Author's Notes: I do not own Digimon, the characters, or their world. I own Nex, Shadowmon, and the Digital Eliminator. I also own Ria. And KEN! I OWN KEN! I DO! I DO! I DO! HE IS MINE! *ahem* To make it easier, here are the ages of the Digidestined in the Digiworld.
Iori/Miyako--13
Daisuke/Ken/Hikari/Takeru/Taichi/Sora--11
Koushiro/Mimi--10
Yamato--14
Jyou--16
Yes, I know. I favor them younger. INCREDIBLY younger. The only exceptions to this general rule are Miyako, Iori, Yamato, and Jyou. My reasons? For Iori, it's a secret. Yamato and Jyou have much cooler hairstyles in 02. And Miyako? I was just bored of all the not-changed-at-all ages. :)

Chapter II
"Digital Game"

Iori, Miyako, Hikari, Takeru, Daisuke, Koushiro, Yamato, and Ken tumbled out of the dark mist and onto the ground. All eight made noises of decided pain.

"What just happened?" Takeru asked, rubbing his head and glancing around.

Hikari screamed and pointed at Takeru. "Oh, my God! Look!"

Everyone looked around, and consequently paled.

Koushiro was ten years old again. Yamato was fourteen. Iori had remained thirteen, Miyako was about thirteen, and the others were all eleven--complete with clothing and hairstyles. Ken twirled a lock of indigo hair between his fingers. "Well, this is certainly a development."

Koushiro groaned. "This is awful! My hair hasn't been this long and spiky since I was..."

"Ten," Yamato supplied. "You ARE ten! You look and sound exactly like you did the first time we ever went to the Digiworld! And I'm fourteen again..."

"LOOK AT ME!" Miyako screeched. "I HAVE GLASSES!"

"Calm down," Iori said rationally.

"Well, it's fine for you!" Daisuke cried, hyperventilating. "Not that I mind the goggles, but..."

Iori watched his friends, who were in various states of panic. "Well, obviously this happened for a reason."

"Of course," a new, but slightly familiar, voice said smoothly. Iori spun around to see a girl drop from a nearby tree. Black hair fell in curls around a pale face. The girl wore blue-tinted glasses to hide her eyes, and was dressed in clothing much like those that Ken had worn as the Kaizer, only of darker colors. Instead of a whip, she carried a sharp rapier. There seemed to be a shadow glowing around her.

"Who are you?" Hikari cried.

The girl smirked. "I am the Digital Eliminator, Nexus Eliminus. It is I who have changed your ages to suit my own personal needs. Something you, Ichijouji, could not do."

Ken glared at her, fists clenched.

Iori managed to get his vocal cords working. "You're trying to eliminate the Digital World?"

"Obviously, Hida. That's why I chose the name Eliminator." She smirked at him. "You are truly pathetic, Chosen of the Digiworld. You haven't even got your digimon at this particular moment in time. Why should you defeat me and my Shadowmon?"

The shadow around her whipped her hair dramatically back from her temples before rising to congeal in a cloud above her. "Nexusssss," it hissed, "may I desssstroy them?"

"Not yet, Shadowmon." She lowered her glasses for the fraction of a second to peer at them, then covered her eyes before Iori could see what color they were. "I'm going to play with them."

"Like Puppetmon?" Yamato asked bitterly.

Nexus laughed cruelly. "Not exactly, my dear Ishida. Not exactly." She snapped her fingers. "Shadowmon, show them."

Shadowmon spun around, forming a dark circle around an image of a girl. She was dirty and ragged, her blonde hair tangled. "That," Nexus stated, "is my slave, Ria. Not even you, Ichijouji, made a human your slave. Now, my pets, the game is that you have 24 hours to save Ria. You may call your...friends...to help you. At the end of 24 hours, if you have found her, you earn her freedom and the knowledge she possesses. If you haven't, I win, and you will be thrown back into your own world, without another chance. Do you agree?"

The digidestined exchanged looks, and then Daisuke nodded grimly. "We agree. But--our digimon--"

"Will find you presently." Nexus waved at them. "Toodle-oo, digidestined. See you in 24 hours." Shadowmon curled around her waist and lifted her up, carrying her swiftly out of sight.

Yamato promptly cursed. "This is disgusting!" he cried. "A human for a slave!"

"Well, we're going to save her," Miyako pointed out.

"We can't spare 24 hours, and the others can't, either," Takeru said rationally.

"We have to, Takeru," Hikari pointed out, snuggling against them.

He sighed. "Fine. Let's email the others."

*

One of their precious hours was wasted while the others found ways to get into the Digiworld without arousing suspicion. Eventually, everyone managed to tumble into the forest. Taichi and Sora had become eleven. Jyou was sixteen again. Mimi, like Koushiro, was ten, to her great dismay. She, Sora, and Miyako immediately began wailing--Miyako was set off by a fresh reminder from Taichi that she had glasses again. Sora was angry about her helmet, while Mimi sobbed on Jyou's shoulder about her hair.

"So," Taichi said brightly.

"I hate this," Mimi said darkly.

"We should get going," Iori said neutrally. He unobstrusively glanced at Ken, who had been silent since before the Eliminator had appeared. It was strange to see his friend younger than him—but stranger still to see him so depressed. Lonely.

Frightened?

Iori shook it off and stood up straighter as Takeru replied, "Yeah, let's go. We only have about 23 hours left to save that girl."

The others nodded, and the digidestined trooped off into the forest.

*

Ria watched through her enchanted mirror and sighed as it turned off, showing only her reflection. That signified that someone had entered the room. She turned, expecting to see Nexus.

It wasn't.

"Are you all right?" Wormmon asked, crawling into the room.

Ria winced. "Yeah, I guess." She touched the bruise that was forming on her face. "It could have been worse."

"A lot worse," Wormmon confirmed, glancing significantly at the scars running up her arms.

Ria sighed. "I just wish she wouldn't use the sword. It's terribly dangerous." Silence. "Maybe that's why she likes it so. She always had a taste for blood."

Wormmon nodded as Ria bent to pick him up. "I wish Ken-chan was here."

"He'll be here," Ria assured the green worm. "So will all the rest of them. They aren't exactly powerless; she hasn't tried to capture the rest of their digimon."

Wormmon snuggled against Ria's chest. "Why me, then?"

Ria smiled gently down at him. "Maybe because you're so adorable, even she can't resist you." The blonde girl turned back to her mirror, which twisted into an image.

A bad image.

"Wormmon," she hissed. He looked up and gasped.

"Ken-chan!"

*

The digidestined had been walking for only five minutes when they stumbled upon a clearing. They looked around silently, almost expecting a challenge.

None came.

Sora breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, we haven't been attacked."

"All the challenge we need is finding the castle," Hikari reminded her friend.

Iori silenced them with a wave of his hand. "This feels...wrong," he murmured.

Ken nodded, still not speaking. Iori shot a look at him, and was surprised to see the boy's violet eyes widen in shock.

"Iori, look out!" Taichi screamed. Ken threw himself forward, knocking himself and Iori to the ground as a huge claw shot into the space Iori had previously occupied. Both rolled out of the way and to their feet, gasping. The other digidestined scattered as the claw shot down again. "Machinedramon!" Jyou and Koushiro cried as the machine digimon attacked again.

They managed to avoid it for a little while, but eventually Daisuke tripped and fell headlong into Yamato. They both tumbled to the ground. While they struggled to get up, Machinedramon prepared to strike...

And didn't.

"Hey!" Iori screamed from the opposite side of the clearing. The others looked at him and faded obediently into the foliage when he waved at them. Ken remained, pulling Yamato to his feet and then reaching down to grab Daisuke. Yamato dashed away at a signal from Iori, who was also pulling back into the more sheltered forest.

Machinedramon wasn't fooled. His claw shot down, straight at Ken and Daisuke...


Author's Notes: Next chapter, we resolve this lovely cliffhanger and get our first real glimpse of the power of Nexus Eliminus...
Ken: ...you would dare to hurt me?
I love to torture you. You know that.
Casia: *seething* And what is with Ria and Wormmon? She's not going to fall in love with him, IS SHE?
*sweatdrop* No, Casia, she isn't. She's thirteen; he's fifteen and in the form of an eleven-year-old.
Casia: Alright. Don't scare me like that.
Ken: ...I'm not okay.