a fond look on her face, smiling proudly.

Then she reached her arms up and stretched.

"Well, let's get going then," she rubbed a shoulder.

They went quickly. The square was considered neutral territory, so their primary concern was returning to the part of the city where the Orc Hands had control and other gangs were unlikely to be present. As the only one whose partner was still a Champion, Arisa seemed to take it upon herself to keep watch, and once they were in the streets, everyone walked at a fast pace to both return to Fugamon's Bar and escape from the rain that still poured on top of them.

Sangloupmon seemed fairly sure no one was following them, so Davis thought he might strike up some conversation again.

"Lots of good biting today," he complimented Veemon.

The digimon huffed. "Yeah. Because I'm actually supposed to bite! It's part of my character as ExVeemon."

Davis frowned. "Is this 'cuz Snimon bit you earlier?"

Veemon's grumbling was all he needed to confirm.

Sangloupmon and Arisa both snorted, but the others gave them quizzical looks.

"That is an odd thing for Snimon to do," Wormmon mused, as he sat in Ken's arms. At his insistence, he remained outside Ken's raincoat, for the sake of keeping his partner dry as he himself was soaked.

Kouki and Kouji glanced at each other, their own partners huddled by their legs trying to stay dry. "I guess I don't know much about lots of the digimon here," Kouki scratched his head. "But if Snimon was close enough, wouldn't he try anything, even if it wasn't a main attack?"

Hideo shrugged. "Possibly. What do you guys say?" he turned back to Davis and Ken.

Ken just smiled. "Wormmon's bitten me before. Does that help?"

Davis and Veemon both choked a little, surprised that Wormmon would do such a thing; the digimon in question turned slightly red and buried himself back in Ken's arms.

"You needed it," he mumbled.

Ken's gaze softened slightly. "Yeah… I did."

Then he quickly straightened and turned to back to Davis. "Anyway, how did the 'I'm taking my pet human out for a walk' story work out?"

Davis snorted, grinning widely as Veemon shrunk back a little.

"It was awesome," he answered, giving his partner a good pat. "Veemon's a good actor. But Vilemon decided to attack anyway. Oh yeah, we ran into Fangmon from the Tricksters. He stood up for us, but I told him to run off so he wouldn't get involved. He looked kinda' scared every time Vilemon said something about Morodemon."

Sangloupmon let out a long breath.

"I'm glad the Tricksters are with us," he continued padding forward, a slight curl in his jaw, revealing his pointed teeth and fangs. "Fangmon's always been pretty awesome. And damn Morodemon… guess it really is 'cause he's a Mega. Anything else happen?"

Davis scratched his head, wincing at how his hair was plastered to his head and the band of his goggles had been soaked all the way through. "Yeah. We found out that the order to go after humans came from Morodemon, because we're 'threats to gangs'."

Everyone stared at him.

"That's bullshit," Arisa shook her head in disbelief. "And everyone in the city knows. I'm not the only Digidestined that comes around here, and we're all on pretty good terms with the gangs. Even Corrosion… at least, we used to be…"

"We'll figure it out," Yuriko assured her, frowning. "Still…"

They were quiet for the rest of the trip back, the sound of their feet splashing in puddles and the ongoing rain the only things that punctuated their silence. The darkening sky did nothing to ease their thoughts as they hurried to try and remove themselves from the downpour.

Davis was more than relieved when he finally spied the flashing neon sign that stated 'The Red Troll'. The others were as well; Kouki and Kouji picked up their partners and jogged straight to the door, letting themselves in without hesitation, though Kouji propped up the door as he went.

"Wait for us," Hideo called as he and Hagurumon ran to catch up, Yuriko right behind him in an apparent desire to meet up with her partner.

Davis shrugged and went on in with Veemon, taking in the sudden change in temperature and lack of anything cold and wet falling on his head. He immediately shed his raincoat and grabbed a towel from beside the door, moving aside to try and let Ken, Wormmon, Arisa and the now reverted Dracmon in as well.

"Glad there's lots of space," Terriermon commented as he rubbed a towel over his wet fur.

Lopmon grinned at him, doing the exact same. "It's built for big digimon, and we're way smaller, so of course there's enough room with our number."

Throwing his coat over a chair, Davis handed Veemon another towel and glanced around. Makoto and Liollmon were sitting by the bar with Fugamon, all of whom looked extremely happy to see them; no one else was in sight.

Yuriko frowned at the lack of her partner's presence. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

Liollmon tilted his head down. "Basement. They're fixing everything up to keep Vilemon nice and secure."

The others nodded, but Davis felt a little bit guilty at the entire thing. As far as he knew, they had basically just Vilemon into a trap to take him captive, and having played a major role in it, he was a little bit more at fault for it.

As he finished drying off and sat himself at a nearby table, Fugamon apparently noticed his displeasure. "Don't worry," he waved at him. "We'll take good care o' him. We're a pretty hospitable crowd."

Davis still felt unsure leaned over to the table, resting his chin on his hand as he watched the others continue to towel dry themselves. Regardless, as the crowd dispersed into the main seating of the bar, they left a rather large puddle by the entrance.

As Ken and Wormmon seated themselves at Davis' table, and Veemon joined them as well, there was a loud bang from the door at the back of the room.

"He's all set," Hyogamon announced, walking in and dusting off his hands. Witchmon and Deltamon followed, looking rather pleased with themselves, and Octomon emerged last, seeming relieved.

Yuriko jumped towards her partner. "It all went well?"

The large tentacle digimon nodded. "Yeah. He's still out, might be a while before he wakes up. But he's not going anywhere."

With that, Octomon glowed in response to return to a smaller, less intimidating form.

Hyogamon climbed up onto one of the tables.

"The Digidestined pulled off the Old Bex today on our behalf – a victory!" he bellowed, pumping a clawed fist into the air. "So first off Digidestined, and our old friends Makoto and Liollmon – thanks. Big thanks to y'all. Fugamon, get the cups out – drinks for all!"

The other Orc Hands shouted in celebration, Fugamon grinning toothily as he immediately began lining cups on the counter. Arisa and Dracmon practically crowed, while Liollmon gave a small roar barely reminiscent of his larger lion form, while everyone else cheered.

Davis tried to smile, and the other three at his table noticed immediately.

"It's fine Davis," Ken noted with a shrug. "If this is how Vestia City works, then we play by its rules."

"… eh…"

Doesn't mean I have to like it…

He barely caught Makoto speaking to Fugamon again.

"Fugamon, you want me to pay my tab now?" the older boy was asking. "If we're having another drink fest in celebration…"

The digimon grinned toothily at him. "Nah, I'll let y'all off today. My treat. You did catch a Corrosion member for us. It's huge – ya put yourselves in danger so us Orc Hands wouldn't be seen as involved and we'd be safe. And now we even got a chance to get some info on whatever the hell Morodemon's been up to."

Makoto gave the digimon a rare grin. "Yeah. Thanks Fugamon," he stated, and he quietly fist-bumped with the other being.

Then he shouted out to the others.

"Okay! What does everyone want?"

Yuriko shouted first. "Milk tea!"

Everyone who was physically able slapped their foreheads.

"Milk tea? Milk tea?" Hideo asked in exasperation. "That's it?"

"I like milk tea."

Davis couldn't help but laugh at their antics. As much as he did worry, he had to look at what they had accomplished that day and the general atmosphere of celebration that now filled the room.

Then to his surprise, Hyogamon hopped off the table and suddenly strode over to theirs, collapsing happily into a chair.

"I can tell you're worried kid," he said in a quiet tone, as though understanding what was going through Davis' mind. "Don't. We ain't gonna' do anything bad to Vilemon, and our ways of interrogating are pretty harmless. Just ask Makoto or Liollmon, they know. Or even Arisa and Dracmon, they know the city well. It'll be fine, you can even come back to check in if you want. Just don't worry, lighten up and have fun, 'kay?"

Davis could tell that Hyogamon was being sincere, and nodded thankfully. "All right. I'll take your word for it,"

Hyogamon grinned. "All right. Glad you trust me."

He clapped the boy on the back heartily, then stood to go celebrate with his brother.

Yeah… I am thinking about this too hard. Should just take it in and relax.

Davis sighed and leaned back.

"Whew, man, what a day," he whistled, smiling at the others. Then his mind flashed back to the meeting the night before. "How do you think the others are doing?"

Ken crossed his arms, while Veemon and Wormmon glanced at each other.

"I bet those new Digidestined are doing just fine at Primary Village," Veemon stated adamantly. "And whoever that new girl and her partner are should love it. And I bet Matt's band friend and his partner are fighting and doing great too!"

Davis grinned back. "Bet they are. Hope no Drethmon pop up."

Wormmon shrugged a little, crawling forward on the table. "Akira and Penguinmon, I think they were – they were involved against a Drethmon not too long ago. They have Agumon and Gabumon there, Tai and Matt, they should be all right."

Ken frowned, brows furrowing.

"It's Miro Sanctuary that still bothers me," he answered quietly, ignoring the sound of Deltamon accidentally breaking something and both pairs of twins rushing to his aid while Witchmon laughed in the background. "I gave Izzy all my notes, and I hope he's doing all right… but I can't help but worry about their situation. I'm going to go back there next chance I get. And that's not even mentioning…"

He trailed off, and Davis grimaced as he remembered the other thing on Ken's mind.

"How the time is completely off on our D3s?" he supplied.

Both digimon cringed, while Ken nodded solemnly.

"I think I may have to speak with the older kids about it," he continued, running a hand through his indigo hair. "After all, they have some experience with this issue from their first adventure."

Veemon suddenly rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Well, being worried about it and moping isn't helping anything right now," he stated firmly. "We'll worry when we get back. Hey Fugamon, give me a soda!" he shouted at the bar.

Davis laughed. Veemon was right after all; there was no use worrying until they got back to the human world, when they would be able to check how the time changed on their digivices and could talk with the others. For now, he was going to enjoy the joviality of everyone as they celebrated, the Orc Hands as they danced about, some of the other digimon as they conversed, Dracmon up on a table belting his lungs out while his partner cheered.

He winked confidently at Ken. "He's right you know."

Ken smiled back. "Yeah, I know."

With one more grin, Davis turned straight back to the bar.

"Hey, give me something hot! I'm all cold from the stupid rain!"