Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure is a fan fiction idea. Please support the official properties.

Author's Notes: Funny story. I just realized that I'd been copy pasting an incorrect disclaimer for several chapters. Woo. Life, huh? Anyway, thanks to all the new readers who liked and favorited the story, as well as those of you who left reviews. An even bigger thanks to Ace Spiritwell for creating the cover art for this story - seriously, go check out their fanfiction and deviant art accounts. On that note, also check out the deviant art and fan fiction of BelenDigiEvolution for their awesome fan art! Seriously! Check them both out! Now for two separate guest reviews.

Guest 1: Okay.

Guest 2: No, no, and no. Sorry. Better luck next time.

Alright! Let's start the next chapter of The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure.

The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure

Chapter 25: Battle on the Bridge

The kids woke bright and early the next morning after the first good night's rest any of them had in a long time. Their parents, on the other hand, spent the night worrying about what would happen to their children. There were just too many unknowns. Who were the monsters that needed to be stopped, would they succeed, would they fail, were they going to die, and why their children? These questions and more raced through their minds when all they wanted was nothing more than for their kids to be safe. This led to some hesitation when the time came for their kids to leave, but they allowed them to set out in the end. To go back to Sora's home.

Her mother greeted them at the door and she ushered them inside to find Sora and Yokomon quietly watching the news. More stories flooded the channel about women collapsing from anemia, possible monster sightings, and peculiar weather phenomenon. The monster sightings had her worried most, because it meant Myotismon and his army were on the move.

The eighth digidestined was out there - Kari Kamiya, and every second they wasted here was another second they came closer to finding the little girl. Sora's mother met them at the living room, and promptly asked, "You've all told your parents?"

They nodded and Sora's mom breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. Since you all did what I asked, I'll tell you where the Kamiya family moved."

"Not all of us," Gabumon piped up, "Matt didn't tell his dad about what we're doing."

"Gabumon," Matt moaned, looking up at the others shyly. It wasn't like he could since his dad never came home from work that night. If he had to guess, his dad was probably taking extra hours at work since he wasn't expecting Matt to be home from camp yet. Sora's mother looked at him sternly, "Matt, your father has a right to know what his son is involved in."

"It'll be fine, I told our mom!" TK said for his brother's defense.

"Your mom?" Sora's mother folded her arms, unamused. Matt reminded them that their parents were divorced, so they did not live together. This didn't appease Sora's mother, "Matt, you really should have told your father."

"Does it really matter right now?" Matt asked, "Myotismon and his goons are out there, somewhere. We shouldn't waste any more time on this."

"Matt, the point was to let our parents know what we're up to," Izzy conveyed, "Imagine what your dad would think if anything happened to you?"

"Look, can we just go already? I'll apologize later!" Matt shook his head, "Where's the last child live? Kari or whatever."

Sora's mom maintained her stern look of disapproval but conceded Matt's point. She produced an old address book and thumbed through it, "The Kamiya family moved around the same time our family did. We fell out of touch after Tai's funeral but their family life was strained after he died. Or, well, his apparent death. The last time we spoke, they lived in Odaiba - in an apartment complex near the ferris wheel."

"Oh! The Daikanransha!" TK squealed excitedly, "Patamon! You and I are going to ride that after we're done!"

"Sounds fun!" Patamon nodded.

"Let's stay focused guys," Sora chastised them, "We need to find Kari first."

"She is right," Biyomon said, "Even if we do find the eighth digidestined, we don't know who their partner is supposed to be! And Myotismon still has the crest!"

In another part of the city, Gatomon continued her prowl - making contact with the various groups of Myotismon's army. They'd scattered around to better position themselves and were told to await further orders. The more humanoid ones were able to disguise themselves in the humans' clothes, but the larger ones had to hide themselves to keep from causing panic.

She was strolling along one of the overpasses the humans built to cross their own roads, which were ruled by fast moving vehicles they called cars. From atop the bridge of cement and steel, she cast her eyes downward onto the sidewalks, observing the adults going to their jobs and the kids running around playing. For some of them, this would be their last day - but perhaps it was better that they didn't know. As Myotismon said, there were five children who would be key in defeating him. If they died now, then who would be there to stop him? Of course, killing them all was faster than just looking for the five they needed – especially if they'd have nowhere to run.

She thought of all the horrible and cruel ways he could kill them, shivering with fear as each idea ran through her mind. Some she'd experience first hand at Myotismon's own whim, when they'd first met long ago. It was so long ago that she wasn't sure how much of it was memory and how much was a distant dream. Both filled her with dread. Before Myotismon, she remembered always being alone - waiting for someone in vain. It was impossible to tell how long she waited, but she knew she gave up on waiting and went out to find this person instead. But she found no warm welcome in the Digital World, which she learned could be unfairly cruel and undecidedly indifferent to her hardship. Over her journey, she found that the small and weak lived under the mercy of the strong, and that only those who were strong could survive. Through frozen tundras, misty swamps, burning sands, and barren plains, she found that she was always on her own. And at the end of her long journey, she found Myotismon waiting for her. He took her 'under his wing' to 'train and condition' her for the harsh reality of the Digital World.

And she hated him for it, at first. Now, she simply feared him. In his own words, he would beat the defiant look out of her and make her the perfect weapon for his war. She didn't want to work for and serve under him, but she was too afraid to think of defying him. The thought of being whipped and beaten still made her blood boil. But the knowledge that he was holding back and toying with her for his own amusement cooled her down. After all, she'd witnessed first hand how deadly he could be when he actually wanted to kill someone - and there was a cold efficiency to his methods that was also needlessly cruel.

Long ago, a village of digimon tried to rebel against Myotismon. Rather than send one of his own to deal with the problem, Myotismon went to deal with it in person. The digimon couldn't even hope to fight back, as he went about slaughtering them methodically - starting with the strongest to scare the weakest. The weakest were given a chance to surrender, then killed anyway to make a point. He wouldn't tolerate defiance. For Gatomon, the cruelest part was being forced to watch. There was little that stood out over her long life of servitude to Myotismon, but she could still remember the faces of the digimon as they screamed and begged to be spared.

Would the humans make the same faces and screams when Myotismon went about enacting his plans? Thinking on it, she had carried out her part and informed his planted soldiers to prepare a perimeter around the city's shoreline. There wouldn't be much for them to do on this little island called Odaiba - a man-made island connected to the main city by several bridges. When the bridges were destroyed, there would be nowhere for the humans to flee except out to the sea. Even then, they wouldn't get far with MegaSeadramon and Gesomon patrolling the waters. And all the other nasty aquatic digimon.

She carried on her way, taking note of a little girl with short brown hair wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt, pink shorts with matching neckerchief, and little pink shoes. She looked sickly and tired, but she called out as loud as she could, "Miko! Come here kitty! Where'd you go?"

Gatomon mused at the idea of being a common house cat, a creature free to do as it pleased within the home of the humans on the condition that it never broke their rules. The thought of being enslaved and treated as a pet by these weak creatures disgusted her - being forced to brush against them to show affection, having to relieve herself in a box, being forced to eat fish, drink their milk from a saucer, and sleeping in a soft bed beside them. It dawned on Gatomon that all of those things sounded very inviting, and it distracted her from what she was doing. She was so distracted, she didn't notice the girl was now standing in front of her, "Hello, little kitty. Are you a friend of Miko's?"

Gatomon followed her training and sank to all fours like a normal cat in the human world. She mewed in an uncharacteristically cute way, and cocked her head to the side. The girl blinked and frowned, "I guess not. That was a neat trick you did earlier. Who taught you to stand on two legs?"

"Meow," Gatomon said, pretending to lick her paw. The girl coughed, but still managed to awe in adoration. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a fish shaped biscuit, "Do you want a treat?"

Gatomon sniffed the treat in the little girl's hand and caught the delicious scent of tuna. She really wanted to take it but knew better than to take anything from the humans. Against her better wishes, she turned to walk away from the girl but couldn't help herself from looking back once to smell the treat again. The girl had dropped it on the ground and began swaying. She put her hand to her head and weakly murmured, "I don't feel too good."

Gatomon watched curiously as the girl sank to her knees and passed out on the ground. Gatomon looked around nervously – hoping someone would notice the passed out the girl. She didn't know why she cared more than she should have. She only knew that she couldn't bear to leave the girl alone and set out in search of help. The little cat didn't get far before she found another girl and boy walking towards her. Both had spiky hair, but the girl's was longer and red while the boy's was short and brown. The girl was slightly older and holding the little boy's hand while he protested, "Jun! I don't need you to hold my hand."

"I'll believe that when you don't go wandering off on your own, Davis," the girl named Jun stated.

"I don't go wandering off on my own," Davis protested. Jun giggled, "Said the boy who can't pay attention to anything!"

"I can too pay attenti…ooh! A cat!" Davis oohed at the sight of Gatomon. She'd found her help - now she just had to guide them back to the little girl. She meowed to keep their attention and spotted the action figure in the boy's hand. The two kids awed at her, before she leapt towards them to snatch the action figure in her mouth.

"Hey!" Davis snapped at the cat. Gatomon took off back for the girl, slowing her pace to let the boy and girl keep up. She guided them back to the overpass walkway and made sure to drop the toy beside the unconscious girl. Davis caught up right away but was too transfixed by the passed out little girl to notice Gatomon slip away, "Oh no. Hey! Jun! This girl needs help."

"Davis, what are you talking ab-" Jun stopped when she saw what Davis was talking about and gasped, "Hey! Are you okay?"

Gatomon moved for the other side of the overpass, staying just out of sight but within earshot to hear the girl stir. Jun asked, "Hey! Are you okay? What happened?"

"Sick," the girl coughed, "Went to…look for cat."

"You shouldn't be out when you're sick. What's your name?" Jun asked.

"I'm…Kari," the girl answered weakly.

"Do you live nearby Kari?" Jun asked, "We'll take you there."

Kari mumbled something incoherent and Jun nodded, "Okay. We'll take you home!"

Jun and Davis helped Kari stand up, then Jun carried Kari piggyback style. Gatomon watched them hurry down the crosswalk and up the street. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the girl would be okay. She didn't know why she cared so much - the three kids would be dead by the end of the afternoon anyway. Her moment of relief was ruined by the arrival of Wizardmon, "That was uncharacteristically kind of you."

"Wizardmon," Gatomon groaned, "How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me?"

She turned to face her cloaked friend, lowering his collar to reveal his face. The stitches on his mouth and the inquisitive yet dull look in his eyes were strangely relaxing. It was a rarity among Wizardmon-type digimon, but it was something he did regularly around her. Supposedly, it was a sign of deep respect and familiarity for a Wizardmon to ever show their true face. Sometimes, Gatomon wished he wouldn't act so familiar - not with the eyes and ears of Myotismon in every direction.

"Sorry, Gatomon," Wizardmon chuckled, "I just thought that was rather fitting of you. To do something kind for others, like you did for me so many years ago."

Gatomon frowned, "Myotismon will kill you if he hears you talking like that. Then me."

"But he's not here to hear it," Wizardmon pointed out, "Besides, he's not the only one drawing plans and schemes. The Tamer and Agumon are carrying out their own agenda. As am I."

"What are you talking about Wizardmon?" Gatomon asked, looking at her friend curiously. He was always odd, with his easy fascination for literally anything, and his indiscernible speech - but he never seemed like the plotter. He was usually too preoccupied with some new discovery to actually do anything long term.

"You know what I'm talking about Gatomon," Wizardmon replied, "I owe you my life, so I've made it my purpose to serve you - whatever that may entail. Even you may have noticed it - you had difficulty fighting the digidestined, and you helped that little girl. Hardly the traits of soldiers in Myotismon's army."

"What are you getting at Wizardmon? Can you just hurry up and get to the chase?" Gatomon stood upright and started tapping her foot impatiently. Wizardmon sighed, "Did you know the gate serves a dual purpose, Gatomon? You can use it to travel to other worlds, like we did to cross the boundaries into this world. But it serves another purpose, one I learned by accident."

"And what is that?" Gatomon asked, indulging Wizardmon. She hated his cryptic and mysterious tendencies but she always indulged her friend anyway. If she didn't know better, she'd think he got off on this.

"Gatomon, I glimpsed the fringes of reality and learned the truths of our existence. What should be, what will be, what can't be, what must not. Gatomon, you know as well as I that you don't belong with Myotismon. You are not a bad digimon, despite your reputation," Wizardmon stated. Gatomon snorted, "After everything we've done, you're seriously going to look me in the eye and say I'm good?"

"You helped that little girl. There was no reason for you to do it. You had nothing to gain. But you helped her anyway."

"Was that before or after I killed countless digimon on Myotismon's orders? Oh! I remember, it was when I helped Myotismon with his plan to murder humans!" Gatomon retorted mockingly.

Wizardmon remained insistent, "None of that was of your own accord. Although you may doubt it, you have always been a good digimon. Yes, you follow Myotismon's orders, but you've also chosen the more merciful path when it presented itself. Or did you forget that you didn't kill the digidestined or their digimon at the gate? You could've easily finished them off for good, but you chose not to because Myotismon didn't tell you to kill them. And if you wish to prove me wrong, then why don't we follow that girl you helped? After all, it shouldn't be too hard for a digimon of your skill to finish off a poor, weak, sick little girl."

"Fine!" Gatomon fumed, stomping off after the three kids. She would show Wizardmon how wrong he was - she would kill that little girl. Then Wizardmon would see that she was not a good digimon. She was a cruel, uncaring, and rotten as any other digimon under Myotismon's employ. But his questions raised doubts in her heart. She was doing this because she had to, but did she want to? It didn't matter. Myotismon's plan would be carried out once the fog rolled in.

The digidestined and their digimon partners sat in Sora's mother's van while she drove them to the Kamiya family. They'd tried calling ahead but the phone still continued to have problems, so they sat in silence on the drive over - anxious that something happened. The only noise came from the radio, which Sora's mom tuned to a news station. The announcer was talking about a string of women collapsing from anemia all across Tokyo, strange weather patterns across the globe attributed to climate change, and increasing reports of possible monster sightings. The announcer urged calm and asked anyone suffering from hallucinations to report to the nearest medical facility.

There was also the question of where Tamer and Agumon had run off to. Izzy fiddled with his digivice to find the search function Tamer and Agumon used to track down the eighth digivice, but could only get it to start playing music in a language no one understood. They didn't know what it was, but it was so loud that Sora's mom ended up swerving the car into oncoming traffic in surprise. Mimi screamed at him to turn it down and Izzy frantically began pressing buttons to silence the screaming digivice. Eventually, he was able to turn off the screaming digivice in time for Sora's mom to correct the car.

Joe groaned, "Let's never do that again."

"Are you alright TK?" Matt asked his little brother, who nodded happily, "Yeah! That was fun! It was like bumper cars!"

"What's a bumper car?" Yokomon asked from Sora's lap, bobbing up and down excitedly, "If it's anything like that, it'll be a blast."

"We'll show you guys when we get to Odaiba!" TK said excitedly, "But we have to ride the ferris wheel first!"

"TK, we're going to find the eighth digidestined," Sora reminded the little boy, "Don't forget! Myotismon and his army are out there."

"Which is why, the sooner the better," Sora's mom said, turning the car onto the turnpike and continuing onto the Rainbow Bridge. The air grew denser and foggier as they crossed the bridge, obscuring the mainland and the island of Odaiba ahead. It only took a minute to get across, but the fog rolled in so quickly that it obscured the other side before they even got halfway.

"This fog came out of nowhere. What is with this weird weather we're having?" Sora's mom commented. Izzy was the one to come to an answer, although it was speculative, "I've been curious about that since we returned. The snow preceded our transportation to the Digital World, and melted as soon as we returned. It's entirely possible that the global weather patterns are a response to the connection between the Digital and Real Worlds."

"Myotismon brought an army though," Tentomon added, "And we haven't seen anything until now."

"That's just it, Tentomon," Izzy said, looking out the window into the dense fog, "I'm wondering if Myotismon if finally making his move."

As if to confirm his fears, the radio was distorted by static and the announcer's voice strained before being cut off entirely, "Breaking news…orts come in…reas of the city are cov…fog. Official…sing everyone to…tay indoors until…drivers are cautioned…"

The radio finally went dead and Sora's mom started pushing buttons on the console to find another station. She went through every channel and only received dead air in response. The kids were now looking out the windows anxiously, waiting for something to happen. The clock on the dash indicated the time was noon. The bridge shook violently, and the car in front of them suddenly stopped - forcing them to slide and swerve to avoid causing an accident. Traffic in both directions ground to a halt and drivers started exiting their cars in annoyance. The bridge shook again, more violently than last time. Sora's mom gasped, "This doesn't look like an earthquake."

There was a loud crashing sound behind them, and then screams. People came running from behind the van, glancing back in horror but continuing to run in fear. Their attention turned out the rear window, into the dense fog from which more people emerged running and screaming. Behind them was the silhouette of a large white tentacle that slammed down against the bridge and cut it in half. Cars slid backwards as the bridge collapsed behind them, falling into the water below. Some were empty, but others were still occupied. The occupants struggled against their seat belts and the doors, only to slide off the bridge and plunge into the water below. The van started sliding as well, and Sora's mother screamed, "Everyone get out! Now!"

They didn't need telling twice. They hurried out of the car as fast as they could while it slid backwards. Thankfully, they all managed to get out okay before the van flew off the edge and crashed into the waters below. The tentacle came crashing down along the bridge again, collapsing the side closer to the mainland. The digidestined and their partners hurried up the bridge, taking care to avoid the cars sliding backwards. While they ran, Sora and Yokomon glimpsed one car that slid backwards from which they could see a young woman screaming against the glass of her driver side window. The woman was unable to remove her seatbelt or open the door in time, and so she screamed as she plummeted to the water below. But it was what they saw in the car with the young woman that stunned Sora.

A car seat for a baby, which they could see wailing in distress as the car crashed into the water. The fog thinned slightly for them to see the unmistakable image of a large white squid with fangs gnashing at anyone who survived the fall into the water below. Her first thought was to run back and help them, but she was brought back to her senses by her mother, "Sora! The bridge is collapsing!"

Sora hurriedly joined the others at a level part of the bridge, trying to ignore the screams for help below as the squid digimon started picking off survivors. She carried Yokomon in her arms, holding her close while sprinting across the collapsing bright, to a part that was still standing upright. Her mother hugged her once she rejoined them, and made sure she was okay before looking back, "Is that one of those digimon who works for Myotismon?"

"It looks that way," Gomamon frowned, "That's Gesomon, a mollusk digimon. Don't let his appearance fool you, he's smarter than most digimon! But they usually keep to themselves and only fight when you enter their territory."

"Well, it looks like this one didn't like the bridge," Mimi chastised it.

"We need to help them!" Izzy said, "Tentomon! Digivolve and use your arms to carry people out!"

"Yokomon?" Sora asked her partner. She nodded her little head, "I've been itching to get back in there since the fight in the castle."

"You too Gomamon! Get in there and distract that big old squid!" Joe cheered. The three digimon nodded and leapt out into the water. Their digivices hummed to life and their partners declared.

"Yokomon! Digivolve to! Biyomon!"

"Tentomon! Digivolve to! Kabuterimon!"

"Gomamon! Digivolve to! Ikakumon!"

"Biyomon! Digivolve to! Birdramon!"

Ikakumon landed on top of the unsuspecting Gesomon, and was flattened under the water. Several humans held in his tentacles were released and fell screaming. Kabuterimon and Birdramon dove in, grabbing everyone they could before they slammed into the water and carried them back to the bridge. This didn't stop them from screaming in terror though, not that any of the kids could blame them. Sora looked down into the water and caught site of the car from earlier, with the woman now slamming against the window and called out to her partner, "Birdramon! The cars! There are still people in those cars!"

Birdramon nodded and went back into the water, scanning for cars that still had people inside them. She grabbed the one with the woman first and tried to pull it out of the water, but the load was too heavy for her. Kabuterimon had his hands full with other people he'd scooped out of the water so Palmon stepped in with her vines, wrapping them around the car to help Birdramon carry them out. Birdramon lowered the car onto the bridge and the digidestined set about trying to open the car. The door jammed during the fall and no amount of prying on the doors could get it open. So Birdramon used her talons to rip the door clean off its frame. The woman reached into the back of the car to protect her baby and screamed, "NO! GO AWAY!"

"It's okay! We're here to help!" Sora tried explaining to the woman, whose eyes stayed focused on the giant bird digimon before her. She was too terrified to notice Sora trying to get her attention. Thankfully, her mother was there to talk sense into the young woman, "It's okay! It's okay! This bird's a friend of my daughter. She's here to help us. They'll take care of everything, so get your baby to safety while you can."

The child still wailed, but the woman was at least focusing on Sora's mom. She nodded her understanding and hurried towards the Odaiba side of the bridge. Sora's mom sighed and looked to her daughter proudly, as if to say she was glad she was doing what she could. Sora smiled back and said to Birdramon, "Keep searching for more cars! There are still more people down there who need help!"

"Got it!" Birdramon said, returning back to the water below. Kabuterimon carried more people off to safety and Ikakumon grappled with Gesomon in the water. Gesomon's movements were wild, with complete disregard for the well being of the humans while Ikakumon kept trying to maneuver Gesomon around them. This wasn't enough to save every one, and some people ended up thrown aside by Gesomon's writhing tentacles.

Seeing all of the lifeless bodies floating in the water below was the grim reminder that the fight had come to their world. But unlike the digimon, those people were not going to come back. And what of those who were trapped in the cars? A good number of cars disappeared beneath the water's surface - who was to say how many people were trapped, beyond their ability to help. Just thinking about it made her angry, furious at the Gesomon. She'd hesitated before with every other digimon, but now Sora knew what she wanted. She wanted Gesomon to pay! She was so mad, that her fists shook in frustration.

Then the train horn sounded and reminded her the fight was far from over. Following the sound, they spotted the remains of the train tracks on the lower level of the bridge. They couldn't see the train, but they could hear its horn blaring and the screech of its brakes. Birdramon and Kabuterimon were too busy carrying people out of the water to notice, and Ikakumon was still fighting Gesomon in the water. Neither Palmon nor Gabumon would be able to clear the gap to the other side of the bridge, even if they digivolved. Which left one digimon - Patamon. TK looked out across the fog and said, "Patamon! The train! It's going to fall!"

"I got it!" Patamon said, leaping out of TK's arms, "Patamon! Digivolve to! Angemon!"

It was an amazing sight to see Angemon again after the battle with Devimon. The light from his body was so bright that it broke through the fog and cleared the area around the bridge - letting them see the train roaring through the lower levels towards the end of the tracks. The breaks were engaged but wouldn't slow it down enough to stop it from going over the edge. Angemon rushed in and threw himself in front of the train, bracing himself for the impact. He caught the brunt of the force with his arms and pushed against the train to slow it down, sending all of the passengers lurching forward from the impact. He roared and pushed as hard as he could, derailing the train but doing little from stopping its momentum.

"YOU CAN DO IT ANGEMON!" TK cheered, encouraging him to give one more push. Angemon gave it all he had and the train started to slow just as the first car went over the bridge. No longer restricted by the tracks and free to move his wings, Angemon started flying upwards to shift the train's momentum. With the train car angled up, gravity would work in his favor to help slow it down and he was able to stop the train before the second car came off the bridge. As he lowered the car, it slid back into the bridge and he was able to put it on to the tracks. The scared passengers within looked up at him in awe and he offered a smile to calm them down. Some sank to their knees in prayer while others backed away in fear. Many of them expected to die just moments ago when the train was about to go into the water, only to be saved at the last moment by an angel. Who wouldn't be overcome by surprise?

A few smiled back weakly, but the moment ended when a red serpent emerged from the water to wrap around Angemon, dragging him into the water. Although he was gone, they could still see some of his light through the waves but even that vanished to darkness. TK screamed in horror, "ANGEMON! NO!"

He'd seen his partner die once. He didn't want to see that again. He refused to see it and the thought of it made him mad. He shook with rage and choked out, "ANGEMON! COME BACK!"

"Ikakumon! Help him!" Joe shouted to his partner, only to be answered with, "I'm a little busy right now!"

Ikakumon was wrapped in Gesomon's tentacles and could hardly move, so he resorted to sinking his massive fangs into Gesomon's body. Gesomon released Ikakumon and retreated beneath the water. Ikakumon growled, "AND DON'T COME BACK!"

"Ikakumon! They have Angemon!" Joe shouted again. Ikakumon groaned - he was the only one who could go underwater so he was the only one who could help. Before he could dive under, a beam of light shot out of the water and threw Gesomon out of the water. The large squid screamed before bursting into a cloud of data. Angemon flew out of the water behind him, still aglow with light but gasping desperately for air. TK calmed down when his partner came back into view and asked, "Angemon! Are you okay?"

Angemon gave a thumbs up but ascended into the air as the red serpent reemerged through the water's surface. Its body was still obscured by the fog, but they could vaguely make out the shape of a Seadramon, only larger. The serpent growled at Angemon and watched him soar through the skies.

"What is that?" Sora's mom gasped.

"It looks like Seadramon!" Matt answered.

"It's MegaSeadramon, the digivolution of Seadramon," Palmon answered, "He's a lot smarter than Seadramon, and a lot more persistent. When he locks on to a target, he follows that target nonstop until he has it."

"Thunder Javelin!" MegaSeadramon growled, a blast of lightning emerging from a metallic horn on its head. The bolt arced its way through the sky unpredictably and Angemon only managed to move out of its way at the last second. The bolt continued skyward and disappeared into the clouds where there was a loud boom. Debris rained from the sky as a passenger jet careened out of the fog to reveal its left wing ablaze. Sora, Izzy, and TK called out to their flying digimon - if that plane hit the water, it would kill everyone still on board and do who knows what else to those nearby. Their three flying digimon each grabbed to a portion of the plane and guided it into the water away from the survivors swimming for shore. MegaSeadramon saw his opportunity for a larger target and prepared to fire another bolt of electricity until Ikakumon rammed into it at full speed. The bolt fired from its horn but arced into a nearby park - leveling a playground and setting a few trees on fire.

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikakumon pressed his horn into MegaSeadramon, and it exploded in his face as he fired the attack. The impact was enough to knock him back to the rookie Gomamon, but MegaSeadramon only flinched in surprise. Gomamon fell into the water unconscious, floating belly up with the currents. MegaSeadramon eyed his prize gleefully and opened his maw to devour the unconscious digimon.

"Gomamon!" Joe called out to his partner. Birdramon, Angemon, and Kabuterimon were still trying to guide the plane down - and Gabumon and Palmon would be useless in the water since neither could swim. He called out to his partner again, "Gomamon! Wake up!"

Gomamon didn't stir. They had to distract him while the others set the plane down. Gabumon shot a blast of blue flame, "Blue blaster!"

The flame struck MegaSeadramon and brought his attention on Gabumon. He blinked once at the little digimon and returned to trying to eat Gomamon. Gabumon was offended, "Did he just ignore me?"

"He's going to eat him!" Joe shouted as MegaSeadramon's mouth hung over his partner.

"Agumon! Digivolve to! Greymon!" through the fog, they saw the large form of Greymon emerge and tackle MegaSeadramon into the water. Caught off guard, MegaSeadramon turned his head to bite at Greymon only to find itself where Greymon wanted it. Greymon kept MegaSeadramon's mouth pried open and roared, "I!"

He breathed a blast of fire into MegaSeadramon's mouth, "HOPE!"

Another blast went down MegaSeadramon's mouth, "YOU'RE!"

One last ball of fire shot down MegaSeadramon's mouth, "HUNGRY!"

MegaSeadramon was thrown aside into one of the columns supporting the bridge, shaking the structure. Sora's mother gasped, "No way. Sora, I didn't know Godzilla was a digimon."

"That's Greymon," Sora explained to her surprised, "That's Agumon's digivolved form. Like how Yokomon became Birdramon!"

"Agumon?" her mom asked. Sora added with a nod, "That orange dinosaur that was with Tai yesterday. And if he's here, then that means-"

"Hey guys! So this is where you were! Not that it would've been hard to find you. Just follow the screams and explosions, like I usually do when I'm looking for you," Tamer appeared beside them. Everyone was caught off guard by Tamer's sudden appearance. He stood beside them calmly with a cat wrapped snuggled in his white cloak, and cradled it in his arms. Tamer stroked the cat calmly and added, "Thanks for your help in catching the cat, by the way. Agumon and I only chased it all night. I'm not mad though. Just really annoyed - this cat is our only clue to finding the last child but, hey, that's not a big deal. By the way, do any of you guys know how to read? The tag is all gibberish to me. I asked this one guy, but then he got mad. Something about stolen clothes and then he called me a thief. We spent all night running from him too! He changed his face a few times, and I think he became a woman at one point. But I could tell it was the same person because of the clothes and the badge. That was fun. Anyway, yeah, the tag."

"Where did you come from?" Joe asked, looking around at the nearly deserted bridge. Tamer pointed across the broken bridge and answered, "Over there. It was a heck of a walk."

"But the bridge is gone," Izzy observed of the bridge, "Did you walk on the air?"

"Well, walk...climb down to the water and jump from car to car...same difference, right?" Tamer shrugged, still stroking the cat, "This little guy, or is it a girl, got really mad when I got close to the water. Have you ever tried jumping across water while holding a cat? It's not fun. Believe me, I know. I just did that! Especially when you can't see five feet in front of you. The giant fighting monsters didn't help."

Greymon had MegaSeadramon in a headlock but MegaSeadramon had wrapped its body around him in turn. The two digimon had every intention of choking the other to death, it was just a question of who would give out first. It looked like MegaSeadramon would win - it was the higher-level digimon and Greymon was at a disadvantage in the water. Until Greymon did something none of them expected. With a swift motion and a loud crack, MegaSeadramon went limp when Greymon cracked its neck. The splash of water was so high that they all got wet, and Sora's mom gasped at the brutality of the kill.

Greymon paddled through the water to Gomamon and regressed back to Agumon, latching on to the small digimon from sinking. The other three champions helped land the plane into the water at a slide to keep it from sinking, and were already going through the laborious task of moving everyone onto bridge. Angemon took the time to carry Agumon and Gomamon back to the bridge with the others. Agumon shook off the water and grumbled, "Haven't had to fight in the water for a while. I forgot how much I hate doing that."

"Why do you think I didn't jump in?" Tamer joked, earning him a slap. Angemon departed to help Birdramon and Kabuterimon rescue more people.

"Did you just kill an ultimate?" Sora asked, and Agumon nodded, "Yep. The advantage of Seadramon types is their mobility. They're not all that strong and rely more on the fact that it's hard to get them to stand still. Restrict their mobility and it's easy to deal a killing blow. In this case, just break its neck."

"I'm surprised though. You guys usually don't support this kind of stuff," Tamer added to their surprise. But it was hard to protest, now that their battles had come home to their world. They looked down into the water below the bridge - where MegaSeadramon's body was turning to data, leaving behind only the bodies of the humans disappearing into the depths below. But there was still plenty of debris in the water, and the fuselage of the plane brought down by MegaSeadramon's bolt. Seeing all the destruction made it hard to argue with the deaths of either digimon. Myotismon warned them that they would have one chance to prevent what was to come - did he mean this? No, of course not. He still had an army. It would only get worse from here.

"And now that I think about it," Tamer turned to face TK, "I think that brings your score up to two! I'll have to get you a drink. When you're old enough, I mean. You're too young to drink. Remind me when you're old enough to drink."

"Drink what?" TK asked.

"When you're older," Tamer replied.

"We are not keeping score of this!" Sora hissed.

"We are," Tamer smiled, pointing at himself and Agumon, "Zero point five."

"What?"

"Etemon," Tamer said, reminding Sora of the battle of the pyramid. She hadn't really thought about it, but she and Garudamon had killed the Etemon-Datamon monstrosity. It didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. But she did protest, "Hey! Shouldn't that be one!?"

"I thought you weren't keeping count," Agumon joked.

"It's because you didn't kill him," Tamer replied, "Don't worry. It'll make sense when we get to it. Well, it'll make sense to them."

He pointed at Joe and Mimi. Joe was inspecting the unconscious Gomamon, and cradling him the way Tamer held the cat, which purred calmly in his arm. Amidst his joking, Sora's mother finally voiced her disapproval, "Tai...don't tell me you condone this."

Sora's mom looked at the boy, who returned it with a confused look, "Gesundheit. You people really need to cover your noses when you sneeze."

Her mother looked at them all in disbelief, "Is this…what you kids did in the Digital World?"

"Not all the time," Gabumon answered, "There was a lot of running, eating, sleeping, making friends. Oh, and a concert! But that's a long story."

"And you said when you came back to this world, it was only a few minutes?" she asked. Sora nodded and her mother looked to Tamer with genuine concern, "You were dead for four years. It must have been an eternity for you. What happened to make you like this? You used to be such a sweet kid."

Tamer shrugged, "Was I? Sorry. Old age catches up to you in weird ways and you start to forget things. Also, who are you and why do you look familiar?"

"I'm Sora's mother. You remember me, right?" her mother frowned. Tamer scratched his chin, "Nope. Not ringing a bell. Wait, did Agumon and I come in to your apartment looking for a cat?"

"Yes!"

"That narrows it down to twenty-five people," Tamer concluded, "Were you the one in the towel? There was another guy in a towel with you. Kept yelling at us to leave you alone."

"What? No!" Sora's mom gasped while Mimi snickered. Palmon asked what was so funny and Mimi promised to tell her later. Tamer went on, "I guess it doesn't really matter. Oh! Before I forget, can you guys help us out with this cat's tag? We were going to return it to its owner, but I can't read what's written on there. We find the owner, we find the last digidestined."

Tamer held up the cat for them to look at, and the cat protested being held the way it was. Sora's mom took a quick look at the name tag and read, "Miko Kamiya, Kamiya Family...wait, this is where we're going!"

"Really? Fantastic! That'll save us time," Tamer smiled, "Wait, why are you guys going there?"

"Tai, we think your sister is the last digidestined," Sora explained, "We were going to meet your family."

Tamer blinked, and looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh but said calmly, "Not this again. Look, Sora. I'm not your friend Tai. So will you stop calling me that?"

Sora opened her mouth to talk again, but refrained at the sound of crying. Birdramon, Angemon and Kabuterimon moved the last of the passengers from the plane to the bridge. Angemon regressed to Patamon and rejoined TK but the others stayed behind. There was a terrified little boy, just a little younger than TK crying out in fear. His parents were trying to calm him down but were having little success in the presence of the two large champion level monsters around them. Tamer held out the cat to Agumon, "Hold this, please."

He held the cat in an awkward position and it protested being held that way again. Before Agumon could even take the cat, it leapt out of his arms and hissed angrily. Tamer appeared to have completely forgotten the little cat and was already with the little boy and his two parents. He brushed the two adults aside, "Excuse me, you two. Hey there little guy. What are you crying about? Are you scared of Mothra and Rodan over there?"

The child's crying stopped briefly and he stared at Tamer curiously. Tamer offered his biggest, dumbest grin and continued, "Don't be. They're friends! Aren't they?"

Tamer winked at the boy, then to the two champions. He demonstrated their friendliness by patting Birdramon's leg. Birdramon lowered her head down to meet the boy and Kabuterimon did the same. The boy reached out to touch the giant bird's beak, giggling excitedly when Birdramon blinked. The boy was calmer now and Tamer continued, "There you are. See? Don't be afraid, they're friends to all children! Well, I think that was Gamera but I don't know where the giant turtle is. But the point is, they're not going to harm you. Well, not on purpose. As big as they are, they might hit when they turn around. That's not their fault though. Have you seen how big they are? They can't even get through the door to their house! They just sort of...get stuck. And that's why they live in caves. Because they lose their keys and can't get inside. But that's not their fault. They don't have pockets. I guess Mothra could just hang it up on his horn, but then it'd hit him while he was flying."

The boy was laughing excitedly now, seemingly enjoying Tamer's random attitude. He asked, "What's your name little boy?"

"Cody. Cody Hida," the boy said. Tamer paused anxiously, as if he'd been punched in the stomach, but he carried on happily, "It's nice to meet you Cody. I'm The Digimon Tamer."

"Grandpa says to bow when I meet new people," the boy bowed respectfully and Tamer returned it, "You're a good kid, Cody. But it's not safe here, right now. Mothra over there ate some bad apples and he's about to upchuck. You don't want to see that, do you?"

Cody shook his head and Tamer faced the boy's parents, "You two should go while you can. It's not safe here."

"I'm not going anywhere!" the father stated, "I may be off duty but I'm still an officer of the law. I will-"

"Officer, you're duty is appreciated. But, right now, please focus on protecting your family," Tamer urged the father. The father frowned, "Listen kid, I don't take orders from you! You clear out of here while-"

Tamer grabbed onto Cody's dad and pulled his head down so he could whisper something. The motion was swift and smooth, as if it was something he'd done dozens of times before. They don't know what he whispered, only that the dad changed his attitude afterwards, "I...understand."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Tamer said apologetically, "Go...save your family."

The dad nodded, ushering his wife and son past the bridge. The feat left them all wondering what he'd said, although the little boy happily looked back and waved, "BYE!"

Tamer waved back and rejoined the group, "Sorry about that. So, what were you saying? You said something about knowing where this Kari person was, right?"

"What was that?" Gabumon asked.

"What?"

"You were…surprisingly brotherly to someone you've never met," Sora's mother commented. For the first time they'd known him, Tamer blushed and he offered his explanation, "I've always been good with kids. Don't ask why."

"You're not good with us," Matt grumbled.

"Little kids! Like TK over there," Tamer pointed out, offending the little boy, "I am not little!"

"That's right! Chin up!" Tamer added sarcastically, until Agumon brought them back into focus, "Are we going to find the last child now? This cat won't stop hissing at me."

"Yeah, let's go return this cat to…Kari, was it? Let's go meet this Kari," Tamer scooped up the cat and ran his hand along its body to calm it down, "Kari…Kari…Are you sure it's not pronounced Carey?"

"It's Kari, Tai," Sora's mother said, "She's your sister. Do…do you remember her?"

"And suddenly, Sora's persistence makes sense," Tamer sighed, pushing past Sora's mom with an annoyed look, "She takes a lot after you, y'know. I've never heard anyone so insistent on the whole 'your name is Tai' thing. So, tell you what, tell me all the reasons you think I'm this 'Tai' person on the way to the last digidestined's place. The clock's ticking and Myotismon has already made his move. Might as well multitask while we walk."

Sora and her mother swapped worried glances. Tamer looked back impatiently, waiting for one of them to lead the way - or at least start explaining why they thought his name was Tai. The rest of them hadn't really given it much thought, since Sora could have just made a case of mistaken identity. But having Sora's mom confirm the same thing had them consider it more seriously. Was Tamer really from their world and, if so, had he been stuck in the Digital World for so long that he simply forgot who he was? They were gone for weeks, but that had only been a few minutes in the Real World. If Tai had gone there four years ago, then how had he survived for over a hundred thousand years?

Sora's mom guided them towards the Kamiya family apartment while she told Tamer about Kari, the others followed quietly and listened as she explained everything.

Author's Notes: Will the digidestined get to Kari before Gatomon does? What did Tamer say to Cody's police officer father? Is Zudomon really Gamera in disguise? Why are my arms in the air as I ask these questions? Find out (possibly) in the next chapter of The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure which comes out Friday, May 20th 5PM CST! If you loved it, leave a review to let me know what you think! I also welcome constructive criticism and guesses on what'll happen next. I usually reply in a day or two. Unless it's a guest review, then I'll reply in the next chapter! And now: random lines from next chapter pulled in no particular order!

She stumbled backwards, blinded by the bright flash, "HEY! What gives!?"

"As in the word for light?" Tamer blinked.

"Right behind you," Wizardmon nodded to the back.

Finally, Jun said, "Davis. Watch Kari. I'll answer the door."

Kari mumbled, "It's him! TAI!"