(A/N: I don't have much to say today except thanks to my reviewers and readers. This chapter reveals Love Machine's past, for those of you that don't know it, and how he ended up in the Digital World. If you want more information on him, I suggest Wikipedia.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: Beyond Worlds

It was a relief to be back in the real world. Truthfully, they were somewhat surprised that Love Machine hadn't chased after them. The fact that he hadn't was rather concerning; it meant that he didn't see them as enough of a threat to bother with them.

"I'm telling you," said TK, "we've never encountered anything like this thing before. All he had to do was watch our Digimon perform an attack, and he instantly learned it."

Izzy tapped his chin. "This is rather worrisome. He must be programmed to learn. Perhaps he's able to read the flow of data when a Digimon attacks and is able to duplicate the process."

Davis blinked. "He's doing the process of what now?"

Izzy rolled his eyes and ignored him. "Gennai and I were monitoring your battle. It seems that Love Machine was indeed playing with you. He's actually quite powerful."

He clicked on the computer, bringing up three different images on screen. The first was the image of Love Machine as a jack-in-the-box creature from when he first appeared in Primary Village, the second of his demented Mickey Mouse form they had first seen him in, and the third was his current form.

A fourth image popped up shortly after containing Gennai, who seemed to be able to see and interact with the other images. "His first form seems to be equivalent to that of an In-Training level Digimon, while his second form is as strong as a high-powered Champion."

The DigiDestined looked at the demented Mickey Mouse. It certainly didn't look like it was on par with a Champion, nor had it acted like it.

"His current form," Gennai continued, "has the strength of a Mega. We estimate his power to be somewhere between Piedmon and Diaboromon's level of strength. And he's getting stronger with the more data he consumes."

"Add onto that his ability to copy and learn attacks, and he's truly a force to be reckoned with," Izzy pointed out.

"Yes, there's that as well. It seems he can also learn the attacks of the Digimon he consumes as well. I'm afraid this guy is just going to keep getting stronger and stronger."

Cody's fists clenched. "This is ridiculous! Just what is this thing? Where did it come from?"

"It's an A.I." Izzy replied. "An artificial intelligence. At least that's what it started out as. It seems to have grown and evolved from its original programming. Actually," he began going through some files on his computer, "that is what its programmed for; to learn and adapt, but it does it at such an exponential rate that it surpasses even a Digimon's capability."

"Wow," Yolei muttered. "Sounds like some science project gone wrong."

"Isn't that what happened with Diaboromon?" Davis asked.

Izzy brought up Diaboromon's file. "Not quite. When Willis created Diaboromon's Digi-Egg, it was pretty much a blank slate until it was attacked by a computer virus and mutated. Love Machine was created for a specific purpose, but due to his programming to learn and advance, he evolved into a creature similar to a Digimon."

"But how'd it get to the Digital World?" Kari asked. "Even when Diaboromon was created, he was still stuck on the internet. So were all the Kuramon he created until he sent them out into the real world through e-mails."

"Yes," said Gennai,"well, it turns out that Love Machine actually originated from another dimension."

"Another dimension?" TK repeated. "What do you mean?"

"You actually came up with the theory," Izzy told him. "I believe you described it like this." Bringing up a blank page on the screen, he drew lines of different colors parallel to one another. "Each one of these lines is a different reality, or an alternate dimension if you prefer. The Digital World is all one dimension, but made up of multiple layers, each layer connecting to a different reality of the real world."

"I remember what this is about," said Patamon. "This was when we had to figure out the right order of cards in order to open the right door to the human world after Myotismon went through."

"Exactly," Izzy replied. "Love Machine is from one of these alternate dimensions."

Davis looked at DemiVeemon. "We went to one of those dimensions with Tai and Agumon to help defeat Quartzmon, remember? We also met the DigiDestined from four different dimensions that had joined the fight as well. Is Love Machine from one of their dimensions? Maybe we can get in contact with the DigiDestined from one of those realities."

"I'm afraid that won't do you any good," Gennai replied. "The version of the Human World that Love Machine came from is one where the Digital World hasn't even been discovered yet, so there aren't any DigiDestined there to help us."

"So then how did you find all this out?" Ken asked curiously.

"It wasn't us," Izzy told him. "It was actually BlackWarGreymon that discovered it."

There were exclaims of "What?" from all around.

"BlackWarGreymon?" Upamon repeated. "You mean the one that Arukenimon created out of 100 Control Spires?"

"Do we know any others?" Gatomon asked rhetorically.

"Well," said Izzy, "there are other BlackWarGreymon throughout the Digital World, but yes, the one I'm referring to was the one Arukenimon created."

"But that doesn't make any sense," said Yolei. "He was destroyed by Owikawa while he was under the control of MaloMyotismon."

Cody nodded. "Yeah, then he used his body to seal that one entrance between the real world and the Digital World."

"You're both right," Gennai told them. "And since he was an artificial Digimon created from Control Spires, he should have just disappeared completely after he died. But unlike the others Arukenimon created, he possessed a true soul. After he used his body to seal the doorway, his spirit returned. He may not have a physical form any longer, but he now acts as a guardian between the worlds. This seemed to have happened when he used his body to seal up the gate."

There was a few moments of silence that was eventually broken by TK. "Wow, I guess he found his true purpose after all."

"It was his role as guardian that allowed him to trace Love Machine's origins and discover all this information about him," Izzy explained. "Apparently, after Love Machine's creation, the people his programming had sold him to decided to try him out by unleashing him on OZ."

"OZ?" Yolei repeated. "As in The Wizard Of…?"

Izzy shook his head. "No, not that. OZ is sort of a massive interactive computer-simulated virtual reality world system server from Love Machine's dimension that connected all online accounts to one source. But with Love Machine running through it freely, he began hacking and taking over numerous accounts, gaining complete control."

"I don't get it," said Davis.

"Shocker," Yolei muttered.

"Well," said Izzy, "say you have an online account to handle all your bank affairs. If Love Machine managed to take over that, he'd have full access to all your funds and account information. If he took over the account of the bank itself, he's have access to everyone's accounts that was joined with the bank's. OZ acted as the main base that all accounts all over the world were under. This was how he was able to spread and take over. He even took over several military accounts and tried to start a nuclear holocaust."

"He what?" Kari cried. "For goodness sake, why?"

"It seemed to be one big game to him. Love Machine was never meant to be used in such a way that he could affect real people's lives, so it seemed he had no regard for life at all. I'll bet his buyers regretted setting him loose after that."

"Yeah, no kidding," TK agreed. "So what happened? I assume he was stopped."

Gennai was the one who answered. "Yes, according to our information, Love Machine's creator and his family managed to take back the stolen accounts and delete him. Unfortunately, he had evolved enough to become an actual living digital entity rather than just a simple A.I. program."

"So you're saying he was like a Digimon," Ken theorized. "So when he was destroyed, his data reconfigured just as a Digimon's would."

Izzy nodded. "That's why he appeared in Primary Village; it's the starting point for all Digital life, not just Digimon."

Kari considered all that they learned. "Suddenly this all makes sense. That's how he was able to come to the Digital World without passing through any Digi-Ports."

Davis looked at each of them, completely bewildered. "Hey, what are you guys talking about? I'm still lost."

They ignored him.

"This does pose a problem though," said TK. "Even if we manage to defeat Love Machine, he'll just be reborn in Primary Village once more, and the whole thing will start all over again."

"Yeah," Patamon agreed, "he's not like the bad Digimon we faced. He'll just be able to consume everyone's data like he did before and get as strong as he is now once again just as fast."

Gennai sighed. "I'm afraid you're right. He hasn't even been in the Digital World for a day yet, and he's already as strong as a Mega. Destroying him will accomplish nothing if he can completely regain his strength in a matter of hours."

TK's eyes widened. "Not even our Digimon can regain their strength that fast if they die," he said, recalling how it had taken days for Patamon to reach his Rookie level again after he had sacrifice himself as Angemon to defeat Devimon. And according to Ken, it had also taken several days for Wormmon to regain his Rookie form after his Digi-Egg had hatched.

"We'll have to take it one step at a time," said Cody. "First we'll defeat Love Machine. Once he's reborn, he'll be at his weakest and most vulnerable. Maybe then we'll be able to capture him and lock him up somewhere he can't do any harm."

"Hey," DemiVeemon exclaimed, "Starmon owes us a favor for saving him from the Dark Ring that was on him. Maybe he'll lock Love Machine up in his jail for us."

"Lets just focus on defeating him first," Ken suggested. "Then we'll worry about what to do with him afterwards."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" said Upamon, hopping up and down. "Lets eat and then rest up. We'll need to be in tiptop shape to beat this guy."

Gennai nodded. "Indeed. And I beg you, please hurry. Love Machine is only going to get stronger and cause more trouble. My copies are already reporting that he's being a nuisance."

DemiVeemon stood up straight and puffed out his chest. "Don't you worry, Gennai. Once we've recovered, we'll teach this guy a thing or two. He'll be sorry he ever came to our world."

Izzy sighed. "I wish the rest of the team was here to help you, but we're all spread out right now."

Davis thumped himself on the chest. "Don't worry, Izzy, we can handle it. He may have gotten the upper hand on us before, but that's because we weren't ready. You just keep doing your monitoring thing and let us handle everything. We'll show Love Machine some Imperialdramon power, and he'll be running for the hills."

"And we'll help, of course," Poromon added.

Upamon nodded. "We might not be able to reach the Mega level, but our DNA Digivolved forms are still nothing to laugh at."

Izzy uncomfortably looked at the image of Love Machine on the screen. "I hope that will be enough. If we don't do something soon, this could very well become the greatest threat the Digital World has ever seen."

(A/N: So, now we know where Love Machine came from, and how he got to the Digital World. For those of you that haven't seen Summer Wars, that' where Love Machine originated from. I wanted to do something with BlackWarGreymon too, he was always one of my favorite characters, and really faced a tragic end. So I made it that, since his body became a barrier between the Real World and the Digital World at one of the gates, his spirit endured, allowing him to act as a guardian. This was how he was able to track down Love Machine's origin. But the problem still remains. Love Machine is getting stronger, learning more moves, and causing havoc throughout the Digital World. They'll have to stop him soon before it's too late.)