Chapter 19

Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils go smoke, as out of a seething pot or cauldron.

Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.
Job 41:19-20, 33-34

Savannah returned home late Saturday night and crashed into bed. Chamelemon investigated her room before curling up on the foot of her bed, his skin blending with her bedspread. He was warm, while Hissmon had been cold, like a reptile. But she still missed Hissmon, and stuffed her pillow in her mouth to keep from crying. Did Digidestined let their partners die? She thought she knew how the digimon felt when it had let its human partner get killed.

Tithonia had kept the old violet digivice, and they had decided to return it to the Gigaterra museum the following day. Maybe Savannah would ask them to put up a plaque in Hissmon's memory. She reached down and stroked Chamelemon's head. The chameleon smiled in his sleep and did not stir. Why had he lost his attacks? She would ask him in the morning.

Savannah awoke hours later with the crystal clear awareness that someone was in her room.

It was dark outside, and her clock radio read 4 AM. Chamelemon was still asleep at her feet, but there was a rustle and a stirring of the air elsewhere in her room that chilled her blood. She lay perfectly still, hoping the intruder had not noticed she was awake.

She heard her window slide open and rolled her eyes at it, trying to see the intruder's silhouette without moving her head. There was a dark mass in front of the window, and somehow she knew it was not human. She wanted it to go away, and quickly. She broke out in a fine sweat.

The dark mass shifted and a pair of burning red eyes fixed on her. They were like Hissmon's eyes, but far too large, and of a different shape. Could it see in the dark? Could it see her looking at it?

The monster sniffed twice, then turned and climbed out through the window, filling it. She heard it strike the grass outside, and waited until she could no longer hear it, then sat up and roused Chamelemon. "Something was in here," she whispered when he awoke. "Something big." She was shaking.

Chamelemon sat up and sniffed the air, and even in the darkness she saw his skin change colors several times. "Oh my gosh," he whispered, jumping up and clinging to her. "Oh my gosh!"

"What was it?"

"You saw it?" he whispered. "And it didn't attack us? Oh my gosh!" He released her and crawled to the window on all fours, his curled tail held high over his back. He cautiously stood up and looked out the open window, his whole body tense. "This is bad," he whispered, crawling back to her as if the monster were listening. "The thing was an ultimate. Savannah, viruses aren't supposed to be able to get to the real world! This is bad! What could it want?"

"I don't know," said Savannah, but she thought of Hydramon's attack on Zach, and her stomach tightened. She picked up her cellphone and called Zach's. He never used it, but he kept it plugged in, so it should be on...

Zach picked up on the third ring. "Huh?"

"Zach, an ultimate virus just got here through my computer."

"What? What did you say?" Zach's voice sounded more alert.

"It was huge, Zach. I'm afraid it might come after you or something. Chamelemon said it must want something."

Zach breathed an oath. "So there's a virus running around the neighborhood? Hang up, I'm going to call Rick and--"

Savannah's phone went berserk. It lit up and its screen flashed electronic gibberish. Her clock radio became a mass of scrambled diodes, and her monitor made a high-pitched ringing sound. "What the heck?" she said, looking around.

Chamelemon looked around, too. "He must have digivolved to Mega."

Savannah threw on her clothes and snatched up her digivice. Chamelemon grabbed Base, who now remained alive in the real world, and had been sleeping, and they left the house through the window.

The world was dark and quiet outdoors, and the chilly air was still. It felt like midnight. There was no sign of the mega, but Zach ran out to the street with Spikemon at his heels. "Savannah! Did your electronic stuff go haywire?"

"Yeah," said Savannah. "We think he digivolved. Did you call the others?"

"Yeah, I tried," said Zach, noticing his shirt was on backward. "I left a message for Rick, and nobody answered at Tithonia's. Let's go."

Savannah noticed he was wearing his shield generator. "You first, you've got a shield."

They jogged down the street and peered both ways at the first intersection. All was quiet in both directions. "How do you hide a mega?" murmured Savannah.

"If he keeps his head down, we'll never find him," said Zach. "Chamelemon, Spikemon, can you smell him?"

The lizards sniffed. "The road reeks of him," said Spikemon, wrinkling his nose. "He went straight on. Let's find this loser."

The four went on, jogging, sniffing, and looking for signs that something large had passed by. There was no trail but the monster's scent, as if it had been careful to harm nothing that might give it away.

After another ten minutes they came to a wide road with lots of streetlights. The road was empty at that hour, but one of the streetlights was bent and flickering.

"He crossed," said Chamelemon.

"He's headed downtown," said Zach. "Savannah, what do we do if he goes downtown? There's no Code Enforcement digimon here!"

"We'll have to be their representatives," said Savannah, but she looked at Chamelemon with a sick feeling. If she lost her second partner in two days...

Suddenly two police cars shot by, sirens screaming. In the morning stillness it was unnerving. "I think somebody noticed him," said Zach.

They hurried on, their digimon running ahead to look and sniff. The scent grew stronger as the suburbs gave way to a commercial district. Most of the stores were closed, but here and there a few lights were on as people did their morning work prior to opening.

"If he's a virus, why doesn't he rampage through and flatten everything?" said Zach to his partner.

"This is small fry," said Spikemon, waving to the street. "Who would notice if he destroyed little buildings? He's probably headed for the largest buildings where he can cause the most chaos."

The sky began to brighten in the east, and a few cars appeared in the streets. Soon Hilldale would be awake, and the Digidestined had not located the mega virus.

More police cars screeched by in the distance, headed in the same direction as the Digidestined. Spikemon dropped back to trot alongside Zach. "Zach," he said softly, "if I digivolve, it will be the second time in twelve hours. I don't have much energy left."

Chamelemon overheard this and slowed to walk with the humans. "Ditto," he said. "And what about the others? Nobody can recharge that fast."

"We're going to get flattened," concluded Spikemon, shaking his head. "And depending on his type, he just might kill us all."

They rounded a corner and came to a roadblock of orange flashers and pylons set across the road. Two policemen strode up to them. "Sorry kids, this area is closed to all traffic."

"Let us by, please," said Zach, standing in front of Spikemon. "We--uh--need to get to school."

"On a Sunday?" said a cop with a smirk. "Just turn around and go back the way you--"

A trumpeting roar echoed across the city, reverberating off walls and streets. The policemen and Digidestined jumped, and at once Chamelemon and Spikemon were between their partners and danger, teeth bared.

"You can't go that way," said a policeman, then stared at their digimon. "Harry, look, there's more of them!"

"Sorry, gotta go," said Chamelemon, and bolted down the street. Savannah, Zach and Spikemon followed. The police did not pursue them, which they thought was odd until they heard sirens as another car moved to intercept them.

"Wouldn't it be ironic if we got arrested?" said Savannah. Then they turned a corner and stopped, struck dumb.

Spreading before them were the park-like grounds around the Hilldale commercial district, and a collection of buildings the inhabitants fondly called skyscrapers. Coiled around one of these skyscrapers was a monster like a living Chinese dragon. Its body was long enough to wrap around the building, but it had gleaming silver legs, and a pair of red wings that hung half-open from its back. As they stared, its vast whiskered head arched back and it roared again, a massive, frightening sound that punched the stomach and dented eardrums. They were so stunned by sight and sound that they did not notice the police car pull up behind them.

Zach felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled with a gasp. A cop stood behind him, looking scared. "Come with us, kids, it's too dangerous here. No one is allowed into this area."

"We're the only ones who can stop that thing," said Zach. "Don't make us leave, please."

"Right, kid," said the cop, grabbing his arm. "Come on, get in the car--"

Zach whipped out his data sticks and jammed them into his digivice. All electronic devices in the area scrambled as Spikemon digivolved to Thornmon. The cop gasped and shrank back as Thornmon snarled down at him. "Leave my partner alone."

Then the four ran into the parkland, toward the monster, away from roads where more police might intervene. As they ran, Savannah pulled out her own digivice, as she always did, and scanned the dragon. "His name is Komodomon," she panted to Zach. "Mega, of course, but he's a poisonous fire type. All we have is fire, wind and water. Oh, and electricity," she added, as Chamelemon glared at her. "Hissmon might have helped, if I still had him."

"Fire might work," said Thornmon, eyeing Komodomon, who had not noticed them. "But there won't be much left of this area once I'm through. I wish I were mega!"

"If wishes were digivices, in-trainings would digivolve," said Chamelemon. "I vote we wait for Rick and Tithonia. They might have some ideas."

Komodomon roared again, deafening them. As it ceased, Zach said, "He's saying something. Could you understand him?"

"No," said Savannah, still holding her ears.

"I did," said Thornmon, who was the only one who had not flinched. "He's calling the Programmer."

The dragon's head tilted and peered down at them, its red eyes narrowing. Then it smiled, lips peeling back to reveal long white fangs. It shifted its steel claws and stretched its long neck in their direction, uncoiling like a gigantic snake. "Hello," it rumbled, its voice loud enough to understand an acre away. "Nice of you to drop by."

Thornmon placed himself between Komodomon and the others, and although he was twenty feet tall, he was dwarfed by the dragon. "Keep back."

Komodomon curved his head to one side and grinned down at the humans. "I've always despised your kind," he growled, his voice as loud as thunder. "Tell me, Savannah, how did it feel to watch your partner die?"

Chamelemon pressed against her legs. "Don't answer him."

"I arranged his death," the dragon went on with a smug yet dangerous smile. "Hydramon was merely my agent, and even he had to be eliminated. I knew he could tire you. There is no attack any of you posses that can harm me."

"You killed Hissmon?" said Savannah softly.

Somehow the dragon heard her. "I did not kill him--I merely arranged his death. Hydramon was supposed to kill you afterward, but he bungled it." Komodomon's nostrils flared at Chamelemon. "And you are her partner now."

Chamelemon made a gesture that was meaningless to the humans, but was obviously insulting.

"You should have died," snarled Komodomon. "After I usurped your role as her partner, you should have died. But you clung to life. You are the one flaw in my plan."

Savannah stood still, trying to understand what the dragon had said. "You usurped...?" She remembered entering the Digital World and her digivice displaying a line of gibberish as a partner name. It had done it again when Chamelemon became her partner.

"It was the perfect cover," Komodomon said, lifting his head high in the air. "Compressed into rookie, who would ever suspect the meekest of serpents? The gentle, pacifist Hissmon, whose only giveaway was his bite? I could not compress my venom attack, no matter how I tried."

"You..." Savannah's mind was a blank. She sensed there was a horrible shock in his words, but she refused to understand it. "You were controlling Hissmon?"

Komodomon smiled, baring venomous fangs. "I am Hissmon."

Thornmon, Chamelemon, Zach and Savannah were stunned. They stood, openmouthed, staring at Komodomon. He climbed up on his lofty perch and clung there, wings half-open. "Benign virus, I said! And you fools believed me."

"But... you fought for me," said Savannah brokenly. The shock was sinking in.

"Fought for you? Ha!" bellowed the dragon, his voice shaking the ground. "I eliminated each of my own minions when they proved inept! Condormon, Loricamon, Thrashmon, Stranglemon, those poor trusting idiots. Hydramon had his psychic attacks, but he fell for me, too. Faking your own death is not hard in the Digital World."

"So that's why my attacks went away," growled Chamelemon, turning brick red. "Cutting me off from my intended partner should have killed me."

Thornmon roared, "I liked you, Hissmon! I trusted you!"

"You should have trusted your instincts, Spikemon my friend," rumbled Komodomon. "I had the hardest time convincing you, for you were always suspicious of me. But if you tell a lie long enough and loud enough, everyone will believe it."

Savannah was crying now, hands over her face. It was a betrayal so horrible and so close to her heart that she felt as if part of her had died. "But why?" she wailed. "Why did you do this to me?"

"Nothing personal," said Komodomon, "but you are a female, and females are easy to deceive. You were one of the first female Digidestined in twenty years, and you were my ticket to the Real World." He reared back and roared again. "Programmer!"

"Say the word, Zach," snarled Thornmon, baring his teeth under his steel helmet. "Tell me and I'll take him down."

Zach looked at Savannah, then up at the monstrous dragon. "Wait. I'm going to try calling Rick and Tithonia again."

Zach had brought along his cell phone, and it was none the worse for being hit with a data storm when the digimon digivolved. He dialed Tithonia's, and again there was no answer. Then he tried Rick's, and got his answering machine again. However, the message on the machine announced, "You've reached Richard Sterling. I can't come to the phone now because I've gone to confront a dragon in the middle of town. Leave a message, will you?"

"Rick's on his way," said Zach, sliding his phone back into his pocket. "Tithonia might be, I don't know. Should we wait?"

"No," said Chamelemon, who had been trying to comfort Savannah, and was steadily growing angry. "I can go to mega. If Thornmon and I attack at once, we might be strong enough." Savannah did not speak, but she inserted her data sticks into her digivice.

Chamelemon grew ten feet all and assumed his ninja guise, holding Base, who exclaimed, "Let's give him heck!"

Thornmon and Knifemon nodded to each other, and charged toward the dragon. Zach and Savannah watched, eager to see how their partners fared. Thornmon lowered his head and hit one of the dragon's coils head on, driving his horns through the scales and flesh. At the same time, Knifemon leaped in the air and came down blade first, slamming his sword into Komodomon's back.

Komodomon retaliated with his whole body. He threw his coils out and around, and ducked his head down out of sight. Savannah recognized the gesture as something Hissmon did--he always protected his head when there was danger. For a moment Thornmon and Knifemon were lost from sight.

"Look at him thrash, maybe they hit something vital," said Zach.

"No," murmured Savannah. "It's his defense."

Knifemon leaped briefly into sight, his sword flashing in one hand and a katana in the other. They saw a burst of flame from Thornmon and sensed there was a fight going on, but the trees around them blocked their view.

"Let's get closer," said Zach, but Savannah grabbed his arm. "No, don't. You don't know him like I do. He'd attack us instead of them."

"He's really sick to do something like this," said Zach. "All he did the whole time was lie."

Savannah nodded. Her betrayed love was turning into a black hatred. He had lied to her, used her, hurt her, and all at the expense of Chamelemon, who had never done them any harm. "I hope they kill him."

There came the sound of running footsteps on grass, and they turned to see Rick and Tithonia pelting toward them, followed by Frogmon and Mulemon. Trailing them at a walk was Tithonia's mother, who was deep in conversation with a police officer.

"Where did that thing come from?" panted Rick, jamming his data stick into his digivice to make Frogmon digivolve. "Digimon can't get here unless they're Digidestined, right?"

"He's Hissmon," said Savannah hollowly. "He just told us. He faked being my partner."

"I brought that old digivice," said Tithonia, holding it up, but her eyes were fixed on Komodomon. "Can we fight him? I mean, he's so huge..."

"That's Hissmon?" said Rick, eyes bugging out. "No way! Did he go bad?"

"He was always bad," spat Zach. "He pretended to be her partner, and Chamelemon was really her partner the whole time."

"Oh man," said Rick. "That's like having your girlfriend cheat on you. Bullfrogmon, kill him, will you?"

"I'll do my best, but I'm only a champion," said Bullfrogmon, looking worried under his curled horns. "Mulemon, you coming?" "Give me a second," said Mulemon, as Tithonia digivolved her to MetalChargermon. The winged donkey shook her short mane and said, "Okay, let's go."

The two hurried away in the direction of the battle.

As the four kids gazed at the dragon, digivices in hand to watch for damage, Tithonia's mother walked up and stood beside them. "I settled things with the police," she said. "You know they were going to arrest you after this was over?"

"They were? Why?"

"You resisted arrest." Mrs. Harris folded her arms and gazed at the dragon in the distance. "How are they doing?"

"Thornmon has fifteen percent damage," said Zach, watching his digivice.

"Ooh," said Rick. "Bullfrogmon just took forty-three percent." Everyone winced. Rick pulled out the red 'revive' wafer the digimon had given him the day before, and fingered it.

"Do any of you kids have a phone?" said Mrs. Harris. Zach pulled out his, showed her how to work it, and resumed watching the battle. The damage levels on the four digivices were rising. In the distance Komodomon had abandoned his perch on the building and was writing, knotting himself, and whipping about, his robot limbs catching the morning sunlight. Occasionally their digimon would come into view in mid-leap, or actually on the dragon's back in Knifemon's case, plunging his sword into the dragon's flesh over and over.

The minutes ticked by, and damage percentages continued to rise. When Bullfrogmon reached 90% he retreated from the battle and limped back to them. One foreleg and hind leg were broken, and he was covered in deep slashes. One of his eyes had been damaged, and he dragged himself to Rick with his head turned to one side. "Sorry," he gasped. "I couldn't win..."

Rick looked at his red wafer, then up at his three teammates. Then he carefully broke off a fourth of the wafer and fed it to his frog.

Zach watched as Thornmon's damage levels jumped from 70% to 80%, and dashed toward the battle. He switched on his shield as he ran, and pulled his goggles over his eyes. If Spikemon died...! He arrived at Komodomon's feet and saw Thornmon pinned to the ground under one of Komodomon's massive metal claws. The dragon's head was nowhere in sight, but its weight was being pressed on Thornmon. "Somebody help me!" Zach yelled, trying to pry one of the couch-sized toes off his digimon.

Knifemon appeared out of nowhere, his clothing torn and bloodied, but there was dragon blood on his swords. "We're outmatched," he told Zach, and sprang away over the dragon's scaly back to attack the leg joint. Zach waited several long seconds, and smelled the dragon's stench, like a reptile store in the summer. Spikemon had never smelled that way.

The leg twitched, and the coil of dragon above them shifted. All at once Thornmon opened his eyes and scrambled out from under the monster's foot, coughing. Zach could not lift him, but he urged his partner on until they were under the trees, and not so close to Komodomon. Then Thornmon collapsed and lay still, his tongue hanging out. One of his metal arms looked as if something had chewed on it. His helmet was dented, and his hind legs and tail were mauled and bleeding. The digivice announced that he was now 96% damaged.

Zach wiped away tears and crouched beside his partner's head. "Can I de-volve you? Will it hurt?"

"Everything hurts," grunted Thornmon. "We can't beat him, Zach."

"You're only an ultimate, I shouldn't have let you fight him," said Zach.

Thornmon lifted his head and tried to get up. "But I can't fail! The others, they're still out there, I--" He sank back down, coughing. Zach pulled out the data sticks, and watched Thornmon shrink into Spikemon, hurt in the same places he had been while Ultimate. The green dinosaur looked up at Zach. "We can't beat him. We all attacked together and it didn't work." Zach was shocked to see tears well up in Spikemon's eyes. "I lost a fight."

Zach carried him back to the others, knowing he was getting blood on his clothes, and not caring. Bullfrogmon was now Frogmon, and looked better since he had had the revive wafer. Rick broke off a piece of his wafer and handed it to Zach. "It'll keep him alive."

Spikemon ate the tidbit, then curled up and closed his eyes.

Tithonia and Savannah looked at the boys' digimon, then looked at each other in horror. There were only two digimon left, and only Savannah's was a mega.

MetalChargermon only lasted another five minutes before she came limping back, her wings damaged, dripping sweat, and with broken bones. She went to Tithonia and stood with her head down, trembling. Rick gave Tithonia a portion of his wafer, then handed the rest to Savannah. "Here. Your digimon is the last one."

Savannah looked around at the defeated digimon, then bit a fingernail and looked at her digivice. Knifemon was 37% damaged and had not taken more in a while. He was a mega, after all. She gripped the piece of revive wafer and drifted toward the battle. Maybe he could win. Maybe her true partner would defeat her false partner.

Zach looked up from Spikemon. "Where's Savannah?"

Only Mrs. Harris responded. Still on the phone, she pointed toward the battle. Zach looked at Spikemon, whose damage was slowly ticking down through the eighties, then dashed after Savannah. Why was Tithonia's mother on the phone? It irked him. They were being slaughtered, and all she could do was gab.

He found Savannah watching the battle from under the last row of trees. Zach stood beside her and watched, too. Komodomon had pulled his head out of hiding at last, and was snapping at Knifemon. The ninja looked like a cricket beside the massive dragon, but the dragon's back was scored with sword cuts.

"They're still fighting," murmured Savannah. "Maybe Chamelemon will win."

Knifemon sprang at Komodomon's head, climbed up the whiskers on his face, and made for one of his eyes. "Get him," whispered Savannah, clenching her fists. "Blind him!"

Knifemon reached the dragon's eye, and they saw Komodomon's scaly lids close, then he tossed his head, snapping his teeth. "Hold on," Zach and Savannah murmured. "Don't let him bite you--"

They saw the little black body fling itself clear of the dragon's head, and fall, fall, fall until he was lost from sight amid the dragon's coils. Komodomon's head darted downward, and Savannah cried out--Knifemon's damage level had shot to 60%, then to 90%, then 102%, then 130%, and it kept rising. "Knifemon!" Savannah screamed.

Komodomon's head lifted into sight, so close they could see every whisker on his face and every detail of his bared teeth. He opened his mouth and dropped Knifemon, who fell senseless onto the dragon's back, slid down, and fell in a heap on the ground. Savannah ran toward him, right into the shadow of Komodomon's jaws, and Zach sprinted after her. "Savannah, wait, it's a trap!" He tackled her and threw her down as Komodomon came at them, all teeth and fierce eyes. Zach flung up an arm and felt the rush of the monster's breath--

There was a sound like a train wreck that split Zach's head and shook the ground, and Komodomon whipped his head away. Zach pried his eyes open. The dragon's mouth was foaming, and it was slinging its head to and fro as if in pain. Then Zach saw his shield, gleaming like a fragile bubble in the morning sunlight. A personal firewall, he remembered.

He got up and helped up a stunned Savannah. "Quick, get Chamelemon. I'll keep him busy."

"What happened?" she said, stumbling to her digimon and pulling out her data sticks.

"My shield," said Zach. "It came on. Give him the wafer, hurry."

"Oh, right." Savannah shoved the bit of red wafer into the chameleon's mouth and stroked his throat to make him swallow it. The she picked him up and hurried for the shelter of the trees. Zach remained behind, watching the dragon and knowing that if he turned his back, he would be unprotected.

Drooling, Komodomon focused his red eyes on Zach. "Shields can be broken," he hissed. "Dart Fire!" He snapped his head forward and spat a rain of hot red arrows that poured down on Zach. He felt them impact on his shield, but stood firm, feet braced, and watched the fire wither the grass everywhere but under his shield.

"You cannot hope to win now," snarled the dragon. "You have no weapons, no partners. All you have is one defense." He filled his lungs and breathed a cloud of fire that incinerated everything in the area, and the other Digidestined fled to the edge of the park with their digimon. Zach was knocked backwards by the sheer power of the blast, but when he scrambled up to face the dragon again, he was unharmed, and his shield was still on.

Shakily he walked toward Komodomon and resumed his former spot, sneakers crunching on the ash that had been grass. "Why are you doing this?" he called. "What's so important that you kill and lie and destroy to get here?"

"Because I hate humans," breathed Komodomon, flames licking through his teeth. "According to legend, the Programmer is a human from your world. And I'm going to kill him."

"I thought you didn't believe in a Programmer," said Zach, remembering the debates between Spikemon and Hissmon on the subject.

"The risk is too great," growled Komodomon. "If there is one, he will reformat our world and destroy me and my kind. No more will viruses kill and maim and fight and steal. No, this Programmer must die. But I want him to come to me. Your world is too large to hunt through."

"I'm on his side," said Zach, knees trembling. "Killing and stealing is wrong and you know it."

"It's an alternate lifestyle!" roared the dragon. "Who can say it's wrong?" He breathed another jet of flame at Zach.

Again Zach picked himself up and resumed his place. Each time he was knocked down his courage slipped a little more. The batteries in his shield would not last forever, and facing the dragon's fury was wearing him down. But he couldn't run. The reason he could face Komodomon at all was because of Spikemon's data inside him, giving him Spikemon's courage to face down an enemy and not flee.

"Dart Fire!" A rain of glowing arrows struck the ground around him and his shield, and Zach's knees buckled. "I can keep this up all day!" he shouted to give himself nerve.

"I haven't begun my contact attacks yet," smiled the dragon. "I'll crush you like an insect." But his mouth was still foaming from the shield.

Then his eyes widened and his nostrils flared at something behind Zach. Zach glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see Thornmon or Knifemon, and instead saw a single man picking his way across the burned-out park. He wore jeans and a T-shirt, but there was a fearlessness in his motions that riveted both Zach and Komodomon's attention. As he drew closer, Zach saw with a shudder that there was a wide pink scar across the man's face, and his arms had a shriveled look as if they had been mangled, then healed again.

"Hello," he said as he reached Zach. "Are you okay?"

"Yes sir," said Zach. "I've got a shield."

The man glanced at Zach's belt. "Oh, a personal firewall. Good to have one of those. I'm Joshua Cunningham."

Zach shook his hand, trying to remember where he had heard that name.

Komodomon remembered first, and pulled his head back. "You're dead. Your partner failed to defend you, I know the story. You're dead."

"My partner turned on me," said Joshua, "and left me with the marks of his affection." He motioned to his arms. Zach saw he was holding the old violet digivice. "I died in the Digital World, but I was sent back ... Komodomon, I understand you are seeking the Programmer."

Zach looked at the dragon, and was glad he was not in Komodomon's place. The dragon was perfectly still, and something in the tilt of his head showed he was questioning the wisdom of his actions for the first time. "Yes," he rumbled.

"I am the Programmer of the Digital World," said Joshua. "Why have you become a virus?"

Komodomon reared up and hooked his claws in the sides of the building he had perched on earlier. "I am a virus because it is the noblest of the data types. And you're not the Programmer. You're a human--a puny, damaged human."

Joshua was fingering the old digivice, and there was a look of sadness in his eyes. "Komodomon, you have damaged yourself. Do you know what your mega would have been if you were not a virus?"

Komodomon lifted his head still higher. "Why would I want to be a Holy type? Their strongest attack is a healing one--why should I want that?"

Joshua shook his head. "Komodomon, go back to the Digital World. You don't belong here."

"I'll go where I want." The dragon's eyes narrowed.

Zach looked at his companion. "If he breathes fire, you don't have a shield."

Joshua raised a hand. "I know, son. I'll be all right. I made him."

"I came to this world to kill you," said Komodomon. "No human needs to rule our world. And now, I'm going to kill both of you." He uncoiled himself in a rush and leaped at them, miles of body looping behind him.

Zach stepped back, but Joshua caught his arm. "Hold up your digivice." Zach obeyed, shaking. Beside him, Joshua lifted his own device and the two humans faced the dragon's charge.

Komodomon gathered himself and leaped, throwing himself up over the two, and let himself fall, intending to crush them. His scaled underbelly came down like a ceiling, and Zach flinched and shut his eyes. But nothing happened. He opened his eyes and saw the dragon had frozen just above them, and there were beams of light streaming out of their devices.

Joshua looked grim. "When I say so, press the blue button."

The dragon's body was turning shades of blue, and Zach could see it was made of little squares. The dragon's head turned and he peered down at them. "I guess you are the Programmer," he whispered.

"Now," said Joshua, and they pressed their blue buttons.

Komodomon shrank to his ultimate, which had four legs, then his champion, which had two, then his rookie, which had none--for an instant Hissmon looked at Zach with pure hatred--then to his in-training, and then vaporized into a mist that was sucked into their digivices.

Zach sat down hard and looked at his digivice. Then he looked up at Joshua. "Th-thanks."

"No problem," said the Programmer. He helped Zach to his feet. "Do you have a partner, or do you just face down dragons for fun?"

"It's a hobby," said Zach, and laughed. It felt good to laugh. "My partner is Spikemon."

"Oh, him," said Joshua, leading the way across the burned park. "He's one of the exceptional ones. So how many Digidestined are there now?"

"Four." Zach detailed their adventures as they walked, and waved to his friends out in the street as they approached.

Joshua grinned. "This is what makes my job worthwhile. Hi guys."

"Everybody," said Zach to his friends, "this is the Programmer, Joshua Cunningham."

All four digimon were in decent shape by this time, due to the effects of the revive wafer. When he heard this, Spikemon limped up and bowed at Joshua's feet. "I've believed in you my whole life!"

Joshua knelt and lifted him up. "I'm glad some of you still believe in me. I see you still like to fight."

Spikemon hung his head, embarrassed.

Frogmon gazed up at Joshua and became mute, like a young child. No matter what anyone said, he would not say a word. But Mulemon walked up and introduced herself, and impertinently asked him if he thought pink armor would fit her better than red.

Last of all Joshua knelt over Chamelemon, who was awake, but so damaged he could not move. Savannah shook Joshua's hand, and he said, "I'm sorry about what Hissmon did to you. Digimon have minds of their own."

"I've noticed," she said, and smiled.

After that they went to the police station and made a statement about the events of that morning. Then they had breakfast in an outdoor restaurant. The appetites of the digimon were as large as ever, and even Chamelemon managed thirds. As it turned out, Tithonia's mother had been friends with Joshua for years, and had called him as soon as she learned Komodomon wanted the Programmer. Joshua lived in a different part of the country, but fortunately was visiting relatives only a few miles from Hilldale, and sped into town. He had been delayed by police, who had wanted to arrest him when he told them he had made the dragon. But he had talked them out of it.

"How does anyone make another word?" asked Savannah, spreading jam on her toast.

Joshua smiled and shook his head. "It was an idea my Dad and some friends had. He was a metaphysics professor, and his idea was that there are billions of universes growing off this one, and that with the right tools, we could harness one of those shadow-dimensions and program inside it. But it worked too well. On this side, it looks like computer programs, but on that side, the programs are the reality." Joshua paused and took a bite of sausage. "It's a real place and you can really go there, but the danger is real, too." He rubbed his scarred hands together.

"What happened?' said Zach.

Joshua smiled a nostalgic sort of smile. "I was the first Digidestined, to test out the world. In the beginning we thought it best that you have a whole gang of digimon to protect you. But one of my teammates went virus, drove off the rest and killed me. My digital self died, but they pulled me back here before my real self could die, and rushed me to a hospital." He shook his head. "We trimmed it down to one partner after that."

"So it's really dangerous," said Tithonia, eyes wide.

Joshua nodded. "Sure. All worlds are dangerous. But does that mean you shouldn't live? Think of all you'd miss if all you worried about was the danger."

He looked at his watch. "Well kids, I need to go to work. And..." He paused with his hand on his chair.

"Well done, Digidestined."

The End