There are many different realities, but only one Digital World connecting them. V-Tamer Taichi must gather a team of Chosen:

a hero, a cage fighter, a thief, a spy, a convict and a prophetess. Thrown together by fate, they might be the Digital World's only hope.

"You're safe now," Taichi told his sister, "You're safe."

"Yes," Hikari said, "Myotismon's gone, thanks to you." Her lips twisted into a smile, "And now I'm free to claim it all!"

Then Taichi gasped and his arms slid away from his sister's frame. He fell to his back, a pool of blood forming around him. Hikari stood over him, the knife in her hand dripping red liquid.

Yamato's mind struggled to process what he had just witness, so he did not see the swipe of Sora's own weapon.

"Yamato!" Metalgarurumon cried, but it was too late. The redhead's blade slashed across his midsection. White pain erupted through him, so much that Metalgarurumon regressed to Gabumon with a howl.

Hikari knelt down beside her brother and pulled her red lips back, revealing two sharp fangs. "And once I drink your essence, I will have the power of a Mega!" Her teeth dug into Taichi's neck and her throat gurgled as his life force flowed into her.

Sora hovered over Yamato. "And I will do the same to you."

The blond boy's eyes caught sight of an object sliding towards him along the floor. It was Taichi's digivice! His friend's arm was resting outstretch from his body; it must had taken his last ounce of strength.

He looked back at the girl, the innocent, little girl he thought he knew. She stood over the body of her brother, red streaking down her chin. "I have your energy, I have your power!"

Hikari held up her digivice in one hand and her crest in the other, but instead of the bright pink crest he remembered, a black, cracking medallion glowed a bright dark light. Her Plotmon appeared beside her, and glowed in unison. "Plotmon warp evolve to Ophanimon Falldown Mode!"

Yamato felt his legs give way and collapsed to the floor. The demonic angel hovered over them. "And now," Hikari shouted, "Do it, take over!"

Yamato's eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at the black ceiling of his bedroom. Throwing off the sheets, he climbed to his feet and stared out the floor-length window at the city of Mainframe in the distance. "Damn it."

A slight moan from behind brought his attention back to his bed. "Yamato?"

"It's fine, Mimi," he said, "Go back to sleep."

She ignored his suggestion and joined him at the window. "Another nightmare?"

He remained silent and she wrapped her arms around him. "It wasn't your fault. If Hikari was so far gone to kill her own brother, there was nothing you could have done."

He did not respond. Mimi gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Don't forget you have that press conference later."

He groaned. "I had forgotten, thanks."

She giggled as she pulled on her robe. "Have fun."

The Dead Princess

Chapter 11

Journey to the Land of Modem

"Neo?" Taichi asked, "You're sure that was his name?"

Ruki nodded from where she was leaning against the wall. "That's what he said, Neo Saiba."

"And he called Agumon a glitch," Renamon added, glancing at the recently-evolved Digimon.

"You're a glitch?" Impmon asked.

He shrugged. "Apparently."

Taichi growled. "Damn it. If Saiba's here, then things just got a lot worse. Owe!"

Jyou smiled as he prodded Taichi's abdomen. "I need to make sure that my repair job held."

"So what's the deal with you and Saiba?" Junpei asked.

"He's a psychopath," Taichi said, "We were two of the V-Tamer players on my Earth. There was one tournament we were in, his Greymon failed to defeat someone, and he deleted him, right there on the stage, right where everyone could see it. He didn't even care."

The digimon gasped. "Humans can delete us just like that?" Kokuwamon asked.

"And now he's got the Dead Princess behind him," Ken frowned, "As well as that Arkadimon. But why does he hate you so much?"

A memory played through Taichi's mind, of a girl with hair ending in sharp spikes at her shoulders screaming at him, before running, head buried in hands, not seeing that she had entered the street.

Taichi looked over to Ai, who was seated on the chair, staring at her hands in her lap. "Ai, are you okay?"

She gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, never better."

He thought of Hikari once again. He opened his mouth but then shut it. What would he have said anyway? The situation between Ai and her brother was not the same as Taichi and his sis-Hikari, not the same as Taichi and Hikari. She was not his sister.

"I've been thinking of something," Kokuwamon said, "If all the Chosen Masters had crests, then does that mean Sora and the Dead Princess did too?"

Jyou pulled down Taichi's shirt. "Well, you look fine."

Taichi nodded, "But you can answer that question, can't you?"

He sighed. "Sora's crest is Love…"

Junpei snorted. "Is that another word for liar?"

Ruki crossed her arms and snickered. "Love, eh, Yagami?"

Taichi blushed. "And what about Hikari?"

"Light."

He blinked. "Light? Her crest is Light?"

"How can she have Light?" Agumon asked.

"I think I can explain it," Ai said. She hopped off the chair, "The Sage explained it when Taichi…um, the other Taichi, came to train with us. Once sec."

She ran from the room and returned a few minutes later with a lit candle. "Nene let me borrow this," she explained. "Impmon, lights."

Her partner leapt from the ground and flick the switch, casting the room into darkness save for the area illuminated by Ai's candle. "Light and Darkness are basic parts of reality itself. Darkness is everywhere," she said, "It doesn't need a source, it just is."

She lifted the candle. "Light can push away the darkness." She filled her lungs and a thin stream of air escaped through her lips. The flame swayed, the shadows danced across her face. "But it sways and shifts, it bends and breaks. Light is strong but it's also weak. Imagine what would happen if Light fades…"

She exhaled and the flame vanished, darkness filling the room. "Now imagine if that Darkness had a source."

"Crap," Junpei said.

Hikari filled Taichi's mind again and he thought of Mimi's words. "A sweet innocent girl completely corrupted. Shit."

The door opened and Toma and Gaomon ran inside. "We've got a…" He blinked, "Why are you sitting here in the dark?"

Impmon flicked on the lights. Toma blinked again. "Um, yeah, we've got a big problem."

He turned on the television and flipped through the channels until stopping on an image of a teenage girl with bright curly hair.

"This is Catherine Denevue reporting to you live from the Kernala Palace. Chosen Master Yamato Ishida and his Gabumon partner, along with Digital Army General Daisuke Motomiya have just stepped onto the balcony."

Yamato was helped into the large seat by Daisuke and Koushiro. "And it appears that Lord Ishida is still injured from his battle recently. Informants within the Kernal Palace, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told us that Lord Ishida fought against a Chosen named Taichi Yagami. That is the name of the person who first led the Chosen Masters at the start of the Digital World's Chosen Age. If it is the same person, it is unknown where he has been or what rift has formed between him and Lord Ishida."

Taichi smirked.

Catherine glanced over her shoulder. Yamato was approaching the railing. "And it appears we are about to start."

"Thank you all for coming," Yamato said, "I am here to tell you that, yes, unfortunately, there has been terrorist attacks against our government in the past few days."

"Who's responsible?" one reporter shouted.

"The Dead Kingdom," he said.

A low murmur reverberated through the crowd. "Yes," Yamato sighed, "It's true. Koushiro Izumi will be giving an update on the Dead Kingdom and its history with us, including its ruler, Hikari Yagami. But our recent intelligence suggests that a team from the Dead Kingdom will be heading for the land of Modem. We will be sending our own team there, led specifically by General Motomiya."

Daisuke stood. "My team will include Lieutenants Iori Hida, Miyako Inoe, Sergeant Chika Masaru and Michael Barton of the Takai."

"What about that group calling itself the Digital Knights?" another reporter asked.

Yamato's eyes glinted. "If those terrorists are heading towards Modem, we will bring them to justice."

"That's just great," Taichi growled as Thoma shut off the television, "Neo's going there and now so's the Digital Army."

He glanced around the room; humans and digimon brought together by him, brought together by a lie; humans and digimon he found himself now realizing that he would trust with his life. "All right," he said, "None of you have any loyalty to me, you don't owe me anything, you can all walk away now if you want."

The room was quiet until Ruki cleared her throat. "I think I speak for everyone; we're not going anywhere. You said we were your friends, right? Well, friends stick with each other, don't they?"

A smile slid over his face. "Thanks." He nodded. "We need to make sure that neither Ishida nor Neo gets their hands on another Holy Digivice. Ishida's unstable, but Neo's bat-shit insane. He might be going along with Hikari just because he gets a kick out of it."

"Does this mean you're the savior?" Agumon asked.

"Hikari said I was the savior," he said quickly, "And she's told Neo the same thing, so who the hell knows."

"But you have a Holy Digivice," Ken pointed out, "Neo doesn't. And you just so happened to run into someone who can lead you to Kami's Relic." He glanced at Ai with a quick smile.

Taichi sighed. "Look, I really don't know if I'm the savior or not, but it doesn't change the fact that we can't let the Chosen Masters or the Dead Kingdom get their hands on one. I'm not gonna question how we met Ai, but I'm just glad we did. Now, the first thing we're going to need is a way to Modem."

Jyou shook his head. "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere."

"What?" he gasped, "I'm fine! You just said so!"

"The wound might open up again. You need to rest for a few days."

"Not a chance," he said, swinging his feet off the bed and onto the floor. Once his full weight was on his feet, it felt like someone had jabbed a hot poker into his side. He winced, but bit back the pain. "See, I'm fine."

Ai appeared before him, her eyes larger then he thought possible. "Please Taichi, don't let yourself get hurt. I don't want anything to happen to you. With what happened to Makoto… it's like you're my big brother now."

That expression cut into his heart like a knife. "Ai, I…" He smiled and rubbed the top of her head, "Okay. I'll stay here."

Ai smirked. Taichi's face fell. "I just got tricked, didn't I?"

The young girl only giggled.

He turned to the orange-haired girl leaning against the wall. "Ruki, Ai will lead you to Kami's relic. You need to take whatever Holy Digivices are there before either Neo or the Digital Army gets them."

She nodded. "And what do we do when we find them?"

He turned to Ai. "Well?"

She frowned. "Maybe the Sage will know what to do."

"I guess it's the best we can do right now." He nodded at Touma and Junpei. "You guys work on transportation."

"Should Jyou come too?" Impmon asked.

The older teenager chuckled. "I have patients here to take care of." He smiled, "And it goes without saying that your secret is safe with me." He moved towards the door, but his hand hesitated on the handle. "But I'd be happy to go over some first-aid techniques."

Taichi smiled. "Thanks, doc. Ken, I think you'd be the best one."

"Um, s-sure," Ken said, "If you think that's a good idea."

He continued. "Ai, can you go over with me and Ruki some basic information about Modem?"

The young girl nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Jyou smiled. "I know you're sick of hearing this, but you really do remind me of my Taichi." The boy opened his mouth, and Jyou continued quickly, "But you're so much different at the same time."

The Dead Warriors from the self-same kingdom sat around their low fire as Hirokazu placed an almost flat, circular device on the ground. "We'll have a connection soon."

"We'd better hurry," Sora frowned, "You know mad she gets when she's kept waiting."

"Yeah," Mari sighed, "The sooner the better." She twirled a yellow strand from her head, "This humidity is ruining my hair."

"You're such a girl," Makoto sneered.

Mari pushed out her chest, making her large breasts even larger. "Of course I am! I was a teen idol back on Earth!"

Guardromon's eyes flashed. "I am detecting a large amount of plastic..."

She huffed and covered her breasts. "I am 100 percent real!"

"Is that the name of your hair dye?" Sigma asked.

She glared at him. "You only have the balls to say that because you're hiding behind that mask!"

He shrugged and examined the small computer on his arm.

"I'm ready," Hirokazu said as he pressed a button on the side, which caused the device to whirl and a stream of cylindrical light blasted into the night sky. The light flickered and a translucent image of Hikari Yagami, the Dead Princess, appeared in black cape and dark blue gown.

"I have been appraised of the situation," she said, "I'm not happy. You revealed yourselves before you had done anything of what I commanded you to do!"

Mari pouted. "It wasn't our fault." She motioned to Makato, "He just got a hard-on for his sister."

"Quiet!" she barked, "Leave for Modem tomorrow because now both the Digital Knights and the Digital Army will be right behind you."

Neo snickered. "No. Yagami's here."

"Forget him for now," she ordered, "Once you've completed your mission, then you may take whatever vengeance you want against him."

Neo sneered. "No! He's here and I…uh…ah!"

His hands clawed at his neck as breath struggled to find its way to his lungs. Hikari's translucent image had her hand lifted, black-nailed fingers tightening around an invisible neck. "I am the one who turned you; every fiber of your being is mine to control. You will travel to Modem tomorrow and continue with your mission, is that clear?"

Neo nodded as best he could and the pressure around his neck vanished. He fell to the ground, deep, guttering breathing emerging from his mouth. "Don't forget," Hikari said, "You call power from the shadows, but I…" Her eyes glinted, "I am the darkness!"

"There," Junpei said, removing his lock picks from the keypad, "It should be disarmed."

Kokuwamon buzzed to a window on the side of the building. "You didn't set off any alarms, everything's still dark."

"Let's try it out," Toma said, placing a hand on the handle, "If anything happens, be ready to run." He held his breath and swung open the door. Only shadows and silence greeted him from the other side.

Junpei grinned. "See, no problem. Let's get in there and get ourselves a boat."

He hoped that Toma did not see him wipe the sweat from his forehead.

They raced through the darkened halls, Gaomon's nose sniffing out any alert watchmen. They had found none when they arrived at the registration office. "Just give me a minute," Toma said, attaching his tablet to the computer's main terminal.

Junpei shifted on his feet. "Do you, uh, need any help?"

"I've got it, thanks."

His partner hovered near his head. "Something on your mind?"

Junpei crossed his arms. "Everyone else is contributing, what am I doing? So far I just broke Ken out of his cell, and got us inside, that's it."

"You just said it yourself," Gaomon replied, "We couldn't have gotten in here without you."

"Toma could have just hacked his way in."

"Not through a simple keypad," he replied, "My tablet wouldn't be compatible."

The large teenager was not convinced. "Just don't feel like I'm pulling my weight here."

"You could still leave," Toma added, "I'm not asking you to, but no one's stopping you."

Images filled Junpei's head; classmates laughing at him, calling him names, pushing him into the dirt; eating lunch alone…

"Nah, it's better to be on a team anyway."

Toma entered commands onto his tablet. "Here's the firewall; shouldn't be too hard to break." He laughed. "You know, back on Earth I was the quote good kid. I wouldn't even take a stick of gum without paying for it, and now look at me, breaking into a shipping office to steal a boat."

"So why are you sticking around?" Junpei asked.

He was quite for a long moment. "Like you said, it's better to be on a team."

Junpei heard the slight crack in his voice. "Did you, um, were you, um, lonely?"

He chuckled. "I spent all my time studying, aced every test. All the other kids didn't want anything to do with me because of it. I guess they were afraid of how smart I was."

Junpei nodded. "I wasn't that popular either. I started doing magic tricks, just so kids would hang out with me. Then I started using the sleight of hand I learned to steal test papers, teacher's grade books, just so they would like me." He shrugged, "I think I've got a big mouth too."

"You speak your mind," Kokuwamon said, "Nothing wrong with that."

Silenced filled the air once more until Toma grinned. "Ah, I'm in."

The others peered over his shoulder. "The only boat here that's capable of traveling over the Digital Ocean is SubDragon V, reserved to a Kuno."

Gaomon looked up, "Isn't that the one who's in the casino all the time?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I know who you're talking about."

"Who?" Junpei asked.

"When I was still working for Zenjirou, I ran into that guy a few times. He talks a lot, flashy with his cash and surrounds himself with women that aren't the least bit interested in him."

Junpei grinned. "Sounds perfect to me."

Toma nodded. "Then his reservation's just been switched to us." He smirked, "We'll keep the deposit."

The humans and Digimon nodded at one another.

Takeru walked into the throne room with Patamon fluttering behind him. "Sorry we're late," he said, "Our dinner meeting went long."

As they sat in their thrones, Takeru saw the expression on Mimi's face, "Oh, what has he done now?"

"What do you mean by 'now'?" Yamato questioned.

Mimi huffed. "You didn't see the news conference?"

Takeru shook his head. "I was overseeing the charity meeting. Why?"

"He's already ordered Daisuke to occupy Modem," Koushiro explained.

"I thought we were still talking about that," Patamon said.

"We were," Gabumon sighed, glaring at his partner.

"This was nothing further to discuss," Yamato said, "Sgt. Masaru's intelligence report stated that the Dead Kingdom was moving into Modem. We have to act fast."

"And what about Taichi and the Digital Knights?" Mimi asked.

"Daisuke is under orders to arrest them. Taichi is the savior of the Digital World, and we have to control him so that he can destroy the forces of chaos that's threatening everything."

Mimi examined her reflection in her small mirror and adjusted her hair. "Well, Modem is rich in resources. We'll be able to keep our treasury full for another few years at any rate."

Taichi had managed to convince the others to at least let him and Agumon take a walk around the city. Jyou had protested, as did Ai, Ken, and Toma and Junpei, when they returned. Only Ruki did not seem to care, but she did watch him as he exited his room and walked to the elevator.

"It's a nice night," Agumon said.

Taichi tried to ignore the pain in his side, but it became unbearable after two blocks. He was forced to collapsed onto a street bench.

"It's a good idea we're staying behind, isn't it?" his partner asked.

"Don't say anything to the others," Taichi hissed.

His partner grinned. "My lips are sealed." His smiled faded. "Do you wanna talk about Hikari now?"

He winced. "There's nothing to talk about."

"But she's your…"

He saw himself as a child with a little-girl-version of Hikari, however, since he had no idea what she looked like as a little girl, it was just a smaller version of her teenage self. This was replaced with an image of himself lying in a pool of his own blood, Hikari standing over him with red on her fangs.

"No, she's not!" he hissed, "She's not my sister."

Agumon opened his mouth, but gasped. "What?" Taichi asked.

"I recognize that scent, Piyomon!"

The pink bird's voice sounded from behind. "I was standing downwind on purpose…"

The duo spun around: Sora and her partner emerged from the darkened alley. "…so we wouldn't scare you."

Agumon's eyes narrowed. "Scared? Ha! What are you, drunk?"

She snickered. "I think I asked you that more than once before."

While the two Digimon bickered Taichi glared at Sora. She wore dark pants and a slightly oversized tunic. Even in the shadows, her hair still glowed like the setting sun. "What do you want? And how did you find us?"

"We really weren't looking for you," she answered.

The red tint on her cheeks made him think otherwise. "Well, why should I believe you anyway? All you've done is lie to me!"

She shook her head. "That night at the oasis, the night we…" She swallowed, "What I told you there…that was the truth."

Her words that night filled his mind:

She smiled. "I haven't told you everything. Princess Hikari's brother…I…we…" She swallowed, "We were in love."

He blinked. "B-but weren't you like, ten years old?"

She pulled her knees close to her chest. "You do a lot of growing up when you're forced to survive on your own. But after he was gone, after I was turned into this, I swore I'd never open my heart again but…"

She stared at him, "But…damn it! He made me feel so special, and when I'm with you… you make me feel the same."

Taichi crossed his arms. "You talking about me?" he snorted, "Or the other guy?"

She stared, eyes burning into him. Damn it, she still made his heart fluttered. "Don't think of me that way."

He only sneered.

She scoffed. "Well, you didn't have a problem tearing my clothes off that night."

"I thought Hikari's brother was just some guy that died, I didn't know he was…me!" He growled, "Is that why you didn't tell me?"

The red in her cheeks darkened. "Partly," she admitted, "We didn't want you to compare yourself to him, and then, after I found myself drawn towards you, I…" She turned away. "I swore an oath to Lady Hikari, I can't abandon her."

He snorted. "And would she feel the same?"

She turned back, eyes red. "You don't know what happened to her."

"All I know is that she killed her brother, stole his energy and gave power to an unstable lunatic!"

"You mean Neo?" she asked, "He arrived shortly after we left the Dark Ocean, with Arkadimon. Lady Hikari saw the parallels between you and him and had kept him waiting in case…"

"In case I figured out that you were fucking me over?" He winced, "I-I mean, that you were lying to me?"

She did not answer.

"You know how crazy he is, right?" Taichi asked, "Neo's never been playing with a full deck, but if he gets a Holy Digivice…"

"You know about them?" she asked, "That's why you're going to Modem?"

"We're going there to stop you and the Chosen Masters from getting one."

"And you have Taichi's? You took it from the Chosen Masters?"

"You mean the other guy's Holy Digivice?" he asked. Why should he tell her anything? He stuck out his tongue. "Maybe I do and maybe I don't."

Sora rolled her eyes. "Are you five-years-old? Boys are so immature."

"Are you six?"

She stared at him for another moment before a slight giggle escaped her lips. He bit his tongue to keep from laughing as well.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "Really?"

"Rumor is that you fought Yamato."

He motioned to Agumon. "We fought him and beat him!" Why was he still trying to impress her?

She scoffed. "Unless you unlocked the power of the Solar Digivice, I highly doubt that. Only Lady Hikari's power rivals his."

Ai's lesson entered his mind. "If darkness had a source." He looked at the night sky; devoid of stars due to the thick cloud cover. An infinite sky full of pure darkness; infinite darkness contained within a human girl. He shivered.

"So what? You're worried about me?"

"Piyomon," she said, "Let's head back."

The pink bird fluttered to her partner's side.

"What are you gonna do?" Taichi asked, "Bring the others back here?"

She shook her head, red hair swishing in front of her face. "Lady Hikari commanded us to leave for Modem tomorrow. Even if I were to tell the others where you are, we would not be able to do anything about it. Goodnight, Taichi."

She bowed and joined her partner in the shadows.

"Taichi?" Agumon asked.

"Yeah?"

"I assume you don't want me telling anyone else about this?"

"How'd you guess?"

Daisuke called his team to assemble in the main conference room of the Kernala Palace. "Lord Koushiro has some last minute information for us."

The Chosen Master nodded. "Yes. Sergeant Masaru's report indicates that you might be facing some Fully Evolves."

The tween girl nodded as well. "That's what I saw the other night."

"Great," Miyako frowned, "You don't feel like coming with us, do you, Lord Koushiro?"

He chuckled. "My duties keep me here, but I have something for you that Tentomon will be passing around."

The insect Digimon hovered in front of the humans, handing them a silver medallion in the shape of a pendant. Miyako's face lit up. "Are these crests?"

He shook his head. "Sadly, no. I have not be able to duplicate the technology used to make them. These, however, will have the same effect."

"How?" Iori questioned, "If they're not crests…"

"They don't have a trait to activate, they work on your adrenaline, your energy. When you get to a point of desperation, it will activate, and your partners can reach Fully Evolved."

"Simple as that, huh?" Miyako frowned.

"Get some sleep," Daisuke ordered, "We're leaving early tomorrow."

The Digital Soldiers left without much fanfare early that morning. They stepped onto their military ship, dropping bags into cabins along the way to the bridge. "You okay, Iori?" Armadimon asked.

"I don't do so well on boats," he answered.

Piyomon looked to her partner. "How long are we going to be here?"

"A week, I think," Chika answered.

"A week?" Iori paled.

"No worries," Miyako grinned, "I brought plenty of pills."

"Daisuke," V-mon asked, "Is it really going to take that long?"

"Modem is a large island in the southern Digital Ocean," Michael explained, "Its so far that we can't use a Whamon to get there. Rough waters, stormy seas…"

Iori paled even more. Armadimon rubbed his back.

Daisuke nodded at Michael. "Let's get going."

Taichi had seen his Digital Knights off at the boating docks that morning as well. "Good luck, and make sure you stay in touch."

Toma held up the communicator device he and Ken had built the previous day. "Will do."

"Let's just hope for good weather," Wormmon said, "It's going to be a long enough trip as it is."

Ai grinned. "It'll be fun. We'll play games, see the ocean, it'll be great."

Ai was the first off the boat when it docked on the outer beaches of Modem. "Oh, thank god," she panted, "Finally, land!"

The other Digital Knights dove onto the sand, faces disheveled, eyes dark and blood-shot. "Eight days on the water," Junpei moaned, "Another day and I would have thrown myself overboard."

Ruki leapt over the rails with her bag. Renamon followed a moment later. "We're here," she said, "So get your things and let's move. We're too out in the open right now. Move!"

"She's gone mad with power," Junpei muttered.

"We should have thrown her overboard," Toma whispered.

Ken joined them. "Another day, and I might have."

"What about the ship?" Kokuwamon questioned.

"It should be safe where it is," Ruki answered.

They had sailed their vessel into a cove hidden by large green leaves. "Besides, what are the chances the Digital Army or the Dead Warriors will land at this specific spot?" Ruki turned to the young girl, "Where do we go?"

Ai tried to focus in the setting sun. The beach rolled up to a hill covered with short grass. "I think we're on the east side. Over those hills is the grasslands and then further is the city."

"What city?" asked Toma.

She shrugged. "It's the only city in Modem, so…"

"How long until we get there?" Ruki asked.

"I don't know," she blushed, "A few days, maybe?"

They climbed over the hill and Ruki shouted, "Get down!"

It was too late; the Digital Army below had spotted them. A quick blast from their Digimon partners blew away enough of the hill for the Knights to tumble down the side and into a pile at the bottom.

Miyako adjusted her glasses. "That was easier then we thought it be, huh? First day here and we've already got the Digital Knights."

"You haven't got us yet," Ruki cried. They leapt to their feet, digivices in hand.

Daisuke stepped in front of his team. "Surrender now and it'll be easier on you, I promise."

Ruki smirked. "Not a chance."

Ken stepped forward. "Before things get out of hand, shouldn't you be looking for the Dead Kingdom's team? Aren't they the bigger threat?"

"Your master has a Holy Digivice," Iori said, "He's just as big a threat."

Ruki's eyes glinted. "You wanted us? You've found us!" She held up her digivice; her team did the same.

Daisuke nodded at his team. "Digivices!"

Chika lifted her digivice and her partner cried out.

"Piyomon evolve to Peckmon!"

Ai nodded at her own partner. "Do it."

"Impmon evolve to Witchmon!"

"You're up, Betamon," Michael called.

"Betamon evolve to Seadramon!"

Ken held his own digivice and Wormmon jumped from his shoulders.

"Wormmon evolve to Stingmon!"

"Cream them!" Miyako cried.

"Hawkmon evolve to Aquilamon!"

"We can do it, Gaomon," Toma said.

"Gaomon evolve to Gaogamon!"

Iori nodded at Armadimon. "We need to bring them to justice."

"Armadimon evolve to Ankylomon!"

"Take 'em out!" Junpei called.

"Kokuwamon evolve to Tankmon!"

Daisuke sighed, "I have my orders."

"V-mon evolve to XV-mon!"

"So do I!" Ruki glared.

"Renamon evolve to Kyuubimon!"

Both Digital factions stared down each other as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Daisuke and Ruki shouted in unison. "Attack!"

To be continued…

Next: Now in the land of Modem, Ruki struggles to accept her new role. Can she be the leader she needs to be, or will her arrogance and solitude prevent her from truly connecting with the others?

Chapter 12: Queen of Battles.

And please remember to review.

Author's Note:

In regards to some of the names I used.

Chiaki/Chika-this character is Masaru/Marcus's sister, also known as Kristy in the dub. Her Japanese name is Chika. CHIAKI is the name of the girl in the group of other kids who appeared in the Digital World near the end of Frontier. It was also Ruki's alias when they broke into the prison to free Ken in Chapter 6. I guess I got my wires crossed, heh. As for Toma, I had somehow started writing his name as Thoma/Toma. Heaven only knows why, heh. I apologize for both.

As for Vamdemon/Myotismon, I do not like 'Vamdemon.' It's like hitting us over the head with the obviousness stick, and there are other digimon who are vampires and/or demons, he's not the only one. To me, it's like calling Agumon Organedinomon. Plus, the 's' in Myotismon makes him sound more sinister to me. I just prefer Myotismon.

The companion story is up. "The Fall of Light: A Tale of the Dead Princess" will detail Hikari's fall at the hand of Myotismon.

I have another story up too, "Samsara." Set a few years after Tri, Taichi died while rescuing Hikari from an evil digimon. Feeling that it's her fault, she spirals into depression and spends a night with Takeru, resulting in a pregnancy. She then becomes convinced that Taichi is going to reincarnate as her child. Is she crazy?

Please give both a read, thanks.