Dark Masters: Generation 2

Author's Note: This story is based on information available as of now. Several of the elements I use in this story are my own guesses or personal opinions. Many things I've changed, such as some popular Digivolution lineage theories (except, of course, those that are already common DD'ed evolutions appearing on the show; Gomamon still becomes Ikkakumon, and Garudamon didn't mysteriously become Aquilamon's Ultimate instead), I've changed just to give it a cooler feel. Also, as I didn't much care for the idea, you can throw away that whole "25 Years Later" scenario from the last episode of 02, including the part about EVERYBODY worldwide getting their own Partner-Digimon. So don't get on my ass about continuity.

Part 2: Q & A



Chapter 1: Recovery

"Ouch."

Not even used, but it pretty much summed up the gist of it all. The DigiDestined lay in a heap, the bubble around them now gone. The kids turned around to see all of their Rookie Digimon; even Gatomon, who was normally able to hold her Champion form, had De-Digivolved to Salamon.

"Man... anybody get the number on that truck that just hit us?" asked Joe, weakly.

"This is no laughing matter, Joe!" retorted Matt, "We just got our asses handed to us on a silver platter! And we still don't know anything about these new guys!"

"Matt's right," said Izzy, "we don't know much about them, but let's put together what we DO know."

"Well," started Tai, "they're all Mega Digimon."

"Yeah, and they're ugly too," added Mimi.

"They claim to be.... well," started TK, "maybe not THE Dark Masters, but Dark Masters of some sort."

"And they really pack a punch!" added the pooped-out Agumon.

Sora contributed too. "There are 4 of them again this time, just like last time."

"Yeah, and they all seem to relate to a different part of the DigiWorld, just like last time." stated Kari.

"Exactly," concluded Tentomon, "One for nature, one for the seas, one for the robotic, and one for.... well....... the darkness, I guess."

"And..." finished Matt, "... they're pretty damn strong. It looks almost impossible, guys."

"C'mon, bro, it'll be alright," ensured TK, "We're all just a little upset right now, that's all. What I want to know is how this all happened so fast!"

"That's right," supported Kari, "We were just here no more than a year ago with Davis and the others! It just doesn't seem possible that a takeover like this could have happened in such a short time."

"Hey, look how quick the ORIGINAL Dark Masters conquered the DigiWorld! We were in the real world for all of a week, and the whole Digital World was distorted!" mentioned Tai.

"Yes, but that was because time moved much faster in the Digital World back then," corrected Izzy, "But now, time moves much more congruently between the 2 worlds. About a year has passed here, just like the year in the real world."

"Oh yeah," mumbled Tai.

"But in the e-mail, they talked about everything like they knew us..." said Sora, "... like they knew exactly what happened... like they were there... experienced it themselves..."

"Look, we don't have time to discuss this right now," Izzy spoke, "Right now, our first priority is to find 2 things."

"Oh yeah," inquired Joe, "What's 1 thing?"

"Gennai. We need to find his home and get some answers. He'll be able to tell us what's going on and how to defeat them."

"And what's the second thing we need to find?" asked Mimi.

"Cover."

Chapter 2: Jeez, the Things a Guy's Gotta Do to Get Some Service Around Here!

It had been no longer than a half hour since they decided to get up and start on their way to Gennai's mansion before they were absolutely exhausted. This new batch of Megas beat the pants right off of them. They had no energy to continue. With a pathetic thud, they fell to the ground. Even little Patamon tried his best to fly, but to no avail, as he crashed back down onto the sands. Tentomon was leaking sparks, involuntarily. Things were bleak. Eventually, they lost all might. Tai hadn't the strength to so much as open his eye, or lift his hand. Finally, TK muttered something.

"Hey, you guys, we're there."

They didn't know how they did it, but somehow, they were laying right in front of the shore that led to Gennai's ocean home. They had made it. After a minute or so, they all were on their feet once again. Izzy used TK's Terminal, which surprisingly had survived the ordeal, to quickly send an Instant Message to Gennai, asking permission and passage into his home. For some reason, though, there seemed to be no response. Suddenly, their Digivices began to light up, first a glow, then an all-out flash, like lightning, and the seas began to part, revealing a stairway to the ocean floor. Kari took a step back and gasped, as this was something she hadn't seen before with the other kids. She was kind of shaky on the idea of walking down, but when she saw the others proceed, she took a deep breath and decided to follow next to TK. Watching him so confident made her much less afraid of what she was doing.

Something seemed different, that much was certain. The waters had a sort of... darkness... to them, not their normal, bright, blue glow. They watched the creatures around them as they slowly descended the steps. They saw small, white things that seemed strangely familiar to Joe. Tentomon explained that they were Pichimon, the Fresh form of Bukamon and Gomamon. Unlike most Digimon, Tentomon explained, water Digimon are born in a special underwater section of Primary Village, and, unlike the other Fresh, or baby, monsters, the underwater Freshes tend to wander far from the village, even before they Digivolve to In-Training. Especially the Pichimon, which apparently go quite a ways out of the way of the village before Digivolving. As they watched, one little Pichimon stayed in place at the edge of the wall in the water, looking right at them. And before their eyes, a flash of light, and it Digivolved into a Bukamon right in front of them! Gomamon smiled and waved, showing how proud it was of the newly Digivolved Bukamon. The Bukamon waved back, and swam off into the deep... blueish... sea.

As they said goodbye to the happy-go-lucky creature, they looked down to see 2 other Digimon. One was a gray, crablike monster, and the other one looked kind of like an oyster with a little head poking out instead of a pearl. When the 2 saw that they had been spotted, they moved back, with fear in their eyes. The sweet-hearted Mimi bent down, and reached her hand down to the creatures slowly, while assuring them that they weren't going to hurt them. Nonetheless, the 2 sea creatures swam and crawled away at a very rare pace. Apparently they were still scared of the humans. The kids brushed it off, and continued down. It wasn't far now to Gennai's mansion.

Finally, they got within 100 yards of where the mansion sat. And when they got a little closer, they saw.....

Chapter 3: The Chase is On

"Incredible!" shouted SkullMammothmon, "You mean they actually managed to SURVIVE our attack?!?"

The Dark Masters were in their deep cave hideout, right in the area SkullMammothmon had emerged from when he introduced himself to the DigiDestined. They were planning their next attack, when Gryphonmon had returned from his scouting report with some bad news.

"I know it sounds unbelievable, but they've done it. I checked the landing area myself. There's definitely marks to show they've landed, but there's no sign of THEM anywhere except some wind-faded tracks!" replied Gryphonmon.

"It seems they're more resourceful than we thought," stated Pukumon. "It's time to stop toying with them and rid ourselves of their presence as soon as possible!"

"Oh, poor Pukumon: no sense of adventure whatsoever," replied Gryphonmon. "Now where would all the fun be if it was so EASY??? The fun is in the hunt; playing GAMES with them. Once we find them, we hang around a bit, then show them our power. Maybe even take a couple of 'em out."

"Yeah, but as you said, we have to FIND them first!"

"How we do that?" inquired Boltmon.

"How am I supposed to know, you damned FOOL???" retorted Pukumon, "In case you haven't noticed, we have no way to track them!!! They're clever, I'll give them that much. But nonetheless, they're still beginning to get o-"

"SILENCE!" interrupted SkullMammothmon. All noise ceased. Then, as Boltmon slowly drew his axe, SkullMammothmon swiftly swung his trunk toward the cave's underwater entrance and bellowed, "SHOW YOURSELF!!!"

Out from the shadows emerged 2 small creatures, dripping water.

"Crabmon??? Syakomon??? What in blazes are you 2 doing here???" yelled Pukumon.

"You KNOW these buffoons???" inquired SkullMammothmon, as he let them by.

"Know them? They WORK for me!" answered Pukumon.

"We're sorry to disturb you, lord Pukumon sir," started the small grey crab, Crabmon, "but we just came across somethi-"

"QUIET!!!" he roared. The 2 quivered. He continued, "I told you NEVER come to this hideout, ESPECIALLY during a meeting! You have 3 seconds to explain what the HELL you're doing here before I DEEP FRY YOU!!!!! 1!" he began.

"Well, you see, lord Pukumon sir, we were just sitting there, minding our own bus-"

"2!!"

"Well, anyway, the point is, sir, Lord, these strange creatures came along an-"

"3!!!"

"IT WAS THE DIGIDESTINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The Dark Masters stopped. Dead frozen. Was it possible that these 2 simpletons have actually stumbled upon the very children they themselves were unable to locate???

"It's true, we swear it!" continued Syakomon, the clam-like Digimon, "They had the little glowy gadgets and everything! They even made a little Pichimon Digivolve into a Bukamon!!!"

It WAS true that the DigiDestined had the power to make Digimon Digivolve..... and these 2 DEFINITELY seemed to know what they were talking about.......... they really MUST have seen them! This changed everything. The game was now afoot.

"Tell me..... where did you see these... DigiDestined?"

"In the Ruined Rivers, lord Pukumon!"

"The Ruined Rivers???" asked Gryphonmon, dumbfounded.

"What could they possibly be doing there?" wondered SkullMammothmon, "Pukumon, do YOU know of anything relevant left in that area???"

"Well, I know of only 1 thing they'll find there..." began Pukumon.

"Oh?" inquired SkullMammothmon, "What might THAT be?"

"Their DESTRUCTION!!!!!!"

Chapter 4: What the...?

"..... nothing."

Everyone eventually said this, first Izzy, down to Kari. Where Gennai's great mansion once stood, now there was nothing. No house, not even debris..... just nothing. Just the floor beneath them meeting the water.

"Uh..... call me Mr. Obvious Question here, but ah........ where is it?" asked Joe.

"Call me Mr. Obvious Answer, but I have no clue!" replied Matt.

"But... but.........." stammered Gomamon, "..... but I know this is the place. I KNOW it! I remember swimming right here, and all of a sudden, all the water under me disappeared!! It-"

"Yeah, yeah, we KNOW, Gomamon!" interrupted Palmon, "We saw it happen! We believe you! And if you say this was the place, then we sure as heck buy it!"

"... of course, it would help if we had anything to show for it right about now...." mumbled Tentomon.

"You mean to tell me we went ALL this way for NOTHING?!?" shouted Salamon, "That you guys don't even know where you're GOING?!?!?"

"Settle down, Salamon!" suggested Kari, calmly, "It's not their fault, and we don't know any more than THEY do. So let's just follow along, ok?"

"..... ok. Sorry," apologized Salamon.

"It's ok, Salamon, don't worry about it!" reassured Patamon, "This can't be easy, not being able to help with something like this. But cheer up, we'll figure it out!"

"Gee.... thanks, Patamon..." said Salamon.

"Hmm....... Don't suppose when Gennai e-mailed you over here he left a forwarding address, huh?" inquired Izzy.

"Sorry, didn't seem important at the time," replied Gabumon, "We were only worried about saving you guys!"

"Well, I say we start looking for something," suggested Sora, "You know, some kind of clue as to what happened and where he went."

"I agree, and it's a lot better than sitting around doing nothing!" replied Tai. They all began to walk to the "ruins".

Big mistake.

As they approached the site, it suddenly..... erupted, is the best word for it. It began to shatter and quake, hurling the DigiDestined every-which-way. They looked up to see huge spikes dropping down and smashing the earth before them. Before they could react to this situation, they faced another problem: the walls of water were beginning to weaken and wobble. They couldn't figure out where to look; everything was a blur. Finally, the walls couldn't take the strain, and collapsed, engulfing the kids and their Digimon in the water. They held their breath the best they could. It was hard to make anything out, but they managed to distinguish something from the scramble of the ocean: a large, smiling blowfish. Pukumon. It had to be him. But, how did he find them? They had no time to think about questions right now; the important thing right now was to get up to the shore. Unfortunately, it was more than a few steps away, and they couldn't exactly tell where they were going. No problem, they would simply surface. Not so simple. With a large breath, Pukumon distorted the ocean, leaving the DigiDestined spinning, not knowing which way WAS up! All but Gomamon. And with a glow of Joe's Digivice, he set out to take this problem head on.

"Gomamon, Digivolve to.... Ikkakumon!!!!"

There, once again, Gomamon shed his purple striped, red-headed Rookie form, and donned his white-furred, black-horned Champion form of Ikkakumon. He then proceeded to retrieve the children and other Digimon, one by one. At the same time, he launched his heat-seeking Harpoon Torpedo to try to distract Pukumon. To no avail. Pukumon merely held his fist out as the missiles exploded on impact, Pukumon not shaken in the least. As Ikkakumon attempted to bring the DigiDestined to land, the enemy drew closer and closer. Finally, he caught up with the water mammal, and proceeded to attack him. He punched the walrus over and over again, causing Ikkakumon to wince. The kids and their Digimon were beginning to run out of air and energy, and Ikkakumon had next to no energy left. Finally, the enemy decided to quit toying with him, and launched some of his spikes. The first 2 grazed Ikkakumon, injuring him.

The third embedded itself deep into the hero's side, causing him to wail in agony.

Joe attempted a scream, but was muffled by, and began to choke on, the water. He tried to get Ikkakumon to Digivolve to Zudomon, but it was too late, and Ikkakumon hadn't the energy to Digivolve again. As he plummeted to the ground below, he began to glow, and De-Digivolved once again back into Gomamon, with some definite wear from the battle; he had bruises all over his little body, and he was bleeding from where the spike had hit its mark. Luckily, the spike itself flew free after its large host disappeared, and floated off before disintegrating. Gomamon wasn't moving. As Joe tried desperately to swim to reach him, he managed to make out that Gomamon was breathing, but barely. Or was that how Gomamons breathe underwater? He hadn't the time to discuss to himself. For there was Pukumon, just swimming there, as if he were looking for a target. His eyes rolled left.... right.... back to the left as he scanned for his first victim. Finally, he decided on his prey.

As he moved forward to strike, he suddenly found himself slamming into the ocean floor. He crashed with a loud thud as a large cloud of dust flowed through the water. As the kids tried to figure out what had just happened, they found themselves being whisked away. Some were yanked through a current, some felt themselves riding a soft, yet firm surface, and some felt teeth carrying them. The next thing they knew, they broke through the surface of the water and were flying through the air for a brief time, before beginning to simply skim the surface. The kids, exhausted, finally got a chance to take in some oxygen before examining the situation. They were riding a strange, blue, fish-like creature with white stripes, a long snout, and several large fins on its back. They had never seen this creature, but whatever it was, it was swimming incredibly fast, for which they were grateful.

"Uh, excuse me...." began Sora, "thanks for saving us. But, who are you?"

"What, you mean you don't recognize me?" the monster replied.

The kids were confused. "Do we know you?" inquired TK.

"Well, I guess I HAVE lost a couple thousand pounds since last time!"

The kids then took a closer look. There was something familiar about this beast.

"..... Whamon?"

Chapter 5: Departure

"DAMN!"

That's probably the cleanest word that escaped Pukumon's mouth after freeing himself after being embedded in the sand and dirt. He would have kicked something, had he legs to do it with. Something hit him. Hard. He didn't know WHAT it was, but one thing he DID know.

He was pissed.

"How did this happen??? I had them! ALL of them!!! Even the water mammal! They were at my mercy!!!" He was in an absolute rage. In a minute, he found he had company, in the form of several long, red, lobster-like Digimon. "Get outta here, Ebidramon!!!" he shouted to them, "Go find somebody else to bug!"

"But Pukumon," the Ebidramon replied, "We saw where the DigiDestined were headed!"

"WHERE?!?!?!?!?" Pukumon demanded. His eyes were burning with hate.

"A ways to the southeast, near the White Seas."

"Hmm....... this just gets better and better," said Pukumon, pondering. "I have an operative out there.... he should be able to hold them off long enough for me to....." He thought for a moment. He then contacted the other Dark Masters using his psychic link. "Hey, guys!"

"What is it, Pukumon?" replied SkullMammothmon.

"I screwed up, I lost 'em," reported Pukumon, "But a few of my soldiers know where they're headed. A friend of mine there will hold them off long enough for me to get there and crush them!"

"Fish, you stupid?" questioned Boltmon.

"Pukumon, you are to remain there until we arrive to back you up!" ordered SkullMammothmon.

"NO! I'm going after them! They're in my element!! They don't stand a CHANCE!!!" replied Pukumon.

"That's what MetalSeadramon said..." muttered Gryphonmon.

"You FOOL, Pukumon, do not defy me!!! You cannot split this team up! You're about to make the same mistake as -"

"- Then CATCH UP WITH ME, cuz I'm NOT WAITING!!!!!" retorted Pukumon. He then cut their connection and proceeded to swim in the direction of the Ebidramon, in pursuit of the DigiDestined.

"BLAST, that IDIOT!!!!!" screamed SkullMammothmon. He was absolutely furious! Had Pukumon forgotten what splitting up had done to the ORIGINAL Dark Masters? One thing was for sure, if Pukumon was there with them, SkullMammothmon wouldn't have let him survive past that "NO" part.

"... fine......." SkullMammothmon finally said, somewhat calmer, "LET him go! Let's just see how well he fares against those brats without our help!"

"Do you think he can win alone?" asked Gryphonmon.

"..... I don't know," answered SkullMammothmon, "I do know THIS, however: if he DOES manage to survive, he'll have HELL to pay!"

"What 'bout kids?" inquired Boltmon.

"I'm not certain. He's far too cocky. It's true, he IS more powerful than MetalSeadramon ever was. But still, he underestimates those chosen children. They've beaten stronger. VenomMyotismon, Piedmon, Diaboromon, even Apocalymon himself; all have fallen to these eight humans. And they're OLDER now, and most likely WISER. Then again, they know nothing about us, whereas we know EVERYTHING about them. And with the exception of the youngest, it has been quite a while since any of them have been on active duty. And not many of them are built for the water. ESPECIALLY not their Megas."

"So, what are you saying, exactly?" asked the confused Gryphonmon.

"I'm saying that at this point, it could go either way. The balance is tipped in his favor for the time being, but barely. If he plays it smart, which ISN'T likely, he may be able to pull it off. All I know for certain is this: FOUR or ONE of us, those children better watch out for the DARK MASTERS!!!!!"

Chapter 6: Return of an Old Friend

"Well...." the Digimon acknowledged to the DigiDestined children, "I guess you could say that."

"Wow........ Pardon me for saying this, Whamon, but....... uh......... you're..........." attempted Palmon, "..... smaller!"

"Yeah, what happened to you, big guy?" inquired Matt.

"Oh, this? Aw, it's nothin', don't worry. Between that number MetalSeadramon did on me, and MaloMyotismon's corruption, it's just gotten tougher to reach my Ultimate level of Whamon yet. This is my Champion form," he continued, "For now, you can call me Dolphmon!"

"Dolphmon, huh?" absorbed Tai, "Cool. I'm surprised though; all that time, and THIS is as far as you've gotten?"

"Yeah, sucks, don't it?" replied Dolphmon, with that air of sarcasm about him.

"Well, it sure doesn't seem to have hindered you much," offered Gabumon. "You still managed to take out a Mega Digimon!"

"Yeah, well, I DID have the element of surprise on 'im," commented Dolphmon, "And he's not down for the count. I just managed to keep him occupied long enough to get you guys out of there. I wouldn't be surprised if he was tailing us right now!"

"Not to sound ungrateful, Dolphmon," began Agumon, "but where are you taking us?"

"Oh, I'm bringing you to see your old friend!"

"Old friend?" asked Biyomon.

"Gennai."

"Oh yeah, that's right! Where is he???" inquired Izzy.

"Oh, he moved!" answered Dolphmon. "What, he didn't invite you to his going-away party?"

"Why would he move?" asked Patamon. "Was it cuz of the Dark Masters?"

"Yes. They invaded his territory. If they had managed to find him, he would have been history. So he forwarded himself to somewhere new before they could discover his location. Otherwise, it would've been curtains for a housewarming party!" he concluded, with Whamon's old love for bad jokes.

Joe looked worried. Gomamon wasn't getting any better. He was breathing somewhat normally now, but he still wasn't opening his eyes, or reacting to any call or touch. Pukumon. That ugly excuse for a goldfish had really done a number on him. "Uh, Wh.... er, Dolphmon," he stammered, "any chance of maybe HURRYING UP?!? Gomamon needs help, FAST!!!"

"Sorry Joe," replied Dolphmon, "I'm going as fast as I can, but this body just isn't built for passengers! I'll try to see if maybe I can take it up a notch, though."

"Thanks," said Joe weakly. He looked down at his Digimon partner. Poor little guy. This shouldn't have happened. He Digivolved to protect all of them. And what did he get out of it? He got hurt. Somehow, it just didn't seem fair. Ooh, that Pukumon better look out, cuz if Joe ever got his hands on him he'd-

"Well, here we are!" announced Dolphmon.

The kids looked up... to the left... to the right... behind... below............

Nothing.

"Uh.... Dolphmon?" Tai started, "Is this some kind of joke???"

"Yeah, I don't see a thing!" added Salamon.

"Look further up, then," suggested Dolphmon.

And so they did. And what they saw surprised them.

A shadow in the clouds.

They made out what appeared to be a house within the clouds. So THAT'S why they couldn't find Gennai! They'd been looking in the wrong direction the whole time.

"So that's Gennai's mansion, huh?" inquired Gabumon, "Hm... not bad. Not many people are going to find him up there."

"..u..g....h.........r........" moaned Gomamon. Right away, Joe cut in. "Alright, enough GAWKING at it! The question now is how do we get up there?!?" Just then, his Digivice began to glow. As the others watched, their own Digivices began glowing as well. They then looked around to see a strange fog surround them.

"Oh man," cried Joe, "don't tell me Myotismon's here!"

"I don't believe this is him," replied Izzy. "This fog seems lighter... almost inviting....."

Then, they looked ahead to see a doorway materialize before them. They looked at the door, then at each other. Even considering all they had gone through as the DigiDestined, THIS was weird! Then, Dolphmon intervened. "It's alright, it's Gennai's little way of saying 'come on in'." They finally decided they had nothing to lose. One by one, the kids and their Digimon entered the passageway. They then thought a second and turned around. "What about you, Dolphmon?" asked Biyomon.

"Ach, you guys don't need me up there!" answered Dolphmon, "Besides, even if you did, then TOUGH! Ain't no way you're getting me up those stairs! Aw, don't worry, guys, if you need me, I'll have a telepathic link up to the mansion. But for the time being... BUH BYE, NOW!"

Chapter 7: Just the Guy We've Been Looking For!

"Ah, so you've made it!"

These words awaited the DigiDestined as they entered Gennai's new mansion in the clouds. Of course, these words were followed by more words: "Took ya long enough."

"Sorry, we would've been here sooner..." began Matt, "... but SOMEBODY forgot to give us directions!!!"

Soon, the kids noticed something... something didn't seem right about Gennai. What was it? Did he cut his hair? Did he have a new robe? And as they began to ponder just how long it actually HAD been, they realized the problem.

Gennai was old. REAL old.

"Hey, no offense Gennai, but did you just get out of the tub or something? How come you're all wrinkly again?" asked Mimi.

"Don't worry, none taken," reassured Gennai. "But no, the further deterioration of the DigiWorld has taken its toll on me. You see, the reason I was able to regain my youthfulness was because of my trips to the real world, where I could recharge my energy. But with the gate currently inaccessible to me, I've been weakening. My other copies, Benjamin, Gonzales, and the others have already lost power and been deleted. Since I'm the original, that'll be a lot tougher to do, but I'm still just as weak as the day you first met me."

"Gennai, what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell us you moved?" asked TK.

"Sorry about that," the old man apologized, "My bad. I was so busy with everything else, everything went so fast, from the Dark Masters, to moving, to sending you your Digimon... I knew I was forgetting something."

"Oh jeez, how convenient!" mumbled Tai.

"Hmm..." Kari was gathering her surroundings. "... Nice place you've got, here!"

"Thanks, I didn't think it was too shabby myself!" replied Gennai. "Plus, I don't have to pay any rent! I mean, who's gonna wanna live up in a cloud?"

"Gennai!" called Joe. "Is there something you can do for Gomamon here???"

"Hmm, let me see," Gennai walked up and approached the sprawled out water mammal. He looked him over for a minute, then stood up, turned around, and flicked a switch on the wall.

Joe was expecting the lights to come on in that dark hallway across the room, but instead felt something bump his rump. He turned around to see a tank... a kind of large fish tank, the shape of... a bed, he supposed, with nothing in it but water. He then beckoned Joe to bring Gomamon to him. Joe considered for a second, then carefully scooped the creature up, placed him in Gennai's arms, and watched as Gennai placed him into the water. "What is that?" inquired Joe.

"It's a special formula of water; you won't find it just lying around in an ocean or anything," Gennai answered. "It contains nutrients and minerals, as well as special vaccines to help heal his injuries, yet enough oxygen to keep him breathing normally."

"How long until he's back to normal?" was Joe's obvious, yet important next question.

"Oh, don't worry, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes before he's back up on his... uh... feet. You're just lucky you got him here when you did; otherwise, it may have been too late. As it is, it'll be a while before he's FULLY recovered and repaired. Now, let's get to the other room; I believe you and your friends have some questions."

"... yeah," finally replied Joe. He let Gennai lead the way, as he looked back at his Digimon companion. He thought he saw a faint glimmer in his eye.

He finally entered the other room and sat down with the others, including a psychic-holographic projection of Dolphmon.

"Ok, kids," Gennai began, "I will now take any questions you may have."

"Ok, Gennai," Tai decided to start things off, "Our first question is: Who the heck ARE these guys?"

"Yeah," continued Sora, "and where'd they come from?"

"The creatures you have encountered are the new Dark Masters, though how they gained the rights to use such a trademark name is beyond me. They're 4 Megas who are very evil, and very deadly. They seem to be unique creatures, and any relation to the original Dark Masters has yet to be confirmed. As to WHERE they came from, your guess is as good as mine! With Oikawa's spirit power still forming a protective barrier around the Digital World, no sort of data corruption should have happened. On top of that, not that much time has passed here, and with the condition of the monsters after Davis and the others left, nobody should have reached any kind of Mega level yet. So whatever they are, they somehow got some kind of evolution booster, kind of like how your own Digimon Digivolved very quickly using the Tags, Crests, and Digivices. Whatever it was, it COULDN'T have been natural."

"Yeah, and it seems like they know us perfectly!" said Palmon. "They creamed us!"

"Gennai, how's the world holding up?" asked Matt.

"Not well, I'm afraid," sighed Gennai. "They've managed to take hold of the Digital World over ten times faster than the original Dark Masters, and made Oikawa's spirit power no more than an old legend. Furthermore, rather than simply containing the inhabitants of an area, they mutate them."

"Mutate them?"

"They'll cause a glitch in their Digivolution," explained Gennai. "Cause them to Digivolve one step further, a huge leap backward, or even change them to a different monster of the same level with similar attributes. In their confusion, they're much easier to manipulate and control. This makes less work for them, as these new Mutates will clear the area FOR them. Most have already been turned."

"I was lucky; I managed to escape before they could ever find me," inserted Dolphmon.

"That's right," continued Gennai, "Otherwise, you may well have been encountering Pukumon's new pet Whamon, or at least something close."

"Gennai, these new guys are WAY stronger than Piedmon's gang of Dark Masters," stated Mimi.

"Yes, far TOO strong," added Izzy. "I'm afraid even if our 4 Megas were available, it may STILL not be enough to defeat them!"

"Yes, I know," replied Gennai. "But I have some good news, however: hold out your hands." The kids reached out to Gennai, as he placed small, golden objects, each with a colored center, into their hands. They recognized them immediately. "I've managed to reinstall the Crest program within you and your Digimon partners. However, there is very little energy available at this time, even from Azulongmon and the others, so they will need to remain portable for the time being. On the plus side, though, you should now be able to Digivolve normally to your Ultimate and Mega forms. Still, we may very well need more power. If only the Legenduarians would appear."

"Lujewha?" babbled Agumon.

"Long before we created your Digimon and Crests, we created 4 Digimon guardians; digital warriors, much like Azulongmon and the others, who, at the height of darkness, would go Mega in a flash of golden light, and forever more protect the land from evil. Unfortunately, the first batch we created had a glitch, and, thanks to Apocalymon, became the first wave of Dark Masters instead. Ironic; they became the very things they were sent to protect against. Now, I haven't been outside the program since MaloMyotismon attacked, but a rumor of sorts says that the error was fixed and repaired, but without the original bodies, the programs were installed into 4 existing sprites as vessels, who are now scattered across the DigiWorld. At a time like this, however, they should have emerged. So unless the rumor is false, my guess is that whoever the guardians are, they've either been deleted, mutated, or just don't know what they are yet."

"Gennai, how long do you think it will be before we can get back home?" asked Kari.

"I'm not certain, Kari," he replied. "We can't risk sending you home between battles, as we have yet to determine whether or not time has been disrupted or not, and if so then how. But don't worry, Davis and the others have already contacted me; they're covering for you in the real world."

"Thank goodness for small favors," stated Sora.

"Aw jeez..." muttered Joe, "This just gets more and more ridiculous."

"Hey, it can't be all bad!" said a voice from out of nowhere. They turned to see their favorite little white, purple-striped water mammal: Gomamon! "After all, look where it brought us!"

Joe couldn't believe it! He ran over and picked the animal up and gave him a great big hug. He was sure Gomamon would pull through, but in that way that he WASN'T so sure... you know what I mean. He then backed up and looked at him. He still had some bruises from the battle, but luckily the bleeding had receded. Still, he definitely looked worse for wear. So of course, Joe asked, "Gomamon, what're you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in that waterbed relaxing and healing?"

"Hey, come on, Joe, I need to know what's going on here too!" replied Gomamon. "Especially if I'm going to-" he then tripped, and picked himself up, "-be helping you guys out! ESPECIALLY against that creep PUKUMON!!!"

"Whoa, no way, Gomamon," stated Joe. "You're takin' a breather for now!"

"Aw, but Joe!!!" whined Gomamon. You could still see that thirst to fight in his eyes.

"No buts, Little-G,"insisted Joe.

"I'm sorry, Gomamon..." began Gennai, "... but Joe's right. As much as we need the team together, you won't be any help to anyone if you can't even hold yourself up. The bath gave you a jump start at recovery, but at the length of time you were in there, that's ALL it did. It will take time to heal ALL your injuries."

"Don't worry, little fish," reassured Dolphmon. "I'm certain the others and I can keep these creatures from doing anymore harm while you reju-" He stopped. "Wait." The others became still, as they watched his projected image looking in all directions. Finally, he seemed to spot something to its right. He then looked up, as though looking at the children, and shouted out what he could of "HURRY!!!" before being blown over and losing contact with his image in the home. Something had just attacked Dolphmon!

The kids began to run outside, when Gennai stopped them. "STOP!!!" he called, as the kids turned around. "You now have 3 tasks ahead of you: you must find and awaken the dormant Legenduarians, you must eliminate this new threat of these all-different Dark Masters, and above all else... be careful."

The kids nodded, and continued to run, until Joe stopped. He then turned around. Gomamon was directly behind him, following the group. "Gomamon," began Joe, "what part of 'relax and rejuvenate' didn't you register?!?"

"The part where I'm not allowed to join in the fight and help my friends!!!" replied Gomamon. The 2 looked at each other for a second, until finally, Joe gave a light, shameful nod. Gomamon smiled, and kept running out with the others to the front porch of the mansion. "Good luck," called Gennai after them.

They looked down into the waters to see Dolphmon and Pukumon duking it out. Guess who was winning. Dolphmon kept fighting, however; although he had no advantage or chance of victory, he was holding his own surprisingly well. Finally, Pukumon grabbed Dolphmon's snout with his left hand. As much as Dolphmon struggled, he wasn't about to squirm out of Pukumon's grip. Pukumon grinned as he lifted up his right hand, in preparation to strike. As he had reached the stretch his arm could cock back, something caught his eye... lots of things, actually. He turned and looked up, to see the DigiDestined, standing on a cloud next to a floating house. He didn't TRY to make any kind of sense out of it. He just floated there on top of the water, watching them.

Tai began to speak to the group. "Ok, guys, it has to start somewhere, and THIS is it! This is where we begin our quest anew! This is where we eliminate the evil!! THIS is where we show that the eight of us have still got it!!!" The group continued to stand, ready as ever for the battle, confidence building within them once more. Joe, ready to help those who are depending on them right now. Sora, feeling great emotion towards her loved ones, as well as those unfortunate enough to have met their fate already. Mimi, showing genuine pureness of heart in doing what she knows is right. Izzy, thirsting for information as to the state of things and as to what awaits them. Kari, innocent as ever, willing to give more OF herself than she would give TO herself. TK, his spark of hope renewed, as he felt the desire to win. Matt, happy to be among his friends, yet sad that enough friends had to be hurt for it to get to this point once more. Tai, knowing that this is where they go above and beyond destiny. And Tai's last words would set the pace for the rest of their trip.



"The DigiDestined are BACK!!!!!!!!!!"





To Be Continued.....