Arukenimon and Mummymon are back, thirteen years after the end of 02. Out adventuring, they become trapped in an underground complex, along with the strange Digimon, Toeremon. To escape, they must power up the complex - with Digital life. Mummymon does the honors, but instead of being consumed, he is split into his Human and Digimon halves. Arukenimon leaves them and contacts Jyou and Koushirou for help. Meanwhile, the Mumms embark on a quest of their own.

Mummymon squinted against the sun reflecting off the snow - which was everywhere, and it was cold! He pulled the hood of his sweater down a little tighter, lamenting his humanity again. The elements never used to bother him... He looked ahead to the Digimon version of himself, climbing the steep incline with no trouble at all, huge feet keeping him from sinking far into the soft snow. He cursed quietly to himself in frustration. He'd had to rely on the other Mummymon to get even this far, jumping most of the distance with a Digiport shortcut. He'd been terrified that the port would do something horrible to him... but it had worked just fine. Gritting his teeth and glancing around at all the glittering, freezing whiteness, he petulantly wished it hadn't.

A brightly colored butterfly fluttered lazily past him. He stopped and stared.

"Well," a voice spoke behind him, and he jumped and spun round to see Gennai, the Guardian, standing there. "You do have a talent for trouble, don't you, Mummymon."

The Digimon Mummymon had stopped too, similarly alerted by a butterfly. Six or seven of them were now wafting themselves cheerily around on the breeze, utterly out of place against the snowy hills. "An appearance of the great and mysterious Gennai," the Digimon drawled with a friendly, if pointy, smile. "What's the occasion?"

Gennai looked from one to the other. "I noticed something strange passing through a Digiport from the desert flats area. Or rather," he indicated the butterflies with a glance, "he did. It looked like a Digimon was dragging some hapless Human around, and I couldn't have that." He gave the Human an appraising look. "I'm sure there's an interesting reason why, when I look at you, I recognise you as him," he said, and pointed at the Digimon.

"Because I am him," Mummymon confirmed, tucking his hands under his arms for warmth. He was feeling colder now that they'd stopped, but the presence of the butterflies made him feel better overall. It had been a long time since he'd seen any of them, but these vibrant manifestations of Oikawa had always given him comfort.

He let his Digimon self explain the situation to Gennai. As they talked, he wondered what Oikawa thought of this. He wondered how much Oikawa could think at all...

"That is strange," Gennai was saying. "I don't think I've ever noticed anything that powerful or that unusual in that area before-"

"Well, it's there," Mummymon returned.

"No doubt," Gennai affirmed, slightly affronted, "and I'll see that it's looked into. But what are you doing here? And where's your little sister?"

Both Mummymons scowled. Gennai never seemed to realise how much it offended him to make fun of the fact that the two half-breeds shared a creator. "Arukenimon went looking for someone to help us," the Human fibbed, still feeling stung about being abandoned by her.

The Digimon nodded. "And what business is it of yours, what we're doing here?"

The Human wasn't so happy with that level of disrespect - Oikawa, who he still thought of as his boss, worked with Gennai now, sort of. At the very least he was allied with him. And that gave Gennai a decent amount of authority in his eyes. He shot the Digimon an incensed glare, wondering how the other half of himself was forgetting that. "We're looking for an audience with Xuanwumon," he explained, feeling strangely satisfied when Mummymon gave him a look of surprised betrayal.

"The Holy Beast of the North," Gennai mused, not missing either one's expression. "You never did think small. Well, he may be able to help you. You're a little off course though- the Holy Beasts spend most of their time in their own realms, slightly out of sync with the Digital World."

"I know that. This is my area of expertise," the Digimon snapped, and the Human nodded sharply in support.

"Ah, but where did you learn from?" Gennai said, looking grave. They glanced at the butterflies, and he continued, "and where did he learn from?"

Their faces darkened.

"I don't mean anything by it," the Guardian said, backing down a little. "You just have some... distorted information. Remember that you didn't recognise Qinglongmon. And I can help you find Xuanwumon."

"What makes you think I want your help?" the Digimon said, a little danger in his voice.

"We need his help," the Human argued, looking pleadingly up at his other half.

"I'm not trying to offend you," Gennai said defensively. "I speak to the Holy Beasts often. I know how to get to them. I know the way. If you'd rather wade around, lost in the snow for days, feel free."

"Please," the Human begged himself.

Mummymon scowled down at them. Why was it that now, when he was stronger than he ever was before, that he felt so weak? Why did merely accepting a guide feel like such a horrible affront to his pride?

"Fine," he growled.

Arukenimon, Tentomon, Gomamon and Jyou all sat in the now empty meeting hall, looking interested but mostly bored as Koushirou worked on something none of them were completely clear on. "I still don't see how this is relevant," Arukenimon muttered unhappily, rubbing her arm where Jyou had taken a sample from her for Koushirou to analyse.

Koushirou didn't seem to notice the question, so Jyou volunteered. "You're composed of both Human and Digimon parts, in the same way Mummymon is. We'll be better able to understand how to help him, if we know," he shrugged, "how you work."

Tentomon, who was used to putting Koushirou's thoughts into layman's terms by now, nodded. "It's like the halves of Mummymon are a puzzle, and you're the picture it's supposed to look like when it's put together."

Arukenimon snorted, and Gomamon chuckled at her sour expression. "Apart from all this," the cheerful Digimon said, waving a flipper towards the computer genius, "how have you and the goofy mummy been getting along?"

"Fine," she said frigidly.

"It must be hard," he guessed, "figuring out what to do with yourself when you've been a lackey all your li- hey!"

Jyou had elbowed his partner in the side.

"Fascinating!" Koushirou said suddenly, and after they'd all stared at him for a moment he looked up from his computer and addressed Arukenimon. "Your most basic information seems to be a true mix of Digital data and digitally rendered Human genetic codes, spliced together with monumental care and complexity. A hyper-engineered life form. I had no idea you were so artfully crafted!" His face went from excited to to doubtfully hopeful. "You wouldn't know if any of Oikawa's data still exists, would you? We looked for it after-"

"He destroyed it," she said, openly scowling at him. "He destroyed everything before we left."

"Ah... Well... I'd like to see how your Digital matrix renders in the Real world. Do you think we could take some samples-"

"Uh, maybe we should stick to the problem at hand," Jyou cautioned, as Arukenimon began to snarl in annoyance.

"Oh. Right. Of course," Koushirou replied, forcibly restraining his interest in Arukenimon. "Well, I can't really come to any conclusions without seeing exactly how Mummymon's code has been separated. But the integration of data in Arukenimon is similar to that which is seen during a Jogress evolution. The halves of Mummymon should be able to combine fairly easily in the same way a Jogress works; since the Human half is unranked the combined form would still be the correct level. They'd just need to find a way to cement the Jogress, assuming it didn't form a stable code like hers on its own."

Arukenimon frowned. "I've seen Jogress often enough. But I don't know much about it. How can we make him do it?"

Koushirou shrugged. "It's not very well defined," he said regretfully. "Like a lot of things in the Digital World, it seems to happen when the circumstances are right. Something as simple as a time of need might trigger it."

She smirked. "So if we were to arrange for some dire circumstances to put him in?"

Jyou suppressed a chuckle, shaking his head. "Faking it doesn't usually work in the Digital World. You can't trick them into Jogress evolution any more than I could have tricked Gomamon into Digivolving for the first time."

"We didn't have any shortage of naturally dire circumstances," Tentomon observed.

"This machine that took Mummymon apart," Koushirou asked, looking over his data again, "can you tell me any more about it?"

"Not really. It was big. It took up a couple of walls. And whatever it did to Mummymon, it got enough power out of it to run the whole building. Toeremon called it an engine. He said it was 'very efficient.'"

Koushirou hmm'd contemplatively. "An investigation of the machine itself would probably give us much more useful information. And I must admit I'm curious to see it. Jyou? Are you up for a little expedition?"

"What?" he said, looking a little disconcerted. "You want to go there?"

"Why not? We could disable the trap, have Kabuterimon fly us down the shaft, and break into the holding cell. Then we'd have a way out whether the machine was still powered up or not." He looked at Arukenimon. "You can find the spot where the trap sprung, right?"

"Of course," she affirmed.

"I don't know," Jyou resisted. "I'd feel better if it wasn't just the two of us."

"And me, Tentomon and Arukenimon," Gomamon piped up, feeling a little slighted.

"It never hurts to bring along some extra backup," Koushirou shrugged, fishing for his D-terminal. "I'll see if Iori wants to come."

"The first good idea I've heard all day," Arukenimon sniffed. "At least he knows how to treat a lady."

"You know Iori?" Jyou asked, as Koushirou composed a message.

"I know a lot of things."

Arukenimon got a kick out of being secretive and annoying the Humans. Only a few minutes later Iori and his partner Digimon, Armadimon, ported in.

"That was quick," said Jyou.

"You caught me at a good time," Iori smiled. "Hello, Arukenimon," he greeted her, bowing slightly. "It's good to see you again."

"If you see what I mean," Arukenimon smirked, casting sidelong glances at the other two Humans. "It's good to see you too, Iori, Armadimon."

"Ok, now I'm curious," said Tentomon. "How do you know each other? Wormmon always gave me the impression that you were none too quick to forgive, Iori."

Iori looked embarrassed. "I was nine... My sense of justice hadn't exactly matured yet."

"Well, you're perfectly matured now," Arukenimon interjected, and missed the wide-eyed looks Jyou and Koushirou exchanged.

"Er.. well.. Thank you," Iori responded, and turned to the Humans. "Arukenimon is my favorite debate partner," he explained. "She always has a fresh viewpoint on very sticky questions of culpability."

"And she likes arguing," Armadimon added.

"Where's Mummymon?" Iori wondered, looking around. "Isn't he here?"

Arukenimon frowned at a random chair. "He's off somewhere being two obnoxious morons instead of one. Honestly, I couldn't stand them. I'll hunt them down once we have a solution to the problem."

Iori glanced out the window and saw the yellow jeep parked outside. "You didn't leave him somewhere, did you?"

"So what if I did? It was either that or throttle them both."

Iori raised an eyebrow. "Then maybe we should look for him before we go nosing around this artifact."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, that's where I left him anyway."

"You left him at the machine?" Jyou asked. "But you said that was in the middle of nowhere?"

"Yes, I left him in the middle of nowhere," she snapped. "If you're so concerned then let's get moving so we can 'rescue' him from his idiot self."

In what felt like just a few hours, they were nearing the field of ruby machines. Iori and Armadimon rode with Arukenimon, out front, in her jeep, while Tentomon, Gomamon and their partners followed in a cartoonish, rented half-track.

Arukenimon was feeling much more at ease now; she wasn't worried about getting her companion back, and these Humans and their Digimon were being reasonably... ugh... nonhostile to her. She glanced to her side to see Iori, a perfectly handsome young man now, smiling into the sun. She felt a quick stab of melancholy poke at her soul and frowned, snapping her eyes back to the path ahead. The half-track was in front of her.

She swerved, cursing. Iori looked alarmed and grabbed hold of both his partner and the jeep. Moments later Arukenimon got the jeep back under control, and they pulled alongside the still moving half-track.

"What is it?" Iori called to Jyou over all the wind and engine noise.

"We passed a sort of bunker entrance just back there," Jyou shouted back. "Want to have a look?"

Without waiting for a consensus to be reached, Arukenimon swerved again. When the driver side wheels came back down, they were headed back towards the reported entrance.

"Maybe on the way back, you can drive," Armadimon suggested to his partner, looking slightly green.

"Don't worry," Arukenimon said, "on the way back, you'll be in that half-track monstrosity."

"Don't mind Armadimon," Iori soothed, pretending not to be shaken by her driving style. "He doesn't mean to criticize."

She looked at Iori as she brought the jeep to a stop in front of the bunker, her expression sour but doubtful. "I know."

The half-track came rattling up beside them and sputtered to a diesel-smelling halt. "Did you see this part of the complex before?" Koushirou asked, jumping down from the vehicle as Jyou climbed carefully out the drivers' side.

"No," Arukenimon answered, looking over the bunker door set into a rock outcropping as uninteresting as the one that had concealed the exit. She turned and scanned the rest of the landscape to be sure of where she was. "Because it wasn't here before."

"But it is part of the same structure?"

"It looks like it," she agreed.

Koushirou hmm'd, searched for and quickly found concealed joints in the rock around the entrance. "I guess it wasn't here before," Tentomon concluded, "Not so you could have seen it, anyway."

Arukenimon frowned. "I suppose it might have opened when we powered the place up. Maybe this is where that broken gate comes out." She scowled. "But that was in an emergency tunnel. This looks like a main entrance."

"I'm beginning to get a not-so-good feeling about this," Jyou muttered.

"I thought we were going to find Mummymon before we went down there," said Gomamon.

There was a hydraulic whoosh and they turned to its source to find Koushirou standing by the long bunker door, which was scrolling ponderously open. "We're in," he said happily.

An angry roar rang out, echoing off the scattered outcroppings, and every one of them snapped instantly to a wary readiness, scanning the dusty land for its source. They heard another roar and a fiery blast cloud exploded into sight above a nearby rock. Moments later a black, doglike shape on all fours rocketed in their general direction.

"That's-" Arukenimon began, and stopped when a huge black and grey Digimon followed it at lumbering top speed. The dinosaur Digimon saw them and tossed its shielded, horned head.

Toeremon, still running like hell, finally seemed to notice the group by the bunker door and changed his course to run by them. "Help!" he yelped desperately as he passed them, his heels kicking up dust.

The Monochromon chasing him didn't slow down either. It shot them a glare as it galloped past, but otherwise ignored them.

"Armadimon!" Iori shouted, "Let's go!"

Armadimon gave a purposeful nod and was chasing after Monochromon in the huge, armored form of Ankylomon before the others had even moved.

Tentomon joined the pursuit, Digivolving to Kabuterimon. Arukenimon watched all this with her usual air of annoyance. She looked down at Gomamon. "Aren't you going to help?"

The seal Digimon gave a flippery shrug. "I think they've got the situation under control."

Kabuterimon had outpaced Ankylomon and landed an Elctro Shocker attack on the Monochromon's relatively unprotected tail. Still running, it turned to spit a Volcanic Strike at the insect Digimon, and got a Tail Hammer right across its face. The blow knocked it off balance and it lost its footing, rolling and skidding over the loose ground.

Kabuterimon and Ankylomon waited for the creature to right itself. It climbed to its feet and lowered its head towards them, eyes blazing with anger.

"We don't want to fight you," Ankylomon called to it. "Just go home!"

It glanced back at its singed tail and shot a short, halfhearted barrage of fiery breath at them before turning and lumbering grumpily away.

Ankylomon opened his eyes to find he had successfully blocked the attack from hitting Kabuterimon, and smiled. "Now that's teamwork."

Kabuterimon reverted to Tentomon and glanced around. "But where did the little guy go?"

Ankylomon stayed ready. "I don't see him, either."

"I'm here," the black Digimon called, climbing out from the cover of a hollow in a rock ahead of them. "Thank you so much. I thought I would be gored for sure."

"Toeremon." Arukenimon said as the three of them joined the group, "I thought you had other business."

"I have finished it," he replied, stretching his hands and shaking the dust out of the fur on his forearms. "I decided to return to see if your companion still needed assistance regaining his... oneness. But I found that beast instead."

Koushirou looked interested. "We're still looking for a solution. Arukenimon told us you were a quick study with the technology down there. Maybe you'd like to help?"

"Surely that is why I returned? Of course I will help. However, I do not promise to be of extraordinary use compared to so many Chosen Children," he said, giving a little decorative bow.

The humans smiled. Arukenimon rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you take us out this way before? When we were trapped, you said there was no other way out."

Toeremon contemplated the question. "This is the primary entrance. This door would require power both to reach and to open," he explained. He started down the corridor beyond the door. "I'm surprised the power has lasted long enough for you to open it now."

The others followed him, Ankylomon reverting to Armadimon and scampering up to Iori to take an offered snack bar. After devouring it, the little yellow Digimon looked over his shoulder and saw Jyou, Gomamon, and a receding patch of blue sky. "What about Mummymon?" he asked his partner quietly.

Iori glanced back too. "I think he'll be okay. The Digimon part of him is more than strong enough to handle anything like a Monochromon. He should be able to protect himself until we find him."

"Can you take us straight to the engine room?" Koushirou asked Toeremon.

"Of course. That is where we are going now," the Digimon nodded, stopping at the end of the wide corridor to tap at the keypad of another door.

Koushirou watched, interested, and suddenly his eyebrows came straight down. "Hey-!" he protested, reaching fast for the keypad. At the same moment, the door snapped open and Toeremon slid through it. Koushirou's fingers hit the keypad just as it went black. The door snapped shut, the lights in the corridor went out, and a solid portcullis fell just inside the main entrance, plunging them into blackness. They heard the hydraulics of the bunker door whine to life, closing it.

"Fantastic," said Jyou and Arukenimon, simultaneously.

If the way Gennai was leading them turned any steeper, the Human Mummymon thought to himself, he was going to start using his hands, snow or no snow. He missed the butterflies. He was so tired he could hardly stand it, when Gennai finally stopped in front of a narrow mountain pass and turned to face them. "This is the place," the Guardian said, indicating the gap.

"This?" The Digimon Mummymon scoffed, looking through it and seeing more snow.

"This," Gennai affirmed. "Xuanwumon's home, you could call it, can be reached through this pass. I have other errands that I'm neglecting at the moment, so I won't be joining you."

"Then let's go," the Human said, moving doggedly forward.

"Just a moment," Gennai said, holding out an arm to block the way, and leveling his gaze at the Digimon. "There are some rules of etiquette you should-"

"Etiquette?" Mummymon repeated, stepping closer to tower over the Guardian. "What's this nonsense?"

Gennai's eyes became cold. "I've led you here on good faith. Xuanwumon's home is hard to find because he enjoys his solitude. If you don't intend to at least be respectful, then I've made a mistake."

"You haven't made a mistake," the Human protested. He put an arm between them and was relieved when the Digimon allowed him to push him back a few steps, away from the Guardian. "Thank you for your help. We understand this is a.. a privilege. We'll be respectful. Won't we?" he demanded, glaring up at his Digimon half.

Mummymon's expression cleared and he shrugged his spiked shoulders. "If it will help."

"Xuanwumon probably won't help you if you speak him like you've been speaking to me. If you want anything he might have to offer, I suggest you listen to your new sidekick."

"Hey!" the Human Mummymon cried, offended.

The Digimon scowled again. "What is this? The moment I turn off my charm and say how I really feel, everyone treats me like some kind of Ogremon!"

"Because you're acting like one!" Mummymon shouted.

"I'm not a villain!" Mummymon shrieked back.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down, you kids," Gennai commanded over the noise. "I never said you are a bad person. What you are, is rude. That's all. Just keep a short leash on your tongue and you'll do just fine." He leaned over and whispered in the Human's ear. "Try not to let him do the talking."

Xuanwumon's realm was a warm haven in a hollow between unreal-looking snowy mountain peaks, a wide bowl of hard-packed earth with an impossible view of the region. The two travelers looked surprised as they entered it, because it could not be seen from the outside.

A truly massive two-headed tortoise with an equally massive tree growing from his shell, Xuanwumon was napping. They approached the Guardian of the North hesitantly, impressed by the air of power about him, even apparently asleep.

One of its huge eyes slid open and focussed on Mummymon. The gigantic head raised up, cranelike, on its ropy neck. "A guest?"

"Two guests," the Digimon Mummymon corrected.

Xuanwumon's other head raised up in wakefulness and blinked several times before really turning its attention to Mummymon. "Two, yes," it said.

"It's a long way to come here from anywhere for no good reason," said the first head sleepily.

"So we assume you have one..."

"A reason, that is."

"We do, sir," the Human agreed, "we've come to humbly ask-"

Mummymon interrupted him, stepping forward. "I need to Digivolve."

Xuanwumon's eyes widened slightly. "Is that so? Need to? Pray tell.. Why do you need to Digivolve?"

"Because I do!"

"To impress someone," the Human supplied.

"I see," the tortoise Digimon said, raising an eyebrow.

Mummymon turned on his Human half and hissed, "You stay out of this!"

Xuanwumon shook one of his heads in annoyance. "That's no way to speak to one's partner," he admonished. "Your Digimon does you a disservice," the other head said to the Human.

"'Your Digimon?'" Mummymon repeated, outraged.

"He's not my Digimon, he's me!" the Human cried.

Both heads raised in surprise, and suddenly Xuanwumon seemed more awake and alert. He leveled a piercing gaze at both of his visitors. "I see..."

"Look, nevermind that," the Digimon snapped. "Will you help me Digivolve or not?"

"Your... companion has a request also, does he not?" the tortoise asked, nodding at the Human.

Mummymon pushed the hood of his sweater back and shook the snow out of his bangs. "I want to be one person again," he said, sounding hopeless.

"You are one person."

"I mean him and me."

"Then what you want is to be part of a person."

"I guess so... It's just what I always was. I don't know how to describe it correctly.

I never tried before." He gulped. "I miss it..."

"What he's not mentioning," the Digimon Mummymon interjected, "is that I am not so interested in going back to the way we were. You wouldn't want to force me, would you?"

Both Xuanwumon's heads fixed him with a piercing glare. "We would not dream of it," said the first, and the second continued, "But we might try to show you the error of your choice, and convince you, before you lose the special properties of an unstable being."

"What do you mean?" Mummymon snapped, nervous and angry.

"In ways you cannot see, you and he are becoming a true Digimon and a true Human. Once the process goes far enough, you will never be able to recombine. You don't have time to mature as a Digimon and come to understand your responsibilities to yourself as you eventually would. It is best that we try to convince you."

Both of the petitioners backed away, not liking Xuanwumon's tone one bit, but Mummymon remained rebellious. "Convince me, then!" he challenged, brave enough to raise his rifle, but not quite brazen enough to actually point it at the ancient tortoise.

"Phantom Mist!" Xuanwumon called out. Both his mouths dropped open, his heads tilting up, eyes half-closing, and a thick, grey-blue fog rolled out of him. It moved fast, reaching for its Digimon target like a living thing.

Neither Mummymon could move, paralysed with terror. The Human watched the haze crash over the Digimon, obliterating him from sight. "What are you doing?" he screamed, torn - he trusted Gennai's judgement in bringing them here, but this?

One of Xuanwumon's heads was giving the Human a very strange stare. The other said, "Don't worry. I do not intend to destroy him."

"What is it doing?" Mummymon shouted again, uncomforted. The mist showed no sign of dissipating.

"It is different for everyone," he said with a shrug-like toss of his head.

Mummymon wanted to run, to bolt, his mind in chaos as the mist hit him. It reminded him too strongly of the attack that had killed him so many years ago. He wished his memories weren't so vivid...

But at least this was cool as it enveloped him. Dark and lonely and strange, but it didn't burn. "No," he whispered, trying so hard not to remember, but it wasn't working. He fell to his knees with a wail, and the sound was swallowed up in the cloud.

He heard a whip crack. And laughter.