Author's Note: Again, let me just point out that this is an alternate history. As always, I'm trying to throw in some basis to the eps. I know I'm skipping over a lot, but since I don't have the eps on tape I either have to rely on memory or wait until the ep I want is shown again. In this case, I'm just going to make mention of the stuff that happened between the last chapter and this one, and then move on. Enjoy!

Enter Black Wargreymon

Dear Oikawa,

I know that I said I would keep you informed, but so much has happened lately that I just haven't had time. All of the Chosen Children's digimon are able to digivolve to the Champion level now. The last one was Hawkmon who digivolved to Aquillomon. The sight of that great bird in flight was amazing!

Kiroptomon has also digivolved in order to help fight the enemy. Seeing the gargoyle-like Ferozamon in flight brought back so many old memories. I've tried to talk Kiroptomon into digivolving all the way up to Ultimate, but he refuses. I think he fears how the others will react. Perhaps in time he will gather up his courage.

On the brighter side of things, the boy that started this all has joined us. He says that he wasn't himself for a long time, and I can believe it. The thought of such a sweet kid causing all this damage just doesn't fit. For a while, he worked at helping us from the shadows, but now things have changed.

Two of the digimon have taken digivolution to a new level. They've merged in a process called DNA digivolving. While the children look forward to their digimon digivolving together, Kiroptomon maintains his distance. Nothing new there.

And last, but certainly not least, the enemy's plans are slowly becoming more clear. Dark towers dotting the Digital World's landscape can be turned into digimon by a special digimon attack. For what reason, we do not yet know, but it can't be good. Hopefully the enemy can be stopped soon.

Joyce

*~*~*~*~*

Oikawa closed up the e-mail, his brooding eyes never flickering from the computer screen. Apparently Arukenimon's reports were somewhat less than accurate, but then, he'd known that. Though he could not enter the Digital World, Oikawa still had some influence there. "The children are a minor nuisance," Arukenimon had said. "Everything will be under control shortly." Arukenimon must have a different definition of "minor nuisance" than most. Oikawa decided that when she again returned to the real world, he would remind her who was the master.

Beside the computer, a framed photo of Hiroki smiled out at Oikawa, the only decoration on the otherwise barren desk. Oikawa's gaze remained fixed on the computer screen. The screen saver had come up and now tropical fish were swimming across the screen. A thin film of sweat broke out on Oikawa's forehead.

"It was your own fault, Hiroki," Oikawa murmured, trying to keep up a conversational tone. The man in the picture continued to smile. "Don't look at me like that! You were the one who was getting too close, Hiroki! If you hadn't gone around asking snoopy questions, you would still be here today! I only did what I had to do to protect myself!" Throughout the conversation with the photo, Oikawa began to lose his composure, voice rising angrily. "Stop staring at me! Stop it I say! Stop it!" Flinging his arm, Oikawa sent the picture crashing into the wall.

*~*~*~*~*

Leaning against the wall, Ken listened as the other Digi-destined discussed their next move. He was amazed at how easily the others had allowed him to join the group, though one look at Cody reminded him that he was not completely forgiven for the past. The smaller boy's expression hardened noticeably every time he glanced in Ken's direction.

Ken saw that he wasn't the only one to isolate himself. In the corner directly opposite of him sat Joyce and Kiroptomon. Joyce was flipping through one of those magazines filled with recipes and pictures of food that never did look as good in real life as it did on paper. Occasionally she would pluck a pen out from behind her ear and make a notation of some sort. Kiroptomon lay curled in Joyce's lap and, whenever his partner had a free hand, enjoyed a back-scratching.

Knowing the strength of the bond between digimon and human partner, Ken understood the closeness between the two. Ken also knew the pain of losing his partner. Perhaps that was why he held Minomon as closely as Joyce held Kiroptomon, unconsciously stroking Minomon's head.

Joyce's presence wasn't helping much, any genius could see that. Before, the Digital World had, in a way, been exclusively the domain of the children. Now they had an adult intruding. Ken figured that Joyce was keeping her distance to make it clear that the Digital World was still the kids' territory, but her message wasn't quite getting through. Davis and Yolei seemed to be the most upset, though they were trying to hide it.

"All right, gang, listen up!" Humans and digimon alike turned their attention to Davis. Full of boundless energy, Davis loped around the room like a gazelle on speed as the words poured from his mouth. "What we need is... A plan!"

"Obviously," Joyce muttered, pen hanging from her mouth like a cigarette. Eyes turned to Joyce's corner of the room, and she met their gaze, her own eyes clear and twinkling. Not like jewels, Ken realized. Maybe that gaze could once have been called emerald green, but it had faded with time. Now her eyes could only be called sensible; sensible and amused.

Tempers flared. "I don't hear any brilliant ideas coming from you," Yolei snapped, echoed by a couple of shouts of "yeah." Ken sighed, realizing that the inevitable confrontation had come. He only hoped the situation could be diffused quickly and without getting messy.

"All of you just chill and can the macho crap," Joyce snapped right back. She held out her hands in surrender. "Look, guys, this is supposed to be a team, and I want to be a part of that team and help. I can't do that if you won't let me. Yes, I know I'm older than all of you, but I'm not that much older. I'm not here to take anything from you or ruin things. The Digital World has changed a great deal since the first time I was there and all of you know more about it than I do. Therefore I will rely on your experience. You're the leader, Davis, and I will follow your lead."

The tension eased off. Ken hid a smile, thinking, 'In like a lion, out like a lamb.' All of the right things had been said. Probably Joyce had been cooking up that little speech while she flipped through the magazine. 'Here's hoping this merry little band gets along more smoothly now.'

The brainstorming session officially began. Though ideas were presented from all sides of the room, the most workable idea came from Gatomon. "Since we really have no idea what to do, maybe we could go find my holy tail ring." The little cat waved her unadorned tail around to make her point. "My tail ring would give me more strength, so why not hunt it down? We could flatten any Control Spires we come across while we're looking." If Gatomon hadn't been a cat, Ken would have called the pleading look she gave Davis "puppy-dog eyes." Being what she was, though, Ken mentally dubbed the expression "kitty-cat eyes."

"All right then!" Davis exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. "We've got a plan! Let's go find Gatomon's tail ring!"

*~*~*~*~*

In the Digital World, no event can ever truly be seen as impossible. So, while the appearance of a bathtub on a cliff in the middle of nowhere may initially startle the local wildlife, once the tub is proven not to be a threat it is simply treated as if it had always been found on its lofty perch. The bathtub in question is made of plain white porcelain with simple brass handles and a showerhead; a quite normal bathtub in every way except for location.

Arukenimon filled the tub to the brim with nearly scalding water and soapy bubbles. All she wanted was a nice, long soak and time to herself. If she could manage to forget about her humiliating defeat at the Giga House, so much the better. Arukenimon couldn't tell which was worse: being defeated by a bunch of children or having her spinarets yanked out of the fire by Mummymon.

If she'd been able to escape on her own, Arukenimon knew that she wouldn't be taking the defeat quite this hard. Instead, though, she'd had to be rescued like some air-headed damsel in distress! A snarl slid out from Arukenimon's clamped teeth as she slid into the water. And her bandaged rescuer... That undead fool had convinced himself that he was in love with her! Had he learned nothing from the Master? Love made you hesitate, made you slow, made you weak.

Hair the color of spider silk swirled on top of the water. Holding up a gloved hand and admiring the shimmer of the soap bubbles, Arukenimon began to assess her strengths. If she could use more Control Spires... But could she? The Master had issued conflicting orders. Preserve the Control Spires. Destroy the Digi-destined. How many Control Spires could Arukenimon be permitted to use?

Loose rocks roared under tires and brakes squealed. "Yoohoo! Arukenimon, my darling!" Behind dark, purple-tinted lenses, Arukenimon shut her eyes. Even in her mind's eye, Arukenimon could picture Mummymon doddering around with that silly walking stick, an affectation that belonged to an older, respectable human gentleman.

Arukenimon didn't have to see Mummymon to know that he was leaning right over her. He had around him a cloying musty scent of dried rosemary that currently swam under her nose. "Ah, my love sleeps," Mummymon murmured. "Perhaps I should awaken her with a kiss."

"Do so and die," Arukenimon snapped, still not bothering to open her eyes. The lunkhead just couldn't take a hint. She worked with him because she had to, not because she liked him.

"But what a wonderful death that would be." Mummymon's voice purred in Arukenimon's ears. Arukenimon reached out a hand, and pushed Mummymon's face away with all the force she could muster. His butt hit the ground with a satisfying thud.

As she rose from her bath, water and soap fell away from Arukenimon. In an instant she was dry. Arukenimon stared out across the Control Spire dotted plains below, ignoring Mummymon's pathetic pleas for attention. He became a mere speck upon her awareness. All that Arukenimon could think of were the Control Spires. They sang for her attention, something in them akin to her own state of being. "One hundred," Arukenimon breathed. Screw the Master's orders!

"I beg your pardon," Mummymon said, breaking through the bubble of perfection which Arukenimon had managed to surround herself with.

Turning away from that most beautiful sight, Arukenimon explained her plan as simply as possible. "With one hundred Control Spires, I could create a digimon easily powerful enough to overcome the Digi-destined."

"But that would be..." Mummymon began counting on his fingers, simple mathematics not being his forte. "Carry the four, divide by 2... One hundred hairs! You'll be as bald as an egg!"

Arukenimon let out a long-suffering sigh and shook her head. "Mummymon."

"Yes, my love."

"Just shut up." Without another word, Arukenimon began her descent to the plain below.

*~*~*~*~*

Formlessness... Its first thought was of confusion. It was as nothing; neither male nor female; not plant or animal; neither solid nor liquid. Yet even as it realized its lack of self, it felt itself being encased in a form, an identity forced upon it. 'Male,' it decided. It was male.

The empty void where he had first become aware faded away. 'Who am I?' he wanted to ask, but had yet no clue how. Instead, he took his first tentative steps into this new world. A beautiful world filled with bright, living, vibrant colors assaulted his senses. "You are to obey me," a voice told him. He looked down to find a woman issuing orders to him. Such a tiny, insignificant creature, yet he felt compelled to obey. "Destroy," the woman said. "Destroy the Digi-destined."

He had his orders, a purpose. Yet he was not satisfied. Was he merely to be an implement of destruction? The need to please the woman rose up inside of him. Yes, for the moment, his purpose was to do as she commanded. Destroy the Digi-destined.

The landscape rolled by him as he sought out his enemies. When at last he found them, he was unimpressed. Mere children were no challenge. But one among them gave him a scrap of identity he did not have before. "It's Black Wargreymon!" He rolled the name on his tongue. Yes, it was right. It was his.

Because they'd shown him his name, Black Wargreymon decided to end his enemies quickly.