Episode 4

To Those Capturing The Moon

The Digital World

Reptiledramon hobbled into the grand hall of Darknessmon's lair, trying to keep his balance as pain shot through him and his death became clearly inevitable. He had lost against Serena Usagi and her Digimon companion, he knew that if he failed then he would have to return to Darknessmon's lair and accept his fate, Darkness was going to finish him off and load his data. It may have appeared cruel to any other Digimon or person, but in all honesty's it was what Reptiledramon wanted.

He was loyal to Darknessmon, even in death, to be uploaded by his leader and help the continuation of the Six Dragon's mission was all he could ask for. And if he was to die then Darknessmon needed his data to make him stronger. Darknessmon's lair was a large castle-like structure built inside a mountain near the grounds of the Ice Labyrinths, it was a large and menacing structure, something out of a horror movie.

The grand hall was lit by rusty chandeliers that hung from the ceiling and torches attached to the wall, each torch and every candle on the chandelier holding a bright green flame. The walls of the grand hall were made from stone, the very castle was carved from the inside of the mountain itself. Running from the wooden doors to the large and Gothic stone throne was a deep black piece of cloth, a type of red carpet.

Reptiledramon approached the throne that was held on a higher level, kneeling before Darknessmon. Strikedramon stood closest to the throne, she was most loyal to Darknessmon and the one Darknessmon trusted the most. Everything Darknessmon knew Strikedramon knew, in a sense Strikedramon was the second-in-command and general. Darkdramon stood on the left of Reptiledramon, Chaosdramon standing near Reptiledramon's right.

As two of the three mega levels Chaosdramon and Darkdramon served as guards, if those who approached Darknessmon attempted to try to attack him or kill him then those two quickly took care of the problem. The third mega was Goldramon and he stood at the edge of the level leading to the throne, he was ready to face any problem that somehow got passed Chaosdramon or Darkdramon.

"I'm guessing you failed, Reptiledramon," Darknessmon said in a deep and demonic voice.

"Yes," Reptiledramon confirmed. "Serena Usagi has a new power, she can turn into a Digimon now, she distracted me and her Digimon companion got me from behind."

"Which companion?" Darknessmon asked. "Serena has many Digimon friends."

"Dorumon," Strikedramon answered. "One of my informants saw Dorumon leaving via a portal Alphamon of the Royal Knights created."

Darknessmon hummed thoughtfully, "Serena can turn into a Digimon," he said. "How exactly can she do that?"

Reptiledramon decided that if he was going to die then he would want to his leader's face once more; Darknessmon wore a mask shaped like a dragon's face, a crown of sharp horns and the bottom half of his human face was visible. He had long scaly wings and usually always wore a dark cloak that hid the rest of his body, except for his tail that had small spikes running up his tail and up his spine.

"Wait, did you say Dorumon?" Darknessmon asked. "How could you have been defeated by a rookie?"

"Dorumon had digivolved into Dorugoramon somehow," Reptiledramon explained. "She wore a strange collar, I sensed great power was sealed in it."

"A gift from the Sovereigns most probably," Darknessmon leaned on a fist. "The Sovereigns, Yggdrasil and even Fanglongmon are doing everything they can to prevent my plan from working. If only they intervened themselves, but of course they can't... it goes against what they believe in. Still..."

Darknessmon reached inside his cloak and pulled out a DigiCore, a large football sized yellow sphere that they recognized as one of the DigiCore's the Sovereign Ebonwumon usually carried. Strikedramon and the rest of the Dragon's stared at the awe in wonder and amazement, how did Darknessmon get hold of that?

"Still," Darknessmon continued. "Its good that they can't personally interven, Ebonwumon maybe a Sovereign but he is still a giant turtle and is slow moving. Strikedramon?" he turned to her. "Do you know what happens if a DigiCore is taken from a Sovereign?"

"If a DigiCore is taken from one of the Sovereigns then the Digital World's defences will weaken making the Digital World unbalanced," Strikedramon answered automatically.

"Is that how you weakened the Digital Barrier?" Goldramon asked.

Darknessmon nodded.

He had told the Six Dragon's that he had plans to weaken the Digital Barrier and when he somehow did weaken the barrier he didn't explain how, Reptiledramon had passed through a portal and now that other Digimon were beginning to pass through the barrier Darknessmon had decided to explain the situation. He knew that the barrier was weakened to the right extent, anyone could pass through now.

"I took one of Ebonwumon's DigiCore's and the barrier between the two worlds is now weakened," Darknessmon explained. "I wouldn't worry though, its only one DigiCore, the Digital Barrier won't continue to disintegrate but at the same time it won't repair itself unless I return this DigiCore. We're safe, the two worlds won't collide."

Darknessmon got to his feet and all of the Dragon's bowed they're heads in respect, he approached Reptiledramon and pulled an Aztec-style knife from beneath his cloak. He lifted Reptiledramon's head, he grabbed some of the digizoid that covered his throat and tore it off with surprising ease. He pressed the knife to Reptiledramon's throat, smiling kindly.

"Your a very brave Digimon," Darknessmon smiled. "Your sacrifice will aid us in the Promised Day."

"I know," Reptiledramon nodded. "I'm happy to help, even if I can do this one little thing."

Darknessmon slashed open Reptiledramon's throat with the knife and Reptiledramon burst into over a thousand shards of data, Darknessmon quickly absorbed the particles of data and with each particle he absorbed the stronger he grew. When the data was all collected Darknessmon took a deep breath and sat on his throne, crossing his legs and leaning back lazily in his throne.

"All of you leave," he ordered. "I need time to think... to think of the moon."

They all nodded obediently and left the grand hall, leaving Darknessmon to stare at the ground as he thought of the moon. In the Digital World there was no moon or sun, all they had was the Human World that appeared as a giant sphere above the Digital World. 'Moon' was just a nickname for Serena Usagi as in many ways she was the moon to Darknessmon and to others.

The sun was a source of light, lights were beautiful like fresh ideas but Serena was constantly stopping the ideas like Yumiko's from manifesting. Serena was the moon, she eclipsed the sun and prevented ideas from taking from and shape. Although many would agree that Yumiko's idea was a bad one, it was still an idea that was bright like the sunshine. Then Serena came along, she eclipsed the sun and the idea went out as the darkness came.

That's all Serena was, the moon that ruled over darkness and stopped people like Yumiko from realizing they're goals and ambitions.

...

Six Months Ago, the Night of Serena's 17th birthday

Beelzemon lay with both his hands behind his head, a satisfied smirk on his face as Serena lay on his chest. Beelzemon's gift of sex was by far the best gift Serena had received, the beautiful dress off Lilithmon could hardly compare to how Beelzemon showed his gentle and tender side as he made love to her. Now after an unforgettable climax they lay naked in bed together, enjoying the aftermath of the moment.

Serena held Beelzemon's mask in her one hand, looking it over before she looked up at his handsome and smooth features. Beelzemon's one arm slid around her waist and he brought her closer, listening to her heavy breathing and felt her warm skin against his own. She smiled at him and gently kissed his neck, setting aside the mask as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I can see someone's happy," she said.

"Yer think?" he teased. "I heard that humans loved tis kinda thin', I just never realized how much fun it is."

Serena chuckled lightly and she felt his one hand slid through her hair, he moved some strands from her face and an odd look came across his face. Serena arched an eyebrow and lay on top of him, propping herself up on her elbows as she tried to decipher the look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Serena asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," he answered quickly. "Its not yer, its just... I was thinkin' 'bout how my life was before I met ya. My life before I met yer was dark, and not in thah good Demon Lord kinda way."

"Dark as in depressing?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beelzemon sighed. "I like bein' ah Demon Lord, I like what I do, but I was never happy. I guess I was lonely, not that loneliness bothered any of thah other Lords. Well, except for Lilithmon, but she hid it well."

Beelzemon inched forwards so his nose was touching Serena's, he said nothing for a long time, he just stared into Serena's eyes and thanked all his lucky star's for being given such a beautiful and loving girl to have at his side. And Serena felt the same, the Digimon she obsessed over as a child was now her boyfriend, what more could she want?

Finally he spoke, "Seren," he began. "Yer like meh moon, my life was nothing more than a dark hole but then you come along and lit up my world."

"But a sun provides more light than the moon," Serena pointed out.

"Yeah," he smiled. "But I'm still ah Demon Lord, we still have tah live in a dark world but we are allowed some light."

Serena smiled and nuzzled his neck, delivering soft kisses as her hands smoothly ran down his muscular torso. Beelzemon's arms folded around Serena, his one hand stroking the back of her head and his fingers running through her hair. In that moment he held her, in that moment he took in her scent and felt the warm glow of love that radiated off her, Beelzemon realized how much he didn't want her to leave him or how much he didn't want to loose her.

But this thing with Yumiko, what Serena had to do, Beelzemon just had a bad feeling in his gut. What if things didn't go well? Beelzemon couldn't loose her, she was his moon, if she was gone then his world be thrown back into darkness.

...

The Digital World, Present Day

Strikedramon walked into the large round chamber that served as the Gathering Hall, it was a round chamber with a high ceiling and six stone thrones that were held up on different levels depending on the power level of the Digimon. The thrones were spaced in a circle around a deep fire pit where a large green fire grew, along the walls were old torches that also held green flames.

None of the Dragon's sat on they're thrones, they sat around the fire discussing the recent turn of events. Dorumon was now in the Human World and had been granted the ability to Digivolve, Serena Usagi and Dorumon defeated Reptiledramon and now they were a Dragon short. On top of that Serena had discovered a new power in which she could somehow turn into a Digimon.

They were expecting Dorumon or another Digimon to go to the Human World and Strikedramon assumed that the Sovereigns would help by granting Dorumon the ability to Digivolve on her own, but they weren't expecting Serena's powers to manifest in the Human World. She was flesh and blood now, she was DNA, but something inside of her was still part of the Digital World.

"Well, that's one of us gone," Darkdramon said.

"Yes," Goldramon agreed. "It seems we were unprepared for Serena and Dorumon to be so powerful."

"When Digimon have something to fight for they'll fight until they're nothing but data," Strikedramon commented as she sat. "The same can be said for us, Reptiledramon lost but he still proved to be useful."

"Who cares about Reptiledramon?" Chaosdramon snarled. "He's gone, get over it, what we need to figure out is how we're to handle Serena and Dorumon and keep the bloody Royal Knights out of our hair."

"The Demon Lord's are starting to move against us now too," Wingdramon commented. "Lilithmon went to the Human World today and Beelzemon sent a DemiDevimon to the Human World to give Serena something, but I don't think the others will cause us problems."

"They will if they discover Darknessmon's intentions," Strikedramon pointed out. "If Lucemon discovers that Darknessmon has plans to take over the Digital World then he'll have the Demon Lord's move against us!"

"Then we'll have to act fast," Goldramon said. "We'll have to capture Serena and kill Dorumon as soon as we get the chance."

"Capture Serena?" Chaosdramon repeated. "Why are we to capture the thing that has caused us so many problems?"

"Darknessmon's orders were to 'capture the moon'," Strikedramon answered. "If we capture Serena, what he views as the moon, he believes that our plans will go without a hitch."

"Why does he view the human as the moon?" Wingdramon frowned. "That's a strange title for a human to wear."

"She's not a human, Wingdramon," Goldramon slapped the back of Wingdramon's head. "She's a hybrid, don't you ever forget that."

Strikedramon watched as the group began to bicker, trying to figure out the best way to approach Serena and Dorumon, she frowned and turned her face to the side. She knew what to do, she knew why Darknesmon called Serena the 'moon', she was Darknessmon's most trusted Dragon and she knew exactly what to do.

Gathering intelligence, gather information and learn how Serena and Dorumon fought. To capture something you must first analyse it, watch every move they make and try to see if you could figure out how they thought. Strikedramon got to her feet and as the four remaining Dragon's argued amongst themselves she left the Gathering Hall and set her course for the Human World.

...

The Human World

Serena climbed into the apartment through her bedroom window, once inside she took off her NeoDevimon helmet and reverted back to her human form. Dorugoramon reverted back into Dorumon and Serena caught her before she could fall, pulling her back into the apartment and they went to speak to Yamaki who was in the living room. Serena's leg was bruised from where Reptiledramon had hit her, Dorumon was a little stiff from where she had fallen and her head hurt but other than that they were fine.

Yamaki looked over the helmet as Serena explained what happened, Dorumon curled up on the floor as she rested and napped. Once Serena was finished Yamaki put the helmet down on the coffee table.

"I told you your powers would still work," Yamaki smiled. "But its interesting how your powers have manifested in such a way, Yumiko was completely different. All you have to do is have something that belong's to a Digimon, Yumiko had to absorb the data of a Digimon to change shape."

"Was there any guarantee that she and I would be the same?" Serena asked.

"Well, no," Yamaki replied. "Oh, by the way, Tom phoned. He said he wanted you to meet him near the tree house, said he had something important to tell you."

"That makes two of us," Serena murmured softly. She turned to Dorumon, she walked towards her friend and gently stroked her face. "Dorumon..." she said. "Wake up, c'mon, we've gotta meet Tom."

Dorumon drowsily muttered something, her body became encased in the gold hue and she was Dodomon once more. Serena rolled her eyes and carefully picked up Dodomon, she went into her room and picked up a hooded purple jacket and bag. She placed the helmet in her bag then as she put on her jacket she tucked Dodomon into her hood.

"Be careful Serena, okay?" Yamaki said as she turned to leave. "I can't leave the apartment because someone might recognize me, I can't be there to help you."

"You don't need to be with me everyday, Dad," Serena smiled. "What you need to do is wear a wig or something, that way you won't be that recognizable."

Yamaki smiled and watched her leave, the smile left his face as he realized how much he hated being so useless. In the Digital World Yamaki was useful, he could freely roam the Digital World without worrying about such little problems, but now he had to hide and pray that Serena would be okay and that she knew what she was doing.

...

Serena had managed to take a quiet path to the forest, she didn't want anyone to see Dodomon and thankfully the way she took to the forest was completely deserted. She quickly walked through the forest and came across Tom who stood near the old tree house, he wore a heavy grey hoodie and jeans and a baseball cap that was on sideways. He held something in his hand but it was hard to see what as both his hands were dug into his pocket.

Serena stopped a few feet away, close enough to see him but not as so close he could see Dodomon in her hood. Serena began to wonder if Tom had recognized her when she was LadyNeoDevimon, she hoped not, that could cause problems.

"Hey Tom," she greeted. "What's up?"

"When you was taken out of school today a Reptiledramon attacked the school," Tom said. "But he was stopped by a Dorugoramon and a new Digimon, a LadyNeoDevimon."

"So?" she shrugged.

"That LadyNeoDevimon sounded like you," Tom explained. "She shouted something to the Dorugoramon and she shouted at all the students who were watching the fight, I heard her voice clearly and she sounded just like you. And today you was looking in your bag and it looked like you was talking to someone, what's going on?"

Serena sighed heavily, "I was going to tell you today," she answered. "I was going to tell you the truth, but you have to realize that if you tell anyone then the whole Digital World could be in trouble."

What she said was a slight exaggeration, if Tom did tell people about what happened then Digimon will be in trouble as many people won't take too kindly to what actually happened in the Digital World and many people would shun Serena because of what she was. Tom would have to realize the importance the information Serena was sharing with him and know that it was common sense not to share the information.

"I can prove I'm trustworthy," Tom smiled and clicked his fingers. "Come on out Gatomon."

Serena's eyes widened and she watched as a Gatomon with no ring on its tail approached Tom, standing on his left with a loyal look in her bright blue eyes. Tom pulled his hand out of his pocket and revealed a D-Arc that was the same design as the original Digivice, he then pulled down his sleeve to reveal the ring that a Gatomon usually wore was tightly secured around his wrist.

"A couple of days after you went to the Digital World a Digi-egg came out of my computer," Tom explained. "When it hatched I had a Salamon and this Digivice, it looks dated compared to what the Tamers have now but it works differently to the original Digivices. I don't need any crests to get it to work, all I need is to wish and Gatomon Digivolves."

"I'm not always with him," Gatomon said. "So I couldn't help earlier today."

"You was too busy enjoying a cat-nap," Tom pointed out.

"A girl needs her beauty sleep," Gatomon smirked.

Serena smiled, if Tom was willing to show Serena his Digimon then he was obviously prepared to keep big secrets. Serena reached into her hood and pulled out Dodomon, she was awake now and as Serena set her down on the floor Dodomon turned into Dorumon. Tom and Gatomon approached them, Tom smiling as he looked Dorumon over and Gatomon introduced herself to Dorumon.

"Dorumon and I used to be Partner's, but my D-Arc was destroyed," Serena said. "Dorumon can digivolve on her own now though, the Sovereigns gave her that collar she's wearing and it helps her digivolve."

"And was you the LadyNeoDevimon?" Tom inquired.

"Yeah," Serena answered. "See, I'm a human/Digimon hybrid and the Reptiledramon you saw yesterday is part of a group called the Six Dragon's. They're after me and as you saw they're willing to attack innocent people to get to me."

"Why are they after you?" Gatomon asked.

"Its complicated," Serena replied.

"Let us help, Seren," Tom smiled. "Gatomon can reach mega but we've never fought before, all we do is practise routines and stuff."

"I can't let you get involved in this fight," Serena argued. "It wouldn't be fair, you said Gatomon's never fought before. The Six Dragon's are powerful, three of them are mega!"

"Seren, c'mon," Tom urged. "What if the situation was reversed? You would want to fight alongside me, wouldn't you?"

Serena and Dorumon looked at one another, both of them debating the idea. Tom did have a point, if Tom was the human/Digimon who was being chased by the Six Dragon's then she would want to help him. All Tom wanted was to taste what it was like to be a real Tamer, a Tamer with a slightly out-dated Digivice, but he still wanted to battle alongside his Partner and other Digimon.

Serena had felt similar when she saw humans with Digimon companions, she wanted to be part of the crowd that had Digimon friends and she wanted to have Digimon friends. Now Tom wanted to be part of what Serena was part of, Tom wanted to fight Digimon alongside his friends and he wanted to know what it felt like to be part of the Digital World.

"Fine," Serena smiled. "As long as you keep the whole thing a secret."

"Deal," he promised.

Serena and Tom shook hands, both of them wearing wide grins on they're faces. Tom was now part of the Anti-Dragon Resistance, he may not yet know how dangerous a fight between Digimon could go but Tom would soon find out. Serena just hoped that he wouldn't regret his decision to help out a friend in need and that he wouldn't get killed.

...

Strikedramon watched Serena Usagi leave the area with Dorumon, Gatomon and the human boy. Strikedramon admitted the forest was a quiet and isolated area, a quiet place where they could discuss Digimon and other such things without anyone hearing them. If anyone did try to eavesdrop then chances are Serena or the other Digimon would notice hear them, no one could sneak up on them.

But Strikedramon was already in the area, she had followed Serena Usagi's scent to her home and she sneaked into one of the room's. She had heard what Yamaki Usagi had said about the human boy 'Tom' and she arrived in the forest before Serena and Dorumon, sneaking into the tree house and watching the entire conversation. Gatomon hadn't noticed her, neither had Tom.

Strikedramon was used for stealth missions and gathering intel because she was fast, she got in and out before anyone noticed. And now Strikedramon had gathered some important information, there were two new players in the game and it seemed capturing the moon would be a little harder than Strikedramon thought.

To Be Continued...