Elsewhere, the battle between Metaldracomon and Piximon was really starting to heat up. Metaldracomon threw a punch, but Piximon dodged and tried to counterattack with a kick to the gut. Metaldracomon swiveled out of the way and tried landing a blow with his spiked elbow on Piximon's head, but Piximon simply caught the attack in his arms and launched himself away from his opponent. As soon as Piximon landed, Metaldracomon was right on top of him with a slice from his powerful right claw. Piximon sprung forward, over Metaldracomon's head. Metaldracomon tried to hit him in mid-flight with his powerful tail, only to have Piximon dodge just below the powerful appendage. Piximon landed and Metaldracomon came at him with his claw again. Piximon rolled out of the way just as Metaldracomon's claw tore through the floor, sending metal debris into the air. Piximon flew headfirst at Metaldracomon, but the great digimon leaped into the air and over Piximon's assault. While in the air, Metaldracomon swiftly turned and fired his Mecha Claw at Piximon, but as usual, Piximon managed to dodge. The attack instead sliced three narrow slits into the heavy steel doors that secured the large base vault.

"Hey, Kari," said TK. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah? So?" asked Kari.

"I've got an idea," said TK.

Meanwhile, Metaldracomon had retracted his claw and was charging at Piximon. Piximon swiftly threw his spear at Metaldracomon, but Metaldracomon spun around it as he ran, and was able to get around behind Piximon with his amazing speed. He grabbed the tiny digimon's entire body in his left hand before performing another complete spin to build up speed and chucking Piximon across the room and directly into one of the three doors, leaving a sizeable dent. Piximon fell facedown on the ground as Metaldracomon once again charged. He leaped through the air and aimed to land his heavy, metallic foot right on top of Piximon, but as he fell Piximon rolled out of the way and Metaldracomon was only successful in pounding the floor. By the time that Metaldracomon had realized the mistake, Piximon had already retrieved his weapon and was soaring at Metaldracomon's head. Piximon came in fast and swung his spear like a baseball bat, aiming at Metaldracomon's head, but Metaldracomon's amazing reflexes allowed him to bring up his powerful, metal arm just in time to block Piximon's blow. The two stared at each other for a moment. The force of the blow had broken off several pieces from Metaldracomon's arm, but nothing of significance. He gazed at Piximon coldly, without any sign of emotion. Piximon looked back clearly agitated at the failure of his latest attack.

"Surrender," said Metaldracomon. "It's your only hope for a quick death."

"No can do," said Piximon. "You see, I'm planning on winning this fight… one way or another."

"I gave you your chance," said Metaldracomon. "Now you die."

With incredible speed, Metaldracomon threw a punch at Piximon with his left arm. The force behind the blow was more than enough to knock Piximon all the way across the room and crashing into a wall. Piximon was stunned by the blow, and began to fall forward, but before he could drop more than a few inches, Metaldracomon came in with a vicious kick, driving his foot and Piximon over ten inches into the wall and sending out a wave of debris. Metaldracomon wasn't done yet though. As soon as he landed, he reached out with his left claw and dug Piximon from the trashed wall and looked down at his damaged body.

"You lose," said Metaldracomon.

"Hey metal head!" shouted a voice from the other side of the room.

Metaldracomon turned his head and spied TK standing there with a confident look on his face.

"Why don't you pick on someone closer to your own size?!" shouted TK.

"Anyone you might recommend?" asked Metaldracomon.

"I was talking about me," said TK.

"Don't try my patience, child," said Metaldracomon. "I could snap you in half in the time it takes you to blink."

"I'm not gonna' back down," said TK stubbornly.

"You're… actually serious?" asked Metaldracomon. "Well, I must say that you've reminded me never to underestimate how brave or how foolish humans can be."

Metaldracomon opened his claws and let Piximon roll of his fingers and slump to the floor. Then, with his trademark speed, Metaldracomon spun towards TK and fired his Mecha Claw right at him. However, while the claw was rapidly approaching the boy, Gatomon stepped in and knocked him to the ground, and in the process revealing the already damaged section of the large doors that TK had hidden with his body. A surprised look crossed Metaldracomon's face as his claw tore through the door and quickly became lodged. His surprise grew dramatically when Piximon rammed himself into Metaldracomon from behind and shoved him across the room and right through the vault doors. A mix of shattered metal and dust poured from the hole in the door as Piximon landed, gasping for breath and holding his dislocated left shoulder. His wings were tattered and he was bruised badly, but he was most likely in better shape than Metaldracomon.

"Awesome!" said TK as he stood up and dusted himself off. "That there is what I'd call a home run!"

"Don't you think you were cutting it a little close?" asked Gatomon. "Another couple feet and you'd be shish kabob."

"I knew you'd get to me in time," said TK.

"Don't scare me like that any more!" said Kari as she ran over and embraced her boyfriend. "I don't like it when you take stupid risks."

The digignome floated down from its position near the ceiling and landed on TK's shoulder, a slight smile on its face.

"Hurry," groaned Piximon.

"Huh?" asked TK and Kari.

"Retrieve your… equipment," Piximon said with a grimace. "The crests… and digivices."

"I'm on it," said Patamon, quickly flying through the hole left by Metaldracomon.

"Okay, we're getting close," said Gatomon. "Now all we need to worry about is the Emperor and that virus."

"Uh… I think we've missed out on a very important detail," said Kari. "Did anyone see where the Emperor WENT?!"

"Wasn't he here?" asked TK, looking around.

"He must've slipped out during the battle," said Kari. "But why? And where?"

"Hey Gatomon!" called Patamon. "Could you give me a hand here?"

"Coming!" said Gatomon, going in to find Patamon while carefully stepping around Metaldracomon's unconscious body.

"I don't like this at all," said TK. "Ken could be anywhere by now."

"He must've gone for reinforcements," said Kari.

"No," said Piximon. "He ducked out very early in the battle when Metaldracomon was winning."

"Then maybe he just thought Metaldracomon could handle things here," said TK. "He could've been going after some of our friends."

"I don't think so," said Piximon. "I saw the look in his eyes. It was very strange. He seemed very decisive, and he made sure that Metaldracomon didn't see him go."

"What does it mean?" asked Kari.

"I don't know," said Piximon. "But I—"

"Here it is!" called Gatomon as she and Patamon stepped out from the vault, loaded down with equipment.

"Tags, crests, digivices, D-terminals, and D-3s all accounted for," said Patamon. "With the exception of Ken's stuff."

"We know he has his digivice," said Gatomon. "I bet he's got that crest on him too."

"You guys should see some of the stuff they got back there," said Patamon. "Izzy could spend a month in there and not even scratch the surface."

"This stuff should do for now," said TK as he accepted his D-3, D-terminal, and crest.

"I'm sure glad to have all this back," Kari said as she did the same.

"With us at your side these guys don't stand a chance," said Gatomon.

"So what are we waiting for?" asked TK. "Let's get going."

They turned to go, but they stopped in their tracks when a loud snarl raged up from behind them. Cautiously turning around, they beheld the enraged figure of Metaldracomon. His eyes were trained on the small group, electrical sparks shot from his body, and his mouth hung open savagely as his warm, wet drool began to puddle on the ground.

"You go nowhere…" said Metaldracomon in a slow, booming voice.

By that time, Tai and Matt were knee-deep in the battle against Geno. The two Agumon wrestled viciously, clawing at each other and biting whenever they got the chance. The Gabumon had their hands locked together and were pushing against each other with all their strength in a battle that neither was winning.

"Do you see?" asked Geno. "Even now, they're every bit as strong as your digimon, and they get stronger with every passing moment."

"You're gonna' regret trying to mess with me!" said Matt. "Just you wait…"

At that moment, Black Agumon had Agumon pinned against the ground, holding his arms and legs. Agumon tried to fire his Pepper Breath into Black Agumon's face, but the wily digimon crooked its head to the side just in time, and quickly retaliated by snapping his jaw down hard on Agumon's right shoulder. Agumon cried out in pain as Black Agumon's teeth sunk in deeper, drawing out a stream of blood that oozed from Black Agumon's tightly closed lips.

"Agumon!" shouted Tai.

Agumon could only scream in pain. Gabumon momentarily turned his head to see what was wrong with his friend, but that quickly proved to be a tactical error when Black Gabumon unleashed his Black Blaster against the side of Gabumon's face. Gabumon slid back across the floor and into a wall. Standing up shakily, Gabumon clutched his bruised head. He fixed his glaring, red eyes on Black Gabumon, who continued to pant heavily like the feral beast he was. Gabumon then eyed his friend, Agumon, who was still trying to get Black Agumon off of him without tearing off his whole arm in the process. Gabumon knew that his personal vendetta against his evil counterpart would have to be put on hold for the moment.

"Don't worry, Agumon!" shouted Gabumon. "I'm coming!"

Gabumon ran as quickly as he could at Agumon, but it soon proved not nearly fast enough. Black Gabumon had come up behind him and tackled him to the ground. Laying facedown on the ground and mere feet from Agumon, Gabumon felt Black Gabumon's warm, sticky breath on his fur. With no time to spare, Gabumon acted entirely out of instinct. He flipped himself onto his back, but Black Gabumon remained on top of him, so that they were now face to face.

"Alley oop!" shouted Gabumon as he brought his feet up against Black Gabumon's belly and launched him back over his head.

Black Agumon looked up just in time to see Black Gabumon flying right at him. This caused him to release Agumon's shoulder instinctively, so that when Black Gabumon smashed into him, only the dark digimon went for a ride. The two of them landed in a pile a few feet in front of Geno. Gabumon helped Agumon back to his feet and they both pulled back to regroup for the next attack.

"They're tough," said Gabumon. "Really tough."

"No kidding," grunted Agumon a moment before cringing from the searing pain in his bloodied arm.

"Think you can hold up?" asked Gabumon.

"I… don't know," said Agumon, gripping his wound. "It's pretty bad."

"Hey Tai!" yelled Matt. "Why didn't you get in there and help your digimon?!"

"I… I…" stammered Tai.

"If you'd helped him then Gabumon wouldn't have had to!" yelled Matt. "What were you THINKING?!"

"I… I couldn't move," Tai said meekly. "I was too scared…"

"Why did you even come along if you're not gonna' help?!" shouted Matt. "You're just dead weight!"

"That's ENOUGH!" yelled Gabumon. "You two better snap out of this right NOW! I don't know what it was that the virus did to you two, but you can just forget about it!"

"Look Gabumon, I—" started Matt.

"I'M NOT DONE YET!" yelled Gabumon. "Whatever happened, it wasn't real! This, on the other hand, is! This is what really matters! We need you right now; the REAL you!"

"You guys shouldn't be sad, you should be MAD!" Agumon chimed in. "Just think about what the virus has done to you; to all of us! Think about what would happen if we lose to it here, today. Think about everyone that's depending on us! If you can't come to your senses right now, then that thing has already won and everything you know and love will be gone forever! I for one can't let that happen! I haven't come this far to lose now!"

"This is it!" said Gabumon. "We're way past the point of no return! Come on guys, we need you now more than ever! This is what everything we've done so far comes down to! Don't let it all be for nothing! Remember who you are! Remember that your families, your friends, your whole planet, and most of all, the two of us need your help right now!"

At that moment, something in the minds of the boys snapped. Somehow, their partners had reached them. The dark fog that had clouded their minds was beginning to disprese.

"A moving speech," Geno quipped. "But it will do you no good. You see, those two are mine, and nothing you can say will ever get through to them."

"You're wrong," Tai said with a slight hint of courage in his unsteady voice. "We don't belong to you."

"Yeah," said Matt. "We just needed a little reminder of who we are."

"What is this?" asked Geno upon noticing the slight change in their demeanor. "You would question ME?!"

"That's right!" said Matt. "We've had enough of you. You can't control me any more, virus!"

"That goes for me too!" said Tai. "I think we've both heard enough of your lies. Now it's time to pay…"

"Interesting," said Geno. "But still…"

Geno held up the Crests of Cowardice and Solitude.

"These babies tell the truth," said Geno. "Your hearts are still consumed by darkness. Even if you could throw off my reigns, I doubt you'd be able to do so before my little pets eat you all up."

Black Agumon and Black Gabumon got back to their feet and looked up expectantly at their master. They crooked their heads to the side curiously. Geno slowly presented his digivice, and they snapped to attention excitedly.

"Digivolving time…" said Geno.

A field of negative energy engulfed the two dark digimon and a swirling vortex began amassing around them. Geno grinned as their frames rapidly grew to impressive proportions. The vortex quickly dissipated once the change was complete, revealing Black Greymon and Black Garurumon. The evil Greymon stretched his new muscles while Black Garurumon shook his great mane. The two of them looked more than ready for battle.

"They grow up so fast," Geno said snidely.

"You ready Tai?" asked Matt.

"It all depends on Agumon," said Tai. "What do ya' think, buddy? You up for it?"

"Send me in," Agumon grimaced. "I can take the pain."

"I'm good to go," said Gabumon.

"Then let's get this party started," said Matt.

The humans held out their digivices together. On command, Agumon and Gabumon digivolved to Greymon and Garurumon. The next round was about to begin, and the odds were dead even.