"Since my showoff brother Davis took all his friends back to the Digital World, I was left here in the real one, to help all the parents and siblings who've been worried sick about them. Little did I know that I myself was a Digi-Destined; the only thing keeping me from my true destiny was the fact that my digivice was cut off from all known realities. It took the team-up between a young Preserver and a digimon named Curumon to get it back, and now it's off to the Digi World I go! WOO!"

-Jun

DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA

Book Twelve: "O Sister, Where Art Thou?"

Deep in the jungles of Gaiamon's territory, a flash of purple light flickered in the clear blue sky. Then, like a violet falling star, came the missing Digi-Destined. Jun. And like anything falling from the sky would do, she let out a high-pitched scream.

In the distance, a tree with a young woman's face was watching her fall contently. It was as if she knew all too well who it was that was falling, and what would happen to her next.

Jun had her eyes covered, thinking that this would be her undoing; just seconds of being in this enchanted new place, and she'd already be dead!

But, no.

The purplish halo that she came flying in with had suddenly morphed into a giant bubble, and it slowed her fall down almost to a complete stop. Now she paused to look around, seeing that she was at least one mile away from solid ground. She let out a loud sigh, blinked twice, and allowed herself to float downwards. She then giggled to herself, "Now that's how you make an entrance."

The sea never looked more peaceful, now that Oceanamon was free to make herself known to the public. Just to make sure she was safe, Gommamon and Gabumon stood watch on the beach, just minutes before it was time for the Digi-Destined to move on to the mountains.

Gommamon was watching a tiny little crab scurry across his way, when the Keeper of The Seas herself- in mermaid form- came shooting out of the water like a geyser. "YAAAAAA-HOOOOO!" she cheered. This burst of joy, no doubt, had started her two watchmen.

Gabumon's ears perked up; "...Uh, is everything okay?" "Yes!" replied the vigorous mermaid; "She has arrived! My Child of Humility has finally arrived!" As she made another flip, Gommamon blinked, "...Wait, who?" Oceanamon explained while making waves, "I can feel it in the atmosphere; the harmony is coming together. Jun Motomiya is now in the digital world!"

As if on cue, Davis and Veemon skidded into the scene. Davis shouted, "My sister!? HERE?" "Yay!" was all Veemon could say. Davis then turned to Veemon and said, "We gotta go find her! Let's go!"

Oceanamon waved to them; "She's in Gaiamon's land! I'll send for Penguinmon to search as well." Davis was in too much of a hurry to even stick around to hear this last bit of information. Perhaps it was just as well. Jun was his sister; therefore, she was his responsibility.

Jun's soft landing caused the bubble she was in to disintegrate on the spot. "woah," she gasps softly, and started dusting off her shirt. Then, she took time to look at her surroundings; "....Wow.... It's like a rainforest out here."

Indeed, there were exotic flowers, small and steady rivers, and willow-like trees just slowly dancing to the warm summer wind. Jun stretched her arms, "It's so beautiful... And I'm finally HERE! Hahahahaha... Oh! I wonder where the others are... Maybe they're right by here. I'll just turn around and-"

Bump!

She had run into something just as she turned around. She stared at it with a confused look on her face, for all she could see now was a black void. "Hey... Is it nighttime all of a.....sudden....?" That's when she looked upward. It wasn't a night scene at all. She just simply ran into a creature whose fur was black as night. It smiled down at her, with sharp grinning teeth and deep red cat-like eyes. It giggled, with a voice that was mixed between a male's and a female's; "What's the matter? Are you lost?"

Jun blinked; obviously this was a digimon, but she never thought for a second that one would be this tall! "Um," she peeped. The Shadowmon bent down to look her square in the face; "Hmmmmm?" it grinned. Jun laughed nervously at those teeth; "Uh-heh-heh. I- I should be going now; it's getting late." She turned around to the other side, only to see another Shadowmon staring at her.

It smiled, "What's your hurry? We'd like you to stick around and play." Jun, now sweating a little, made her timid smile again; "Uh, no, that's okay. I'm just looking around for my friends." She was trying to move to the left, when a third Shadowmon appeared beside her. It grinned, "We'll be your friends." The second added, "Let's play 'Turn The Human Upside Down And See What Falls Out Of Her Pockets!'"

Jun shrieked as the game went into play immediately. The first Shadowmon snatched her by the leg and turned her upside down. Then, giving her a rough shake, Jun watched helplessly as loose change, wrapped bubblegum and a cell phone came flying out of her pockets. "AUGH! Stop! Put me DOWN! AAHH! STOP IT!" she yelled. But the mischievous Shadowmon were already picking at the fallen goods, giggling sinisterly.

One of them picked up the cell phone and gasped, "Oooooo. What's this thing?" "Put that down, you freak!" was all Jun could say. The Shadowmon instead pushed a few buttons on it.

BEEEEEP!!

The sound made the Shadowmon jump with surprise. It then looked deeper into its tiny monitor that was placed just above the buttons. There was a series of digital bitmaps running across the screen. "Preeetyyyy," smiled the entranced Shadowmon.

That's when Jun's purple D-3 fell from one of her shirt pockets. Once it hit the ground, all Shadowmon eyes fell on it. "HMMM?" they all hummed in perfect unison. Jun, still upside down, gasped, "Oh no!... D-don't touch that!" But it was too late; one of them pulled out its long black claws and picked it right up.

The Shadowmon hissed with a smile, "Aaaaah.. A digivice." The one holding Jun's cell phone then gasped, "Ooo! I want it! Here, you get the pretty thing if you let me have it!" Shielding the D-3, the other Shadowmon hissed, "NO! You keep the pretty thing; I want this!" The first one shoved the second; "I saw it first!" The second shoved the first; "I got it fair and square!"

They scuffled for a few more seconds, until the third Shadowmon- the one holding Jun by her ankles- looked to her and suggested, "Hey! ...Why don't we flip for it?" "Huh?" the other two blinked. The one holding Jun smiled, "Yeah! We'll flip the human for whoever gets the digivice." "WHAT?" Jun hollered; "YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME!" But the other two Shadowmon were all but too pleased about the idea; one of them nodded, "Yeah! If she lands on her head, I get it!" The second then declared, "If she lands on her feet, then I keep it!" The third then grinned, "And if she lands on one of her sides, then it's all mine!"

Needless to say, Jun had her fit: "IF ANY ONE OF YOU BUNNIES FROM HELL TOUCH ME OR MY THINGS, I'M GONNA-" "Shuddup," growled her captor as it covered her mouth. Then it raised her up and smiled to its friends; "You ready?" "Yeah," they grinned.

Not a one of them noticed the vines snaking their way from deep within the jungle's dark areas. The vines mustered themselves up into one, and headed straight for Jun's captor from behind. It was readying itself to throw her into the air; "One..... Two...."

BAM!

"ARUGH!!" The Shadowmon was struck in the back all of a sudden. Enraged, it looked around and saw nothing. It roared, "WHO HIT ME!?" The other two Shadowmon glanced at each other, and shrugged. The lead Shadowmon then put Jun down, but grasped onto her arm so she wouldn't run away. It looked around in a paranoid manner; "Whoever got me from behind is really gonna get it!" "Honestly," said the second one; "I didn't see no-"

WHACK!

"ARUGH!!" screamed that very same Shadowmon, as something hit it square in the head from behind. The pile of vines whisked themselves away just before it turned around and saw them.

The Shadowmon then turned to the one beside it, and hissed, "...What was that for?" The third one frowned, "What?" "You hit me!" proclaimed the one who now had a bump on the back of its head. "I did not!" replied the accused. Then, the third one- the one holding the D-3- was suddenly tapped on the shoulder by a bunch of rolled up vines. "Huh?" it gasped, and upon turning its head the vines quickly pulled the D-3 from its claws. Then, it looked down and saw that its prize was now gone.

"HEY!" it roared, and turned to the one holding the cell phone; "YOU TOOK MY DIGIVICE!" "I DID NOT!" the other one yelled back. Meanwhile, the one holding Jun was looking away, towards the darkness of the forest. While it wasn't looking, the vines came out of nowhere, rolled into two balls, and punched the other two Shadowmon square in the face-

BAM!!

Now, the ones that just got punched, turned their heads slowly to the lead Shadowmon furiously. The newly accused one just looked back at them, clueless as to what just happened. Then, all at once, the three Shadowmon fell onto each other in a huge scuffle! Punches flew and voices roared, and all three of them were so dark it almost appeared to be a black storm cloud that had somehow made it to the earth from the sky, trying to fix up its own little storm.

Jun took the opportunity to gather up as many things as she could- including her cell phone and D-3- and ran like the wind! "HEY!" a Shadowmon finally called out; it raised its claws to the human and roared, "SHE'S GETTING AWAY!" The three of them tried to separate themselves from each other to make chase, when suddenly a swarm of tree vines came at them, wrapped themselves around the Shadowmons' legs, and lifted them off the ground.

Jun took a moment to catch her breath, and watched with a soft smile her captors hanging from the trees like flies in a spider web. She liked very much how the tables have turned... but now it was time to run again. So off she went, into the darkness of the wood.

In the distance, the vine-weaver herself, Gaiamon, laughed mischievously.

Jun flew through the jungle paradise as quickly as she could- nearly tripping over a few tree roots and small bumps in the process.

As soon as the first shock of pain pierced her side, she skidded to a halt and leaned on a willow tree. She took a moment to catch her breath, only to be startled by a Gekomon that was hanging on the tree she was leaning against. He gave a peep; she gave a shriek. And then, off she ran again.

The sun was sinking fast in the treetops above; Jun was headed deeper and deeper into the unknown woods. She heard hoots, and screeches, and other such beastly noises; and she jumped and gasped at almost all of them. She even saw a few glowing eyes from the trees and tall grass here and there. This place, despite its beauty, was becoming a little creepy for her tastes.

Then, finally, she saw a space in the woods where the sun was allowed to shine. It was a peaceful looking space, where there were mushrooms and tall flowers growing about. Jun decided to rest here for as long as she was able, right by a patch of wild blue flowers.

She leaned up against them like they were a pillow- but they weren't even flowers! Rather, they were a whole swarm of butterflies that flew rampantly about once she touched them. "YIEE!" she cried out in shock, and swatted them away. It took her a minute to realize what they were, but by then they were already gone.

Jun looked upward, to the treetops, and let out a small sigh. She frowned, and that's when even stranger creatures came out from the darkness. Tree branches became the perches of Monmon and Toucanmon, and the feet of those trees became vacant of Gatsumon, Lopmon, Terriermon, and Elecmon. Even some of the plants nearby made themselves known to be Mushroomon and Floramon. They all stared at her blankly, as if they've never seen such a creature like her before. She just leaned against a tree and stared back, blankly.

"...They're real...." she muttered to herself, and her thoughts were added, "I can't believe all this is... happening.... I'm, like, scared and excited all at the same time... Am I ever gonna get used to this?"

"HURRY UP, EXVEEMON!"

"I'M FLYING AS FAST AS I CAN, DAVIS!"

"STOP YELLING AT ME!"

"WELL, YOU YELLED AT ME FIRST!"

"OKAY!"

"ALRIGHT!"

"YOU'RE STILL YELLING!"

"SORRY!"

The young man and his digimon tore through the sky as if they were the wind itself, though the speed they were in didn't seem to be as good as the human would've liked it to be. "You know, Davis," ExVeemon spoke a lot softer, "Maybe Jun can take care of herself out here. Maybe she doesn't need us." "Are you crazy?" Davis argued; "She's never been here before! She can get killed by somethin' just like that." "Just like what?" asked the Champion; obviously he was too busy with his swift flying to think straight.

Davis impatiently replied, "Just find her, Ex!" "You find her," ExVeemon then said; "use your digivice!" "...Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Davis admitted, and pulled out his blue D-3. The little monitor of his advanced digivice started showing a grid, and on the grid flickered a tiny blue light, in the top right hand corner. Surely, this was to indicate Jun's location from where he was.

"I still can't believe it," Davis thought to himself; "my own sister... A Digi-Destined! ...But why now? Why wasn't she needed before?..." "Davis," ExVeemon interrupted. "What?" Davis frowned; ExVeemon replied, "We're coming to a clearing. Where to?" Davis pointed the way: "Right! Go right, ExVeemon." ExVeemon saw it; "To the rainforest?" Davis nodded, "That's it, boy! Full speed ahead!"

Others were watching this scene unfold, from regions so far they could very well have been off the charts. They were gazing into a bubble that acted as an all-seeing crystal ball. One of them was seemingly human... the other, a Sin Digimon.

Pridemon gazed at it with a slight frown; she crossed her arms and said, "And now we have to worry about thirteen of them." Daru rubbed his chin; "This was expected. At least now the children are becoming scattered."

Elsewhere, the voice of Envymon replied, "Greedmon thinks our victory is secure, while he has the Crest of Humility." Daru gave a slight nod; "We'll let the Shadowmon have their fun with the new arrival, while we just make sure her digimon doesn't find her soon enough."

"Aren't we being a bit careless about this?" Pridemon asked; Daru answered, "Even if she can turn her digimon into a Champion, finding her crest at this point will be all but impossible. Let's just focus on the other children for now; they're trying to get back to their search for Polarimon."

Someone else was listening in on this conversation. Indeed, it was another Sin Digimon; the quietest and most blood-thirsty of them all: Wrathmon. Its brick-red eyes narrowed, and he let out a very soft growl.

Just as Daru had said; Tai was leading the way for what was left of the hero team far from Oceanamon's beach resorts, onward towards the mountain plains.

"Are we there yet?" little Patamon dared to ask; "Oh no, don't start that now," his human partner warned. Patamon just smiled, "Oh hey, it wouldn't be a trip if someone didn't ask 'Are we there yet?'!" Yolei stated, "The sooner we get there, the better."

Then Mimi added, while glaring her eyes at Tai and Matt, "Yeah, as long as we don't start to march!" Matt just grinned, "Oh, come on. That was fun!"

Izzy was being the most careful of them all, by turning his digivice into a compass which had a similar grid on it as Davis's D-3. Tentomon buzzed nearby; "So far so good, right Izzy?" Izzy replied while not taking his eyes off of his digivice, "I hope so. So far, there doesn't seem to be any frequency that's trying to mess with the map."

Tai, bowing his head, sighed, "I just hope we get her this time. If those Sin Digimon are still out there, we may-" "Don't say it!" Patamon peeped while suddenly grabbing onto the back of Tai's hair. "D'yah!" Tai let out, nearly falling from the impact. Patamon smiled, "Always look on the bright side! Remember, nobody got ahead in life while looking down all the time." Tai narrowed his eyes; "Where'd you hear that?" "TK," the little digimon answered sweetly.

TK himself gave a sigh, "I'm with Tai on this one now; it just seems like Polarimon's the hardest Keeper to find."

Yolei stopped, and looked upward towards the skies; "Hey... She's the Keeper of the Skies, right?" "Yeah?" Ken responded nearby; Yolei smiled, "Maybe we can call her now! YO! POLARIMON! COME ON OUT N' SHOW YOURSELF! PLEAAASE!" Tai looked at her downheartedly; "We already tried that." Gatomon rubbed her ears; "And some of us are still healing from it!"

Yolei just crossed her arms; "...Why should it be so hard? So, Gaiamon's a tree, and Oceanamon's a mermaid. What would Polarimon take the form of? A cloud?"

Gommamon, who was trailing behind, laughed to himself, "Maybe she can't hear us 'cause she's an airhead! Hahahahaha! Get it?.... Air?..... Aw, what happened to you guys!? We used to cheap-joke all the time!" "Stop living in the past season," his tall human partner Joe stated.

Hawkmon then landed beside Yolei and looked at her for a few seconds. She looked back; "...What?" Hawkmon answered boldly, "I don't mean to sound rude, Yolei, but perhaps the reason for Polarimon's absence is... you." Naturally, his human partner took offense: "HUH!? Hawkmon, how could you SAY that!?" The little eaglet backed up and shielded himself with his wings; "I- I-I didn't mean to say it like that! I'm sorry!" She growled, "Well, what did you mean by that then? Huh? HUH? ANSWER ME!" "Calm down," Kari had suddenly approached her by saying.

Yolei glared at her; "It's not my fault this is happening. I'm doing the best I can, just like everybody else!" Kari shook her head defensively, "No, no, no, please listen to me. I think I know what he's trying to say!" Yolei took a moment to pause, and in blinking, she finally asked, "....What?" Kari took a breath, and as she did the others came around to listen in.

She then said, "Well, think about all of us for a minute. Tai, Ken, Cody and Mimi all got their crests from Gaiamon. That's four. Matt, Izzy, Joe and Jun all got their crests from Oceanamon. That's four too. And Davis is apparently getting his crest piece by piece by all three Keepers. Which leaves only you, me, Sora and TK. And we all know what crests we're getting... But Yolei, when you got started as a Digi-Destined, you didn't have your own crest."

Cody gasped, "That's right! Gaiamon gave me the Crest of Justice."

Kari nodded, "And Jun and Davis have their own crests now... That leaves only Yolei with a crest we've never seen before."

Yolei's spirits fell right then and there; she frowned sorrowfully, "...so.... So I need a new crest to call Polarimon?...." Kari shrugged, "Well, chances are you'll get it when she comes. But maybe... Maybe somehow you'll have to earn it on your own." Hawkmon took flight just to look Yolei face-to-face as he added, "And there's nothing wrong with that, my dear!" Yolei sighed deeply, "...I guess... you're right. So... What is my crest?"

This brief conversation was soon cut off by a high-pitched whistle coming from the distance. They all looked ahead, and saw a rocky cliff just a mile or two away from where they stood. Atop of that cliff stood two Shadowmon, who just smiled down on them like a welcome wagon. Matt blinked, "...There's only two of them!" "Don't let that stop us," Tai replied.

On cue it seemed, the two Shadowmon leaped into the air in perfect unison. Then, in mid air, they both rolled up into balls as they somersaulted, and then all at once they morphed into a GigaDramon and a MegaDramon. Two cyborg dragons, one orange and one purple, who both packed mighty missiles from within their claws. Tai balled a fist; "Here we go!"

Then all at once, all of the heroic digimon had changed into their Champion forms. Their foes came at them through the air, and opened fire.

"DARK SIDE ATTACK!"

"GUILTY WING!"

They leveled the land with their missiles and wing slices, and the ground quaked on impact. The humans were all knocked to the floor. TK gathered himself and called out, "Be careful, they're Ultimates now!" Tai, who was lying on his belly nearby, pulled out his Crest of Courage and nodded, "Right... Time to pull out the big guns."

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

"GREYMON, DIGIVOLVE TO........................ METAL GREYMON!"

"GARURUMON, DIGIVOLVE TO....................WERE GARURUMON!"

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

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

"HA! Three against two," snarled Metal Greymon to the two cyborg dragons. "We shall see," hissed GigaDramon, the purple version of the two villains.

While the Ultimates danced in the air, Aquilamon suggested to his fellow Champions, "Let's get our friends out of here!" They gave him a nod, and the humans and Champions alike made a swift run for it. "Oh no, you don't!" called out the orange MegaDramon; "DARK SIDE-"

"GARURU KICK!" blocked Were Garurumon. The cyborg dragon moved backwards a bit, then lashed at the werewolf with his metal claws. The werewolf was fast on his feet, dodging the claws while jumping onto the dragon's head. But that wouldn't be enough to keep himself safe from GigaDramon's tail.

"Get off him!" roared the purple dragon, as he whacked WereGarurumon off of his twin's head. "GIGA BLASTER," announced Metal Greymon; as he did so, two heat-seeking missiles shot from his robotic chest. GigaDramon gracefully dodged these missiles, and he turned to his enemy with a grin; "Is that all you got?"

The humans that stuck around were Tai, Ken and Matt. Ken blinked, "Man, they're fast. And smart, too! It's almost as if they were real digimon, not shadows." Tai shrugged, "Well, I guess there's a first time for everything."

Matt looked around and said, "...Hey. Am I the only one worried that there's only two of them, and not more? You'd think they'd go after the others by now." Ken blinked; "...You're right..." He then turned his head, and shouted to his retreating friends, "GUYS, WATCH OUT FOR-"

Just then, the ground opened up before them, and out poured a geyser of Shadowmon that headed straight for the escapees. Ken sweat-dropped; "...an ambush."

The Ultimate heroes turned around, and saw that their Champion friends were getting buried up to their faces in Shadowmon. "Oh no," muttered Metal Greymon. "Oh, yes!" replied MegaDramon; with that, he and his twin roared, "DARK SIDE ATTACK!" They combined their missile attacks against their Ultimate enemies, and the impact was more than the three heroes could handle.

In the midst of all this, the Champions were fighting off the Shadowmon group with their own attacks:

"NEEDLE SPRAY!"

"METEOR WING!"

"HAND OF FATE!"

Many of the Shadowmon were evaporated on sight, but one had gotten its claws on Yolei right before Aquilamon could finish it. "Let her go!" the giant eagle growled; the Shadowmon hissed, "You'll have to catch me first, Big Bird!" With that, it laughed as it took off swiftly with Yolei. The bull-horned eagle chased it down, until they had reached the rocky cliffs.

The Shadowmon had set the human girl right on top, looking over a rather steep and dangerous-looking pit below. Yolei panicked, "Ugh... Aquilamon! Help me!" "BLAST RINGS!" was his reaction, and shooting from his beak were three laser rings. They had hit the Shadowmon directly, but unfortunately for Yolei, she had lost her balance.

"YOLEIII!" roared Aquilamon, as he dove down to try and save her. But it was too late; the Shadowmon's plan had worked. She fell into the cavern; "YAAAAAAAaaaaahhhh....." Aquilamon hovered in mid-air helplessly; "....yolei....? YOLE- ARUGH!" He was struck from behind by GigaDramon, and crashed roughly into a pile of rocks on the cliff.

"Alright... That does it," hissed DinoBeemon. His wings spread out, giving off a near-Heavenly light. He roared, "IRRITANT BUZZ!" His wings then flapped so quickly, they gave off a blast of light, and the noise that shot out with that light was about as equal as a sonic boom. On impact of the light and sound, all remaining Shadowmon had disappeared. Ken, standing nearby, was stunned; "....wow...." was all he could say.

But the Ultimate baddies were still alive. Both of them laughed while MegaDramon added, "We'll see ya later!" Then they took off into the air, and out of sight.

Nearby, still lying helplessly on the rocky hilltop, Aquilamon opened his eyes weakly and muttered sadly, "...yolei...."

Deep within Gaiamon's forest regions, Jun was still very lost, but not quite alone anymore. She had traveled on foot for a while, until she made it out of the darker heart of the woods. Now, she was nearing an open plain that copied that of the African Serengeti. She had also reached a fork in the road; luckily, she wasn't too proud to ask for directions.

"Excuse me," she politely said to a Kiwimon; "I'm looking for other humans like me. Have you seen any?" Kiwimon, as its name suggested, was a miniature, wingless bird with a skull-like helmet on its face. It replied with an ironically mature voice, "Humans? What's a humans?" Jun patiently pointed to herself and answered, "I'm a human." Kiwimon blinked, "Don't you mean 'hu-mon?'" Jun shook her head, "No, human. I'm no digimon."

Kiwimon laughed, "Ha! That's silly! Not a digimon; yeah right, sister." Jun replied, "Honestly, I'm not a digimon." Kiwimon then asked, "If you're not a digimon, then how did you get here?" Jun's mind went blank; "Uhhh.... I fell from the sky?" Kiwimon gave a humble nod, "It hurts, being a flightless bird. I know." "I'm not a bird," Jun argued; her patience was already waning. Kiwimon then asked, "Then what kind of digimon are you?"

Jun then started yelling, "I'm not a DIGIMON!"

"Not a digimon!?" came a voice from the treetops. Jun looked up, and saw a tiny pink mouse creature with big, goofy eyes. He laughed, "Hahaha! Look, you guys, somebody's in denial!" Then all at once, a whole group of Chuumon jumped onto the tree braches, and laughed at Jun in harmony.

Jun stomped her foot; "Oh, come on. Gimmie a break!" But they and the Kiwimon just laughed on. Jun sighed, no longer feeling the desire to argue with these creatures, and sent herself on her way. Before she left, she heard one of the Chuumon say, "I bet she is a bird!"

When she had finally opened her eyes, Yolei had found herself at the bottom of a rocky cliff, which was shadowed due to the fact that she was on the sun's opposite side. Taking a breath, she leaned forward; but then she realized that her legs were rather bent out of shape. She had taken a nasty fall, thanks to the previous attack.

The other thing bothering her was her aching head; she moaned softly as she rubbed her brow in discomfort. That's when it hit her: she was alone. All alone. "....Hawkmon?....... Tai? ....Kari?...... Anybody?" She tried calling out to her friends, but being slightly exhausted as she was, her voice wasn't as strong as she wanted it to be.

She bowed her head, already feeling an uneasy pit in her stomach. But then, she received a response: "I'm here."

Yolei let out a small yipe, and leaned back on the rocky wall that supported her. To her right, she saw a pair of emerald green eyes, which were soon accompanied by a humanoid, feminine grin. Two extra-long canine teeth shone with that grin. Yolei let out a gasp, which the shadow responded to calmly: "Relax..." Then, the snake-like woman with a body of pure darkness slithered halfway into the light. She presented her unarmed hands and smiled, "I'm in no mood to battle you. Hmm... Not yet."

Yolei gulped, "...Who... What are you?" The shadowy one took a small bow; "I am Envymon." The human girl then froze with fear; "..You're- you're one of them! A Sin Digimon!" Envymon just leaned downward and supported herself with a hand on her chin; "Now, now. It's not my nature to fight someone who is completely without a digimon, or a crest."

Yolei gasped, "....I have a digimon. And when he finds me-" "Oh, yes, " Envymon nodded with boredom in her tone; "That little chicken one." "His name," Yolei growled, "is Hawkmon! And you better stay away from me or he'll-" "Or he'll what?" Envymon grinned; "turn into Aquilamon? Hmm? Is that what you were going to say? ....You know, I am far more powerful than any mere Champion. Tell me something... uh.... Yolei, is it?... How will Aquilamon defeat me, if you don't have your won crest?"

Yolei turned her head away; "Stop it." "Stop what?" blinked the Sin Digimon. Yolei turned back to her and replied, "You're just... messing with my head, aren't you?" Envymon giggled softly, "Hmm-hmm-hmm... So, it's all in your head that you are crest-less?" "Leave me alone," Yolei demanded softly. Envymon pulled herself back and replied, "...Aww.... I'm sorry, did I offend you? But I can tell you what your crest is, if you're so dying to know."

Yolei's eyes lit up; she looked back to the snake-woman and asked, "You-... you know what my crest is?" "Mm-hmm," nodded the Sin Digimon; "It is the same reason why you have not yet acquired it." "Wait," Yolei suddenly said; "I'm not supposed to listen to you! You're the bad guy!" Envymon argued calmly; "Not all villains are dishonest. It's true, I represent the pure agony of all lost and forbidden desires. But while most of my kin are rotten little liars, my words are pure truth."

Yolei narrowed her eyes; "Why should I believe you?" Envymon replied, "Since when was an envious person never honest to him or herself?" Yolei blinked, "...Are you saying I'm jealous? .....Of the others?" "...Are you?" was all the Sin Digimon said in reply.

Yolei leaned back on her supportive rocky wall; "...Well.... I think that if I had my crest, we can finally catch Polarimon." "Ah, yes. Polarimon," Envymon smiled; "The Keeper of The digital Skies. The Creator of all digimon of flight, and such crests as Light, Faith, Hope, and-"

"Faith??" Yolei spouted out.

Envymon nodded, "Yes, Faith. That is your crest, Yolei. You are the Faithful One."

For a minute, Yolei was happy; she finally knew the truth, she finally knew her crest. But then, all at once, her smile sank into a frown. The pit in her belly was returning to her. Envymon took notice and said, "...And now you see why you have not yet achieved it......

"Yes. Of all Digi-Destined, you are the most doubtful. You have been feeling the worst ever since you came here. For every turn you and your friends make, things just get more and more complicated. It's unfair, really; to make a bunch of young adults enter a world outside their own, to make them act like they are some kind of super-heroes. And here, your real life was just becoming fulfilled, wasn't it?"

"Well-" Yolei tried to argue, but then Envymon continued: "You didn't want to come back here, did you?" Yolei replied with, "Well, I had to come back! This is my...." "Your destiny," Envymon nodded. Yolei agreed, "Yes... My destiny."

Envymon shook her head and frowned, "Poor girl. Destiny, it seems, has been cruel to you. You want to do your best, but your best just isn't good enough. You want to help your friends, but they seem fine by themselves. You want so badly to earn your Crest of Faith, but haven't found the faith yet. Have you?" Yolei raised an eyebrow; "Well, if you put it like that..."

Envymon crept up beside Yolei, as if offering a friendly shoulder to lean on; she said, "The truth hurts, I know. The only reason why you haven't gained your own crest is because you haven't yet tapped into its source, straight from your heart. Tai has earned his crest by being the bravest; Izzy earned his by being the smartest. Kari earned hers because her spirit glows like a beacon. Even little Cody earned his, for his strong belief in justice. And look at Davis! That pathetic, immature little scamp is becoming more and more of a man by the day. How is it that all of these people can have things go their way, and then life gives you the short end of the stick? Where is your faith, Yolei?... Hmm?"

Yolei could not reply. The more and more she listened to the snake-woman talk, the more and more these slippery words were becoming true. Yolei closed her eyes and frowned, "I..... I do have some doubts...." Envymon nodded, "It's alright... It's not your fault at all, Yolei. You just have to try and accept a few things that you cannot change. No matter how badly you want to, you won't always be there for them. They won't always win the day... And for as long as you have doubts about yourself and your so-called Destiny, you will never earn your crest."

"Yolei!..... Yooo-leeeeeiii!"

She heard voices- familiar ones- calling for her. She turned around, to see if Envymon was still there, but she wasn't. It would seem that she had exited the scene as mysteriously as she had entered. Yolei was alone.... again.

"Yolei!... Thank God, you're alright!" Ken's voice cried out; he was standing there, atop of one of the rocks that was blocking her from the rest of the world. He leaned down and extended his arm; "Here! Lemmie get your hand!" he said. Yolei turned around, and saw him. Normally, she would call out in joy at seeing a friend again. But this time, she just looked at him- blankly.

Ken blinked, "...What's wrong?..... Y-Yolei?" Just then, a familiar digimon fluttered to Ken's side: Hawkmon. "Oh, there you are!" the eaglet cheered; "Come on, Yolei; the rest of us are worried about you." She gathered up as much strength as she could, and all that came from her voice was, "Hmmm..." She then reached out and grabbed Ken's hand.

Envymon had quickly made it back to the lair of the Sin Digimon. On her arrival, she was greeted by Pridemon with, "Well done, Envy." The snake-woman giggled, "I do what I must..." She then turned to the dark one with brick-red eyes and smiled, "Okay, Wrathmon. I know you've been aching for this moment. Now you may fight." The dark creature's red eyes flashed- literally.

As the day rolled on, the temperature in the Serengeti was rising, and Jun was in need of shade. Luckily, she had found a peaceful little tree by a lake, and took refuge there. For a while, she had been looking deeply into this lake, and started thinking to herself about a few things:

"Boy, this Digital World is big... Huge! I haven't met any nice digimon yet, and there's no sign of any of my friends. What, am I on the total opposite side of the planet?.... I'm already lost... Hungry.... And I got mugged by a bunch of tall, black bunnies! Can things get any better from here?"

It was then when she pulled out from her pocket her violet D-3. She just stared at it, almost hypnotized by it. She sighed to herself sadly, "Man, I almost lost you just when I came in here... You really think I'm worthy?"

Her eyes were taken off from the D-3, to view some bubbles softly emerging from the lake at her feet. Jun blinked twice, growing ever more curious about this. "...Is it that hot out, that the water's bubbling?" she muttered to herself. Before she even realized it, she was now standing over the lake. The bubbles were now clearly coming from one particular spot of the lake, not the whole thing. Something was coming, Jun was sure of it.

She dropped to her knees, and bent downward towards the phenomenon. Her reflection in the water was, for a moment, clear as a mirror, but then ripples from the bubbles made her reflection all a scatter. Her eyes, at that point, could have sworn that a dark figure from beneath the water was coming... right at her face. ...Then-

SPLASH!!!

Jun was knocked on her back, and she gave a loud yelp. The creature, whatever it was, had shot itself right from beneath the lake like a cannonball. Then, just as quickly as it had emerged, it dived back in with a somersault. Jun covered her eyes and yelled, "AAAH! EVIL BUNNIES!!" Obviously, she thought her muggers from earlier in the day were back for more roughhousing. She pulled out her D-3 towards whoever was in the lake and gave out a warning: "I'm gonna come over there and digitize you to NOTHING, you black bunny freaks!"

To her amazement, a small soft voice replied: "...Freaks?.... Is that any way to greet your partner?"

"-huh?" Jun blurted out. She opened her eyes and turned her head to whatever it was that just took a dive out of, and back into, the lake. It was small, purple... "Penguin," she muttered. The little Rookie smiled, "Penguin-mon."

He then jumped out of the water, gave himself a little shake, and waddled up to the human's side. Once his eyes looked deeply into hers, he felt them well up in tears of joy. His voice shook; "...awww.... gosh.... mmm.. sniffle ...I- I've been waiting... for this moment.... AHH-HAHAHA!" With that, Penguinmon threw his flipper-like wings over Jun's arms, and burst out in tears and laughter. "I've found you! At long last, I finally found you, Jun! Me so happyyyyy!"

Jun, beside herself, asked nervously, "How- how did you know my name?" The little penguin cheered, "Jun, it's me! I'm your digimon partner! It's me!" "P-partner?" she stuttered. Penguinmon gave a mighty jump; "Yes! We were meant to fight evil, side by side! You n' me! We're a team now! Isn't that just GREA-WOAH!" The silly little creature was so overjoyed, he tripped on his own webbed feet and fell onto his back.

Both he and Jun started laughing heartily.

Jun then helped him up and sighed, "Wow... I told everybody that if I ever had my own digimon... he'd be really cute... And you are! You're adorable!" Still overjoyed to tears, Penguinmon replied, "And I told everybody, if I ever meet my human partner, she'd be really strong and brave, a-and nobody would wanna mess with her, or- or she'd go ballistic on them, and then she wouldn't even have to need me at that point, 'cause then she'd go 'Bam!' karate chop 'Whack!' judo kick 'Boom!' punch"

Jun giggled humbly, "Eh-heheheheh... Well, I... I'm not really that tough." "Well, that's okay!" Penguinmon exclaimed with flapping wings; "You n' me will fight together! And I know you're new around here n' all, but I can help you out. And when we get that Crest of Humility back from that bad ol' Greedmon, we'll be unsto-"

"Greedmon?..." Jun interrupted. The little Rookie took a breath; "..Uh... Oh, yeah. Greedmon. He took your crest, and without it, I can't digivolve to Ultimate or Mega." Jun frowned, "Uh, that sounds .....bad."

Penguinmon just shook his head, despite having no neck; "Oh, it's okay! We're the good guys, an' good guys always win! Right?" Jun looked away and replied softly, "I hope so..."

There was a pause, and then suddenly the little penguin threw his wings around her again and jubilated, "Oh, I'm just so happy to finally see yoooou! Heehehehee! We're gonna have a great time, you n' me!" Jun wondered, "How long were you waiting?" Her partner replied with, "...Oh... I dunno..." "Heh," Jun huffed; "....That makes two of us."

"Look! Up ahead!" Tai navigated with his index finger; "We're almost to the mountain regions now. Just five more miles, at least! Hold on, Polarimon, we're coming!" "Yay," Sora added nearby; there was a weakened tone in her voice; almost sarcastic. The group had been resting up after the previous attack against the Shadowmon, and some of them were still healing.

Ken took up a small cloth which was soaked in water, and placed it gently on Yolei's forehead; "...Are you okay?" he asked her. She winced at the cloth's impact, but replied with, "Yeah... I guess so... Ken?" "What?" he answered.

She asked softly, so that no one else would hear, "...D'you think I have doubts about this mission?" He paused and said, "Hey, I think we all have a few doubts about certain things. I mean, it's true that we haven't even seen Polarimon yet, and we don't know if we will anytime soon." Yolei then admitted to him, "I.... I met Envymon." He gasped, "What?" "Sshh!" she hushed; "Not so loud..." Ken narrowed his eyes; "What did she say?" Yolei frowned, "She.... She, uh...." "Come on," he calmly urged; "you can tell me."

Yolei just held onto her new bandage.

At first, the darkness in the sky looked like clouds just rolling by. But Agumon was the first to see that it wasn't clouds. It was GigaDramon and MegaDramon! "We're ba-ack!" GigaDramon smiled; MegaDramon added, "And this time, no mercy!" Just like that, they opened fire before anybody had a chance to move. The ground surrounding them became bombarded with their missiles until there was no ground left to stand on, leaving the humans and their digimon friends stranded with no place to run.

It was then that the black dragon-like beast, Wrathmon, made its presence known. Joe saw it first; "LOOK! Over there!" They saw it, standing atop a mountain side in a safe distance. It stared back at them, as if looking straight through their outer forms and into their souls.

It then raised out a claw, signaling to the Ultimate cyborg dragons to unleash a final attack. "No, you don't," Tai muttered softly.

------------ Vision: Warp Digivolution ------------

"AGUMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO..... GREYMON...... METAL GREYMON........... WAR GREYMON!"

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

The evil Ultimates were soon faced with a large, humanoid Mega who was heavily armed- and winged- like a soldier entering war. Wrathmon, nearby, just gave a soft hum, as if delighted in seeing a Mega in person. War Greymon wasted no time, and summoned, "TERRA FORCE!" From his hands drew a solar-like force of pure energy, and he threw it at the cyborg dragons like a beach ball.

The Ultimates spun away just in time, missing the attack completely. "You'll have to do better than that!" GigaDramon replied; he and MegaDramon then summoned, "GENOCIDE ATTACK!" War Greymon had blocked off all of their missile attacks with his shielded arms. He then spread his wings and charged at them.

Yolei had suddenly blurted out, "Shouldn't somebody help him!?" Matt replied, "He's a big boy; he can take care of himself." Tai cheered his partner on; "Come on, War Greymon! Blast those guys!" "I'm trying!" said the Mega, as his karate kicks and punches were missing their swift targets.

GigaDramon and his twin spun through the air, until they were nicely distant from their Mega enemy. Giga then said, "I'm getting tired of this. Let's finish them off once and for all!" "I agree," MegaDramon replied; "Let's do it!" The humans looked at them in astonishment, gasping; "Wha...?" The two cyborg dragons started glowing darkly, and roared in perfect unison: "JOGRESS DIGIVOLUTION!"

KA-BOOM!!!

A great blast of smoke and lightning broke out into the sky, as if a whole planet or a sun had blown up. When the smoke cleared, there stood in the sky, in place of the two cyborg dragons, was a humungous, white and red Hercules beetle, with a horn that could put the scythes of GranKwagamon to utter shame.

Izzy gasped in horror, "...I.... I don't believe it... They Jogressed!" "B-but they're shadows!" Tai argued in disbelief. "Ha, ha! We faked you out!" came a freakish, teasing voice from behind. The young adults turned around, and saw two Shadowmon standing before them.

One of them pointed to the giant beetle and said, "We can't digivolve to Mega, so we made a little switch-up. Those were real digimon just now, sent by Wrathmon itself! It was us whom you fought before." Izzy blinked, "You mean... That's... a real Mega??" The other Shadowmon smiled and nodded, "You got that right!"

------------ Digimon Card: Hercules Kabuterimon ------------

Level: Mega

Attribute: Data/Vaccine

Type: Insect

"Meet Hercules Kabuterimon! He's actually a more advanced version of your precious Tentomon over here; I'd like to see you top his attacks, which could put a hole through the known universe! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!"

-Shadowmon

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

Tentomon protested, "Hey! That's MY Mega form!.... I-isn't it?" The Shdowmon twins both huffed, "Heh! Prove it." Tentomon then turned to Izzy and said, "Come on, Izzy. Let's do it!" Izzy gulped, "...uh.... Y-you never warp-digivolved before." The little insect replied with, "It's better late than never, I suppose."

"Hurry up," said one Shadowmon; "Here he comes," added the other.

They were of course, talking about the already-present Hercules Kabuterimon, who tackled the puny War Greymon like a football player. Tai's Mega took the fall very hard; "NO!" he cried out. The beetle Mega then scooped up War Greymon with his horned nose, and tossed him like a coin in the air.

War Greymon was too overcome with surprise to move away from the Mega beetle's next move; a sharp kick in the side. War Greymon howled in agony, just before he hit rock bottom again. At this point, Tentomon persisted; "I can do it, Izzy! I know I can!" Izzy pulled out his D-3 and crest; "...We could try it," he said monotonously.

At this point, the bad Hercules Kabuterimon had War Greymon pinned to the earth with just one foot. The beetle that was almost as large as his own name than turned to his puny Rookie form and growled with a deep, unsoothing voice: "Bring it on."

------------ Vision: Warp-Digivolution ------------

"TENTOMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO..... KABUTERIMON...... MEGAKABUTERIMON.......... HERCULES KABUTERIMON!"

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

He just stood there like a statue, while his allies looked up in awe and amazement. Izzy gave his new Mega partner a nod; "Go get 'im."

Izzy's Mega then charged- slowly- at his look-alike. The two of them then locked claws; as they wrestled, Izzy's Mega growled, "You're nothing but a cheap imitation!" "Look who's talking," said the enemy.

They pushed and shoved, licked and punched, scratched and scratched.... But it was a very slow, lumbering fight. Two minutes have gone by already, and already the Shadowmon yawned with boredom.

Izzy, meanwhile, had been checking up on the data of the Hercules Kabuterimon with his D-3; he said aloud, "Hmm... Both Hercules Kabuterimon are huge, and bulky. This makes them very slow, except for when they fly. And they're both equally matched, so nobody's getting the upper hand."

One of the Shadowmon called out to the Megas, "HURRY UP AND FINISH IT ALREADY!" "Shut up!" barked Matt nearby.

Izzy's Mega then said to his twin opponent, "Why are you fighting us? We're the good guys; don't you see that?" The bad Mega replied calmly, "I was sent by he who controls all Darkness."

"...You mean... The Digi-Keeper of Darkness?"

"Ah yes, the very same. Do you know him?"

"No... I've never seen him yet. Have you?"

"....No, not really. But I might as well have, since I was originally two virus dragons."

"So, it's true! The Keeper of Darkness owns virtually all Virus types."

"That is correct.... And from what I hear, he will be making his appearance very soon."

"WHAT?"

Then, the bad Mega beetle gave the good one a fierce shove, and growled, "I'm not going to waste my time here any longer. You obviously are not yet used to being a Mega." "Gimmie a break," replied Izzy's Mega; "it's just my first day!" The bad one then hissed as he bowed his massive head; "No excuses...."

What happened next was foreseen by some, but avoided by no one. The bad Hercules Kabuterimon's nose horn began to summon up a blackish/blue ball of electric energy, which almost copied that of Kabuterimon's "Electro Shocker." This one, of course, was much bigger, and more powerful. It was called: "MEGA ELECTRO-SHOCKER!"

KABLOOIE!!

(Forgive the seemingly childish word for this sound effect, but since I have basically covered every other one for this chapter alone, well, I've just ran out of options.)

Almost ten minutes have gone by since the attack. There was very little land left the way it was before; the rest of it was torn and in shambles. And all of the heroes were left amidst of it all. Their spirits have been defeated, for the moment.

Little Tentomon was lying on his belly, worn out from the blast himself. Izzy found him soon enough; "Tentomon!" he called out; "...are you okay? Say something..." The little bug just looked at his partner, and pouted, "...I'm sorry, Izzy... I failed." Izzy just picked him up and gave a small smile, "You did okay... And next time, you'll do even better."

The others were gathering themselves up when they all heard little Tentomon say, "Oh, and I have some rather bad news." "What's that?" Izzy wondered; Tentomon said worriedly, "That Hercules Kabuterimon said, The Digi-Keeper is Darkness himself is coming." Everyone paused, letting the news sink in.

Nearby, Yolei say by Hawkmon and muttered to herself, "Oh, great... Now I feel worse..."

High above the treetops in Gaiamon's land, Davis and ExVeemon were trying to get a fix on Jun's location through his blue D-3. For a while now, he's been using it as some kind of compass; but now, there wasn't even a light flashing on its monitor to signify Jun's presence.

"...No signal?" ExVeemon muttered; Davis muttered back, "No... I had her for a second... Now she's gone......" Then, in an act of sheer desperation, the young man took a deep breath and screamed for all to hear: "JU-U-U-UN!!... WHERE ARE YO-O-O-OU!?"

TO BE CONTINUED