Chapter Eleven

"WHAT THE %%%%% JUST HAPPENED?"

"Lily, swearing at the top of your lungs is not going to solve the problem." Damien sighs with a roll of his grey eyes.

I clench my fists. "Well forgive me if I'm freaking out considering hell has practically frozen over! Really! What. The Heck?"

"She does have a point." Dilbert mutters, looking as disconcerted as the rest of us. "Megidramon wasn't acting right. I mean, come on. I could understand if one of his little trinkets malfunctioned and he was no longer in control….but if she was back in her feral state why didn't she just eat him? What was the point in dragging him off like that?"

"Maybe she dragged him back to her nest, where she's going to first paralyze him and then feed him to her young as he lies unable to move as the hungry kits slowly eat him alive...OW!"

"Idiot." Yolei mutters, rubbing her knuckles. "And curse you for having such a hard skull."

"…It's my only defense against people like you who seem to enjoy hitting me!"

"You guys, could we please focus?"

"So you're saying…" My mouth feels dry as I lick my lips. "You're saying you don't think Ken was ever in control of Megidramon?"

"I don't know for sure." He says, raising an eyebrow. "Don't put that much faith in my predications."

"And you stop being so cynical about yourself." His partner, Lilithmon, scolds, putting a hand on her hip and glaring at him like she might hit him upside the head as well. "It could very well explain why he was so desperate to get Renamon back. Probably scared out of his mind when he realized he couldn't control her."

"So there's a different psycho pulling the strings?" Gatomon mutters, her ears drooping. "Great…."

"Hey Sira can I borrow your Digivice for a second?"

"Why in Yggdrasil's almighty name would I-LILY GIVE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!"

"In a second!" I reply, continuing to type my message as I duck underneath her grab and actually backflip over the others' heads to avoid anyone else trying that.

"She just stole the leader's Digivice." I could hear the awed whispers coming from the other tamers. "What raw nerve…"

"I didn't steal it, I'm giving it back right after I hit send…." I smile at the little musical note it plays as I press it. "There." I hand it back to Sira and path her on the shoulder. "All done."

"Who did you…" Her eyebrows knit together as she looks at the screen. "Lily, did you not listen to a word I said earlier? She's completely selfish and untrustworthy, why are you…?"

"Because she's the one who knows Ken the best." I reply without looking back over at her. "I don't know how they know each other or why she still clings to the hope he can be fixed…but none of that matters. The point is she can give us information, and second of all…" I finally look back over at Sira. "I think that…everyone…well maybe with one or two exceptions…should be allowed to redeem themselves."

There's silence for a few seconds before Sira sighs and crosses her arms. "How naïve you are."

"I AM NOT!"

"Just don't accept too much." Adelina mutters with a roll of her red eyes. "Ryo's very good at disappointing those she cares about."

"This is it…" Ryo breathes as she stares at the symbol carved in the pedestal in front of her. "Finally…."

Monodramon smiles as he leans against her leg. "You deserve this Ryo. It's been so many years of you searching for it to try and make things right."

"Exactly. So let's not waste this golden opportunity." She smiles and leans forward, touching her palm against the top of the pedestal.

It seems as if blue lights are shooting forth from her hand, forming a complicated design that shone in the dark cavern so brightly Monodramon has to shield his eyes to keep from going blind.

"Are you…worthy?" A voice that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere echoes in the shadows. Ryo clenches her teeth, annoyed at the way she flinches.

"Yeah. I am worthy."

"Who are you?"

"Ryo Akamiya. I've searched for years for this, for my desire to fix my stupid mistakes in my past. Please…."

A column of light shoots up from the pedestal, and she slowly smiles in disbelief. Could it be? Really? That the stories were telling the truth?

Her fingertips are inches away from the beam of light when her Digivice goes off. Monodramon glances up and blinks. "Aren't you going to get that?"

"In a minute." She hisses, and her fingers finally brush the side of the column. Immediately a burning sensation seems to shoot through her hand like something poisonous has just bit down, and bit down HARD.

Ryo fights back the desire to scream in pain and keeps moving her hand forward, clenching her eyes tightly shut and trying to fight back the single tear that runs down her cheek.

An image of a man with blonde hair and a sly smile runs through her mind and she swallows hard, continuing to press forward.

"I will do this…for all of us…." She thinks, picturing Ken the way he used to be. Short black hair, bright eyes, a smile that could light up the world…a smile that had never failed to warm her heart.

"Ryo!"

"WHAT?" Ryo snaps, whirling around to glare at her partner and struggling to ignore the pain that shoots up her arm. "What could be so important that…?"

Her voice trails off as Monodramon holds the Digivice high enough up so that she can read the message.

"Ken has been kidnapped by Megidramon. Please come…."

Eyes widening in horror, she looks back as the pillar of light starts to fade the minute she pulls her hand away. If she doesn't stay here then she might not get this chance for months…maybe years again, to find what she has been looking for and put everything right.

But….

The image of Ken flickers through her head again and she clenches her teeth before walking over to Monodramon. "Come on. Let's go."

"LILLLLLLYYYYYYYYY!"

My eyes widen in horror as I turn to run but it's no good. I'm already at the mercy of the furious red-headed girl, who starts hitting me upside the head repeatedly.

"Ow-SORA-OW!"

"HOW-COULD-YOU-NOT-TELL US ABOUT THIS?" She demands, shaking me wildly back and forth and glaring daggers at me. "How could you not tell the rest of us about your partner being kidnapped?"

My face flushes, either from shame or lack of oxygen as I gasp out, "Sora….you're….killing me….."

"She has a point though." Matt stands in his leather jacket looking oh-so-cool once more—I can almost feel the stares of the other girls, even a couple of the tamers, eyeing him. "We're a team. You both…." He glowers at Tai. "Should have contacted us the minute something like this happened!"

I look over at Tai. "You want to take this one?"

"Not really." He responds nervously, sweatdropping as we both stare at our irritated friends. I swear to freaking Yggdrasil I think Sora might be bipolar. Sometimes she's the nice and sweet girl who helps her mother out in their flower shop, other times….she freakishly reminds me of Sira.

Who by the way is standing just slightly behind me smirking as though my near-death experience was absolutely hilarious.

"Look Sora…." I sigh, scratching the back of my head. "I definitely would have called you if I could. But it all happened so fast….and…quite frankly only a couple of hours ago I was chained up."

"What?" Matt raises an eyebrow. "Again?"

I twitch. "Watch it pretty boy it doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to."

"So we're working with half-chosen then?" Stella demands, turning around to face Sira. "I didn't realize that. I thought we'd simply help out on this mission, end it quickly, and then get back to doing our own jobs."

Yolei's eyes narrow like a cat's. "HALF-chosen? What's the supposed to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? Unlike us you guys weren't completely chosen by Yggdrasil alone." Stella says, raising an eyebrow and with the tiniest of smirks on her face.

"Oh, so you think you're better than us or something?"

"Hmm? Do you really want me to answer that question?"

Yolei half charges forwards, looking exceptionally pissed right before Davis grabs her. "Ugh! Let me at her!"

"Yolei, you're making things worse!"

Sira shoots Stella a stern look that makes the other girl wilt slightly as Sira growls, "We're having a talk. NOW."

Judging by the pale look on Stella's face, she's already envisoning her life ending as Sira drags her away with a disapproving scowl on her face.

"You have to excuse Stella." The paler boy from before with the bright green eyes says in his quiet voice. "She still believes in the old ways. Not many of us tamers are like her."

"What was her problem anyway?" Gatomon mutters as she hops up on a hurt Kari's shoulder. "I don't recall doing anything to offend her mightiness."

The sarcasm in her meow makes me snort slightly, and the corners of the boy's lips turn upwards. "Stella just feels like that the tamers should be working on their missions and you guys should deal with your own problems. While I agree we need to make our problems the top priority, most of us don't see the harm in helping right now. Besides, a Megidramon on the loose…is a danger for everyone."

I look away and he flinches. "Look, I didn't mean your partner is evil or so-"Nah, it's okay." I turn and smile at him. "I…totally get where you're coming from, believe me. By the way….I didn't manage to catch your name?"

He smiles and runs a hand through his black hair. "Edan. Edan Lightwood."

"Edan?" Davis snickers quietly under his breath. "That's such a girl-OW!"

"I'm sorry, you were saying Davis?" Cody asks with absolute innocence, blinking. Edan chuckles before walking back over to the group and Agumon smiles. "See? Most of these guys are pretty cool?"

"Some of them are…." Yolei mutters, glowering at Stella's back.

Matt raises an eyebrow as he sees Damien's dark black hair in amongst the group. "Huh. He's still hanging around huh?"

"Matt!"

"Unfortunately." Tai grumbles with a roll of his eyes, causing me to punch him in the shoulder and glare at him. He pointedly ignores my "shut-up" gesture and Gabumon asks, cocking his head to one side, "But he's not a Tamer?"

"No….at least…I…" My eyebrows knit together and I shake my head, struggling to keep my thoughts together. "Wait…what were we talking about again?"

Matt's eyes narrow. "Lily?"

"Sorry…I…" I rub my temples, wincing in legit pain as another headache springs up. "I just….ah….."

"What's going on?" TK asks, poking around and frowning at the look of pain on my face.

"I was just asking about how much you guys know about Damien."

"Oh, Damien's cool." TK responds automatically. "Yeah…I guess we don't know…." He blinks. "All that much…but…."

Sora's eyes narrow as she looks from one to the other. I rub my temples again, fighting back a scream of frustration. What the heck was wrong with me? This wasn't teenage oh I love him so much I'm not going to think it through, this felt more literally like someone had flipped the off switch on the rational part of my brain.

I mean he is a weird kid who did pop out of nowhere….and has powers….but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with him….Is there….?...It's just….I don't…..

"You guys, looking!" Veemon cries out, his eyes widening as a dark shadow appears on the horizon. When the shadow doesn't slow down, he lets out a gasp before pushing Davis out of the way. "IN COMING!"

Devidramon slams down onto the ground right where Davis was previously standing, his claws creating huge grooves in the ground where they hit.

Davis lies there, twitching with fear as Ryo hops off Devidramon's back. "Anyone miss me?"

Silent glares from the Tamers and hurt/confused looks from the Digidestined. "Apparently not." She mutters as Devidramon rolls his eyes.

Somewhere in the darkness…it stirs….red eyes opening. A smile touches it's lips as it observes the scene in front of him, especially the young girl with the flaming red hair.

"You should have known better than to bother coming back my old friend." He mutters to her, smirking. "They'll never accept or trust you again." His lips curl, as he imagines sinking his own teeth into her flesh, watching her break, watching her bleed.

His red eyes fixate on the dragon next to her, and even though it's ridiculous, he can't help the sharp ache that burns at his chest.

He snarls once more. He will show her. He will show all who betrayed him….his eyes flicker over to the boy with the scruffy chestnut hair. Red eyes narrowing, he can't help the prickle of unease that builds up inside him. There's something different about this one….something….powerful….he isn't sure what, but this feeling makes him angry.

Snorting, he shoves it to the back of his mind and smiles again. It doesn't matter. The boy will die anyway. They will all die.

"Patamon?"

"Yes Veemon?"

Veemon leans in closer and whispers, "Am I the only one who feels like a bomb is about to go off any second now?"

Patamon flinches as he looks around at the crowd of humans clustered around them. "No, trust me. The whole atmosphere is really creepy."
"If looks could kill I think Ryo would be dead by now."

I had to say I agreed with them. The Tamers were all glowering murderously at her, with the exception of Adelina, who looked more sad than anything else.

Ryo just shrugs and then turns to face us. "Sorry I left earlier." She said, playing with her red hair. "I didn't mean to leave you in the lurch like that but…something came up. Something…really really big…." Her face darkens.

"Something big my butt." Stella mutters under her breath. "More like you despise us so much that you refuse to help those who associate with us."

"I'm not nearly as petty as you are rookie." Ryo says with a sneer. Stella's face flushes before Seraphimon grabs her shoulders. "Easy." He mutters. "She's not worth it."

Ryo just rolls her eyes and replies, "So what the heck happened? Megidramon turned on Ken? Why?"

"If we knew that we would have acted on it already." I respond, feeling a little annoyed by her demanding tone.

She growls. "Well why aren't we tracking them down already? Before your partner eats him, preferably?"

"He'd probably deserve it." Damien says with an uncaring yawn and Ryo tenses, her eyes narrowing.

"What?"

"Damien…." I sigh, looking away from him. Is he really the type of person to just say that someone deserves to die a horrible death, being torn apart by a bloodthirsty dragon?

I mean, yes, this is all Ken's fault, but….that's not a death I'd wish on anyone.

"I can help track down the signal and find them…." Yolei comments, looking thoughtful. "If I had a computer than it would be easy."

"We can probably get you one back at the Tamer base." Adelina offers. "Would the Windows XB .65 work?"

"…You have that? Are you kidding me?" She squeals, clasping her hands together and beaming. "Perfecto!"

"Could we please focus on what really matters?" Ryo's voice is icy and makes Yolei cringe back, looking ashamed and unsure.

"I…."

"Hey…." Tai protests, shooting Ryo a look before pulling Yolei closer to the rest of us and scowling at her. I can't help but smile. Tai will never allow any of his members to be picked on like that.

A derisive snort echoes from the back and I can't help from cringing. Oh this can't mean anything good…..

"You know you haven't changed a bit." Sira says with a sneer that she usually reserves for people she really despises, like Archie or Myotismon. "I'd have thought you might have gained at least some maturity over the years after you were exiled but no. You still come in acting like you own the place and like you're better than everyone else here."

"Did I ask you your opinon banshee?" Ryo spits back.

"…Oh boy." Tai mutters, sweatdropping as the two girls glare at each other. "Should we try to get between them?"

Matt snorts. "You can. I know impending Armageddon when I see it."

"You have no right to even be hear," Sira snarls, looking ready to kill, "so you have no right to go around being snippy to people who haven't done anything and giving them orders!"

"Oh like you do?" Ryo snarls back, walking forwards with her hands balled into fists like she wants to sock Sira in the face. "You who only have members who follow you because you rule through intimidation?"

My jaw tightens as I step forward, ready to give Ryo a hard kick in the shins as Sira flinches ever so slightly. NO ONE talks to my sister like that.

Ellen beats me to it, slapping Ryo across the face and crying out, "How dare you?"

Ryo doesn't even flinch, like she can't even feel the slap at all, and Ellen pulls back, wincing as she stares down at her hand which now has a massive bruise across it. "What the…?"

"YOU are the pathetic one, not me." Ryo snarls, shoving Sira backwards. I hear Agumon growling beside me and see the murderous looks on all of the tamers. "You don't even care enough about your own mate to have your team help him when he's in trouble! You always put your pride first."

Wait…what?

"What the heck is she talking about?" Gatomon whispers, eyes narrowing. "GranDracmon can't seriously…be in…"

I shake my head slowly, the cellphone call echoing back in my mind. Now I realize who called Sira. It was Ryo. But before I can ponder this anymore I'm distracted by the bloodthirsty shriek and the next thing I know Ryo and Sira are rolling in the dirt, clawing and punching each other with all they have.

Biyomon just sweatdrops as she watches. "Well then…."

Sora groans, facepalming. "It's Tai and Matt all over again."

"Hey! We were never this bad!"

"Does WarGreymon VS MetalGarurumon mean nothing to you two?"

"…Touche."

"Sira, knock it off!" I shout, pleading for her to listen to me as her fingernails rake down Ryo's cheek creating long red grooves. "Sira, please! We have to find Renamon and Ken! SIRA!"

"Ryo, stop it!" Monodramon shouts over to his partner. "We didn't come here to start another fight with her, remember?"

"Don't you DARE bring GranDracmon into this…." Sira snarls as she bends Ryo's arm back, causing the other girl to yelp, "When it was your betrayal that nearly…."

"…Wha?"

But Ryo responds by catching Sira off guard and punching her hard in the nose, forcing Sira to fall back, and then kicking her hard in the chest.

Sira lets out a strangled gasp and clutches at her ribs, and I can tell by the pained expression on her face that a couple of them are probably really badly bruised if not broken.

That does it.

"You little jerk." I seethe, pushing past Ryo, and running to Sira. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be….fine…" She breaths before growling at Ryo. "I told you you can't trust her!"

Ryo rolls her eyes. "I'm untrustworthy because you are out of shape and you quite frankly suck at hand to hand fighting?"

Dilbert shoves her back roughly, and for once his normally happy face is clearly pissed. "Get out." He snaps. "NOW."

"Fine." She responds with a sneer, but as she walks off, "But if I do walk off you'll never know how easy it could be to beat the monster that's controlling Ken…"

"…?"

Ryo turns her head to look back at me, her eyes narrowing as she stares just at me. "Or the enemies he might bring back." Her tone isn't smug, it's weary, and that's what sends a chill down my spine. She's not making this up.

…Or the enemies he might bring back….Blue eyes blue eyes blue eyes….

"Lily." Sira's voice is hard as she grabs my shoulder. "I need to talk with you."

"In a minute Sira I'm trying to think this through….."

"NOW."

Sighing, I exchange a look with Tai like, "Save me please" but Tai just sighs and shakes his head ruefully, "Can't help you."

Few people can stand up against Sira when she's in this kind of a mood. I sigh as she pulls me to the outskirts of the group, and I know what her words are going to be even before she says them.

"You cannot invite her to be a part of this!" She snaps, slicing her arm back and growling menacingly. I glance at her bloodstained face and my resolve softens. "Are you okay?"

She gives me a withering look, the way she always does when she knows I'm at least partly trying to change the subject. "I'm FINE but that's not the point. The point is I'd trust a rabid Garurumon more than I'd trust her, and if you have any brain cells you'd do the same thing."

"First off, if Gabumon heard that rabid Garurumon comment he'd be highly offended, second of all…" I lower my voice and make sure Sira is looking me right in the eyes as I say this. "I don't trust her, okay? I get there's something off about this girl. But the fact is that she has information we could really use, Sira, and right now, when absolutely nothing makes sense, we could really use someone with inside information."

She just scowls at me. "And what will you do if she stabs you in the back when you're so focused on finding this information?"

"Sira, I can handle myself."

"Not all the time. Dang it Lily I am trying to show you when an idea is too risky and you're blowing me off!"

"Because even if it is a risk, I have to find my partner!" I snap, my voice rising. "And if Ryo helps us maybe we can make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Why don't you listen to me for a change? It'd be nice if you could be supportive instead of so eager to pick a fight!"

Her pupils slit. "Are you accusing me of being selfish?"

"No! That's not what I….' My fists clench. "Stop twisting my words around Sira. I'm just trying to think of a way to stop all of this insanity before someone else loses their partner and someone else gets hurt."

"If you cared about your friends than you wouldn't let someone like her around!"

…Oh that does it…

Grabbing her by the shirt collar, I shove her back, hard, but only to get my point across not to hurt her. "Get this through your head. No one cares more about Tai and the others than me. I would do ANYTHING for them so don't you dare ever make a statement like that again!"

Sira glares at me, her red eyes narrowing down to slits, and I'm so tired of this. Whatever reason she hates Ryo, I don't know, but she should be more mature enough not to let it interfere with what really matters.

"If you don't want to be involved, than don't." I say tiredly, as I walk away from her. "But just know this. You've really let me down."

"After all I've done…for YOU…how can I say I've let you down?"

I turn and look at her. "Right now." I say quietly. "None of the past means anything compared to this moment when I've lost possibly the most important person in my life…and you let me down."

"Beta…Alpha…and Omega?" Davis says slowly, looking over at Delbert. "So what do those all mean exactly?"

Dilbert grins as he lies on his back in the dirt, looking like he's without a care in the world. "They're different ranks in the group. Omega tamers are the most common, like me, and what we can do is…" He pulls out a dagger and Davis flinches back. Delbert snorts. "What? Did you think I was going to gut you or something? Trust me. If I was really going to kill you, you wouldn't see it coming."

"Gee that's comforting."

"Anyway, the fact my Digivice comes in the form of a weapon is what makes me an Omega tamer."

Yolei blinks. "Wha? No way. That's your Digivice?"

Dilbert shoots her a grin. "Sure is. And because of it it means I get to fight side by side with my partner."

"Doesn't mean I don't have a heart attack when he runs out into the battle field." Lilithmon mutters.

He rolls his eyes. "Ah, you worry too much. Anyway the next up in rank are the alpha tamers." He gestures over to Adelina whose busy talking to a teary-eyed Ellen. He frowns slightly before continuing, "See that ring on Adelina's finger? That's HER Digivice, and it allows her and her partner Kudamon to do something really special—to biomerge with her partner."

"Biomerge?" Sora asks sceptically, raising an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Eh, it's hard to explain if you have never seen it before." He grins. "But let me tell you, it will knock your socks off."

"And…the beta tamer?"
"That's what Sira and Stella both are." He nods in Stella's direction whose sitting with her head on Seraphimon's shoulder, her eyes closed as if she's trying to calm down. "Beta tamers are the leaders, as they have the most powerful Digimon—for example, Stella has Seraphimon, Sira has GranDracmon."

"Hold on." TK raises an eyebrow. "You said the beta tamer is the leader. And yet….you have two?"

"Right." Dilbert nods. "Stella's like Sira's apprentice. She'll be the leader herself one day, even though I'm not sure how much she's looking forward to it." He hesitates and lowers his voice slightly. "When she was still with us….Ryo was also a beta tamer apprentice. Could possibly have been the leader as well."

The group turns to stare at Ryo who is standing as far away from them as possible, the wind playing with her hair and throwing it back as she stares off into the distance.

Monodramon leans against her leg and she smiles faintly before touching the top of his head and continuing to ignore the others.

"…"

"What happened?" Kari asks, turning back to stare at Dilbert.

"…Long story…" He mumbles, looking away. "But it was such a mess….complete disaster….."

Everyone startles at the sound of footsteps stomping towards them, and Dilbert blinks to see Sira storming back over looking severely pissed as Lily follows behind, looking bitter.

"Oh that's not good."

"Lily?" Tai gets to his feet, concern flooding him and he gently grabs her shoulder as she tries to walk past him. "Are you okay?"

I sigh and cross my arms. "No…not really…."

"We're leaving." Sira snaps at Dilbert before turning to face the rest of her team. "Let's move out."

"But…." Ellen protests as Sira walks past her as Sorcerymon sighs. "Riona I think… you might be being too rash…."

"Sira what about…"

"I said we're going." Sira growls as Stella walks over to join her, looking relived. "Let the half-chosen deal with this."

"Sira!"

I clench my fists as I see them go one by one through the portal…Sira looks over at me but I pointedly look away and she scowls before entering.

Adelina goes in last, looking guilty and annoyed and glances over at us, mouthing the words, "I'll fix this" before following her.

Matt sweatdrops as they disappear. "Lily, what the heck happened back there?"

"Don't assume this is my fault." I growl, looking away. "She's the one who seems to think that settling a grudge is more important than doing what's right."

"That doesn't sound like Sira." Biyomon says, a frown appearing on her beak. "What happened?"

I just shrug and look away. "She's mad at my decision to…." My voice trails off as Ryo walks over to us. Ryo's eyes narrow slightly as she turns at the spot where the portal vanished.

A flicker of something appears across her face…maybe regret it's too mixed up to tell but then she turns back to me. "You okay?"

"Fine." I mutter. Sira's words keep playing back in my head. Damien raises an eyebrow as he looks over at her. "Well since our old comrade has apparently decided we're not worth the trouble….I suppose that means you can help us?"

Ryo keeps her eyes fixated on me, and even with all I've heard, she looks complete sincere as she smiles wryly and responds with, "I don't know. But I'll sure as heck try."

"So I suppose we head out and pray Megidramon hasn't eaten Ken." Tai says grimly, his eyes narrowing.

"But we don't even know where she went! What are we supposed to do, just wander around randomly hoping we'll get lucky?"

"Well do you have a better idea Matt?"

Matt rolls his blue eyes at Tai. "As a matter of fact I do, and if you were using your head more at this moment you'd realize it too. Who do we know whose a positive genius with computers?"

"…Oh." Tai's face flushes as he scratches the back of his neck while Sora rolls her eyes and pulls out her phone. "I'll contact Izzy."

"Good." Ryo nods grimly as Sora dials. "And when we do find her, no one-man heroic stunts. All of those with the strongest of Digimon are going to have to hit her as hard as we can."

Davis flinches. "Is that really necessary? She's our friend, shouldn't we be avoiding hurting her as much as possible?"

"Oh yeah she's your friend." Monodramon said with a wry laugh. "That won't stop her from trying to swallow you alive while she's being controlled."

"Hey…."

"Davis, it's fine."

He blinks. "Are you….sure Lily?"

I nod, brushing my hair back from my face and sighing. "What matters is….that no one dies for good. No human, no Digimon."

"Well said." Ryo nods. "And we'll try to make sure that that is the outcome." Her Digivice suddenly beeps and she rolls her eyes in frustration before answering it. "Hello?"

"What are the odds of that being Sira calling to apologize to me?" I mutter to Tai. Tai just smiles ruefully. "Be honest Lils. Sira never apologizes."

"…What?"

We all look up sharply at the tone in Ryo's voice. Her knuckles are clenched tightly around her phone. "No just…calm down….what happened?"

A few more moments of complete silence except for the muffled sound of someone terrified speaking to her.

"It's going to be okay." She says in a tone more soothing than I've ever heard her use in her life. "It'll be fine, I'll get you out of there I promise…."

Sora walks back over to us. "Izzy's got a lock on Megidramon's location. But while we're there he wants us to check out Tentomon's territory. Apparently he hasn't heard from Tentomon in days and he's getting really worr…." Her voice breaks off as Ryo finally hangs up, her face grim. "Apparently that's not the only problem, huh?"

"Try complete disaster. That was from Wormmon, and he's in huge trouble."

Patamon blinks. "Wormmon? Isn't that the Emperor's Digimon? Why is he sitting at home while his partner is in trouble?"

"I don't think he knew…." Monodramon shrugs. "Ken…he doesn't really like it when Wormmon tags around him. Or has anything to do with him really."

"Pathetic." Kari mutters, disgust obvious in her voice at the way someone could treat their own partner.

"Look, none of that matters right now." Ryo responds, agitated. "Wormmon called, absolutely terrified, because apparently the base has been taken over by…good grief a whole TEAM of psychopaths."

"I bet their leader is the guy who hijacked Ken's system." Gatomon mutters. "It's a good strategy. Gain control of the Dark Rings, gain immense power, and then get rid of the competition."

"That makes sense and all, and I'm worried for Wormmon as well," I point out, "but shouldn't stopping Megidramon be our top priority? I mean if we don't break the Dark Spiral off of her as soon as possible it'd cause even more damage if this creep was able to keep controlling her."

Ryo hesitates. "I don't like this but…."

"Ohh no." Damien shakes his head, crossing his arms. "We are not splitting up. Everytime we do it's a complete disaster."

"I'm inclined to agree with young Damien." Hawkmon pipes up. "Would we not be better off sticking together in a larger group? You know what they say, numbers is the best defence, and I think we've certainly found that to be true."

"While you might have a point it's not like we have much choice." Sora sighs. "Still, taking on a Mega will be nearly impossible without us all together."

"But if we all go together than we'll have even more problems." Ryo says tersely back. "I don't know what these creeps want in Ken's base but whatever it is it can't be anything good. Wormmon says he thinks they're building something there."

I get a very bad feeling in my stomach, like icy hands were trying to crawl up my intestines. "…Building something?"

"Apparently."

"Well, we obviously can't ignore that." TK admits. "So as much as it sucks, we're going to have to split into two groups. But we stay in constant contact with each other, agreed?"

"I need to be the one that goes after Megidramon." I say stubbornly, crossing my arms. "She's my partner, it's my responsibility more than anyone elses'."

"You're not doing this on your own." Tai says flatly, his hand clutching mine. "Not this time."

"Tai…." I can't help but shake my head and smile. I should have known there'd be no point in getting Tai to let me go without him.

"Well, if my brother's going, I'd better go too." Kari says with a smile as Gatomon purrs.

"Keep you two out of trouble."

I feel my face flush slightly at the cat Digimon's words. "W-what is that supposed to mean?"

"Hmm? It could mean all kinds of things." She says with a sly grin that makes both me and Tai turn bright red…though Tai's grinning at the same time. Damien scowls murderously, looking unimpressed. "Then I'm coming as well."

"No, Damien."

"Huh?" He gives me a startled, hurt look. Behind me Tai silently punches the air and mouths the words "I win you son of a banshee."

Rolling my eyes over at him so he'll stop doing the happy joy dance, I say quietly so others can't hear, "I need you to be the one to keep an eye on Ryo. She may be willing to help us but I don't trust her completely yet."

"One of the others can do that." He insists, his grey eyes flashing. "I want to make sure nothing happens to you. Lily…please….?"

The earnest look on his face makes me feel slightly guilty but I still shake my head. "I'll be fine. Trust me."

"But…."

"Just…" I touch his shoulder. "Do this for me, okay? It would make me feel a heck of a lot better."

"…Fine." He grumbles, looking away from me, his annoyance obvious, especially since Tai still seems to be gloating over there at him.

I didn't tell Damien that Ryo's not the only one I want someone to keep an eye on. More and more I find myself questioning Damien. Which is harsh and I feel kind of bad about it, but there's this little voice in my head that keeps screaming there's something not quite right about this whole scenario, how this kid with powers just dropped out of nowhere.

I'm probably judging too harshly but it never hurts to be wary.

"I'll go with them." Sora adds and when Matt flinches slightly she responds, "Come on Matt. You don't doubt I can handle myself." Her eyes narrow slightly. "Do you?"

"Uh…" He sweatdrops. "No. Not at all. Not even slightly."

She smirks before patting him on the shoulder. "Good to hear it."

"Contact the rest of us the minute you need help." Ryo replies, before walking off with the others. Sora touches Matt's hand for a moment and the two of them exchange a look. He smiles before kissing her gently and then following Ryo.

I feel my shoulders slump unwillingly. How long will it be before someone is willing to kiss me like that again?

"Sira, we need to talk about this."

Sira's eyes narrow slightly as she looks behind her. "Talk about WHAT Adelina?"

Adelina crosses her arms and gives Sira a stern look. They'd all just come through the portal moments before and Sira was still seething from the argument with Lily earlier. "After everything she acts like I'm the one that disappointed her?"

"You know Lily did have a point."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sira demands icily, turning around to glare at her, something she rarely did with Adelina.

But the Alpha tamer doesn't back down, if anything she gets more irritated looking. "Don't get snippy with me too. The point is Lily was right. Fighting with Ryo wasn't exactly important at that moment, you know that right?"

"So you think I should just LET that little witch get involved with us again? After what she did? After she nearly-"Uh, Sira. I was there, remember. I know full well what she did. We all did. But if you were really worried about her backstabbing the Digidestined, then you should have had us stick around with them to make sure something like that didn't happen, not storming off like a four year old."

Sira growls. "Remember who you're speaking to Adelina…."

Adelina's eyes flash. "I'm trying to. And when the Sira I know decides to reappear instead of this immature brat, than I'll be happy to." She walks off leaving Sira on her own.

Sira groans, running a hand through her hair. Ellen's too nice to say anything but she's giving Sira some disapproving looks as well. Edan looks uncomfortable while Stella looks torn. Dilbert is….sleeping. His head on his female Wormmon's stomach, as Lilithmon must have degenerated back to her Rookie form when they went through the portal.

"Well…Riona?" Sorcerymon asks, staring over at her. "What say you?"

Sira sighs, taking out her Digivice and studying it for a moment. She knows her team will follow her out of loyalty no matter what decision she makes. That's not the problem. The problem is if they're all convinced she's wrong…what if she was being selfish?

"Flipping heck." Davis groans as we keep walking through the tall grass of the prairie. "Is anyone else besides me bored out of their mind?'

"We're not on this mission for entertainment purposes." I say with a roll of my eyes to keep from strangling him. Normally I wouldn't be so irritated, but if I'm already super stressed, and he's been complaining this entire walk…

Sora frowns. "If we only had a map this would be going a lot faster…."

"I once had a map of everywhere we traveled." Tai comments before shooting Agumon a look. "SOMEHOW it got burned to a crisp."

"That was years ago! And I already apologized for it!"

"Wait a minute. Did you guys hear that?" Gatomon's ears perk up suddenly and she stiffens, looking around.

"What is it?"

"Shh…." A low wailing kind of noise echoes from around us, growing louder and louder with each passing second. It takes a while to register in my brain and then I blink. "A train…?"

"Uh..guys?"

Davis' face is pale as he slowly looks behind him. "You do realize….we're standing….ON the train tracks."

"…"

"Oh %%%****."
"SORA MOVE!" Tai shouts before grabbing her around the waist and shoving her out of the way just as Gatomon slams into Kari, I roll down the hill, and Davis bolts…only to get his shoelace stuck in the tracks.

"DAVIS!"

Veemon slams into him full force tearing him free and knocking him down the hill just as the train rushes past at full speed.

"Maniac." Gatomon breathes, shoving herself upwards and shaking like mad as she stands protectively in front of Kari. "What in Yggdrasil's name was he thinking?"

"Aw man…"

Davis groans as he examines his feet, one now obviously shoeless, and whines, "I just got these."

"Ah, you'll be fine." Veemon waves him off. "Besides, I think it's always better to go barefoot anyway."

"You okay Sora?" Tai asks gently, helping her back up as she brushes the dirt off her jeans.

"I'll be fine…." She mutters, scowling after the train. "Hey buddy! Next time learn how to drive!"

"Yup, she's fine."

"I'm fine too thanks for asking." I mutter, wincing at the large scrape that is across my left cheek. I can't help the resentful glare I shoot Tai and Sora's way. It's ridiculous. She's with Matt, I don't know why I bother getting jealous, especially since Tai's not really my boyfriend.

But….a part of them will always love each other. Not romantically. But just as strong. It's…I don't know… Not the way Matt and Sora love each other, it's different than that, and I know there was a time when Tai loved me more just like Sora loves Matt more….but….

"Can we keep moving on?" I growl, getting to my feet and Sora laughs as she pushes Tai off. "Right behind you Lils."

There's no blushing, no indication of romance or anything but…

Shaking my head I manage to listen as Tai responds, "Isn't Tentomon's tree supposed to be right around here?"

"Yeah…?"

"…Then why don't I see it?"

Biyomon flaps her wings and takes to the sky, calling down to us, "I'll go check it out. BRB!"

I blink and slowly turn my head to look at Sora, trying not to giggle. "BRB? Are you kidding me?"

Sora groans, rolling her eyes to heaven. "I've been texting with Mimi recently and Biyomon wanted to know why I was typing weird words that weren't really words, so I taught her some of it. Apparently…she seems to like it a bit too much."

We both look at each other and both start laughing really hard for no really apparent reason. And just like that all of my doubts and jealously are shoved under a boulder…for now anyway. But I know one thing. Sora is one of my best friends, and just like I'd never do anything to hurt her, she'd never do anything to hurt me.

She knows how I feel and judging by the time I caught the two of them passionately making out in the school's supply closet, she knows how Matt feels as well.
Biyomon flies overhead to the location to where she knows Tentomon's tree is supposed to be, a massive oak that has always seemed out of place and yet quaint here on the prairie. She blinks suddenly, not able or not willing to process what she's seeing.

Ash stretches outwards in a great ring and in the middle there's a charred stump. Claw marks all around it. Biyomon's eyes widen in horror and she lets out a low moan. "No…."

….

"That….is the stupidest looking base I've ever seen in my life."

Matt's observation makes both Patamon and Armadillomon snicker loudly. Indeed, it's not necessarily the most designer friendly looking base.

It looks more like someone sliced a huge chunk of rock out of a cliff, creating this odd bulky thing that's levitating in mid-air.

"It's designed to look like part of the terrain." Ryo says with a shrug as she fiddles around inside her bag. "To better blend in, you know?"

"Most mountains don't fly." Damien says dryly.

She rolls her eyes. "When it's NOT moving. Anyway, the base circles around every day, going to different locations, but at night it enters a subsection of the Dark Area." She flinches. "And TRUST me we do not want to end up there."

"After all…" Damien's lips quirk oddly. "That is where the Demon Lords live."

Yolei shivers. "The who-know?"

"The most powerful Viruses in the Digital World. The Seven of them are each embodiments of the Deadly Sins…Wrath…Pride…." His fingers brush up against Ryo's hair slightly. "And Lust."

She smacks his hand away and glares at him, causing him to laugh. "In any case, none of you kids would stand a chance against seven very powerful, bloodthirsty Megas."

Matt's eyes narrow as Damien looks over at him. He's irritated, and he knows Tai would have been down right pissed at the patronizing tone in Damien's voice when he talks to them or the way he said "kids."

But Matt's not Tai thank Yggdrasil, so he manages to easily keep his temper and respond with a raised eyebrow and, "Then I suppose we'd better be careful not to piss them off."

"I'm not so sure about this." Cody mutters and Armadillomon leans against his partner in a comforting way. "Don't worry about it. If the Demon Lords were planning to tear us to shreds they would have done it by now."

"Here's something we should really be worried about." TK comments, shoving his hat back slightly to get a better look up. "How do we get inside? It looks pretty well fortified."

To his surprise, Ryo chuckles. "That, kid, is the easy part." She smirks as she holds up her Digivice. "Ready Monodramon?"

"MONODRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….DEVIDRAMON!"

"What is she doing?"

Devidramon soars upwards till he's hovering right by one of the bases' walls. Ryo clambers onto the edge and pulls out a circular metallic object from behind her back. It's too far away for Matt to see exact details on it, but when she presses it against the wall red lights show up on it. There's the sound of rapid beeping and then electricity zooms outward, sparking against the rock wall.

Slowly…slowly….the granite peels away to reveal an opening and Matt's jaw drops. "How did she?"

Ryo smiles, dusting her hands off at her good work before looking down towards the others. "Well? Are you coming or not?"

"ARGH!"

"Davis, punching the ground isn't going to get us anywhere." Sora sighs in exasperation as she looks at the younger boy. "Except give you a bloody fist."

"What the #%%%% %%^^ is going on?" Davis seeths, his eyes blazing with anger as he whirls around to face us. "First Renamon and now Tentomon has been taken from us? What kind of a game does he think he's playing?"

"Technically the Digimon Emperor isn't responsible for Tentomon's disappearance." Gatomon says, her tail lashing back and forth in agitation. "Although that makes me feel worse not better."

"Davis has a point." I mutter, rubbing my temples to fight the headache rising up in me again. "What the crap is going on? First someone hijacks the Emperor's system….now they're kidnapping tons of Digimon….and then Wormmon says people have snuck into the base and are building something? What could they possibly be building?"

"I'm not quite sure we're going to like the answer when we find out." Agumon responds grimly and Tai clenches his teeth.

I haven't seen him look this angry and frustrated in a long time, and I slowly lift my head just as Sora asks hesitantly, "Tai?"

"It's just so wrong." Tai growls in frustration, his fists tightly clenched so hard his knuckles are pure white. "How the heck am I supposed to protect my team when I don't even have a clue what we're fighting?"

"Tai, I get where you're coming from." Sora responds calmly, looking up at him, "But in this case there was nothing you could have done. Maybe if we had known that someone was targeting our partners spefically then we could have set up some kind of protection around all of them, but we didn't so we couldn't so there's no one to blame for something no one knew."

"…"

"Sora that…barely made any sense at all." Kari says, sweatdropping.

As Sora rolls her eyes and gives Kari a look, I punch Tai hard in the shoulder as I walk past him. "What she MEANS lover-boy is that this is not your fault. And if you go back into emo mode again after you get over this anger, I'm going to slap you in the face once more."

A small smile appears on Tai's face before he laughs. "Don't worry. I'm not going to go back into emo mode, as you put it, especially since your sister threatened to kick my butt if I did."

"Glad to hear Sira actually said something useful." I mutter, a pain of sadness and hurt rising up in me as I remember our fight from earlier.

Tai frowns and touches my shoulder, spinning me around. "Lily, don't let one fight get you down or ruin your relationship with her. I don't think she was trying to hurt you."

"She was the one who walked off, Tai, not me."

"Well yes, that was stupid, but look…." He takes a breath. "Look, I understand what it's like to be an older sibling." He glances over at Kari. "You get overprotective…"

"Like threatening to stalk and murder any boy who takes me out?"

"Well yes there's that, and that still stands." He adds, giving her a glare before turning back to me as she sticks her tongue out at him, "but the point is it that you….get angry when your younger sibling doesn't seem to be listening to you, or if they insist on doing something you know is wrong."

"Tai, I appreciate it…" I sigh. "But somehow I doubt Sira's just upset because she thinks I'm putting myself at risk by listening to Ryo."

He raises an eyebrow. "Really? Because if Kari was listening to someone I hated I'd be pretty pissed off at both of them."

"…I don't know." I mutter, looking away just as Agumon yelps, "Hey, what's that?"

We all whip our heads around to see something…huge…towering up to the sky and moving towards us at a ridiculous pace.

"What is it?" Kari gasps, taking a step back. "A-a tornado?"

Gatomon's eyes narrow slightly as she looks before her eyes widen. "Oh crap…EVERYBODY RUN!"

Tai grabs my hand as we both bolt, racing back in the direction we came towards the train tracks. The thing keeps getting closer, letting off sparks of energy as it does.

I clench my teeth, feeling the heat much too close to my back as I struggle to move even faster, actually leaping over the train tracks in one bound, a move that the others easily repeat.

Except for….

"GACK!"

Davis screams as his foot gets caught in the train tracks once again, his eyes widen with fear as he desperately tries to loosen it and the pink tornado slowly encircles him…

"DAVIS!"

I scream his name, running back just as I feel the suction pull at me as well, dragging me off my feet. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was some kind of portal, the motion sickness and all, but this was insane, pulling me head over heels and spinning me around rapidly as I heard Tai and the others scream my name. The roar increases in my ears and I squeeze my eyes tight to keep from puking as I'm spun literally upside down and forwards and back….I catch a glimpse of Tai's face and reach for his hand…

"L-Lily!"

Another ripple shoots up the column and I'm ripped away from him at the last possible second, screaming as I'm thrown backwards and Tai vanishes from sight.

….

"FALL BACK NOW!"

Matt shoves TK out of the way just as a massive tentacle slams into the ground in front of them, crushing the walkway with tremendous strength.

He stares in distaste at the creature, his eyes narrowing down to slits. He remembers when Joe and Ikakumon had to fight against this thing, a Gesomon, a squid-like Digimon with a powerful choking grip and rotten yellow teeth.

Ryo scowls in annoyance before looking over at him. "Do you think you can handle this on your own?"

Gabumon snorts. "Without a doubt. Matt?"

Matt smirks and pulls out his glowing Digivice. "The rest of you move on, we've got this."

TK hesitates for only a moment before grinning. "Go get him brother." Before bolting after the others down a narrow hallway.

Gesomon squeals and sends a tentacle whipping after TK, barely missing the young boy's ankles just as Gabumon bursts into light.

"GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO….GARURUMON!"

Gesomon's eyes widen as the snarling wolf charges him, sinking his teeth into one tentacle and nearly ripping it off.

His scream echoes before Garurumon finally lets go to avoid being clobbed in the head by a different tentacle and rebounding off the wall, blue flames appearing in his maw.

"HOWLING BLASTER!"

The rest of the group continues running at top speed down the hallways, Ryo occasionally checking her Digivice over and over again.

"I've got a lock on Wormmon's signal…." She mutters, whipping around a corner, her mane of red hair flying out from behind her. "Come on!"

"Let's just hope this isn't some kind of trap…." Damien replies under his breath, but Ryo can hear him and she fixes him with a glare over her shoulder.

"Wormmon would never do something like that. He's not like Ken, and he's one of the few people left I can still trust."

"Lovely." Yolei mutters, struggling to keep up with the pace of the more athletic group. Even Cody was managing this constant running better than she was, being the kendo champion that he was. For a girl who spent most of her time on the computer or eating sweets from her family's store, even weeks in the Digital World didn't solve everything.

"Almost….there…"

Suddenly Yolei's foot seemed to be falling through mid-air as she opens her mouth to respond sarcastically to Ryo's announcement. She screams as the trap door opens all the way and she plummets, twisting and howling all the way down.

"YOLEI!"

"YOLEI!" Hawkmon cries, diving down after his partner at full speed, spreading his wings out to their full length. Cody crouches, ready to jump in after his best friend but Damien pushes him to the side with a shout of, "I'll get her, you keep moving!"

And with an athletic ease he leaps in after the girl, black jacket swirling around him like a cloak as he vanishes from sight.

Cody shudders. "Yolei…."

"She'll be okay Cody…." Armadillomon comforts him by placing a paw on the younger boy's knee, "but for now we need to keep moving."

"We'll come back for all of them, I promise." TK agrees, touching Cody's shoulder. Cody hesitates, looking up at the older boy before nodding and taking his outstretched hand and getting back to his feet.

Ryo turns so the two of them can't see the look on her face. Good grief….on her first mission she's already had something potentially horrible to two of her members.

She just prayed that the others, wherever they were, wouldn't do something stupid once they found Megidramon. Like confront the massive dragon. "Please Yggdrasil I know I'm the last person who deserves to be praying to you…but don't let anyone else die under my charge."

"Ugh….."

Kari moans as she shoves herself upwards, her head pounding in pain as she struggle to regain focus. "T-Tai?"

There's nothing. Just the sound of birds and insect Digimon, and the feeling of sunlight beating down on her. For a minute, Kari feels a moment of terror that she was indeed all alone, but to her relief she quickly discovered that wasn't the case.

Sora and Davis, along with all their partners, are stretched out unconscious on the grassy forest bed. Sora moans as Kari crawls over to her and shakes her desperately. "Sora…please…wake up…please…."

There's that moment of fear and uncertainity before Sora's eyes finally open. "Wha….what was that?" She groans.

"Data stream…." Gatomon mutters weakly from where she lays.

'"Huh?"

"Never heard of them." Davis mutters, wincing in pain as he shoves himself upwards. "And at this moment I'm incredibly glad not to."

"They only appear every once in a while." Gatomon explains, getting steadily back to her feet and wincing at the bruises all along her body. "When the Digital World is in turmoil. They reflect the chaos."

"Good to know." Veemon grumbles. "So what happened to Lily and Tai?"

"They must have been sent to a different area." Gatomon sighs, her ears dropping. "That's what makes data streams so dangerous. You literally have no idea where you're going to end up."

"So you're saying….we might never see them again?" Davis lets out a choked noise of horror.

"Don't be so dramatic. Of course that's not what I'm saying. But it could take forever to find them, especially since we don't have the type of technology to track them down. And with only one partner amongst the two of them…they could be in real trouble…."

"I'm not going to accept that." Sora says firmly, getting to her feet, albeit with great difficulty and still feeling quite dizzy. However, she stubbornly walks forwards into the forest. "There must be a village somewhere nearby that we can use to contact someone with. Hopefully Ryo, or maybe even Sira. She might have her stubborn moments but I'm sure if Sira thinks Lily is in real trouble she'll come running no matter what."

Davis and Kari exchange a look with each other. "Are you sure Sora?" Davis asks. "That forest doesn't look particularly safe." He grins suddenly as he reaches down, his hand holding Kari's tightly. "Here, I'll hold your hand so you don't get scared."

Unfortunately Davis forgot about Kari's other hand. Which was a rather large mistake because she promptly slaps him hard across the face.

"T-…Tai?"

My eyes slowly open and I groan as I shift, moving my arm so I'm not lying on top of it awkwardly anymore.

Tai is stretched out awkwardly next to me, his chin touching his knees as he's curled up into a tight ball for protection. He looks almost like he could be asleep. I smile and reach forwards, brushing his bangs out of his eyes right before his eyelids slowly flicker, than open.

"Li-Lily?"

"Hey sleeping beauty." I tease, leaning back on my butt and feeling sand press up into my shorts. I supress a groan. Don't tell me we got landed in the desert again….but no. The smell of salt and the roaring noise behind me tips me off to where we really are.

"Huh." I comment, looking out at the ocean. "I did always want to go to the beach."

"The beach?" Tai says, surprised as he scrambles back to his feet. His brown eyes take in the water sliding up to our ankles, and he blinks. "Wait…I remember this place. This is where Agumon digivolved to Greymon for the first time."

"Wait, so that means we're on File Island?" I exclaim, turning around to face him. "That's a freaking ocean apart from the others!"

"I know I….wait…." Tai's eyes widen slightly as he whirls around. "Where's Agumon?"

"…You've got to be kidding me…." I mutter, spinning around as well and not seeing any sign of the chubby cheerful dino-lizard.

"AGUMON!"

"Shh!"

I clasp a hand over his panicked mouth. "Would you be quiet? You don't know whose listening in on us! We're separated from the others and neither of us have partners right now. To any hungry rogue Digimon we look like lunch." My tone softens. "I'm sure Agumon's fine. That thing must have transported him somewhere else, but aside from probably being worried sick about you, he's probably just fine. And freaking out's not going to solve anything."

Tai's shoulders are shaking but he sighs. "I….I know…."

I touch his arm lightly before he stiffens and pulls me behind him.

"What is it?"

He growls and I see something…moving…beneath the sand….moving towards us quickly creating snake-like patterns and without thinking I grip Tai's arm harder as the beach explodes upwards and something emerges….

"RYO!"

Ryo's face split into a relieved smile as she spots Wormmon crouching terrified in the corner. Bending down she smiles as he crawls, overjoyed, into her arms.

"You came…" He mutters quietly.

"Course I did." She pats the back of his head gently as Cody smiles.

"Not that this isn't a great reunion and all…." Armadillomon drawls, looking nervously from side to side. "But now that we've found the little guy shouldn't we get out of here?"

Cody frowns down as he sees his partner shivering. "What's wrong?"

"It's just….so cold….there's a chill of evil in the air…." Armadillomon hugs himself, shuddering and Cody's frown deepens.

"Don't be so dramatic."

"He's not." Monodramon's voice comes out as a mere whisper as he slowly turns his head from side to side, his reptilian eyes taking in every little detail. "I sense something powerful…something really wrong…."

Ryo's eyes widen slightly and she presses a button on the wall causing the window to open up. The first thought that enters Cody's mind is that they're being swallowed up by some huge monster, a giant gaping black mouth ready to swallow the whole base.

"No…" Ryo whispers, and the fear in her voice is enough to make Cody almost wet himself. "It's not supposed to enter this place until night!"

"T-that's the Dark Area?" Cody keeps staring and he feels the weakness enter his knees…his breathing becomes quick and shallow and its like all his energy is being sucked away from him into that bottomless pit…

"Don't look at it!"

Ryo clasps a hand over Cody's face and steers him away, growling. "We need to get out of here. As in….now."

"But what about-'We'll find the others, I promise. TK, come on!"
TK doesn't answer. He's staring out that window as if he'd seen a ghost, his face clammy and pale, his hands clenching at his side, as the voices echoe in his mind, laughing….

ONE voice in particular.

"TK SNAP OUT OF IT!"

TK's eyes harden, not with fear, but with rage, and the next thing anyone knew he had shoved past Ryo down the opposite hallway, his fury radiating off of him in waves.

"TK!" Patamon flies after his partner struggling to keep up. Cody looks worriedly up at Ryo who just clenches her teeth in frustration.

Red eyes opened in the darkness of the basement, and the figure grins, stretching out skeletal fingers. "That's right….come to me small one." His laugh, so harsh it could shatter ice echoes across the walls.