* * *

She leaned against the steel wall, muttering curses under her breath. She was so stupid! Yet the copy of the communicator looked so real…not one detail was overlooked. Had she underestimated these people?

"Yeah. Right," she growled, in response to her own thought. She would be dead by the next day. But then she heard something outside. She quickly put her ear to the wall. Footsteps! She braced herself…

The door clicked open. She shot out almost like a cannonball and onto whoever opened it.

It was a woman. She appeared to be in her late twenties, with long brown hair. There was a look of shock written plainly across her face; it seemed the wind was knocked out of her. Before she could react, though, the other pinned her up against the wall.

"Who are you?!" she demanded of her victim.

"How did you…" She broke off.

"Where is the communicator?!"

"The…the what?"

"This!" She angrily held up the fake.

"But…isn't it…right there…you're holding it, aren't you?"

She tossed it away, rather frustrated. "You know damn well what I'm talking about, now where is it?!" She pressed her up against the wall and slid her other hand into the trenchcoat, looking for a small patch.

"It's…it's in the lab…"

"Which is where?"

"Twelfth floor…down the hall…to the right…you can't miss it…"

She found the patch. "Good," she said, and gently placed the patch on the woman's neck.

"What is that?!" she began to protest, but soon found it hard to speak. The other practically threw her onto the ground. She'd placed a strong sedative in it, which was dangerous to the touch. Just a small precaution. Now she had to find the real communicator.

* * *

"Amonæmon, slow down!" called out Anne to the great, violet eagle. "We can barely keep up!"

The large armored bird stopped and looked back. "Sorry, but it's almost nightfall. If you want to get to the oracles without a chance of running into that mutant, we need to get there before sundown."

"I thought you could drive off that thing."

"I can only do so much."

She sighed and looked at the weary Kyomon. "Can't we at least slow down a bit? I mean, you're a Mega and Kyomon's just a Rookie. He can't take it."

"What?!" protested the small blue dragon. "I can handle it just fine! Come on!" Kyomon managed to fly alongside Amonæmon with a small burst of energy but soon fell back again.

"Very well," he said. "I'll slacken the pace, but only a little. The mutant is just too powerful."

"It's a bloody Ultimate," said Jonathan. "You're a bloody Mega. What d'you mean it's too powerful?"

"Like I said, it was made from fragments of Digimon with far greater powers than I. And now that he has consumed the blood of a Digital Guardian, he is even more lethal to this world. Come."

Anne finally managed to sweet-talk Amonæmon into letting them rest for the night. Penmon and Kyomon soon fell asleep, and Anne felt a bit restless, as did Jonathan. She finally worked up the nerve to ask the Mega something.

"Amonæmon?"

"What?"

"What did you mean when you called PetitDracomon a mutant?"

He sighed. "PetitDracomon is an artificial Digimon. I think he was born of a Digi-egg but transformed into something entirely different."

"So…he might've been a Vaccine type?"

"It is a possibility."

She pondered this. Could this mean that he might've been Nisamon? "Do you know what Digimon he might've been?"

"No. But I would guess it was some sort of Digimon with vast, deep hidden powers. And most certainly reptilian."

"D'you think that there might be a way to change him back?"

He sighed again. "I'm not sure. If there were, it would be no easy task. You might want to ask the oracles once we get there. Now get to sleep."

"Okay…" Somehow, she just felt that he'd deliberately switched the subject to the oracles to make her lose interest. It hadn't worked very well. She yawned and obeyed.

Kyomon's eyes suddenly snapped open. Something wasn't right. Everybody else was asleep, except for Amonæmon. It was practically the middle of the night. He felt a shiver run up his spine. Something was definitely amiss. Now feeling wide awake, he fluttered up to a high spot on a rock.

"Something wrong, Kyomon?"

Amonæmon. "I don't really know," he replied. Kyomon thought he saw something quiver in the air next to him.

The next thing he knew, he was lying dazed on the ground, with the taste of blood in his mouth.

"Kyomon!"

"I…I'm okay…" But then the moonlight caught something in the air. It glimmered off a shiny surface…of a blade raised directly above his head.

Then Amonæmon shoved it out of the way. "Amon's Blade!" he yelled, whipping out a scepter which gleamed and shifted into a large crimson scimitar. Then he swiped at something in the air; it was only air. There was no outcry, no blood, no nothing.

"What was that?" asked Kyomon, coming to his senses.

"I don't know. If we're lucky, it wasn't PetitDracomon."

"Oh no…" He knew luck well enough to guess that that was PetitDracomon. This was not good. Then he saw the same quiver…reaching directly for Anne! "ANNE!"

"What?!" she said, snapping up immediately. Then she was knocked back down again. "Bloody hell, what was that?!"

"Get out of the way!"

She felt that she should listen. She rolled out of the way. Just barely a second later, a small chunk of earth flew from the ground; there was a deep scratch where her head was. Then the scimitar came again, slashing at air. Anne felt a small shiver run up her spine. She thought she saw something right beside her.

Ice suddenly flooded her body.

There was something ice cold and scaly resting on her neck.

She knew better than to scream, but still tried to get Amonæmon's attention by quick gestures. He didn't seem to notice. She felt the thing slightly contract, and something cold and sharp brushed the back of her neck. With a sick feeling, she realized what they were: blades. And that thing was a tail. She took in short quick breaths and tried to get someone's attention. Then she saw the blackness materialize on her throat. It was a tail, entirely covered in blades. She suppressed a small gasp and felt the tail flicking down her body, wrapping itself around her stomach.

Kyomon was the first to notice Anne. "Anne!" he yelled, and made straight for her. Something large and heavy knocked him away. Dazed now, he fluttered up into the air. "Mayday!"

But his efforts were in vain. He just got knocked back again, not being able to see her attacker. Anne quickly realized that she was the only one who could see it, however little of it was visible. "Kyomon!" she yelled. "Over here, behind me!"

Suddenly, the tail squeezed hard on her ribs.

"Come, now, we shan't want to hurt that pretty little face of yours, do we?"

She froze. She knew that voice, though she didn't know why. PetitDracomon. "Oh, God, help me!" she screamed in her mind.

Suddenly, there was a loud hiss and the tail recoiled. Her D-Power was practically blazing. Kyomon felt it too.

"Kyomon, Digivolve toooo…Lestemon!"

Where the blue dragon once was, there was a large black lizard. Lestemon, apparently Kyomon's Champion form, had black scales and electric blue stripes on his head, with small quills running down the back. He was clad in some sort of armor that didn't look really metallic, but looked sort of like it belonged in the military, with blades running along his arms and a bandoleer holding even more blades; Anne guessed he was only a bit taller than she was. But the impression he gave off wasn't fierce or deadly…more lithe and cunning. Like a thief.

Lestemon suddenly felt a new awakening. It was as though the night belonged to him. He growled and at once saw what had a grip on Anne; PetitDracomon! The mutant lizard growled back, knowing that Lestemon knew where he was. He wasn't some stupid animal. Lestemon launched himself at the enemy and realized that he was enjoying every second of it. He slashed a blade at the huge shadow. It hissed in response and withdrew its tail. But then he whipped it at Lestemon. He caught it in midair, but was tossed heavily back onto the ground. Next thing he knew, PetitDracomon was on top of him.

"Silent Night!"

Just a quick turn of his head stopped the lizard from blowing his head off altogether. "Renegade Claw!" he yelled in return, and slashed at PetitDracomon again, but this time twisting his entire body over so that the attacker was thrown off. "Larcener Strike!" he yelled again, crossing his arms together and swinging them apart, creating an energy force that sent PetitDracomon wheeling back in the air. But he quickly regained composure, and started gathering the crimson energy at the mouth—

"Sacred Light!"

Suddenly, something like a floodlight illuminated the area. Though the shape of PetitDracomon was instantly clarified, Lestemon's skin suddenly started to burn. He instantly withdrew back into the shadows, back where Anne was. Was that a natural effect of Sacred Light? No, it couldn't be. PetitDracomon instantly screamed out in pain; Amonæmon, seizing the chance, leapt forward with the crimson scimitar.

"Amon's Blade!"

But PetitDracomon wasn't about to be killed that easily. He cartwheeled in the air, silkily dodging the blade. Then he struck Amonæmon with his tail and scattered off. The light faded and Lestemon got up. PetitDracomon was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the sky thoroughly and returned to Anne. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Wait…where's Jonathan?"

"Right here." He was leaning against one of the rocks. "Next time that bugger attacks, would you be so kind as to tell me? And who's that?"

"That's Kyomon. He Digivolved."

He fell silent. "Lestemon…as in ornitholestes?"

"What in bloody hell is that?"

"Never mind…"

"Hey, you guys," interrupted Penmon. "What about Amonæmon?"

"Oh, I forgot!" exclaimed Anne and rushed over to him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, he just clipped me," he replied. There was a shallow gash in his right arm. Anne hated to think of what that tail blade could do to her head. "We need to set off immediately."

"Why?"

"You know the saying lightning never strikes in the same spot twice? It's not true. He'll be back and we need to be as far away as possible from this place."

Anne and Lestemon both looked at each other. This might take a bit longer than they'd expected.