As they came to the end of the pier, they saw Matt, Joe, and T

As they came to the end of the pier, they saw Matt, Joe, and T.K. waiting for them, and they all piled into a large jeep-like, all-terrain vehicle, glad for the chance to get off their feet. It was still the middle of the night, and now that the danger had passed, they all wanted to fall asleep.

Matt , Joe and T.K. told them about what happened at their apartment building while Gennai drove through the darkened streets of Oidaba. SteelSpidermon, along with several Dokugumon, Snimon and Kuwagamon, had attacked their apartment building, and when they had responded, a battle ensured. The champion Digimon had been dealt with at ease, but it had taken the power of MetalGarurumon, Zudomon and MagnaAngemon to keep SteelSpidermon at bay, and Gennai had come only just in time to allow them to escape.

"Gennai, what are we going to do?" Mimi wailed again. "How can we possibly defeat Supreme Darkness?"

Gennai did not answer at first, as if he were considering which words would not cause Mimi to worry even more. "I do not know, Mimi, for the moment. We are all tired, I am sure, and the Digimon more than anyone. We shall have to discuss it in the morning, but there must be a way."

"I'm not tired." Patamon said, but from where he was perched atop T.K.'s hat, he didn't appear to be telling the truth.

"Supreme Darkness really makes me mad." Gatomon said, and most of the other Digimon agreed with her. "I'd like to show them who's the toughest kitty around."

The Digidestined did not seem to fully agree with their Digimon, but no one ventured to argue with them. They had been driving along in silence for several minutes, when Gennai said suddenly, and strangely calmly, "We've been spotted. SteelSpidermon is heading towards us."

"What?" Matt yelled out, almost rising from his seat in anger and partial frantic despair. "We just barely got away from him!"

"I thought you said they couldn't find us!" Mimi wailed yet again.

"I said they could not find the place where we would hide," Gennai said, "And I need several moments before I can activate the stealth mode of this vehicle." He glanced back towards the Digidestined, the worry beginning to show on his face. "I hate to ask, but could—"

"Just show me where the big creepy-crawly is." Agumon said, before Tai could stop him. "I've had just about enough of Supreme Darkness for one night." Tai glanced down at his Digimon, still partially scared from the fall Agumon had taken, and despite what the Digimon said, they were still weakened from the battle.

"I'll come too." Gabumon said, and although everyone could see Matt did not want his friend to go, he did not do much to try to stop him. Gennai glanced at a radar screen mounted into the dashboard of the car, which displayed SteelSpidermon's location. "SteelSpidermon is two blocks away, and will emerge out of that sidestreet—" He pointed through the windshield towards a darkened sidestreet. "Just after we pass it."

Agumon and Gabumon made their way to the back of the vehicle, ready to jump out and Digivolve as soon as the trunk was opened. Mimi and Joe traded places with Tai and Matt, who had their Digivices out, the screens of which were faintly glowing.

The vehicle passed the street Gennai had indicated, and as the Digidestined looked down it, all they could see were dark shadows and the sides of brick buildings. Then, as they were about to pass the street, they caught a glint of steel and one of the shadows moved towards them.

They had gone some twenty yards past the side street, when the immense form of SteelSpidermon, walking nimbly on his legs which were as tall as the lightposts around them, burst out of the shadows and came crawling rapidly after them. His eyes shone with an evil light, and his mandibles clicked together rapidly, as if he were anticipating eating the Digidestined.

"You cannot hide or escape from me, Digidesssssstined." His voice hissed after them.
Gennai had quickly accelerated, but SteelSpidermon was slowly gaining on them, and his large from legs were not far behind the rear of the vehicle. Glancing ahead to make sure there was no obstacle in the road, Gennai turned and opened the trunk, and saw SteelSpidermon's front legs nearly touch it as it opened upwards.

Agumon and Gabumon leapt out, even before the trunk had opened fully, and as they did so, Tai and Matt thrust their Digivices forward, the screens awash with bright light.

"Agumon warp-digivolved to . . . WarGreymon!"

"Gabumon warp-digivolved to . . . MetalGarurumon!"

WarGreymon struck SteelSpidermon head on, and caused the enormous steel spider to swerve to avoid his long claws. MetalGarurmon lunged, knocked SteelSpidermon back down the street, before landing on his paws and growling.

"You cannot stop me from destroying the Digidestined." SteelSpidermon said, as he raised himself on his spindly legs. "We have fought twice, and you cannot beat me."

"We'll see about that!" MetalGarurumon roared. "Ice Wolf Claw!" Several missile silos opened up in his cybernetic body, several small missiles streaked out, slamming into SteelSpidermon. They quickly encased SteelSpidermon in a thin layer of ice, which SteelSpidermon shattered with a quick blast of energy from his pincers.

"Nova Force!" WarGreymon generated a large sphere of energy between his outstretched gauntlets, and threw it as hard as he could at SteelSpidermon. The sphere hit at point-blank range, yet did nothing more than force SteelSpidermon back half a block.

"I think I'll feasssssst on you first, and then the other fools." SteelSpidermon hissed, as he advanced upon WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, towering over them. "Web Cannons!" His large abdomen split suddenly down the back, and a large steel cannon rose up. It fired once, a spinning net of yellow energy shot into the air, which slammed into WarGreymon, pinning him to the ground.

As MetalGarurumon turned to free WarGreymon, SteelSpidermon attacked again. "Spider Beam!"

The blast of energy knocked MetalGarurumon sprawling, and SteelSpidermon advanced upon WarGreymon, who still could not free himself from the strange net of energy.

Gennai had stopped the vehicle two blocks away from where MetalGarurumon, WarGreymon and SteelSpidermon were battling, and was working frantically to activate the stealth mode. "I almost have it." He called back to the Digidestined, who were watching the battle and growing increasingly worried. "I need perhaps twenty seconds more."

Just as SteelSpidermon's mandibles were about to sink into WarGreymon MetalGarurumon recovered and ran straight for the enormous form of SteelSpidermon, growling deeply.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" A stream of silver energy shot from MetalGarurumon's gaping jaws, and knocked SteelSpidermon away from where he was looming over WarGreymon.

With a swipe of his gauntlets in the correct spot, WarGreymon sliced through the energy net and sprang up. He ran straight for SteelSpidermon, as he was climbing up on his spindly legs, his gauntlets ready before him.

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon launched himself in the air as he ran, and he began to spin very fast vertically, so he appeared nothing but a spinning blur. He hit SteelSpidermon before the large insect could react, uplifting him from the ground and sending him flying, to land a half-mile away, close to the main part of downtown Oidaba.

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon headed back to the vehicle, and just before they reached the open trunk, they de-digivolved back to Agumon and Gabumon, and climbed wearily into the back of the vehicle.

"You did great!" Tai said, as he helped his friend into the vehicle and as Matt closed the trunk. He was glad that Agumon had been up to fighting Supreme Darkness twice in one night, but he knew his friend was completely exhausted from the effort.

"Maybe next time that creep will go somewhere else for a snack before he decides to eat WarGreymon." Gatomon said, and all the Digidestined laugh. They were all glad that the Digimon returned safely, and that they could laugh about it, but now that there was no more danger, they were all ready for bed as soon as possible. It was still the middle of the night, and they had all been up for at least an hour.

The vehicle started up again, and as it continued on its way down the deserted street, Gennai said "I have activated the stealth mode of this vehicle, so Supreme Darkness will be very hard pressed to find us."

"Where are we going, Gennai?" Izzy asked. Tentomon had fallen asleep next to him, still worn out from the battle with MadRobotmon. "I don't really recognize this part of Odaiba."

"The place in which we will reside is upon the outskirts of Odaiba, and I am sure none of you have ever seen it. It is a large condominium, much like Hightonview Terrace, but I have enabled several shields and cloaking devices about it so that it is impossible to find for those I do not wish to. We will be safe from Supreme Darkness there."

"Gennai, what are we going to do tomorrow?" Matt asked, and he did not bother to hide the worried tone in his voice.

"We can't just hide forever." Joe said. "Our parents will be looking for us."

"I do not plan to hide forever, Joe." Gennai said, looking at him in the rearview mirror. "You will be able to notify your parents of your whereabouts tomorrow morning, and with your past history of being drawn off to other worlds will help convince them. It need not be said that if you would try to go back to your homes Supreme Darkness would quickly find you and attack again. As for tomorrow, I intend to hold a council with you all, and we shall decide what to do."

"Do you have a plan Gennai?" Mimi asked. "Because I want all this to be over so I can go home!"

"I understand completely, Mimi." Gennai said. "And I do have a plan. Several, in fact, and you shall all see what they are about tomorrow morning." His tone indicated that the conversation was closed, so no more questions were asked.

The Digidestined looked at each other, all fighting to stay awake, despite of all that had happened. All of the Digimon save Gatomon and Patamon were either on the verge of falling asleep or were already asleep.

Tai, who remained in the rear of the vehicle with Matt, who was leaning his head against the window with his eyes closed, Gabumon sitting on the seat next to him, fast asleep, exchanged a few glances with Sora, who sent him a tired smile. He smiled back, and yawned, and he could not remember ever being so tired.

The vehicle continued down the darkened streets of Oidaiba, all conversation inside it silenced. The Digidestined saw that Gennai was heading towards the northmost part of town, near the marine and wharves. There were several tall condominiums near the marina, and Gennai pulled into the underground parking lot of one of them, turned off the engine, and then turned to look at the Digidestined.

"Once we go into the apartment, I ask that you all go straight to bed. We hsve all had enough talk and deeds for one day, and tomorrow there will be more than enough time for both, I think. I will only say this: once Supreme Darkness is unable to locate you in your regular homes, I fear they may tear apart the city to find you." He paused, and saw that the Digidestined were looking back at him, wide-awake at his words.

The Digidestined hear all this, but they did not think much of it. All they wanted then was to go back to sleep, as if all that had happened in the past hour was nothing more than a bad dream to which they had briefly woken. They all got out of the vehicle, hiding their tired and asleep Digimon as well as they could, and emerged into the large, empty lobby of the condominium. It was much like that of Hightonview Terrace, yet it had an empty, hollow feeling to it, as this place was utterly unfamiliar to them all.

They boarded two elevators, and took them up to the top floor without a word. They emerged onto the top floor corridor, which appeared empty and silent. Gennai led them down the long hallway, lit with lights in decorative holders, until they stood before a door near the end of the hallway labeled 8002. Producing a small set of keys, Gennai opened the door, to reveal a darkened apartment.

When the lights were turned on, the Digidestined noticed with some relief that the apartment was very large, having three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large kitchen, living room and dining room. The large couch in the living room had been folded out, revealing the hide-a-bed.

"There are a total of six beds in the bedrooms, and this hide-a-bed, which sleeps two." Gennai said, as the Digidestined looked over the apartment.

"Where will you sleep, Gennai?" Kari asked, after noticing that their were only eight beds.

"I will be rather comfortable in the recliner." Gennai said, smiling at Kari for noticing the insufficient numbers of beds. "I fear I shall not be sleeping much tonight," he continued, much more gravely. "There are several matters upon which I must dwell on before the council tomorrow morning when we must make several decisions."

None of the Digidestined had much to say to this. They quickly decided who would be sleeping where, and after a short debate, went off to their respective places to sleep with a final 'good night'. Gennai turned off the lights, and then disappeared into the corner of the large bedroom, near the sliding glass doors which lead out onto the balconies, where he sat down in a large recliner and said nothing more.

As rather scandalous as it might seem, Tai reflected he would not have minded sharing the hide-a-bed with Sora, but it seemed better somehow, if he shared it with his younger sister instead. He and Sora had exchanged several glances during the debate, but neither of them had said anything. Tai could see the gleaming of lust in Sora's eyes as their eyes met, but it was not the time for it.

Kari took off her cloak almost immediately after the other Digidestined had left, and after folding it and setting it down, along with her tag and crest next to the bed, lay down between the sheets, Gatomon curled up at her feet. Tai removed his cloak too, and was in the process of folding it, but then stopped as he saw the crest of Courage emblazoned upon the back.

Could he live up to what his crest stood for? The Digidestined had been through so much already, but Tai had a sinking feeling, both from Supreme Darkness's actions and Gennai's grave words, that it had only just begun. There was a long road before them all, and the end was, for the time being, unknown. The Digidestined had beaten all the evil Digimon that they had come up against so far, but Supreme Darkness was much different. They were the ones who had created all the evil Digimon of the past, and had as of yet, not been involved in the constant war waged between the powers of light and dark on the Digital World.

But as Tai's hand touched his crest hanging from his neck, he felt a sudden resolve suddenly arise within him. Several Digimon had given their lives for the Digidestined in the past, and their sacrifice would not be in vain. The whole world could be threatened by Supreme Darkness, and it was up to the Digidestined to save the world. He knew he would have to continue the fight with Supreme Darkness . . . even if the end result was that this would be the time that the Digidestined lost.

"Tai?" Kari's voice came in a whisper through the darkened apartment. "Tai, what's the matter?"

Tai lay down on his half of the bed; Agumon had lay down at the foot of it and gone to sleep several minutes before, and turned to look at his sister, who was lying a foot or so away staring back at him. "Nothing, Kari. We really should go to sleep."

"Tai, it's okay if you're scared." Kari said softly. "The rest of us are, too. We've never had to fight anyone as evil and heartless as Supreme Darkness. But we've got to stick together."

Tai smiled to himself as he heard this. His younger sister always knew what others were thinking and what to say to ease their problems. "Thanks, Kari."

Tai woke up slowly the next morning, to the sounds of a skillet sizzling. The aroma of eggs, bacon and sausage certainly was not unwelcome, and as he sat up and rubbed his eyes, he saw sunlight streaming in through the sliding glass doors, and that Gennai's recliner was empty.

Agumon and Gatomon were still sound asleep at the foot of the hide-a-bed, and from Kari's breathing, Tai deduced that she also was asleep. He got up and pulled on his cloak. He felt strangely refreshed, as if he had had several good nights of sleep instead of only one.

The lights were on in the three bedrooms down the hall from the living room, and the two bathroom doors were closed. As he moved down the hall towards one of the bathrooms, he passed by both of the bedrooms, the first of which was unoccupied save by three unmade beds. In the second bedroom, Izzy was typing busily away at his laptop, and Matt and T.K. were still asleep.

As Tai was about to stake out his claim as the next in line for the bathroom, one of the bathroom doors opened and Sora emerged, looking as if she, too, had had a very good nights' sleep. They bid each other good morning as soon as they caught sight of each other, and as they passed each other, Tai kissed her discreetly on the cheek, a gesture of which Sora returned, looking very pleased.

After finishing his business in the bathroom, Tai went into the dining room, where he found Kari, Izzy, Mimi, Sora and their respective Digimon sitting around a large rectangular table. The table was set, and pitchers of milk and orange juice were sitting in the center.

Tai took his seat between his younger sister and Sora, and greeted everyone, and received a cheerful greeting from everyone in return. It seemed everyone had a good nights' sleep, which would have been unheard of, normally. The Digidestined talked of how well they had slept, and other small talk, until Matt, T.K. and Joe, along with their Digimon came into the dining room and took their seats around the large table. The other Digidestined greeted Matt, T.K, and Joe cheerfully, which surprised them, and they returned the greeting. The pitchers of milk and orange juice were passed around, and Gennai finally immerged from the kitchen.

He was dressed in his cloak, and looked as if he too, had had a very good night's sleep, although Tai knew Gennai must have stayed up long into the night, thinking and forming plans, and must have risen before any of them to make breakfast. He was carrying large platters of bacon and sausage, and enormous skillet of scrambled eggs, and a toasted loaf of bread and butter. He set all this down at the table, and as hungry as they all were, they respectfully waited for Gennai to take his seat at the head of the large table.

He greeted them cheerfully, and was responded with greeting and thanks from all the Digidestined. Then they all began eating, taking something of everything on the table, yet there was plenty for all. The Digimon ate the most of all, as they had used a good deal of energy the day before, and they needed to replenish it for the battles which might come later that day. As they ate Gennai talked, of tales of the Digital World before the arrival of the Digidestined, and the battles he and others who fought to preserve the balance of light and darkness against the forces of evil. Nothing was said of Supreme Darkness, which heartened all the Digidestined considerably.

Some hour after they had started eating, the platters and skillet had finally been emptied, and the loaf of bread was gone, when Gennai turned suddenly serious, and the Digidestined knew it was time for them to hold a council to decide what they would do.

"I trust you all had a good nights sleep, and that this breakfast was certainly welcome?" Gennai asked. He was answered in the affirmative, and he continued. "You may be wondering why you feel so refreshed after one rather short night of sleep. This is mostly because you all were already exhausted after last night's battles, yet there is a power over this apartment which hides us from Supreme Darkness, and also, enabled you to sleep as well as you did. But now, we must talk about our plans, and of Supreme Darkness."

The mere mention of Supreme Darkness seemed to cause the Digidestined to remember why they were in this apartment, and they still had a long road ahead of them, and it would not all be of good sleep and breakfast. The Digidestined settled back and prepared to listen to Gennai and his plans.