(BWG and Gordianus enter a computer store. Datamon greets them.)

Datamon: Come in, come in! How may I help you?

Gordianus: What can you tell us about illegal computer viruses?

Datamon: Viruses? What are you talking about? I don't know anything about viruses!

BWG: Then explain this disk we found in a computer that was completely erased by a virus! (Slams disk onto counter.)

Datamon: I've never seen that disk in my life!

Gordianus: It has your name and address on it!

Datamon: …D'oh! I knew it was a bad idea to label all my disks with my personal information! All right, I confess. I run a side business where I sell dangerous computer viruses to criminals who need to perform a computer-related heist.

Gordianus: We should turn you in, but we won't in exchange for a little information. We're looking for a certain customer of yours who recently purchased the virus on this disk, and we believe you can tell us how to find him.

Datamon: I get half a dozen of those customers a day. Can you be more specific?

Gordianus: Have any of them been Numemon?

Datamon: A Numemon? Hmm…actually, I DID sell a virus to a Numemon just a few weeks ago. It seemed odd, because Numemon typically don't use computers.

BWG: Where can we find him?

Datamon: Hold on, I make sure to get the address and phone number of any customer who buys from my side business, so I can sell them to the cops in case somebody rats on me. Let's see…the Numemon in question lives in the sewers beneath Factorial Town.

BWG: Ew.

Gordianus: Wandering through dark slimy sewers…Oy, that brings back memories. Come on BlackWarGreymon; let's get going. And Datamon?

Datamon: Yes?

Gordianus: If you're lying to us, we'll come back and force-feed your own virus to you. (Datamon gulps. The two heroes leave the shop.)

"There it is…" Guilmon whispered. "Forsaken Fortress…"

The fortress was exactly as it had been the last time he had been there. The searchlights were manned again, and it looked just as imposing as always. Grani and Guilmon were slowly approaching the fortress at night so as not to attract too much attention. Grani looked up at Guilmon. "I recommend we go in quietly. If we do it with all guns blazing, we'll probably set off every alarm in the place and have all the guards coming down on us. Also, I don't relish getting into a dogfight with that Hououmon."

Guilmon nodded. "We'll sneak inside, and then I'll take out the lights. Under the cover of darkness, I'll slip past the guards and rescue my sister and the other girls. After I get them to a safe place, I'll go to the top of the fortress and confront Hououmon…and Lucemon."

Grani smiled. "You have the strategy down perfectly. Let's move." Grani dropped into the water and started swimming towards the entry to the fortress. He froze whenever a searchlight passed nearby so as to avoid detection, and was soon in front of the entrance. A pair of cannons was mounted above the entry, but they kept panning back and forth. It was easy to go right between them while they were looking the other way.

Once inside, they sailed over to the dock. Guilmon let out his breath in relief, but knew that from this point on the mission could get even harder. Saying a quick goodbye to Grani, he crept up the stairs to the main area of the fortress. He took out his Berenjena and took careful aim at the searchlights. With three precise shots, he disabled all three lights and eased his worries of getting caught. He began to run across the ground to the stone block that he had pushed from a high ledge on his last visit so he would be able to reach the path to the prison area quicker. But halfway to his goal, he heard malevolent laughter. Guilmon drew Invincible and looked around. There was a swishing noise, and a Phantomon spun out of thin air. "Well, well, well, what have we here? An intruder? I should tell the guards, but I think I'll have more fun claiming your soul on my own!" The Phantom swooped towards Guilmon with his scythe.

Guilmon rolled out of the way and whipped out the Berenjena as he got up. He started firing at the ghost as it rose back into the air, and was surprised to see his bullets had no effect! "What's going on? My bullets should have torn right through you!"

Phantomon cackled. "Your projectile weapons have no effect on ghosts, boy. Mine, however, should have a great effect on you!" He pulled a spiked ball off the end of the chain attached to his scythe and threw it at Guilmon. The Reptile swung Invincible, deflecting the ball right back at Phantomon! The ghost swung his scythe at the ball, sending it back to Guilmon, who knocked it back to Phantomon, and so on and so forth until Phantomon slipped up and got hit right in the face with his own attack. Dazed, he floated lower to the ground. Guilmon ran over and slashed at the Phantom, ripping the ghost's cape to shreds. Phantomon growled and flew back into the air.

Guilmon smirked. "My projectiles may not work on you, but my sword can!"

Phantomon's eyes narrowed. "You will regret this." He formed a large reddish-black energy ball in his free hand. It kept growing until it was the same size as the Phantom. Guilmon expected the attack to be the same as the last one, so was completely unprepared when the single energy ball split into a dozen, all of which homed in on the red hero immediately. Guilmon raised his shield just in time to save himself from the assault. Even with the shield, the force of the explosion from all the energy blasts knocked him several feet back. Phantomon laughed and threw another spiked ball at Guilmon when he lowered his shield, hitting him in the face before he could attack. Guilmon staggered back and fell over as Phantomon hurled another ball. Guilmon managed to roll away just before he could get hit. He stood up and deflected the next ball with enough force to send it right into Phantomon's chest! The ghost grunted and fell to the ground, allowing Guilmon to dash over and get in another strike with the Invincible, shattering the crystal ball hanging from Phantomon's neck. When Phantomon recovered, he was really mad. "Okay, that does it!" he yelled. He vanished. A second later, four Phantomons spun into place around Guilmon. All four of them laughed and spoke in unison. "Three of us are but illusions, only one of us is real! Can you figure it out in time before we reap your soul?" They laughed and started closing in on Guilmon, raising their scythes for the death strike.

Guilmon grinned. "Piece of cake." He unleashed a spin attack just as the ghosts were about to bring their scythes down, causing three of them to vanish and the fourth to reel back in pain. Guilmon ran towards the real Phantomon and brought his sword down in a devastating jump attack, splitting the ghost in two! Phantomon screeched and vaporized, giving Guilmon his data. When all the traces of the ghost were gone, a treasure chest materialized on the ground. Curious, Guilmon opened the chest and found a huge hammer with a long, curved metal head. The word 'Vulcan' was written on the handle. Guilmon sweatdropped as he looked at the comically oversized hammer. "Maybe I can use it to crack giant walnuts or something." He muttered as he put the hammer away. After looking around to make sure the sounds of the fight had not attracted any guards, Guilmon continued on his way.

He climbed up the block and the ladder, then retraced the path he had used the last time he had been in the fortress to reach the big wooden door leading to his sister's prison. Unfortunately, the door was barred shut, and what looked like a large plunger was set in the ground nearby. Guilmon looked from the plunger to the door and back again. It looked like some sort of switch. He tried standing on it, but his weight wasn't enough to push it down. Maybe if he hit it with something…Getting an idea, he pulled out his new hammer and slammed it on the plunger. The switch was smashed into the ground, causing the bar to lift off the door! Guilmon looked at his new item with glee. "I'm gonna use you for more than smashing walnuts!" he said. He went through the door.

The tower chamber had been just as he left it, except there were now more seagulls flapping around the room. Strangely enough, there were only three girls left, including Lopmon. They didn't even look up when they heard the door open. "Hey girls, I'm back!" he yelled.

When the children heard his voice, they gasped and crowded around the bars. "Big brother, I knew you'd be back!" said Lopmon.

Guilmon smirked. "With such lovely damsels in distress as you girls, how could I stay away?" None of them laughed. He frowned. "Weren't there more of you the last time I was here?"

Lopmon looked sad. "There were…but every day, this really mean Digimon with twelve wings came and took a few of us away. We never saw any of them again."

Guilmon's eyes widened. "No…" he whispered. His eyes narrowed in anger. "Stand back, I'm getting you all out of here!" He slashed the lock off of the cage door with his sword, then opened it up. "Okay, everyone follow me!" He led the three prisoners to the exit and threw it open…revealing the massive horde of Pagumon, Gazimon, and Fugamon waiting for them. "…Shit."

The girls shrieked. The monsters roared. Guilmon stood before the horde, unsure that he would be able to win the fight, but he knew that he would give up his life if it meant Lopmon would live to see another day. And the other two girls, too. Guilmon was about to leap into attack mode when several barrels fell from the sky and smashed into some of the Fugamon, bursting open to reveal GrappLeomon, Monzaemon, WaruMonzaemon, and Renamon. "Hey everyone. Sorry to crash the party!" joked Renamon. The monsters stared at her in disbelief. "Get em' boys!" she yelled to her crew. The three powerful pirates eagerly rushed into the enemy horde and started kicking butt. Guilmon jumped in to join the fight, very relieved that he had some help.

As he Tornado Span his way through a good chunk of the monsters, he caught a glimpse of the pirate's ship just a few yards away from the fortress, firing its cannons at Hououmon, who couldn't get anywhere near the ship due to the explosives flying through the air. After several hits from the ship's bombs, Hououmon finally gave up and flew back to the top of the fortress. Guilmon sliced off a Gazimon's head and found himself face-to-face with Renamon. "Hey Renamon!"

"Hey Guilmon." They stood back-to-back and defended themselves from the surrounding monsters, Guilmon with his sword and Renamon with her bare feet and paws. "Is that the legendary sword Invincible you've got there?"

"Yep."

"I take it you managed to find the ancient city of Shinjuku, then?"

"I wouldn't have this sword if I hadn't."

"Of course." She paused to punch a Fugamon's face in. "It's good to see you again."

"Same here. Nice timing, by the way. I wouldn't have relished having to fight these guys all by myself."

Renamon smirked. "This is the second time I've saved your tail. Maybe I should start charging you for each time I rescue you."

"But then you'd have to pay me for when I saved you from those Gazimon."

"True." They stopped talking to each other and focused simply on staying alive. In no time at all, the five fighters stood triumphant over the monster horde. The girls were a little confused, but happy that they were free. Renamon turned to Guilmon. "Guilmon, we'll take these girls out of here." She paused, then took another look at the three girls. "That's funny, I thought there'd be more of them."

"There were. I think Lucemon killed them." said Guilmon.

Renamon looked shocked. "That bastard…" She shook her head. "Guilmon, you know what you have to do now. You have to kill Lucemon, if only to avenge those poor girls."

Guilmon nodded. "Let me just say goodbye to my sister first."

Renamon shrugged. "Go ahead."

Guilmon ran over to Lopmon, who was watching as the three burly pirates were leading the other girls down to the longboats waiting at the docks, near the bemused Grani. "Hey Lopmon." He said.

The brown bunny turned around, saw Guilmon, and glomped him. "Big brother! Thank you for saving me! I knew you'd come back for us, the other girls gave up when the big bird took you away and that mean Digimon kept taking more of us out of the cage, but I knew you'd be back! And I was right, wasn't I?"

"How did you know I'd come back?"

"Because you're my big brother, silly! It's your job to protect me and save me from all the bad things, isn't it?"

Guilmon smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is…" He gently pulled Lopmon off of him. "Lopmon, those nice pirates who helped fight the monsters are going to take you home. Please don't give them any trouble, and try not to get in their way. I can't come with you, but I promise I'll follow as soon as I'm done here. I might even be able to get back to Outset before you arrive."

Lopmon frowned. "But…why can't you come with us?"

Guilmon looked up at the tower. "I have some business to take care of. It shouldn't take long, but if I don't come back…tell Grandma I love her, okay?"

"Okay..." Said Lopmon, trying not to cry.

In an attempt to keep both of them from shedding tears, Guilmon started rummaging through his pockets to find something. "I have something for you. You gave it to me a while back, and I think it's time I returned it." He gave her the telescope that she had lent him on his birthday, when this whole mess had started. It felt like it had been years since that day.

She took the telescope and stared at it for several seconds. Then she hugged Guilmon. "I love you big brother."

"I love you too Lopmon." He stood up. "Renamon, take her down with the others. Make sure she gets home safely, all right?"

Renamon nodded. "No harm will come to her while she's on my ship." She took the rabbit by the hand. "Come on Lopmon." She led the little bunny away. As they started down the stairs, Lopmon looked back for a single instant at Guilmon. For a timeless moment, their eyes met. The moment ended when Renamon tugged a little forcefully on Lopmon's hand. She turned away and walked out of sight.

Guilmon wiped away a tear. "Goodbye, Lopmon…"

Guilmon walked to the top of the ramp and climbed out of the hole in the ceiling of the tower room. He now stood on the turret of the great tree-tower, with spike-lined battlements and the path leading to the half-ship at the highest point of the fortress. Spikes blocked the path. As Guilmon walked away from the hole, a big stone door slid into place, closing it off. Guilmon looked around and saw Hououmon, licking his explosive-inflicted wounds in his nest. Guilmon pulled out the Berenjena and fired a shot in the air. "Hey! Over here!" The Sacred Beast, startled by the report from the gun, spotted Guilmon. His eyes narrowed. "Yeah, you remember me don't you? The guy you tossed into the ocean? The guy whose sister you kidnapped? Well, I'm here for some payback!" The bird squawked and started flapping its wings. "Yeah, that's right! Come and get me!" Hououmon screeched and took to the air.

Guilmon put away his gun, knowing it probably wouldn't work against the giant phoenix. Fortunately, he had something else in mind. The phoenix landed on top of the tower. It reared back its head and tried to peck at Guilmon. Guilmon sidestepped the attack, causing Hououmon's beak to get stuck in the ground. As the phoenix struggled to pull its beak out, Guilmon whipped out his new hammer and swung it at the bird's helmet. The helmet cracked a little, and Hououmon screamed in pain, pulling its beak out of the ground. The bird flapped its wings and took to the air again. Hououmon swooped down at him, intending to skewer him on its claws. Guilmon stood perfectly still, and was completely unharmed when the claws passed right on either side of him, scratching the stone floor as they did so. Hououmon wheeled about as it flew off the tower and came back for another pass. Guilmon pulled out his hammer and got ready. When Hououmon was about to scratch the ground, Guilmon jumped up and hit the bird's helmet, causing it to crack again. Hououmon screamed and lost control of its dive, causing it to crash into the battlement and fall off the tower. Guilmon doubted that was the end of the evil bird though, and his doubt was justified when Hououmon flew back up into the air. Hououmon perched on the edge of the battlements and started flapping its wings. The resulting gust started pushing Guilmon backwards, towards the spikes growing from the walls. Guilmon struggled to walk against the wind, losing ground with every second but still managing to stay away from the spikes. Eventually, Hououmon got frustrated and hopped off the battlement, ready to give its peck attack another try. Guilmon dodged the peck and slammed his hammer into the helmet when the bird's beak got stuck in the ground, cracking it even more. Hououmon screeched and took to the air, landing on the battlements again. When the bird started flapping its wings, Guilmon quickly ran towards the spikes blocking the exit. Since they were vertical, running into them couldn't hurt him. Using the spikes to brace himself against the winds, Guilmon pulled out his grappling hook, wrapped one end around a spike, and threw the clawed end at Hououmon. The hook wrapped itself around the bird's beak, surprising it and causing it to stop flapping. Hououmon tried to force the rope off its beak or tug it until it broke, but it was apparent that the bird Digimon who made it had made extremely sure it wouldn't break easily. Guilmon held on tightly as Hououmon tried to rip the rope out of his hands. It was a good thing he had anchored himself by wrapping the rope around one of the spikes before throwing the hook! When Hououmon started to lean towards the floor of the tower in another attempt to get the hook off, Guilmon yanked on the end of the rope, causing the surprised and off-balance Hououmon to fall flat on its face. Before it could get up, Guilmon ran over and whacked the bird's helmet with his hammer one last time.

The helmet shattered, revealing Hououmon's true face, which looked oddly like an evil chicken's. The evil phoenix got up and shook the slack grappling hook off of its beak (Which Guilmon picked up). The bird took to the air again, and this time it looked like it meant business. Guilmon wasn't worried. He already knew what he was going to do. Now that the phoenix's helmet was gone, the head was completely vulnerable to attack. Hououmon circled the tower, opened its mouth, and unleashed a blast of crimson fire. Guilmon started running around the battlefield, dodging the bird's deadly fireballs and waiting for a chance to strike. After a while, Hououmon got tired of spitting flame and started flapping to a higher altitude so it could swoop down at him. Guilmon pulled out his boomerang and hurled it at the bird's head, stunning it. Then he whipped out the Berenjena and started pumping bullets into the phoenix's face, blinding the bird in one eye! Hououmon screamed in pain and flapped harder, moving higher above the tower. It spread its wings and began to fire dozens of glowing stars from them. Guilmon didn't even bother raising his shield. Due to the phoenix's lack of depth perception, all of the stars missed him by a mile. Guilmon aimed his guns at the bird and fired several more bullets, permanently blinding Hououmon. The phoenix fell from the sky, crashing onto the top of the tower. As it struggled to get up, Guilmon ran over and pulled out the Invincible. With a battle cry, he drove the magic sword into Hououmon's skull.

Hououmon couldn't even muster the energy to scream. It vaporized, and Guilmon took a grim pleasure in loading the data of the monster that had started the entire adventure. The spikes over the exit retracted. When Guilmon loaded the last of the phoenix's data, he ran up the path leading to the half-ship. He could see a light in the window, and barely made out a shadow inside. He got to the end of the path and found himself faced with a door that had a hideous face carved into it, with a pair of candles fixed to the wall on either side. Guilmon took a few deep breaths to prepare himself. This was it. Behind the door was the enemy that had ordered the kidnapping and possibly the murder of girls from all over the Great Sea. The enemy who had sent the monsters to infest Dragon Roost Island and aggravate Skydramon. The enemy that had drove the plant Digimon from their home in their Forbidden Woods. The enemy who had destroyed Greatfish Isle. The enemy that threatened Guilmon's peaceful home and the rest of the Digital World with absolute destruction. Behind the door was Lucemon.

Guilmon opened the door. It was time to meet his destiny.

(Gordianus and BWG are in the sewers, talking with a huge group of Numemon.)

Gordianus: Okay, how many of you have left the sewers recently? (None of them answer.) Is there one of you who did leave the sewer recently, but didn't come back? (No answer.) Are you trying to protect yourselves? If so, forget it. If you don't tell us what we want to know, we'll force it out of you. (Still no answer.)

BWG: Let me try. Okay you slugs, I've got a salt shaker and I'm not afraid to use it! (The Numemon gasp.) Now, answer us truthfully or else! We have information that one of you was recently selected to become the temporary muse of an author. Which one of you got chosen?

Numemon: (Start belching out a response.)

Gordianus: Are they saying something?

BWG: I think I can understand them. The Numemon we're looking for isn't here. Soon after he got chosen to partner up with Ri2, he moved to the KaratsukiNumemon settlement on Rock Mountain. Or they're hungry, I could be paraphrasing.

Gordianus: Where's Rock Mountain?

Numemon: (Belching out the answer.)

BWG: They say we have to take a Trailmon to Electronic Bay, then transfer to the Rock Mountain route. Or they need to go to the bathroom, I could be paraphrasing.

Gordianus: I hope these KaratsukiNumemon are a little cleaner than these guys are. Let's get cleaned up, then catch a ride to this Electronic Bay. (They leave.)