Last time on Digimon Rangers, Guilmon had to protect Max until he got better and woke up. While he defended him against BlackGreymon, Max was guided through his memories and actions by the purified spirit of Mercurymon, who helped show Max what he had been doing wrong. With Max on the right path, he was finally able to stop thinking about Matthew and was able to give Guilmon the respect and attention that had been neglected, giving them both the strength to defeat BlackGreymon despite having been weakened! About damn time!

Kenji woke up coughing. He was laying on a bedroll in a room, feeling both disoriented and weird. All of his clothes were missing, but there was a karate robe his size by the door. After putting it on, he looked around for a moment. That was when he spotted his Digivice, and Tentomon. He could not help but notice his Digivice looked different now.

After collecting his Digivice, he woke up Tentomon. "Hey, do you remember what happened?"

Tentomon quickly woke up. "I remember falling through a Digiport...into the ocean".

"We fell into an ocean?"

"I think a rock hit your head" Tentomon told him.

"That would explain the headache".

"Oh good, you're awake!" A Digimon said as he entered the room. The two of them turned around, and it was a Kotemon. "We were worried when we found you on the beach, that you wouldn't wake up! My name is Kotemon! I am the one who found you!"

"Well, thank you for finding us. Where are we exactly?"

Kotemon looked towards the ground. "This is known as...the Dojo of Death..."

Both of their jaws dropped. "Whaaaat!"

"Well, its only called that because no one can ever return from this place" Kotemon told them. "You see, the only exit is guarded by a fierce warrior known as Musyamon. In order to leave, you have to defeat him in kendo, but no one can. And if you lose to him, he consumes all of your data!"

"Then why do people come here in the first place!" Tentomon yelled. "And why bring us here!"

"The beach you washed up on is an inside beach...and the current is too strong to go back that way. The rock is too hard to tunnel through, and you only learn about the whole exit rule once you already entered. Anyways, your clothes were soaking wet, so we got you new ones".

"Well thank you. But why do people enter in the first place?"

"It said 'Free Lessons' on the sign..." Kotemon mentioned, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, we have to find some way to defeat him".

"I agree, we have to look for our friends!" Kenji then had an idea. "You could Digivolve to Kabuterimon, I bet you could beat him then!"

"That might work, but the walls apparently block anyone from Digivolving. Or something in this building does, anyways. BUt no one has ever found anything like that, so we just assume its the walls or something" Kotemon told them. "They also block abilities, so no one can cheat either".

"I see..." Kenji mentioned, thinking. Why do I get the feeling there is more going on then meets the eye...

Before he could say anything though, an announcement sang out. "Another opponent has been defeated! Musyamon: 1940, Opponents: 0!"

"Wow. That many people challenged him?"

"Yep. And that many people lost" Kotemon replied.

"Are you sure about this?" Kotemon asked.

"Yeah, and it makes the most sense. But before we even try this, we need to train more so that I will be able to hold out long enough. Kotemon, can you help train me in Kendo?"

"Sure thing! This sounds like our best hope for ever escaping anyways!"

"Alright. Tentomon, you think you can do this?"

"Have I ever let you down?"

"Well, there was that one time you lost our lunch to MarineAngemon...who by the way, only went on a date with you for free food".

"You didn't need to bring that up" Tentomon sulked.

"Relax Tentomon, I was just kidding with you!" Kenji said with a smile. "Mostly..."

For the next few days, Kotemon helped Kenji practice at Kendo to perfect his skills and become better. It was the only way they would ever escape this place, and the only way to liberate all the Digimon trapped inside. And Kenji had one thing the other Digimon that challenged him didn't have. Great Analytical skills. Well, other then Kotemon that is.

"Alright, I am ready. Kotemon, are you ready?"

"Ready! Lets do this!" Kotemon said with zeal.

"You ready Tentomon?"

"Ready and waiting!"

The three of them gathered in the Dojo. "One challenger at a time! Those are the rules!"

"I will challenge you first!" Kenji said, putting on his kendo gear and facing his opponent.

"Very well then. Begin!"

Kenji and Musyamon then entered a battle that, at least for Kenji, was to the death. The issues mainly being that Musyamon had more strength, power, and stamina then him. But luckily, they had a plan. All Kenji had to do was hold out for as long as he could. The attacks kept up and up, but Kenji kept blocking and blocking, always staying on the defensive. That was when it happened. His right leg suddenly became harder to move. So this is how he keeps making sure he will win...

Kenji continued to keep up the defensive techniques, but it was starting to get harder and harder with his right leg being more difficult to move now. And then, it happened again. Kenji's left leg became harder to move as well. Still, help kept up the defense. "What? Feeling a bit tired?"

"No, just a big angry" Kenji told him.

"Maybe you should just give up, get this over with!"

"Never!" Kenji said, as he then saw his chance. Kenji made a manuever as he tried an attack that, while not forcing the weapon out of his hand, did cause his hand to twist in a way it shouldn't. However, in that moment, Musyamon took the opportunity to defeat Kenji.

"Any last words?"

"Yeah, now that this match is over, its my turn!" Tentomon yelled. That is right Tentomon, just like we planned.

"Very well, I will just consume both of your datas at the same time!" Musyamon shouted, charging at them.

Tentomon had a very different fighting style. While Kenji was agile and defensive, Tentomon was slower, more guarded, but excelling at offense surprisingly. This forced Musyamon to adopt a different strategy, which threw him off but only be a little.

Tentomon rolled under Musyamon's legs, andn early got off a hit from behind, but Musyamon blocked it. The battle between Tentomon and Musyamon raged on, but clearly Tentomon was wearing him down. However, before he could finish the job, Musyamon defeated him. "And now..."

"its my turn!" Kotemon shouted, jumping in front of them. "Now you must defeat me, if you can!"

"Go for it Kotemon!"

"You can do it Kotemon!"

"You really think you can do this...after I defeated your two friends?"

"Yes! Its all or nothing!" Kotemon shouted. Kotemon and Musyamon then engaged in their kendo match, but there was a notable factor. Kotemon was only a rookie level, while Musyamon was CHampion level, yet Kotemon was beating him. He stammered back as Kotemon's relentless onslaught continued.

"How! How are you doing this!" Musyamon asked, gasping.

"Simple, I watched your battles with those two. Not only did they drag it out to tire you out, but I was able to analyze your battle style...and create the ultimate stratagy to defeat you!"

Suddenly, Kotemon moved as fast as lightning, and delivered the final winning blow to Musyamon. The blow was so powerful, his data became exposed, and that was when they saw it. HIs datastream was corrupted. Kenji took out his Digivice. "Datastream, Purify!"

He launched the purification disc, and purified the corrupted DigiCode, returning Musyamon to his former self. As they did that, the announcement system turned on. "Musyamon has been defeated! Musyamon: 1940! Opponents: 3!"

"Woo hoo!"

"Yeah!"

"We did it!"

They all high fived.

Kenjji, now wearing his regular clothes again, left the city with Tentomon and Kotemon. "So, what now?"

"We need to find our friends first" Tentomon reminded him.

Kotemon bowed to them. "You helped me escape, so it only makes sense that I help you find your friends!"

"Well, thank you Kotemon. We will need all the help we can get!"

"I do know this one guy, he knows all about the Digital World. Has a book on it, in fact!" Kotemon mentioned. "His name is Patamon! Come on, we better find him! He is also really good at hearing things, so he migth have heard about your friends too!"

"Alright then! Lead the way, Kotemon!"

Alright! Kenji and Tentomon seem to be getting really good at team work, and the two of them made a new friend! Lets just hope this Patamon fellow has what they need! And who knows what trouble the others have gotten into. Find out next time on Digimon Rangers!