Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon, only own a few Crest ideas, the Crest Weapons, Jesse, and Heromon.

~~

~Tai's voice~

"We were all gathered together to talk about the adventure the younger kids had just gone on. Then the sky turned black and we heard an odd laugh. I couldn't identify it, but it sounded familiar. I think it really disturbed Tk."

"Oddly enough, right after that this stranger showed up. He turned out to be one of the original five DigiDestined who saved the Digital World many years before the gang and I saved it from the Dark Master and Apocalymon. We followed him to the site of our battle with Myotismon four years ago where he resurrected Wizardmon. As it turns out, Wizardmon was the partner to one of the original DigiDestined!"

"It seems that a major battle is coming our way and even Jesse will need our help. This time, however, all the worlds seem to be in danger, not just the Digital World. But I know that we can win this."

~A week after the DigiDestined meet Jesse~

"I still can't believe that Wizardmon is back," Mimi says thoughtfully, "but I can't that we met one of the original five DigiDestined."

"But we did," Sora says, "he really was an interesting guy. It's hard to believe that he's almost two million years old. I mean, he still acted like a normal teenager, but he could make a complete turnaround and act completely different in the time it takes to blink. And I thought Matt was cold during our first trip to the Digital World."

"Thanks," Matt grumbles.

"Let's hurry to school," Mimi suggests, "I wouldn't wanna be late on my first day back, after all!"

~At Odaiba High School~

The teacher, Mrs. Hayashi, greets the class. She was a middle-aged woman, being only thirty-one years old, and she got along great with the students. She treated them with respect and kindness while the students did all of their work and didn't get into any trouble in her class. All of the teenage DigiDestined were in this class. "Good morning class"

"Good morning Mrs. Hayashi," the class says in unison.

"We have s new student today," Mrs. Hayashi says, "please welcome him and treat him with respect."

Jesse walks in, though none of the DigiDestined could recognize Jesse. He was clean-shaven and his glasses were gone and his hair was a lighter shade of brown.

"Will you introduce yourself?" Mrs. Hayashi asks.

Jesse glances at the class. Every single DigiDestined in Japan who was a teenager was in this class. How nice of Gennai to keep them together so their friendship would remain intact.

Jesse bows deeply to the class, then speaks in perfect Japanese. To use the Digivice as a translator, he would have to activate it completely, and that would alert Izzy. "Hello, my name is Jacob Plunk. I am from the United States. My family and I just moved here."

"Jacob, you can sit beside Tai. He's the one with the insane haircut," Mrs. Hayashi says.

Tai manages to look wounded at that comment. The class chuckles at Tai. This was why they liked Mrs. Hayashi. She was almost like a teenager herself. She just never grew up.

Jesse takes his seat as the class starts. Jesse keeps a watchful eye on the DigiDestined, but has to stay wary of Izzy. Izzy could punch a hole in his plan.

~At lunch~

"Man, I am starving," Tai says, "even school food is better than my moms cooking."

Mimi nods in agreement. "Hey, isn't that the new kid?"

Jesse, as it turned out, was having trouble finding a place to sit. He stood out like a sore thumb and none of the other students seemed eager to make room for him.

"Why does this curse follow me everywhere?" Jesse mutters angrily.

"Hey Jacob, over here," Mimi calls out. Jesse turns to look at the DigiDestined.

"You can sit here with us," Mimi offers.

"Thanks," Jesse says as he slides into a seat, "I always seem to have trouble finding a seat at lunch."

"What about friends?" Matt asks, "they could save you a seat."

"Don't have friends," Jesse replies, "my family moved around too much so I never really had time to make friends. I stopped trying to make friends a few years ago because I couldn't handle the emotional turmoil of being uprooted time after time away from my friends."

"That's so sad," Sora says sympathetically.

"It's not as bad as it seems," Jesse replies, brushing off Sora's sympathy, "I still talk to my friends over the internet a lot. I set up a web site with a chat room so I could talk with them a lot. Unfortunately, there is too much of a time difference between Japan and America."

"Tell me about it," Mimi says, "I live in New York City. I'm staying with friends for a while."

"I can tell," Jesse says, faking surprise, "I've been to New York a time or two. Very crowded place. I didn't like it. I'm from the Southern state of Tennessee."

"That explains your faint accent," Mimi says, "New Yorkers constantly make fun of Southerners."

"And Southerners make fun of everyone, including themselves," Jesse replies with a faint grin.

"I've always heard that the southern states were beautiful," Izzy remarks, "what are they like?"

Jesse smiles. "Absolutely wonderful. The air is cleaner than you'd find it in most cities and the people are very nice. The food is great, just don't ask too many questions about what goes into the food if you're eating in Louisiana or eating Cajun cooking. The landscape is still largely untouched, and there are miles of natural forests where you can hike and camp and fish."

"Sounds like a great place to live," Tai says, "why'd ya move all the way to Japan?"

"Tai!" Sora scolds, "that's a rude thing to ask!"

"It's okay," Jesse says, "we moved because we're searching for a guy I met at summer camp about ten years ago. He's been missing for a few years and we came to Japan to find him."

"Wow, you came all the way to Japan to find a friend?" Matt asks, "that's a pretty strong friendship you have."

"Yeah," Jesse says, "he said he lived in the Heighten View Terrace district before moving to America, so we decided to start looking there."

"Sora and I lived in Heighten View Terrace ten years ago," Tai says, "in fact, all six of us did. What was his name? We might have known him."

"His name was James Moyiyama," Jesse replies, silently cursing his forgetfulness. He had forgotten that James had known Tai and Kari in particular.

Tai and Sora grow silent at the mention of James' name.

"Did you say James Moyiyama?" Tai asks softly.

"Yes, I did," Jesse replies, carefully schooling his reaction, "did you know him?"

"We knew a family named Moyiyama," Tai says, "they moved to America ten years ago with their son James. They moved back two years later, but James wasn't with them. My mom and dad tried to talk to them, since James had babysat me and my sister Kari before they moved, but they refused to talk about it. In fact, Mrs. Moyiyama broke down in tears whenever they tried to talk about it."

Jesse made mental notes of this. Tai, Kari, and Sora would be grouped together when the time came.

"About how old would the James Moyiyama you knew be if he were here?" Jesse asks carefully.

"He'd be about twenty-four years ago," Sora replies.

"So would the James Moyiyama I knew," Jesse says, "its entirely probably that we knew the same James Moyiyama. Either that or it's a very big coincidence. Strange."

"Very strange," Izzy agrees. Jesse manages to keep from shifting nervously under Izzy's gaze. Izzy was the most intelligent of the DigiDestined. If his identity would be figured out by any of the DigiDestined, it would be him.

'I'm gonna have to keep his mind preoccupied to make sure that he doesn't figure me out prematurely,' Jesse thinks to himself, 'Izzy is by far the smartest of the DigiDestined. Ken may still have the Dark Spore enhancing him, but Izzy is a lot more used to figuring things like this out. It's entirely possible he knows almost as much as I do about the Digital World.'

As the bell rings at the end of the lunch period, Jesse walks alongside the DigiDestined.

"By the way, what's the last period?" Jesse asks.

"Phys. Ed," Tai replies.

The coach had decided that the class would try out team sports. And his sport of choice was soccer. Odaiba High had an excellent soccer reputation thanks to Tai.

"So Jacob, have you ever played soccer before?" Tai asks as they were getting ready for the game.

"I used to be a fairly good goalie, but I haven't played in a long time," Jesse replies while thinking, 'sure, I haven't played in over a million years, but soccer isn't that difficult a game.'

"Don't worry, we'll go easy on you," Sora promises with a gentle smile.

"Hey, I was a goalie," Jesse snorts, "there's really not that much work in being a goalie if you know how to do it right and your team knows how to work together."

~After the class ends~

"Jacob, how in the world were you there to block every single one of those shots?" Tai demands as they head out of the school.

"Stay even with the ball at all times and there's always at least a seventy percent chance of blocking a goal," Jesse replies.

"If you're gonna be here in Japan long enough, you should try out for the school team," Tai suggests.

"Sorry, but I only play sports for fun," Jesse says, "I'm just not good enough in most sports to play competitively. That and it's a major headache."

"I agree with you there," Sora says, "that's why I switched from playing soccer to playing tennis. Less stress, but just as exhilarating."

"I don't understand tennis," Jesse admits, "never have, likely never will."

"Hey Jacob, wanna hang out with us after school?" Tai asks.

"Sure," Jesse says with a faint smile while thinking, 'what luck! I can observe the older DigiDestined without having to hide or end up being conspicuous.'

"I just hope you won't mind hanging out with some kids a few years younger than us as well," Matt adds, "we're going to meet my little brother, Tai's little sister, and their friends."

Jesse was dumbfounded, though he didn't show it. Somehow, fate was working with him for once. He could observe all of the Japanese DigiDestined, the twelve most powerful living DigiDestined besides himself, all at once. This was definitely gonna be an interesting day.

~After school~

Tai, Jesse, and Matt are exiting the school, heading for one of the local parks where they will meet the other DigiDestined.

"Oh Maaaaaatt!" an annoyingly sweet female voice calls out. Matt and Tai both pale instantly.

"Matt, run, we'll distract her," Tai says.

"I owe you big," Matt says as he takes off.

"You have no idea," Tai mutters as an idea forms in his head.

Jun Motomiya, the scourge of Yamato Ishida's life (and the life of every other reasonably cute boy that wasn't otherwise attached), comes running up at full speed.

"Matt!" Jun calls out, "wait up!"

"Hey Jun," Tai says, grabbing Jun's arm, "have you met the new guy? He just transferred here. He's from America."

Jun pauses a moment, thrilled at the chance to scope out a new guy.

"Jacob, this is Jun Motomiya," Tai says.

Taking his cue, Jesse bows formally. "Hello. My name is Jacob Plunk."

Jun eyes Jesse over, much to Jesse's discomfort. What the heck was happening to him now?

Finally, Jun giggles. "You know, you're even cuter than Matt."

Cold realization dawns on Jesse and he pales considerably. Tai gulps as he sees Jesse's reaction. He did not want to alienate the new kid. It just wouldn't be nice. That and Sora would probably kill him for drawing Jun's attention to anyone. That was inhumane.

"Um, Jun, we gotta go," Tai says, "my friends are waiting to meet Jacob. Jacob, come on."

Tai and Jesse start walking away, Jesse showing definite nervously by sweating profusely.

"Can I come with you?" Jun asks.

Tai just grabs Jesse's hand and takes off, pulling the older boy behind him. "RUN!"

The other DigiDestined were patiently waiting for their leader. They had their Digimon with them, with Agumon waiting for Tai. Matt had been so glad to escape from Jun, not to mention traumatized by what he considered a near- death experience, that he forgot to mention that they would be introducing Jacob to the kids.

"And here we are," Tai says as he and Jesse finally stop to catch their breath, though Tai is also laughing.

"Whats so funny?" Matt asks, "as I recall it, Jun is no laughing matter."

"Matt, I have a feeling you may no longer have to worry about Jun," Tai chuckles between gasps for air.

"Well, thanks for distracting her though," Matt says. Jesse was still a deadly shade of white.

"Whats wrong with Jacob?" Mimi asks.

Tai's laughing comes out full force now. Jesse just glares at the second generation DigiDestined leader as he regains his normal facial color.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Tai laughs, "it's just that Jun will now be fixated on Jacob instead of you Matt."

"You're kidding?" Matt gasps. Several of the other DigiDestined gasp as well, including Davis. Jun, ignoring Matt for someone else? It was inconceivable!

"No joke," Tai chuckles, "after looking him over for a bit, she said, and I quote, 'You know, you're even cuter than Matt.'."

Jesse pales even more.

"So, you're saying that now Jun will be hounding his every step instead of mine like a stalker?" Matt asks apprehensively. Impossibly, Jesse pales even more.

"If she thinks he's cuter than Matt, then she'll know everything about him within an hour," Davis says.

"She tried to follow us," Tai says, "at least she won't bother us if she does show up. She'll be fixated on Jesse."

"And she'll be talking about him nonstop at home," Davis adds, "I really pity this guy."

"You said it," the other DigiDestined, particularly the older ones, chorus.

At that, Jesse hits the ground with a thud as he faints dead away.

When Jesse awakens, the DigiDestined are standing over him.

"Oooh, what happened?" Jesse asks.

"You fainted," Tk answers.

"You must be Matt's brother," Jesse comments.

"How'd you know that?" Matt and Tk ask at the same time.

"You look like a younger version of Matt," Jesse tells Tk.

"Guess that's why Jun goes after you sometimes bro," Matt chuckles.

"Yeah, but now she'll be going after Jacob here and not us," Tk points out. At being reminded of that, Jesse groans.

"Now don't go fainting again," Kari says.

"That's my little sister, Kari," Tai explains.

"Someone mind helping me up?" Jesse asks.

"Sure," Davis says as he pulls Jesse to his feet and introduces himself.

"Hi, I'm Davis. Jun's my older sister, though we try not to advertise the relationship."

"I can see why," Jesse says wryly, "I wouldn't want to claim someone with those dopey looking goggles on my head as a little brother either."

"Hey!" Tai and Davis protest, Tai adding, "those used to be my goggles, I'll have you know."

"This is Ken Ichijouji," Izzy says, introducing Ken.

"Ah, the reputed world's smartest young teen," Jesse chuckles mockingly, "and local soccer star."

"Great, a fan," Ken mutters sarcastically.

"What, you think I'm a fan?" Jesse asks incredulously, "is sarcasm lost on you?"

"This is Cody Hida," Joe says, pushing the young boy forward.

"Pleased to meet you," Cody says, bowing deeply.

"The pleasure is mine," Jesse says, returning the bow equally.

"This is my best friend Yolie Inuoue," Kari says, introducing the lavender- haired girl.

Yolie studies Jesse for a moment, who grows apprehensive.

Finally, Yolie speaks. "Jun may be a loudmouth and very arrogant, but she does have good taste in guys."

Jesse somehow manages to pull of half blushing and half paling.

"Everyone else you already know," Tai says. Jesse nods weakly. Having his senses assaulted by human females after living for so long in the Digital World, Jesse's nerves were shot to hell.

"Whats wrong?" Joe asks, seeing Jesse's sign of weakness.

"I'm just not used to any kind of praise," Jesse replies, "nor am I ever comfortable around women."

"You have something against women?" Yolie demands.

"Frankly, yes," Jesse replies blandly, "and females like Jun are my prime reason."

"Don't judge all women by Jun," Sora says indignantly. Yolie, Kari, and Mimi voice their indignation as well.

"My apologies," Jesse replies, backing away with his hands in front of him palm out, "I meant no insult."

"That's okay," Kari smiles, "you're definitely an interesting guy."

Jesse laughs. "Me? Interesting? I'm no more interesting than any of you."

"So, what do we do?" Yolie asks, unsure of what to do with someone who was not a DigiDestined in their midst.

"Who wants to play soccer?" Davis asks. Most of the group groans. It had to either be Tai or Davis to suggest something like that.

"Only if I get to be a goalie," Jesse says.

"I'm a captain!" Tai and Davis call out in unison.

"Go figure," some of the other DigiDestined murmur under their breaths. Jesse stifles a snicker. Apparently, Tai had not changed much since he had observed him during the older kids first trip to the Digital World despite being smarter and a bit more mature. And Davis was just like Tai had been at that age, only more obnoxious because he had had Tai for a role model.

The DigiDestined and Jesse split up into two teams. On one team is Tai, Ken, Mimi, Matt, Izzy, Jesse, Willis, and Sora. On the other team was Davis, Tk, Kari, Cody, Yolie, Joe. Joe and Jesse served as goalies.

The game ended, Tai's team winning 17-0. No matter how hard Davis' team tried, they could not get the ball past Jesse.

"Jacob, where did you learn how to play like that?" Davis demands, "I've never seen someone that skilled as a goalie, not even on TV."

"Just skilled, I guess," Jesse grins. Like earlier in gym class, Jesse had been using the speed and reflexes he had developed over his time as a DigiDestined and the knowledge he had learned about being a goalie from various books he had read and people he had talked to prior becoming a DigiDestined to keep the soccer ball from getting through the net.

"Thinking of joining the school team?" Tk asks.

"Nope," Jesse replies, "I am not interested in organized sports beyond a way to relieve stress and have some fun."

"That's what he said earlier," Tai says.

"Ohhh Jacob!" a familiar female voice calls out. Jesse pales instantly, as does Matt.

"Oh no, its my sister," Davis grumbles. Jun comes running up, waving her arms at Jesse. Jesse gulps.

"There you are," Jun says as she comes to stop right in front of Jesse, "I've been looking for you. I have a question to ask you. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Jesse gulps, his eyes darting every which way for an exit. There was none. He'd just have to deal with it. And hopefully not pass out. Why did he have to act like this around girls?

"Um, er, no, I don't," Jesse replies. Every other male DigiDestined present shake their head in sympathy, knowing that Jesse had just sealed his own fate. Knowing that he was unattached, Jun would hound their new friend considerably.

Jun's smile brightens. "Well, would you like to go out sometime?"

Jesse is now sweating bullets. If he wasn't such an honorable and nice guy, he'd ditch them all here and now. But he was, and couldn't. Though the DigiDestined might not blame him if he did it to get away from this boy- crazy female.

"Um, well, er, no thanks," Jesse says nervously.

"ohh, why not?" Jun demands.

Matt couldn't take watching his new friends plight anymore, so he decides to intervene. "Because he's busy looking for an old friend and doesn't have time for a relationship."

"Th-that's right," Jesse stammers slightly, "I moved to Japan to look for a few old friends. As soon as I find them I'll be going back home."

"Oh, I see, you just don't like me," Jun says, tearing up, "you're just like all the others."

With that, Jun turns around and runs off, tears in her eyes. Silence reigns among the DigiDestined until Davis finally breaks it.

"Whoa, I think she actually wanted to really get to know you, Jacob," Davis says, "she never reacted that way over Matt or any other guy she had a crush on."

"Nice cover story bro," Tk says, "how'd you come up with it?"

"It wasn't a cover story, it was the truth," Jesse replies, "though Matt thought he was simply adding the part that I was looking for more than one old friend."

"You're looking for more than one friend?" Matt asks, surprised, "who besides that one guy you told us about at lunch?"

"Three others," Jesse replies, "haven't seen them in a while either."

"Who are you looking for?" Izzy asks, "I can run a computer search and help you find them a whole lot faster."

"Sorry, I'd rather find them myself," Jesse replies, a bit uneasily. He was treating on shaky ground now. "Well, I gotta be going. Parents gotta be worried about me."

Jesse walks off, heading for the subway, though once he got to the entrance and no one was around he would open up a stealth gate, one that Izzy could not detect, that would take him back to the place he was gonna be meeting Heromon, Wizardmon, and the Digimon of the other five original DigiDestined.

"So, who is this friend that Jacob is looking for?" Kari asks, "we can still help him."

"Its James," Tai replies, "James Moyiyama."

Kari gasps. "You mean the guy who used to babysit us?"

"Yep," Tai replies.

"Who is James Moyiyama?" Davis asks.

"A guy we knew who used to babysit me, Kari, and Sora," Tai replies, "his family moved to America a few months before the Heighten View Terrace incident. They moved back a few years later. They live in the same building as Tk, on the second floor to be exact."

"Should we go and visit them?" Yolie asks.

"I wouldn't recommend it," Tai says, "after they moved back, two years later, we went and visited them. Every time someone mentioned James, Mrs. Moyiyama broke down and wept. They refused to tell us anything."

"Oh my," Yolie gasps.

"James Moyiyama, why does that name sound familiar?" Ken asks himself out loud.

"You've heard his name before, Ken?" Tai asks, puzzled.

"I've seen it somewhere," Ken replies, "Wormmon, do you remember where?"

"I don't," Wormmon replies, "but I do know it. So you must have come across it sometime after you met me. I remember sadness from the name though."

"Same here," Patamon replies, "and yet I can feel hope just emanating from that name. I was a free Digimon before I was reformatted and became Tk's partner. But those memories are still largely blocked for some reason. But I seem to remember the name James Moyiyama from those memories."

"Do you suppose James Moyiyama was one of the original five DigiDestined?" Ken suggests, "ten years ago, it would fit. And if he never returned, that could be why his parents grieve so."

"Now I remember where I saw that name!" Wormmon declares.

"What is it?" Tai asks, "where did you see James' name?"

"When Ken and I first entered the Digital World, when we fought Milleniummon, we came across an old castle," Wormmon begins, "everything within the castle was spatially distorted and very weird, even for the Digital World. We came across a set of stairs that led to an underground chamber. A very large underground chamber. Set there were five graves, and each had a name on it and a Digivice engraved into the tombstone. Four of them had very similar writings on them. Each of them said 'Here Lies', then one of four names, then 'They Died To Save The World.' The four names were Brian Tangit, Samantha Cruger, Daniel Cruger, and James Moyiyama."

"James!" Tai, Sora, and Kari gasp.

"They died?" Davis gapes.

"What did the fifth one say, Wormmon?" Ken asks.

"We didn't have a chance to find out," Wormmon replies, "Jesse showed up and ran us off. He was extremely angry. I was afraid he would attack us. Ryo was as well. So we left. Soon after that Milleniummon showed up and then we fought and defeated him. We barely beat him. That was when Ken got that Dark Spore."

"And that began the slow build-up to the birth of the Digimon Emperor," Ken says sadly.

"Quit blaming yourself, Ken," Matt chides the younger teen, "you couldn't help it. The Dark Spore fed on your inner darkness and increased it."

Ken sighs. "I know, but still. I just can't help but feel responsible."

"Izzy, any word from Gennai?" Tai asks.

"None," Izzy replies, "and that is strange. Since the defeat of MaloMyotismon he's replied to every e-mail I've sent him within the same day."

"So something big really is happening, just like Jesse said," Kari says, "but what is it? Does it have something to do with that evil laughter we heard?"

"I don't know, but I could have sworn I've heard three versions of that same laugh," Tk says.

"I feel like I've only heard two versions," Tai says. The other DigiDestined nod their agreement, even Ken.

"There's no enemy that all of us have faced except MaloMyotismon, but it wasn't exactly his laugh," Tk says, "it was more like Myotismon's."

"It reminded me of Myotismon's laugh," Gatomon agrees, "not either of his Mega forms, just plain Myotismon."

"But what about the other way we remember it?" Joe asks, "what could it mean?"

"Two enemies with a similar laugh," Tai says, "evil enemies. But I can't place who else it made me think of."

"It made me think of Daemon," Ken remarks.

"That's who it reminds me of as well," Yolie says. Cody, Kari, and Tk nod their agreement.

"But we've never heard Daemon laugh," Sora remarks, "so it wasn't him that it also reminds us of."

"It made me think of Devimon," Matt says softly. Hearing that, cold realization hits Tk.

"It made me think of all three of them!" Tk exclaims, "Devimon, Myotismon, and Daemon. Like all three of them laughing at the same time."

"And you're the only one of us who has faced them all," Izzy says, "but still, what could it mean?"

"Perhaps it doesn't mean anything," Patamon says, "just that Tk has helped us realize that this threat is some sort of combination of those three."

"But how?" Tentomon demands, "Devimon is trapped in the Dark Whirlpool, Daemon is stuck in the Dark Ocean, and MaloMyotismon is dead."

"Do Digimon ever truly die in the Digital World?" Tk asks, "the only Digimon who have truly died are those who were killed in the real world, except for Myotismon. Perhaps he still lives."

"If that is the case, then we may be in serious trouble," Izzy says, "how could we beat something that cannot die?"

"We'll find a way," Tk says, "after all, we did defeat Apocalymon, and he was supposed to be the most powerful Digimon."

"True," Agumon says, "but Digimon can grow a lot more powerful as they age and train. If you remember, the Dark Masters took us apart at first, then we came back and whupped 'em!"

"That's true as well," Izzy says, "but how old are Daemon, Myotismon, and Devimon?"

"Well, Myotismon and Devimon have both had to reformat," Gabumon says, "when a Digimon reformats, it loses half the strength its gained on top of its natural strength. Daemon is probably incredibly strong after spending months in the Dark Ocean."

"And then there's the Dark Undersea Master of the Scubamon," Kari adds, "Don't forget him."

"He could very well be our most dangerous foe right now," Ken says, "that Dark Undersea Master is a Dragomon who fought the original DigiDestined and was trapped in the Dark Ocean. And time in the Dark Ocean perfectly mirrors time in the Digital World."

"So that Dragomon is two million years old," Izzy remarks as he brings up the stats of a standard Dragomon on his computer, "Dragomon are Ultimate level Sea Animal Digimon. Its main attack is Tentacle Claw, though each one also comes up with a custom attack. Wait, there's an add-on file tot his."

Izzy opens up the added file and gulps.

"What is it Izzy?" Mimi asks.

"This is apparently a file on the Dragomon that is in the Dark Ocean," Izzy replies, "this file is old an probably obsolete by now, but it's a start to guess how strong that Dragomon has gotten. Standard attack, extra attack is Nightmare Blades. Power levels are comparable to that of MetalSeadramon!"

"An Ultimate as strong as a Mega?" Davis gapes.

"Hey, MagnaAngemon is as strong as any Mega," Tk protests, "what else is there Izzy? After two million years in the Dark Ocean, how strong would this Dragomon be?"

"Let me calculate it," Izzy says, typing fast, "okay, this is assuming that there was nothing there those two million years to give it a challenge in battle. Given that guess, it would now be as strong as Imperialdramon Fighter Mode!"

"What?!" the various DigiDestined and Digimon gasp.

"How is that possible?"

"And we'll have to fight that thing?"

"That's suicide!"

"How can an Ultimate level Digimon become that strong?"

"Please, calm down!" Izzy yells/commands. The DigiDestined and Digimon instantly shut up. Izzy rarely raised his voice, but they all knew he meant business when he did.

"We're not going to get anywhere worrying," Izzy says calmly, "Jesse said he'll get us our Tags and Crests again, so we all may be able to reach the Mega level. Seven, possibly as many as thirteen Mega's against an Ultimate, any Ultimate, will be in the favor of the Mega's. And remember, there's still Omnimon and Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, plus Seraphimon and Magnadramon as well. No evil Digimon can stand up to all that, with one of the Mega's being a High Angel Digimon and another being a Holy Dragon Digimon. And isn't Lopmon's Mega form Cherubimon, also an Angel Digimon? We got this fight in the bag. We have to really worry about whatever has Jesse worried. He knows our capabilities and his and he's still worried."

Tai rubs his head. "That's true, Izzy, but what if Dragomon somehow digivolves to Mega?"

Izzy gulps. "Then, we might be in trouble."

Cody checks his watch. "Uh oh, I gotta go home. Mom and grandpa will be worried about me if I don't get home at a certain time. Plus I have homework."

"I'll walk ya home Cody," Tk says, "mom needs me home for dinner anyway."

"I'll walk with you two," Yolie says, "we do live in the same building anyway, and I gotta set up for dinner anyhow."

"Okay guys, see ya tomorrow," Tk says as he, Cody, and Yolie stand up to head home, "tell Jacob I wish him good luck in avoiding Jun."

Davis groans as Tk, Yolie, and Cody head off.

"Whats wrong Davis?" Kari asks.

"I just remembered that Jun is gonna grill all I know about Jacob out of me, and it'll never be enough," Davis whines. The older DigiDestined chuckle. Davis gleres at them indignantly. "Shut up! Do you have any idea how much Jun can torture me? I have to resort to ExVeemon to keep her from going ballistic on me about you sometimes Matt. And now its just gonna be much, much worse."

"Well, Davis, I feel for you, I really do," Tai says, putting his hand on the younger DigiDestined leader's shoulder, "but can I have my goggles back before Jun creams you and possibly breaks them?"

Davis huffs. "Only if one of you guys can talk your and my parents into letting me stay over for tonight to avoid Jun."

"I can do it," Izzy offers. Everyone looks at him oddly. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Izzy, you've never let any of us stay over at your house," Joe points out.

"What can I say, I really feel sorry for Davis right now," Izzy replies, "I'm glad I'm credited as being too much of a geek for Jun to spot me."

"Thanks Izzy," Davis says, "you may have saved my life."

Izzy sweatdrops. "Right. Anyway, lets go. My mom's making casserole tonight."

"So's our mom," Tai groans, "but I'd rather eat anything I made when I was four."

"Tai, all you made when you were four was egg soup," Kari points out.

"Still, better than mom's casserole," Tai replies.

"Good point," Kari says.

"Well guys, I gotta go," Sora says, "I promised my mom I'd help her with the flower arrangements for a wedding next week."

"Bye Sora!" Matt waves as the redhead runs off with Yokomon in her backpack.

The remaining DigiDestined head off at different times, finally leaving Matt alone. The blonde looks up at the sky, wishing that he could see the stars through the city lights.

"This is gonna be a big battle Tsunomon," Matt says.

"I know," Tsunomon replies, "come on, lets go home. But I think we need to stop by the store first. I emptied out the fridge today. What was that meat with fuzzy stuff on it?"

Matt chuckles.

"What?" Tusnomon demands, "did I say something funny?"

"It's nothing Tsunomon," Matt replies as he stands up and heads for the subway, "its nothing.

~in the Digital World~

"Well, Heromon, Wizardmon, its almost time," Jesse says, still in his school disguise, "in a month I'll have gathered all the information I'll need to know who to pair with whom when they go off searching."

"Are you sure we have a month?" Wizardmon asks.

"It'll take a little over a month for the Beast to reform itself," Jesse replies, "perhaps a month and a half at the least. That'll be plenty of time for the plan to come together and for everything to be in place."

"I hope this plan works," Heromon says, "Jesse, are we gonna get Ryo?"

"We'd have to travel to the Southern Quadrant on foot and then enter their real world," Jesse replies, "plus the Southern Quadrant is still in a state of repair from the D-Reaper. I still can't believe that humans are responsible for the bridging of the human and Digital worlds."

"Much less humans of the Southern Quadrant," Wizardmon says, "by the way, which Quadrant is File Island on?"

"None," Jesse replies, "it's dead center. One of the two center's, at least. The other is the where the remains of Spiral Mountain are at."

"So we have a month," Heromon says, "think that'll be long enough to get the other three prepped for battle?"

"Phoenixmon hasn't moved in over two million years," Jesse says, "she'll be way out of shape for battle, but very strong once she taps into her true power. Tapirmon has fought off and on, as has Digitamamon. We have a chance. And we have to take it. If a single thing goes wrong, all of existence is doomed. But I'll give my life to make sure that that doesn't happen."

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," Wizardmon says as he looks at the screen that is before him.

On it are several Digital Symbols, the greatest powers of the Digital World: Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Kindness, Miracles, Destiny, Compassion, Spirit, Wisdom, Integrity, Perseverance, Faith, Honor, Light, Hope, and Life. The Crests of Digivolution. Yes, there were the Crest Digi Eggs and the Crest weapons, but the Crests themselves were the truest sources of power. And on this screen was detailed information on how to summon forth the physical manifestations of each, the conduit for the power of the Crests of Digivolution: the Tags, the Crests, and the Crest Digi Eggs.

It would take a month to forge them. And a month was all they could afford.

The final battle was coming, and if the DigiDestined aren't prepared, then everything would be doomed.

~~

Sorry to you Jun fans out there. I'm just portraying Jun as close as I can to the show. I'm actually a big fan of Jun's and hate the way a lot of authors portray her. Depending on how long this story is, and how much time is spent focusing on the high school stuff, Jesse snooping out the DigiDestined and things like that, you will see Jun change into a less whiny person.

Boy, this chapter sure took a while. Even though this whole story is a rewrite, this chapter alone takes it farther than the original went. Basically everything is the same up until after the first day of school where Tai takes Jesse to meet the rest of the DigiDestined.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think of it.