The group was alarmed when the preteens collapsed; in a split second, they went from celebrating to panicking.

"Kari!" Tai was the first to rush to aid, kneeling next to his unconscious sister.

Placing a hand on her neck, he immediately felt a light pulse and breathed a little sigh of relief.

'At least she's not dead.'

Tai looked around to see the other two victims; Ken was being consoled by Yolei which didn't surprise the teen, but the other victim did shock him.

"Noriko?" he whispered, "Why would she be affected?"

Then the memory jogged back to the incident with Daemon, and that was when two and two clicked.

"This is all my fault," Davis said as he knelt over his friend, "if I hadn't brought her here, none of this would have happened."

"Oh, don't be so naïve," Matt said, offering reassurance, "she would have been affected even if she was at home…Daemon was right, he was going to strike."

"Yeah, so, where is he?" TK asked looking around the station.

The group got their answer as a warp opened near the entrance of the station, and appearing out of it was Daemon, his sinister laugh giving way.

"Well, well, looks like my bait are all here."

He looked over to Tai and scowled, "And what was that you said about taking your sister?"

Chills ran up and down Tai's body as his face was showing a look of anguish.

"I say you let them go," Arukenimon spoke up as she made her way over to Daemon, "and get back to what you know best."

"Which is…what, my darling? All I know how to do is win."

"You lost! Three of your precious members were killed!" Matt bellowed as rage ran through his veins.

Daemon laughed again. "Yeah, but I remain, and that's all that matters."

"Whenever you are ready," Mummymon said turning towards his partner, "give me the word and we'll fight!"

Seconds passed in silence, each side not giving an inch.

"A little bit anticlimactic, eh?" Daemon teased.

"When we're ready, we'll come after you and you'll wish you never messed with the DigiDestined!"

Tai was on a warpath – he wasn't going to let this cretin win this easily.

"Well then, follow me."

With a simple snap of his fingers, four portals opened, three directly under the unconscious. As they were sucked in, all the other members held back, not knowing what to do.

"See you on the other side," Daemon said as he entered the portal right in front of him, laughing once more as he went down.

The three portals still remain open, and the crew knew they needed to make a decision and fast.

"Okay," Tai said, "I think that the younger crew goes in while the rest stay behind."

Not another word was said due to Davis jumping the gun, allowing himself to be swallowed by the portal.

"Apparently the leader isn't willing to wait," Matt said, "so what are you all waiting for?"

One by one, the younger DigiDestined and their partners made their way onto the portal and allowed themselves to be sucked in.

"We will go as well," Arukenimon said, and in a split second, she – along with Mummymon – were gone from the station. A few more seconds elapsed as the portals closed off.

"Okay," Tai said to the rest of his team, "we need to alert the parents what is going on."

"Umm…Tai?"

The elder turned around after hearing Sora to find Noriko's parents standing at the entrance.

"Where is Noriko?" Takumi asked, his voice rising in near anger.

"Listen," Tai said, his hands up for defense, "she was taken by another…uhh…"

Tai was fumbling with his words, not knowing how to portray what took place a few minutes ago.

"Was she taken by Daemon?" Isamu asked, surprising the group.

"How do you know of Daemon?" Matt asked.

"We had Gennai at our house when the Corps arrived, and he explained everything – apparently our little girl is affected with darkness, and while we are trying to piece together what that still means, we can see that she was important to Daemon's plans."

Takumi placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, giving it a gentle massage.

"We're scared out of our wits ends," she continued, "knowing that Daemon wants her to suffer through some darkness. Do any of you know what that entails? And how long it plans to live inside her?"

Tai took the reins on the response. "My sister is affected with the darkness as well – I don't know how long it plans to affect her, but I know she has a good partner by her side to aid whenever necessary. As for Noriko, I can assure you that the people who are there to find her will bring her back in one piece."

Takumi and Isamu exchanged glanced before nodding solemnly, each understanding what is at stake.

"Okay, so," Tai said to the group once again, "we need to contact parents to have them come down here if they are willing for reassurance. Once that is done, if we don't know where the others are, we need to find a way to get into the Digital World to find them."

Everyone agreed and started on their tasks, leaving the leader along with his thoughts.

'I truly hope that everyone is ready to fight – this could be one for the ages.'


"Davis!"

As Veemon continued to belt out his partner's name, the leader was not stopping.

"Don't make me headbutt you!"

That got Davis's attention.

"Okay, what is it?"

"What are we doing? Where are we going?"

"I…"

Davis looked around as he has not seen the rest of his team in the Dark Ocean.

"I'm trying to find where Noriko, Kari, and Ken are so that we can save them."

"Do you think that you and I are capable of doing that?" the dragon asked.

Before Davis could answer, he heard his name being called from a distance. In a minute, he saw Gatomon sprinting towards him.

"Are you both crazy?" she asked as she approached them.

"I was asking the same thing," Veemon said.

As the rest of the group made their way over, Davis sighed deeply.

"Alright, so with all of us here, let's devise a plan."

"What do you plan on doing?" Yolei asked.

"It's not about me, it's about us figuring out where to find our friends."

A deep bellowing laugh came from the waters, freezing everyone in their tracks.

"What…what was that?" Cody asked in fright.

"I don't know," TK said, "but it didn't sound pleasant."

As the group wondered about their new nemesis, a black hole appeared on the beach.

"Come in…if you dare…"

Mummymon digivolved and immediately pulled out his rifle, firing off rounds into the abyss.

"What was that for?" Davis asked.

"Testing out the portal – it's a live one, but I'm not sure where it'll take you all."

"Okay," Arukenimon said, "so I suppose that your friends are in there. What are you all waiting for?"

Nobody moved an inch towards the portal, each one frozen in their tracks.

Only one being was strong enough to speak.

"Listen, no matter what happens, we win or lose as a team, so let's go in there and kick some serious butt!"

As Veemon raised his right first in the air, the rest of the Digimon looked at him clueless.

"Eh, no offense, partner," Armadillomon said, "but do you think we can win?"

"I don't think so, I know so."

"How are you so positive?" Hawkmon asked, "what are the odds that we all make it out alive?"

"We have a much better chance freshened up and ready for battle than we were the last time."

"Yeah, but the last time, we fought against Digimon," Patamon said, "we don't know what lies ahead."

"So then what are we all waiting for? Let's find out together."

Gatomon approached the blue dragon, fear and hate mixed in her eyes.

"Aren't you listening to what they're telling you?"

"Yes, I am, now—"

"Try not to be the hero this time; I mean it."

Gatomon's tone matched her expression – one of angst.

"If nobody is willing to step up and be a leader, then I'll gladly take the reins."

"It's taking everything in me to not lay you out."

Veemon approached Gatomon as they stood face-to-face.

"What are you saying?"

"Stop acting like a show-off! Use your brain for once!"

"I want to win."

"So do the rest of us, but do you think we can go in blind?"

"Well then, what's your opinion?"

Gatomon stepped back from the dragon to catch her breath before saying, "Only one of us needs to go in to see what we are dealing with."

"Fine – its either you or me."

"Wait, what about us?" Patamon asked.

"Are you willing to go in there?"

"Any of us would," Hawkmon responded, "but without a plan, we'll be chickens with our heads cut off."

"So, what's our plan, then? Stand out here and wait while our friends suffer?"

Without a quick response, Veemon made his way over to the portal, only to be grabbed by Gatomon.

"Please, don't go in there."

"Why not?"

"Because…"

Gatomon's grip on the dragon started to weaken, her body started to shake.

"You have no idea what's beyond."

"Oh, and you do?" Veemon asked.

"No, but I don't want to see you hurt."

The dragon turned to face the feline, and seeing her look of pain on her made him weak to his core.

"Veemon…I love you. Truly, with all my heart, and I cannot see you go in there without a care in the world fighting who knows what and coming out alive. Please, be rational this one time!"

The rest of the group were taken back by Gatomon's confession; Veemon, however, felt disgusted.

"Did you hear what you said?"

"Yes, it came from deep within me – I truly care for you."

"Good for you, but before me, you had Kari. She should always be your top priority especially in a case such as this."

Gatomon shook her head, "Okay, fine – I'll go in first; I'll let you know when to come in."

Without a second to interject, the feline sprinted towards the black hole and entered before anyone could say a single word.

"…Alright, so now what?" Arukenimon asked the leader.

"Now…we wait and see what happens."

Davis sat on the beach, looking into the swirling hole that was still opened.

'Whatever may come of this…I hope that in the end, everyone leaves unscathed.'


Back in Odaiba, all of the parents got word of what was occurring and made their way over to the station.

"Ooh, no," Mrs. Ichijouji, though the last to come, was the first to break down, "poor Ken! I had a feeling something bad was going to happen to him…"

"It's okay, honey," Mr. Ichijouji said, calmly reassuring his wife, "he has Wormmon and everyone else looking out for him."

"Trust us when we say it could always be worse," Mrs. Kamiya said with her husband nodding.

As parents continued to mingle, one Digimon was unhappy with the current plan.

"This is bogus!" Agumon yelled as he kicked the floor, "why can't we go in and fight?"

Tai knelt down to meet his partner eye-to-eye. "We shouldn't need to – this group is capable of fighting on their own. If they aren't, then we go in and—"

"By that time, we don't know what can happen."

Tai placed a hand on the dinosaur's shoulder, giving it a gentle rub.

"I'm so glad that you care for others, but trust me on this; they will be okay."

"You weren't acting it when Kari left," his partner harshly whispered.

Tai was frozen – in his mind, he was doing his best not to panic.

He gulped. "Yeah, I know…"

As Agumon walked away, Tai felt frazzled. Here he was, the supposed leader, not wanting to break down because his little sister was taken without much of a fight being put up.

'Take a few deep breaths and relax – she'll be okay…they'll all be okay.'


Finding herself in a dimly-lit room, Gatomon searched around. She didn't know how she got in here, nor did she know how to get out.

"What is going on?"

Suddenly, without a second notice, a swarm of bats appeared in the room, all flying around the feline.

One provoked Gatomon as it nibbled at her ear.

"Hey! Get off of me!"

She pawed at the ruthless being, but after doing so, two more bats came to attack her. After pawing them off, four more came. With each wave of attacks, she was growing restless and tired.

Then, in a similar manner as they came, they all vanished.

"Oh, thank goodness! Darn bats messing up my fur…" Gatomon said as she brushed herself.

A sinister laugh filled the room, leaving the feline frozen in her tracks.

"What…no, it can't be!"

Rising from the depths of the room was her arch-nemesis – Myotismon.

Everyone about him was the same, except for his face; his eyes were shaded pitch black.

"What are…what are you doing here?" Gatomon asked.

A smirk came upon Myotismon's face, and the same laugh that filled the room a few seconds prior was out again.

In a split second, he whipped out his Crimson Lightning attack from his right hand towards Gatomon, but she was able to avoid the hit the first time around.

The second time, however, she was not so lucky as the bloody whip slapped her towards the nearest wall in the room.

Gasping for air, she opened her eyes and saw the whip coming straight at her face; ducking down, she avoided the attack.

'I'll have to be quick on my feet – it seems as if his attacks are lightning fast!'

She was correct – in a split second, the whip came over. Gatomon leaped upwards, once again avoiding contact.

Myotismon laughed once more; seeing as his attack method was failing, he unleashed a second whip from his left hand and started swiping towards the feline with as much aggression as the first whip had.

Gatomon landed on the ground in time for the second whip to come out and play, leaving the feline agitated. The left hand connected with her, sending her towards the opposite wall. As she slid down to the ground, the right hand connected as well, leaving her close to bruising.

She couldn't let out a single gasp as she saw both whips coming towards her. In a frantic, she scurried closer to Myotismon, missing the attack.

"Leave me alone!" she bellowed, wishing that his game would stop.

He only laughed once more.

'Keep on laughing…I'll be the one laughing in the end.'

As she approached him, the whips came roaring over in full force, knocking her towards a nearby wall and onto the ground.

After slamming both paws down on the ground, she was determined to end this charade once and for all.

She made a beeline towards his body, avoiding the whips as they came from both sides. She pounced on his body and made a dash towards his face.

"Leave me alone…for real this time!" she said during battered breaths as she struck her claws into his face.

His scream was blood-curling.

"Oh, shut up!"

She followed up her attack with a bite at his neck; she felt nothing as soon as she made impact.

What she did feel was cold…everything was cold, and darkness covered the room.

The room…or the abyss she was floating in.

Nevertheless, she felt that the only best place to go was upwards, and so she went.

Up and up, as though swimming through a river.

She didn't know why her fur felt drenched throughout all of this…until she was gasping for breath.

Gatomon looked around at her new surroundings, which seemed to be more of an underground sewer. She spotted a nearby ladder and swam over to it, ascending step by step until she reached high ground.

"Yuck!" she finally said as she washed herself as clean as she could get.

She stopped mid-lick as she spotted a Divermon approaching her.

"Where is my partner?" she asked.

When she didn't get a direct answer a few seconds after, she darted towards the Digimon and pounced on him, the spear in his hand slipping out.

"Where is Kari!"

"Wha…what do you mean?"

"My partner; where is she!"

Divermon gulped. "She's…right in there."

As Gatomon looked straight ahead down the corridor, she saw a faint light shining from there.

"Okay," she said, getting off of Divermon, "thank you. If you can, please tell my friends where I am at."

Divermon sighed. "I'll get to it right now."

As he leaped into the waters, Gatomon sprinted down the corridor, her heart racing with each gallop.

'Here I come, Kari…ready or not, here I come.'


The rest of the DigiDestined group, along with Arukenimon and Mummymon, were waiting for any type of signal to allude that Gatomon was safe.

What they didn't expect to see was a Divermon coming out from the portal.

"Who are you?" was Davis's first question, shortly followed by, "And what did you do to Gatomon?"

"Hold up," Divermon said holding up his hands, "I know where your Gatomon is."

"You do?" TK asked.

"Yes, she was able to defeat my boss's trap, and she was passionate about finding her partner, so I let her know where to go."

"What trap was there?" Yolei asked.

"The trap that all of your partners will need to go through – the fighting of their inner demon."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Veemon said as he looked at the rest of the Digimon, "it's a simple battle digivolved and—"

"No, no," Divermon interrupted, "there is no digivolution; it'll be in your current form against your inner demon."

"And if they lose?" Cody asked.

"…You don't want to know," was all Divermon had to say.

The group all looked around in a bit of shellshock – they know what needs to be done, but were they capable?

"I say we need to go."

The group all turned to hear Wormmon, standing on his hind legs, speak.

"We have no choice but to go in and battle. Hopefully, it will be quick, so that I can reunite with my partner."

Davis turned to Divermon and asked, "Alright, so our partners will go into the portal; where will we go?"

"Into another portal that will lead you right before the lair of my boss."

"Why are you being this generous?" Patamon asked.

"It's because I know what you guys are going up against; your fight won't be pretty in the slightest."

"Okay, no more stalling," Veemon said, "Let's go!"

As he charged towards the portal, the rest of the Digimon followed suit; once Wormmon was inside, the portal closed.

"Alright," Divermon said as he snapped his fingers, allowing another portal to open in front of him, "the rest of you all in here."

With not a minute to spare, the rest of the group entered the portal, not knowing fully what to expect.


All of the Digimon found themselves in a room, similar to the one that Gatomon was in.

"So, where is this inner demon?" Veemon asked, looking around the bare room.

"Be patient," Hawkmon said, "it'll come when we all least expect it."

"Will we each be battling our own inner demon?" Armadillomon asked.

"Didn't you hear what the Divermon said?" Patamon responded with a question of his own.

"Do we really need to be fighting?" Wormmon spoke as he also looked around the room.

Suddenly, laughter filled the room – laughter that sounded familiar to all of them.

"What in the world?" Patamon said as the source of the laugh appeared in the middle of the room.

"Okay, why is the Digimon Emperor here?" Armadillomon asked. "Who would have that fear now that he's dead?"

Silence filled the room before the armadillo spoke once more. "Not completely dead, mind you, but that the Emperor is…well, no longer reigning."

"I think…I think this is Wormmon's inner demon," Hawkmon said.

"No, it's mine – I can feel it."

The comment that came from Veemon had the rest of the Digimon looking on in awe.

Before anyone else could argue, the Emperor summoned his whip and directed it towards the dragon.

"Come at me! I'm not scared!" Veemon said with his hands up in combat.

The whip came lightning fast, and as Veemon whacked the whip away from any direct hit, he shook his hands in anguish.

"Ouch, that hurts!"

The whip came again, this time laying a direct hit on the dragon's right side, sending him to the nearest wall.

"…Okay, not as much as that…"

"C'mon, Veemon," Wormmon cheered on, "You can do this!"

As the dragon regained composure, the whip came again; this time, it made contact with his head.

"Hey, knock it off!" Armadillomon bellowed as he tried to make a move on the Emperor; however, he was unsuccessful as he ran into invisible glass.

"Are we…are we trapped?" Patamon asked.

"I'm afraid we are – this is truly a fight only Veemon can win," Hawkmon said.

The Digimon looked on as Veemon was currently getting pounded by the single whip. Hit after hit, the dragon laid motionless on the ground, allowing his backside to take the majority of the abuse. Each hit was as strong as the last one, and with the Emperor not losing steam, it seemed like there was a clear victor in all of this.

'Okay, Vee…you're in this – augh! – in this own personal hell – eek! – and you need to – ouch! – find a way out.'

As he opened his eyes, he saw the Emperor still laying blow after blow onto his backside.

'You dealt with a hundred whips from that RedVegimon in the beginning – ahh! – think of how much stronger you became between then and now!'

His eyes were still fixed on the Emperor as he pulled out another whip.

"Time for some more destruction!" he said as he laughed while the whipping started again.

Veemon continued to lay there motionless, his thoughts still going rampant.

'Okay, there needs to be a – ugh! – a breaking point where I can run and – eek! – finish him off, but when…'

The whips continued to come for a few minutes more; the rest of the Digimon stood in complete silence, watching their friend get pelted again and again.

Finally, Veemon began to move his body around – his tolerance to the pain was finally there. As he got to his feet, his left side remained unscathed while his right side felt the blows.

"That's enough!" the dragon yelled as he made a beeline straight towards the Emperor.

He couldn't adjust fast enough as Veemon tackled him down to the ground, delivering punch after punch.

"This is for…" one punch landed, "enslaving me! This is for…" another punch was thrown, "hurting Wormmon! And this is for all of the Digimon you hurt over your tenure!"

He didn't know what came over him at the time, but he found himself lunging at the neck of the Emperor, his fangs making contact.

The scream that came from the Emperor was piercing through the whole room as the remaining Digimon cheered on the defeat.

The whole room became dark as Veemon floated upwards.

"Hey, what's going on?" Wormmon asked as he saw his comrade disappear before his very eyes.

The room was bright again, and they were left puzzled on what to do.

"Okay, let's see if we can walk now."

As Hawkmon said this, he moved three places up while the rest were still stuck – it was his turn.

"Hello, my dear."

The avian was caught off-guard as he spotted Biyomon spawning into the room.

"Biyomon? What are you doing here? Are you my inner demon?"

She laughed. "Oh, don't be silly. I'm the lead-in for that."

Before Hawkmon could speak, he spotted off behind Biyomon a Digimon that made him freeze in fear.

"Oh no…" he uttered faintly.

Appearing out of the shadows was a Dokugumon – the last time Hawkmon came face-to-face with one, he was left paralyzed.

'Guess like I haven't gotten over that…well, this'll be simple as—'

His thought was cut off as the Dokugumon devoured Biyomon's head clean off, leaving her to bleed out in the middle of the room.

"What the!" Armadillomon yelped from behind as the rest of the Digimon watched.

Dokugumon protruded forward, and Hawkmon instantly knew the difference within him.

"Guys, their eyes…their soulless."

Right he was as the spider's eyes were all black.

"Similar to Veemon's fight, you need to bite at the neck to win," Patamon said, now knowing what was going on.

Hawkmon nodded, but before he could take flight, Dokugumon struck first, landing its Poison Thread attack on the avian, leaving him in a web.

Dokugumon moved quickly to its prey, but before he could strike, Hawkmon used his Feather Strike attack in a way to get out of the web.

"Run!"

Hearing Wormmon's voice bellowing, Hawkmon took flight before Dokugumon could utilize its Poison Cobweb attack.

"Be careful, Hawkmon," Armadillomon said as the spray lingered in the room longer than normal.

Hawkmon was towards the ceiling, flapping away as he looked down on the back of the spider-like Digimon.

'Okay, one dive onto the neck, and a quick bite will get me out of this mess!'

Before Hawkmon could deliver, the poisonous gas that filled the room crept its way upwards, causing him to breathe some of it in, which made him a bit woozy.

"Oh boy," he whispered as his vision started to become foggy.

"Hold on, you got this!" Patamon cheered.

As Dokugumon looked up and saw its prey it shot a Poison Sting attack, clipping Hawkmon's left wing.

The avian screamed out in pain as he started to go down.

"No!" all the Digimon yelled as they watched their friend land on the ground.

Dokugumon laughed as he approached the injured Hawkmon, standing over him. As he opened his mouth, ready for the kill, Hawkmon looked on in sheer terror.

'Get up! Attack!'

Hawkmon clutched his right wing into a fist, and getting up in one fell swoop, he decked the spider in the mouth.

"How's that!" he added as he jumped onto the head and landed on his backside.

'Alright, let's see here…aha, found it!'

Through the mess of hair that Dokugumon had, Hawkmon found the flesh that he would bite. Not wasting another second, he lashed out and made his bite count.

Dokugumon screamed in agony as he disappeared from the room as it went black once again.

Hawkmon floated to the top of the ceiling, and in a split second, was out of view.

"Alright, I guess it's my turn."

Armadillomon moved ahead, and was greeted by a Thundermon, soulless eyes on it.

"Welp, you almost killed me the last time," he said before standing on his hind legs, "let's see if the best out of three game works out."

Pouncing ahead, Armadillomon was not ready for the quickness of the little electric ball-like Digimon as it moved around the room at breakneck speed.

"Hey, where are you going?" the armadillo asked before Thundermon stopped in a corner.

"Well, now there we go; let's make this a—"

Before he could finish, Armadillomon was smacked with a Powerful Punch attack, sending him off to a nearby wall.

"Geez, I thought I had you cornered…" he said, getting up and looking at Thundermon who was still in the corner.

"What in the—"

"Watch out!"

After hearing Wormmon cry out, Armadillomon was struck again, this time by a Thunder Volt attack.

Hearing Thundermon snicker at the success of the attack only made the Digimon all the more worried.

"Listen," Patamon said, "there are multiple Thundermon's now."

Armadillomon was now alert, knowing there were multiple enemies wanting him dead.

"I can't back out now," he said as he ramped up his Diamond Shell attack towards Thundermon, only for it to disappear and reappear within the room.

"What the – they're illusions?"

Now the armadillo knows what he was up against.

'Okay, find the original and bite its head off!'

All three Thundermon began circling Armadillomon, and before he could fight, it released a Thunder Bomber attack, squarely hitting the armadillo.

"Ha! Is that all you got?"

With that, another Thundermon released a Thunder Ball attack, causing the armadillo to collapse onto his front side as his legs gave out due to the shock.

"Get up!" Patamon yelled, "get up and finish him!"

Armadillomon was panting lowly, not knowing what to do. He tried finding a difference within the Thundermon to spot the original, but nothing stood out.

Before another Thunder Ball attack could be released, Armadillomon jumped up and released his Scratch Beat attack, causing the Thundermon to disappear again.

"Okay, two more of ya!"

Leaping up again, the armadillo landed another successful attack on a fake Thundermon, leaving the real one in his sight, but before anything could happen, it released a Thunder Volt attack, hitting Armadillomon head-on.

He withstood the attack, and before the other Thundermon could appear to cause more mayhem, he leaped and tackled Thundermon to the ground.

"Playtime is over!"

As Armadillomon bit into the lower half of Thundermon, the little Digimon erupted into a piercing scream before the whole room went black; as the Digimon floated up, the next one up to bat looked terrified.

'Oh, I hope it's not him…please, please let it not be him.'

Patamon's thoughts lost, as what stood before him in the lightened room was a Devimon, his top half of his torso showing.

He wore no smirk nor smile, and his soulless eyes left him near black.

'How am I supposed to win? Ooh, I wish I could digivolve; that would make this a whole lot easier.'

The only attack Patamon had in his arsenal was his Boom Bubble, and he remembered the last time he tried that against Devimon.

'This is stupid! How come I get the hardest boss of them all?'

"You can do this!"

Hearing Wormmon yelling encouragement behind him gave the bat a little bit of gusto before Devimon swatted his right hand towards Patamon, effectively hitting him and driving him towards the wall.

"Oof! That hurts…" Patamon said wearily as he slid down the wall.

"That may be his only attack."

'Oh, if only that was true…' Patamon shook his head as he regained composure.

Devimon wound up and took another swipe towards Patamon, connecting once more on the bat.

"Ooh, c'mon, there has to be a way to win."

"Tell me about it…" Patamon said to Wormmon.

"I got an idea – use your bubble attack and strike his face."

Patamon turned towards the worm Digimon and put his paw to his face, shaking it lowly.

"That…is not going to work."

"You won't know until you try."

Patamon turned towards the Devimon and loaded a Boom Bubble attack that was easily swatted by Devimon.

"See, told you; I can't even reach his face!"

"Stop yelling," Wormmon said, cowering in fear, "I was only trying to help."

"Sorry, I'm trying not to get killed!"

Patamon was angry; angry at this whole situation.

"Here, try this!"

Patamon landed another Boom Bubble attack directly above him, to which the Devimon swiped at the bubble.

It was then that a small lightbulb flickered on inside the bat's head.

'Maybe I can get out of this mess…'

Patamon gulped and released another Boom Bubble attack right above him; as soon as it was released, he flew towards Devimon who was distracted by the bubble to react until Patamon was halfway there.

"Here, have another one!"

Another Boom Bubble attack, another distraction for the Devimon.

What he thought would be an easy plan ended up a little bit challenging as Devimon flapped his wings, causing the bat to move a little backwards.

"Oh, no you don't!"

A direct Boom Bubble landed on Devimon's face, causing the Digimon to wince. This gave Patamon all the time needed to make it towards his head.

"This is for killing me the first time around!"

As Patamon sunk its fangs into Devimon, the evil Digimon screamed, and in a brief second, the room became dark.

As Patamon floated up towards the ceiling, Wormmon became increasingly nervous.

As Patamon was out of the room, he realized he was the only one left.

Wormmon didn't move – he didn't know what to do now.

"All that's left is me…" he whispered.

He thought he knew what was coming, but what actually came shook him to his core.

Right in front of the worm was Kimeramon.

"I beat you once; I'll beat you again!"

The Composition Digimon didn't look fazed in the slightest as the upper arms of the Digimon swung towards the worm.

Wormmon gasped as he leapt forward, missing the upper arms.

He was so excited that he completely forgot about the lower arms until he was grabbed by them.

Kimeramon laughed as he flung Wormmon towards the wall.

"Is that the best you got? I suffered worse than that!"

Kimeramon swung his upper arms again towards the worm, this time grasping him, pulling him behind, and flinging him at the wall again.

"Okay…that one hurt, but I'm still going to kick butt!"

Wormmon got up and leapt towards the beast, allowing him to be grabbed once more.

"Here, try this!"

Wormmon opened his mouth and shot out his Silk Thread attack directly towards the head of Kimeramon, landing a direct blow.

Kimeramon shook his head clear, not fazed by the attack one bit, and as he flung Wormmon towards the wall, he crackled wickedly.

'Okay, it's all or nothing now…'

Opening his mouth once more, Wormmon delivered a Sticky Net attack towards the upper right arm of Kimeramon, causing the Composite Digimon to wiggle for a hot minute.

"Hah! You're off-balanced," Wormmon sang, snickering before Kimeramon was freed from the net.

Wormmon now knew what to do. Shooting out his Silk Thread attack towards Kimeramon's face caused the Digimon to swipe, and before he could retract his upper arms, Wormmon shot his Sticky Net attack, causing the hands to be entwined.

"Score!" Wormmon said as he used the same method to entwine his lower arms.

When the upper arms were released, Wormmon repeated the pattern, until he was standing directly under Kimeramon's face.

"Why hello there," the worm said as he shot his Silk Thread attack directly at his face, hitting square on.

Wormmon laughed. "Imagine me missing that from up close…oh yeah, this is for causing havoc in the Digimon World!"

As Wormmon leapt up and bit the neck of Kimeramon, all around him went dark as the cry from the Composite Digimon rang out.

As Wormmon felt his tiny body being taken upstream, he had only one thought on his mind.

'I'm coming for you, Ken.'


As soon as he hit the waters, Wormmon gasped and flung his legs around.

"I'm here…" he said as he went under the water, "I'm here…"

"Wormmon!"

He heard a splash, followed by hands grabbing him and pulling him close.

"Oh, thank you," Wormmon said to Davis as he was retrieved by the leader. As Davis climbed the ladder and reached the top, he set down the worm.

"Are you okay?" Davis asked.

"Never better, now c'mon, we have some people to save."

"I like the sound of that."

As Davis scooped up Wormmon and made a dash down the corridor to meet the rest of his team, one thought went through his mind.

'Whoever we're facing, they better be ready!'