(A/N: Well, this is a big relief. Don't know why, but I had a dream last night that FanFiction was going to delete all their stories in 6 1/2 years to restart their site. Glad it was just a dream; that would have been awful for the writers and readers. But you don't want to hear about my dreams, you want to know what's happening with our heroes. Lets find out.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 51: Spider and Fly

The area was secluded, yet the vines still covered everything. They spread all about, creating a dome-like structure from which no light shined through, keeping everything inside hidden.

Within the large green dome, Darcmon bowed down to the one who created all the greenery. Argomon towered over her in a cocoon of vines, listening as she gave her report. He didn't know what was going on in his jungle of vines, but he could feel through them that something was wrong. A group of individuals had been evading his vines for some time now. While that wasn't too unusual, for surely there would be those that would be able to escape his vines, there was something peculiar about this group.

He didn't like what he was feeling, so he had sent Darcmon to investigate. She had been a useful ally ever since she had approached him with her proposition. And now she was telling him that the group in question were a bunch of humans with the power to turn into Digimon. A Leomon and a Shoutmon were with them as well, but he didn't care for them much.

"That is about the long and short of it," the angel Digimon concluded. "I don't know where they came from, or where they got their power, but they are determine to stop you."

A scowl crossed Argomon's face. "They can't stop me. They're just a bunch of puny humans."

"Of course, sir," the Darcmon replied. "However, their ability to turn into Digimon, Ultimate level Digimon at that, may prove to be problematic. And since they know how to ward off your vines, they could become a real nuisance. They may even find the keycards before we do."

Argomon frowned. Perhaps she was right. It wouldn't due to have a group of humans to get their hands on his prize. It would be best to get them out of the way rather than take a chance. "Very well, do what you must."

A sinister grin crept up the angel Digimon's face. "With your permission then… master."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Davis pouted as he tapped his Digivice. The screen remained blank, completely useless at this point until it was reenergized again. Leomon watched him with a curious look. "Still no power?"

The boy grumbled. "No, none. You guys?" He received shakes of the head from Takato, Takuya, and Kari. "Great. Then it looks like we're helpless again until they recharge."

"Well, Takato muttered, trying to look at the bright side, "we still have Leomon, TK, and Tai."

Shoutmon cleared his throat. "I'm here too, you know."

The lion Digimon chuckled and patted him on the back. "And we're all very appreciative of it."

His eye twitched. "I get the feeling you're not taking me seriously."

Takuya nervously scratched the back of his head. "It's not that. We know you're strong, but you're still just a Rookie, and you are the one that has been emphasizing the difference in strength between levels."

The others chuckled as Shoutmon crossed his arms. "I'm getting stronger everyday."

Davis nudged him. "Maybe you can find some more Shoutmon and DNA Digivolve with them like those Wendigomon did."

The dragon Digimon reached up and flicked his forehead. "You don't pay attention. That wasn't DNA Digivolving. It was regular Digivolving using teamwork. DNA Digivolving involves two or more completely different yet compatible species of Digimon combining together."

Tai shook his head at that. "I still can't wrap my head around this whole combining thing. How can two people just become one person?"

Shoutmon shrugged. "They just do. It's… um, hard to explain. I've never done it myself. I've only ever DigiFused, and I've still been completely me during those instances. But DNA Digivolving and group Digivolving is a blend of two or more Digimon. Their thoughts, memories, and personality merge together to become a single entity containing both, as if this new being had lived both the lives of the ones that combined to create it. The Digimon that combined will then know the other as personally and as intimately as they know themselves, even after separating. It's for this reason that DNA Digivolving is so rare, due to how personal it is and how in sync the two or more must be to combine. Group Digivolving is a little more common since the Digimon that Digivolve together are of the same species, and thus very similar, but it still doesn't happen too often."

Takuya stared. "Wow, that's pretty deep. And it certainly sounds pretty sound personal."

"Sounds like how fusion works in Dragon Ball Z," Takato noted. "You know, I'm still waiting for fusion to appear in Pokemon. It's bound to happen at some point."

Shoutmon rolled his eyes and glanced at Leomon, who looked confused. "Just ignore him. He'll randomly talk about things from the human world sometimes."

"Hey, both are really popular anime where we come from."

A thought suddenly occurred to Tai. "Hey, I have a question. When Digimon die, they just revert to Digi-Eggs, but what happens if a Digimon that was created from more than one Digimon dies? Does it split into the eggs of the individual Digimon that make it up, or does it just become a single egg?"

Shoutmon smirked. "Ah, now we're getting into some complicated stuff. Well, with DigiFusion, the combined Digimon simply become individual eggs. The same goes for Bio-Merging since even though they share one body, they're still individuals. With DNA Digivolving and group Digivolving though, it depends. In most cases, they'll become individual eggs. However, in some really rare cases, if the bond between the combine individual Digimon is really deep and they completely blend into each other until there is no longer any distinguishing difference between the two, then they'll become a single egg. Their Digi-Cores will have merged together, and they'll be permanently bound."

He shrugged. "But that only happens after spending years and years as one being. At that point, they won't even want to separate, or even recognize or acknowledge themselves as individuals anymore."

The teens were silent as they listened. "That sounds both beautiful and disturbing at the same time," Tai thought out loud.

"It can be advantageous in the long run," Leomon added. "When a DNA Digivolved Digimon does die and become a single Digi-Egg, the Digimon born from it will be able to Digivolve to the DNA Digivolved form without having to combine with anyone."

"That's convenient," said Davis. "So who's Digi-Egg will appear out of the individuals once the DNA Digimon dies if they do fully merge?"

"The strongest of the group," Shoutmon told him as if this should have been obvious. He pointed at the boy. "In fact, since you were able to go from ExVeemon to Paildramon without having to DNA Digivolve with a Stingmon or a Snimon proves that the Veemon you got your DDNA from was once two that permanently became one after its death. You wouldn't have been able to Digivolve to Paildramon otherwise."

Davis blinked. "Whoa, really? Um, cool, I guess." He looked at his Digivice. "Although, it's not doing us much good right now." As he stared at the object in his hand, it suddenly vanished. It took him a moment to register that it was gone before he screamed. "Ah! Where'd it go?"

"There!" Kari pointed. About a dozen feet away, crouching down with his back to them, was what appeared to be human boy. In his hands was Davis' Digivice, and he was staring at it intently.

The robbed teenager jumped angrily to his feet. "Hey, that's mine, you thief!"

The boy stood up and turned to face them. The teens all gasped. The boy was human alright, but he had a very unusual face. His head was large and almost shaped like a football. His face was flat, with two holes above a very big mouth that served for a nose, and two eyes that seemed a little too big and a little too round. But the most bizarre thing of all, the thing that really disturbed them, was that when the boy had turned to look at them, his body had remained in place while his head turned a complete 180 degrees around.

Takato's hand went to his neck. "Yuck. My neck hurts just looking at that."

Takuya cleared his throat. "Guys, does no one else find it strange that we just ran into another human?"

TK cocked his head to the side. "Is he human? He could be a Digimon. Some Digimon look pretty human. If Angewomon were smaller and didn't have wings, she could pass for human."

Tai had to admit that he had a point. "There's still a distinct difference. More likely he's a Digimon in disguise. Remember Bakemon? Hey, kid, who are you?"

"PA-CAW!" the boy wailed loudly, causing the teens to cover their ears. The boy began laughing and took off in a run, his head shifting forward, Davis' Digivice in his hand.

"Hey, that's mine! Give it back!"

The boy just kept running as they gave chase. He was very fast, and every now and then would have to stop running and wait for them to catch up, his head once again turning around in that disturbing unnatural way to watch them.

"Shoutmon, who is this guy?" Kari asked as they hurried along.

"No clue," the dragon Digimon replied. "Tai could be right though; he might be a Digimon in disguise."

Leomon pulled out his sword. "I'll find out." He jumped up, kicking off a wall of vines before they could grab him, and landed in front of the boy. "Return what you stole."

The boy skidded to a stop. The teens closed in around him on all sides so he had nowhere to go. He didn't seem concerned that he was cornered, his face holding the same blank expression they had seen earlier.

Davis held out his hand. "Give me back my Digivice, you little creep."

The boy looked at the device in his hand, then stared blankly at Davis. With no complaint, he tossed it to him, and Davis caught it in surprise, clearly having expected the boy to put up some kind of fight.

Tai blinked, also having expected the same thing. "Thanks. Now, who are you?"

The boy continued to stare. Then a rather sinister smile crept up his face and he began laughing. The flabbergasted teens looked on in bewilderment as his laughter continued to rise in volume. The boy, it seemed, was completely insane.

"What's so funny?" Shoutmon demanded, clearly annoyed.

The boy stopped laughing as his head spun completely around in a full 360 degree turn. "You fell for it!" he announced gleefully. "You fell for it! You fell for it!"

"Fell for what?" TK demanded.

The boy grinned. "Just take a look around."

They did, and they immediately saw the problem. They were in a closed off space, and the vines were on the move, coming for them. They were completely surrounded, and they had foolishly left their fire behind when they went to chase the boy.

"Oh, great," Shoutmon grumbled. "Fiery Fastball! Fiery Fastball! Bellow Blaster! Fiery Fastball!"

His fiery attacks burned away the vines, but there were too many, and several took the pace of the ones he destroyed.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon cried, blasting away a gathering of greenery. "It's no good. I can destroy handfuls at a time, but more just keep coming. And my attacks don't contain fire."

"And mine aren't enough to keep away this many for long," Shoutmon declared as he threw another Fiery Fastball.

The boy was laughing madly as his head spun around in a horrific fashion. "We're going to get you! We're going to get you! Not another peep! Time to go to sleep! We're going to get you! We're going to get you!"

Tai had heard enough of the boy's eerie song. "Oh no you're not. "Execute! Spirit Evolution… MetalGreymon!" He turned to the vines. "Powerful Flame!"

He slashed at the air, sending out a stream of fire from his metal claw. The vines recoiled as the group was surrounded by a circle of flames.

The boy's eyes narrowed irritably as he stared at the cyborg dinosaur Digimon. MetalGreymon turned to him, tall and menacingly powerful, but the boy didn't seem worried about him, or the lion Digimon that was now pointing his sword at him threateningly. "Enough of your games. Who are you, villain?"

That wide sadistic smile spread across the boy's face again. "You little pests are proving to be quite the nuisance. We have a mission to do, and you are being a real bother."

"If you're involved with all his, then you must work for Argomon!" Takato exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Just who are you?"

The boy chuckled again, and he was suddenly engulfed in light. It faded quickly, and he stood transformed. At first it seemed that only his clothes had changed, but then the teens realized he was now covered in brown hair, looking very much like an overgrown monkey. "I am Makuramon, and I have been tasked with the job of putting you to sleep, or destroying you if I can't."

Davis scoffed. "Please. You?" He patted MetalGreymn's leg. "Have you seen this guy?"

TK took out his Digivice. "Lets not jumped to conclusions just yet." He checked the monkey Digimon's information. "Sorry, Davis, but you're about to eat your own words. Makuramon is an Ultimate level Digimon. He's one of the strongest of the twelve Deva Digimon, and he can use his Primal Orb attack to throw an exploding orb, or even control it to hit his enemies over and over again."

"What does that mean?" Takuya asked.

The monkey Digimon grinned. "This is what it means. Primal Orb!"

In an instant, what looked like a pearl the size of a baseball appeared in his hand, and he flung it at the cyborg dinosaur Digimon with lightning speed. Glowing red, it flew at MetalGreymon faster than he could react, slamming into his metal headgear.

The cyborg dinosaur Digimon cried out and stumbled back, Makuramon's attack actually managing to lift him off his feet for a moment. The orb immediately doubled back, under the monkey Digimon's mental control, and struck him again and again.

"Hold on!" Leomon shouted, jumping up to catch the flying sphere. The orb immediately flew at him, slamming into his gut before he even realized it had changed targets, then collided with his chin, knocking him back before flying towards MetalGreymon again.

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Angemon!"

Flying in front of his friend, he used Angel Staff to deflect the orb. It went off course, but immediately came back. Angemon began twirling his staff again, but this time the orb exploded upon making contact, and Angemon went crashing into a wall of vines as Makuramon laughed. They began to coil around him, but Shoutmon warded them off with a Fiery Fastball.

Still chuckling, Makuramon sneered at Davis. "So, do you still think I'm a pushover?"

The boy gripped his currently still useless Digivice. "You are a pushover, and if I could Spirit Evolve, I'd show you."

The monkey Digimon just grinned. "Oh, you simpleton. Perhaps you need to discover just how helpless you are. Treasure Ball!"

A transparent bubble appeared around the teens and Shoutmon. They suddenly found themselves about one inch tall, trapped in an orb in Makuramon's hand. He held them up to his now very large eye and grinned. "Hello in there."

Leomon got to his feet, stumbling. "What… did you do to them?"

The monkey Digimon chuckled. "Lets just say they're insurance."

Feeling like his entire body, even the mechanical parts, were bruised, MetalGreymon stalked towards him. "Let them go," he raised his metal claw threateningly, "or I swear, I'll-"

Makuramon held out his hand while holding the one gripping the orb containing his friends in the air. "Hold it! I haven't told you the best part yet. All I have to do is crush this orb in my hand and your friends are finished."

MetalGreymon froze. Leomon did as well, standing beside the cyborg dinosaur Digimon with his sword pointing at Makuramon. Angemon flew over and landed beside them, glaring at him from beneath his helmet. "What do you want?"

A wicked chuckle escaped the monkey Digimon. "Lets play a little game. If you win, I'll release your friends. But if I win…" His grip on the orb visibly tightened. "Well, I'm sure you catch my drift."

Angemon's own grip on his staff tightened. "What game?"

"It's called The Spider and the Fly. You, my friends, will be the little flies. The vines will be the web."

MetalGreymon's eyes narrowed. "And I guess you're the spider."

Makuramon laughed. "Of course not. I'm a monkey. That's the spider."

He pointed behind them. They turned around to see something large and white speeding towards them. They jumped aside as the large thing crashed into where they had been. Claws attached to flexible spider-like legs slithered out of the creature's body as if it were a turtle that had been hiding in its shell. It's long neck extended outward as well, equally as flexible. Turning to face the three Digimon, it looked every bit like a spider.

"Say hello to Infermon," Makuramon told them as a spherical barrier appeared around him, and he floated into the air. "She'll be playing the spider. The object of the game is to make it out of her web alive."

Inside the orb he held, Davis blinked. "Wait, that thing is a girl?" His hand went to his throat as his voice came out high-pitched and squeaky. "Ah! My voice! I sound like one of the chipmunks!"

"Davis!" the others cried, their voices equally as squeaky.

Infermon opened her mouth, the barrier of a gun sticking out of her throat. "Spider Shooter!"

Exploding projectiles flew from her mouth, the force snapping her head back with each blast. Leomon jumped away, but MetalGreymon was too big and too slow to avoid them, and he cried out as one blasted against him. Angemon flew in front of him, twirling his staff, but the blasts simply exploded against his staff rather than get deflated, and the angel Digimon was knocked further and further back with each blast until he ran into MetalGreymon.

The cyborg dinosaur Digimon moved in font of Angemon and launched his Mega Claw. Infermon used her legs like a springboard, bouncing out of the claw's path. MetalGreymon turned to her, firing his Giga Blaster, but Infermon was too fast, springing from one spot to another.

The spider Digimon's legs retracted into her body, as did her head, and she used her Network Grenade to launch herself like a giant missile at the group. Angemon fired his Hand of Fate, but the beam just bounced off her body like it was nothing. She plowed into him, sending the angel Digimon spinning through the air, and knocking MetalGreymon to the side as she collided with his arm.

"Hundred Beast Fists!" Leomon cried, firing numerous smaller versions of his Fist of the Beast King attacks in a continuous stream. Infermon came about, the energy bursts in the shape of lion heads flying all around her. She flew towards the lion Digimon, still curled up like a giant speeding bullet, the attacks blasting against her harmlessly. Leomon lowered his fist and raised his sword. He rushed forward to meet her, only to be sent flying as the two collided.

Infermon kept going, even after knocking Leomon away, but was stopped as MetalGreymon moved in her path, grabbing hold of her. The claws on his feet dug into the ground as he struggled to hold the spider Digimon back. Infermon's mouth opened and she began firing into MetalGreymon's bare stomach, the only protection he had being his metal chest.

Angemon came flying in, bringing his staff down on Infermon's back, but it simply snapped in two. He flew back and fired his Holy Shot, but the spider Digimon's body was too hard, and the energy bullets did nothing.

One of Infermon's legs shot out of her body and punched the angel Digimon in the gut, causing him to doubled over as the teens and Shoutmon looked on helplessly from up above. Makuramon, however, seemed to find the display to be most amusing, and he gave his victims an arrogant sneer. "It looks like your friends are losing the game."

Kari glared at him. "They're not losing."

"Yeah!" Takato cried. "They may be having a tough time, but they're not losing."

"You're forgetting the point of the game," a new voice replied. Floating down from up above. Darcmon had made an appearance. "The flies never fight the spider, because they can't win."

"Darcmon," Takuya growled at the angel Digimon.

She didn't even bother to look at him. "Your friends aren't strong enough to beat Infermon. Their destruction is eminent."

Shoutmon growled. "That's what you think." He produced his mic and began banging it against the wall. "Let us out of here!"

"Quiet down," Makuramon ordered, and shook the orb, "or I'll kill you all right now."

MetalGreymon raised his metal arm and brought it down on Infermon's back. The spider Digimon grunted as she hit the ground, her legs shooting out and springing her away from the cyborg dinosaur Digimon while simultaneously opening her mouth to fire her Spider Shooter at him.

Leomon suddenly jumped on her back and punched down on her back with his Shockwave attack. Infermon's head twisted around, and she began firing at him. He used his sword to knock away the projectiles and fired his Fist of the Beast King into her face, causing her neck to snap back.

"Smashing Kick!" he cried, delivering a roundhouse kick to the spider Digimon's head. She grunted, and one of her clawed appendages smacked him away.

Angemon raised his hand and drew a halo in the air. His Halo Attack appeared horizontally around Infermon's body and began to squeeze. She grunted as the ring of light tightened, and MetalGreymon charged forward and tackled her. The spider Digimon growled and clawed at the non-metal parts of MetalGreymon's body as Angemon's Halo Attack squeezed tighter, cutting into her. She extended her neck past MetalGreymon and began firing at the angel Digimon, but Angemon swerved around in the air, dodging the projectiles.

Darcmon frowned in disapproval. "Useless, the lot of them. Dancing Sword!" She threw her sword, and it stabbed into Infermon's side, severing the ring of light. Infermon snarled in pain, but was freed from the threat of being cut in half, and she pulled the sword from her side, her marble-like skin having protected her from too much damage.

Angemon looked up, his eyes widening with recognition beneath his helmet. He immediately flew at the female angel Digimon, creating a new staff and swinging it at her. Darcmon blocked with her own staff and pulled out her other sword. Angemon's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist before she could strike him with it, and the two wrestled in the air.

Angemon didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt a great animosity towards her. Possibly because she was an angel Digimon that chose to be wicked. It made him feel greatly insulted on behalf of Kari and all other angel Digimon out there, along with what they represented.

"Let go!" Darcmon snarled, and kicked him in the chest.

Angemon grunted and flew back. She threw her sword at him and he knocked it away with his staff. He was about to attack again when Makuramon moved in front of her and held up the orb containing his friends. "Ah, ah, ah. I'll crush it. And remember, if this orb is destroyed, everything inside it will be destroyed too."

Angemon froze as he watched the monkey Digimon's grip tighten on the orb his friends were trapped in. Angrily, Darcmon sprang out from behind Makuramon's back and struck him with her staff, knocking him to the ground, then turned to the two quarreling Digimon. "Infermon, stop fooling around! Finish it!"

The spider Digimon glanced at MetalGreymon on top of her and used her legs to spring them both in the air. She retracted her limbs into her body and plowed into the cyborg dinosaur Digimon. Two of her limbs shot out, one grabbing Leomon, the other nabbing Angemon, pulling them along for the ride until she smashed MetalGreymon into the wall. She slammed the two Champions against the wall beside him and leapt back, her mouth opening. "Spider Shooter!"

Exploding projectiles rained against the three Digimon. MetalGreymon attempted to use his much larger body to shield his friends, but that left him open to the attacks. The barrage of attacks kept coming without giving any of them a chance to retaliate.

Makuramon laughed. "Uh oh, looks like the spider caught them." He sneered at the teens in his orb. "I guess it's game over."

"Not yet," a powerful voice spoke beside him.

Both Makuramon and Darcmon turned, only to be struck by something. A metal rod flew through the air, smacking the orb out of Makuramon's hand before it stabbed into his gut and then came down on his head. Darcmon only caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a gorilla ninja on a cloud before the rod struck her in the side of the head.

The attacker suddenly dropped from the sky. They were indeed riding a cloud, enabling them to fly down and catch the orb before it hit the ground. The teens stopped screaming as they realized they weren't dead, and looked up at their rescuer.

Jumping off the cloud, the newcomer placed the orb on his fluffy ride. "Stay here," he said before rushing towards the others.

Shoutmon raised an eyebrow and glanced at the transparent walls of the orb they were trapped in. "Is he serious?"

Infermon was still firing at MetalGreymon and the others, mostly MetalGreymon. The newcomer stopped a short distance away from her and pointed his staff at her. "Super-Electrified Lighting Cannon!"

A burst of energy flew out of the end of his staff, exploding into the spider Digimon's side. Infermon cried out and was sent tumbling on her side.

The blasts against his body ceased, and MetalGreymon sighed, his body sagging. Both Angemon and Leomon poked their heads out from behind the cyborg dinosaur Digimon, the latter gasping as he recognized the one who had come to their aid. "Gokuwmon!"

Infermon snarled as she turned to the beast man Digimon. Her eyes narrowed as he took a fighting stance, pointing his staff at her. "Don't interfere!"

"Leave now," Gokuwmon warned, an air of complete calm around him.

Up in the air, Darcmon was rubbing her head where she had been hit. She turned her furious gaze upon the newcomer and shouted to the spider Digimon. "Infermon, kill that interloper!"

"With pleasure. Spider Shooter!"

"Secret Technique: Waking Shadow!"

As Infermon fired her projectiles, Gokuwmon moved with astounding speed. Behind him, he left after images of himself that Infermon's attacks passed harmlessly through. In just a few seconds, he had closed the gap between them and Infermon swiped at him. He jumped up, soaring over her head and landing on her back. "Lightning-Speed Attack!"

Stabbing downward with his staff, he jammed the end into Infermon's back. At the same time, the other end extended up into the sky, into a thundercloud that suddenly appeared at his command. Lightning was absorbed into the staff, shooting down its length and striking Infermon in one powerful electric attack, causing her to shriek.

"Now's our chance," Angemon declared. "Hand of Fate!"

"Fist of the Beast King!"

"Giga Destroyer!"

The attacks flew at the writhing spider Digimon. Gokuwmon quickly jumped off her back, his staff regressing back to its normal length, just before Infermon was blasted into data.

Anger twisted Darcmon's features at this unexpected development. "Can they do nothing right?" And with that, she took off.

Gokuwmon approached the others, all signs of hostility gone. "Are you alright?"

"Thanks to you," Angemon told him. "Who are you?"

It was Leomon who stepped forward to answer. "This is Gokuwmon. He's one of the companions I was separated from." He held out his hand. "I am glad you are well."

The beast man Digimon grasped it. "As am I. And I see you have made some new friends." He looked at the orb on his cloud. "Some rather unique friends."

A smile crept up the lion Digimon's face. "Unique is right. In more ways than you know."

"Primal Orb!"

Gokuwmon moved quickly. Using his staff, he whirled around and hit Makuramon's orb in what would have undoubtedly been a homerun if they were playing baseball. That is, if it hadn't had doubled back and sped towards them again, but a quick blast from Gokuwmon's Super-Electrified Lightning Cannon blew it apart.

Twirling his staff around, he pointed it at the monkey Digimon. Makuramon took a step back, scowling, but then smiled as he held out his hand. "You're supposed to keep your eye on the ball."

The orb on the cloud containing the teens and Shoutmon suddenly flew into his hand. Gokuwmon scowled as the monkey Digimon chuckled. Twirling his staff, he stabbed it into the ground and unleashed his Lightning-Speed Attack. Makuarmon cried out as he was electrocuted through the ground.

Angemon charged at him, reaching for his friends in the monkey Digimon's hand, but Makuramon recovered quickly and jumped into the air, no longer smiling. "That does it! Say goodbye to your friends!" He began to squeeze the orbs, causing cracks to appear over it. But as he squeezed, a light shined from it. He gave the orb a confused look. "That's not supposed to happen."

The orb shattered, not from being crushed, but from something inside bursting out. Suddenly, he was surrounded by Paildramon, WarGrowlmon, BurningGreymon, and Angewomon.

The monkey Digimon's already round eyes widened even further. "What?! They broke free?! Where'd they get the power to do that?"

"Over here, banana brain." In Angewomon's arms was Gigimon. "I gave them my energy to recharge their Digivices."

Paildramon's hip-guns rose. "Now, how about a new game. It's called Following the Leader. You lead, we follow you, straight to Argomon."

Makuramon scowled at him, but then broke into a smile. "PA-CAWWWWW!" His cry emitted so loudly that the ground shook, forcing the DigiDestined to cover their ears. Makuramon jumped up and created another orb. "How about a game of catch instead."

He threw his Primal Orb that struck the dragon Digimon before he could react. It then circled round and hit the other three. Makuramon's floating orb barrier appeared around him again, and he took off into the sky, laughing all the while.

"Hey, stop, you!" BurningGreymon shouted, gathering fire in his hands.

Gokuwmon was suddenly there, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. Let him go."

"What?!" WarGrowlmon exclaimed as the monkey Digimon disappeared above the vines. "But we need him to show us where Argomon is."

"There is no need for that," the beast man Digimon assured him. "I know where he is."

(A/N: Well, that was certainly eventful. I decided to make this Infermon a girl for some gender diversity, as most characters seem to be male, and Infermon seems like it could either ale or female. But enough of that. It looks like our heroes are finally getting somewhere. Leomon has been reunited with one of his companions, and they know where Argomon is. But what exactly are these keycards he and Darcmon are searching for, and what do they do? It certainly can't be anything good. Hopefully they'll get some answers next time.)

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

New Digimon that appear. Replace the DOT in the link(s) with actual periods.

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Makuramon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Infermon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Gokuwmon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Gigimon