"Agumon digivolve to…"

Miyako and Iori stared in wide-eyed silence as the orange dinosaur continued his conversion into his Champion form, previously tiny body growing at a tremendous rate. While this was not the first such transformation either child had seen, the first being Palmon's shift to Ultimate during their escape, this was starkly different. Miyako was terror-stricken at the sight of the newly forming creature that towered over them, tan eyes huge with fear as they fixed upon a snarling face, sharp, jagged teeth, and pale red eyes that bore little resemblance to the friendly face she had come to know.

To her credit, however, Miyako did manage to keep herself from screaming outright, instead murmuring fearfully under her breath.

Iori, meanwhile, was content to simply watch, dark green eyes widened as they took in every detail of the transformation with interest. Once again, his silent observation of the scene unfolding before him seemed incredibly different than what one would think normal of a child his age…

However, both Taichi and Mimi were extremely thankful to not have to deal with an overly hyperactive, curious five-year-old boy at the moment. Things were difficult enough as it was, thank you very much…

The two crest bearers were watching the digivolution from a few feet away, both lost in their own thoughts. Mimi was kneeling instead of standing beside Taichi, not wanting to strain her wounds. Just because the injuries was hidden by bandages and her clothes did not mean they no longer ached…

The girl absently fingered her crest with one hand, the other resting gently on Palmon's leafy forehead. Her partner was still exhausted from their earlier struggle to escape, and none of the small group had any objections to the Rookie's desire to rest while she had the chance. Everyone was fully aware of the fact that this was far from over, and they needed to make any recovery they could as quickly as possible…

Standing beside Mimi, digivice and crest gripped tightly in his hands, Taichi watched his partner finish his transformation solemnly, his deep bronze eyes dark with thought. He was fully aware of the risk they were taking: Greymon would be much easier for any searching enemies to locate than Agumon would have been…

But at the same time, he knew there was little choice. Even with her wounds bandaged, there was no way Mimi could hope to cover much ground on foot, and Palmon could not hope to aid her partner in her own current condition. As for the two former hostages, Miyako and Iori, Taichi didn't dare assume that they were in enough shape to trudge along on foot. The risk caused by using Greymon paled in comparison to the risk of making the small group rely on their own feet to carry them.

"…Greymon!" the newly formed Champion digimon roared, throwing back his armored head with a triumphant snarl.

"Alright, let's get moving," Taichi commanded, helping Mimi get to her feet and walk over to where the others were waiting, a half-awake Palmon trailing behind them.

Greymon was already crouching down for them, silently cursing his short, stubby arms, wishing he were able to simply lift his friends onto his back. Instead, they had to climb up using his tail, a process he hoped was speeded up somewhat by his posture. Taichi got on first, easily pulling himself up, then reached down and took Mimi's hands in his own, guiding the girl in her slow, unsteady climb.

"Careful, careful, there we go, easy does it," he coaxed, taking care not to pull her too quickly for risk of straining her injuries.

Palmon, meanwhile, simply wrapped her vines around one of the spikes on Greymon's helmet and swung onto the slightly surprised dinosaur's back. Plodding over to where Taichi was, the plant digimon then extended her vines down to wrap gently around her partner's waist.

"Here you go, Mimi," she said, pulling the girl up to her side.

"Thanks, Palmon," replied Mimi with a grateful nod, before she tucked some slightly disheveled strawberry blonde hair back into place under her hat.

"Yeah, thanks," Taichi echoed, shaking his head slightly and wondering why he hadn't thought of that in the first place. Glancing down to where Miyako and Iori were standing, he frowned as he noticed that neither was making any move to join them on Greymon's back, and shouted, "Hey, hurry up! What's the holdup?"

No reply came, and after a few seconds, Taichi leaned over to get a closer look at the two. It didn't take long for him to realize what was wrong: it was as clear as the stark expression of terror on the purple-haired girl's face. Miyako's wavering tan eyes were saucers behind her slightly askew glasses, fixed solidly on the hulking dinosaur standing in front of her.

Taichi sighed.

"This could take a while…"

Palmon looked over at the boy, then down at where Miyako was standing and shaking. Iori was directly beside the girl and attempting to calm her, without having much luck in that area. After watching this continue for several seconds, Palmon shook her head and sighed.

"Come on, we don't have time for this," she called.

Either Miyako and Iori did not hear her or they outright ignored the plant digimon, for the purple-haired girl continued to stammer and whine incoherently. Finally, Palmon sighed and reached down toward the pair. Miyako let out a startled yelp as strong vines wrapped firmly around her waist and gently lifted her into the air, soon depositing her safely next to Taichi and Mimi.

"Uh… uh… uh…" she gasped, immediately latching onto one of the ridges on Greymon's back and clinging to it as if her life depended on it.

"You know, she reminds me a little of you," quipped Taichi, leaning over to whisper in Mimi's ear.

He instantly regretted this action as the heel of her uninjured foot slammed into his own rather painfully. However, he managed to restrain his reaction to a sharp intake of breath and a muted hiss of frustration. He glared at Mimi out of the corner of one narrowed bronze eye, and her only response was to stick her tongue out at him briefly.

Palmon missed this little exchange, as she lifted Iori up safety onto Greymon's back as well. The young boy carefully tested his footing, green eyes narrowing slightly with concentration, then turned to look at the rest of his companions.

"So where are we headed?" he asked softly.

"Well, we're gonna try to hook up with the rest of our team first," replied Taichi, fidgeting with his goggles as he spoke. "I figure Sora, Koushirou and Hikari must be getting pretty worried about me by now…"

Yamato and me, his mind corrected him silently.

"…So we'll take you guys back there, and we'll figure something out from there, okay? Everybody okay with that?"

"Sounds fine to me," Mimi said, nodding, caramel eyes lighting up slightly at the thought of seeing at least some of the others again. She made no effort to disguise the relief in her voice, and Taichi nodded in her direction.

"Alright, then, let's go, Greymon!"

"You got it, Tai!" the Champion digimon growled, and he started forward, silently daring any enemy soldiers to get in his way… he wasn't about to let them anywhere near his friends, not a chance…

* * *

Koushirou ran a hand through his frizzy spikes of red hair and let out a frustrated sigh, dark eyes fixed solidly on the computer sitting in his lap. For the past few hours he had been trying – unsuccessfully – to modify the program he had used to track the position of Hikari's digivice so it would lock onto the signals of other unidentified digivices. Theoretically, that would allow them to locate other chosen children that had been… 'missed'… by the initial retrieval program that had dumped him and his friends in the Digital World before.

Of course, even that was a gamble. While both Wallace and Ken had shown up with their own digivices and digimon already in tow, little Hikari had initially neither of those things… mainly thanks to Myotismon. Now, thanks to the other's efforts, and especially to Wizardmon, she had both her digivice and her crest, the Crest of Light…

…Now all she needs is a digimon, Koushirou mused ironically, a slightly sardonic smirk twisting one corner of his mouth briefly.

He glanced over to where Hikari was sitting: the young girl was playing with the little In-Training Gennai had sent them, Chibimon. Not only did they have a Chosen Child with no Digimon, they also had a Digimon with no Chosen Child…

If only she could use him temporarily, just until we picked up Gatomon again… but no, that would be just too convenient, wouldn't it?

Fighting down the utter frustration he felt, Koushirou attempted to calm himself simply by observing the carefree way in which the younger Digidestined were playing with one another. Takeru had joined Hikari, and they had conceived the shy Ken and Wallace to come over with their digimon as well, and the whole lot of them were now engrossed in some simple game. He could hear them giggle from time to time, enjoying themselves, finding a small bit of pleasure despite the horror going on outside their little sanctuary.

Koushirou watched in silence, onyx eyes widening for an instant as a sudden realization struck him: Hikari had a digivice and no digimon, but she had something both Wallace and Ken lacked… a crest. Neither of the boys was wearing or carrying one, and the bearer of Knowledge frowned thoughtfully.

I wonder… I wonder where their crests could be… or what they could be, for that matter…

Shaking his head slightly, he turned his attention back toward what the others were doing.

Chibimon, Gummimon and Kokomon were engaged in a simple game of chase and pounce, tumbling around and laughing. Patamon and Gomamon had even joined in the fun, while Biyomon simply watched from nearby in case the play fighting got a little too rough. Wizardmon also gazed at the tumbling, laughing young digimon, a faraway look in his eyes, and as for the others…

…Well, Sora and Jyou were talking softly to Jun, who had descended into another crying fit. As far as he could pick up, this one was over a younger brother who she had been separated from by some of Myotismon's henchmon. The fact that she had no idea where he was or even if he was still alive was obviously weighing down hard on the girl… Koushirou couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

Tsunomon was still cradled in the girl's lap, urging her not to cry. Koushirou was mildly surprised by the fact that the In-Training digimon had not left Jun's side: he would have figured that he would have been much more comfortable with Takeru… Still, since they had been the last ones to see Yamato, he supposed that was reason enough for them to stick close by each other's side for a while…

Then there was Tentomon and Armadillomon… Koushirou mentally rolled his eyes at the thought. The two were seriously not getting along… right now, the bug digimon was crouched beside his partner and glaring daggers over at where the other sat with his armored back turned indifferently on the rest of the group. Armadillomon appeared perfectly content with staring off into the shadows, his dark green eyes seeing who knows what in the darkness…

Koushirou narrowed his onyx eyes slightly, studying the strange Rookie's plated back. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely certain what to make of the animal digimon. While Wallace appeared to trust him, and had told the others of how Armadillomon had saved him and his digimon twins (and why DID Wallace have twins, anyway?), the whole matter still nagged at the Child of Knowledge's mind.

Why would a partnerless, wild digimon be wandering around the streets like that and just happen to show up when the kid needed help? mused Koushirou silently. How did he get here in the first place? His desire to fight Myotismon seems genuine enough, but what exactly motivates him? Must be pretty major if he was willing to come all the way here…

There were other possibilities as well; ones that made Koushirou feel slightly uneasy as he shifted his gaze back to his laptop. After all, Armadillomon had known the name of that one new enemy digimon, recognizing him simply from his description…

That doesn't necessarily mean anything, 'Shiro, he quickly scolded himself. Might be that they're rivals, that they've fought each other before… could be an advantage, if he knows this new digimon's attacks and decides to tell us about it…

…Or they could be partners…

Shaking his head violently, Koushirou concentrated on guiding his fingers over the keys of his laptop, allowing himself to fall back into the familiar, comforting activity. There were simply too many unanswered questions right now, and even the Child of Knowledge could only focus on so much at one time…

Suddenly the steady, clicking melody of keys fell silent as he paused, dark eyes widening slightly as a realization struck him. The abrupt cessation soon caught the attention of the others, and Sora, Jyou and Tentomon glanced over at him in surprise and concern.

"…Hey, 'Shiro, something wrong…?" the blue-haired boy asked haltingly after a moment, giving his friend the once-over as he attempted to determine what had made the boy stop like that.

The frizzy-haired computer genius made no reply, but all at once was bent over his laptop once more, typing furiously. Jyou and Sora exchanged an odd look and sweatdropped, while Jun just stared blankly past them and wondered what was wrong with that weird kid with the computer…

* * *

Narrowed chocolate eyes stared out from beneath a mass of tangled brown bangs defiantly into the darkness, seemingly piercing the shadows themselves. Cold anger and hatred burned in the child's glare, flickering and smoldering despite the fact that the recipient of such anger was currently nowhere in sight.

Gatomon was not entirely certain whether this was a good or bad thing. While she certainly understood and shared the young boy's hatred, the feline digimon also recognized how much of a danger it was. This was only a child, a little human boy, with no special powers of his own. If he pushed Myotismon too far with his resistance, he would have an even lower chance of surviving the vampire's outrage than she did.

Plus, both of them had already seen the effects of Myotismon's anger unleashed on a mere human boy…

Gatomon frowned, struggling not to glance over at the motionless, beaten form suspended a few feet away from her cage. At least Yamato hadn't suffered from any more 'visits' for a while… probably merely because Myotismon still needed the bearer of Friendship alive right now, and had no way of guaranteeing the boy would last through another round of his 'special treatment'.

Raw anger and frustration seethed in the feline's mind, and her sapphire eyes glittered darkly as she pictured her former master gloating over his supposed victory. He was always so damned cocky and assured of himself… it seemed almost impossible to her that she had once served under him. She wondered if she would ever be able to come to terms with that simple, horrible fact.

Well, there was nothing she could do to change that now. All she could do was try to atone for her sins, and pray that the other Digidestined… that everyone… that Hikari… would one day forgive her for what she had once been.

…And that she could one day come to forgive herself…

The steady sound of footsteps drawing closer snapped Gatomon out of her dark musings, and she snapped her head up with an involuntary gasp, blue eyes instantly locking onto the door. Even without being able to see out into the hallway she knew exactly who was approaching. Contrasting emotions warred in her heart, anger mixing with pity, grief with fury and fear.

The footsteps drew closer, then paused just outside the thick door. The feline digimon's sapphire eyes narrowed into slits, every muscle in her small body tensing, waiting for the door to swing open and admit the one she knew was standing there.

Silence. Seconds stretching into an eternity of breathless waiting.

Then, suddenly, the footsteps started up again, moving slowly and steadily…away.

Gatomon blinked, startled, staring at the still shut doorway in surprise. What in the name of Kamimon was that all about…?

* * *

Hawkmon kept his expression neutral and completely composed as he slowly walked away from the prisoner's chambers. His talons scraped gently against the smooth floor, a soft, constant noise that went unnoticed by the avian digimon.

The Bakemon guards nervously avoided making eye contact with him, staying out of his way as best they could. All of them knew about the bird's temper and his fierce hatred of their kind, although very few happened to know exactly why. The reason did not matter so much as the result to the ghost digimon.

None of them had any clue as to what was raging through Hawkmon's mind, and even if they had been privy to this knowledge, probably would not have understood or fully comprehended it.

…What the hell is wrong with me right now? I should be concentrating on locating those Digidestined brats instead of wasting valuable time standing in front of a door trying to decide whether or not to go inside!

…What was I thinking of doing in there, anyway? That blond-haired whelp certainly isn't going anywhere, and isn't in any condition for any more torture – no matter how much that would cheer me up…

…Would it now…?

…Oh, shut up. Who asked you, anyway…?

…So what were you going to do in there, anyway, if not work on slicing the chosen brat a new one…?

…I… I'm not certain…

…Oh, isn't that just bloody perfect, then? Nice one, Hawkmon, wasting time just standing there not even knowing what you were going to do if you went in there…

…Gatomon… I wanted to see Gatomon for a while…

Why, to torture her for a change?

…No… not torture… to talk…

But why the hell would I want to talk to a traitor like her?

…We used to talk all the time in the past… she… understood me…

Yeah, and then she turned her furry coat on us. Isn't that always the way…?

…Heh… of all the digimon in the whole damned digital world… she had to be the one who's partners with the eighth child… the stupid child of Light that is supposed to be the key to stopping Lord Myotismon…

…As if he could be stopped…

…Pity, that… Gatomon was one of the better fighters in this army… much better than all these hordes of Bakamon…

…Who would have thought that she would turn her back on our lord and master like that… all for some stupid humans…

…I could never… do such a stupid thing…

Hawkmon paused, a convulsive shudder coursing up his back abruptly. It was like a bolt of electricity had struck his spine and sent him reeling, and he braced himself against the corridor wall, breathing harshly. Thankful that this hallway was deserted, with no stupid ghost digimon to witness his moment of weakness, the avian digimon covered his sweaty face with one wing, dilated ice blue eyes wide and wild behind his feathers.

"Damn you…" he muttered at the human girl whose image was burned so firmly into his subconscious. "Why won't you get the hell out of my mind?!? Who are you…?!?"

No answer came to his hissed query, the corridor remaining silent save for his harsh, heavy breathing. Hawkmon continued to prop himself against the wall and wonder why he suddenly felt so alone, so frightened…

* * *

"Ohhhh boy… oh no… ohhhhh…"

Greymon sweatdropped as he listened to Miyako's whimpering and tried to slow down a little in order to calm the near-hysterical girl down. Taichi was also busy attempting to soothe the purple-haired girl, trying his hardest not to let his frustration show. Her fear was certainly understandable… after all, it was far from normal for someone to ride a huge dinosaur down the city streets.

That didn't make her muted whimpering and moaning any less annoying to Taichi, however. But, glancing over at Mimi and seeing her giving him a certain look, he decided to ignore his frustration as best he could.

"It's okay, Yolei-chan, we're safe," Iori told the purple-haired girl, sounding remarkably cool and collected.

Taichi was a little amazed that the younger boy was accepting all of this so well. He would have pegged any other child at that age as becoming overly hyper and/or hysterical at the concept of dodging ghosts and their vampire leader and fighting back with a dinosaur and a walking plant…

…Makes it a heck of a lot easier on us, though…

"Taichi-san?" Iori's soft, whispery voice piped up suddenly.

Taichi blinked, a little flustered, and Mimi giggled behind her hand at her friend's embarrassed expression.

"Whoa, look Iori, just call me Tai, alright?" he asked, aware that his face had turned slightly red.

"…Alright… Tai? How far is it to where your friends are?"

"Um, let's see…" Taichi narrowed his eyes slightly as he thought, trying to recall exactly where the others were located.

"Don't tell me we're lost," Mimi groaned when it seemed to her that Taichi had been thinking for too long.

"Lost?!?" yelped Miyako from where she clung to one of Greymon's spikes.

"We're not lost," Taichi insisted, glaring at Mimi for increasing the violet-haired girl's panic.

"That's what they all say…"

"Waaaaahhhhh!"

"Mimi! You're not helping!"

Turning back to face Iori, Taichi added, "We're still a few blocks away. Don't worry, we'll get there soon."

The goggle-wearing boy shot a quick glare over in Mimi's direction, warning her not to make any more comments on the subject. Her only response was to roll her eyes. Both Iori and Miyako sighed in relief.

"Well, that's good," the soft-spoken child said.

"…Why did you want to know, anyway?" Taichi asked after a few seconds, glancing over at the younger boy.

In response, Iori simply and silently pointed into the air. Taichi, Mimi, Palmon and Miyako each looked up to see a hideous insect-like digimon flying above them, obviously patrolling the city for any sign of the Digidestined.

"…Ah," Taichi said simply in understanding.

"Oh my," whispered Mimi mildly.

"Eep…" Miyako added weakly, caramel eyes huge behind her glasses.

Even as they stared up at it, the evil digimon paused, then swooped down toward them at a dizzying speed. Miyako's meek whimper became a full-fledged shriek as it lanced downward.

"Greymon, watch it!" Taichi ordered, then, quickly, "Everyone, hang on!"

His partner roared in agreement, and as the enemy digimon surged toward them, the orange dinosaur barely managed to duck out of its path. Something sharp clipped Greymon's shoulder even as he moved, and the Champion digimon let out an angry snarl, whipping around to face his opponent as it slowed and pivoted to face them.

Taichi's bronze eyes widened, a look of stark terror that almost matched the expression on the hysterical Miyako dawning on his abruptly pale face. Seeing his terror, Mimi, Iori and Palmon exchanged frightened glances.

"Tai…? …Tai, what's wrong?" the bearer of Purity and Sincerity pleaded, tugging gently on the unresponsive boy's arm.

Taichi was unable to answer, unable to move, barely able to make himself breathe. His wavering brown eyes were locked on the digital monster that even now whirled to face them. Its wings blurred, keeping its suspended in midair just inches above the ground as it floated before them, fragmented eyes blazing. Its long forearms glinted menacingly, driving home the fact that they ended with deadly blades instead of hands.

Taichi gulped, feeling a lump in his suddenly dry throat. His heart pounded in his chest violently, as if at any second it would rip right out. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice shouted fruitless, helpless denials of what his widened eyes were telling him, while another laughed endlessly at the bitter reality.

It was the same digimon that had been responsible for his separation from Yamato.

Snimon.

* * *

"There!"

Koushirou allowed himself a pleased grin as he tapped one final key on his laptop and the computer began to whirl and beep, new displays flashing before his dark eyes.

"You find something, Koushirou?" Sora queried, looking over at the bearer of Knowledge.

"Yeah, I did…"

"Is it my trainer???" Chibimon piped up instantly, garnet eyes filling with hope.

"…No, not quite," Koushirou admitted reluctantly, wincing at having to disappoint the little In-Training.

"Awww…"

Chibimon sank down onto the ground sadly, and Hikari gently scooped the disillusioned digimon into her arms.

"Well, what did you find, then?" asked Tentomon, flying up behind his partner and attempting to look over his shoulder.

"I just got a lock on Taichi and Mimi's digivices," Koushirou explained, turning back to his computer and typing out a few more commands. Glancing up at the others, he added with a growing smile on his face, "It looks like they're together, and heading this way."

"That's a relief," Jyou sighed thankfully, managing a shaky smile of his own at this information.

Sora nodded her agreement, almost echoing Jyou's sigh. Hikari held Chibimon tighter, soft tan eyes shining with emotion, while Takeru managed a grin of his own. He was happy to hear that his other friends were safe, but as long as his older brother wasn't…

The rest of the group glanced at one another, not really knowing for certain just who the others were talking about, but able to tell from the chosen children's relieved tones that this was a very good thing. Koushirou continued to type furiously, attempting to pinpoint his friends' exact position. However, he abruptly froze, onyx eyes going wide.

"Kuso!" he exclaimed, causing the others to jerk with shock.

"What's wrong?" Sora demanded immediately, resisting the urge to leap to her feet at the genius's sudden outburst.

Koushirou looked up at the others grimly, dark eyes glittering faintly as they reflected the light of his computer screen.

"They've just been attacked," he announced dully. "One of Myotismon's digimon just found them."

Now Sora did jump up, the terror in her eyes quickly giving way to resolve.

"Let's go, Biyomon," she commanded, whirling to face her partner.

The pink avian nodded, already on her feet and ready to go. Koushirou stood up as well, laptop tucked under one arm.

"Agreed. The most logical course of action is to go and assist our friends."

"I'm coming too!" Takeru, Wallace and Ken chorused with their respective digimon without even realizing it.

However, Koushirou shook his head in the negative.

"If we all go, we'll attract more attention, and not all of us are in fighting condition," he reasoned. "Jyou, Takeru, you guys should stay here and look after everyone else. It'll be easier that way, and we'll move faster. Sora and I will take Kabuterimon and Birdamon over and help Taichi and Mimi. We'll be back as soon as we can."

Jyou nodded in solemn, silent agreement, a gesture soon mimicked somewhat reluctantly by Takeru and most of the others. Armadillomon, however, stepped forward, dark green eyes locking with Koushirou's own.

"I'm coming too," he said simply, in a tone that brooked no argument.

"…Fine," Koushirou agreed, knowing there was no time to argue the issue. Looking down at Tentomon, then over at Sora and Biyomon, he asked, "Ready?"

They each nodded, and Koushirou pulled out his digivice. Its screen was already beginning to glow, and he held it out towards Tentomon, as Sora pointed hers toward Biyomon. The two Digidestined locked eyes briefly for a moment, then shouted as one.

"DIGIVOLVE…!"