This is a co-written fic, the fics converging are 'A Robot's Soul' and 'Digital souls'. I hope you enjoy this, especially since both have huge fan followings.

Digimon Souls

By Wanderer D and Firehedgehog

Chapter 3

That night, after kissing Jessie goodnight outside her room, Matt waited for her to close the door before walking off. There was something he needed to do before going to sleep.

He crossed the hallway to stop in front of Takato's room and knocked on the door. "Takato? It's Matt. We need to talk."

Takato sighed inside his room; he had known that Matt would come here sooner or later. Just not: how soon.

"The doors unlocked Matt, come in," he replied from where he was, at that moment he was laying on his bed and staring out his window at the starlit sky. The door opened quietly, and in stepped Matt.

Matt looked at Takato for a moment and sighed. They were so similar and so different. They both insisted to themselves and others that they had dealt completely with being humans inside robot bodies... but sometimes, there was a lingering doubt about their humanity. He had seen it in Takato's eyes that time they had fought.

But there were certain differences. If what Matt had been told was true, then Wily had also turned Takato into a robot against his will, but, then, if Takato had really broken Wily's control over him, he should hate the old man, but instead, he had just found the two talking calmly. That was something that he didn't understand.

Matt sighed. "Takato... I realize that it is not the same Wily that trapped my soul in this body... but he did that to you, instead. How can you treat that man like a friend or a normal acquaintance after that? After what he did I thought you would hate him. I heard he even kidnapped a friend of yours before you could break his hold on you... so, what gives?"

Takato remained silent for a moment, then with a sigh stood up and walked to the window he had been starting at before.

"There's more to this then it seems Matt, more then you would ever understand… if you want… I can tell you a certain things that might explain it… but it starts long before my time," Takato whispered, but he knew Matt heard it.

Matt shook his head. "Listen, Takato, I would like to understand a little. Doctor Wily is coming tomorrow. That man made me, Zero, with the only objective of destroying Dr. Light's greatest achievement... X."

He could see the surprise in Takato's eyes. After all, this was new to him.

"I woke up in the future a berserker, with no memories of who or what I was, least of all my true self... until I was helped by a few Reploids which were thankfully powerful enough to survive me. After that... X awoke and we became brothers for all intents and purposes. It was a long and hard job to become who I am today, and the lives of hundreds of Reploids have ended with my hands they may have been Mavericks, a term we use for Reploids that have gone berserk, but they were sentient beings and alive. When Gabumon found me, I finally was able to remember who I really was, and realized that I could never be that innocent boy again... all because of Wily. So, yeah, I want to hear another reason besides him not being from my universe not to tear him apart."

Takato stared at Matt, he was surprised at much of what the other robotic teen said, but it explained much. He closed his eyes briefly, now he had remembered where he had heard the term Zero before. His grandfather was building him, a few months before he had gained freedom he had seen a few files about a new robot… labeled project Zero.

He had to hide a small sad smile, in a way they were brothers… but it was probably best if he didn't mention it.

"There are reasons, but first Matt… what do you know of Wily's family?" he asked, he turned to stare silently at the blond.

Matt frowned. "Nothing much." he admitted, "In my world, Wily ended up being a decrepit creature kept alive hundreds of years into the future with the help of machines... as far as I know his only family would have been his creations."

"Hmm… definitely different... lets just say that this Wily has a tad bit of a different past," Takato said, he motioned for matt to sit down who decided to lean against the wall. Takato turned to look back out the window.

"Years ago, Wily married a gentle woman of amazing intelligence... her name was Himiko. They lived happily as they pursued there scientific studies, then one day to there joy Himiko found herself with child," Takato said, he paused for a moment.

"A daughter was born, they named her Mai… they lived happily until Himiko died of cancer. He was devastated: and immersed himself into all science, his heart was broken. Meanwhile Mai, who lived with her Father, grew up loved, even if her father's attention was mostly in the lab," he said softly, he began to get to the nearer times then that.

"When she was nineteen she met and married a young man named Takishi… is fact Wily didn't find out about the marriage for two years since by then he had grown to obsessed with science to notice the world around him. But he let them go in piece, a while later Mai and Takishi had a son... a son named Takato.,"

"By then they ran a bakery, Takato grew up like any child loved and happy… and his grandfather even came a visited all the time… Takato's life was happy even with a few interesting adventures in his life," Takato said, he smiled fondly at that... those adventures were those connected to Digimon.

"Then tragedy happened, a explosion and fire happened in the bakery, something wrong with a stove. Mai and Takishi died instantly, their son wasn't so lucky. Wily was in grief, he was about to loose his last living descendent, one who he cherished… one he would do anything to keep alive," he whispered, he bit his lips at the dark memories.

"Wily stole his grandson from the hospital, and he found a way to transfer the soul, memories… everything to something else… and Protoman was born… controlled by so many programs he wouldn't be able to escape for many years to come."

"How can I hate him," Takato finally said, he only hoped Matt wouldn't reject him for the fact Wily was his grandfather.

Matt sighed and looked up at the roof, trying to think of an answer. Finally, with another sigh, he looked down at Takato. "I guess you can't, at that." he said. "it is so different, though. In my case, he wanted to do it for a weapon... in your case he did it to save your life... in a way. I think you got the better Wily out of the two."

He straightened up and walked to the door. "I hope your trust in him is justified, Takato..." he smiled, "At least meeting him might help Jessie a little."

"At this time and place its justified, what the future brings will be another story," Takato said in a far off voice, his eyes seemed to look at something beyond what anyone else saw. He then shook his head, what a strange thought and he wondered where it had come from.

"Is something wrong with Jesse, she seems to be fighting something inside her… she fears it?" Takato asked as Matt reached the door, he had seen it in her eyes so clearly.

Matt looked over his shoulder at Takato. "She almost blew Wily's head up. A friend stopped her, but if he hadn't been there..." he sighed. "I... hope she's alright. She CAN kill humans. There's no Laws of robotics for her." he said, then looked at Takato in the eye. "We have it easy, we were humans before; we have an instinctive value of human life... she... she has to control herself, and I see her struggling more with that control every day. If meeting and talking to Wily might help her deal with the guilt she felt that she actually would have killed him in my world, then, I cannot hate this Wily either..." he turned around and walked out, leaving a parting comment. "I love her more than life."

Takato smiled softly, he understood.

"She's more human then you think Matt, grief, fear…anger… its makes us human… she's human. If not born one, her soul is one. Let her learn of this Wily, she must learn to live with her darkness… we all do… even I must learn to control my darkness," he said, then, he grinned darkly.

He had understood darkness and hate all too well even before he became Protoman, Leomon's death and Megidramon birth… his darkness… powerful enough to destroy a world in truth.

His eyes gleamed darkly at those memories, then the gleam and grin vanished as he came back to his normal self.

"Love makes us human," he whispered.

VvVvV

Zero gave her a bittersweet smile and shouldering Masamune, he turned his back to her and took a step to the flowing blue energy of the River of Souls.

"Zero!" she cried, trying to break free from Weregarurmon's arms. "Zero!"

Her beloved stepped in the middle of the stream, which looked more like an inverted waterfall, where the water flowed up and not down and, swinging the huge katana, impaled it on the middle of the crescent moon symbol on the solid rock where it originated. The stream turned from blue to a furious red, obscuring him from sight. It was then that Weregarurumon gasped and let her go, devolving back to Gabumon and falling down unconscious. She stared in horror as the Digimon started to dissolve.

"Gabumon!" she cried, and heard an echo. Looking up, she saw Robinmon gliding down to her.

"Robinmon!" she shouted. "We have to save Zero! It's the only way!"

Robinmon nodded and she felt something stirring within her. Light blinded her and she felt powerful. More powerful than she had ever dreamt. In a flurry of black and red feathers she sped into the River of Souls and watched as the surface reflected her new appearance. Suddenly, it wasn't her reflection! As she crashed into the energy, she could only think one thing. One name. Protoman? Or was it Guilmon?

Jessie woke up with a sudden start, confused for a moment. She slowly relaxed, but wondered about her dream. She had seen Protoman reflected on the raging stream of life, just like she had seen her own image as she had crashed in and rescued Zero so long ago, but, at one point, she had seen not Protoman, but a red dinosaur of some kind.

She rested her head on the pillow and kept on thinking.

VvVvV

"Okayyy… it's been awhile since this type of thing has happened," Takato said, at the moment he was dreaming. But this dream, as definitely not a normal one.

These dreams usually showed him the past, present and even the future sometimes… usually just what was happening at that moment. These were rare dreams; they had stopped when he had become Protoman.

Yet… here it was, he hadn't thought robots could have dreams like this.

'Where is this dream happening… is it the present?' he thought, but no answer came to him. Looking around, he realized he was in a carnival mirror house… yet all the mirrors glowed strangely.

He frowned, this was even stranger then the dream he had years ago… the one with Rika.

'At least this time I'm not a transparent ghost that floats' he thought with a bit of humor.

With that is mind; he stepped forward and peered into the nearest mirror. He quickly stepped back horrified, he had only seen death and carnage.

"Not that one Takatomon, this one," a voice said and he smiled; it was Guilmon's voice. It came from inside of him, from a part of his soul, the part of him that had been Guilmon.

Takato turned, and reached for the mirror Guilmon was directing him towards. The world blurred, and he found himself peering elsewhere.

"Jesse," he said as he recognized the first person, she was armored up though. Robinmon was beside her, his eyes widened as they fused. Not Bio-merged like the Tamers, but fused.

Suddenly the dream changed, Jessie in normal clothing was sitting on the ground hugging herself. Tears slipped down her face; a darkness swirled around her… tried to control her heart.

"What does it mean?" Takato questioned, it was then that he felt something behind him. He spun around to see silver mist, his eyes widened as he could see the mist outline an armored form with angelic wings.

It was so hard to see, most of it hidden by the mist.

"Who are you, what does this dream mean!" he demanded. Suddenly he could see one feature of the unknown person, golden eyes that seemed to stare right into his soul.

"Teach her to live, protect her from her darkness… she will need your support for a coming battle. Matt; cannot help her with what he doesn't understand, you must help her while you have the chance… when they leave she'll need what she learns," the figure whispered, it was a child's voice yet filled with so much more.

The dream started to fade away.

"Wait! You didn't tell me who you are!" Takato yelled; the figure chuckled.

"You'll know when the time comes, till then… call me Silver," the figure said.

VvVvV

Takato woke from sleep mode with a start; looking at the time he realized with a start that he had only been asleep for ten minutes.

'How was that possible… what does the dream mean?' he thought confused.

Five minutes later he slipped from the house to think it over in private, he even ignored a certain figure watching over the house… he already knew who it was anyway.

VvVvV

Morning found Zero standing on the top of a building next to Gabumon, both looking down at the city bellow.

"So, Takato is bringing Digidestined from this world to help?" Gabumon asked, scratching the back of his head.

Zero nodded. "Apparently."

"And do you think they will be good enough to stop that other Zero?" Gabumon asked.

"Nope."

Gabumon blink-blinked.

"I hope, that with their help we might have enough fire power together to get rid of him or at least control him." Zero explained. "He might still be under the influence of the Maverick Virus."

"Ah." Gabumon nodded, looking to the distance at the rising sun and stifling a yawn. "And why did we stay awake all night?"

Zero smiled and patted his friend's head. "To protect the others." he said simply

Back at Dr. Light's house, another Digimon opened her eyes slowly.

VvVvV

Robinmon had been snuggling in Jessie's arms. Apparently, the Reploid had used her for a teddy bear and had hugged her for comfort. Normally, Robinmon would have been very annoyed, but the little noises and murmurs and most importantly the tears in the sleeping girls face had stayed her usual reaction.

At some point though, she had fallen asleep and had hugged Jessie back.

That was what irked her. It shouldn't happen. She didn't want to get to close to Jessie again... specially after sharing memories and -shudder- bodies for a while. She had glimpsed into her former hero's heart and found one much like her own. Robinmon regarded the girl as she moaned and started to wake.

Jessie would never see Robinmon worrying for her. Robinmon was too proud to show it openly, and Jessie would be treated as a distant friend by the Digimon most of the time. The real feelings of kinship, of sisterhood and of hearts that had beaten together once would never filter into their actual relationship. Robinmon was glad that Jessie remembered so little about their "fusion".

She didn't know how she would handle things otherwise.

As Jessie woke, Robinmon struggled to get free, startling the girl, who let her go suddenly, in surprise.

"Geez!" Robinmon complained, looking angrily at Jessie. "What do you think I am? A teddy bear!" she complained, wishing with all her heart that she could just grab a pillow and start a fight with the phrase "sisters are not teddy bears!"

Jessie shook her head apologetically and stood up. "Sorry, Robinmon... I was having a weird dream... let me get a shower..."

Robinmon watched her leave the room and sat back down, sighing and silently cursed herself. And Jessie for not remembering.

In another part of the house Rock was slowly coming out of sleep mode, he could hear Light, Roll and Rush slowly moving about.

Yet, one room was silent of its usual sounds. Curious he got up; he then walked out of his room and down the hall.

He knocked on a certain door.

"Takato, its morning," Rock said, he knocked again but to his surprise the door opened.

"Takato…" he questioned sticking his head in, but the room was empty and Rock had a feeling no one had slept in it that night,

"Oh Takato," he whispered, noticing the empty bed.

Takato had been in a certain park thinking many things over…

Takato sighed knowing he must go back, he had recharged enough, hopefully… nothing else would happen today… other then the stressful meeting later today between Wily and Light and the Tamers coming.

"If robots could get headaches, I would have one just about now," he said; then with his scarf fluttering behind him he headed home.

VvVvV

As Zero transformed back into Matt, he started walking back to Dr. Light's place. He had noticed Takato leaving the house after their little talk, but had decided to respect the younger robot's space and let him walk away. He could take care of himself and Zero would protect Light and the others in his absence.

He noticed Takato as he walked back and stopped to wait for him just outside the house.

Gabumon looked at Takato and waved at him.

"Hi," Takato said as he got up to the pair, he sighed and looked up at the sky. It was sunny, but a hint of rain was in the air… again. He wondered if he should tell Matt about the asteroid that would hit earth in several months, but he decided not too... he knew Matt would be gone by that point… and if they failed to destroy it…Matt wouldn't have to grieve over more deaths.

Matt patted Takato's shoulder. Since their last talk he knew he could trust him. He had heard part of his comment about humanity and his heart had been relieved. Takato understood. And so, now Matt smiled, feeling like an older brother yet again, and wondering if that was how he should feel. After all... he wasn't even born yet here!

"So, ready for our war meeting?"

"I wish, I can see the chaos already… "Takato muttered darkly, he could already see Rika in his mind chasing after Wily for everything... and Henry trying to calm everyone down… and Ryo… if he was there acting super cool. Which, by now Takato realized he really wasn't.

'Hmm… I wonder if Impmon and his tamers will be able to make it' he thought, it had been a long time since he had seen the rookie virus… and Impmon and been a close friend of both Guilmon and himself. He had a feeling, that if Guilmon had never become his partner and Impmon hadn't gotten the twins they might have become partners.

Matt smiled. "Well, we still have a couple of hours, don't worry too much, you'll get white hair."

Gabumon was in awe. "Really? Reploids can get white hair?" he looked from Takato to Matt.

"..." Matt said.

Hearing what Gabumon said Takato broke out laughing, he laughed very hard… he hadn't laughed like this in a very long time.

"White hair… robots or Reploids getting white hair… " he said between laughs. Because he didn't actually have to breath he didn't stop, not even to take a break.

Laughing a little himself and shaking his head, Matt motioned to the confused Digimon and the laughing robot to carry on. He waited until they were inside, with Takato still laughing and drawing the attention of everyone in the house, and then, with a last look at the clear blue sky, he followed them in.

VvVvV

He hadn't expected a strong resistance, but he would have his revenge. Breaking into the laboratory had been easy. Killing the humans there was easier still. Now he had the equipment to take care of the distractions and destroy his hated foe. He started typing on the computers, laughing evilly and disturbingly... laughing very hard... and he hadn't laughed like that in a very long time...

VvVvV

By the time noon came to, Takato had finally stopped laughing. But he would grin widely every time he looked at Gabumon, who was a bit embarrassed by now. He didn't know what had made that question so funny, maybe because Gabumon had asked it so innocently and didn't know robots and probably reploids either couldn't get white hair.

At that moment he heard the doorbell ring, it was promptly noon… he only knew one person who would be here at noon exactly.

"Welcome to my lair, said the spider to the fly," Takato said in a creepy voice as he opened the door, Henry and Terriermon sweatdropped.

"Takato, must you?" Henry asked.

"Hmm… let me think… it's a definite yes," Takato said after taking a thinking pose, Henry sighed while his partner snickered.

"Never mind, Rika and the others should be here soon," Henry said walking in, Takato grinned closing the door and enjoyed Henrys strange look at seeing Matt and Gabumon.

'And no one has told our visitors about the cartoon yet' he thought amused.

At that moment the doorbell rang again, he opened it to see a certain tomboy along with the rest of the tamers… the only tamer Digimon not in view was Renamon… but he felt she was near.

"Thanks for coming, now we just have to wait for our last guest to get here," Takato said closing the door, to his disappointment Impmon and his tamers weren't there… maybe they might show up later.

"Where's the chow?" Terriermon asked, everyone sighed.

Matt looked with a certain amount of interest at the group of youngsters as they walked in, assessing them and their probable battle experience. The redhead with the transparent fox-like Digimon, the Chinese guy with the Terriermon and the guy with the black shirt and the rookie thing-a-mon following him around were the most battle hardened of the group.

He decided to break the ice first when they all noticed him and Gabumon. "So," he said to the redhead "I take it your fox Digimon can materialize or does she stay invisible all the time?"

Rika sniffed and gave the blond a look that many mega Digimon had run from, she had been known as the Digimon or ice queen for a reason… only one had she let close to her.

Takato

"Look blond boy, it's my business and my business alone," Rika said with a glare, from long experience the tamers knew her moods… they backed away quickly in case of a fight or yelling match… even Takato backed away with a sweatdrop.

Matt smirked. An attitude. He liked her already. "Fair enough." He said cool as ice, locking eyes with her that left clear that she had his respect but that he was far from intimidated.

Gabumon was looking around curiously. "Hey, Matt, which Fox Digimon? I don't see anyone!"

Matt patted Gabumon's head. "Don't worry about it, Gabumon, I'm sure it'll appear whenever the time is right." He then turned to the Chinese guy, ignoring the red head and nodded. "Hey, you must be Henry. Nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, this is Terriermon my partner," Henry said politely.

"Momentai, you should have introduced me first Henry… I had such a cool introduction," Terriermon complained, Henry only sighed and shook his head slightly… he was use to this only too well.

"Ryo Asakura, but just call me Ryo… and this is my partner Monodramon." Ryo said doing his best smile, it had charmed many people in the past…and he was still known as the Digimon King.

"Hi," Monodramon said.

Matt nodded. "Nice to meet you two." he smirked. "Hope you guys are ready for a good fight." he said motioning for the rest to come into the room. "We are just waiting for a couple of more people before letting you know the details."

"Hopefully there won't be too much fighting," Henry said thoughtfully.

"A battle, its been awhile," Ryo said shuffle a few cards.

"Heh, I'm always ready for a fight," Rika smirked.

"And I will be by your side," Renamon said appearing next to her tamer.

Gabumon stared at Renamon. "Wow, so you are the fox Digimon Matt was talking about."

Matt looked at Renamon and arched an eyebrow. "Cute trick."

"…" Renamon replied.

"Are we done with the witty remarks, our last guest should be here soon," Takato asked raising his left eyebrow.

Matt's mood darkened a little. "True." he sighed. "I'll tell Jessie everyone else but our special guest is here..." he activated the small watch-like communicator he, X and Peregrine still used from their Maverick Hunter days and spoke. "Hey, War Meeting is soon." he said.

A second later everyone could hear a female voice responding in a very business-like tone. "Yes, sir. Be right there."

Matt bigsweated. "Uh, roger that, BP, remember we're with civilians now..."

Takato sighed, at that moment the doorbell rang… he knew who it was…

He walked to the door and opened it, he stared silently at the man standing there.

"Come on in Wily, were all here now," Takato said, Wily walked in and Takato led him to where the others were.

"Were all here now," he said.

Matt didn't looks straight at Wily, rather concentrating on the chair letting everyone react first. He had to close his eyes and breathe in slowly as anger rose automatically. The coke can he had been holding was crumpled to a slim piece of aluminum alloy in his hand. Thankfully, almost everyone's attention was concentrated on the infamous doctor. Two people noticed him, however.

Redhead and her Digimon took in his reaction without comment before a familiar anger rose in the girl's face as she faced Dr. Wily. She looked at Dr. Wily with a mixture of horror and apologetic shyness and squeezed Matt's shoulder to help him start to talk.

Jessie walked down the stairs with Robinmon at her side, noticing everyone in the room; she nodded at them and marched over to Matt, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Matt sighed, took a deep breath and all hell broke loose as people started shouting, ignoring Dr. Light's and Megaman's attempts to calm down, Rika even attempted to jump at the Doctor again in all the confusion, almost forgetting that Takato was holding her.

"Enough!" Matt shouted, startling even the Ice Queen into silence. "I don't think you people understand the gravity of the situation." He growled. "If we were just going to have tea and cookies then, yes, we can party on as long as you like, but now, at this moment, you should pay attention to matters that might decide your future. Or lack of it, depending on your ability."

There was silence, for the moment.

"Dude, you so have to teach me that voice... I could so use it against Rika," Kazu said with a wide grin, next to him Kenta sighed.

"Then you better hide," Kenta said pointing, turning Kazu sweatdropped and ran, for Takato had let Rika go to chase after the visored boy.

Matt almost smiled, but sighed. He was dealing with kids. True, they had faced a local end-of-the-world situation and survived it, but from what he had gathered from Dr. Light and the internet, things could have escalated to a much worse scenario that they hadn't even contemplated.

"I think the best way to start is with a little help from Dr. Wily." Matt said, turning to look at the old scientist with a strange look. "Doctor, why don't you tell us a little about the power levels of Project Zero? That might help put things on perspective."

When he noticed Dr. Wily's look of utter shock, he continued. "And don't give me that 'I don't know what you're talking' about bull. I know more than enough, but I'm not the problem. These kids are. They need to know just how powerful your version is to get an idea of what I am about to tell them."

"Project Zero… is actually only in the planning points at this mark, he was actually being built… not actually to fight Megaman or Lights future Robots… but another reason," Wily said quietly, Takato looked up startled and his eyes widened.

'He was building it for me' he thought startled, he knew it was the truth. He knew his body wasn't perfect, and he knew it was only time before this body couldn't be upgraded anymore, as it was he knew that his body wouldn't be able to stand the stress of many more upgrades.

Wily looked at him from the corner of his eyes, Takato nodded and Wily nodded just slightly… Takato knew he was telling the truth.

"Project Zero I planned to be powered by a special crystal core and something special, but sadly there is only one way to get hold of the second artifact and I'm not about to just take it. Zero has the same self-repair program as Protoman but more powerful, also the ability to adapt to any situation… he's a damn army in himself," Wily said.

Matt sighed, again reminding himself that this Wily was not the same from his world. He had not missed the subterfuge between Takato and Wily. He decided to treat this world's Wily with grudging respect. "Right, and you all know how powerful Protoman is, right?" he asked everyone.

Well duh," Terriermon said, he sent Takato a glare remembering how strong Protoman had been when he kidnapped Henry. Takato saw the look and turned away, he began to whistle innocently.

"He can rip mega level Digimon in half with his hands, I get the picture," Rika replied.

"Only in my armored state," Takato protested, the tamers all sent him looks. "Okkaayyy… so maybe that's a lie," he muttered.

"The point I am trying to make is this: recently we detected energy jumps that indicated either a time-traveler or dimension-hopping. We didn't know what caused it until he attacked both Protoman and Wily." Matt explained. "The one who attacked them was Zero."

"This would give me a headache if I didn't understand it all, also the fact I'm a robot," Takato said cheerfully.

"Takato, what's a headache?" Rock asked, Takato groaned and hid his face with his hands…not these questions again.

Matt was starting to sweat. Why had he ever quit MH HQ? WHY? At least their people would...

Jessie put her hands on Matt's shoulder in a tranquilizing motion. "If it were just Zero we could take care of it, the problem is that this alternate Zero somehow managed to absorb the most powerful Reploid in the world and became much more powerful than even we alone can manage."

Rika snorted at the implied ability of Matt and Jesse. Takato rolled his eyes, anyone see conflict among the ranks? Yeah he thought so too.

Matt sighed. "Well, I knew it would come down to this, I just had hoped we could have done this in a calmer manner..." he stood up and stepped back a little, sharing a look and a nod with Jessie.

A sudden burst of light surprised the tamers, and they watched in surprise and a little confusion as from head to toe Matt's rust-red armor began materializing slowly until he was completely covered in it, the blue gem in the helm's front shine for a moment, letting some of them see a W split in half inside before it became a gem.

Jessie's light slowly became dark as black swirls of energy slowly created her black armor as her metallic wings grew. Her helm was made to resemble a Hawk's or an Eagle's head and it covered most of her face. Where the two teens had stood now stood two aggressive looking robots almost no-one had seen before. Matt smirked at Wily. "Why, hello Doctor."

A blink-blink followed.

"So cool, where can I get armor like that!" Kazu yelled.

"Um… I think you have to be a robot first," Kenta replied, Kazu whined.

"Hmm… so this explains a lot…" Wily said, he cast a glance at Takato.

"Takato, isn't his armor grand… now if only I could give you some of his upgrades," Wily said cheerfully, the same way in fact Takato usually asked if he was about to get a cool upgrade or getting new weapons.

"Eh… he doesn't have a cool shield, why didn't you design him with a shield," Takato complained, by now the whole group was staring at the two talking strangely with wide-eyed looks.

"I'll add it later on, after we destroy the evil Zero," Wily promised, Takato gave a thumbs-up.

The Tamers could only sweatdrop.

Matt flinched. "Just make sure the shield is strong enough to... what am I saying!" he growled. "Since everyone here fails to see what is happening, let me explain. This "Evil Zero", is trying to kill either of you." he said pointing to Takato and Wily, "Or both. If he behaves like most other baddies he is going to have a few Robot Masters under his wing to destroy us all and all of them strong enough to tear Digimon up to Mega Level apart with their bare hands. Now, Takato assures me that you," he said turning to face the rest of the Tamers, "Are strong enough as a team to perhaps survive a couple of battles, but let me warn you, these guys will not stop trying to kill you and your Digimon just because you left the immediate area, like what happened last time. Am I getting through? If you guys are not going to take this seriously I want you out. We can expect chaos and destruction as soon as Evil Zero decides to start this one officially, maybe even deaths. Are you or are you not going to take this seriously!" Zero was breathing heavily now.

Takato sighed and looked at Zero, a dark look in his eyes… a serious one... a look one rarely saw in his eyes.

"We understand all too well Zero, but you have to understand this isn't a military group of any type. We will act silly now and then, that's what keeps us sane when times like this comes up, tell me… what breaks faster. Something to ridged to understand emotions, or something flexible that can," Takato whispered.

"Yeah, you should listen to Takato… he use to be our leader with Gui… mmph," Terriermon was stopped from saying anymore, by Henry closing his mouth.

Takato stared at Terriermon and anger and pain flashed over his face, then before anyone could say anything he was just gone… gone so fast it was like he teleported.

"Terriermon… you know not to mention that," Henry growled.

"Sorry," Terriermon replied, knowing that he had gone way too far, especially in reminding Takato of Guilmon.

Zero sighed. "Listen, where I originally come from, yes, we have meetings like these. All happy, exchanging witty remarks, heck attitudes." he glanced pointedly at Rika. "And that is all well and good. Takato is right, flexible doesn't break, but it can be torn off from where it stands if it cannot hold on to the ground." He patted BP's shoulder. "Now, Peregrine will tell you what we have on information about Evil Zero and possible tactics." Peregrine winced, feeling now like a teacher trying to show a group of kindergartner's how to tie their shoes.

When he saw a couple of them sigh, Zero shook his head.

"What you do with that information when the time comes is your prerogative." Zero stated, looking at them with a little compassion. "I have seen way to many people die because they didn't know what was happening for that to happen here with you guys. So please pay attention. I will bring Takato back." he stated.

He looked down at Gabumon. "You should stay here... I think I'm beginning to get an idea of what is happening." He told the Digimon.

Gabumon nodded. "Sure, Matt. I just hope he's alright."

Zero nodded and left almost as fast as Takato.

TBC-

Well, here's another chapter, I would have updated forever ago… but WandererD has seemed to vanish into real life for now… I'll try to drag him back to writing soon…

ja ne