"Where are those kids?" said Mr. Yasushi angrily. "They better not have gone to the Digital World without permission."

"Honey, don't worry," said his wife, trying to be calm. "I'm sure there's a reason for this."

"Like what?"

"Well..." She couldn't think of one.

"Those kids are in trouble now," said Tokomon as he surfed through the television channels. Suddenly, all the channels were replaced with an Emergency Broadcast.

"Attention! Attention! This is an emergency broadcast! This is not a test, repeat NOT a test!"

"Hey guys, come look at this!" called out Nyaromon to the two humans. They went into the room and watched the screen as images from a live broadcast were displayed.

"All citizens of Odaiba are to evacuate as soon as possible. A digimon has gone berserk in the downtown area and is causing destruction wherever it goes." The broadcast showed images of a giant, skeletal digimon with brilliant red eyes and a wicked temper.

"That's a Skullgreymon!" exclaimed Tokomon. "How did that thing get here?!"

"Police report that the digimon seems to have a child held captive, though it is unclear as to how this occured. The child's presence is preventing them from using heavy artillery." The live camera zoomed in on a girl perched on the Skullgreymon's shoulder. Her face was completely calm, despite the carnage occuring around her.

"It's Naki!" cried Mrs. Yasushi. "Oh no, my baby!"

Nyaromon jumped to her feet and turned deadly serious. "We've gotta save her!"

"Are you crazy?" Tokomon said. "That's an Ultimate level digimon! We don't have that kind of power!"

"I don't care!" Nyaromon barked back. "Naki's in trouble, and we're responsible for taking care of her!"

"Guys..." Mr. Yasushi said somberly. "We don't want to get you killed."

In his mind, Tokomon made a decision. He got to his feet and turned to face his human companion. "Look, we're going with or without you! You know we care for Naki as much as you do, so we can't just run away and risk letting her die!" Nyaromon smiled. She liked it when Tokomon became all 'gun-ho'.

Mr. and Mrs. Yasushi looked at each other, and realized that they were right. They didn't want to run away either. They had to save their daughter. Mr. Yasushi nodded to his digimon friend. "Right! Let's go!"

They ran out the door in a flash, leaving the television on. The emergency broadcast continued to order the evacuation, and prayed. "God have mercy on us all."

****

When the news of the rampaging Skullgreymon reached them through a friendly digimon, Tai and the others weren't sure how they were going to pull this off. One thing was for certain- they would need their digimon if they were going to do it, and as long as they were weakened that was impossible. Izzy had ventured a guess as to how they could be awoken, but it was even more far-fetched than Tai's guess on the reason for their weakness.

"Izzy, are you crazy?" Tai said as the team met at the digiport. "If we do that, we'll be defenseless!"

"I know it's risky, but it's the only way to destroy the Crest. Once Naki's crest is gone, the original digimon should have enough energy to digivolve."

"But how will they digivolve if they're not even awake?" said Matt. "We have to get rid of that problem first if we're going to fight."

"Don't worry," said Izzy. "Using the analogy of Ken's dark digivice when he was the Digimon Emperor, it only worked when we were in proximity to it or a control spire."

"If that's true, then why are the digimon getting weaker even though they're at home?"

"Once they were weakened by Naki's digivice, their bodies couldn't maintain their natural equilibrium. Thus the standard digital decomposition could take place unabated."

"Speak our language, Izzy!" said Tai in exasparation. "We don't speak techno-babble!"

"What I'm saying is, Naki's digivice caused them to be so weak, that being outside the Digital World would affect them more easily. Plus, without any energy in our bodies due to Naki's crest, being with us wasn't helping them recharge. It's like when Yolei left Poromon with me all those years ago, and he grew progressively weaker while she was gone."

"You still remember that?" Yolei said in amazement. "Geez, Izzy..."

The redhead smiled. "Being a part of the team again has made me remember those days much more easily."

"You said it," agreed Tai, avoiding the urge to look at Sora's face. "I miss those days." The others silently agreed.

Izzy cleared his throat, waking everybody up. "So, getting back to the digimon, if we destroy Naki's crest, ours will recharge and we'll be able to wake up our digimon with our own energy. Then they should be able to digivolve just fine."

"So then what's the plan?" Davis asked.

Tai, although still unsure about Izzy's plan, explained it to the others.

****

Skullgreymon tramped through the town, throwing cars into buildings and unleashing terrible destruction on anything in his path. Although it seemed like random destruction to the innocent bystanders and the pitiful human police trying to protect them, it was actually all part of his plan.

"Where are you, Digidestined..." He and Naki said. "I'm waiting!"

The police force trying to set up a blockade around that part of town heard this. One of the younger officers asked "Digidestined? Who's that?"

"Don't you know anything?!" growled one of the veteran cops. "The Digidestined are those kids who saved us from that huge monster!"

Another young officer who was familiar with history looked at him quizzically. "But wasn't that over twenty years ago?" she asked. "They aren't still around, are they?"

"Of course they are!" the man barked. "The Digidestined will be around as long as evil threatens the Digital World! They'll be here soon...I know it." He returned his attention to the situation at hand, and ordered "Okay everyone! Let's save that girl and take care of this freak!" Rallied behind their leader, the police officers continued to set up the blockade while preparing to charge the creature en masse with the volunteer digimon of their precinct.

Skullgreymon prowled up to the blockade of cars, buses, and road blocks and smiled at the humans before him. The girl on his shoulder hopped to the ground and stood before the digimon. "You wouldn't shoot me, would you?" Skullgreymon put a large claw under Naki's chin gingerly, as if he were ready to slash her throat. Naki simply smiled as if she found it as amusing as he did. "Somebody might get hurt."

The veteran cop took a megaphone and turned it on. He stood up so that he was easily visible. *krkk* "Don't do anything rash, mister. We can make a deal. Let the girl go."

Skullgreymon chuckled deep in his imaginary throat. His evil laugh sent chills down everyone's spine. "What if I refuse?"

"Then somebody might get hurt, and that somebody is you. We've got you surrounded."

"Is that a fact?" he asked mockingly. "Well, take your best shot!"

Suddenly, a digimon came out of hiding and shot out her attack. "Poison Ivy!" The leafy limbs encircled Naki and jerked her out of the street before Skullgreymon knew what happened.

The veteran smiled. "Fire!" On his command, every police-man and -woman shot everything they had, while the strategically placed digimon launched their strongest attacks. Some of the police officers had rocket launchers, which also were shot at the monster. The sound the explosions made was deafening, and the amount of dust it kicked up was amazing. After a good fifteen seconds of shooting, the veteran shouted "Cease fire!".

The dust made it difficult to make out what was left of the digimon, but the silence was music to everyone's ears.

"All right!" shouted one officer. "We got him!" Everyone cheered in unison.

The Palmon police digimon noticed the girl's eyes were glowing bright red. In a voice just like the Skullgreymon, she said "Think again..."

A powerful Dark Shot launched from the dust, obliterating the blockade and causing dozens of officers to scatter. Shrapnel littered the streets and destroyed portions of the buildings lining the street. Several cops were injured, while some were much worse. The veteran, having been in the direct line of the blast, was one of those people.

Skullgreymon lumbered forth from the dust, looking down at the Palmon holding Naki. The Ultimate level digimon smiled evilly, as did the girl. The Palmon looked up in terror at the creature before her.

"Let's see how long those limbs of yours can really stretch..."

"STOP!"

Skullgreymon looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a group of men and women running up to him. They weren't just any men and women though.

"You..." Skullgreymon looked down at the Digidestined, his inner feelings boiling. This was the moment he had been waiting for during his years of imprisonment.

"Who do you think you are?!" shouted Tai. "Nobody messes up Odaia while we're around!"

Naki stretched her arms out, and the Palmon was surprised at the awesome strength she displayed. The digimon was forced to let go, and crashed through the wall of the building behind her. Naki's glowing red eyes shocked the others.

"You cannot stop me," Skullgreymon said. "This girl has done her job."

What... thought Izzy. Her job...

"Let her go!" ordered Davis. "We've got you beat!"

"Is that so..." Skullgreymon chuckled. While he laughed, the Digidestined took each other's hand and formed a line.

"When I give the signal, give it all you've got!" Tai shouted.

"Right!" the others responded.

"Huh...?"

"On three!" Tai called out. "One!"

Everyone closed their eyes.

"Two!"

A soft warmth filled their hearts. They felt the minds of the other Digidestined touch their own. All their hearts beat as one. Skullgreymon could sense power building up within each of them.

"What trickery is this?"

"Three!!"

The instant he said that, every one of the twelve Digidestined put everything they had into activating their power as chosen children. The original team focused the power of their crests, while the second team focused on the strength of their digimentals (or the symbol of their digi-eggs, if you prefer), aided by their digivices like in their last battle.

Skullgreymon and Naki looked down at her crest as a huge surge of energy engulfed it. It was a light so bright that it blinded them both. The whistle of energy that came from it was painful. The Dark Crest began to buckle under the stress of trying to contain so much energy at the same time. It was a losing battle.

"What?! What's happening?!" His power reached maximum capacity, and he felt a surge of energy within him as well. However, the excess energy was much too great to contain. In one brilliant flash of silvery light, the crest exploded with brilliant intensity. Naki's eyes returned to a normal color as she was shaken out of her torpor.

At first, it was the like pushing against a one-ton boulder. Then, as the simultaneous power-up of the team's crests and digi-eggs overwhelmed the Dark Crest, the 'boulder' gave way like so much dust. The eyes of each Digidestined's digimon snapped open as power surged through them...a familiar power. A power they had not felt in twenty-five years. No matter where in the world they were, the digimon shot up into the sky as brilliant flashes of light and digivolved to their maximum levels in record time.

The Digidestined cheered loudly as their digimon finished their digivolutions. Not only that, but it was like a reunion of old friends when they saw all the Ultimate and Mega level digimon present. Unfortunately, something else was happening that they weren't prepared for.

"Wh...where am I?" Naki whimpered. "My head...it hurts..."

"Kid, get over here!" shouted Matt. "Get away from him!" Skullgreymon seemed to not be listening to them. He was focused on something internal.

Naki looked down at herself, and felt a strange burning sensation within her. The girl doubled over in pain, and started to cry out. "AhhhHHHH!!"

"What's happening to her?!" Mimi cried.

"She's realizing her full potential!" Skullgreymon said wickedly. "Finally, after twenty-five years of waiting, I'll be returned to my full power! My plan has succeeded, thanks to you buffoons called humans and my Naki!" Reaching out to where Naki lay, he clamped his bony hand over her, and she cried out in more pain. The entire body of Skullgreymon started to glow a deep red.

"What's he talking about?!" Tai shouted.

"It's worse than we thought!" Izzy clarified. "Naki's not a Digidestined! She's a trap!"

"A TRAP?!!"

Naki made one last plea for help, before she was seemingly absorbed into Skullgreymon like a mass of energy. Skullgreymon reared his massive head back and laughed a joyous, evil laugh that echoed through the sky to the digimon above.

Skullgreymon, Mega-digivolve to...

"No, it can't be!" shouted Wargreymon in disbelief. "It's..."

...DAEMON!! AHH-hahahaha!!

****

NEXT: The final chapter! All is explained, and the battle between the forces of good and evil rages in the streets of Odaiba for one last time!