DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sabirdramon. He and Penmon are both official Digimon. Go ahead and look 'em up, if you want…

* * *

Anne's D-Power started beeping, suddenly. She and Kamemon had just gotten home. Kamemon looked pleadingly at her and asked, "Where is it?"

She looked at the screen. "St. James Park, again. Odd. They don't usually turn up in the same place twice. Ready?"

"Right." In one minute, they were speeding down Bedford Street again. But, somehow, the ride appeared to be a lot smoother instead of haphazard turns every three seconds.

"Man, Kamemon, have you been practicing?" Anne asked. She didn't get a reply, since they were right there at St. James Park. Penmon and Jonathan were there, too. "Oh, hello Mr. Cleese." Jonathan groaned and said, "Honestly, we don't have time for that. What does your D-Power say about the Digimon?" There was a great hulking shadow that she could spot through the thickening fog. The D-Power whirred and lit up with the Digimon's info. It was a Paildramon. "Uh-oh," she said. "Paildramon is an Ultimate, right?"

"Of course it's an Ultimate. What's so bad about that?"

She didn't really know why, but she had a bad feeling about this. She swallowed nervously and selected the Digivolution card. "DigiModify! Digivolution activate!"

"Kamemon, Digivolve tooooo… Nisamon! Petit Dragon Blast!" screamed the new Nisamon as a small blue ball of pure energy smashed into Paildramon. The giant lizard armed with two big guns was hardly fazed. "Petit Dragon Blast!" he roared and emitted another blue ball of energy directed at Paildramon.

"Desperado Blaster!" the creature retaliated, but Nisamon was too quick for it. Nisamon leaped took a running start, then leaped into the air and yelled, "Quantum Leap!" The airborne attack trapped Paildramon inside a small bubble that was rapidly growing smaller. It would keep him immobile for a few minutes, enough to work out a strategy. Or so they thought. The bubble immediately snapped open as Paildramon took a swing at the vulnerable Nisamon. "Desperado Blaster!"

"Nisamon!" Anne yelled. "What's wrong?!"

"I don't know!" he yelled back. Then he tried to dodge one of the attacks, but got clipped. "I don't feel too good…"

"Nisamon!" She growled and reached for her cards. "Oh, bugger. Digimodify! Speed activate!"

"What are you using that for?!" asked Jonathan incredulously. "He doesn't need THAT!"

She ignored him and hoped for the best. But Nisamon wasn't making progress. Finally, it was time for Penmon to step in. "Penmon, Digivolve tooooo… Sabirdramon!" In Penmon's place was a giant, black Birdramon.

"What?" she said, hidden in the shadows. This was most unexpected. "Where did HE come from?! Oh well, might as well make the best of it." She brushed back an ebony lock of hair and silently waited for the Paildramon to join the choir invisible. It wouldn't be long now.

"Black Saber!" screamed Sabirdramon, emitting black flames from his wings. They struck Paildramon dead-on in the chest, not appearing to do much damage. But suddenly, Paildramon groaned, fell over, and deleted in a swirl of red data. But Sabirdramon wasn't absorbing its data.

"Why aren't you absorbing the data?" Jonathan asked. "That's not like you at all."

"I'm trying, it won't work." Then, frustrated, he beat his wings violently and asked, "Why can't I take your bloody data?!"

"It helps if it's a real Digimon," said a sudden voice. Anne whipped her head around to see none other than the woman who was checking out Kamemon earlier, while he was disguised as a bike. "Seriously, now. It took your measly Nisamon to practically fight to the death just to defeat a Paildramon at In-Training level."

In-Training? That was impossible! "How could it possibly be an In-Training?!" she asked.

"Simple. Lower its level but sustain its shape. I do believe that Nisamon is a little lackluster, if you ask me."

Lackluster?! Nisamon growled and said, "Petit Dragon Blast!" He then tried to attack, but the energy was somehow diverted into two streams instead of one, each clearly missing the woman. "Wha…what?"

"Honestly, you think a mere Champion can even lay a scratch on me? I should think not." She then produced a small, glass orb out of her trenchcoat. And it floated. Nisamon attempted another attack, but suddenly collapsed.

"Nisamon!" Anne couldn't believe it. What's going on? "What's the matter with you?! Get up!"

"I…can't…" he said, weakly. "Can't…move…"

"That's more like it," the woman sneered. The glass orb was apparently sapping Nisamon's energy dry. It then split into five smaller ones and formed a pyramid around him. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and purple lines bolted across the so-called pyramid, connecting each orb, and also forming a force field that was barely visible and hovering about a few feet off the ground. Nisamon was inside it.

"NISAMON!" Anne screamed, and lunged toward the field.

"Let's not forget about you," said the other, and produced another one of those diabolic orbs. Anne's knees suddenly buckled and she fell to the ground, unable to move. It was like her muscles wouldn't respond. "Ta ta, children," said the woman, and she backed away, out of the fog. The hovering pyramid followed, with Nisamon still trapped inside. Anne struggled for breath.

"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Just a millisecond later, the fog disappeared. But neither of them were to be seen. A deathly silence was all that remained.

"Anne?" said Jonathan.

"I can't believe it… He's gone, Jonathan, he's really gone."

* * *

"Sir? We've received results from the lab."

"Good. What did you make of it?"

"Well, uh, it's got one of those twiddle-thingies that are included with some American patents. Y'know, the ones that use psychic power?

Ugh. Twiddle-thingies? "So?" asked Yamaki.

"So, uhhh," continued the young assistant, searching for the right answer. "We think it might need psychic power to, uh, function. Properly, that is."

"Psychic power? I don't have time for this nonsense."

"But, sir—"

"I don't care. Just find out what it does, nothing else. Got that?"

"Yes, sir…"

They had found the queer device in the control room. Yamaki had a strong suspicion that it belonged to the thief, which would most likely mean that they would be coming back for it. And if they didn't, then they would eventually find out what it was for. So far, there had been no luck, mainly due to these foolish scientists who wanted to find out what it was made of first. They didn't have any time for that. The assistant started down the hall, but turned back and yelped, "Oh, I almost forgot! We DID find something really strange."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"There were several messages on it, and even a few recordings. One of the recordings, though…" He trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Show them to me. Now."

* * *

Unimportant Note: I think I said earlier that this fic had some strong influences from the Dragonriders of Pern series, and the bit where Anne yelled "don't leave me alone" came from the book Dragonsinger. If you figured that out already, go give yourself a brownie.