The

The

DigiDestined

The DigiDestined have a new problem.

The New Plan

Jay Barial

Last Time . . .

Taylor: Last time, the Light DigiDestined found our first crest- the Crest of Light, my Crest of Light. Then we decided the best thing to do was attack the Dark DigiDestined. Crossmon and AeroVeedramon waited outside of Carrier Village while we headed towards our enemies' base. We all split up and entered the base. We took out the Dark DigiDestined's guards, and in doing so two of us found a strange DigiEgg. Afterwards, we had a showdown in the main hall. Bugmon and I managed to take out Jason and Sectomon. Then, Raremon appeared! After a deadly attack, it took out all of our Digimon except Bugmon! As Spidmon was looking bad, my Crest of Light started to react and Spidmon Digivolved to Crimson Spidmon! It defeated Raremon and the Dark DigiDestined and destroyed their base. Whoa, now that that's done, what'll we do now?

Chapter One: Back to the Digital World

Crossmon and AeroVeedramon slumped down as they waited for the Light DigiDestined to return.

"You think they beat 'em?" asked AeroVeedramon.

"Course," replied Crossmon. "They're the DigiDestined."

The dragon Digimon shrugged. "You never know though. The Dark DigiDestined are also DigiDestined you know."

"Yeah, but we're ten-times better than them." The Mega and Ultimate Digimon glanced up and there stood the six DigiDestined with the five Rookie Digimon and the one In-Training Digimon. Taylor held up Simon and the Crest of Light. "The powers of the Dark DigiDestined are no match for the powers of Light!"

Michael, Cubmon, Sasha, Tripupmon, Summer, Monomon, Derek, Pondmon, Alley, and Sparkmon all nodded in agreement.

"We're ready to head back home," said Michael.

"And we're ready to head back to the Digital World!" said Cubmon.

Derek stepped forward. "We figured now that we've defeated the Dark DigiDestined that we can return home!" Derek pointed upward towards the planet hanging in the sky. "And we figure heading back to the place where it all began would be the best place to start!"

* * * *

"Horn Rocket!"

"Screech of Steel!"

Dark Ponymon shot a deadly rocket at the pile of jump while Hydramon released a powerful screech that shattered the rubble. From beneath the rubbles of the building appeared a giant bubble.

Karen chuckled as she climbed off of Hydramon. "The Light DigiDestined really beat you that badly." She walked over and popped the bubble with her finger. From the bubble appeared the remaining six Dark DigiDestined and their six In-Training Digimon.

Henry hopped of Dark Ponymon and smirked. "See Karen, it was a good idea to leave early."

"Shut up," grumbled Jessie. "Those stupid Light DigiDestined had one of the crests. Spidmon was able to Digivolve to Crimson Spidmon and destroyed our base."

"And they were able to destroy the computer," growled Erik. "That was our only portal home! And those idiot Light DigiDestined destroyed it!"

Jason snorted. "There's a bigger problem at hand." He turned towards the base and frowned. "I fear that both us and the Light DigiDestined may have a new enemy." Jason sighed as he remembered the egg he had discovered. "We have to head to the Digital World. That's where the Light DigiDestined will probably be."

"We can just use the Digimon at Carrier Village to get there," suggested James.

Lily sighed as she looked down at her injured Lemon. "Let's hurry."

Chapter Two: The New Plan

As both the Dark and Light DigiDestined headed back to the Digital World, none of them saw the deadly force heading there too. It had started out as the DigiEgg, but after being exposed to the Digivice, it was able to Digivolve. And as it traveled through space, it was able to rapidly Digivolve and headed straight towards the Digital World.

* * * *

"Well, we're back," said Taylor as he climbed off of Crossmon.

The others quickly got off and were all ready to head back home.

"Guys," said Taylor, "you think we're doing the right thing."

"Huh?" Derek turned around. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said Taylor, "you said, since we destroyed the Dark DigiDestined, we could head home. But, what if the Dark DigiDestined weren't destroyed? Or possibly, there's a greater evil out there."

Derek raised a curious eyebrow. "What else could there be?"

"The thing that created the Dark DigiDestined in the first place," replied Michael. "If we are able to destroy that, then we should be able to return. In other words, we aren't done yet."

"Or, what about that egg?" All the DigiDestined turned to Sasha in confusion.

"What egg Sasha?" asked Tripupmon.

"Remember when you were battling the Monochromon?" reminded Sasha. "There was that strange egg surrounded by darkness. I bet our next enemies there."

"There's a likely chance the egg was destroyed when I wrecked the building," said Simon. "So, we really don't know anything."

"Why not use your cubes?" suggested Alley. "Ask Tai or Kari what to do."

Within several seconds, Michael and Taylor drew out the cubes that held the spirits of the old DigiDestined and activated them. They both asked the former DigiDestined and their Digimon what to do.

"As Spidmon has," said Gatomon, "you all must Digivolve into Ultimate."

"Yes," said Agumon. "I sense that the Dark DigiDestined are still here."

Derek rolled his eyes as Taylor said, "ha! See, I was right."

"Where are the Tags and Crests located?" asked Summer. "And the energizer thing that Taylor used to energized his DigiGem."

"In order to find the tags," said Tai, "you must head to the Desert Pass. There, a mysterious Digimon lives. It will have the locations of your tags."

"But the crests are all scattered," continued Kari. "You must search this world in order to find them. But, in order to find the energizers that'll energize your DigiGems, you must finds cubes like these."

"The cubes will hold the spirit of past DigiDestined," said Tai. "Like us."

"The cubes will hold the DigiDestined that had the same crest as you," explained Gatomon. "They'll reveal the location of the energizer for you. Then, once your DigiGem is powered up, your Digimon will Digivolves into Ultimate."

Summer starter to groan. "It's going to be too much work."

"I'm never gonna Digivolve," grumbled Tripupmon. "Well, at least not the right why." The littler Digimon shivered. "As long as I'm not Dark Cerberusmon again."

"Where's the Desert Pass located?" asked Taylor.

"It lays beyond the Carrier Village," answered Agumon. "There, you'll find the Digimon that'll help you! Good-bye my friends." The four spirits faded back into their cubes.

"This is gonna take awhile," murmured Derek. "At least the Dark DigiDestined don't need to energize their Digimon."

"Well, sorry," muttered Pondmon.

AeroVeedramon's head suddenly shot up. "What's that noise?"

The Digimon all glanced around. "What noise?"

Crossmon flapped its wings and took flight. "Oh no . . ."

"What?" asked Simon.

"It's the Carrier Village."

Chapter Three: Burning the Village

The six DigiDestined all quickly rushed to the Carrier Village. But they knew they'd never reach it in time as it burned down to the ground.

"Who . . . would burn down . . . Carrier?" asked Taylor as they ran.

"Dark DigiDestined," replied Summer. "Who else?"

"Why would they . . . burn down a village . . . they controlled?" asked Derek, as they ran.

When they finally reached the village, flames were blocking the entrance.

"This looks bad," murmured Derek. He glanced down at his Digimon. "Do it Pondmon!" Derek held out his Digivice and his Crystal of Friendship started to react in his glasses.

"Pondmon Digivolved to . . . Aquamon!"

Alley bent down and held out her Digivice and it and the Crystal of Sincerity in her ring began to react. "Do it Sparkmon!"

"Sparkmon Digivolved to . . . Joltmon!"

"Mystic Cyclone!"

"Static Convey!"

Aquamon's Mystic Cyclone put out the flames while Joltmon's Static Convey teleported the flames away.

"Bubble Wall!" Aquamon put up an archway of bubbles, protecting the entrance from any flames.

"Let's move!" ordered Crossmon.

As they all darted forward . . .

THUD! THUD!

"Ugh!" The two Champion Digimon slammed into some kind of barrier and they hit it so hard the force weakened them and they were forced to Digivolve back to Pondmon and Sparkmon.

"Not so fast, DigiDestined." Suddenly, from the fires appeared ghost-like Digimon. They appeared to look similar to Bakemon, but a bit stronger. The only difference is their white sheets appeared straighter and dark red-demon like feet poked out from below their sheets.

"Don't worry," said Simon, "those are just Ghosmon. They're weak Digimon I could even handle. Their most powerful move is the Ghost Wall. And that's . . . well, it."

"Oh, but they're not the only ones!" Then, from above appeared three other ghost Digimon. Two were Champion Digimon while the third was an Ultimate Digimon. The first two Digimon seemed unfamiliar. They both looked Ghosmon, with the exception that they were larger. One had arms bad from the sheet and had shiny, bright, yellow, beaming eyes. They also had lost the feature of demon-like feet. The other Digimon had kept the demon feet, and had demon-like arms this time. His eyes were a darker, blood red. The final Digimon was an Ultimate Digimon that appeared to be the Digivolved form of Bakemon. It carried a larger sickle and its sheet was red not white. There were also several other new features to this Digimon.

"The first one's Phastamon," growled Pondmon. "It's a powerful ghost Digimon, and it's the data form of the next stage of Ghosmon. Its powerful Minds Eye attack will leave your Digimon clue-less."

"The second one's Ghostramon," said Sparkmon. "It's also a powerful ghost Digimon, but it's the virus form of the next stage of Ghosmon! Its Dark Tide attack will leave you stunned."

"That last one's Phantomon," said Simon. "Its sickle can destroy any Rookie or Champion Digimon. It may seem like a small Ultimate, but its powers easily surpass most Rookie and Champion Digimon!"

The group of Ghosmon all stood before the Light DigiDestined blocking their way.

Then, something caught AeroVeedramon's eyes. "I see someone!" The Digimon pointed upward towards the center of the burning city. "You guys hold them off, and I'll take out that Digimon!"

Simon nodded. "It's time to Digivolve!"

Taylor nodded as his Digivice started to react.

"Simon Digivolved to . . . Bugmon!" Bugmon leaped in front Taylor, next to Cubmon, Tripupmon, Monomon, Pondmon and Sparkmon.

Chapter Four: Battle at Carrier Village

AeroVeedramon flew up towards the burning building and glanced around. The strange creature had appeared to disappear.

"That's odd," murmured AeroVeedramon. "I suppose it could be worse . . ." It slowly turned around, but it was too late. The creature's bony fist had punched the Champion Digimon face first.

"Your not very bright, Digimon," growled the creature. It arose from the fire. Fire surrounded it, making it nearly impossible for AeroVeedramon to tell what it is. "And an Ultimate Digimon too. Tsk! Tsk!"

"V-Wing Blade!" AeroVeedramon attempted to attack the Digimon with a V-shaped blast of energy, but the fire surrounding the Digimon blocked.

"Sad attempt." The Digimon shrugged and growled, "Graveyard Hit!" It punched AeroVeedramon again, sending it flying backwards into a burning building. "That was fun." The Digimon hovered down into the building and picked up the tired out Digimon. "Again! Again!"

AeroVeedramon, who was slowly losing energy, managed to ask, "who are you? Why are you attacking us?"

"To get revenge on the DigiDestined," growled the Digimon. "And you, well, I need you for energy!"

"What are you," growled AeroVeedramon, "some kinda fire-type Digimon."

"I'm the Digimon of all darkness," growled the Digimon in return.

The dragon Digimon snorted. "Yeah, right."

The skeleton Digimon growled in anger. "You may not know in this form for long, but you will know my name! I am, Muertemon!" Suddenly, the fires surrounding the Digimon started to rapidly circle around the Digimon and focused into a ball of energy in front of it. "Blazing Hell!" The blast of energy hit AeroVeedramon and knocked it out cold- but it didn't kill the Digimon. Muertemon caught it before AeroVeedramon hit the ground. "Perfect, this will have some excellent power."

* * * *

The six Rookie Digimon had easily managed to take out the Ghosmon, and all that lay in their way was Ghostramon, Phastamon, and Phantomon.

"You DigiDestined won't be able to defeat us!" growled Phantomon. "Not in your Rookie forms! Dark Scythe!" Phantomon swung its scythe at the six Digimon, but they all managed to dodge out of the way.

Suddenly, Michael, Sasha, and Summer's DigiGems started to react and so did their Digivices. "Digivolve!"

"Cubmon Digivolved to . . . Grizzlymon!"

"Tripupmon Digivolved to . . . Cerberusmon!'

"Monomon Digivolved to . . . Primemon!"

"I'd Digivolve but I'm still too weak," said Bugmon.

Taylor nodded. "That's fine Bugmon. Just get those Digimon."

"Minds Eye!" growled Phastamon as it tried to take control of Primemon, but it just shrugged it off and swung it giant club and sent Phastamon flying back.

"Tail Twister!" Cerberusmon created a giant tornado with its tail and sent the ghost Digimon hovered upward. "Underworld Wrath!" Cerberusmon's giant claw shot underground and then shot up sending Phastamon flying high up.

"Dark Tide!" Ghostramon sent a wave of dark energy and it hit the Rookie Digimon, but they all managed to easily recover.

"Web Spray!" Bugmon sprayed Ghostramon in the face, temporarily blinding the ghost Digimon, giving the elemental Digimon a chance to attack.

"Rushing Waters!"

"Static Burst!"

The two Digimon sent their attacks together. This gave the electricity a more powerful charge and when it hit Ghostramon the blast forced it to lose control and fall ot the ground.

"Aquatic Teleport!" Pondmon sent the giant bubble towards Ghostramon and it teleported the Digimon away.

"Now Crossmon it's just you against me," growled Phantomon.

Crossmon shrugged. "This should be easy." Crossmon's beak began to glow and it flew up into the air. "Mystic Beak!" It shot down and shot straight through Phantomon.

"Why me, why?" Phantomon then shattered into millions of pieces.

Chapter Five: AeroVeedramon's Goodbye!

"Rushing Waters!"

"Static Convey!"

"Tail Twister!"

"Banana Club!"

"Grizzly Quake!"

The four Champion Digimon and Pondmon did their best to try to put out most of the fires of Carrier Village.

Bugmon, who was the only Digimon who couldn't really help out, murmured, "Dark DigiDestined . . . if they weren't the ones who did this, than who? And why?"

"Probably some sick twisted reason," muttered Michael. "The usual."

Bugmon sighed and shrugged. "I suppose it could be worse." He then realized . . . "Where's AeroVeedramon?"

"He'll probably pop in a little later," replied Crossmon. "He needed to take out that mysterious Digimon."

"Aquatic Teleport!" Pondmon shot out a bubble, finishing off the last of the fire.

The four Champion Digimon started to glow and Digivolved back to their Rookie forms. "Done!"

Summer sighed. "Where is AeroVeedramon?"

"He should be back by now," murmured Cubmon. "I mean, we all took out the ghost Digimon pretty easily. Whatever that was couldn't have been too tough."

"Unless it was what caused the fire," said Bugmon.

The Light DigiDestined group sighed.

Then, something caught Taylor's eyes. He wasn't anything shiny, it wasn't anything special, but something was drawing Taylor close to the ruins of some familiar building. "That's where the energizer thing was. That thing that powered up my DigiGem."

"So?" asked Bugmon.

He shrugged. "Let's check it out."

So, the Light DigiDestined headed into the shake. What they found was horrifying.

"AeroVeedramon!" cried Crossmon in horror.

The holy dragon Digimon was laying lifelessly on the ground. It seemed to be glowing with a dark energy surrounding it.

"AeroVeedramon!" cried the six, small, Digimon. They all rushed over to the dragon and all checked it. "Are you all right? Who did this to you?"

"A Digimon," said AeroVeedramon. "A Digimon that we've never seen before." He moaned and cringed. "He won't be in the same form as he was when I met him. He called himself Muertemon."

"That's probably the Digimon that the Dark DigiDestined had in that DigiEgg," said Taylor.

"He used some kind of attack," said AeroVeedramon. "No . . . not an attack, some kind of magic spell. It absorbed the energy right out of me by forcing dark energy into me."

"Kinda like a magnet's positive charges," said Derek. "The regular energy is one positive charge and the dark energy is another positive charge. The regular energy was in AeroVeedramon and then Muertemon came over. He placed dark energy into AeroVeedramon, and like a magnet, pushed the other energy out of the Digimon into himself."

"He then started to glow," said AeroVeedramon. "Certain Digimon contain certain energy levels. He used my energy as an Ultimate Digimon to Digivolve."

This caused a silence in the group.

"He used AeroVeedramon's powers to Digivolve?" murmured Taylor. "How did it reach the Champion level in the first place?"

"It was exposed to a Digivice, remember?" reminded Sasha. "This probably caused it to rapidly Digivolve into its Champion stage."

"So then, it can suck the energy out of Ultimate Digimon to work as a Digivice," said Derek. "Eventually, it'll be powered up enough to Digivolve into its Ultimate form. And it'll do the same thing we Mega Digimon like Crossmon."

AeroVeedramon nodded and sighed. "Stop Muertemon . . . for me." The Digimon suddenly cringed and shattered into millions of pieces.

"Veedramon," murmured Crossmon softly.

Chapter Six: Beyond Carrier

"So when will we see you again?" asked Monomon curiously.

The Mega Digimon shrugged. "Whenever I'm needed I suppose."

Outside of Carrier Village, the Light DigiDestined children and the Light DigiDestined Digimon all stood looking at Crossmon. He had decided it'd be best to leave the group in search of whatever Muertemon had Digivolved into.

"Well," said Bugmon, "just make sure Muertemon doesn't find me."

Taylor nodded. "This Muertemon will eventually be able to contact the Dark DigiDestined- his creator. I suggest you go after these Dark DigiDestined. They should be a snap, since they're all Champion Digimon."

Crossmon nodded. "I hope to see you all again." He flapped his wings and took off. "And maybe, all you Rookie Digimon will be at your Ultimate level next time." Crossmon flew off, departing from them.

"Whoa," said Summer, "AeroVeedramon's death really messed him up, huh?"

The six Digimon nodded. Tripupmon replied, "AeroVeedramon and Crossmon were close friends. But, everyone who dies in the Digital World gets reconfigured and is reborn. But the challenge is finding them again."

"I guess waiting is the thing that really bugs Digimon," replied Bugmon.

Taylor nodded and glanced at the desert ahead of them. "Well, things are looking kinda grim." He sighed. "This is going to be a long, hot, walk."

* * * *

Small sandstorms were here and there as they wandered the desert. It wasn't until they heard beeping that they discovered they could find out where this Digimon lived on their Digivices. It had some sort of map plugged into it.

The beeping eventually increased and sped up and they suddenly realized they could kind of see a steel tower up ahead.

"That must be where the Digimon is," said Alley. "That's why are Digivices are reacting." She picked up her tired Sparkmon. "Maybe it'll have our tags and crests!"

"Tai and Kari said this Digimon didn't know where the crests are located though," noted Sasha.

"Well, I'm sure there's going to be something in our way," said Taylor, "so lets Digivolve before we enter."

"Right!" The other five DigiDestined's held out their Digivices and their DigiGems and they began to react.

"Cubmon Digivolved to . . . Grizzlymon!"

"Tripupmon Digivolved to . . . Cerberusmon!"

"Monomon Digivolved to . . . Primemon!"

"Pondmon Digivolved to . . . Aquamon!"

"Sparkmon Digivolved to . . . Joltmon!"

Taylor glanced at Bugmon and held out his Digivice. "All right Bugmon, let's do it!" It Digivice started to glow and react.

"Bugmon Digivolved to . . ." Bugmon started to glow but nothing happened. "Bugmon . . ."

"Huh?" Taylor stared at confusion as Bugmon collapsed on the ground, still at its Rookie level. "What happened."

"Bugmon could easily Digivolve before," replied Derek. "But that was before your DigiGem powered up your Digivice. Now that it's only Bugmon and your Digivice, Bugmon has to have enough strength to Digivolve on its own."

Taylor sighed. "Sorry I've worn you out Bugmon."

"I'm fine," replied Bugmon. "I'll Digivolve later. Let's go!"

Chapter Seven: Into the Steel Tower

The six DigiDestined kids, the five Champion Digimon, and Bugmon all stood outside of the strange steel tower.

"Here goes nothing," said Taylor. He walked up to the door and tried opening it.

"Nothing's right," muttered Summer. "This is a job for a lady." She glanced at Primemon. "Do it!"

"Banana Club!" Primemon swung its banana-shaped club at the door, breaking it down.

They all entered the strange steel tower and glanced around. The tower went upward and downward. There were even rooms on the main floor. The entire Steel Tower was huge. And it'd take hours to find the Digimon that Tai and Kari wanted them to find.

Taylor pulled out his rectangular shaped Digivice and examined it. "Well, whoever we're looking for, it's close by." He held up his Digivice, and there were two red dots on the small screen. "Let's head up!"

Bugmon moaned as he glanced towards the spiral shaped staircase nearby. "I don't want to climb that." He glanced at Cerberusmon. "Can I ride on your back?"

Sasha chuckled. "Aw, poor Bugmon."

"Hey, I'm not helpless!" shouted Bugmon as he climbed on Cerberusmon's back. "I'm just a bit tired out." He sighed. "And if you ever want me to Digivolve back to Crimson Spidmon, you all better be quiet."

"Bugmon gets kinda stuck up when he can't Digivolve." Derek glanced at Taylor. "Is that the same with you Taylor?"

The kid who carried the Crest and Crystal of Light cringed and then flinched. "Yeah, well I don't Digivolve! Let's go!"

* * * *

"I wish I had wings." Cerberusmon collapsed on the ground as he reached the top of the staircase, with the other Light DigiDestined behind him.

"You took too long." Bugmon hopped up. "I could have easily gotten up here if I were Spidmon or Crimson Spidmon!"

Cerberusmon's three heads all glared at the small spider Digimon. They suddenly started growling, and they yelled, "well then Digivolve then!"

As the rest of the group reached the top of the tower, they discovered the last door standing in their way. Taylor finally reached the top and said. "Well, its downhill from here guys!"

"I wish it was done hill before," murmured Alley.

Bugmon hopped into Taylor's arms and ordered the five Champions, "all Digimon, move on out!"

The Light DigiDestined stepped through the doors, and there stood a house floating in the sky. It loomed a bit higher up in the sky than the tower, but both were above the giant sandstorm of the desert. The only problem was, there was nothing connecting the group with the house.

"How are we suppose to get all the way over there?" wondered Taylor.

"Its probably only suppose to look like there's no way over there." Bugmon glanced at Aquamon. "There's probably an invisible walkway of some sort! Do it, Aquamon!"

Derek's Digimon took a tiny step forward and stepped onto an invisible platform. "All right. Frost Fist!" Aquamon punched the invisible platform, freezing it over. This revealed the pathway to the house. "All right DigiDestined, step lightly."

The six kids, Champions, and the Rookie all slowly made there way across the platform. They slowly and eventually were in reach of the platform the house was on.

"Home free," said Bugmon with a feeling a relief. "That was too easy."

"Jinxed!" Suddenly, eight familiar Champion Digimon shot up from the sandstorm. It was IronWeb Sectomon, Grizzlymon, Cerberusmon, Baboomon, Oceanmon, Joltmon, Dark Ponymon, and Hydramon.

On all of their backs were the Dark DigiDestined.

Jason hopped off of IronWeb Sectomon with a smirk on his face. "Just when you think you got rid of us."

Before the Light DigiDestined can find their tags, they must get past the Dark DigiDestined. But after sent on their mission, they will encounter a new an improved Dark DigiDestined, with a new power: to reach the Ultimate level. Now, will the Light DigiDestined be able to receive their tags and beat the Dark DigiDestined? Find out in, In Search of the Tags.