"We've just arrived in a town called Carri-bea, which has been said to be the most popular of Oceanamon's. Of course, we weren't the only ones who knew that; we were being followed by the Sin Digimon. A huge group of Shadowmon attacked the beach, just when we were settling down at the amusement park! Even poor Penguinmon became a victim, as DemiDevimon stole his Crest of Humility. Fortunately, Oceanamon finally responded, by posing as a human and then testing Davis as he had words with Greedmon. In the end, three facts were revealed: Oceanamon was found, Davis got the second half of his crest, and the thirteenth Digi-Destined turns out to be Jun!"

-Kari

DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA

Book Eleven: "Meanwhile, Back In Japan..."

Kellen had been playing one of many Digimon card games with his latest creation, Culumon, when it happened. The young boy threw down his Master Tyranomon in victory; "Ha! Master Tyranomon's Master Claw attack sweeps away your Guardromon! I win!" Culumon took a deep sigh of defeat, thus his koala-like ears recoiled into his head. Kellen smiled, "Don't worry, Culumon; you're still new at this." The little creature nodded, "Culu-yeah."

Kellen then smirked, "Your speech is improving, I see. Pretty soon you'll be fully developed and ready to be a part of the Di-" Kellen was then interrupted by the sound of running feet, and Gennai's voice: "It happened! It finally happened!"

Both Kellen and Culumon jumped up in surprise; Kellen saw the old man coming and asked, "What happened, Gennai?" Gennai jumped up and down with excitement; "She's been found! The thirteenth Digi-Destined has finally been found!" Culumon's ears flew up in enjoyment; "Ah-haha!" he squeaked.

Kellen, just as overjoyed, got to his feet and smiled, "Great! Let's go meet her." Gennai's attitude then plummeted like a rock from joy to dismay; "Uh, there's just one problem." "Huh?" responded both Kellen and Culumon. The old man then frowned, "She's still in the real world." "WHAT?" gasps the child; Culumon's dog-like hearing picked up this blast, and the poor little creature tumbled away in pain as a result.

Kellen went on, "But all of the loop holes have been sealed up! How're we gonna get her?" Gennai raised his hands and said, "Relax, relax. I forgot to tell you that there are many bridges between the two realities that we can take. The problem is, they're a little risky." "Huh? Whad'ya mean?" asked the boy curiously. "Here, let me show you," was Gennai's only response.

Gennai led Kellen and Culumon further into the dark, mysterious hallway. That's all it seemed to be; a dark endless hallway of bricks, painted with a few hieroglyphics of digimon and the like. All this time during the adventure, these three beings have called it home. And only Gennai seemed to know where he was going.

The wise old man said, "Now I told you that the digital world started out as just computer data, right?" "Yes?" Kellen responded; Gennai explained, "Well, the real world has many things that create such data; like computers, cell phones, laptops, and... uh... I'm not quite sure what else they have.

"But anyway, the digital world feeds off of all of that data, causing bridges between that world and the real one. The problem is, there are many realities based off of these worlds; so if you cross over one bridge, you might wind up in the wrong reality." Kellen asked, "How will I know which reality I'll be jumping in then?" "You don't," answered Gennai, "until you get there. That's the problem. In fact, this could be the reason why the thirteenth Digi-Destined has been lost to us all this time; her D-3 was probably sent to the wrong Real World!"

Kellen paused to think deeply; he then guessed, "OR, maybe it's in the right one, but its data got all screwed up." Gennai stopped walking and turned to his young pupil; "What do you mean by that, exactly?" "Cuu?" Culumon chirped as he jumped onto Kellen's head. Kellen explained, "Well like you said, everything in the digital world was made out of data. If the thirteenth D-3 crossed one of the bridges you were just talking about, then couldn't there be a rift in its programming as a result?"

Gennai scratched his beard to think about this theory; "...Hmmm.... You may be right, Kellen!" The old man then smiled at the boy; "That's why you were chosen as my vice, in case anything happens to me. You're going to be a great Preserver one day, my boy!" Meekly, Kellen giggled; Culumon joined in.

The old man then started walking again; "We really can't waste anymore time talking. We better find the right bridge to take before we lose the new Digi-Destined forever."

Odaiba, Japan.

One beautiful early morning, life in this city was going about its business like it would any other normal day. The buses were running, the gardeners were gardening, the crowd on the streets were passing by each other as if they had not a care in the world. This has once already been the battleground of a fierce war between humans and good digimon against evil digimon.

Those days- and possibly the memories of them- have all but vanished in the seas of time. The city was circulating with economy and carefree playfulness, totally oblivious to the fact that it was missing ten (Mimi and Ken technically don't count) children.

It started out as yet another boring day for Jun Motomiya.

She woke up that morning, thanks to the inconsiderate sunlight that blazed through her window. Yawning and stretching, she spoke not a word, but listened... Total and complete silence.

By now she would be hearing the annoying voice of her brother, yelling something absurd like, "MOM! I can't find my clean underwear!" or something long those lines. Jun batted her eyes, still tired; Davis's voice was her typical wakeup call, only now since he's been gone she's been having a little difficulty waking up.

Ah, breakfast. This would be her eye-opener for the day: pancakes with syrup and strawberry topping. Yum. Taking a sip of her orange juice, she took a good look at her surroundings. Mom in the kitchen, washing the dishes that stood in the sink all night, while Dad was reading the newspaper just seconds before rushing off to work. Such was the typical nature of the household around this time... without Davis.

Then she finally opened her mouth: "I wonder what Davis is doing right now in the digital world." This set her mom off; while dropping a dish, she cried out: "Ohh! I cannot be-LIEVE those digimon people! Taking my son away from us like that, out of nowhere? And in the middle of his school year, on top of it! It's no wonder he was doing so poorly these last few years; he's not getting enough time to spend here! Where he belongs!"

Jun rolled her eyes; why did she even blurt that out when she knew how emotional her mother was? Dad rushed into the kitchen to comfort her, as Jun kept on thinking to herself, No doubt all the other families are going crazy too... Maybe I'll give some of them a visit. But what was the use of doing that now? It would soon be time for school.

The classes were getting duller and duller by the days. Jun was starting to lose interest in math class, staring out into the window. She was becoming deaf to what the teacher was saying; she was too busy worrying about other things:

"I've never even seen the digital world. Davis tells me all about it, and I can get a pretty good idea of what it looks like. ...But it's just not the same hearing it from him. I don't even know if I really wanna see it. I mean... I'm too used to being a normal person. ...Yeah. People like me are too used to being normal, I'd probably freak out the moment I leave this place... But still... I can't help-"

"Jun!" barked the teacher. Well, back to reality she came.

All throughout lunch period, Jun thought about it; The Digital World, and the digimon that thrived in it. Now the digimon she'd seen- at least, some of them. She was beginning to fully understand everything about them by now- their evolution levels, their personalities, and even their attributes. Heck, Davis never could stop talking about them with her. And the funny thing was, she never seemed to lose interest in them.

But as for the digital world, that was a total mystery to her. Surely it'd have the same kind of environments that this world had; grasslands, mountains, seas... ice tundra, deserts... volcanoes, maybe. Oh, well. Maybe she'd have to just keep on guessing. And the more guessing she made, the sadder she seemed to get.

"I want you to want me

I need you to need me

I'd love you to want me

I beg you to beg me..."

In the hallway, Ashley Weidenbaum was signing her favorite tune while trading in her history books for her math ones in her locker. Just as she closed it and turned around, she caught sight of her buddy. "Jun!" she smiled as she approached her; "What's up? How'd you make out in Spanish class?" Jun smirked, "No bien... What's new with you, Ashley?" Ashley glanced to the floor, "Ehh, still sorry about what happened with Davis at the soccer game." Jun giggled, "Ash, that was two weeks ago." Then, Ashley's fake content finally faltered; "...I know, and I haven't seen him since."

Jun's smile dropped; "...I'm sorry." "No," replied Ashley, starting up her walk again; "it's not your fault. I know he's busy..." Jun took a breath and said, "Look. I know this whole digimon thing sounds crazy n' all, but... I can explain it to you if you want." Ashley's smile then returned; "Really? You know what digimon're all about?" Jun was amused to hear someone- especially her best friend- accusing her of having a special knowledge of something she really didn't.

Jun giggled, "Well, it's not like I'm a Digi-Destined or anything-" "It doesn't matter," Ashley then said; "Anybody could know all there is about digimon, and not be a Digi-Destined."

Jun was surprised; all this time she was thinking about what it would be like to be a Digi-Destined, and now here she realizes she doesn't have to be. She blinked, "...W-well... I only know a couple things." Ashley's curiosity overflowed; "Like?..."

(Begin "Irresistible")

They took the rest of this conversation to the park after school, on a bench, oblivious to the passer-bys around them and of the Jessica Simpson song "Irresistible" playing from someone's radio in the background.

Jun continued: "Well, digimon are like real creatures, but they were made like computer characters or something. That's why when they die, they 'delete.' And when they evolve, it just happens like that snap." "Wait," interrupted Ashley; "What about the digital world? Is that like a living computer game?" Jun sighed, "Gee, I dunno. But if people can go in and out of it, then there's gotta be something real to it. Like, it's its own reality- like our world.. only... different." "Ah," was all Ashley could say.

But then she asked, "What's Davis's digimon like?" Jun hummed with a smile, "...Veemon. I saw him once, and for a minute. That's when those guys were beating that big bad guy on the mountain- i forget his name. Anyway, Veemon's like a little kid when he's a Rookie. In fact, he seems a lot like Davis himself; silly, hard-headed... but he's cute." Ashley grinned, "What, and Davis isn't?" Jun raised an eyebrow; "I can't see him the way you do; I'm his sister!" Ashley laughed, "Hahahaha! I know, I was just kiddin'...

"So... How're your folks doing?"

Oh, boy. Here was a topic Jun was hoping would never be brought up. Jun took a deep breath and explained, "Eh, well... Mom's taking it the hardest. She's always been one to keep her cool, but hey let's face it; we're not talking about Davis transferring to another school here! Heh... Yeah, she's upset. and Dad is too, but he's trying to be strong. I bet all the other families are going nuts too, 'cause we don't know how long these guys're gonna be gone."

Then, Ashley asked her a question that Jun never saw coming: "And how're you taking it?" Jun's eyes widened with surprise. No one had ever asked her how she was taking all of this- not even her parents, who were always fooled by her calm, quiet nature. Jun took a minute to think of a good answer to this question; an answer that would be honest and yet well-spoken so that she wouldn't let her bottled up emotions get the best of her and make her blurt out something stupid.

But just then, she did: "I'm jealous of him."

(The song fades out)

"Of Davis?" Ashley chuckled slightly. Jun herself started giggling, realizing how silly it was to be the envy of her often thoughtless brother. She smiled in spite of herself, "Yeah, a little. I mean, he gets to go there and save some other world, while the rest of us have to just stay here and be... normal."

Ashley shrugged, "I like being normal. I mean, can you imagine going up against giant scary monsters?" Jun paused to imagine herself facing a giant beast- although she couldn't really imagine what it would look like, other than being gigantic. She gulped nervously; "Uh... yeah. That would be scary..." Then she sighed sadly, "But it'd be so worth it."

Then Ashley challenged her imagination: "Okay. If you were a Digi-Destined, what kind of digimon would you have?" Jun scratched her chin in deep thought, "Hmmm....." She didn't really give it much thought at all; she smiled in a tickled manner; "It'd be a really, really CUTE one! Hehehehehee!" Ashley laughed with her.

And so, for the rest of the late afternoon, the two girls chatted about digimon, and their evolutions, and how cool it would be to see them for themselves. They seemed to be the only two people in the world who took an interest in digimon.

...Or at least the only two in Japan.

"They call this a BRIDGE?" thought the young Kellen, as he and Culumon were sucked into a whirlpool-like portal of light and darkness.

The current was getting wilder, and started pulling at them. Kellen clutched onto his little digimon and called out to him, "Hold on, Culumon!" "Okay!" squeaked the little koala-like creature. The two of them were then pulled completely into a drain-like entrance to what was hopefully the right reality...

When actually, all they saw was a flash of light, and then all at once the scenery became an ocean blue with many thick threads of pure light. "...Where are we?" Kellen wondered aloud. Culumon frowned, "I dunno... I don't think we back home..." Kellen's eyes wandered; "No, we're not... We're in between worlds, I can feel it. I was afraid of this." Culumon's ears folded inward; "I afraid of it now!"

Kellen explained, "This is why the thirteenth Digi-Destined didn't get her D-3. It's here, somewhere; stuck in crossroads of other worlds." "But why?" Culumon asked; Kellen replied, "Well, the digital world is not only made up of computer data, but now it's much more than that. See, the reason why digimon are alive is because they're actually living off of the dreams and imaginations of humans."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Are all humans so funny with their brains?"

"No- I mean... It's kinda hard to explain, but I'm betting that the thirteenth Digi-Destined didn't get her D-3 yet is because... she doesn't believe in herself."

"..Aww. That's so sad."

"Yeah- wait a second..."

"What is it?"

"...I thought I saw something in the corner of my eye."

His eyes weren't fooling him; Kellen knew for certain that the D-3 was hiding in this turmoil of realities somewhere. Then, he finally saw it again; a small, faint light far different than the lights of the reality portals. "There!" he pointed it out; in the distant threads, there was a small purplish glow, entangled in reality portals like a bug in a spider web. Kellen smirked to himself, "Wow... It's literally stuck between worlds!"

Since he and Culumon were already weightless, the young boy forced himself forward, as if he were swimming without actually taking strokes. Culumon held on tightly to the boy's brow.

Kellen and Culumon made their way to the entangled D-3, which didn't look like much. It seemed to be more like a small ball of digital light, much like the reality portals, only purple. "Ooo, it's pretty!" Culumon smiled, letting his ears expand. Kellen frowned, however; "It's losing its power because of these reality threads. I can untangle it, but I gotta be careful. If I push myself too far into one of these threads, I'll fall right into a reality, and it'll be really hard to find a way back out." Culumon frowned, "You're talking funny."

But Kellen was serious; to fall into a reality would mean to find a portal back home and then having to start over again. And even if he could, just which reality would he fall into? Perhaps one which neither humans nor digimon inhabit. That'd be kinda scary, but it would be worth chancing. This was a D-3; without it, the others would be that less powerful against the forces of evil that were growing all the more in the digital world.

Kellen reached out for it, but the static shocks from the reality threads made him jolt backwards. He clasped onto his hand, groaning. "Kellen!" Culumon gasped; "Are you alright?" "Yeah," Kellen nodded; "...Culumon, you gotta help me." "What can I do?" asked his digimon; Kellen then instructed him, "You might be strong against these electric shocks. Just hold onto these thread thingies and give 'em a nice big tug. I'll grab the D-3 and yank it out of there."

Culumon extended his tiny arms, and clutched onto one reality thread and asked, "Like this?" "Yeah," smiled his human friend; "just like that!" Culumon then struggled to get his tiny paws on the second reality thread; his ears seemed to be flapping, as if he were at this point desperately attempting to fly. Culumon soon cheered, "I got 'em! I got 'em!" "Hold onto them," ordered his human friend. "Okay," nodded the little creature.

Now came the moment. Kellen plunged his hands into the center of the knot, where the disoriented D-3 was. All at once, the static surged through his arms; he gritted his teeth in pain. He would have to endure it for now; he had the D-3 in his clutches. He grunted and groaned, as he pulled as hard as he could to yank it out of its trap.

Poor Culumon was losing his grip on the threads, and started wobbling on Kellen's head; "Woah! W-w-w-o-a--ah!" "Culumon!" growled the already-disgruntled human. Culumon cried, "I'm sorry! I'm losing it!" "....Just... a little more..." Kellen thought, as he kept pulling, and pulling. He could've sworn that he was beginning to see the D-3 finally taking a solid shape...

That night, the Motomiyas had a gathering of as many families as they could; all of them with at least one Digi-Destined child. The first one to arrive was Matt and T.K.'s mother, who also brought their grandmother. Mr. Motomiya took their coats and welcomed them, "I'm glad you made it." Mrs. Ishida then apologized for the absence of Matt and T.K.'s father; "He's still working at the T.V. station."

Next came the Inoue family- yep, every single member of them save Yolei; the place was already halfway packed.

Before long, they all came... except for a few Digi-Destined siblings, and of course for Mimi's family, who was still in America. Luckily, Mrs. Motomiya took up Davis's laptop and connected it to the Internet, where the families could chat with the Tachikawas online.

While the families were coming in and being welcomed by her parents, Jun witnessed it all from the stairway. She was still caught up in her own little world, the one she's been in all day.

Mrs. Motomiya served the families a superb meal; chicken fried rice, potatoes, and even pasta. She figured that it would be a long night, with everything going on. Most of the parents and children chowed down; but there were those who felt that they weren't hungry... just about all of the mothers.

The Motomiya household was big enough for the fathers and remaining children to hang out and watch television, while all of the mothers gathered into the dining room to have tea and talk. And guess what they were talking about...

Mrs. Ishida started the chat: "Well, I won't lie; I thought the digimon were all bad at first." Joe's mother agreed, "Yes. Who can forget that time they came out with all those bats and ghosts?"

Mrs. Motomiya nodded with a grim look on her face; "We were there in downtown Odaiba when it happened, Davis and me. We went shopping for... something, I forget..."

------------ Flashback; Mrs. Motomiya's POV ------------

"I lost Davis in the middle of all the chaos; people were running and screaming. I only remember things like... The bats, the ghosts... And I know there were a few giant ones...

"Well, anyway, all I can remember at one point was holding onto Davis's wrist while we were running for our own lives from ghosts. And then... I couldn't feel his wrist anymore. I looked back and he was gone..."

(Later, Davis found himself in a mall, surrounded by many other children. He almost felt like he was drafted for something, but he was scared at the same time. There were ghosts and phantoms all around them, and there was also another creature. A small bat-like one, with small talons and torn wings. That creature took the children one by one, and led them to a tall man- no, it wasn't a man. It was a vampire; Myotismon.

For each child the bat creature said, "This might be the one you're looking for, Master!" The tall, nearly human-like vampire would then pull out a small device. Davis couldn't tell what it was, but the vampire was definitely using it to find someone. "No," he snarled; "this isn't the child; the crest isn't reacting. Bring the next one, DemiDevimon!"

When the bat creature came to Davis, he flinched at first. There was definitely something about this human child; he wasn't sure what it was, but it almost felt like a certain... power. DemiDevimon giggled; surely THIS was a child that had what it would take to be a Digi-Destined.

But to his surprise, Myotismon shook his head; "No, none of these children seem to be The One." DemiDevimon blinked, "...Are you sure, Boss? I can almost sense something about this one." But his master wasn't listening, and so Davis and the rest of the children there were sort of released, through a sleep spell.)

"When I woke up from what I guess was a sleeping spell, the whole area was demolished! I found Davis of course, thank God, but I was so shocked at what I missed! What ever caused such mass destruction?"

------------ End Flashback ------------

Davis's mom then concluded, "It could only be the digimon."

Then Sora's mother argued, "Not all of the digimon are bad; the ones that are with our children right now will protect them." T.K. and Matt's mom shook her head in doubt, "Even so, we don't know just how many of those evil ones are there. They could be outnumbered." "She's right," agreed the mother of Tai and Kari.

"Granted, our kids have come a long way after all these years, but every time they're called back to the digital world, their adventures just get more and more dangerous."

Then an instant message from Mimi's mother stated, "Maybe we're over-reacting. I mean, our kids are practically grown up now, right? We always knew that one of these days they would grow up and move out of the house, and whatnot. Not that I'm waiting for it to happen, but it's inevitable. You know?"

Sora's mother nodded and smiled; "...Not only that, but there're usually good things that come out of the digimon adventures. Sora and I sure got a lot closer since those early run-ins with the digimon."

Mrs. Motomiya then said, "I know. I know... But I just can't stop thinking about that day, downtown... To think that something like that can ever happen again. Do you think it could?"

Sora's mother replied, "Anything is possible at this point. And if they're gone for a really long time, we have to be prepared for that as well."

Just then, the Ichijoujis entered the kitchen. Late for the party, as expected, they arrived just in time to hear the words "if they're gone for a very long time..." Ken's mom entered the dining room in a heartbeat and gasped, "Wait... Are we talking about the children? And the digimon?" "Yes," answered Tai and Kari's mom; "feel free to join us."

Ken's mom then took her seat next to Davis's mother and sighed sadly, "It's been weeks already. What if it turns into months? ...A year?" Tai and Kari's mom then shook her head, "Oh, no! I don't think it'll ever become a year since the children left." Mr. Ichijouji then declared, "If it does become a year, we'll have to search for them. I don't care what it'll take, as long as we make sure that the children will be safe."

Finally, she stepped into the dining room and made herself known: Jun. "Children?" she started; "...Mom, I'm sorry; you have every right to worry about Davis and the others... but it just doesn't feel right for me to think of Davis as a little boy anymore. Sure, this all got started when he was young, but have you even noticed how much he's matured since then?" "What?" her mother blinked.

Jun explained, "Ever since he had his own adventures in the digital world, Davis has gotten less and less annoying to me. He hasn't acted so rude and fool-hearty. I've seen it! Sure his jokes are still bad, and he's not quite up to speed with school, but I can't ignore the fact that he's become more independent and... dare I say it... more leader-like."

"Jun," Mr. Motomiya started as he entered the room; "We'd all like to think of the kids as mature young adults here, but-" Jun then protested before her father can finish his sentence; "But Dad! I'm tryin' to say that Davis doesn't need us. At least not now." Jun's mother looked like she was getting angry at Jun; her brows were furrowing. Before she could open her mouth, however, Sora's mother said, "Alright, everybody calm down." Everyone turned their attentions to her as she continued,

"We would all like to think that Sora, Tai, Matt, and all the others, are okay thanks to their digimon partners. No doubt, those creatures- I refuse to call them 'monsters'- will do whatever it takes to make sure our sons and daughters come back home, safe and sound. But we're not talking about them walking in a park with friendly neighbors, of course. There is a war going on here; it's probably been going on for years. And our children are the warrior heroes in this war. The least we could do is cheer them on and know in our hearts that they're just trying to make things right in the digital world-"

"But," interrupted Davis and Jun's mother, "it's not even their world! Why should they even get involved in the first place?" A few of the other parents seemed to demand the answer to that very question, when Jun replied, "Since when is a war ever fought on just one battlefield? In this world alone, many pointless wars happen. In fact, they're ALL pointless; at least the war Davis is fighting has a cause: to wipe out all the evil."

Jun's father then frowned, "Jun, dear, lower your voice."

She glanced back at him, as if surprised at what he said. How could she possibly stay quiet after all this time? Ever since Davis left for this new adventure, she's been burning with a desire to speak her mind, and learn everything she could about digimon. How could she possibly keep quiet now?

She said, "You guys, please... Just hear me out! I know a lot about digimon, 'cause Davis told me. He told me that there're about as many good digimon out there as there are bad ones. so the odds are pretty even, if you think about it. And okay; this might be the toughest battle they've fought yet; but they're gonna get tougher right along with it. They always do! Mom, Dad, all of you, I know you're worried. Heck, I'm a little worried too; I honestly wish i was there to help them-"

"Oh no, you don't!" Jun's mother suddenly argued; "I already lost one child, and I'm not about to lose the other one."

Mrs. Ichijouji clutched onto her heart; "...I know what it feels like... To lose a child, forever. My poor Sam died years ago, and I remember how much it changed Ken. At one point, he seemed so... distant. I don't know if the digimon are involved in that, but I'd like to think that they're the ones that have somehow healed him."

Jun nodded, "They can do that. See, that's the weird thing about them; they fill the voids in the lives of these guys that were chosen to fight with them. It's like their Destiny, if you believe in that stuff. You might not trust digimon, Mom, but I do. And I think that Davis is one of the luckiest guys in the world to get involved with them."

There was a brief pause, drowned shortly afterwards by the "beep" of an instant message on Davis's laptop. It was from Mimi's father: "We're all a little worn out from all these emotions. Maybe we should take a break or something." Sora's mother nodded, "Yes, good point." she then turned to her company and suggested, "Let's just stay here and talk about other things for a change. Like, how're things going besides this whole digimon thing."

Gradually the group was calming down, but the sudden change of subject was, for some reason, not to Jun's liking. She took one last glance at her parents before retiring to her room.

That same night, Mr. Ishida's television station was going about its business as usual.

Inside, there were people busily keeping in tact the television stations, readying each station for its next commercial, its next program. Ishida monitored his most diligent of workers; the ones who were responsible for sound and screen editing for particular shows. There would be no static, and no unnecessary technical difficulties tonight. He was sure of it.

Then, one of the television viewers in the main room caught a glimpse of something on the screen. A shadow. He jumped nearly out of his seat, "W-wha? ...What was that?" He stared at the screen for a few minutes, as if entranced, to see if he could spot the shadow again. But it was gone... at least for his screen.

Soon enough, there were young men and women in the studios freaking out at the fact that something was jumping across the screen. what it was exactly, they weren't sure, until somebody who's been working at this studio for several years now brought it up: "It's almost like that ghost we had a few years ago! Who here remembers that?" That's when Ishida entered the main monitor room, to check up on this new problem.

"What's going on here?" he demanded to know. One of his employees pointed to the nearest screen and replied, "There-there's s-something there, sir. Somebody said it might be a ghost!" "...A ghost?" he replied, with a certain tone of disbelief in his voice. "I s-saw it," the employee gulped; "I really did; looked like someone was flying!" "Let me see it," Ishida commanded.

He then took charge of the main editing computer, rewinding as much footage as he could in little time. He was recapping the images to see if he could see this "flying thing" as no more than an error in the computer's system. At least, that's what he was hoping. "....I see nothing here," he said; but then someone in the background yelled, "AAHH! There it is! It just jumped across the screens!" Ishida whipped his head around to see if he could catch a glimpse of it... But he was one second too late.

His eyes narrowed; he knew something was there now; "Where is it now?" he wondered. "Sir," said a young female employee, "Should I contact the satellite?" Ishida stood up tall and ordered, "I don't want anybody touching anything for now. Whatever it is, hopefully it'll go away." "...And what if it doesn't?" asked another employee. Ishida was at a loss for words at the moment...

Outside of the studio, there was nothing but darkness, and a vacant alleyway nearby. No one was present to see the very air rip apart, like it was made of paper. From the portal fell young Kellen and Culumon; they plopped onto the ground rather hard. "Oww- oof," they both huffed. As the portal was sealing itself up, Kellen got to his feet as quickly as he could, and dusted himself off. Culumon took advantage of the fact that his ears were big and light enough to be wings, and soon found himself weightless. He giggled as he lifted himself in the air.

Kellen observed the surroundings; "....We're here.... But which here?" "HEY!" Called out a grown-up voice from a distance. The sudden voice scared Culumon, and he darted for Kellen's head. Kellen looked up, and saw that a young man was calling him from a window of the television studio.

Acting casually, Kellen waved, "Hi!" Obviously the man above him missed the portal-jumping moment, as he said, "This place is restricted, kid; you gotta go home." Kellen apologized, "I'm sorry; I was just... kinda lost. Could you please tell me where I am, that I might know the way home?" The man replied, "You're at the Channel Four TV station; the town's that way (pointing to his right)."

Kellen really needed to know if he made it to the correct reality; he sputtered, "But-" "Go home!" was all the man said before shutting the window.

Kellen then looked downward, to his right hand. Tightly gripped in it was the elusive purple D-3. Kellen sighed, "Well, Culumon, we're gonna have to find a way back home from here." Culumon sighed, "Boy... This stuff's Culu-hard." "Yeah..." agreed his exhausted friend.

"Lousy kid and his silly stuffed animal toy," muttered the man as he turned away from the window. His comrade nearby asked, "What kid?" The first man, not in the mood to recount the events to a tee, simply put it, "There's a lost kid out there. I told him to go home." The other guy frowned, "Hey, we better tell the boss! We can't just leave kids out here."

Sure enough, the word spread to Mr. Ishida that there was a little boy in the area outside. "A kid?" he frowned; "Where?" The first man that found Kellen directed him, "This way; I dunno if he's still out there..."

Kellen took a seat on a stack of seemingly neglected boxes that had been left in a corner of the building; Culumon lay flat on his belly beside him. Kellen had with him a small device that seemed to be similar to the D-3, but black and red. He was typing up a little code on it, when Ishida and two other men found him.

"Oh! There you are," Ishida said; his voice startled both Kellen and Culumon. Both of them jumped up; Kellen gasped, "Huh? What? Oh! ...Heh-heh-heh... Hi there!" Ishida then turned his attention to the tiny creature that was beside the boy, and which was very much alive. Culumon stared up at him very curiously; "Awwww," he peeped.

Ishida blinked a few times; "...I-.... Is that... a digimon?" Worried about the consequences of revealing a digimon to a stranger, Kellen hid Culumon behind his back instantly and lied, "Huh?- Oh! ...No, no, it's just s-some... toy I got. One of those... uhh... Furbie things." Ishida wasn't buying it; "I've seen digimon before. My two sons, in fact, are in the digital world as we speak."

Kellen's eyes lit up; "...You're... You're the father of two Digi-Destined?" Just then, Culumon got tired of hiding and crawled back up Kellen's head. Ishida then dismissed his employees, who in his opinion have seen too much as it was. Ishida then sat down beside Kellen explained, "Yes... My sons are Matt and T.K. They've been gone for almost three weeks now." "Three weeks?" Kellen replied; "The time in the digital world must be warped; the Digi-Destined have been there for approximately half a month now."

"How do you know about them?" Ishida asked; then glancing at Culumon he added, "and where did you acquire this little guy?" Kellen smiled as he scooped Culumon into his hands; "This is Culumon... I'm sort of from the digital world, too; I'm a Preserver." "Ahhh," Ishida responded; he didn't quite understand what Kellen was talking about, but he could care less.

"Tell me," he asked, "how're they doing? Everybody here is worried about them." Kellen nodded, "Oh, they're alright. They have to prep up three incredibly powerful digi-creatures for their own personal fight. But it might take a while..." "And what brings you here?" Ishida asked. Kellen felt a little hesitant to answer, but he did: "I'm here to deliver a D-3 to a new Digi-Destined. You may know her; her name is Jun Motomiya."

Ishida's face dropped. He knew how worried the Motomiyas already were, what with their son called away from them. He sighed sadly, "...If you take her, her parents will lose their minds." "...I'm sorry," young Kellen frowned; "...but we have no choice. We need all the help we can get over there, and sadly, our numbers for help are very limited at this point."

"Oh, I understand," Ishida nodded; "I'm trying not to worry myself; Matt and T.K. are big boys now, and they can take care of themselves. And even so, they have a lotta people and digimon taking care of them." "Right," Kellen smiled and nodded.

Culumon then approached Ishida with the comment, "You're really big. Are you a Champion human or an Ultimate?" "Culumon," Kellen huffed, pulling his little digimon away from Ishida. Ishida, however, was tickled by the comment and giggled.

Kellen smiled to Ishida, "...Yeah. Jun's gonna be a big help. And I just know that her digimon is really itching to meet her." Ishida nodded, "Whoever it is, I'm sure that digimon will be the best guardian there is. I'll tell her parents that you were here; who knows? Maybe it'll ease their worries.... what're you doing?" He noticed that the boy was typing up something on his own little device, like it was a miniature computer.

Kellen explained, "This is a different kind of digivice; it not only carries its own data, but can give digimon an advantage with just the swipe of a card... I made it myself; I call it a D-arc." Ishida raised an eyebrow; "What're using it for now?" Kellen answered, "Well, I'm doing something similar to what you call 'logging on' to the Internet; this D-arc's data will connect to the Internet's streams, opening its own portal, and allow the D-3 to teleport itself to Jun." Ishida smiled, "That's some amazing device!" Kellen giggled, "Yeah, and can you believe it? Some humans from yet another reality think it's their idea."

And so, the portal through the Internet was opened, and the purple D-3 was starting to fade away, into the data stream.

Jun had been playing one of many Digimon card games with an invisible opponent when it happened. It was on the bed of her bedroom; she threw down a Devimon card against a Betamon card in victory. "There," was all she said. She often enjoyed this kind of hobby, but this was the first time she's ever done it alone. Any other time, her opponent would be Davis, and he always won so this counted as her first ever victory. Still, it didn't feel right.

She hummed to herself. The house had gotten quiet since she took to her room to separate herself from the parents. She actually felt offended when she heard her mother bad-mouthing the digimon; like one digimon counted for all of them when Jun knew in her heart that Mom was wrong. Davis would be back.... It was just a matter of time....

Staring at the cards on the bed mattress, listening deeply to the quiet, Jun was beginning to realize finally what had been eating her all day. She didn't just miss the digimon. She missed her brother.

Then, her computer just started glowing. "Funny," she thought to herself; "I don't remember turning it on." She was drawn to this warm, aqua-colored light. This was no ordinary glow coming from the monitor, and she knew it. That's when she realized that she was right; she didn't turn it on.

As she drew closer and closer to it, she felt a little scared and curious at the same time. Then, she gazed into the screen, her hands pressing against the table, top. She heard this soft sound, like a bell ringing, or something like it. As that happened, a purple glow centered around the monitor, and it started getting brighter and brighter- actually, it was getting closer and closer.

Jun stepped back in surprise, seeing a small purple-glowing sphere actually coming straight out of her computer. Not even thinking about it, she held out her hands to it. The sphere then rested itself in the palm of her hands, and when it did, it hazed from pure light into the purple D-3. Jun's eyes sparkled with shock; she muttered, "Ohh...!"

She really couldn't believe what she was seeing, what she was holding. A purple D-3, right in her hands. It definitely wasn't Davis's, but... "Is.... Is this..... mine?" She heard the words come out of her mouth, but was still so surprised to even believe what she was saying.

And then, as if under some kind of spell, she saw herself turning the D-3 back towards the computer monitor. The monitor reacted with a blue light, much brighter and more powerful than any light she's seen yet. It flashed and flared, making her blink only once.

And then... she was gone.

TO BE CONTINUED