"Almost three years have went by since we've last seen any digimon, and now after so long we've been called back. First it was Davis, Ken, Yolei and Cody who saw spirits in the sky; next they found their digimon! So they got together to rally up the whole gang. We found ourselves back in the camp site where it all got started, where we were introduced to the Guardians of the digital world. Finally, we're going back to a whole-new adventure. Wish us luck!"

-Tai

DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA

Book Three: "Commence Digital Armageddon"

The afternoon sky was suddenly ripped apart by a flash of light. From the light, a portal opened up for a brief moment, then disappeared again as if nothing happened. But from that split-second light in the air, twelve humans and four digimon emerged. And they were falling as fast as comets, towards the earth of the digital world.

"AAAAHHH! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" screamed the tallest of the humans. "Joe, relax!" Davis called back; "We're probably gonna land at a soft spot!" Matt argued, "Yeah, but that soft spot's like FIVE THOUSAND MILES BELOW US!"

Yolei grabbed the legs of her feathered digimon and screamed, "SAVE ME, HAWKMON! FLY!" Flapping his wings like crazy, Hawkmon replied, "I'm sorry, Yolei, but you're just too heavy!" Then she roared, "ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT!?" "NO!" he gasped, "NOT AT ALL!"

Davis then smiled, "That's it! Veemon, digivolve to Champion!" Veemon smiled, "Alright!"

Hawkmon nodded, "Yes, good thinking!"

"Wait for me!" Wormmon called out.

The three Rookies then took deep breaths, and auroras started glowing around each of them...

------------ Vision: Digivolution- Champion ------------

(As the television series suggests, the D-3s summon the power of this digivolution)

"VEEMON, DIGIVOLVE TO................................EXVEEMON!"

"HAWKMON, DIGIVOLVE TO............................AQUILAMON!"

"WORMMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...........................STINGMON!"

------------ End Vision ------------

ExVeemon, now a full-fledged adult version of his Rookie form, darted for Davis, Cody and Armadillomon. He caught each of them in his bulky arms.

Aquilamon, the gigantic bull-horned eagle, swooped down and let Yolei, Sora, Mimi, Matt and Kari land on his back. In his talons he caught Joe and Izzy.

Stingmon, the giant locust-turned-pro-wrestler, grabbed Ken in one arm and TK in the other.

"HEY!" screamed the panicked Tai, who was still falling; "WHAT ABOUT ME!?" "HANG ON!" cried out Ken, as Stingmon made a nose dive toward Tai. Once he was close enough, Tai grabbed a hold of Stingmon's two-toed foot.

"Whew!" ExVeemon sighed; "That was a close one!" "I'll say," Tai replied nearby; "I almost lost my life back there." "I almost lost my lunch," Joe moaned softly. Armadillomon smiled optimistically, "We're fine, that's all that matters. Now let's get to the ground!"

"Landing gear down," announced Aquilamon. He glided downwards, to the open field of grass below. The speed he was coming down in made the grass and trees flow, as if a hurricane had started up. Joe and Izzy held on tight as his talons opened up and drilled into the ground. The huge eagle skidded for a second or two, but made a safe landing.

The next to land was Stingmon. His humanoid body made it easy for him to maneuver through the air without the use of air currents. His lightning-quick wing flapping slowed down, and once he perched himself on a big rock, they came to a sudden halt.

ExVeemon, whose body was built like Stingmon's and whose wings were built similar to Aquilamon's, made the last landing. He started to glide, but then stopped in mid air so he can land on his feet. When he did, he caused a small tremor in the ground.

Then Davis made a jump out of the dragon-like digimon's arms, landed on his own two feet and smiled proudly, "And that is how you make an entrance!"

Everybody else climbed down from whichever digimon they rode, and some dusted themselves off. Finally, Tai started to walk a bit and took a good look around. "Wow..." he muttered; "...We must be near the jungle; lookit all the trees."

Mimi stretched and sighed, "...Oh boy, it's been a long time! Does anybody know where we are?" "Nothing looks familiar to me," Yolei replied. Izzy then knelt down, and from his backpack he pulled out a laptop. Nearby, TK laughed, "Just like old times, right Izzy?" Izzy smiled, "I thought we might need this."

He then opened up a file and said, "I've mapped out the digital world as much as I could, just to see where we were going... It looks like a lot has changed since the last time we were here." "Why?" TK asked. Izzy shook his head, "I don't know. I can't even tell where we are now; most of the digital world's continents are jungles."

Mimi gasped, "Jungles?" "But what about the cities?" Sora wondered. Izzy, still focused on the computer screen, answered, "Well, there are a couple cities, but most of them are on the shores." "...That's odd," Tai said. Matt, looking at the forest, guessed, "Maybe it's 'cause of those Digital... What are they called again?" "Digi-Keepers?" Izzy remembered. "R-ight," Matt nodded, still looking a little miffed about that idea.

Yolei sat down by a rock and let out a sigh. Ken walked up to her and politely asked, "You okay?" Yolei nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm fine. But what are we gonna do now? We're lost." ExVeemon smiled, "Don't worry, the others'll be here soon!" "Yeah," added Armadillomon, "those guys were told to meet us at this place."

Cody turned to his yellow digimon and asked, "Then you know where we are?" The armadillo replied calmly, "Absolutely... no idea." All the humans moaned. "But I can signal them," ExVeemon said excitedly.

He then jumped on top of the largest boulder, and called forth, "EX LASER!"

From the "X" on his torso shot a beam of light, which he aimed to the sky. Like a comet, it flew through the air. Davis cheered, "Yeah! That'll get their attention!" Aquilamon then frowned, "It'll also get the attention of Shadowmon." Stingmon turned to him and added, "Which is why we should stay in Champion mode, just in case they show up again."

Matt sat comfortably on a nearby boulder and started to relax. The look in his eyes indicated that his mind was wandering. "Hmm..." he hummed to himself. "There's a familiar sound," joked his younger brother, who sat beside him. Matt looked to TK and smiled, "You excited to be back?" "Who wouldn't be?" TK answered.

Matt then looked ahead and frowned, "I don't know... I mean, I'm not sure about all this. Digi-Keepers? Shadowmon? It's like every time we come back here, it's something else all-new and worse than before." "Relax," TK insisted; "Things'll get better when our digimon show up."

Matt added, "Well, it just seems like this is being done on purpose." Confused, TK asked, "What's being done on purpose?" Matt shook his head, "Forget about it. Let's just wait for our other friends to get here."

An hour went by, but it felt like two or more. The older humans were gathered together, eating lunch. The ever-resourceful Joe had packed a picnic blanket, and sitting on it were the likes of Tai, Sora, Matt, Izzy (still at his laptop) and Joe himself.

"Where'd Mimi go?" Sora wondered. Matt, after taking another sip of his soda can, replied, "She said she'd go off to look around. I honestly didn't think she was the nature-loving type."

Izzy suddenly looked up and informed his friends, "Even as we speak, more cities are being built around the shorelines. Not only that, but there's a big mountain range just a couple miles from here that's still growing. It's as if the digital world is evolving while we're here."

"What about the digimon?" Joe blurted out; "We haven't seen any new ones since we came here, and the forests are usually flooded with them." Izzy checked the laptop again and assumed, "They all must be gathering at the shores." Tai smiled, "It must be the longest Boardwalk in history!"

Sora giggled, then turned and saw the younger Digi-Destined kids all gathered at a tree. She wondered, "What are those guys doing?" Matt replied, "They said they're 're-kindling their bond,' but they're really just asking each other some stupid questions."

"If we call them goose bumps, what do geese call them?" Davis joked, making the others laugh.

Then Yolei raised her hand and announced, "I got one! Why do they call them TV sets if you only get one?"

The others giggled, then Cody smiled, "If vegetable oil is made out of vegetables and vinegar oil is made out of vinegar, than what's baby oil made out of?" "AAWWWW! GROSS!" the others laughed.

"You turn, Ken!" Davis elbowed his buddy. Ken shook his head, "I don't have any. "Aw," frowned the disappointed Kari; "I'm sure you know at least one." TK egged on, "Yeah, come on Ken. I thought you were some kind of genius." Ken shook his head, "I was... Not anymore."

Then he scratched his itchy nose. Davis noticed it and suddenly asked, "You wanna rumble?" Ken whipped his head around and gasped, "What?" Davis nodded, "When you scratch your nose it means you wanna rumble."

"What!?"

"And if your palms are itchy, it means you're gonna get money."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"My sister."

Ken blurted out sternly; "You're sister's a ditz."

Suddenly, all his friends were laughing out loud. Surprised, Ken shrugged, "What? ...She IS!" "I KNOW!" Davis busted a gut; "...It's just the way you said it! I TOLD you you were funny, man!" He patted his friend's shoulder in congratulations, and the others applauded. Ken just sighed.

"HERE THEY COME!" roared ExVeemon out of nowhere. His eyes were focused on the horizon, to which all eyes turned. The humans all got to their feet and ran to the grassy hill that would lead them to an open field. They could all see them coming now. The rest of the digimon team.

Two by two, the digimon jumped into the arms of his or her digimon partner... all but one.

"Tai! You're here!"

"Agumon! It's so great to see you again!"

"SORA!"

"BIYOMON! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too..."

"Hey, Matt! Long time no see, eh old buddy?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Gabumon; life's been busy."

"I understand."

"Looking sharp as ever, Tentomon."

"Thanks Izzy; I've been staying in shape as best I could. Do I look slimmer to you?"

"Uh..."

"Joe, you cut your hair!"

"Yep."

"...'Bout time!"

"Wha-? Gommamon!"

Gommamon just giggled.

"Kari!"

"Gatomon!"

"TK!"

"Patamon!"

"MIMI! .........Mimi?" Palmon looked left and right, but no sign of her human partner. She looked to Sora with her glossy green eyes, "...Did Mimi stay in America?" "No no," Sora smiled; "she's just wandering around in the woods. Come on, I'll help you find her." She took Palmon's hand/branch and led the way into the unknown.

Matt was right; Mimi was not usually the nature-loving type. Especially with her new life in New York, her world revolves around sky scrapers and shopping malls and lights that turn night into day.

But as she wandered further into the woods, looking at the giant flowers and towering trees, she was beginning to feel a bit of serenity. It was quiet, just the way she liked things to be. The air was cool enough; not too hot or cold. She stopped by a small babbling brook and took a nice deep breath. No air pollution. It was riveting.

A small butterfly with golden wings fluttered by, and as it did so it almost ran into Mimi's face. She couldn't help but giggle and watched it dance through the air and into the distance. That's when she started hearing the voice. Mimi gasped and looked around in surprise, hearing some strange new voice- a female voice- humming a soft, pleasant tune. Like a lullaby...

That's when she noticed the patch of sunlight that somehow made its way through the tree branches above. It was just enough light for the tiny sapling tree that stood in the middle of a vast space. Mimi stared at it in awe, still hearing the soft lullaby.

The baby tree's trunk and branches kind of resembled a banzai tree, but its leaves and flowers were different. The leaves looked like tiny oak leaves, and on top of them were small white flowers. It's as if it was just budding its leaves in the middle of springtime.

"Mimi?" a familiar voice called out. Mimi stopped hearing the humming and started hearing her friend Sora calling her. "Sora!" she called back, and that's when she saw Sora, Biyomon and Palmon running to her. "MIMI!" cheered the plant-like digimon. Mimi, just as ecstatic, ran to her digimon partner; "PALMON!" They embraced, happier than ever.

"I was worried you weren't coming," the little Rookie sniffled. Mimi shook her head, "It's okay, I'm here now." Sora crossed her arms, "Where were you, Mimi?" Mimi blinked innocently, "...I dunno. I.. I was just wandering around, and I heard this beautiful singing... and I saw this tree-"

Suddenly, the small beetle known as Tentomon buzzed in out of nowhere and yelled in terror, "Girls! Girls, you gotta come back with us!" Mimi blinked, "Wha..? What's going on?" Tentomon replied, still scared, "It's the Shadowmon! They found us!"

Mimi Sora and the digimon all ran out into the open field, where their friends were. That's when they saw... them.

The humans stood there in a line, gazing at the new creatures before them. They were six feet tall, and with their out-stretched arms, legs and pointy ears, they resembled Gazimon. But their fur was jet black, all around. Except for those red scratch marks on their eyes. The eyes themselves were small and glowing red. And those hideous smiles... with those ferocious fangs...

------------ Digimon Card: SHADOWMON ------------

Level: Champion

Attribute: Unknown

Type: Mutant

"These are the Shadowmon we've been warning you about. They can digivolve into any form they want, and even if it's another Champion form, they still got the power of Ultimates."

-ExVeemon

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Those beasts all started talking: "Fools! Infidels! All of you are amateurs! Cower before us, you ill-fated losers. Face us, and DIE!" All in unison, and their voices were a mix of male and female pitches. No one could tell their gender, nor their age. ...Nobody really cared though. As the Shadowmon crept closer to their enemies, Agumon announced, "Show time!"

------------ Vision: Digivolution- Champion ------------

"AGUMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...................................GREYMON!"

"GABUMON, DIGIVOLVE TO.................................GARURUMON!"

"BIYOMON, DIGIVOLVE TO..................................BIRDRAMON!"

"TENTOMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...............................KABUTERIMON!"

"GOMMAMAON, DIGIVOLVE TO..........................IKKAKUMON!"

"PALMON, DIGIVOLVE TO....................................TOGEMON!"

"ARMADILLOMON, DIGIVOLVE TO......................ANKYLOMON!"

"PATAMON, DIGIVOLVE TO.................................ANGEMON!"

------------ End Vision ------------

The battle commenced with Greymon: "NOVA BLAST!" The fireball that shot from his mouth nearly hit a few Shadowmon, but they zipped out of the way. One was injured, however; it fell on its back in pain. A few Shadowmon jumped at the giant dinosaur and scratched at his torso, but he whacked them away with his mighty tail.

Ankylomon- yet another dinosaur type- swung his tail hammer at two Shadowmon. One jumped out of the way just in time, but another was nailed to the ground.

Birdramon, the huge phoenix-like bird whose feathers looked like they were on fire- released her attack: "METEOR WING!" The fireballs that shot from her wings burned a few Shadowmon greatly, but they were still alive.

"HOWLING BLASTER!" attacked the giant wolf, Garurumon. One Shadowmon took the blue laser hard, and crashed right through a tree.

Suddenly, the whole gang of Shadowmon rallied together and formed a large black barricade. Together, several of the heroic digimon attacked with full force:

"NEEDLE SPRAY!" shot Togemon.

"HARPOON TORPEDO!" shot Ikkakumon.

"ELECTRO-SHOCKER!" shot Kabuterimon.

"SPIKING STRIKE!" charged Stingmon.

"BLAST RINGS!" shot Aquilamon.

None of those attacks seemed to work; the barricade was too strong. The Shadowmon then split up and jumped high in the air. One of them pulled out a huge (and I mean HUGE) black mallet out of nowhere and roared, "SHADOW HAMMER!" The gigantic mallet bonked Greymon's head hard enough to make him fall on his back.

Before they knew it, all of the Shadowmon had Shadow Hammers, and the heroes took one pounding after another. Until finally, Angemon used his "HAND OF FATE!" and incinerated one of the hammers.

Then Gatomon jumped from behind the unarmed enemy and unleashed her "LIGHTNING PAW!" The Shadowmon vanished into a million black pieces, which instantly vaporized. "YES!" cheered Tai; "We finally got one!"

ExVeemon released "EX LASER!" and destroyed another Shadow Hammer.

But the Shadowmon rolled up into a ball, and with its spiky claws and ears stretched out it hissed, "BLACK SAW!" It started spinning like a buzz saw and swiped itself at the heroes. In fact, it just missed Yolei, who fell on her stomach with a yelp. "Yolei!" Ken cried out and ran to her. Startled, she told him, "I-I'm okay.. I think..."

Then she winced in sudden pain. Ken looked at her arm and gasped, "You're bleeding..." Indeed, she was. Yolei looked to her wound and gasped, "...He... didn't even touch me."

Ken turned to Stingmon and roared, "GET 'EM!" "Right!" Stingmon gave a nod. He unleashed a giant blade from his wrist and charged, "SPIKING STRIKE!" and with a great thrust he sent the hammer-less Shadowmon into non-existence.

Garurumon, Greymon and Angemon had rallied a bunch of Shadowmon to one area, where the three combined their powers and blew the Shadowmon away.

One Shadowmon tried to swipe its Shadow Hammer at ExVeemon, but was blasted from the side by Kabuterimon's attack. Then Aquilamon finished it off with "GRAND HORN!" His enlarged bull horns impaled the Shadowmon, and it vaporized.

There were now three Shadowmon left, much to the liking of the humans. The villains were just hanging in the air, seemingly defenseless. "Finish 'em, guys!" Davis called out.

All of the heroic Champions gathered together for a grand finale of attacks... when a halo of darkness started to form around the villains. ExVeemon knew what was happening, and he gulped, "Oh no.. Here it comes..."

Before their eyes, the humans watched one Shadowmon morph into a void of darkness, and it became MarineDevimon. Another Shadowmon morphed into the darkness and emerged as LadyDevimon. The third morphed into the darkness and became SkullSatamon.

All of the heroic Champions backed up as the villains let out a chorus of insane laughter.

Davis then pulled out his blue D-3 and announced, "Okay! These guys wanna play Ultimates? Let's give 'em Ultimates!" "Yeah," Ken gave a nod, pulling out his black D-3. Davis then called to his friends, "You ready, guys!?"

Yolei pulled out her red D-3, and stood beside Kari, who had her pink one.

TK sided with Cody with his green D-3; Cody with his yellow one.

ExVeemon stood in mid-air with Stingmon. Aquilamon stood beside Gatomon. Angemon floated near Ankylomon. All were in place, all ready to Jogress digivolve.

A minute went by. Then two minutes. Three. ...Davis and Ken were the first to notice that the D-3s were not activating.

ExVeemon called out, "Uh guys? Any day now!" Ken looked at his black D-3 and wondered, "What's wrong?" Furious, Davis started shaking his blue D-3, growling, "...Work... Work! Come on, you stupid piece o' plastic!" He started pounding on it impatiently; "There's nothing wrong with the batteries, 'cause there aren't any! Now WORK, DAMMIT!"

Still, it would not turn on.

"Are they broken?" pondered Yolei. Kari frowned, "That can't be! They've always worked before."

Gatomon paused, then noticed a twinkle coming from her tail ring. She gasped, "I remember now! The only way we can Jogress is by my tail ring... Which... I have now..." Her ears drooped in despair.

Davis roared, "This is hopeless! If we can't Jogress, and nobody's got a crest, how're we supposed to get Ultimate digimon!?" Izzy raised a hand and declared, "After years of studying historical documents on how to survive war-related situations, I propose we do the two plans that have always seemed to work in the most dire situations." Joe wondered, "What're they?" Izzy held up one finger and started, "Scream bloody murder," then he held up a second finger and finished, "and run like the wind." Joe smiled, "Ah! My faves."

"Ready?" Izzy prepared them. Then six Digi-Destined screamed bloody murder and ran off into the forest. Yolei and Kari were next. Then TK and Cody. Finally, Davis and Ken shrugged to each other as if to say "Eh, what the hell?" and did the same. Not too far from their human partners ran the heroic Champions, who were also screaming in terror.

Their legs carried them deeper into the woods, avoiding as many explosions coming from their enemies as they could. They had no idea where they were going, or why, but they didn't seem to care.

TK and Kari were the first to notice two blurs that breezed by them and the rest of the group; it was Ken and Davis, who were the last to take off in a panic run. "Hey!" panted Kari, "…How'd …they get… so fast??" Hearing her, Davis replied in a pant, "What'd you expect? We're athletes!" "RUN FASTER!" added a frantic Ken.

And faster the team ran.

The running stopped when Tai tripped over a small rock and crashed hard. "Tai!" Kari called out, running to his side. He tried to get up, wincing, "..I'm okay..." They all started panting, and looked around. "...Where are we?" Sora gasped. "We're lost," Yolei frowned.

Mimi then pointed to a familiar object and smiled, "No we're not, look! There's the tree I found." They all looked, and saw the tiny sapling glowing in the sunlight amidst the darkness caused by the taller trees. Davis blinked, "...A tree? ...You're looking for a tree?" Mimi crawled up to it and explained, "..It's not just any tree... There's something about it."

Joe took her arm and insisted, "Alright, come on. We gotta get away from those mutants!" "Just wait," she pleaded, pulling herself away from him. She then took her hand and placed it gently on the top branches, as if she was petting a cat.

Tai, Cody and Ken suddenly moved closer to it. Cody pondered, "...What's gotten into Mimi?" Ken started gazing blankly at the sapling and muttered, "She's right.... There's something about it." All at once, his hand met with Mimi's on the tiny delicate branches.

"You guys are crazy!" Tai shouted. As he suddenly grasped onto the branches himself, he added, "There's no way we're gonna get-" Then he felt it. He pulled his hand away from the tree and gasped, "...oh my god..."

Cody gasped, "What?" Tai paused, then gasped softly, "I felt the weirdest thing..." Then he looked into Cody's eyes. They knew something that the others wouldn't understand. Cody and Tai both grabbed onto the banzai-like trunk.

"I don't believe this," Matt scoffed; "We're running for our lives and you guys are playing with a simple little-"

ZAP!

Four bolts of light shot from the sapling like comets. One was hot pink, another neon green, another silver and the last bright orange. The four humans who touched the sapling all jumped back, as dumbfounded as their friends.

The light started beaming on each of them- Ken, Mimi, Cody and Tai. Then, to everyone's amazement, four golden chains emerged from the flowers on the sapling. One chain wrapped around Ken's neck; another around Tai's neck; a third around Mimi's neck; and the fourth around Cody's wrist.

The golden light faded into golden chains. Thick, royal-looking chains. They were-

"Necklaces!?" Sora gasped. "And a bracelet?" Yolei blurted out, gazing at the golden brace around Cody's wrist. "Not just that..." Tai blinked twice in surprise. He looked down, to the circular jewel that hung on his new "necklace." It was a bronze jewel, with a bright orange inscription in the center. That inscription... symbol, rather... resembled the sun. He muttered, "...it's my crest... Courage..."

Ken looked at the round black jewel with the hot pink rose in its center and he recognized it; "Kindness."

Mimi smiled at her round, light purple jewel with the light green teardrop in its center; "Sincerity!"

Cody gazed at the circular jewel that was on his bracelet. It was gold, with a silver symbol in the center. The symbol resembled scales, like the Libra's horoscope symbol. "...what is this?" he muttered. Before anyone can say anything else, the enemies arrived.

Then, the most amazing thing happened.

------------ Vision: Digivolution- Ultimate ------------

(Breaking the traditional vision, now you see a silhouette of a human arm stretch out, holding the new crest in its hand. First is Tai's holding the Crest of Courage, and so forth and so on.

The Crest emerges from the jewel, shooting in the sky just as it does in the show. But then, right when the power of the crest flashes into data, we see the image of Gaiamon (a green-shaded spirit shaped as a woman) give a nod, as if allowing the data to be formatted. Then her own image phases into the data itself.

From there, the vision looks the same as it's always been...)

"GREYMON, DIGIVOLVE TO................................METALGREAYMON!"

"TOGEMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...............................LILYMON!"

"ANKYLOMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...........................SHAKKUOMON!"

"STINGMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...............................DINOBEEMON!"

------------ End Vision ------------

There it was; the gasp heard 'round the digital world. Everybody stared in awe, as three Ultimates were reborn... and a fourth made his first ever appearance. Cody gasped, "Shakkoumon... and he didn't even Jogress!"

"Lilymon!" Mimi cheered.

"MetalGreymon!" Tai rejoiced.

Ken stared at the beast before him. He had the head, wings and feet of Stingmon, and the torso, legs and tail of ExVeemon. Of course, all his familiar-looking parts were altered, to make him look darker, more terrifying. He even had a spiked collar around his neck, a sign of him being possibly untamed. Ken blinked, "...Who're you?"

------------ Digimon Card: DINOBEEMON ------------

Level: Ultimate

Attribute: Virus

Type: Mutant

"I am DinoBeemon, Stingmon's true Ultimate level. I have the same strengths as Paildramon, but personally I think I'm cuter."

-DinoBeemon

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dino... Beemon?" Davis gapped. "Yeah," Ken said breathlessly; "...he looks awesome..." Tai crossed his arms as he gazed courageously at his enemies, and let everybody know, "Well... I don't know how we did it, but we did it. Now LET'S SHOW 'EM WHAT WE'VE GOT!"

The first to make a move was MetalGreymon; "GIGA-BLASTER!" His metal chest opened up and two torpedoes came flying out. They blasted the squid-like demon known as MarineDevimon, and he took the fall hard.

"FLOWER CANNON!" Lilymon shouted, as her hands unleashed a flower with a gun in the center. The laser just missed LadyDevimon, but then she was hit by Shakkoumon's "JUSTICE BEAM!" which shot from his eyes.

MetalGreymon attacked with his steel claw and scratched her badly. The claw was then tangled by one of MarineDevimon's tentacles. They tugged at each other, until DinoBeemon scratched the tentacle clean off. MarineDevimon then turned to the new hero. DinoBeemon let out a small chuckle; "I've been waiting for this... For a long time..."

SkullSatamon attacked with "NAIL BONE!" It got Shakkoumon, but not before the steel warrior unleashed his "HARMONIOUS SPIRIT!" The sudden counter-attack knocked the demon for a loop.

Once again, MetalGreymon unleashed "GIGA-BLASTER!" and the flying demon was blasted away. MarineDevimon attacked, "GUILTY BLACK!" which nearly ended both Lilymon and MetalGreymon.

But DinoBeemon advanced on him and gave him a great kick in the gut. Then the insect/dragon pulled out his long-awaited attack: "HELL MASQUERADE!" It was too much for the evil demons to bear, and both he and LadyDevimon were vanquished.

The three evil Ultimates were now reduced to three dark spheres that just hung in the sky, and dark lightning spouted around them. The heroes took this as their victory, and cheered triumphantly.

As they cheered, the great metallic dinosaur named MetalGreymon morphed in a bright light, to a small pink bubble with red puppy eyes and long rabbit-like ears. Tai ran to him, smiling, "Koromon!"

The slender, lady-like pixie called Lilymon morphed in a bright light to a little green creature that looked like a living seedling. Mimi scooped her in her arms, cheering, "Tanemon!"

The towering silver warrior called Shakkoumon morphed into a small pale bubble with ears that looked like bird wings. He bounced into Cody's arms as the human exclaimed, "Upamon!"

Finally, the dino-insect mutant called DinoBeemon morphed into a tiny, pale green larva with a brown sticky pouch for a torso. He floated to Ken, cheering, "Did you see me, Ken? Did you see me? I was awesome, wasn't I? And I did it all by myself!" "I know, Minomon, I know!" Ken giggled as he took the tiny In-Training digimon in his arms.

"OH MY GOD!" Sora screamed, looking at what they thought were the defeated villains. They all saw in utter shock as the electric spheres phased back into the Shadowmon! Davis's jaw dropped; "...They're STILL HERE!? HOW? WHY!?" The three beasts were panting, out of breath, but in unison they hissed, "fools... infidels... amateurs.... You made a mistake coming here... Now you will pay for it...."

The heroes just stood there, baffled and confused. The three villains, altogether, pulled out their weapons and roared, "SHADOW HAMMER!"

They flew to their enemies with full force. All the humans and digimon screamed in horror, having not one clue as to how to get out of this new situation. The evil ones came at them like giant bullets, ready to smack them all into the ground with one mighty thrust of their mallets.

When suddenly, that tiny tree behind the humans blasted a great light. The Shadowmon stopped in mid-air, just inches away from their foes. They were blinded by this new flash of light, no matter how hard they tried to block it from their eyes. The light also made their weapons vaporize instantly.

The humans and digimon realized where it was coming from, and they all took a leap backwards- or sideways, depending on their location.

The small tree started to grow... and grow... and grow... until it became a cross between an oak and a willow. It was huge. Its shadow blanketed the heroes gracefully, and all around them a giant flower bed was forming like a mattress. As freaky as the situation was, the end result was, to put in one word, beautiful.

Pure nature at its best.

The Shadowmon however, trembled in fear. One of them screamed in horror, "IT'S THE DIGI-KEEPER OF THE LAND! RU-U-U-U-U-U-U-N!!" But it was too late. The light that first erupted from the sapling- now a towering giant- zapped like a cannon and incinerated the Shadowmon in seconds.

All eyes fell on the giant tree. It took about ten seconds for somebody to draw a breath. That someone was Izzy; he sighed, "...well.... that was new..."

As he and his best friend gazed at the tree with bulged eyes, Davis nervously shook his head and stuttered, "...This i-... This is ..a-a little different.. than.. Th-the.. the fights we had.. just.... three years ago. (Ken nodded) ........ u-u-h... Uh, An- Any-any-anybody got any ideas? ...Anybody?" Ken shook his head.

"Look!" Mimi exclaimed, pointing to the trunk of the tree. They all watched as the bark started to shift, as if they were gazing at a heat wave. To their amazement, the olive green wood rippled, and two human eyes were formed. The eyes were round, feminine, and were shaded in the same way as the tree bark. The eyes soon fit into a face.

A young woman's face.

Her hair faded into the tree's bark. Then the face moved further out, until finally, she had a torso and legs. Her ankles faded into the roots of the tree, so she seemed to have no feet. Her arms stretched out, as if they were branches. Her back was connected to the tree trunk, but it looked like she was wearing a dress. A toga of some kind. Her hair was flowing now, and some parts of it faded into leaves. She was a much lighter green than the trunk... but she was the trunk. She was the tree.

She smiled at them all innocently.

The silence was deafening.

TO BE CONTINUED