Spiral Mountain's ocean area disassembled into data once more and vanished. All that remained from the empty space, where the world of oceans used to be, was the boundary of the world next to it.

Piedmon watched with Lady Despair.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let him handle his alone?" Piedmon inquired, referring to Puppetmon.

"We're keeping an eye," Lady Despair taps the spot next to her eye. "Plus, he's been so bored, he deserves a little excitement for his good job so far, these past eight years."

"Spiral Mountain's ocean is returning!" Koromon cried.

The ocean section of Spiral Mountain was vanishing into blue particles and scattering.

"It must be because we beat MetalSeadramon, who ruled over its domain!" guessed Gomamon.

"So the power of darkness controlling it has disappeared!" Izzy concluded, his face had brightened.

"Our victory got rid of the darkness in this world!" Tai excitedly said, with one enemy defeated this brought hope.

"Then let's keep up this pace and defeat the rest of the Dark Masters!" Joe said optimistically.

"That way, peace will return to Earth!" Gatomon reminded them.

"All right, let's go!" Tai declared.

"Yeah!" They all cheered.

"Wait!" Mimi interrupted.

Earlier, Mimi said that she wanted to make graves for Chuumon, Piximon and Whamon, so everyone lent her a hand. Kari said "And one for Wizardmon too," so there was a total of three graves.

The graves were simple structures of small stones gathered up into four piles, with the names of each written with black marker on scrap lumber as the headstones. Everyone was silent except for T.K., who said out loud, "I pray that all three are reborn in the Village of Beginnings."

"All of them were killed trying to protect us." Sora said solemnly.

"They all died." Gatomon acknowledged sadly. "You could even say they were sacrifices to our cause."

"Whamon was always doing things for us but we couldn't do anything!" Mimi whimpered.

They were exhausted. Both physically and in spirit. But they couldn't keep staying like this forever.

"We have to work harder for their sakes, too!" Tai spoke up. "The enemy needs to go down at all costs!"

"I don't want to." Mimi muttered glumly.

"What did you say?"

"I don't want any more of our friends to die! Why do we have to keep fighting?"

"Because they'll go after your parents if you don't." Beth sneered.

"Beth!" Kylie snapped, causing Beth to look at her startled.

"Mimi, it doesn't matter if we don't fight," Kylie said. "Lady Despair is a malicious soul, which I doubt she even has, and she will always go around to cause misery, as will her children till they are stopped."

"What are you talking about? We can avenge their deaths by defeating the enemy!" Tai argued with Mimi

"Stop it!" Mimi covered her ears.

"Tai! Beth!" Matt yelled. "Try to consider other people's feelings for a change! What you say is the right thing for us to do, I'll give you that. But knowing what the right thing to do is doesn't mean we can just push our feelings aside and be done with it!"

"Onii-chan!" T.K. gasped.

"We know in our heads that we should keep moving forward! But there are times when you want to stop and remember those we've lost, isn't there?"

Beth snapped back, "What feelings?! Mimi doesn't care about responsibility or even our friends that died for us! All she wants to leave everyone and everything behind so she won't fight!"

"That's not true at all! I do care!" Mimi wailed.

"Then woman up!" Beth growled then turned to Matt. "And you keep out of this!"

"Beth's got a point! If we keep stopping to do that, we'll never have enough time to save the world!" Tai agreed.

"Everyone knows that! But…!"

"Hey, stop this! Everyone's upset." Sora tried to diffuse the discussion

"Don't cry, Mimi." Palmon consoled her partner.

Yui piped up. "I'm going to have to interrupt this debate: we can't stay here anyway." she then pointed upwards. "Look."

Fluttering around a couple yards away, was a crystal bat, spying on them.

"We're sitting ducks out here." Joe reminded.

Sara pushed herself back up and said casually, "Let's go," as if she were speaking to herself.

"Yes," Kylie said grievously, also standing up.

It was easy to tell from the way they sluggishly stood up that no one felt enthusiastic about what they had to do. None of them stood up briskly. Now that they knew the Dark Masters were their real enemy, this was exactly the time when they needed to band together and fight.

"It's not wrong of me to act this way, is it?" Tai began to second guess himself.

"Do we have no choice in the end but to keep moving on like this? Without ever having a place to rest?" Matt sulked.

"I wonder why Onii-chan is like this…" T.K. worried.

"At this rate, our feelings of unity will scatter. I have to do something." Izzy was also concerned.

"I need to find a place where we can take a break." Joe merely stared dead ahead.

"Everyone's tired." Sora observed.

While they were in the tomb room in Myotismon's castle, Matt had accepted Tai as the leader of the Chosen Children. But now, he didn't think so. Would they be able to continue fighting the Dark Masters this way? There was a chance that one indecisive mistake would lead them to digging their own graves. He couldn't trust Tai with this at all!

Dana watched the group for a moment as they all walked into the forest. There was more than one way to mourn the ones who'd fallen. She took a deep breath and began to sing softly.

"Tsian oo as ae oo-oo am..."

She elbowed Yui to sing along.

"Bez a-a-a puy-um tsa."

"What are you doing?" T.K. whispered.

"Singing a hymn for the ones who are gone... We got it from gelf- well some friends taught it to us." Dana explained.

"We can still mourn our fallen friends as we travel, no harm in it." Haruna agreed.

"I don't feel much like singing..." Mimi mumbled.

"It's a song of mourning. Either way, it won't hurt for you to vocalize the chorus." Sara G replied before singing the next verse.

"Tsian tse a-oo as ae oo-oo am

Bez a-a-a puy-um tsa..."

Kylie carried the next part with Kari and Gatomon softly vocalizing the notes then T.K. and Patamon followed suit.

"Nu mi-ami oo-a-be

Tso-o-o-am be-na-ub…"

Before long, most of the children and the digimon were singing along wordlessly to the haunting melody, as an effort to keep moving forward. They continued singing softly then Kari suddenly stopped walking and singing. She was glanced around in surprise. Gatomon walked up. "What is it, Kari?"

"Gatomon, didn't you just hear something?"

"Like what?"

"Like a woman's voice?"

"A voice? No, not at all…"

"Oh…"

"If we don't catch up, we'll lose sight of the others."

As they walked after the others, a sparkle of light seemed to form over where Kari once stood, and a voice is heard singing. ~Constant as the stars above...~

Within the forest was a mansion made out of toy building blocks, the group was being watched on a TV belonging to Puppetmon.

"It's dangerous, so don't wander off on your own." Tai was rebuking Kari.

"I'm fine."

"It'd be better if they were here already… I'm getting tired of waiting for them." Puppetmon complained.

"It's natural, since they're very foolish." A Kiwi type digimon (Kiwimon) replied.

"They're taking too long!" Then Puppetmon promptly held up a remote and pressed a red round button on the top right corner.

While the group is walking, the scenery appeared to be running past them

"Hey, what's this?" Beth stared.

They all stopped walking in surprise.

"I don't know the trees look like they're passing by fast." Kari commented.

"What's going on here?" Joe asked.

Izzy looked downwards to see the forest path is moving while everything else remained. "The ground that we're standing on is moving us forward!" He informed.

Puppetmon laughed, delighting in what he was seeing on the TV.

"I really have to thank Mama properly for these gifts," Puppetmon laughed. "Hey, think gift wrapping the Chosen ones' broken bodies would be enough?"

"I'm sure it would delight her, no matter how you present them, My Lord." Kiwimon said with a nervous glance at the Dark Master.

Everyone was crying out in alarm.

"Ahhh~" TK cried out.

"T.K.!" Zaira leaps forward and catches the younger boy, only to gasp as her eyes flashed lavender. She was receiving another premonition.

In the vision, it showed the forest, and then a large shadow, with strings coming from his fingers, controlling puppets of the heroes and fairies. But then one marionette appeared, and it was of the dark Spectre queen, with a blue, sapphire tear drop on her cheek.

~Your friendship will be how you succeed, Zaira~ The puppet spoke forlornly. ~It is friendship the puppet lacks, and it is your strength to his weakness~

~But be warned, for you children's greatest test might come from one of your own.~ And suddenly, the shadow of Metalgarurumon appeared, and leaps across the scene, slicing the strings of the puppets. Causing them all to fall far away from each other, and shatter into pieces on the ground.

Zaira screams, covering her face in alarm as she falls backwards.

"Zaira, T.K.!" Matt hurried over with concern. "Are you alright?"

Quickly the group jumped off the moving path. Only for the section to start moving forward as well! They all had the same thought: most likely it was taking straight to the enemy.

Back at his mansion, Puppetmon was still searching through his toy chest looking for more destructive objects.

"They're taking a while…" He'd pulled out an- old fashioned grappler that attached with it's rubber grip around Kiwimon's head. "Are they here yet or what?"

"My Lord Puppetmon. There's no sign of the children or the guardians anywhere."

"What did you say?!" Puppetmon pulled him aside and ran to the screen.

In effect, there was sign of the Chosen children, their digimon nor the guardians anywhere.

The reason for it was due to the fact that the group had taken to the trees.

"Think this could be one of the Dark Master's dominion?" Sora wondered.

"It's very likely." Izzy confirmed.

"We were walking straight towards the enemy's trap all this time." Joe feared, clutching the tree.

"But the question is which one?" Beth questioned. "That's what I'd like to know."

"Zaira, can you get a bead on him, or..." Kylie paused, seeing Zaira rubbing at her head. "What's wrong?"

"I had a vision, I..." Zaira shakes her head. "I saw the Dark Master Puppetmon, this must be his doing."

"Oh great," Theo exclaimed. "The one that we were told 'luuuvs his mama' and is utterly sadistic when it comes to those that insult, or offend her!" she gestures wildly at Kylie. "And we've got the biggest pet peeve of the Queen of Darkness, right here!" Theo looks down from the tree somberly. "I wonder if a fall from this height will be enough to kill me...?"

"But we've got to face him sooner or later. It's the same result either way!" Tai reminded.

"We all know that!" growled Matt. "You don't have to repeat it, you know!"

"Onii-chan!" T.K. tried to calm his older brother. "Stop fighting!"

"T.K.…"

"If we keep avoiding them, we'll just get slaughtered one day. Let's go find the enemy's base!" Tai insisted.

"Can't you just wait?!"

"Onii-chan!" T.K. pleaded.

"For what? For him to just come and get us?!" Beth snapped back.

Dana then piped up with false cheer, "Here's an idea: Why don't you go back home alone with Mimi only without Palmon and Gabumon, and WE fight the bad guys?"

Before Matt could retort, Tai and Beth suddenly disappeared from sight!

"Beth!"

"Tai!"

"Onii-chan!"

Abruptly, Yui and Mimi vanished too. Two by two each of the guardians and the chosen children disappeared from sight except for Matt and T.K. However each of the vanished ones kept finding themselves in different sections of the forest with one or two of their comrades

"Wh-What happened?" Sora asked.

Izzy was on a log trying to keep his balance. "Our enemy must be behind this!"

"It's cold…" Joe was standing in muddy puddle. Dana and Kari had appeared next to him.

Back in the trees only the brothers remained still shocked by the sudden disappearances.

"They're all gone!" yelled Matt.

"Why? How did this happen?" The young blonde questioned.

"I don't know. Our enemy must have done something to them."

"What?"

"Don't worry, I'll protect you. Stay close to me."

The little boy looked into his older brother's eyes questioningly, "Onii-chan… We were able to get this far because we all worked as a team and we'll defeat the enemy. But why am I the only one you keep giving special treatment to?"

Matt was stunned by his younger brother's questioning. "T.K.…"

"I've fought alongside the rest of you all this time too! So all this you think I'm a burden? Am I so unreliable that you keep saying you'll protect me?"

"T.K.… That's not what I meant… I… What I wanted to say is…"

Yet T.K.'s words had left him unsure of his answers.

Joe had correctly guessed that this was Puppetmon's doing. With the aid of his Mother Lady Despair, he had a map and little dolls of the heroes that worked as well as voodoo dolls

"Children, fairies disappearing~" Puppetmon was singing cheerfully as he had the group all scattered by the voodoo dolls.

"Hey, Kiwimon, this is taking too long," Puppetmon said sulking. "I should kill them all at once."

"Then you'd have no one to play with," Kiwimon reminds him. "And the mad artist did ask you to leave her at least three for herself, so she could have fun."

"Ah, that's right, I did promise Mama," Puppetmon grins as he picks up the figure of Kylie, and grins maliciously. "But Mama would not mind if I play before she had...HER CHANCE!"

Puppetmon yells, before he begins to bend the doll in his hand, it contorts like it's made of clay, but for the one he's bending the doll of...it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Ahhhhh!"

Beth and Tai turned their heads in alarm, Kylie had fallen to the floor, and was screaming in agony. Kylie was doubled over, clutching at her stomach, while she wailing in horrible suffering.

"Kylie!" Tai rushed over in horror. "Kylie, what's the matter!?"

"It hurts!" Kylie gasped desperately. "IT HURTS! I FEEL LIKE I'M BEING SNAPPED IN HALF!"

Puppetmon picks up the Dana doll, and snickers as he pulls out a plastic container full of slime, and smashes it into the slime.

"AhHH! HELP!" Dana screams.

"Dana!" Kari and Joe cry out in alarm. As the mud puddle Joe had crashed into, Dana suddenly appeared, and was sinking into the mud.

"I'm sinking!" Dana yelled out in alarm.

"Don't panic, don't panic!" Joe said in fretting tone.

"I'm panicking, cause I'm sinking!" Dana snaps.

Kari grabs her hand, and so does Joe.

Puppetmon laughed, as he sunk the doll up to the waist into the slime, and Dana sinks into the mud up to her waist.

"Pull me out, hurry!" Dana pleads.

"We're trying!" Kari grits as she pulls hard.

"You're not budging!" Joe said in heavy concern.

But the doll was sunk until it reached its neck in the slime, and so was Dana.

"GOD! SOMEONE HELP US!" Joe yelled. His hands and Kari's were sucked into the mud, trying to pull a sobbing Dana out of the mud.

"I have to find help!" Kari said and moved to leave.

"Please! Please!" Dana was weeping. "Don't leave me, don't leave me alone!"

"It's okay!" Joe is on his belly, frantically trying to keep Dana's head above the mud. "It's okay, I'm not going to leave you."

Puppetmon just kept cackling, but he didn't stick the doll into the slime further, leaving the poor younger Pantheon trapped in the mud trap.

"Oh, listen to her screams," Puppetmon was wiping a tear of laughter away. "Oh, Mama will love this fear and panic." Puppetmon smirks at Kiwimon. "Who should I pick on next?"

Kiwimon nudges the Joe doll, so Puppetmon pulls out his slingshot, and shoots the doll with a ball bearing.

"Ahh!" Joe yells out, turning onto his side as he felt the pain, laying on the dirt next to Dana still trapped up to her neck.

"Joe?! Joe!" Dana gasped in surprise.

"Joe are you okay?" Kari asked him

"My stomach!"

"Does your stomach hurt?"

"Something shot my stomach!"

Kari gasped fearfully. Would something come after her next?

Then he began moving Tai and Kari around before moving the guardians. Now Joe was with Mimi and Haruna.

Next, Puppetmon picked up Theo and had her spin around fast as though she were on one of the revolving chairs. Theo found herself spinning around fast, by time it stopped, she was dizzy.

"Uhhh...my head won't stop spinning." she groaned.

"Also, when I do this…" Puppetmon had Tai's doll which he oved upside down.

This has the boy turn upside down and caused him to fall one foot from where he was floating.

"Ouch!"

He then dropped Beth's doll onto a tree on the mat, this causes Beth to be slammed abruptly against one herself.

The redhead teen touched her head. "I think that's gonna leave a mark..."

Puppetmon picked up Zaira and dropped her doll before catching it. While Zaira had to endure nearly falling and stopping just a few inches from the ground.

Dana reappeared in a clearing with Joe. Then Puppetmon picked up the T.K. doll and began tickling it. The little boy was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"Are you okay, T.K.?" Joe questioned before Matt appeared in his place.

"Onii-chan!"

"T.K." Matt hugged his little brother.

Beth then appeared, holding her head.

"Beth!" Dana was relieved to see her older sister.

Back in the toy mansion, Puppetmon made a decision.

"I think I'll play with those two first." Puppetmon pointed to T.K. and Dana "They look fun to pick on."

"Shall I bring them here?" Kiwimon offered.

"Nah. I'll go get them myself." He responded, sliding down the fire pole and heading out into the forest.

Meanwhile Beth, Dana were with Matt and T.K. in a forest clearing. Dana reassured her she was fine except for a little mud she almost sank in, which Beth helped remove from the younger girls' clothes using a simple spell.

"T.K., are you okay?" Matt asked his little brother.

"I think so…" T.K. was explaining. "But I suddenly felt something tickling me and I couldn't stop laughing. Maybe something's wrong with me."

"Are you sure you're not hurt?"

T.K. chides his older brother. "Stop worrying about me so much! I can take care of myself now!"

"T.K…." Matt was a little hurt.

"Let's go play!" A voice echoed around the forest.

Beth and Dana hugged each other briefly in alarm. "What was that?"

"T.K., be careful." Matt told his brother.

"Let's go play!"

"The voice is getting closer!" T.K. said nervously.

Suddenly two familiar hands cover T.K.'s eyes and something startles Dana. When they all spun around - it was Puppetmon!

"Let's play!"

Matt and Beth went in front of their siblings to protect them. "I won't let you hurt Dana, you cheap Pinnochio knock-off!"

"Just try and lay a finger on T.K. again, you won't get away with it!"

"So you're called T.K. and Dana." He then winked childishly, "Hey, join me in a game of war."

"Game?" asked T.K., he stepped out from behind Matt momentarily. "Like…pretend?"

"Oh, is that all?" Dana questioned, relief flooding her voice. "I've . . . never played with . . . a guy."

"Sure. Here, I'll let you use this!"

He tosses what looked to be a gun towards T.K., who drops it and it goes off making him and Dana scream in alarm.

"This is an actual gun! We could die if I played with this thing!"

"But of course! Dying like a true blue is what makes it more fun." Puppetmon replied as if it wasn't that big a deal, "But don't worry I won't let you two off that easily. If I got rid of you now it wouldn't be much fun!"

Naturally, T.K. looks horrified, Dana gulped nervously. With that binding potion still working there was no chance of her or T.K. surviving such a dangerous game.

"Don't listen to what he's saying!" Matt urged them.

"Dana, you don't have to do this it's your choice!"

"You stay out of this!" Puppetmon threw a red ball at Matt and Beth, so that they were bound in red strings.

The little boy and girl rushed to their older siblings. Puppetmon rushed up to the younger ones in turn cheerfully. "Come on, let's go play!"

"I don't want to!"

"No way!" Dana snapped, stomping her foot.

"You won't?" Puppetmon said a little too calmly then he put his hands on his hips and looked up to his right as if thinking, "It won't be any fun if you don't come so I'll just… get rid of them instead." he said pointing to the infuriated Beth and Matt.

T.K. blanched.

"No!" Dana cried with a gasp.

"Then you're coming, right?"

Beth and Matt protest but Puppetmon silences them by adding another wrapping around their mouths.

"We'll go." T.K. says grimly, "We just have to follow you right?"

"That's what I like to hear!"

When the two were lead into the house, they were surprised a Dark Master would have a home like this. Puppetmon was smiling broadly, as he waved his arms around to gesture at his house.

"Do you like it? Mama made it for me, when I took over this part of the digital world," Puppetmon giggles. "And she gave me all the toys, and digimon to play with too."

Dana looked around uneasy. "You mean 'Lady Despair?' So, like...what's it like, being born from her blood?"

Puppetmon turned and look at her with one eye shut in confusion.

"What a stupid question, I didn't exist. And then I did, and Mama was here from the start, so she was Mama," Puppetmon spins on the tip of his toe, causing Dana and T.K. to jerk as he still has a gun in his hand.

"And she's the most beautiful mama in the whole world, all of them! And she plays with me, and gives me lots of presents." Puppetmon beams. "She's really the best!"

"So, why don't you play with her?" T.K. asked. "She sounds lots more fun." said this hoping Puppetmon would let them go, and they would be safe.

Puppetmon stops and pouts. "She's been so depressed lately, which is good as it makes her magic stronger," The wicked puppet said drooping his shoulders a bit. "But with Big Brother Myotismon, and MetalSeadramon gone so soon. She doesn't want to play as much."

They look surprised seeing this terrible and powerful digimon sad, but then he straightens up and they lean back in worry.

"But that's gonna end now, cause she said she'd come play with me today," Puppetmon said smiling and waving. "I told her I had my new toys, the Digidestined and the Fairies! And she was all excited to come and help me play."

This caused T.K. and Dana to shiver in horror.

"Lady Despair is coming here!?" Dana choked out in horror.

"Yeah! But first I wanted to play with you first, so I could be sure you're not boring for her." Puppetmon leered.

The lethal game had started out simply at first. Puppetmon let them get a head start, yet T.K. had trouble carrying the gun and Dana didn't even want to touch the firearm out of personal principles.

"BANG!" Puppetmon shouts, pointing a 0.44 magnum at them both.

Simultaneously, T.K. flinched, his hair standing on end and Dana shrieked, her green eyes contracting with terror - fearing for T.K.

But they calm down a little when a sardonic Puppetmon tells them "Hurry up and run, this is getting boring." he huffed. "And if you're boring, then I won't let you stay around for Mama to play, I'll simply throw you two in the trash furnace."

"O-okay!"

The two ran down the hall. Now Dana didn't dare try to transform, she was afraid Puppetmon might use this as an excuse to harm T.K.

Back on Spiral Mountain, Lady Despair was seen in front of a vanity, covered in blood red candles with blue flames, and pictures of her children. As she applies some black lip gloss on her lips, and examines her nails.

"Mother, where are you going?" Machinedramon asked.

"I'm going to see Puppetmon in the forest," Lady Despair said as she picked up a crystal skull shaped perfume bottle, she turned it upside down and then pulled out the stopper to put on her neck.

"I was asked to come have fun with him," Lady Despair said. "And it's been too long since I've had fun with my darling ones."

"And do you always dress up so when going for playtime?" Piedmon asked, chuckling as he tosses and catches a dagger in his hand.

"Oh, that's due to the little earth pukes and pixies being there," Lady Despair grins maliciously into the mirror. "I want to look my best, as Puppetmon plays them to their death."

Sierra blows out the candles, and laughs, as it's revealed the candles were showing her reflection as she appeared to others. But in the mirror, she was repulsive, her face appearing like hamburger meat, with dried up clumps of hair, barely attached to her skin, and fungus like matter clogging up her eyes.

"One must show their best face forward, even to their enemies." Lady Despair smirks as she picks up her scepter.

The two run off passing by an oversized carnivorous plant and mushroom Digimon to hide behind some old shelves.

Soon after they hear: "Hey, did Dana and TK come in here?"

"Oh, if you mean the boy and girl they're hiding between those shelves." the large mushroom replied to their master.

"Really? OK, come out with your hands up!"

TK and Dana just barely managed to slip behind the door and witness Puppetmon destroy his own henchmen much to their horror.

"I see you, you're up there!"

They were running but then Puppetmon cuts them off and starts shooting at their feet making them jump fearfully. Thankfully he ran out of bullets.

Dana bit her lip, her mind reeling. Think, what would your friends do in this situation? And some words she remembered came flooding back: Be cunning and full of tricks.

T.K. seemed to be getting some ideas too for he mouthed to Dana "Play along." He stood up and said, "This is no fun at all!"

Dana, catching on, adds, "I'm tired of the same thing happening over and over."

"We didn't expect find out you're a boring person."

"No one's ever told me that before!" Puppetmon gasped, he looked affronted.

"Oh it's because you don't have any friends isn't it?" T.K. says connivingly.

"Heeey, that's right? Where are they?" Dana says with a sly smile worthy of El-ahrairah.

"I do too have friends." Puppetmon says softly,

"Your mother, and brothers don't count." Dana coldly points out.

"I do! I do too!" Puppetmon said agitated.

"Then why don't you let us meet them?"

"Now's… not a good time…"

"Ah, I bet you don't have friends at all!" T.K. grinned.

"I do! I'll go get one of them right now, so wait here!"

Soon as he was gone Dana smiled "That was just brilliant!"

"T.K.! Dana!" a warmly familiar voice spoke.

"Patamon!"

Quickly he led them to smallest Dark Master's playroom where the two children take the dolls, destroy the remote control and the map. Dana took particular pleasure in tearing up the map.

"That's the last of it! Let's get out of here while we can!" Dana urged them.

"Right!"

Quickly they slid down the fire pole then dashed out the front door to join the others. They didn't even notice that they'd passed by two plant digimon in the shrubbery.

"Those are Lord Puppetmon's new toys." A flower Digimon, Floramon observed.

"We shouldn't get involved in this mess." A digimon bird with a flower bush for a train called a Deramon commented.

"Let's pretend we didn't see him."

"Right."

Meanwhile the others had found Matt and Beth, Gabumon freed them. Though the former was distressed about his captured brother. Not a minute later, they were faced with Kiwimon who intended to keep them from interrupting Puppetmon's fatal game with Dana and T.K.

It was quite a struggle then Piyomon became Birdramon, who unleashed the finishing blow on Kiwimon. But Matt was upset. "Look at what you've done! Now we don't know where T.K. is!" He yelled.

Tai had to hold him back and Theo actually smacked the back of his head.

"Knock it off! We'll find them!"

And to their surprise, both Dana and T.K. were seen running over towards them. "Hey, you guys!"

"T.K.!" Matt shouted.

"Dana!" Kylie and Beth yelled in relief.

"We know where Puppetmon's hideout is and found out what was causing all that crazy stuff!" Dana informed.

"I was able to protect myself all on my own this time!" T.K. told them, "Well, Dana was with me but we did a pretty good job handling it."

"Hey, good for you!" Theo gave him a thumbs up.

"You're amazing!" Kari said.

"That's awesome, T.K.! You did great!" praised Tai.

"We were so worried about you!" Mimi admitted.

"You sure grew up without us even realizing it!" Joe said.

T.K. rubbed the back of his head. "Stop it, guys, you're embarrassing me! We also busted the weird gadgets that made the ground move and stuff, too! Just like Dana said!"

"Show them the dolls." Dana said.

T.K. immediately pulled out the dolls. "Everything's all right now! Puppetmon was manipulating us with these dolls."

"This is me?" Tai commented. "I don't look anything like it!"

"Well at least this would explain a lot about us appearing and disappearing." Sara G acknowledged.

"Although Mimi's doll is pretty." Sora remarked.

"No way! I'm not this ugly! But… I'll keep it as a souvenir anyway!" Mimi answered yet she and Sora ended up laughing.

"Show, show us~" Palmon and Piyomon begged to see.

However they soon saw that someone was missing from their group.

"Huh? Where's my brother?" T.K. asked.

"I saw Matt go over there just…" Joe pointed before looking confused. "H-Huh…?"

Back in the house, Puppetmon discovered what happened in the playroom. Puppetmon looked at the busted remote in his hand, the torn up forest map, his dolls from Mama stolen and the TV smashed. The answer was clear: He'd been tricked.

"So they don't like playing with me, huh? I see. I get it." His face downcast, hurt, and angry.

As his body trembled a visible mist of green despair, red pain, crimson anger and dark purplish hate poured from his body. Which was sucked up as a pair of arms wrapped around his body, and hugged him close.

"My poor sweet thing, what has you so negative today?" The voice of Despair cooed.

Puppetmon turned, and buried his face in her torso, wailing unhappily into his Mother's torso.

"MAMA! That Meanie T.K.! He...He destroyed my toys, and took my dolls!" Puppetmon sobbed.

Lady Despair patted him in comfort, unconcerned with his Pinocchio nose poking into her gut, as she was invulnerable except for her neck.

"Shhh~ My Dear, sweet little pine sapling," Lady Despair shushes, kissing him on the top of his head. "Mama will get you better toys."

"I don't WANT 'better toys.'" Puppetmon whined. "I want those dolls back, and I want to make both T.K. and Dana PAY!"

Lady Despair grins, and caresses his face, wiping away the sap tears pouring from his eyes.

"If that's what my little one wants, then it's what he'll get." Lady Despair promises.

"And that mean pixie, Dana said...she said you were my mom, so you weren't my friend." Puppetmon huffed with wet breaths.

"Oh, that's not true, a boy's best friend is his mother," Lady Despair said while fuming inwardly at what Dana had said.

"Then if I can't have friends, then I'll take away all of theirs!" Puppetmon shouted in anger and hurt.

To be continued…