A/N: We have reached a milestone in the story; chapter ten, and my interest is not waning, but increasing in this story!

Now, we begin the hum drum activity of slowly introducing the K'rin to one another, as well as the start of that famous written examination!

…

Digimon, Hurricane Chronicles

Chapter Ten: Start Your Engines! New Rivals, Assemble!

…

K'rin Reference Book,

Keenan of the Sands

Age: 10

Family Unit: Unknown

O'rin Sensei: Torune

Missions Completed: 8 D Rank, 3 C Rank, 1 B Rank, 0 A Rank (S Rank N/A)

Conclusions: A mysterious young boy of unknown ability, but is recorded as having completed a B Rank mission as a K'rin without receiving a scratch. Youngest of this year's crop of K'rin from the Sandstorm Village.

…

"Hey, have you heard the news?" a boy in a sleeveless shirt and sleeveless orange and black jacket said, his chocolate hair falling down to his shoulders with a ponytail and baggy cargos running into two leg weights and his blue sandals. Around his wrists were bandages tied from his forearm down to his fingers, his headband wrapped around his waist like a belt, "There are going to be first year K'rin at the T'rin Exams this year; that has not happened in almost five years."

"No way, Marcus," a girl twirling a kunai in her finger replied. She had pink hair tied up into two buns, her headband on her forehead and a pink Chinese style, button up blouse and baggy shorts that ran into her sandals, "that'll be some O'rin trying to boost their egos against the others."

"No, the story is that three of them are students of Satsuma and Kudamon."

"Really?" a boy input, sat against the stump in the assigned training area, a target above his head filled with kunai and shuriken. He was bleach blonde, with wavy hair held up by his headband. He had piercing blue eyes and a handsome face, a baggy jumper with a large collar on his body in addition to his shorts, his sandals on his feet like every Tamer, "well how very unfortunate for them."

The girl plunged the kunai into the bullseye of the target above the blonde's head by throwing it, all of them smiling; they were ready to fight at this year's exam.

oOo

"How can we have two sensei, and yet neither one shows up on time when they call us?" Sora roared six days after the run in with the Sandstorm Tamers, Tai nodding in agreement while the three Digimon paced back in fear.

"Sora's right!" Tai acknowledged, nodding.

"Morning, all!" Satsuma called out from the top of a nearby lamppost, his hand raised greetingly, Kudamon around his neck, "today I found out that I had a deeper reason for being here-…"

"LIAR!" Sora and Tai bellowed in synch, "GET YOUR LIES STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU SHOW UP LATE!"

…

"Application forms?" Sora repeated, wide eyed.

"Yes," Kudamon responded, "these are application forms for the T'rin Exams. Sora, don't fret, if you don't feel up to it, then you don't have to take the Exams this year, it is all voluntary, but if you decide to participate, hand them in at the school tomorrow; that's the site of the first exam."

"Satsuma-sensei, I love you!" Tai cheered as he launched up and hugged the O'rin, who promptly pushed him back, the boy staring chirpily at his small form with the symbol for 'JOURNEYMAN' on it, This is it! My chance to prove myself!

Satsuma cleared his throat to get their attention, "Again, it's voluntary, but if you wish to participate tomorrow, return those forms with your signature affixed to room three on the second floor of the school, that's the registry point. That's it for today, you are dismissed so that you can think on it." He finished as he vanished with Kudamon with a leap onto a faraway building, vanishing from sight.

Tai, Sora and Matt began to walk down a path, their Digimon dismissed for the day and going their own way, and thought on their application.

Tai was more vocal about it, "Yes, the T'rin Exam! All the strong guys will be there!" he thought of Daiyo, and then turned to Matt with a mischievous smirk, Oh, your time is coming Matt, you'll lose to me, I'll get promoted for winning this thing, and then I'll be one step closer to replacing the coffin ditcher as Senksha!

Matt thought about his own goals, Finally, I'll be getting a challenge… I might fight that Keenan kid! He gave an excited shudder with a weak smile.

Sora was despondent in her thoughts, having fallen behind in the three man march, stopping as she pessimistically thought, Forget Matt, I can't keep up with a moron like Tai… and now something menacing like the T'rin Exams… I'm not sure…

oOo

The next day, in front of their old school, Matt (his hands pocketed) waited with Sora as Tai ran up, his form in his hand, "Sora, I'm here!"

"Morning… Tai…" Sora depressingly sighed as the chocolate haired boy came up to her.

Matt, keeping his hands in his pockets, looked across to Sora, especially on her slightly darker eyes, Sora's acting weird today. She doesn't look like she got much, if any, sleep last night.

Inside the building on the third floor, their seemed to be a commotion, as a huge crowd of various Tamer K'rin crowded around a scene before room three, as one K'rin kicked away the boy known as Marcus back, he and his partner watching the entrance to the room like guards, warding off any attempt to enter.

"You plan on entering the T'rin Exam like that?" the bullying K'rin venomously snorted down at Marcus, who wiped away blood from his bruised cheek, "You should surrender now. You're just a little kid, not a Tamer."

"Yeah," his obnoxious partner agreed.

The girl from Marcus's team stepped forward, "Please, we don't want trouble, just let us through."

She walked over to the pair, being sent careening back into the wood floor by a firm backhand by the boy who kicked Marcus back.

"Oi, oi, hitting a girl?" one of the random K'rin from the Land of Earth spited from within the crowd.

"What'd you say?" the bully snorted, "This is an act of kindness. Even we've failed the Exam three times in a row, so what chance would most of you pitiful weaklings have? Those who've taken the Exam, failed, and quit being Tamers, been crippled or wound up dead; we've seen it all."

Sora clenched her jaw at this.

"What's wrong with thinning out the weak to not waste as much time and resources helping them recover from an Exam they had no chance at?"

Matt stepped forward, "Listen to yourself why don't you, you're using a surrounding, ranged Seiina encompassing this floor. I want to go to the second floor, not the third because my mind is twisted." He pointed out, Marcus looking up at him from the floor with a look of semblance.

"You noticed, did you?" the lackey scoffed with an evil grin on his face.

"Actually, I noticed second, mostly because of our genius at recognizing Seiina here," he gestured to Sora, who looked back with befuddlement, "isn't that right, Sora? You're the best at recognizing Seiina on our team."

Sora felt her lip quiver, Thank you so much, Matt… she looked hard and with strength at the bully, "Of course, it's obvious we're on the third floor because of some distortion Seiina around the building."

"Yep," Tai played along, putting his hands behind his head and smiling from ear to ear.

"Not bad, but all you managed to do was see through it!" the bully barked as he flickered out, appearing on the ground, fast approaching with a swiping kick, Matt going to meet it with his own kick, only to have Marcus phase in at the nexus of the blows in an instant, his face brimming with complacent confidence he lacked a minute ago as he grabbed both of them by the shins, all of their force disappearing.

Matt pulled back his leg while the bully rolled away, he and his partner vanishing, but going unnoticed as everyone focused on Marcus, I put a lot into that kick… there's something odd about that chikara in his arms.

Marcus sighed as his two partners, Thomas and Yoshi walking up, the blonde boy complaining, "Hey, what happened to your ingenius plan of keeping a low profile, Marcus?"

Marcus grovelingly lowered his eyes, "I know, but… I can't just stand aside when someone much weaker than me is about to be attacked."

Yoshi groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "It's over now, Thomas, so can we stop this little act of trying to blend in with them and go to the testing hall?"

Matt's eyes turned to slits, WEAK?

"Not to mention that the girl reminds me of my little sister; you know how protective I am of Kristy, so…"

Sora flushed, his little sister? That was a step over the mark, "Hey, you are totally out of line!" she practically screeched.

"Hey you, over here," Thomas beckoned coldly to Matt, the blondes locking eyes, "what's your name?"

Tai burned inside, Why is that overly confident blonde wannabe so important? Hello, I'm stood right here!

Matt sneered, "Not required to answer the questions of the enemy now, am I?"

"What?"

Yoshi blushed, Cute…

Matt turned on his heel, following Sora and Tai (who moved sluggishly along) through the corridor down toward the staircase again to get to the second floor to hand in their forms.

In the dark room, the door slightly open to look upon the scene, the two bullies assumed the half Tiger seal and de-transformed into their T'rin forms, one snorting, "The first test; handing in the application, completed."

Matt was walking along with a strange smile on his face, Three powerful enemies already found, and the exam hasn't even begun.

…

After handing in the forms, the three members of Squad Seven decided to take a small walk around the school, as the Exam began in twenty minutes. They walked into the dojo area when they heard a voice from the bleachers above, "Matt Ishida, you registered as? Wanna fight?"

They turned to find Marcus sat on the bleachers, leaping over onto the ground before them quickly and gracefully, Tai and Sora burning from anger for different reasons while Matt looked at him blankly, "You want to fight me? You went through the trouble of identifying me just to fight an Ishida?"

"My name is Marcus Damon. I would ask yours of you, but you didn't exactly make it difficult to read your form from a distance." Marcus pointed out kindly, "I just found out about your origin, your clan, and I wish to fight you to test my skills against the most respected clan in Terra's history... not to mention you have a replica of my sister, and I always work to look good in front of my sister!"

Sora angrily rebuttled Marcus, but Tai moped angrily in the corner, his fist tightly clenched, Why is it always the blonde? Should I dye my hair? Will that do it?

Matt scoffed, "Challenging the name of Ishida, frankly, you're a fool. You're about to learn why they are revered, Marcus."

Marcus smirked and entered a pre-battle stance, his hand raised like a beggar in front of him like a readied chop, Now I'll show them all my power! I'll make you proud, Spencer-sensei!

"Wait!" Tai called out with an ominous howl, looking back at the three with a popped vein in his head, "Move it blondie, I've heard you're name enough today. I'll take him."

Marcus tightened his gaze in his battle stance, "You are of no consequence to me; it is the Ishida."

"If I hear his name once more I swear I'll kill someone!" Tai growled as he blindly charged toward Marcus across the dojo floor, "Take this!" he called out, throwing a punch that was diverted effortlessly by a cobra chop with Marcus's extended hand, sending Tai into the floor, looking up vindictively.

"You have great strength in your fist, I just confirmed that, but you are unrefined as a Tamer in comparison to me and Matt Ishida over there."

"I warned you!" Tai barked, turning and aiming for a swivel kick up toward Marcus's head, only for the older boy to cock his head aside and twist on his own, his leg outstretched like a sweeper.

"Cyclone!" he rallied, executing a fantastic spinning kick directly into Tai's weak spot on his one leg planted in the ground, swiping it with power and making Tai swirl along the dojo floor, crashing into the wall with a crash and thump, dust rising from the wall, "Let me settle this now, you guys cannot hope to defeat me, because I am the strongest K'rin in the Terra Village."

Sora gaped at his power, He beat Tai like it was nothing; worth even less than usual! He's so strong!

Matt thought back, When he stopped my leg during that tussle earlier, I felt some weird chikara; it was unnaturally powerful. I don't know the Genina he used, but that little display of power doesn't scare me, he smirked, "Sure, sounds fun. Let's go."

Sora objected, "No, Matt! We all have less than fifteen minutes to get to the examination room!"

"I only need five."

Marcus snickered, And I only need one.

Matt began his charge, his weapons of limits in the school, so he stayed away from his pouch. Slowing before Marcus, he stared on in amazement as the older K'rin looked so nervous, yet was so fast. He barely dodged the kick from above, Marcus's ascent hasty, by cocking his head back and tightening his chin to allow it to pass as Marcus dropped down onto the floor in front of him, planting his palm on the floor as he spun around in a full spiral on it. His foot inching toward Matt's face, the blonde lifted his arms in defence, only to suddenly have the foot bypassing his guard and kicking him feet away, landing hard on the wooden dojo floor.

Matt coughed on the floor as Sora raised a concerned brow, What was that? He just went and rammed right through Matt's guard!

Matt got to a knee and looked back at Marcus, who had reassumed his battle stance, He got me that time… but what was that sudden burst of energy, was it Genina or Seiina?

Marcus was silently impressed, Excellent, the Ishida are as tough as rumoured.

Matt stood straight, his head lowered, but pulled up slowly, an evil smirk appearing, I think it's time to practice using it, he thought as he fully raised his head, a bruise on his cheek, but all attention on his two Surugan, both of them with two symbols rather than being mismatched like in the Land of Squalls, Genina or Seiina, your attacks are now useless!

Sora blushed furious as excitement coursed through her body at the sight, Surugan, in both his eyes! When did he activate them? Just as I'd expect of the strongest member of our Squad, he's amazing! Now, like Satsuma-sensei, he can copy and analyse this guy's techniques in an instant and clobber him!

So that is the famed Surugan of the Ishida, Marcus sweatdropped, holding his stance.

Sora's jaw dropped as Matt was propelled into the air, Marcus beneath his guard with his leg shooting up, sending him high up with a gag of blood as the blonde backflipped and landed on the dojo floor once more, rubbing his chin and attempting to massage his pride, This technique must be fast… he's got impressive speed, so is it possible to create hand seals before he turns to face me? No, this can't be THAT simple…!

"Yes, Matt, you see, I am using neither the Genina or Seiina disiplines," Marcus phased out with his speed again kicking Matt into the air the same way, the blonde barely capable of defending his chin with his arms as Marcus appeared behind him, both seemingly floating in the air as he spoke, "Dancing Shadow Technique. Matt, it is very simple once you think about it. I am using neither of the Tamer technique disciplines your Surugan can dissect in an instant; I am using Tekina, the martial arts. While you naturally can read through my moves, what's the point? Your body isn't strong enough to keep up and stop me; of course, you probably realized that after the first kick, no?"

Matt grunted as he looked over his shoulder at Marcus and the ground.

"You know, there are two types of Tamers; the genius prodigies and the hardworking stooges like me and your teammate down there, I can tell at a glance. If your Surugan is the culmination of generations of genius, then my simple mastery of Tekina counteracts its effects. And I'll prove it with my next move."

His bandages unfurled without him having done anything, and he seemed to be preparing for an attack of some kind with them, Matt incapable of reversing it in mid-air before a shuriken shot through the dojo and coiled the bandages, sticking them to the wall as Marcus landed gracefully, Matt copying his graceful style with his Surugan and then de-activating them as Sora went across and helped him stand up.

Marcus was bowing down respectfully, one knee and one fist on the ground as he looked at it shamefully, a Digimon stood before him. The Digimon O'rin was a Gamemon, a humanoid, red skinned creature with a scaly skin type, a pair of black pants and sandals, coupled with a large shell held on by two straps, one of said straps holding his Terra headband.

"Marcus!" the turtle man begun, "you know how much Spencer has tried to tell you not to use that in squabbles; it's forbidden, after all!"

The once almighty Marcus stayed silent in his bowing position as the turtle went on.

"It's a good thing I made a reverse summoning contract with Spencer while we were still young," he mumbled as he pulled a scroll out of his pants, rolled it on the floor and planted his palm on it, "Reverse Summoning Technique!" he yelled as smoke arose from the scroll, a shadow standing there and becoming clear as the smoke faded and Gamemon grabbed his scroll again, pocketed it and walked off, "He tried using the 'Blooming Lilly', Spencer. Have fun." He sarcastically laughed as he vanished into the corridor.

Spencer was a muscular, proud looking individual with bushy brown hair like Marcus's, but shorter and kempt. He wore a common Tamer O'rin vest and pants, tucking into his sandals, but wore on top of his sandals and his shins the same pair of legweights as Marcus, "Is that true, Marcus?"

The boy gave a moan of defeat, "Yes, Spencer-sensei."

"Marcus," the boy looked up, being launched backwards onto the wooden floor, a fist mark on his face, "you fool! I told you not to let your emotions get the better of you, didn't I!" he scolded like a father, "I mean, almost revealing your secret techniques- you're lucky Gamemon stopped you, or else these three would have the advantage in the Examinations!"

"But I didn't try that one, so he wouldn't have died; isn't that something Spencer-sensei?"

Spencer walked over and pulled him into a hug, the two sharing the hugging embrace tightly, "I understand; you've inherited your fire from your father, that much is clear.

All three members of Squad Seven were aghast, Is this natural of a student teacher relationship? It seems excessively fiery; he punched him to teach him a lesson!

"Well, Marcus, youth, bundles of energy and mistakes go together, however your punishment shall take place after the T'rin Exam. Five hundred laps!" Spencer stated, the older K'rin saluting out of respect for his teacher, who looked across to Squad Seven, "Hey, you three are Satsuma's, right? How's he doing nowadays?"

The three looked back stagnantly, Sora speaking up, "You know Satsuma-sensei?"

"Know him? He's my eternal rival!" Spencer laughed huskily.

Sora's jaw dropped, That over-energetic guy?

When she blinked, he had vanished, and appeared behind them instantly, without warning, "So, I take it since you're all here, he registered you. That's enough for me, I'll see him sooner or later in these Exams…" he scratched his chin as all three turned nervously to him.

Matt was confined in disbelief, He got behind us in a flash! He's nearly as fast naturally as that kid in the Land of Squalls; Satsuma doesn't even compare!

"Now, all of you, quit your squabbles and get moving along; the Exam begins in seven minutes." Spencer said as he vanished into smoke, vanishing.

Marcus took his master's words to heart and ran toward the bleachers, leaping skilfully to the top of them, running off after saying, "I was lying, Matt. I'm not the strongest K'rin in the Terra Village; he's that blonde guy on my team you gave the cold shoulder to. I'm here to defeat him, and now, your one of my targets as well." And like that, he was gone, off to the assigned Exam room.

Tai placed his hands on his head and looked across to Sora as she quelled a humiliated Matt, tensed fisted, "Matt, look… it wasn't… he was..."

Tai passively input, "Don't try Sora, if that's the best the Ishida clan can manage nowadays, it's not worth making him feel better."

"Tai!" she scolded.

"Shut up…" the blonde angrily growled, his head dropped and his teeth bared, "Loser, you couldn't hurt him either…"

"But I'm not one of the 'MIGHTY ISHIDA', now, am I?" Tai peeled back his lips slightly, "I know you saw it too when he was bowing, that fist he put on the floor," Sora looked at him questioningly, "it was ravaged by marks, bruises and scars beneath those bandages. Marcus trains harder than you and it showed, since you think you're good as you are, Matt."

Matt tightened his clenched fist before letting out a gasp of air and regaining his overconfident smirk that defined him, "This T'rin Exam is getting more and more interesting, isn't it? Ready to begin this thing, Tai, Sora?"

"Hell yeah!" Tai happily spouted, the girl of the team giving a blushingly relieved smile as the three began to make their way to the Exam room, determination and confidence on their side.

oOo

Satsuma stood in front of the doors to the Exam room, which was situated in the assembly hall used for large classes in the school, but was now going to be used for the first section of the T'rin Exam. He had a happy smile on his face, as did the perched Kudamon.

"I'm happy you all decided to come," he moved his eyes through the three, "especially you, Sora. This all hinged on you being here also."

Sora looked back curiously, "It… did…?"

"Yes, the Exams are only permitting three man cells of K'rin to take it, an old tradition, so if Tai and Matt came without you, I would have had to take them away. I'm truly happy that isn't the case; it's just I didn't want you to feel pressured or anything because I noticed a drop in your confidence lately. I'm proud of all of you. Now you may enter the Exam hall."

"Yeah!" Tai cheered as the three opened the doors and entered, closing them behind them as the two O'rin partners looked down the hallway once more, lowly wishing them luck.

oOo

Tai whistled quietly, Sora unnerved a little and Matt chiding as they were stared at by several different Tamers (minus their partners), their glares strong enough to burn the doors they had just walked through. They all looked strong in their own way; some big, some toting weapons and other strange weapon like objects.

Sora snorted and came to attention as a pang went off on her internal radar, This smell of lillies and other flowers… this shallow breath similar to oinking! This annoying sense of stupidity, it's-!

"Matt, there you are!" Mimi lovingly said as she hugged the blonde from behind, a furious blush on her cheeks and swooning in her voice, "it's been so long, I was wondering when you'd get here~!"

Sora snapped and pointed at the pink haired girl, "Strawberry, I should have known it was you the second I heard oinking in the room!" the auburn haired girl grated.

Mimi looked up at Sora, not releasing Matt from the hug from behind, "Well, well, it's the Jack O-Lantern herself. Gotta admit, cannon fodder like you here, I'm impressed."

"You three are taking this exam to? Try not to die, especially you, Tai."

Tai looked, bending sideways to find JP and Joe standing there doggedly behind Mimi and Matt, JP wolfing down a bag of potato chips, "The Happy Moron Brigade; I thought it was you!" he boked his fist into his palm decisively.

"What'd you say- oh, why bother, you'll flunk out quickly regardless." Joe simpered derogatorily of the work he was expected to do.

Tai's Log

Joe Kido- Lazy bum who hardly ever does any work, even though he's hardly ever awake. Big headed, cocky idiot.

JP Sumou- Fatass who would eat his own mother (a challenge!) if he could, and eats anything and everything. Fatass idiot.

Mimi Tachikawa- I could go on for days. She's annoying, prudish, spoilt and a real princess type, not to mention her annoying crush on Matt, making her rivals with Sora. Idiot general who smells like flowers but has the personality of a venus fly trap; future man eater if I ever saw one!

"Hey, hey, would you look at that," Davis and his squad walked up, the loudmouth still wearing his fur hood up, "we're back together again, the Nine Rookies! Too bad not many of us have what it takes to make the cut, right, Matt?"

Mimi shook her fist angrily at him as Matt scoffed, "A little overconfident there, Davis. It could get you hurt one day."

"Hey, we've been training nonstop, of course we can back up our boasting." Davis snorted, that arrogant smile on his face, teeth and all.

Tai interjected, "We all have been training, Davis. All nine of us have no idea how much better the others are."

Davis snorted again, looking at Tai, "Believe me, I count eight, seeing as your to horrendous a Tamer; I've seen you before."

Davis Motomiya- Now this dude is annoying; forget everything I said about Mimi. He talks a good game, yet he's just as dim as that bulb in my bathroom!

"Tai," Mikoto interjected timidly, "d-don't let Davis get to you… h-he's just-"

Tai could barely hear her, "Sorry, a little louder, please," he said, and like that her face flushed and she looked away, Davis looking down at the slightly smaller girl curiously.

Mikoto Norstein- Kindest girl I've ever met, so she's okay in my book. Why she blushes whenever I talk or look at her is beyond me, and in all honesty it's a little weird…

Izzy Izumi- Short, silent kid from the school who had the name 'genius prodigy' for three years straight, but he's always been so silent and stays to himself, so he's got a kind of creepy, mysterious thing going for him.

"Hey now, all of you guys," a random interjector spouted, walking up to them. He was a young man with brown hair tied back in a ponytail, a purple Tamer get up with blue sandals and a Terra headband, representing the village, and full moon spectacles over his eyes which he tapped with his fingerless gloved hand, "you should keep your conversations down; don't be so boisterous."

"Who the hell are you?" Davis inclined gruffly.

"My name is Kurata Akihiro. I'm just telling you to stop acting like school girls because," he pointed behind them, "well, those guys."

They all looked back to find every single K'rin eyeing them dangerously, especially a bunch of breathing apparatus wearing ones directly behind them, popped veins and all, with headbands signified by the marking of two falling lines that jaggedly separated.

"Those are Tamers from the Waterfall Village in a far off land; very touchy, and particularly now, as everyone is anxious about the Exam, EVERYONE." Kurata tapped the end of his nose like a ditz and pulled a concerned face, "Of course, you nine are the new rookies of our village, right? How could you possibly understand how things work here? I was like you a while back when I first took the T'rin Exam."

Sora eyed him like a scanner, "Kurata… right? You talk like you've done this so many times before. How many attempts have you had at the exam?"

"Seven," he said embarrassedly, scratching the back of his head, "but that's a lucky number, right?"

Joe, even the downer, articulated his view, "So you haven't even managed to get that far in all of those attempts… Harima was right, this is going to be such a great bother…" he sighed.

"Don't fret, here, the T'rin Exams are held twice yearly in the village chosen to hold it that year, so I have three and a half years of preparation and information on my side in my bingo book," he ruffled in his pouch, pulling out said book, "it's full of the info on everyone here, even you guys, so I have the edge in battle. Tell me what you want to see and I'll show it, for example…"

He opened the book and laid it on the floor, both pages blank as he performed the Monkey and Horse seals, touching the paper and bringing ink to sight; a lot of writing appearing.

"Can't have it getting in the wrong hands now, can I?" he explained as he picked the notebook up and read it, "I have the distribution of these Tamers form each of the villages participating, but that's just a small taste. I have personal figures, stats and on some of them techniques and notes on every single person in this room today. Have any in mind?"

Matt stepped forward to him, "Do you have anything on a Marcus Damon and Keenan of the Sand?"

He flipped though his book at what seemed like light speed, his eyes rapidly looking before abruptly stopping on a page, "Marcus Damon is three years older than you guys, and has been training as a K'rin for those three years since graduation. In the last year, he's been recognized as one of the most powerful rookies as his Tekina skills have skyrocketed. In his past, he's completed twenty D Ranks and thirteen C Rank missions with his sensei Spencer and his teammates Thomas Norstein and Yoshi Fujieda."

He flipped over three pages.

"Keenan of the Sand is a mysterious participant this year, as he's had eight C Ranks and… one B Rank as a K'rin! That's unheard of, not to mention the rumours about his prowess; not one scratch on any of these advanced missions. That's it, there isn't anything else I could get; he covers his tracks too well for me to get any more information to use later."

He packed the notebook away into his pouch.

"All in all, there are six villages who have sent Tamer candidates; their best K'rin,and besides us of the Hidden Terra, there is also the Hidden Storm Village in the Land of Sparks, which is renowned as being exception anyway. This year, it'll be difficult. There are so many dangerous and powerful juniors here, I got to say, I think that eighth attempt looks likely."

Mikoto stirred and pulled her hand to her face, "Its nerve wracking…. What if it's too hard?"

Sora added, "There are so many powerful K'rin here… it shakes your confidence before it's even begun…"

"Not that much; watch." Tai allured, grabbing the other eight's attention as he turned a pointed toward the crowd of foreign K'rin glaring at the nine, "MY NAME IS TAI KAMIYA; AND ALL OF YOU BASTARDS ARE GOING DOWN!" he boomed, the room falling silent and allowing a small echo.

Sora gaped at him as Mimi slipped in behind and slapped her on the shoulder, pointing at the former class clown, "The hell is wrong with him, he's your boyfriend, get him under control, girl!"

Sora surged wrathfully, getting in Mimi's face, "What'd you say?"

"Sorry, overstepping the mark since you can't get one?"

"What was that, Strawberry? Wanna take this outside?"

"Sure thing, Jack O-Lantern! Get through the door and it'll happen!"

Tai pulled back into his hands on head pose, "Yeah, try and shake my confidence now!"

Matt smirked coolly at his gesture, This idiot never ceases to amuse me…

Kurata also gave an obligatory smirk.

The stares grew into brewing malice after Tai's little pep cheer of sorts, Daiyo, Tsuki and Keenan looking back at him from the middle rows, Daiyo whispering, "That kid from outside… he barks an awful lot for someone with dull fangs and a dim brain."

Tsuki chortled in agreement, while Keenan kept his black marked eyes fixed on the confident K'rin.

Yoshi was aghast at the outburst, "What a total moron, not to mention a jerk," she jeered.

Thomas hummed in agreement, "He seems to be full of spunk… Marcus, whatever you did seem to fail."

Marcus looked back derived of intense emotions, "He has more spunk than Ishida. That much was obvious; also, I never really checked, but he had a fearsome punch when he came at me."

In the far corner, there was an assembled threesome of Sound K'rin, the same as had been spying on the scene with Keenan. The leader was a slouched boy with bandages wrapped around his face and baggy clothes that had extremely oversized sleeves, "Did you hear that guy, not bothering to mention the Sound when he talked about the Sparks and the Ember?"

His partner, an obnoxious boy in a jumper and camouflage pants nodded, "You think we should give him a demonstration of why we should be revered?"

The girl of their three man cell, long black hair in a low tied pony tail, wearing camouflague pants and boot like sandals giggled devilishly, "Let's do it." She mumbled as they all phased out, taking a path through the crowd without being noticed by many.

Daiyo noticed, going for one of the bandage straps attached to his 'Black Widow' before Keenan put an arm in front of him, dismissing the act as he followed the three as they leapt out of the crowd, the boisterous boy throwing two kunai toward Kurata, who seemed to have eyes in the back of his head as he easily sidestepped them and slid across the floor, before the bandaged Sound Tamer went for a swipe with his revealed fist, the sleeve pulled up so far that a strange device resembling a harmonica was exposed on his arm like a glove.

Kurata easily dodged the measly swipe and prepared to retaliate before his vision distorted and a loud ringing was in his ear, his glasses cracking and falling off his face as he hunched over in agony and vomited, the nine rookies aghast.

Sora and Tai ran over, helping him up as the three assaulters phased in before them like blurs, the girl speaking up, "You may want to be careful who you omit from your little speech on the most powerful villages. If you had, that wouldn't have happened." She smugly chortled.

"What happened there, Thomas?" Yoshi asked, not taking her eyes away from the fiasco.

The blonde tightened his stare as he put simply, "I don't know what just happened."

Keenan looked on vividly before snorting in disappointment, They hide behind that type of Genina, do they?

Smoke exploded like a volcano at the front of the classroom, a thick, heavy voice holleringfrom within the large cloud, "ALRIGHT YOU INSIGNIFICANT BASTARDS, LISTEN UP!" the smoke billowed and withered away out of the windows of the second floor exam hall room as a large man in a trench coat and vest attire (almost exactly like Satsuma) and his Terra headband worn in such a way that his entire crown and head was covered, "My name is Kaname Ibuza, your proctor for the first instalment of the T'rin Exam and from this moment forth, your nemesis."

He looked to the back of the room disgustedly, raising a judge like finger.

"Hidden Note or Sound or whatever your backwash village is called. Your village was only granted first time access to this exam this time around, regardless of the sketchy background. Do you want to disgrace your village after it has been recognized?"

The bandage faced leader turned, "Forgive us, we were just a little… edgy…"

"I will firmly ground this into your skulls now," Kaname dementedly said, befitting a man of his giant stature, "no killing and no fighting is permitted within the exam without permission of your proctor; even then, killing is a distinguished way to leave this competition and risk being barred in future. This is a friendly Examination between villages, do not take the meaning in vain!"

"This exam sounds easy, or is it just us 'backwash' Tamers?" the second Sound Tamer vindictively said, the T'rin behind the proctor chuckling at his sentiment of 'ease'. He had no idea yet.

"Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will all come up one by one," he displayed a small token with the number one on it, "and receive a token, sitting where told to prevent any teamwork. After that is done, the T'rin accompanying me will hand out the first of three sections in the Exams; written communication."

Tai's eyes bulged, "A… written, test…?" he meekly said.

…

Now re-seated in assigned spots, everyone was handed a single sheet of paper with a question beside a large answering box. There were some diagrams as well such as trees and trajectories and such. All in all, Tai counted nine questions on the paper as he frantically looked around; Sora was in the back row, and god knew where Matt was in the filled, giant exam hall. He was so screwed.

Sora chuckled lowly, Look at Tai! He's so nervous! And he should be, this is the worst kind of test for him. If this is all the T'rin exams are, I don't see why I was worried!

Beside him, Tai heard a faint attempt to talk to him, turning to a blushing Mikoto, "Let's do our best, Tai!" she tried to sound loud, but ended up as more of a whimper. Tai thanked her regardless as chalk scratched the board.

On said board, Kaname had written in bold 'T'RIN EXAMINATION STAGE ONE RULES', causing everyone to stir in their seats as Kaname turned to them, "Alright, listen up! There are a few rules to this test you need to know about, and we're getting close to the start time, so no questions will be answered."

Sora blinked, No questions at all? Isn't that a little off?

"First off then, you guys start off with a perfect score of ten that is also doubling as your answer points. This test works on a subtraction system that will take away from these ten points, for example, you get every question right and we don't use the subtraction clause on you, you end with ten, however, if you get three wrong, but don't lose any the other way, you still get seven points."

Sora eyed him suspiciously while Tai rubbed his chin from his seat in the middle of the room, So for me getting zero still means zero, so I really don't need to listen to this.

"Secondly, this is a team test, meaning the combined scores of all three will need to reach a pre-determined criteria to pass."

Sora dropped her head from her palm onto the desk, and then shot up, "Hold on a second, I don't get the initial points system either, but why is it a total score of the team and not a single one?"

Kaname shot her a filthy glare through the rows, "Silence, you have no inclination to question me, didn't you hear me a moment ago? There is a reason, now shut up." He said with a heavy malice as the girl backed down into her seat, "And the third rule, the reason for the points system is to discourage any… shady activities, namely cheating. Every offence caught by the T'rin sitting on both ends of every row will result in a two point reduction in your score of ten, regardless of whether you get a score higher than the points subtracted; it will be locked like that. I warn you if you dare, the T'rin are extremely sharp, I chose them myself carefully for that trait. Five strikes of cheating, and you and your team are done, regardless of how honest and true the others are."

Sora jerked up in her seat, sweatdropping, That's devious! There are ways to lose points other than incorrectly answering? Tai needs to by the look of it, but if he's caught-!

"Realize this before I allow you to begin; those unworthy Tamers who get themselves caught in the act will only be eroding their team from inside, and could lose the trust of their mates if they are not wholehearted and see fit to even dare try cheating. T'rin must be honourable and sharp as a tack, as this test will surely prove to you all." Kaname finished writing the three down, all of the T'rin sat on their chairs at the ends of each row with a clipboard and pen to strike against the numbers listed down the row they are assigned.

Sora sweatdropped more, Calm down, Sora… just think it through. Sure, Tai's an idiot with no hope at this kind of exam, but Matt and I are capable of getting high scores… we just have to cover for him with two thirds of the exam.

Kaname hummed and looked devilishly at the rows of K'rin again, "Oh, and there is one more rule I want you to remember. Besides the five strikes rule, if a person fails to write down any answers or answers them all incorrectly, the entire team will be rejected!"

Sora's jaw dropped and her mouth gaped, No, no, no, no, no, no, no~!

Matt felt his eyes burst wide open, No way!

Tai drooped his shoulders, a defeated look on his face, "Of all the… any other exam, I would've been fine but this… oh, I am so dead…"

xxx

Tai's Preview Theatre!

Next time, on Digimon, Hurricane Chronicles!

Me and the others are in hot water in the exam room, as we all are secluded and have only ourselves to trust… I can't do it, I have to cheat… Mikoto's pretty smart, but if I get caught…!

Aww, instead of working on that ability I learned from Agumon with my Digivice, I should've studied; look at this stuff!

xxx

A/N: Two in one day, I am overdoing it, but seven weeks until exam results day and a further three after that leave me not much else to do…

Please review!