[Tupperware and MacDonald's are trademarks of themselves. Copy/paste other disclaimers here….]

Backstep 09
Angel's Trumpet Sounding

[The long awaited segment has a commemorative start and end theme! Go to www.leftbehind-themovie.com to hear them! Just make sure to stop at the end of the first chorus of Left Behind and at the end of the first verse of Midnight Cry….]

{Left Behind and new starting animation plays….}

Sumanai Takeru ... yakusoku wo yabutteshimatte....
Forgive me, Takeru … I broke my promise….
Angemon, from Angemon Kakusei! (Angemon Awakening!)

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Location - Frank Parker's quarters, NNL
Time - two days since projected Digital Conundrum
-------------------------------------------------

"Oh, geez, Frank," Buck groaned as he woke up the next morning, attempting to rise from a padded recliner near Parker's bed. There was a few more gauze bandages stripped to his body than there was the day before. "I don't know how the heck I hurt myself, but I sure can't get up - out of - this dumb - chair!"
Frank Parker strode out of the restroom, dressed only in a beige towel. A disposable razor was in his hands. "I see you've finally woke up," he mused. "You've been out ever since Olga stitched you up again last night."
"I sure remember that," the journalist grumbled, gingerly touching his forehead with a bandaged hand. There was another piece of gauze taped to his forehead, not to mention a few more on his cheeks. "At this rate I'll be my own plastic surgeon."
"I wonder what you'd look like with all those bandages off, anyway," Parker laughed, walking back into the restroom. Buck could see the chrononaut lathering shaving foam over his stubby beard.
"I'd hate to see that," Buck moaned. "Nobody would expect me to get a total facelift after I get out of here. I mean, I survived the assault on Israel without even getting a single scratch! But one day in the Digital World - one day, and I almost get myself in a body cast!"
"Hey, it's not your fault that you have the Crest of Truth," Parker said, sliding the razor across his foam-covered face. "Besides, if you're lucky, you won't be possessed by that Guardian anymore."
"Possessed?" Buck scoffed. "That's exactly what you said before I blanked out the second time yesterday. How could I be possessed?"
"You said so yourself," Parker sighed. "You and two others could be possessed by the Guardian: Angemon, you, and the bearer of the Crest of Spirit's partner."
"Hmph. I don't recall saying that."
"That's cause you said it while the Guardian had control of your body!"
"So? It doesn't mean that I said it."
"Well, Owsley might have some info," Parker sighed, dropping his razor into a trash bin. "I'll go see him later today - want to come?"
"Maybe - Olga is going to take out the stitches in a few hours." He slowly let his eyes roam the room. "Where's the digimon?"
"I hid them in the walk-in closet - that's the door next to the books on historical bad guys."
"Right."
Buck, his eyelids heavy again, let them fall over his eyes. He needed the rest: his body ached terribly, especially his back and chest. It felt as if something had run through him, maybe a sword or a gigantic drill. Maybe Parker's right, he thought before he fell asleep; maybe the Guardian did possess me for a while. But what happened … why do I hurt so much…?

Buck opened his eyes upon the steel-gray ocean that the sixth Holy Stone had been hidden in. He glanced around, finding the Japanese Chosen Children staring at him on the shore and a dark dragon floating above the water, a fireball aimed for him….
"Gaia Force…!"
By instinct, Buck pulled a feather from one of his wings ("I don't have wings!" his mind screamed in alarm) and swept it downward before him. The fireball was cleaved in half, dissipating into the sky, harmless.
It was then that he took a look at himself. There were white gloves on his hands, exposing the joints of slender, feminine fingers. Robes covered his body, all in shades of ivory. He could feel that his hair was much longer in back - it kept blowing in front of his face. Glancing below, Buck could see that Frank Parker's head was even with his armpits.
That can't be, Buck told himself; I'm only an inch taller than Frank!
There wasn't much more to look at now, other than the feather in his hands. Something was strange about it, though - the shaft had a padded, contoured grip, and it felt weighted. Only a further glance upward revealed the truth: it was now a sword, its blade engraved with Digital Hieroglyphs.
Buck looked at the symbols, watching them rearrange themselves into English. "Omega Blade," it said - it probably was the name of the sword.
Something in the sword's reflection caught Buck's eye. It was the glint of the sun on metal. He knew it couldn't be from the sword - it was at the wrong angle. Taking his attention away from the Digital Hieroglyphs, Buck glared at the reflection-
"This can't be…."
The sword dropped from Buck's hand.
The man he saw in the reflection … was the Guardian.
And in a flash of dark light, Buck could feel Black War Greymon barging into his chest, flinging him straight through the Holy Stone. The Guardian was losing his hold on Buck, couldn't keep the man in such unnatural a form - the wings on his back started to dissolve with such agony as water cascaded over him….

"NOOOOOOO!"
"Hey, Mr. Williams, calm down! I just removed the last of the stitches!"
Buck opened his eyes, only to find Olga's face beaming down at him. A pair of forceps holding a bloodied gauze was in her gloved hands.
"Oh, it's just you," Buck sighed. "Where am I?"
"The sick bay," Olga replied simply, dumping the bandage in a biohazard waste bin. "Mr. Parker brought you here half an hour ago. It wouldn't have taken me thirty minutes to remove these bandages, if it wasn't for you breaking out in cold sweats."
"Right." Buck sat himself up on the cot he was lying on, wincing at the pain that shot through his back. "You have anything for back pain, Olga?"
"Mr. Parker has aspirin in plenty in his quarters, Mr. Williams," Olga said, walking back towards Buck. "And I won't remove the stitches in your back until later this week. You had some deep scratches back there - though I'm quite surprised that your clothes came out unscathed."
"Thanks for telling me," Buck said, jumping off the cot. "Frank's been insisting that I've been possessed, and that's why I got hurt."
"I know - he told me. Mr. Parker has a way of making the strangest excuses - for all I know, you might've been stripped and beaten. Your scratches were rather random."
"Hmm. Maybe so - but I don't recall getting hurt at all."
"Well, you may be like Mr. Parker, then," Olga sighed. "You might have such a high threshold for pain that you might not even recall your getting injured. Good day, Mr. Williams."
And with that she went on with cleaning the sick bay, ignoring Buck's presence.

Minutes later, Buck returned to Parker's quarters, only to find the chrononaut - now dressed in a granite-gray jumpsuit - sitting on his bed reading a book by a historical bad guy. The digimon were sitting by Parker's feet.
"I'm assuming that's what you mean by books on historical bad guys," Buck scoffed, making his way to the side of Parker's bed. "Do even find those books interesting in the least?"
Parker threw down the book, not caring to mark his place, and looked over at Buck. "Well, Lenin isn't all that interesting. Besides, I've read that book maybe three times this year alone."
"Then why read it again?"
Parker shrugged. "No reason. Which reminds me…."
He jumped off his bed and strode over to his computer. After moving his mouse and clicking a button a few times, he called Buck over.
"Owsley's been keeping tabs on all we've been doing in the Digital World - he's taken the liberty to download everything the D3's been recording. You should see a few of these videos."
"Sure," Buck grumbled. He saw Parker move the mouse over an icon and click it.
Another window showed up on the screen, titled "D-Prime: Takeru 1999". It was a short video, just showing a lot of white light. Owsley had somehow managed, though, to translate everything that was spoken - mostly weeping.
Moments later, the white light faded away, showing a plain surrounded by far-off mountains. Everything was drenched in crimson, even the sky and the sun. A single, leafless tree was the only sign of light, other than-
"The Guardian," Buck whispered, pointing at a white figure on the screen. "What's he doing here?"
No more had he said those words when a shimmering anomaly formed before the angel, sucking in a monster bathed in darkness. One of those monster's claws sank into the Guardian's body, causing the screen to blank out.
"And that's the end of that one," Parker sighed, closing the window. "Now here's another one from that same moment, but from another point of view." This time he clicked on a different icon, and a window titled "D-Prime: Yamato 1999" appeared.
Again, it was a screen filled with white light, with the Japanese speech translated into English - but this time, no blood-stained plain. It was much shorter, ending almost five minutes later in darkness.
"What are you getting at, Frank?" Buck sighed as Parker closed the window. "What's this got to do with anything?"
"What is shows," Frank started condescendingly, "is that Takeru was the only person that saw what had happened - the battlefield, the Guardian, everything. Owsley's checked all the other children's D-Primes - or D3, in Takeru's case - and all the others came up with what's on Yamato's.
"Buck, Takeru - when we first met him - he looked … well, worried … when we were carrying the Guardian. As if something really bad happened to him in the past. I think this video shows."
"Oh," Buck said rather blankly.
"At least we now know … why he's so protective," Parker continued. "Now here's the last one, from yesterday. It's taken from my D3."
Buck's eyes widened in shock as he saw the video play out on the computer monitor. It was mostly gray, except for a patch of brightness that he could see as … himself. The other Buck's face was staring back at him with blanked-out eyes, his mouth flopping with words he knew he couldn't have said.
The light then died out, and Buck could see that he had somewhat regained himself.
Frank, what happened?
"You were possessed! That dumb Crest … it's all because of it….
I don't get it - how could I be-
A piercing scream nearly blew out the computer's speakers, making the men and even the digimon on the bed cover their ears. Buck stared at the screen, seeing his double swallowed by light, wings shooting out of his back, robes forming where causal khakis had once been….
"Stop the video, Frank," Buck whispered at last, closing his eyes. "I don't want to see any more."

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Location - an abandoned apartment building, downtown Los Angeles, California, USA
-------------------------------------------------
Delores and Nicolae were sitting in front of their computer again, minus their customary bowls of instant ramen. This time they were just staring at a little scene of a deserted Chinatown-like area. Dried tumbleweeds were blowing through the lighted streets, passing signs decorated in Digital Hieroglyphs.
"Are you sure that the last Holy Stone is somewhere in the Digital World Chinatown?" Nicolae ventured, turning to face Delores. "You know I am missing a very important meeting at the United Nations for this."
"Of course!" Delores snapped, not hesitating to smack Nicolae in the cheek with a purple glove. "Why do you think Black War Greymon's rampaging there?"
"Maybe because he wants some ramen," Nicolae moaned, rubbing a red spot on his cheek. "See? There is a ramen restaurant over there." He pointed at a small shop on the screen.
Delores edged closer to the monitor to read the sign above the shop. "Get your fat finger out of the way!" she hissed, shoving Nicolae to the side. "'Digital na Tamago Ramen-ya' … I've heard of this place. They claim to have the best ramen in the Digital World…."
"So … would you like to have lunch over there?" Nicolae mumbled.
"Actually … that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Delores mused, pulling up Nicolae with an unknown kindness. She pushed a gloved finger to the computer screen, watching the monitor ripple like water beneath her touch. "Digital Gate … open!"

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Location - Chinatown, Digital World
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"Mmm … what's that delicious smell?"
Daisuke and the Japanese Chosen Children were standing by an ornate red-painted gate somewhere in the Digital World. Their digimon sat hungrily at the heels of their partners - V-mon had saliva drooling from his mouth in foaming drops. Beyond the gate, barely seen from where they were standing, was the glitter of the town beyond - a Chinatown, from the looks of it.
"It smells like ramen, Daisuke!" V-mon sighed dreamily.
"Ramen?" Miyako scoffed. "Who'd sell ramen out here?"
"Beats me," Daisuke murmured, "but I'm going to get some!"

Inside the deserted Chinatown district, Parker, Buck, and their digimon emerged from a television with a flashy entrance. The men were surprised to find themselves in the same clothes they had worn for the past few days - especially since they knew they were wearing something different back at NNL. Upon arriving, they, too, noticed a tantalizing aroma.
"What's that?" Buck queried, sniffing the air.
"I don't know," Parker snapped.
"It's ramen," Tentomon informed in a matter-of-fact voice. "And it's coming from that shop over there."
Buck brought his hands over his stomach. "Well, I am feeling a little hungry," he muttered, making himself heard. "A small bite isn't all that much, is it?"
"Doubt it," Parker said. "Come on."
Minutes later the men and their digimon found themselves in front of a small restaurant marked with a flashy sign covered with Digital Hieroglyphs - no English translation provided. A Humvee painted in a hideous yellow was parked by the entrance, and the men could tell that it was a British model - the steering wheel was on the wrong side.
"Who'd want to paint a car in that color?" Elecmon grumbled, jumping onto Buck's shoulder, not seeming to notice his partner wincing under the weight. "Looks downright ugly to me."
"It's a British car, what'd you-"
He was interrupted by Parker tapping on his shoulder. "Look there," was all the chrononaut said as he pointed into the distance.
Six familiar children were running towards them, with digimon partners running - or flying - beside them.
The Japanese children.
"They're here, too?" Buck gasped. "What, is this some brunch you prepared while I was having my stitches pulled? I can't believe you!"
"Hey, I'd only go though a lot of trouble to prepare a buffet if it were for Olga," Parker laughed. "Now you … you deserve something impromptu."
"Yeah, sure."
The children halted just feet away from the Humvee, and were now starting to chatter in Japanese. After a few minutes they and their digimon walked into the establishment, looks of satisfaction on their faces. One of the digimon - the blue creature named V-mon - turned back towards Parker and Buck and waved a beckoning hand.
"Daisuke and the rest want to have lunch with you!" he said in perfect English. "And the food's on him!"

"Thanks," Parker smiled, gruffly taking Buck's arm. "Now come on - we need something to eat." "You too?" Buck gasped as he was pulled into the restaurant.
"Can't turn down an invitation," Parker said.

Daisuke and the children had barely set foot in the restaurant when they stopped cold in their tracks.
"Quiet down, all of you!" he scolded, turning to face the other children and the Americans. Knowing that the grown men didn't know Japanese, he brought a finger to his lips. The men seemed to have caught on.
"What's going on?" Hikari asked, scooting closer to Daisuke, Tailmon in her arms. "You hear something?"
"Well, duh," Daisuke scoffed. "Look over there." He pointed a finger towards the only occupied table in the restaurant.
Gradually the other children made their way as silently as they could to take a closer look. The Americans barely moved a step closer, but then, they were taller than the children by a few feet. They were having a heated, whispered conversation, though.

"Frank … isn't that Delores and Nicolae?" Buck gasped, pointing towards the table.

"Hey … isn't that Archnemon and Mummymon?" Ken whispered, nudging Daisuke with an elbow.

"It must be," Parker breathed, reaching inside his jacket for his gun. "Who on earth would wear such an ugly purple hat, anyway?"
"Besides, Nicolae's power tie is recognizable no matter what world he's in - maybe even the Dark Ocean," Buck laughed. "How many of those does he have, anyway?"
"More than enough, I suppose - just like Delores probably has a thousand identical red dresses. How many ramen spills has she had in the past seven days?"

"What's Archnemon doing here?" Takeru asked, peering over Daisuke's shoulder. Patamon was sleeping in his arms.
"What do you think?" Daisuke retorted. "She's eating ramen with Mummymon."
Right at that moment, Archnemon stood up from her chair and set down her chopsticks by a steaming bowl of ramen. She said something to Mummymon before walking off to the kitchens. It was a scant few minutes later before she came storming back to her table, a small egg on legs toddling behind.
"What do you mean, you won't give me the recipe?" she roared, settling herself back in her chair and scooting herself in furiously. With a thud she clashed into the table, spilling ramen over her dress for maybe the hundredth time.
"Now look what you made me do, Digitamamon! You made me spill ramen all over my dress!" A low grumble burst from her mouth.
"Now, now, ma'am," the walking egg said soothingly; "the recipe is a S-E-C-R-E-T! I can't just give it away to customers! Speaking of customers" - he turned to the doorway where the children stood - "there's some right now!"
"Customers?" Archnemon crooned. "Let me see…."
She stood up from her chair and faced the children. The slightest twitch of her eyes could be seen from behind her purple-tinted glasses.
"Pesky children," she muttered in Japanese. Then, in English, "And what're you doing here, Frankie and Buck?"

"Damn - she saw us!" Parker cursed under his breath. "What now?"
Delores glared at the Americans with a smirk playing on her purple lips. "Do you know how many times you've made me spill my ramen?" she screeched, veins bulging at her temples.
"Delores, you should not blame Frank Parker and Cameron Williams for this," Nicolae started, but he was silenced by Delores' fist flying into his stomach.
"This is the fifth dress I have to send to the dry cleaners, thanks to you!" Delores continued, her body glowing with a silver light. Appendages seemed to grow out of her torso, and her belly grew rounder.
When the light vanished, an entirely different creature had taken Delores' place.
"What the heck?" Buck whispered, standing closer to Parker.
The Japanese children, for the first time without the Guardian in presence, muttered something that Parker and Buck could understand.
"Archnemon."
"So that's Delores' digimon form," Parker breathed.
Archnemon turned her silver eyes towards the entryway, focusing on the Japanese children. "The Guardian amongst you is weak," she crooned, throwing back her arms. "Spider Thread!"
Silver ropes shot out of Archnemon's fingers, all reaching out towards Takeru. The boy dodged at the last minute and backed into Parker. He muttered something in Japanese - an apology, probably - before he walked back to the other children.
"We should drive this pest out," Buck growled, reaching for his D3. He pointed it at Elecmon and cried, "Digimental Up!"
"Elecmon, armor evolve! Mysterious truth, Kyuubimon!"
The giant fox jumped before the Chosen Children and spread out his nine tails. Balls of snickering blue flames formed around his tails, making the rest of the room seem as dark as a deep cave.
"Demon Fireball!"
The nine fireballs shot out towards Archnemon, ramming into her belly. The digimon flew through the far wall of the restaurant, crashing into Mummymon and a few tables. Moments later dust settled, just in time to see the ripple of water by the nearby harbor.
"Good job, Kyuubimon," Buck smiled, watching Kyuubimon revert back to Elecmon. Then, to Parker, "So, Frank, what're we going to do now?"
"I guess we'll have something to eat now," Parker said. "Service!"
The walking egg that was obviously the proprietor, though, was nowhere to be seen.
"Service stinks at the Digital World," Buck scoffed. "I hope there's a MacDonald's nearby."
The Japanese children were walking off again, this time to the kitchens where the walking egg had first appeared. They were muttering in Japanese again, but V-mon strayed behind to translate.
"They're going to make ramen and rice balls!" V-mon exclaimed in English. "Want to help out?"
Elecmon and Tentomon rushed out to follow the Japanese children. "Ramen - sounds yummy!" Tentomon drooled.
"I hope they have grape soda," Elecmon croaked.
Buck looked at Parker. "I think I'll find a decent seat," he said before he walked off.

The children wasted no time finding their way around the kitchen. It was almost pure luck that Daisuke found a pan deep enough to cook enough ramen for the group in, but it was somewhat easier to find the ramen mix stowed in a high cupboard.
Hawkmon handed down Tupperware containers filled with ramen base, which the children poured into the cooking pan. Tentomon and Elecmon, the partners of the Americans, had found rice balls in a walk-in refrigerator and were starting to microwave them.
"They're working quite well, those American digimon," Daisuke laughed as he mixed spices into the ramen. "Hey, any of you find some noodles?"
Takeru poked his head out of another cabinet. "I've got some," he called, waving a jumbo package labeled RAMEN NOODLES in Japanese. "How many do you need?"
"Oh, I guess five," Daisuke replied. "Toss them here."
Takeru gathered five packets of ramen noodles and threw them one by one to Daisuke. "There you go, Daisuke," he chimed as he threw the last one.
"Thanks, Takeru," Daisuke said, dumping the noodles in.
Takeru looked into the cabinet - he had let Patamon lie in there while the others were working. The digimon had been asleep for almost twenty-four hours now - he would've been thought as dead, but Takeru knew all too well what happened to a digimon when it died. Now, though, Patamon's eyes were starting to flutter open.
"Takeru … how long has it been…?" the digimon whimpered, crawling slowly towards Takeru.
"About a day," Takeru whispered, not wanting the others to hear. "You deserved the rest, after helping me yesterday. Thanks."
Patamon smiled. "You know I'd do anything to protect you."
"Yeah." But sometimes you take it too far, Takeru added silently. "You know, we're making ramen right now. Do you see any other packages of noodles in there?"
Patamon slowly turned to look into the cabinet. "Nope."
A sigh. "All right. Well, you could help Tentomon and Elecmon microwave some rice balls. Do you want to?"
Patamon shook his head.
"That's okay," Takeru said, resigning to the fact that Patamon was probably too tired to cook. "Well, you know, Patamon, you wouldn't be so tired if you were always evolving and turning into that Guardian."
"Takeru, I don't evolve into any Guardian," Patamon argued weakly. "You know that."
No, Patamon, you just don't remember, Takeru thought. "Still, you're tired because you evolve. How about this, Patamon: Promise me that you won't evolve, not until this Holy Stones business is over."
Patamon shrugged. "Why?"
"Look, Patamon, I promised three years ago that we would be friends forever. I'm offering this deal as a friend. Okay? I don't want you to get hurt."
Patamon extended one of his paws. "All right."
Takeru took his partner's paw in his hands and gripped it tightly. "It's a deal." And the next time we run into Black War Greymon, Takeru thought, at least I know that Buck could deal with him.

Thirty minutes later, the children and the digimon barged out of the kitchen with bowls of steaming ramen and two platefuls of rice balls. After the food was served, the Japanese and American Chosen Children ate in silence - they knew it was fruitless to have a conversation with their minimal knowledge of each other's languages.

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Location - somewhere away from the Chinatown district, Digital World
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Delores and Nicolae sped off in their yellow Jeep, keeping as much distance from the Chinatown district as they could. Delores was nursing the singed portions of her dress, as well as the vivid ramen stain.
"Blast those Chosen Children!" she muttered incessantly as the Jeep bounced through a thick bamboo forest. "Always getting my dresses ruined…."
"You still have twenty other dresses in Los Angeles, Delores," Nicolae soothed, but was only given a hearty slap on the cheek.
"I'm not going back to LA just to get another dress!" Delores screeched. "Now, according to the GPS, we're only three miles away from the last Holy Stone. I want to destroy this stone personally." She saw Nicolae look at her blankly. "That means step on it!"
"Oh, yes, I am stepping on it right now," Nicolae stammered, slamming down the accelerator.

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Location - Digital Egg Ramen Restaurant, Chinatown District, Digital World
-------------------------------------------------

Frank Parker was about to go for his third bowl of ramen when his D3 started to beep annoyingly. Gently placing his bowl on the table, he took his D3 from his pocket and pressed a button. Owsley's face stared back at him.
"Hey, Frank, I've got the location of the last Holy Stone," Owsley droned. His glasses were at a crooked angle. "How's Buck doing?"
"Buck's doing fine, he's eating a lot of ramen," Parker replied. "So, where's this Holy Stone? Anywhere nearby?"
Owsley nodded. "Secretary-General Carpathia and Delores are about a mile away from there. I've uploaded the coordinates to your D3. You know, if you want to save the world, you'd better get going right now."
"Okay. I just hope that these Japanese kids understand that we have to leave! Parker out."
Parker pocketed his D3 and tapped Buck's shoulder. "We're ditching," he whispered.
"Why?" Buck stood up with a start, spilling his ramen - luckily he had draped a napkin over his lap. "This ramen is good!"
"Owsley's found the last Holy Stone!" Parker whispered harshly. "And Nicolae and Delores are almost there!"
"What about the other children?"
"Have Elecmon tell them that we're going to the Holy Stone."
Buck leaned over to Elecmon and whispered something in his ear. The digimon nodded, then said something in Japanese to the children. Without argument they stood from the table and filed out.
"That wasn't so hard," Buck laughed.

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Location - a pond of ramen
-------------------------------------------------

Delores jumped out of the Jeep and surveyed the area. It was a clearing in the bamboo forest, strangely circular shaped. A brown lake was at its center, a familiar smell issuing from it….
"RAMEN!" Nicolae and Delores cried out at once. They ran over to the pond, being careful not to jump into it in their excitement. "I LOVE RAMEN!"
Nicolae, though, pointed at something when he reached the edge of the pond. "Uh, Delores, there is a sign over there."
"So?" Delores scoffed bitterly.
"It says, 'If you drink from this pond, you will be sorry'."
"Give me one good reason why," Delores threatened.
"Well … because … it may be poisoned. You know, the ramen is in the ground."
"Then why don't you try it out for yourself?" she replied, bitterly pushing Nicolae into the ramen lake.
"Hey, Delores, you made me ruin my power tie!" Nicolae complained, still being careful not to use contractions in his rage.
"Serves you right for messing up all my dresses."
"I did not mess up any of your dresses!"
"Do I care?"
Nicolae didn't have time to give a sarcastic reply. The ramen around him started to bubble; the human-disguised digimon could feel rock rising beneath his feet. The rock shoved his body above the ramen, above the ground….
"Oh my god," Delores mused.
"What?" Nicolae cried. "I am on a rock in midair!"
"That's not a normal rock! It's the last Holy Stone!"
"Now what?"
"Just jump off, you blockhead!"
"Fine!" Nicolae flung himself from the Holy Stone and landed awkwardly by Delores' feet. His trademark suit was brown with ramen stains.
"Delores, I hear a little rustling in the bushes over there," Nicolae said a little later, after squeezing dry his blood red power tie. "What do you think that is?"
"Just your imagination," Delores scoffed.
At that, three five digimon burst out of the bamboo before the Holy Stone: Paildramon, Silphymon, Ankylomon, Kabuterimon, and Kentarumon. The digimon all were in a position to fire their special attacks.
"Blast! The Chosen Children found the Stone!" Delores screeched.
"And we're not going to let you destroy it, not while we're around!" Paildramon exclaimed. "Desperado Blaster!"
"Dual Sonic!"
"Mega Blaster!"
"Hunting Cannon!"
Four of the digimon's special attacks flew out towards Delores and Nicolae, causing them to jump out of the way. Delores landed skillfully on her feet, while Nicolae rolled about in the grass.

Behind the bamboo, a few feet away from the Chosen Children, Buck and Parker were watching the battle. They had a good view of the Holy Stone, Delores and Nicolae, and the evolved digimon.
"I wonder why Takeru didn't make Patamon evolve," Buck mused, turning to look at Parker.
"Because Takeru finally realized that we'd be screwed if Angemon appeared again," Parker replied curtly. "Besides, you put up a better fight."
"Frank, I still have stitches that need to be removed," Buck sighed. "I don't want to be possessed again - it'll mean another session with Olga and her stitch-removing skills."
"Gee, most people at NNL look forward to seeing Olga in the office," Parker mused.
"Most people meaning you?" Buck laughed.
Parker blushed deeply. "Besides, if nothing seems to work, we always have our guns."
"Frank … I don't have a gun."
"Well, at least I do," Frank said, pulling a gun out of his jacket. He pulled his coat from his body far enough to show a flash of white light shine through his shirt.
"Frank … is that your Tag?" Buck asked, pointing to the light on Parker's chest.
Parker pulled his dog tag from beneath his shirt. Sure enough, it was shining silver.
"So my Crest has to be nearby," Parker breathed.

A few feet away from Buck and Parker, the Japanese Chosen Children looked out at the battle. All of the children were voicing their encouragement to their digimon, but Takeru was sitting apart from the group, Patamon struggling in his arms.
"Let me fight them, Takeru," he argued, fatigued. "I have to help out … come on…."
"You promised me you wouldn't evolve, Patamon," Takeru scolded. "Stay back!"
"I'm not going to evolve!" Patamon exclaimed, out of breath. "Just … going to stun them … a bit…."
"You're going to get hurt," Takeru said, holding Patamon closer to him. "No."

Delores and Nicolae stared down the five digimon protecting the Holy Stone. "No matter what you do, the Stone will still be destroyed," Delores crooned. "Make it easy on yourselves and step out of the way."
"There's no way we're going to!" Silphymon exclaimed.
"Tisk, tisk, little chickadees," Delores said. "Nicolae?"
Nicolae finally stood up and pulled his submachine gun from beneath his dress coat. Strangely, though, he did not transform into his digimon form. "Who will be first?"
"How about you?" a dark voice responded from behind.
Nicolae and Delores turned back in shock. A black armored dragon was standing behind them, his claws glowing silver. A sinister gleam was in his blue eyes.
"Black War Greymon," Nicolae stammered, dropping his machine gun onto the grass with a thud. "We did not … expect you here…."
"Yeah, right." He raised his head towards the Holy Stone. "I've felt that Stone there much longer than your puny GPS system did." Then, turning towards the bamboo forest, "And I'm sure the Guardian did, too."
"Guardian? What Guardian?" Delores stuttered, backing away from the dark dragon. "He can't be in those trees, they're too tightly packed!"
"You don't know the Guardian as I do, then," Black War Greymon lowed, lashing out with his glowing claws. "Dramon Killer!"
In one swipe the glowing claws sent Delores and Nicolae flying over the bamboo forest. Seconds later, a small cloud of dust rose, marking where they had landed.
"They're not going to meddle with me this time," Black War Greymon growled, raising his arms into the air. "Now the destruction of the Holy Stones shall be finished!" A ball of fire started to form in his hands….

"Oh, shoot!" Parker cursed, aiming his gun for Black War Greymon's legs. "He's going to destroy the Stone!"

Patamon flew out of Takeru's arms, heading towards Black War Greymon. "Patamon, evolve…!"
Takeru, realizing Patamon's mistake, screamed out in horror.

"Gaia Force!"
Parker fired his gun, gaining two shots into Black War Greymon's legs. The dragon keeled over forwards, but the fireball was still flying out towards the Holy Stone.
A white light shot out from the forest, aiming to block the path of the fiery attack. Words shot out from the light in perfect English….
"Heaven's … Knuckle!"
The fireball was forced off its course, flying over Black War Greymon's head. It exploded seconds later a few yards away.
The light then died away, and an angel could be seen leaning on his golden staff in front of the other children's digimon….

"We're screwed now," Parker moaned, burying his face in his hands. "Angemon's here."
"Come on, it's not that bad," Buck smiled. "At least I won't get possessed."

"You've made a mistake, Angemon," Black War Greymon growled, advancing towards the Holy Stone purposefully with a visible limp. "I know of your connection with the Holy Stones … you'd be dead with a single attack…." His claws glowed silver again. "Dramon Killer!"
Angemon brought up his staff to block the attack. "I will not go down so easily," he moaned, struggling against the dragon's might. He turned his head both to his left and right, only to see the other digimon back away from the fight.
They knew it was not their battle.
"Stop being so confident … Guardian," Black War Greymon lowed, bringing his whole weight down upon Angemon.
"Why do you keep on saying that I am the Guardian?" Angemon roared, forcing Black War Greymon away with his remaining strength. "I am not him!"
"There is something I've noticed about the three destined to be the Holy Stones' Guardians," Black War Greymon crooned. "Always resisting the truth … and they all look alike…."
"What do you mean?" Angemon gasped.
"You know what I mean," Black War Greymon rasped, releasing a claw from behind the angel's staff. He brought it towards Angemon's face….
…. And knocked off his helm.

Gasps issued from within the bamboo forest. Takeru inched closer to the edge of the woods to catch a closer glimpse. He could see Angemon forcing his eyes closed (What good would that do? Takeru thought) as he looked up at Black War Greymon. Yet something was familiar about that now-revealed face….

"I don't believe it," Parker whistled, pocketing his gun.
"What?" Buck asked, peering through the bamboo.
"I didn't know you had a twin, Buck," Parker gasped.
"Yeah, sure," Buck said, but he soon wished he took back his words.
Because Angemon's helm had concealed a face … that was just like his.

"And the human known as Cameron Williams now knows the truth," Black War Greymon whispered. "Yes, Angemon … I knew that he was one of the others the Guardian had claimed. I just wish I fought him again … he put up a good fight…."
Angemon, his eyes still closed, barely managed to thrust Black War Greymon off him. "Cameron is not fighting this battle," he replied weakly. "The final battle is mine…."
"But in the end, I shall triumph!" Black War Greymon cried out. He leaped into the air and extended a glowing claw. "Dramon Killer!"
Air rushed through the clearing as Black War Greymon sped off towards the angel. Angemon prepared himself to attack, but it was too late - the dragon had pierced his chest, and was now flying towards the Holy Stone with the digimon impaled on his clawed hand….
A tremendous cracking noise filled the area as Black War Greymon's claw buried itself into the stone, pinning Angemon to it. Blue light filled the forest, blanking everything out; all that existed was the anguished cries of a digimon and his partner.
And in that moment, Angemon finally opened his eyes.

The light faded (intensified?) to white, and the entirety of the bamboo forest had disappeared. Buck, Parker, Takeru, Hikari, Daisuke, Iori, Ken, and Miyako, and their digimon were now all exposed, prime targets for Black War Greymon.
But the dragon wasn't there.
Where the Holy Stone had once been were fragments of rock, all tinged with deep red blood. An angel was standing before the ruins, an ivory hunting horn in his hands. The Chosen Children recognized him instantly as the Guardian.
"Where's Angemon?" Takeru asked, wiping tears from his eyes. "Is he…."
The Guardian shook his head. "I am sorry, Takeru … that I broke my promise…."
He brought the horn to his lips and prepared to sound it.
Parker looked up at the horn, recognizing the medallion-shaped engraving on its side.
"Don't blow it!" he cried out, running out towards the angel. "You know what's going to happen - the Digital Conundrum! Seven years of darkness!"
"I know, Francis," the Guardian lowed. "But the last Stone has been destroyed…."
And in that final instant, he brought the Trumpet of Hope to his mouth and sounded the call to the Golden Land….

[Midnight Cry (edited), new ending animation, and credits play….]

A/N I know, I should choose a new ending song … I'll have a better choice by the time I finish writing the next installment.