As the sun began to rise, the Digi-heroes and the Digimon were sitting and eating breakfast, each, while alert, exhausted still from the attack from DarkVenusmon and AxeKnightmon, each wanting to get a few more hours of sleep, but knew they had to remain vigilant in case Barbamon's minions would strike again.
"How about some of us stay up and the rest just get a few more minutes of shut eye?" JP suggested, hoping that some in the group would agree with him, seeing Airu and Tagiru start to agree, while the others just sighed at his antics.
"No, he's right." Davis then said, causing everyone to look at him as he added. "We just got out of a big fight there, and we need to be at full strength if they come at us again. I'll stand watch while the rest of you get some sleep."
"Renamon and I will watch with you." Rika said in a tone that offered no argument, though the other girls each glared at the redhead, where Sora then added. "Biyomon and I'll stand watch as well."
"Gatomon and I ca..." Kari started to say, only to quickly stifle a yawn, where Davis smiled and said. "No, the rest of you get some sleep, we'll be alright."
Though reluctant, Kari didn't want to seem objective or cause a scene and sat herself down in the corner of the cave, relaxing herself as she allowed Gatomon to curl up and rest herself on her lap, before looking around, seeing the others taking their own spots to sleep, while Davis, Rika, Sora and their partners went towards the cave entrance to keep watch for their allies.
A few moments of silence passed between the small group, with Davis just looking out towards the forest alongside Veemon, Renamon leaning against the cave entrance, where Rika sat by her side, sending a glance every now and then in Davis' direction, and Sora sitting off to the side with Biyomon in her lap as she tried to sort out her feelings towards Davis, feeling slightly jealous as she noticed the glances Rika sent his way.
"That was really brave of both of you earlier, Davis, Veemon. Even with your power drained, you still tried to come to our aid like that." Biyomon commented with a sincere smile, causing the duo of Miracles to smile back at the Digimon of Love.
"Thanks. I know it sounds reckless, but if there's a chance I can keep you all safe, I'll take it." Davis replied with a smile of his own, not noticing the blushes on Sora or Rika's faces at Davis' words and the honesty within his tone, who then seemed to look at one another, as though trying to tell each other to give them a moment alone with Davis, with a part of Sora wondering why Rika seemed so interested in Davis, seeing a look in her eyes that, well, that reminded her of Kari whenever she looked at Davis.
'Am I crazy to think out of all of us, Rika could actually be in love with Davis as much as Kari is?' Sora wondered as she stared at the Tamer, before remembering back to their fight with Quartzmon, when all the groups, save the Fusion Fighters, met for the first time.
Though Rika wasn't one to normally express herself or her emotions, Sora could see how she looked at Davis compared to say Tai, TK or Takuya, like she had just met someone she had been waiting to meet her entire life.
However, without warning and before Sora could ponder anymore, Renamon quickly moved into an aggressive stance as she looked out into the forest and said. "Someone's spying on us!"
"Diamond Storm!" The vixen Digimon then announced as she leaped into the air, unleashing her shard-like attack into the forest, where those around her heard a feminine yelp of pain, followed by a thud to let them know someone had crashed into the ground below the trees.
"Quickly!" Renamon yelled as she took off, not only having Davis, Veemon and the girls follow her, but everyone else as well, having heard the vixen call out her attack.
Soon enough, the group arrived at the base of one tree, seeing a figure sitting on her butt as she rubbed the back of her head with her eyes closed and groaned. "That mightn't have done any damage, but it still smarts."
However, taking in the appearance of the Digimon before them, Nene was the first to let out a cry of panic as she called out with a growing shock. "Lilithmon!?"
Opening her eyes and seeing the Digi-heroes around her, with the Digimon all looking to fight, the Demon Lord Digimon before them began to panic as she waved her hands frantically and yelled. "Wait, wait, I'm not THAT Lilithmon! I'm on your side!"
"Why should we believe you?" Veemon asked as he clenched his fists, ready to fight if necessary as he saw Davis clench his D-3.
"Because you know me, V-Brain!" Lilithmon yelled at the V marked Digimon, the latter of her words causing Veemon, Davis, Kari, Gatomon and Gabumon to widen their eyes as they remembered a certain encounter a few months back.
-Flashback: Three months ago-
Rushing through one of the forests in the Digital World, Davis, Kari, Matt and their Digimon were making their way towards a village of Digimon that were under attack by a group of wild Tyrannomon, who had been terrorizing the small village for their own fun and entertainment.
"I can't believe with the peace in the Digital World that there are still some Digimon that just want to cause trouble for others." Kari commented with a sad tone as the group rode on Garurumon's back, trying to get to the village before the Tyrannomon tore it apart.
"Well that's where we come in." Veemon replied enthusiastically, bringing a small smile to the brunette's face.
Eventually arriving at the outskirts of the village, the trio and their partners saw three Tyrannomon rampaging, stepping on structures and scaring off the innocent Digimon living there.
"Alright, let's start by..." Matt started to say, taking charge and preparing to lead the group against their rampaging opponents.
"Nikukyū Punch!" A voice then cried out loudly, before what looked like a brownish red blur slammed into one of the Tyrannomon's head, before bouncing around as it hit the dino Digimon multiple times, causing the Digidestined and the Digimon to blink in confusion at what was going on.
It was only when the blur landed on a nearby roof that they got a look at what was helping them, seeing a Digimon that almost resembled Gatomon herself, only with a few differences, having a similar body to the Digimon of Light, even the fur around her stomach and legs was the same white as Gatomon's, though the remainder of fur around her torso, arms and head was a mahogany brown, with darker brown stripes running along the unknown feline's eyes and forehead.
And much like Gatomon, the cat-like Digimon wore a pair of gloves, a dark brown pair that matched the dark striped markings on her tail, where the Digidestined noticed the lack of a tail ring, surprising them fairly that the power she displayed was all her.
"Come on you oversized pea brains! Can't you put up a better fight?!" The Digimon yelled as she leaped up and prepared to strike at one of the Tyrannomon, only for the dino Digimon to quickly swing its tail in retaliation, sending the feline flying back with a loud cry.
Acting quickly, Veemon leapt into the air and caught the feline Digimon, bringing her back to the ground as Davis, Kari, Gatomon, Matt and Garurumon surrounded them, where Veemon asked with some concern. "You alright?"
The feline Digimon blinked a few times as she looked Veemon up and down, noticing the V mark on his forehead, where she pushed him back and got up as she said. "Yeah, V-Brain, I can handle myself."
Looking at the humans, the Digimon realized that these must be the Digidestined she heard about, where she introduced herself to them. "The name's Mikemon, and I've been trying to keep those three brutes from wrecking my home for days now."
"Well we're here to help, so just sit back and let us deal with them." Davis offered with a smile, drawing his D-3 and was about to Digivolve Veemon, only to sweatdrop as Mikemon scoffed and said. "I'm not sitting this one out, so don't get in my way."
Finding Mikemon's attitude a little annoying, there was part of Gatomon that wanted to land a Lightning Paw on Mikemon, but keeping herself in control, the Digimon of Light focused her attention on her partner.
"Let's do this." Gatomon said, getting a nod from Kari, who held out her Digivice and called out. "Digi-Armour Energize!"
Through Kari's D-3 and her Crest of Light, Gatomon felt herself once again empowered by the light energies, allowing her to Digivolve, leaving the feline Digimon announcing with might in her voice. "Gatomon Armor Digivolve to... Nefertimon the Angel of Light!"
"Alright, Vee, let's do this!" Davis then said encouragingly as he held out his D-3, which glowed a bright light, followed soon after by Veemon.
"Veemon, digivolve to... ExVeemon!" The Digimon of Miracles let out with might, changing to his larger and more draconic digital form.
Staring at awe for a moment as she took in the sights of the two newly evolved Digimon, Mikemon watched as ExVeemon, Garurumon and Nefertimon each took on a Tyrannomon of their own to fight, with ExVeemon delivering a swift punch to his, sending it staggering back a few feet.
"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon announced as he fought his Tyrannomon foe, sending a blast of blue flames at his opponent, who staggered back and crashed into the one that ExVeemon hit, causing the pair to collapse on the ground with a daze.
"Golden Noose!" Nefertimon declared, keeping her speed and grace in her flight as she circled around her Tyrannomon opponent, binding the dino Digimon in the strings of unique light energies, causing the Tyrannomon to howl furiously as it tried to break from the bindings, before it was let go, crashing onto its allies in the process.
"Nikukyū Punch!" Mikemon then called out as she rushed quickly and delivered swift punches to the Tyrannomon's faces, sending the Tyrannomon flying back several feet, where Mikemon landed on ExVeemon's head as she looked triumphantly at her beaten foes.
Quickly getting up, but seeing themselves out matched, the Tyrannomon turned and ran back into the forests, much to Mikemon's delight.
"That's right, you'd better run and never come back here!" The feline Digimon called out, leaping off of ExVeemon as he, Nefertimon and Garurumon reverted back to their normal forms.
"If they do, you can count on us to help." Veemon told Mikemon with a renewed kindness, trying to look past the initial rudeness that came with their meeting, this causing Mikemon to give a sly smile.
"You know, you aren't so bad, V-Brain." Mikemon said with a small flirtatious grin, where she added with a feisty purr as she got closer to him. "Who knows, maybe we can be more... friendly, the next time we meet?"
Veemon gave a nervous laugh as he began to sweat at Mikemon's flirtatiousness, while behind him, Gatomon was glaring at the secondary feline Digimon, ready to tear her apart, while the rest of the group just smiled and sweatdropped at the scene.
-End flashback-
"Mikemon?!" Davis, Kari, Veemon, Gatomon and Gabumon let out in surprise, causing the others to look at them in confusion, while Lilithmon let out a sigh and replied. "Yes, it's me, or it was me."
"But, how did you...?" Davis started to ask, before the Demon Lord Digimon explained herself with a frustrated growl. "I don't know, one minute I was fishing by the lake, and next thing I know there was a blast of energy that shot into the sky and I was knocked back."
"When I came too, I was... well, this." Lilithmon let out, looking herself over and finding that despite the time that had passed, there were still times she couldn't adjust to having a human-like body, with such 'aspects'.
"Barbamon's barrier spell. You must have absorbed some of the dark energy from it, which caused a Dark Digivolution." Gennai explained, which Tagiru then asked. "Then how come she didn't wind up all dark and insane like the rest of them?"
"Some Digimon who show nothing but purity in themselves have a chance to withstand the more corruptive effects of a Dark Digivolution, even abling to control its power for themselves." Gennai said in reply, getting nods from everyone else, Zoe and JP being more understanding with having the Warrior of Darkness as their ally.
"Well, I've been using it as best as I can to help." Lilithmon then added, getting everyone's attention as she continued. "Granted, I've had to do this from the shadows, but I've tried to stop the activity at the digging site they've been doing as best as I can, while trying to release prisoners before the old geezer Barbamon could get to them, but I've had to remain unseen, not only so they don't find me, but as you guys just showed, not many trust me when I look like this."
Despite Lilthmon's words and the supposed backstory of her changes, there were a few that didn't quite trust the Demon Lord Digimon.
"Do we really believe her?" Airu asked, remembering hearing one of Bargramon's Generals was a Lilithmon, a twisted and manipulative figure that wasn't afraid to fight underhandedly.
"I believe her." Kari replied, surprising many as they looked at her, where she added with a smile. "I don't sense any darkness from her, and she's being honest with us."
"Agreed, I sense no evil from her." Renamon then added her words enough for Rika, Takato, Kazu and their partners to trust and side with Lilithmon as well.
Approaching Lilithmon with a smile and a hand out, Veemon said with a grin. "It's good to be fighting alongside you again, no matter what form you're in."
Veemon watched as Lilithmon's eyes became teary, before the next thing he knew, the Demon Lord Digimon pulled him into a great big hug, causing the others to watch with sweatdrops as they saw the animated tears pouring from Lilithmon's eyes.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so afraid you'd all reject me!" Lilithmon cried as she held Veemon tightly, whose arms were flailing as he tried to gasp for air, while Gatomon looked at the scene with a tick mark on her forehead, glaring at Lilithmon as she smothered Veemon and pressed his face into her cleavage.
Quickly shaking his head at the scene, Davis gained a serious look as he then asked. "You said that you've been working from the shadows, what can you tell us about what Barbamon's up to?"
"Well..." Lilithmon started to say, gently setting Veemon down from out of her embrace as she got into thought, having a fair amount to tell the group.
-Meanwhile-
"I apologize for the delay. Things have been... frustrating, of late." Barbamon said as he spoke to his ally in the mirror, not sure if he could tell if they were amused, annoyed or anything really.
"We... understand... but... our... patience... is... limited... we... will... keep... our... bargain... as... long... as... you... free... us..." The being in the mirror said, before adding. "In... the... meantime... we... return... a... gift... for... you..."
As soon as it finished speaking, Barbamon stepped back from the mirror as it glowed a dark purple, watching as sparks of dark energy flowed out of it, before he noticed particles of Data fly into the room, where the energy consumed the Data, reshaping it into a familiar form, where Barbamon looked intrigued to see DarkVenusmon floating before him once again.
However, looking upon the corrupt Olympian, Barbamon noticed a new and darker aura about her, the dark energy sparking off of her body, while behind her bandage around her head, her eyes glowed with a bright red, while a wicked and malicious smile graced her face, causing the Lord of Greed to smirk wickedly, not only sensing DarkVenusmon was trapped further in his dark grasp, but he was looking forward to seeing what his favorite pet was now capable of, and how she would get her revenge.
Author's Note: To those who were sad to see DarkVenusmon go, have faith, she was never a throwaway. :)