AN: It may take me a few chapters to get back into my "writing mode," so this and the next couple chapters may be sub-par, even by my (admittedly poor) standards. Sorry.

AN #2: Strange...I could have sworn I updated this some time ago, but the story's still on chapter 13, and this is still located in my document manager. Hm...Sorry everyone!

Ryu's POV:

"That door."

"Thanks Adraxis." I said, laying his hand on the control panel on the wall.

The doors slid open, and a blast of hot, dry air came out.

"Come on Ryu, we don't have forever."

I stepped through the door, and felt my talons immediately sank into hot sand. Scanning the room, I saw that it looked like a wasteland, covered in large boulders and sand.

"Now, before we actually get started, I want to test a little theory of mine. You remember how you became Blazedramon, right?"

"To some extent. Both times I've done it were more reflex than anything though."

"Hmm…Well, give it a try."

"Alright." I blanked his mind and tried to summon up the power that I needed, but I couldn't draw it out. "I can't for some reason. I feel for the energy I used before, but even when I feel it, I can't draw it out like I did before."

"I thought so. You see, since your data structure is radically different from anything else in the digital world, it operates differently from the rest of us. I believe that both evolution and that shift that you used in your previous battle will be impossible for at least the foreseeable future. In addition, the…enhancements that you gained from the Earth Seal won't last much longer. Even if you had both halves, it wouldn't make a difference."

"What?"

"I had Adraxis running scans on you all night. To be honest, I don't know what these results mean. I've never seen anything like them. Then again, I've never seen a human here either."

"What's different?"

"Well, among other things, it's coded differently. I've been running comparative scans and nothing in your current makeup compares to anything in the Digital World.

"So what's that have to do with the rest of it?" I asked. "Why can't I change?"

"I didn't quite say that." Aero replied. "I think the evolution, at least, evolution the way that other digimon do it, is out of the question. However, there are sections of your code that are just as variable as that of any digimon. I think that some of that code may enable you to evolve. However, I'd need to run several tests and have your cooperation before I can be sure."

"Of course. I mean, like this, I'd be completely dependant on Aidan in battle, right? I don't want that."

"Alright. First off, can you create physical representations of the Seals?"

"Physical representations?"

"Like how they were when you first found them. Tap the seal's power, then focus it outside of your body. Try it with the Earth Seal first."

I concentrated, and a faint glow appeared in the air in front of me.

Aero nodded. "Now shape it into a crystal, and separate yourself from the Seal."

I followed his directions, and a minute later, a large blue crystal fell to the sand with a light thud.

"Alright. I'll give this one to Aidan." Aero said as he picked up the crystal. "It'll complete his half. You can keep the rest of them."

"And what about Lightning?" I asked. "You said something about having that one as well."

"So I did. Adraxis, raise the warp gate. Set coordinates to-"

"One step ahead of you. The gate's powered up and ready to go." The compute replied.

"How about raising it?" Aero remarked dryly.

"Already coming up."

A section of wall slid open, revealing a warp gate identical to the one that had led us to the ship in the first place.

"You'll need this as well." Aero passed me another sphere. "It's the code to activate one of the gates on this ship. Lighting shouldn't be a problem. The automatic systems should bring the lights up shortly after you get there."

I nodded and headed for the gate.

"It's simple to find, just head down. If I don't hear back from you in an hour, I'll send someone to check up on you."

I stepped through the gate and emerged in a large, room, littered with machine parts. "This looks like a ship…Where did that thing send me?"

The gate shut down, plunging the room into darkness.

"Well, I could use those lights on now." I grumbled to the darkness.

"One moment." A voice said from the doorway. "The lighting will activate in a minute or two. Ah! Don't shoot!"

The instant that it began speaking, I had dropped into a crouch, with the D-Dragon's gattling cannon pointed toward the speaker.

The lights flickered on, the speaker was revealed to be a large brown robot. "What the hell? Who're you?"

"I am Guardromon XS-371. I am in charge of the security of what is left of this ship."

"I see…"

"AeroVeedramon told me to be expecting someone. Are you Ryu?" It asked.

"Yes."

"Follow me. I'll take you to the Lightning Seal."

I nodded. "Lead on."

The Guardromon turned away from me and headed back down the corridor.

After traveling in silence for about five minutes, I spoke up. "You said you were in charge of this ruin. How long has it been like this?"

"Hm…" The Guardromon thought for a moment. "About fifty years. However, I was deactivated for about forty-eight of those years."

"That's still quite a while. What do you do here?"

"I am in charge of security. This was originally a troop transport. There are almost five hundred Tankmon that are currently deactivated in the cargo bays. In case anything happens, I have more than enough firepower to defend this ship. Anyway, we're here."

It stopped in front of a large set of doors, which slowly slid open, revealing a large room, empty, except for the Seal sitting on a pedestal in the center.

"Just be careful. It seems to have its own defensive system. We took heavy losses recovering the Lightning Seal."

I stopped just outside the doors. "Defense system?" I asked nervously.

"A lightning web that attacks anyone who enters its range."

"Er…" I shot a nervous look toward the Seal. "And you guys want me to get in there with it?"

I walked away from the door and picked up a few of the scattered parts. Turning back toward the door, I threw the double handful of scrap towards the Seal."

There was a brilliant flash, and several…spiderwebs shot out from the Seal, wrapped around the scrap, and then both vanished. "You're kidding, right?"

"It shouldn't hurt you." The Guardromon said. "It seems to be deactivated whenever another Seal is present."

"That doesn't make me feel much better." I said dryly, walking back to the door. "Here goes nothing…" Stepping to the side, I moved my tail into the room.

When nothing happened, I glanced at the Guardromon. "Okay. I'll go get it." And if the shield on this thing doesn't work, I'm probably going to die… I finished silently, with a quick glance at the D-Dragon.

I stepped into the room, and slowly walked toward the Seal.

When I was a few paces away, there was a brilliant flash, and I instantly activated my shield. Through the shield, I saw a large draconic head form over the Seal. "Hm…It's that time already…Very well. I give my power to you…Now, I can finally rest..." There was a second flash, and the Seal went dark.

I took the last few steps, and picked up the Seal with my armored hand. "That's three."

The seal crackled loudly and disintegrated, sending bolts of electricity crackling across my scales. After a few seconds, the electricity died down, and I was left with a strange tingling sensation across my scales.

Aero's POV:

Back on the ship:

I wonder how long we can stay lucky…By acting now, I gave those two enough of an edge to survive their first encounters, but the odds that word will reach the Council…Well, there's nothing I can do about it now. It's only a matter of time, either way. Hm…I wonder what they're doing right now. How much time do I have before…no…it's best not to think about it too much. I'll just have to make do with the time I have.

"Warp gate activation."

I turned toward the gate just as Ryu came through. "So, did you get it?"

"Yeah. But you never said that it could have killed me."

"It wouldn't have." I said evenly. "It wouldn't attack someone with one of the Seals. Anyway, I've got nothing for you to do today. I need a new set of scans and some time for a proper analysis, so if you could go back to your room...'

Ryu nodded. "Alright."

Well, that's the fifth. The real problems begin now, though. Word will probably reach the Council soon, and even if they don't know it's me, things will become much more difficult. Next time, I'm going to have to send someone to keep an eye on them for me.

AN: It may be some time before my next update. I'm going to try to write at least three or four chapters ahead before posting again, which may take some time. Sorry for the inconvenience.