(A/N: Last chapter certainly ended on an interesting note. Now we'll see what was so pressing that Laylamon had to pull Beelzemon out of battle for. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Something even more interesting is going to happen in this chapter. So without giving away any spoilers, lets get started.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 127: Not The Only Ones

A smile grazed Laylamon's lips as she heard the portal materialize. She didn't even need to turn around to know who was angrily storming through it.

"Beelzemon," she said pleasantly, "so glad you could join me."

But the Demon Lord of Gluttony was in no mood for her games. He marched right up to her, pulled out his gun, and held it up to her face. "You've got 10 seconds to tell me why you called me here before I blow a hole in your head."

She just giggled and reached up to run a finger over the gun. "And here I thought you would be happy to see me."

"You now have six seconds, bitch. Start talking."

Laylamon sighed. "Still not one for pleasantries, are you?"

"Your interruption in my fight killed the mood. Now what do you want?"

The smirk on her face grew wider, and she gently pushed the gun away. "Ah, yes, your fight." She casually strolled away from him. "If you can even call that embarrassing display a fight."

Beelzemon glared at her. "The hell you talking about? I was winning."

Laylamon scoffed. "Yes, you were winning. But simply defeating them is no longer an option for you. Not if you want to save face."

His fists clenched, his claws digging into his palms. "Stop talking in riddles and just get to the damn point."

She sighed and turned back to him. "The point is that you screwed up. You couldn't kill them properly after we put them in their place. Then you were given a second chance, and what happens? First, you get your motorcycle destroyed. Then you change into your Blast Mode, and yet you still fail to kill them. What more, they managed to get the better of you by tossing you into a data stream. How very humiliating."

A growl escaped Beelzemon, making Laylamon smirk as she continued. "And then came your third chance. Not only did you interfere in their battle with Raidenmon, but even when they were battle weary, you were struggling a little. You should have been able to crush them easily while they were at full power." She scoffed mockingly. "Even if you managed to kill them now, you would have still been a complete embarrassment to the Demon Lords for all the trouble they caused you personally. Imagine how much our reputation would suffer once word gets out, yours especially. Our influence on the world would lessen. We would appear… vulnerable. Honestly, you should be thanking me for getting you out of there before you embarrassed yourself further."

Beelzemon had had enough. With an angry cry, he reached out and wrapped his hand around her neck and slammed her against the wall. Laylamon grunted, but then smiled saucily at him as if she were enjoying herself. "I think you like slamming me into walls."

"Not for the reason you're thinking of, you whore," he snapped. "Now, if you've got something to say to me, then hurry up and say it before I wring your pretty little neck. I've had enough of listening to that annoying sound you call a voice."

Still smiling, Laylamon reached up and removed his hand from around her neck. "If you want to salvage your reputation, then you're going to have to completely crush the humans. Show the Digital World that despite your… mishaps in dealing with them, that they're nothing. What better way to remind the world of the might of the Demon Lord of Gluttony than to show a massive display of power the likes of which this world has never seen before, and crush the humans in the process."

Beelzemon was silent for a few moments. He'd never admit it, but she was right. He'd screwed up in trying to kill the humans and made himself look like a fool. If he wanted to save face, he would need to do more than simply kill the humans. "So what do you suggest?"

Laylamon began absentmindedly twirling around a lock of her hair as she circled him. "A few weeks ago, in an attempt to kidnap AncientWisemon, an attack was staged against ElDradimon. One of the ones leading the attack was Chaosdramon, who, unfortunately, was destroyed in battle by the humans."

"I heard," Beelzemon grumbled, lamenting the loss of his Chaos General. He had been infuriated when he'd learned of Chaosdramon's destruction.

"Yes, truly a tragedy," Laylamon agreed, though she didn't sound overly concerned about it. "Perhaps you should have taken better care of what your Chaos General was doing."

For once, a smirk crept up Beelzemon's face. "Says the bitch who lost her Chaos General before any of us."

Laylamon threw him a glare as her thoughts turned to ChaosGrimmon. She pushed all thoughts of her useless Chaos General aside though as she focused on the matter at hand. "What I was getting at is that Chaosdramon was given a certain something in case of an emergency. And after he was destroyed, that certain something was retrieved."

She snapped her fingers, and from out of the shadows, AxeKnightmon appeared. Beelzemon eyed the knight Digimon curiously as he approached, and AxeKnightmon held something out to him.

The Demon Lord's eyes widened as he saw the small round object with an X inside it. An X-Antibody. Laylamon smiled in amusement at the way he stared at it. "I think this will get the job done, don't you?"

A wicked grin spread across Beelzemon's face. "Yes, I think this will work very nicely."

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"Oh, thank goodness!" Davis exclaimed as a village came into view. "Finally, we can rest. I'm spent."

It had been several long and tiring days since they faced Beelzemon. Having lost the Trailmon that was meant to provide them with transportation to the next town, they had been forced to undergo the rest of the journey on foot. And while long travel by walking was nothing new to them, it didn't make it any less tiring.

"Praise the Sovereigns," Shoutmon agreed. "I was afraid we would run out of supplies after practically everything we had was destroyed. Next time, we should ration in advance in case something like that happens again."

TK raised an eyebrow. "By 'that', do you mean us losing Ball?"

"That's terrible," Kari scolded the dragon Digimon. "He died because of us."

"That's reality," Shoutmon countered. "I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of Digimon have died either because of us or for us. That's why we're fighting this war, so there will no longer be such needless death."

"All death is needless," Takato replied. "No one should have to die before their time."

Shoutmon scoffed. "Don't get too touchy-feely on me. It's not like defeating the Demon Lords will stop all fighting and killing. It's in a Digimon's nature to fight and get stronger. That only happens by destroying other Digimon and absorbing their data. There will always be Digimon battle, even when the Demon Lords are taken down."

Takuya scowled at him. "Then why are we even doing this?"

"Duh, to restore balance between the darkness and the light. To stop oppression and bring freedom. To end suffering and fear. To-"

"Ok I get it," Takuya grumbled. He rubbed his temple, as if he had a headache. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little cranky from all the traveling."

"We're all stressed," Tai replied. "With Beelzemon able to show up at any moment, we've all been on edge. I don't know why Laylamon called him away from battle, but it makes me nervous."

"It should make you nervous," Shoutmon told him. "I don't think those two have ever gotten along, despite being allies. I shudder to think of what they're doing together."

"What do you think they're doing?" asked Takato.

Davis grinned mischievously. "Well, she's the Demon Lord of Lust, and he's the Demon Lord of Gluttony, so…"

Kari glared at him. "Don't be a pervert."

Shoutmon ignored the vulgar suggestion. "Well, knowing Laylamon, she's probably enjoying using Beelzemon to get rid of us. How, I don't know, but it's not going to be good."

Tai crossed his arms. "To be honest, I'm actually more worried about what Boltboutamon is scheming. I can just tell he's up to something."

A reluctant grunt of agreement escaped the dragon Digimon. "I hate to admit it, but you're probably right. Something tells me he's going to be trouble in the future."

He didn't want to worry his friends, but if Shoutmon were perfectly honest with himself, Boltboutamon actually worried him even more than the Demon Lords. Not only was he immensely powerful, and just as evil as them, if not more so, but there was so much mystery to him. At least with the Demon Lords, he knew what to expect. But Boltboutamon was an enigma, and was far too unpredictable. There was no telling what type of sinister plot he was cooking up.

TK sighed loudly. "Look, there's nothing we can do about it right now, so lets not worry about it, otherwise we're just going to end up stressing out."

Tai resisted the urge to groan, but he had to admit that TK was right. Unless an enemy showed itself, all they could do was continue on their way towards Laylamon's castle.

He decided to focus on the good rather than the bad, and turned his attention to the village. Despite losing their Trailmon companion, he could understand Davis' eagerness to be around civilization again. They so rarely got to sleep in a bed that it was always a pleasant treat, and he swore never to take such luxuries for granted again when they got back home.

It seemed that Tai wasn't the only one stressing, because as they entered the village, Shoutmon's eyes landed on a specific establishment, and he suddenly announced that he was getting a drink.

"Of water?" Takato asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," the dragon Digimon remarked, "a 'drink', drink."

The teens awkwardly followed him into what appeared to be a mini-bar. They hadn't even known that the Digital World had anything akin to alcohol. As per usual, they received strange looks from the residential Digimon. This time, however, the Digimon began whispering amongst themselves.

"Looks like our reputation proceeds us," Davis remarked.

Shoutmon ignored the stares and made his way over to the bar, hopping up onto the stool and slapping his hand on the table. "Give me the cheapest thing you've got."

The Digimon behind the counter, a creature called Deramon, who resembled a bird wearing a crown with a bush growing out of its back, gave Shoutmon a look of disapproval. "You know the law, pal. No drinks to Rookies and below."

Shoutmon just growled. "I'm the Digimon King, and I can have a drink if I want."

"Not in that form, you can't. Either Digivolve, if you can, or get out. No exceptions."

The teens were at least happy to see that the bartender had some morals as he continued to refuse to serve the dragon Digimon. Shoutmon eventually got fed up and Digivolved to OmniShoutmon. He slammed his fist down on the counter and glared at Deramon. "There, satisfied? Now give me my damn drink."

The bird Digimon didn't seem the least bit intimidated as he poured OmniShoutmon a drink and passed the glass to him. "You DeDigivolve and I'm taking it back."

OmniShoutmon just scoffed as he grabbed the glass. "Yeah, whatever." He brought the glass to his mouth and began gulping it down. He finished in record time and slammed the glass down on the table. "That's good stuff."

"OmniShoutmon," Kari said in disapproval, "should you really be drinking right now?"

"I didn't even know you did drink," Takuya remarked.

A chuckle escaped the dragon Digimon. "I haven't had a drink in centuries. But then, I haven't had two Demon Lords working together to kill me and my friends before. Well, I guess I have, but you know what I mean." He patted the stool next to him. "Come have a seat. Drink with me."

TK bit his bottom lip, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah, you see, we're not exactly old enough to drink."

"I'll have one," Davis said, stepping forward.

Tai grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back. "Over my dead body."

Davis gave him an annoyed look. "Come on, I always wanted to try some. And there's no underage drinking laws here to stop us."

"No, but there is me."

"Don't be such a killjoy."

Kari crossed her arms. "Davis, underage drinking laws aren't just there for no reason. At our age, it can harm our development, and affect us much greater than if we were older."

OmniShoutmon snorted. "Whatever, you do what you want. Today, I'm going to indulge."

Deramon eyed the teens with disdain. "I'm not serving their kind."

The teens were surprised with the hostility in the bird Digimon's voice. OmniShoutmon in particular, slowly turned to him, placing his empty glass on the table as he eyed Deramon with disapproval. "And why is that?"

The bird Digimon raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know? I thought that's why you were here?"

"Know what?" Takato asked uneasily.

One of the customers at another table, a Digimon called RedVegiemon, answered for Deramon. "It's the next town over. A few days ago, a Demon Lord arrived and began killing the residents. He only let a handful of Digimon leave to spread word that the humans must come and face him. He decreed that every day they don't appear, he will kill 10 of the residents."

Kari's hand flew to her mouth in horror. "That's terrible!"

"Why don't they just leave?" Tai demanded.

Deramon snorted. "Why do you think? Beelzemon said that if anyone is caught trying to leave that he'll kill everyone in the village, then move on to the next one and start over."

OmniShoutmon gripped his glass so tightly that it shattered. "Beelzemon. I should have known. Rather than waste his time searching for us, he's decided to make us seek him out."

Deramon motioned to the teens. "Which is why I'm not serving them. I don't know what you did to get on Beelzemon's bad side, but innocent Digimon are suffering for it."

Tai's eyes narrowed. "Sir, I can assure you that we had no idea about any of this, otherwise we would have dealt with it sooner."

The bird Digimon humphed. "Well, at least you're owning up to your mistakes. You certainly seem more responsible than your friend. I suggest you take him and get out of here."

OmniShoutmon blinked. "Who? Me?"

Deramon rolled his eyes. "No, I'm talking about your other human friend. The one who arrived yesterday. I thought he was with you."

The bird Digimon's words hung in the air. Slowly, the teens glanced at each other, trying to comprehend what Deramon said.

Suddenly, Tai rushed forward, practically crawling over the counter. "Are you saying that there's another human here!?"

Deramon looked surprised by his outburst. "That's what I was getting at, yes."

Tai glanced at the others. They looked just as flabbergasted as he was. Looking back at the bird Digimon, he demanded, "When!? How!?"

At that moment, there was a commotion from outside. All heads turned towards the door, and Deramon nodded at it. "That's probably him now. You mean he's not with you?"

"No!" Takuya shouted, and practically ran outside.

The others followed, bursting out the door and began looking around. Not too far off, there was a gathering of Digimon with a battle taking place in the middle of the circle. The teens forced their way through the gathering to the inner circle where the fight was taking place.

Two Digimon were fighting. The first was a Digimon who looked like a minotaur with a cannon for its left hand. A quick check of their Digivices revealed that it was the Champion level Minotarumon. The other Digimon was, surprisingly, an Agumon. This Agumon, however, unlike the one they knew, was wearing what appeared to be red belts over his claws, much like the way a fighter would tape up their hands.

"Heavy Attack!" Minotarumon cried, throwing a punch.

Agumon jumped back, avoiding the blow as the minotaur Digimon's fist shattered the ground. "Pepper Breath!"

He spat explosive fireballs, which blasted against Minotarumon. The minotaur Digimon snarled furiously and unleashed his Earthquake Drill, using his demon arm to cause an earthquake. The ground cracked apart in Agumon's direction, and the reptile Digimon leapt over it, doing a flip in the air as he came down on Minotarumon.

"Claw Attack!" he cried, and began slashing at the minotaur Digimon's face. Minotarumon roared and backhanded Agumon away.

"Got you now," he declared, aiming his cannon and firing. Agumon jumped up and began doing flips to avoid the blasts. "Hey, bro, can I get some help?"

From out of the crowd, someone came leaping through the air, having jumped off one of the bystanders to get air. The teens saw a humanoid silhouette fly through the air as it came down. The shadows faded as the light lit them up, revealing a very human boy.

With a battle cry, the boy actually delivered a punch to Minotarumon's face. The minotaur Digimon grunted, more out of surprise than anything, and the boy jumped back.

He landed beside Agumon and, to the teens' utter astonishment, the fist he had punched Minotarumon with was glowing with a pixelated golden light. This was, apparently, quite normal for the boy, as he turned to Agumon. "You ready, pal?"

"Lets do it," the reptile Digimon.

The two of them fist-bumped, and the light surrounding the boy's fist transferred over to Agumon and covered his whole body. He then turned his attention back to Minotarumon as the pixelated light became a different kind of light.

"Agumon Digivolve to… GeoGreymon!"

The teens stared. The Digimon Agumon had Digivolved into looked like Greymon, only different, with spikes protruding from different parts of his body. This brought back memories for the teens, especially Tai, as they watched GeoGreymon charge at Minotarumon. The minotaur Digimon rushed forward to meet him, and the two bucked heads together. They pushed against the other for several seconds before Minotarumon threw a punch. GeoGreymon caught his fist and then pulled back, causing the minotaur Digimon to stumble forward. GeoGreymon used the opportunity to slam his knee into Minotarumon's gut, then spun around and hit him with his tail.

Minotarumon stumbled back and threw a glare before raising his cannon arm. GeoGreymon launched a Mega Volcano just as Minotarumon fired. The blast barely left the cannon before colliding with the fireball, exploding in Minotarumon's face. The minotaur Digimon went down, and GeoGreymon roared.

As Minotarumon began to get up, GeoGreymon charged forward. Using his Horn Impulse, he slammed into the minotaur Digimon, just as Minotarumon turned around to face him again. His eyes bulged out, and a pained cry escaped him as he was impaled by GeoGreymon's horns.

"No one threatens my bro," GeoGreymon growled, and used his Mega Flame, unleashing a stream of fire that flowed over Minotaurmon.

The minotaur Digimon was consumed by the flames. He let out one last cry before dissolving into data. GeoGreymon absorbed it as the other Digimon cheered. Then he turned back to his human companion and DeDigivolved back to Agumon, and the two high-fived.

The teens continued to stare, unable to believe that after all this time, they were finally seeing another human. He was a few years older than Tai, though there seemed to be an air of immaturity about him. He also came across as a bit of a street fighter and a delinquent, though he seemed friendly enough.

"I don't believe it," Tai muttered. "Where did he come from?"

The Digimon beside him in the crowd answered the question. "He showed up here yesterday with that Agumon."

"Yesterday," TK repeated. "So not long after Beelzemon made his demands in that village."

Davis raised his hand and waved. "Hey! Yo! Human guy, over here!"

The boy and the Agumon looked their way. Both their eyes widened in surprise as they caught sight of the teens. Agumon whispered something to the boy, who nodded in response and whispered something back. Then they began making their way over to them.

Once they reached them, the boy crossed his arms and gave them a grin. "Well, well. It's been ages since I've seen another human." He thumped his chest. "The name's Marcus Damon. Nice to meet you."

(A/N: Surprise! Bet you never expected to see another human enter the story. Now Marcus has joined the fray. This could very well change everything. Who knows what this could mean for our heroes. But not all news is good news. Laylamon has now given Beelzemon an X-Antibody, and we all know what that means. And now he's coming our heroes go to him in a rather sadistic way. Will Marcus be the ally they need to turn the tables? And how did he get to the Digital World, and how long has he been there. Stay tuned to find out.)

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

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Deramon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/RedVegiemon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Minotarumon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/GeoGreymon