Starcatcher: It's that time again...

EA: Hey! When are you gonna get started on your other stories? You haven't finished one yet!

Starcatcher: I'm almost done with "Operation: BASH VIDEL". I'm just adding the finishing touches now and it should be out before the end of next month.

EA: (Rolls eyes) Suuure...so what's gonna happen this time?

Starcatcher: More stuff...strange things happen...Davis and Veemon finally realize something's wrong with the world.

EA: (Reads the fic) HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!!! This is short! And you end it with--(Falls forward, knocked out from behind by Kari, weilding a large mallet)

Kari: Davis is mine! MIIIIIINE!!!

Davis: Oh boy...(Backs away slowly, then runs off)

EA: (Wakes up and chases after him) WAIIIT!!! COME BAAACK!!!

Kari: HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! (Chases after them)

Starcatcher: (Sighs) Oh for the love of...anyways, enough of this! Now for the Disclaimer...

Veemon: Starcatcher does not own Digimon or any characters related to Digimon except for Tenshi and Lunamon, who don't count anyways because they really don't do much in the fic.

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"It's things like this that make me wish I hadn't gotten up in the morning..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...at first, we really didn't realize there was something wrong. Sure, things seemed different, but we didn't think much of it. After all, the fight against MaloMyotismon was over...we've been at peace for a year or two now. Though I had to admit, I sort of missed the fighting...all of us working together...it was fun. It had even gotten to the point where we went to the Digital World frequently to search for any disturbances, just for something to do. Weird as it seemed at the time, we really came to be thankful for the extra practice and experience after what happened next..."

"What did happen next?"

"We first realized something was wrong after finding a Koromon being attacked by some Tyranomon..."

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Davis and Veemon had been wondering around for a while, unsure of what was going on. They had reached the spot where the others were supposed to be headed, yet they found no trace of anyone...then there was also the fact that the area looked like a barren wasteland. Confused, they traveled around trying to find the nearest town but had gotten themselves hopelessly lost in a dark, desolate forest. Right when Davis was close to shouting out in frustration, they heard a cry for help. The two immediately rushed to the scene where they found several Tyranomon surrounding something, which turned out to be an injured Koromon. And it didn't look like the Tyranomon were there to help it.

To their shock and anger, one of the Tyranomon put it's foot over the Koromon, looking as though it's about to squish the poor thing. Unwilling to just stand by and do nothing, Davis and Veemon jumped out and into plain sight. "HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!" Davis shouted.

The Tyranomon who held his foot over the Koromon was apparently the leader. Angry that anyone would dare to order him around, he turned to face who it was that spoke. That's when, to their horror, they saw that the Tyaranomon all had Dark Rings! "What the...?" Davis gasped. The Tyranomon all looked at Davis and Veemon in confusion, not attacking for some reason. "Let's get rid of those things, Veemon! Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to...FLAMEDRAMON! The fire of courage!" And where Veemon was only a second ago, now stood Flamedramon. "Fire Rocket!" He fired off his attacks at the Tyranomon, aiming for the Dark Rings around thier necks. But they retaliated and shot their own attacks back at Flamedramon, who dodged just in the nick of time while Davis rushed forward and grabbed the Koromon, bringing him to safety.

"Don't worry little guy...you'll be okay!" Davis assured him. However, the poor thing just shook, unable to speak. "Flamedramon, blast those rings!"

"You got it! Fire Rocket!!!" And with another attack, the Dark Rings were destroyed, freeing the Tyranomon, who all stared at each other in confusion.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"I think...we're free!" The leader answered. They all cheered. "But how...?"

"Hey!" Davis called up to them. They all looked down at him, then gasped in shock before turning and running away as quickly as possible. "Wait! Come back! We need some...help..." But by this time, they were all long gone...

After de-digivolving, Veemon shouted after them. "You could have at least said THANK YOU!!! Man...what was their problem?"

Davis shrugged. "I don't know...they all just freaked when they saw me..." At this time, the Koromon wiggled out of Davis's hold and jumped to the ground. "Hey wait! Are you okay?" Davis asked it, but froze when it turned towards him. The Koromon was staring at him with what looked like...fear? And hatred?

Without a word, the Koromon bounded off, and was gone before either of the two heros could say anything.

Veemon continued looking at the place where the Koromon ran off. "Well...what was wrong with him? We save his life and he runs off like we're the bad guys..."

Davis thought for a moment. Something was not right here. Digimon don't normally fear humans considering they could just flatten them. So why were they acting like he was a danger to them? Sure he had Veemon to protect him, but it wasn't even Veemon they were looking at! Yes, something was definitely up...

"Lets try to find a town or something. Maybe then we can get some answers as to why everything's so weird..."

The blue dragon nodded. There was no doubt that this was the Digital World, but it just didn't feel the same as he knew it. But the only thing they could do now is try to find out what's going on and where the others are...

That's when they heard something. It sounded like someone was...crying? Despite the results of their previous encounter, the two headed towards the sound to find out what was wrong. You'd think they'd learn when to quit...oh well. They eventually found the source of the crying when they reached a small clearing in the dark forest. In the middle of the clearing, partially trapped under a fallen log, was a baby Popomon! Feeling sorry for the poor thing, Davis and Veemon stepped out into the clearing. When the Popomon saw them, it froze, looking at them in fear.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there." Davis told it, taking no notice of how scared it had become after seeing them, him in particular. "Hey pal, lets try to lift it from both ends to let him get out, okay?"

Veemon nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan. On three."

"One." Davis.

"Two." Veemon.

"THREE!!!" They both said together, lifting the heavy log high enough to allow the Popomon to move out of the way. After they were sure he was out from beneath the log, they set it down before turning to check on it to see if it was hurt in any way.

"Hey there little guy...are you okay?" Davis asked it. But the Popomon didn't answer, and only looked at the two of them in confusion. Davis reached out to touch it when it flinched, as if expecting him to attack. "Don't worry...you're safe now. No one's gonna hurt you." But it didn't listen to him. Well, the baby wasn't going to respond to either of them, and they couldn't just leave the poor thing there go end up getting squashed, so that only left one thing...

And boy did they end up regretting it...

Davis had to pick up the baby Popomon and take it with them to Primary Village, which he remembered wasn't far, to return it to Electmon so he could take care of it. Unfortunately, once Davis had the little thing in his grasp, it went nuts! The baby kept squirming, trying to get away from him. But worst of all was its crying. Not only were they confused and worried about this, but its cries were high pitch and not at all easy on the ears. Davis was greatly tempted to throw it as far away as he could. However, before he could make up his mind on the matter, they heard shouting.

"It's this way!"

"Come on!"

Veemon smiled at Davis. "Hear that? Someone's coming! We're saved!"

Two Digimon appeared. One was a Gotsumon while the other was a Floramon. When they saw Davis, they gasped, then glared at him angrily. "NOT SO FAST!" The Gotsumon shouted.

"Or...maybe not..." Veemon muttered.

Davis gulped. 'We're nailed...'

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Starcatcher: And that's that for this chapter.

EA: But you left it off with ANOTHER cliffhanger!

Starcatcher: (Mock surprise) Oh really? Guess I didn't notice...

EA: (Rolls eyes)

Davis: Review please!

TK: Flame please!