A/N: Next episode/chapter! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shixona, Silvmon, and Silvmon's digivolutions.

Digimon Adventure 02, Shixona

Chapter 11

We were riding in the train cars along the only track in sight, when Tentomon was spotted by Kari.

"It's Tentomon!" my younger cousin alerted us.

"Allllll aboard!" Tentomon greeted as he buzzed over. "I just love riding trains. Where's the dining car?"

"An email from Izzy!" Cody piped up.

"Has he found them yet?" I asked.

"Apparently Ken and Metalgreymon have been seen south of here," the young brunette told us.

"We're on the right track," Matt said.

"Well, technically, Matt, we're on the only track," Tentomon pointed out.

"All right, Digidestined! This time we'll get Agumon back for sure!" Tai declared.

"Yeah!" Matt agreed. "There's no way that Ken can stop all of us! Uh, but just in case…Tentomon, I need your help."

"Now? I was going to have my shell waxed," the insect Digimon perked up.

"I want you to go and search for Garurumon," the blonde told him.

"Garurumon, huh? Okay, I'll be back in a flash," Tentomon nodded before buzzing away.

"Huh? Wait a minute, are you planning for us to fight Metalgreymon?" Davis frowned, standing up.

"Yeah," Tai confirmed.

"With all of us together, I think we stand a chance," Matt explained. "There are just some things that have to be done. Am I right, Tai?" My older cousin nodded.

"I'm not so sure, guys," the cinnamon-haired teen said. "What makes you think we can beat Ken and Metalgreymon?"

"What makes you think we can't?" T.K. demanded.

"Who asked you?" Davis growled.

"I'm speaking from experience! We have to fight because if we don't, we'll ever save Agumon!" the younger blonde spat. "What are you afraid of, Davis?"

"No one said anything about being afraid!" Davis argued. "I just don't want to see Agumon hurt, that's all!"

"No one said we had to hurt him! All we have to do is get rid of the dark ring!" T.K. snapped.

"And how do you propose we remove it, especially without hurting Agumon?" Davis barked. "Any bright ideas under that fancy hat?"

"At least I'm trying, goggle-head! And don't make fun of my hat!" T.K. argued.

"That's it!" Davis snarled, and lunged at him as they began to fight.

"Stop fighting! Do I have to separate you two like a couple of children?" Kari yelled at them. I sighed, and Silvmon shook his head.

"Let them fight," Tai told his sister.

"What do you mean?" the younger brunette frowned.

"Isn't that bad for team morale?" Cody asked.

"When Matt and I were younger, we fought a lot, too," Tai explained, and I chuckled. "But if we hadn't fought all those times, we probably wouldn't have become such good friends. So just let them fight it out of their system."

"Leave it to boys to think you have to fight to become friends," Yolei sighed.

"The way I like to make friends is over a nice game of checkers," Cody added.

"Sounds great to me! I play the winner!" Matt smirked.

"But for now, what we need to do is catch up to Ken!" the brunette reminded us, and we continued to ride. After a while, though, he complained, "Can't this thing go any faster?"

"Hey, everybody! My D3 has found another Digi-Egg!" Cody announced.

"Well, don't just sit there! Put on the brakes!" Davis shouted, and the train cars screeched to a halt. We approached a rock wall where the Crest of Friendship was carved into it.

"Who could have carved that?" Yolei wondered aloud as we gathered nearby it.

"Somebody with a really big chisel?" T.K. guessed.

"It's got my Crest of Friendship, but why would someone go into the trouble of carving that into a wall?" Matt questioned to no one in particular.

"The Digi-Egg is down there!" Cody pointed, and we looked to see the new Digi-Egg.

"What's down there?" Tai frowned.

"It looks like a flip-flop with a bent nail in it!" Kari commented.

"Has everyone had their tetanus shot?" T.K. asked.

"It's got that same symbol on it!" Davis pointed out.

"It's got the Crest of Friendship on it, all right. I wonder if it's meant for you, Matt," Tai said, looking at the blonde.

"Maybe it's meant for the one with the most friends?" he shrugged.

"Or maybe it's meant for the one with the fewest friends, me," Davis laughed, and we all joined in.

"Someone should try to pick it up," I stated. "After all, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Well, it could be a trap set up by the Digimon Emperor!" Yolei said.

"I don't think it could be a booby trap. After all, it's emblazoned with the Crest of Friendship," I replied. "And unless Ken's a really good copycat, then this is legit."

"Then I think Matt should go for it," Tai said, and the aforementioned blonde nodded.

"Wish me luck, just in case," he smiled, and then tried to pick up the Digi-Egg, but couldn't. "No luck."

"Cody, why don't you give it a try?" Tai suggested, and the young brunette took a crack at it.

"I should've had a bigger breakfast," he sighed when he straightened up.

"All right, Tai, it's your turn, then I'll try," I told him, and he tried as well, but with no success. I stepped down to the Digi-Egg, and Silvmon watched eagerly as I struggled to pick it up. "No dice," I sighed when I stood back up.

"All right, which one of you is next?" Matt asked, and then T.K. and Kari tried, but to no avail.

"Ugh! I think I'm done!" T.K. complained.

"Me too!" Kari agreed. Yolei then tried, but with the same results.

"I think you guys are going about this the wrong way," Davis piped up.

"You think you can lift it up?" Tai asked. Davis nodded and explained some crap about equilibrium that was complete nonsense, but I slapped my forehead and groaned at the stupidity of the explanation. Tai even thought it made sense, but then Davis admitted he'd made it up. Finally, Matt and I had had enough.

"Ugh, I'm sick of your babbling! You're the only one who hasn't tried yet, so just get in there!" Matt snapped.

"Yeah, lift that Digi-Egg up so we can get out of here!" I growled. Matt, Tai, and I shoved the cinnamon-haired teen into the hole, and he stumbled to regain his balance.

"Watch it! I could have put my eye out!" Davis yelped. "Okay, this shouldn't be too hard. 1…2…3…Ugh!" He attempted to pick up the Digi-Egg, but like the rest of us, couldn't do it. "I can't do it! I give up! Ugh, what is that terrible noise?" Then we all heard a loud buzzing noise coming from the sky.

"It's hurting my ears!" Yolei complained.

"Something's coming!" T.K. warned.

"Deadly Sting!" a Flymon cried out, firing the attack at us.

"Watch out!" Matt yelled.

"Poison stingers!" Yolei shrieked. Veemon looked to Davis, ready to fight.

"Let's do it!" the blue Digimon said.

"Right, pal!" Davis nodded. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Veemon, armor digivolve to…Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"

"Fire Rocket!" Flamedramon fired his attack at the Flymon, but the insect Digimon was quick to dodge.

"Hawkmon!" Yolei said, and her partner nodded. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Hawkmon, armor digivolve to…Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"

"Tempest Wing!" Halsemon's attack was dodged as well, and then Flymon flew at us, making the buzzing noise even louder. We all couldn't move from the loudness of the noise, but when it faded somewhat, we all looked to see Patamon was gone.

"Huh? Patamon is gone!" T.K. yelped.

"Did he run away?" Matt wondered.

"Look up! There he is!" Yolei shouted, and we looked in horror to see Patamon being whisked away by Flymon.

"Help, T.K., help!" Patamon wailed in terror.

"Hang on, Patamon, I'll save you!" T.K. cried out.

"But how? They're getting away!" Kari said, but the blonde took off running after Patamon. The rest of us were quick to follow.

"Patamon!" he screamed.

"I think we're gaining!" Flamedramon called out. Suddenly, Metalgreymon appeared with Ken riding on his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Metalgreymon!" Tai gasped.

"T.K., Davis, get out of there!" Matt yelled. The Digimon Emperor laughed evilly, drawing a frustrated growl from all of us.

"Here's your new play toy, your evilness!" Flymon told Ken.

"Patamon! Put him down!" T.K. ordered.

"I'm just getting started with him!" the Digimon Emperor cackled.

"He's got more dark rings!" T.K. gasped in horror.

"What do you have planned?" Kari demanded of him.

"You can be sure it's something bad!" Tai growled.

"When I put this on your little friend here, I will have complete control over him," the Digimon Emperor smirked. "I can make him do whatever I want. Did you hear that? I'm going to make you do my laundry, one piece at a time. And then I'll…"

"I'll never let you get away with it!" T.K. snapped.

"Don't interrupt while I'm planning my evil deeds!" Ken barked at him.

"Fire…" Flamedramon started to say, but Davis stopped him.

"Wait, Flamedramon! You might accidentally miss and hit Patamon!" he pointed out.

"I'm such a hothead. Sorry," he apologized.

"We have to separate Patamon from the Emperor," Halsemon growled.

"I don't see how we can!" Davis protested.

"We've got to try!" T.K. retorted.

"Oh yeah? How?" Davis demanded. The pair continued to argue until Yolei tried to separate them.

"Stop fighting! Now's a good time to remember the Crest of Friendship, okay?" she yelled at them.

"I'd love to see how this turns out, but I've got to run. I have got a few chores to take care of, like taking over the Digital World," Ken laughed.

"There's no way we're going to let you use Patamon to help you with your plan!" T.K. shouted.

"The same goes for Agumon!" Tai agreed.

"That's really funny. Because I don't remember asking for permission," Ken shook his head. He then turned to Patamon, but right before he could apply the dark ring to our friend, Garurumon appeared, striking the dark ring on Flymon and saving Patamon. The wolf-like Digimon landed near us, right in front of Matt.

"Nice going!" Matt praised.

"Garurumon, you came to help us!" T.K. smiled gratefully, and then Garurumon opened his jaws, allowing Patamon to fly out.

"T.K.!" he squealed.

"Patamon, how do you feel?" T.K. asked him.

"Kind of like a big piece of dental floss, but other than that, I'm fine!" he assured his partner.

"I have to hand it to T.K. He really risked himself to save Patamon. What a friend," Davis murmured, and Flamedramon looked at him.

"Would you risk yourself to save me if I was in trouble, Davis?" he asked.

"Well…maybe…" Davis answered, appearing embarrassed.

"Maybe? MAYBE? What about definitely?" Flamedramon barked.

"Oh, you are going to make me cry," the Digimon Emperor taunted. "If you really want a test of your friendship, I'll be happy to give you one. Prepare for the fight of your life! Metalgreymon!"

"Don't listen to him, Metalgreymon! Don't you recognize me?" Tai pleaded. Matt and Garurumon stepped forward, the blonde on his partner's back.

"Garurumon and I are going to try and get those rings off Metalgreymon's arm," he told us.

"Squash them like a bug! Go, Metalgreymon!" Ken ordered, and Metalgreymon stomped at where Garurumon and Matt were standing, but the wolf-like Digimon leapt back.

"Garurumon, that was close, but we've got to attack him with all of our strength," Matt told his partner.

"Hmm… I'm afraid of hurting Metalgreymon!" Garurumon rumbled.

"We have no choice! If we don't use all our strength, he'll crush us like grapes! Isn't that right, Tai?" Matt pointed out.

"Yeah. Go get him!" the brunette nodded.

"But Matt…" Davis murmured from next to me. Matt and Garurumon jumped up to Metalgreymon's arm to try and remove the dark ring.

"It's time to call in the cavalry!" Cody declared. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Armadillomon, armor digivolve to…Digmon, the Drill of Power!"

"Digi-Armor Energize!" Kari and I shouted.

"Gatomon, armor digivolve to…Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"

"Silvmon, armor digivolve to…Puredramon, the Lone Wolf of Purity!"

"Gold Rush!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

"Draco Howl!"

"Tempest Wing!" Halsemon's attack struck Metalgreymon instead of the dark ring.

"Stop, you'll hurt him!" Tai protested. Halsemon landed next to him.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"You did what you had to. Don't worry about it," Tai assured him. Matt and Garurumon jumped up onto Metalgreymon's arm again, Garurumon gnawing at the rings, but then our controlled friend swung him arm, flinging them off.

"You're getting annoying!" he roared.

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon cried out, blasting Metalgreymon.

"Metalgreymon, I'm sorry! We're only doing this out of friendship!" Matt called out to him.

"Davis, help us!" I snapped at him as Puredramon shot a Purity Beam attack at Metalgreymon's dark ring.

"Come on, Davis, aren't you going to help them fight?" Flamedramon demanded of his partner.

"I just can't do it! There's a chance I'll hurt Metalgreymon!" Davis protested.

"You don't know about friendship!" Flamedramon snapped at him, and then he de-digivolved back to Veemon.

"Veemon!" Davis yelped.

"Davis, you have to fight! How can you just stand there and let him try to hurt me?" Veemon yelled.

"Lay off! What do you want? I don't want to hurt anyone!" the cinnamon-haired teen argued.

"This isn't about what you want to do! It's about the things you have to do for friendship!" I snapped at him.

"Friendship…" Davis murmured.

"Agumon, don't worry, we're going to try one more time to remove the dark ring!" Matt called to our friend.

"Matt, Garurumon, do your best!" Tai urged. Suddenly, Metalgreymon's claw came down on Veemon, but Patamon grabbed him out of harm's way just in time.

"I got you, Veemon!" he squealed as he flew Veemon out of harm's way.

"I owe you one!" Veemon told him once they were safe.

"Don't worry, I'm keeping track!" Patamon assured him.

"Veemon, you okay?" Davis asked.

"He is, but no thanks to you!" T.K. growled at him. "Patamon risked his life to save Veemon, and all you did was sit there and watch!"

"T.K., I…" Davis mumbled, and then appeared to go deep into thought. Out of nowhere, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "VEEMON, I'M YOUR FRIEND!" Suddenly, his digivice began to shine. "Huh? This is new!"

"His D3 is responding to the new Digi-Egg!" Cody exclaimed. Then the new Digi-Egg flew over to Davis, stopping in front of him.

"What's it doing?" Kari wondered.

"Look, it stopped right in front of you!" Veemon gasped. "It's your Digi-Egg of Friendship!"

"My Digi-Egg of Friendship?" Davis repeated, appearing confused.

"Davis already has the Digi-Egg of Courage, so how can he have another one?" I questioned to no one in particular. "This means that Veemon can become twice as powerful! We can win now!"

"Hey, that's cool!" Veemon grinned.

"Yeah, let's give it a try!" Davis agreed. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Veemon, armor digivolve to…Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

"Finally, someone who can stand up to the Digimon Emperor: Raidramon!" Cody cheered. Ken gasped before giving a laugh.

"Show 'em who's in charge here!" he ordered Metalgreymon, and our friend gave a loud roar.

"Blue Thunder!" Raidramon shouted, and struck the dark rings on Metalgreymon's arm.

"Gotcha!" Davis grinned, but nothing happened.

"It's no use! It won't come off!" Matt yelled.

"Your weak attempts make me laugh! Give up yet?" Ken cackled.

"There's got to be a way to get through to Metalgreymon! Somehow!" Tai growled.

"Don't worry, Tai. We'll get him back for you! Right, Garurumon?" Matt asked his partner.

"Rrrrright!" Garurumon rumbled in agreement.

"Davis, this is a team effort. We're going to attack him at the same time. We need you!" the blonde told the cinnamon-haired teen.

"I'm not sure…" Davis murmured.

"Not sure?! This time, you're going to do things the right way!" I yelled at him.

"How can I?" he asked.

"We must! We'll do it together!" Raidramon growled.

"You're right! All this time, I've been worrying about what's best for me, not the team," he said. "Well, you can count on me now!"

"Let's go, now!" Matt ordered, and Davis climbed onto Raidramon's back.

"Right! Raidramon, give 'em your best shot!" Davis urged.

"Good luck, guys!" Tai encouraged.

"Blue Thunder!"

"Howling Blaster!" Both of their attacks struck the dark spiral, and after a brief second of breath-holding, it was destroyed.

"Look, it's off!" I yelled.

"What?!" Ken shrieked, and then a winged dragon Digimon picked him up as Metalgreymon de-digivolved to Agumon. Tai rushed over to his partner, hugging him.

"I'm sorry we attacked you, Agumon!" he apologized.

"I'm sorry, too!" Agumon replied.

"And I'm sorry that you're sorry!"

"And I'm sorry that you're sorry and I'm sorry!"

"I'll tell you what. I won't be sorry anymore, and you don't be sorry anymore, either!" Tai suggested.

"Sorry!" Agumon said anyway.

"Davis, you saved the day! We thought you were wonderful," Kari praised.

"Raidramon, too!" I giggled.

"Ugh…" Davis groaned.

"Are ya sick?" my younger cousin inquired worriedly.

"What's the matter with him?" T.K. wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but I'm getting out of here before he throws up!" Cody answered. That's when Matt glomped Davis, ruffling his hair.

"Davis! You saved Agumon, and you didn't even lose a single hair!" Matt laughed.

"Not yet…!" Davis yelped. Back in the computer lab, we regrouped as a team, and Matt gave Davis a noogie, which drew more yelps from him. In the end, Demiveemon got shaken by Davis for some comment he'd made, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was more focused on trying to find a second Digi-Egg for Silvmon. I had felt a twinge of jealousy from him earlier when Veemon became Raidramon, so I wanted to make him happy. After all, he can't digivolve to Ultimate or Mega yet, but hopefully that will change in the near future.

A/N: Here's another episode/chapter of Digimon Adventure 02, Shixona, so R&R, peeps!