Digimon: The Digital Keepers Saga

by Snodin

Book TwentySeven: Crossovers A new era has begun in the Digital World, and with this new era come new friends, new enemies, and... new DigiKeepers?

20. Fame And Misfortune

"Me, Yolei and our digimon were sleeping the night away, when we were suddenly taken in by a tornado. At first, we thought we were goners, but then we realized that we had been sent to Polarimon's Sky Palace. Polarimon herself took us to Gluttonymon's Power Spine to finish it off, when who shows up but Lustmon? After trying to break our spirits with our problems with guys, Yolei was able to snap out of it and distract Lustmon, while I took out the Power Spine. If this keeps up, we'll all probably need some counseling when we get home!"

-Sora

DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA

Book Twenty: "Fame And Misfortune"

A kindly blue Trailmon had picked up Veedramon Zero on the road, on the evening of the day he met Cody, the first human he had seen in eons.

Through the night and well into the next day, the Trailmon headed north, to the mountain ranges of Polarimon's realm. Finally, it reached its last post, just miles from a pine forest that would lead to the mountains; it stopped in a huff, and whistled, "Okay, last stop! Everybody out!"

Inside, it looked like a normal train; there were seats, tables, windows, and even tug-able chords on the walls to signal the Trailmon for a stop. But when it stopped this time, Zero seemed to be the only one on the train, not just the cart.

He was snoring the dawn away, right when he heard an even bigger whistle: "ALRIGHT! WAKE UP, SUNSHINE, WE'RE HERE!" Alarmed the aged Veedramon woke with a "WAH! WAHH!" and fell flat out of his chair with a "Thud."

After finally getting his momentum, Veedramon Zero stuck his head out the doorway of the Trailmon boxcar to sniff the air, which reeked of cool, fresh pine. Refreshed, he happily jumped off the Trailmon and started on his way toward the mountains.

Kellen was watching Zero take his first steps into an unknown wilderness from his own secluded hideaway, via a virtual monitor. He sat there puzzled, scratching his chin as though he was taking a pop quiz.

"Hmmm," he hummed, with his eyes focused curiously on Zero; "This Veedramon Zero claims to be an ancient hero… Could he just be saying that, or… is what Gennai told me true?"

"Huh?" peeped Culumon, as he peeked up from over Kellen's small shoulder. Kellen glanced to his creation and explained, "One of the first things that Gennai taught me was that there are more than one dimension to the digital world."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, Culumon, that Zero may have come from an alternate reality -an alternate digital world."

"But how is that possible, Kellen?"

It was a complicated matter indeed, and although he himself was still a young boy, Kellen had to pause to rethink everything that he had learned up till then. Then he remembered…

"Before our old world was destroyed, Gennai said that our people had found a way to look into other worlds, for references as they began to make the original digital world.

"First we used space probes to act as satellites as they spied on planets like Earth, and then each of them came back to us to show us everything that they had seen…

"Here's the thing, Culumon; there were millions of probes sent out, and only half of them came back to us."

"What happened to the rest of them?"

"They got lost… Some believed that they were sent through a space rift caused either by black holes or some other act of nature we've never seen yet.

"But that started the theory; the theory of alternate reality. No one could prove it yet, but it is possible that the digital world could cross through these rifts in space, causing different outcomes for everything."

"How could it cross over like that?"

"It's a virtual reality in itself; therefore, it has the power to travel through space and time unlike any other planet. Think of it as a world that doesn't need gravity; it can go anywhere. And it does… There's really no telling what it's been through, and what's been done to it.

"All we know is this: Now we have a digimon that's never been seen by us before, claiming to be an old hero. If he is, in fact, telling the truth… then he must have been sent here by a dimension rift."

"What's a dimension rift?"

"It's something I've never seen before… Gennai's never seen it either, but he believes it to be true. What it is, is a crossover of two or more realities.

"Gennai explained it once, saying, 'Since the digital world is free of gravity, and can move anywhere, then it is possible that it could be cloned through the same kind of space rifts that have happened to our old space probes. And therefore, two digital worlds could eventually collide, and become one.' That's a dimension rift."

"…That's all very complicated. I'm glad I don't have to take a test on all this."

Kellen giggled, "Yeah… But it is fascinating, isn't it?" "Yeah!" bopped the head of Culumon, whose ears expanded with joy.

Then the little digimon asked, "Do you think Gennai's out there now, watching all this happen?" Kellen frowned, "I don't know where he is… If I had the power, I'd go out there in Limbo and find him myself."

Then, the inquisitive Culumon asked, "Kellen? …Is it possible that other planets could have different realities?"

Kellen replied, "Well, so far, the digital world has found its way through Earth, thanks to that planet's advance technology. I'm sure the digital world could find its way to any planet that has that kind of power.

"…That could explain how Zero has seen humans before. But the idea of there being more than one Earth… That's a mystery.

"…And it's a history that'll have to wait," concluded Kellen, as he turned off the virtual monitor with just a wave of his hand.

He got to his feet and walked towards a wall with encrypted writing on it; he said, "What I need to worry about right now is Gennai; he's somewhere out there in Limbo, and I have to make sure he's okay."

"How're you gonna do that?" asked Culumon, who followed in the boy's shadow weightlessly.

Kellen stared at the writings on the wall and replied, "Well, if I have any strength in me, I might be able to open up these portal gates. Maybe through them, I could pick up his presence and find out where he is… Here goes."

The young boy then began to fall into a state of meditation, as Gennai normally would whenever he tapped into his powers.

Culumon watched patiently, hoping to see if his friend and creator had what it took to become Gennai's successor.

Going over the high hills of the far north seemed like a chore for Zero, whose chubby legs didn't seem fit for such a hike.

But still he pressed on, following his instincts like a dog leading itself home through the wilderness. He knew in his heart that he was on the right path; he was on his way to find his long-lost human friend, Taichi Yagami.

With his spirits on an all-time high, he trotted over the high hills with a great big smile on his face. He even hummed to himself as he was skipping over puddles, bridges and through tall grass in the fields.

It was when he finally crossed over these highlands when he caught sight of two humans, who were on their way to the nearest mountaintop.

Zero's eyes were weak, but he could tell by their general appearances that they were human- one was a blonde, the other a brunette. It was the brunette that caught Zero's interest the most, for he recognized that high level of hair almost instantly.

"…Is that… Is that him?" he blinked in curiosity. Not a moment too soon afterwards, he quickened his pace to get a closer look.

When he finally did, he found himself near the very base of the mountain, and there he could see the human perfectly. They were just several feet above him, hiking upward on a not-so-beaten path on the mountain.

There were large boulders and several trees on their path, so one couldn't notice automatically the two little digimon that were traveling with them. But Zero wasn't looking for digimon, he was looking for Taichi.

When he got a much closer look at the young man with the high brown hair, he thought he had found him at last. "Taichi," the Veedramon muttered with glossy eyes. Neither Tai nor Matt, nor even their digimon, had heard him coming; they were too focused on climbing over the rocks in their way.

Quickly, Zero started to catch up to them, with a look of joy in his face that would resemble that of a child's on Christmas morning.

…But all of that changed when he finally saw who was tailing the human: an Agumon.

The little yellow dinosaur came hopping out of hiding from behind a giant boulder, catching up with Tai at last, but not before he slipped and fell first. "Woah! Lookout, little buddy," replied Tai, as he finally turned around, giving Zero the best shot of his face, to pick up his little partner.

"Thanks, Tai," smiled the little dinosaur; "I wish my legs were as long as yours." The human smiled, "Well, it also helps to have great brakes on your shoes."

The two of them had their little bonding moment, and though it seemed sweet to look at, it made a shocked Zero slow his running pace. In fact, upon seeing this moment, he pretty much skidded to a halt.

There he was, the human Zero had not seen in ages, holding up another digimon as his partner. For poor old Zero, it was as if he were a lost dog, finding his owner at last, only to see him with a new puppy.

No, it was worse than that; these two were more than a human and a pet, they were best friends- soul mates, practically.

As if he didn't believe what he was seeing, Zero took another close look at Tai- that was Taichi's face, alright. The same hair, the same eyes, the same everything.

Why was he with an Agumon? This questioned danced on in the Veedramon's head, while he watched with a heavy heart as Tai continued on his path with the little Agumon.

He was only several feet away, and surely if he were to get any closer, Tai would have seen him. But now, it seemed as though the aged Champion's long journey was all for nothing. He had found his old friend at last, but it seemed as though Taichi had completely forgotten about him. Perhaps they were separated much longer than he thought; could Taichi really forget his old friend Zero?

…It was too late to ask questions now, for the human and Agumon were already leaving his sight, tailing Matt and Gabumon.

Zero's heart sank as he saw them walk away. He became overwhelmed with disappointment to the point where he could no longer talk. As much as it pained him, however, he figured that there was no point in going any further.

Reluctantly, he turned tail and slowly reversed his direction, back to the Trailmon station from whence he came. That is, right before he took one last glance at the human he once knew, and muttered sadly, "Taichi…"

Nearly an hour later, Tai, Matt and their digimon friends had finally made it to the top of that mountain, upon which a secluded little forest was set. It was high enough for there to be patches of frost on the ground and on boulders, but where there wasn't so much frost, the boys settled down to rest.

At first, Tai and Agumon were scouting the terrain, to see if they could spot any other signs of life, but that was when Tai's attention was caught by something nearby. It was Matt, who was softly humming to himself while he was writing something on a small pad he carried with him on the trip.

Gabumon was by his feet, witnessing his actions curiously. "Hey you guys," Tai spoke up as he and Agumon approached them, "what're you doing?" While his eyes were fixed on his notepad, Matt confessed, "I'm writing a new song." Tai took a seat on the rock next to Matt's and pried, "Oooh, is this for your new album?" Matt paused from his work to reply patiently, "Actually… this is for Sora."

Tai then narrowed an eye in suspicion, "Sora? …Hey, are you guys officially back together, or are you still on a break?" His friend shrugged, "I dunno, really… I thought we were getting back together, but so far nothing's happened… That's why I wanna write this song; I wanna tell her how I feel."

"Then why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

"'Cause I'm just the kind of musician who expresses himself through his music; and besides, she might think this is more romantic."

Tai just rolled his eyes, "Ugh… I don't really know how you can deal with her. She's always been tough for me to understand." "Well, that's your problem then," Matt declared softly, causing Tai to move away so that he could focus on other things, like finding life on these rocks.

Matt watched him move away carefully, and did so in a way that Tai wouldn't notice. He knew something that his friends didn't, something that had happened between him and Sora that caused the semi-breakup, and at the time, he wanted to keep it that way.

Gabumon was a silent witness up until that moment; he inched himself closer to his human partner and in his own shy way he said, "Matt, I don't mean to be nosy, but from what I've heard, it seems to me that the bigger humans get, the more complicated life is."

Now here stood someone Matt felt most comfortable with bearing his soul too; Matt looked up at his little partner and smiled, "Yeah, it does. You wouldn't have any words of advice for me, would ya buddy?"

The little digimon just smiled, "Wouldn't it be easier if you could just be more like me?" Matt blinked, "Wha-whaddya mean?" Gabumon smiled, "Well you know, if you could… di-digivolve back into your younger self? Then things wouldn't be so complicated anymore, would they?"

Matt's spirits were lifted at that moment, and he smiled back, "Yeah! I wish I could di-digivolve! Then I could be a young kid forever!" Gabumon added with an even bigger smile, "And we'd never have to worry about growing up or saying goodbye again!" The two of them laughed in enjoyment, and then Matt gently scratched his partner's head, saying, "You're alright, Gabumon."

"Hey Matt," Gabumon then said, "I wanna help you write that new song. The one for Sora." His human friend smiled, "Great! I could use some help…" He then showed Gabumon what he had written so far:

"I'm sick of this; let's break this wall

That stands here between us two

I know you're mad, and I know why

I just wasn't clear with (you)

You caught me lying, when I said I'm over you…"

"Is that it?" blinked the curious Gabumon. Matt sighed, "Well, I'm coming up to the chorus, but I dunno how to start it. I'm thinking, 'You're the reason why I'm here,' or something poetic like that. Whaddya think?"

The little Rookie let the gears in his brain turn, until he finally came up with an answer: "Try something more dramatic like, 'You're the reason why I breathe.'" "That's great!" rejoiced Matt; "I'm writing that down!" And he did.

Tai and Agumon were spying nearby, and didn't seem to care what was going on between their friends, but then something else caught their attention- a rustling sound, as if something was running through a bush nearby. "What was that??" Tai gasped in surprise. "What was what?" asked the not-so-curious Matt nearby.

Tai and Agumon glanced at the bushes nearby with a look of paranoia in their eyes. "Over here!" Tai blinked; "I think something's in here."

Matt didn't pay him any mind and replied, "It's probably just the wind; we haven't seen a village since we got here." Tai paused to consider this theory, and sighed, "…Maybe you're right…"

With curiosity still tingling his mind, Tai turned away from the bushes slowly, making sure it was just the wind that caused them to stir.

…But it wasn't; a pair of small, yellow spying eyes peered through the darkness of the plants, and then disappeared again.

Those pair of small yellow eyes had with them a body made entirely of gray rock, and with its little legs it dashed away from the traveling heroes, down the other side of the hill on which the travelers paused to rest, and skidded to a halt on the hill's base.

Standing there, waiting for their little spy, was the shadowed figures of Pridemon and perched on her shoulder like a pet was the little demonic Rookie, DemiDevimon.

The female shadow narrowed her red eyes to the Gotsumon, "So? They're here already?" The little gargoyle-like digimon nodded, "Yes, your eminence, just as you said they would be!"

"Excellent," grinned the dark Sin; she then commanded the Gotsumon, "Lead those fools to your village, and give them a hero's welcome." The Gotsumon saluted, "Yes, your eminence," and took off.

The nosy little DemiDevimon then turned to his mistress and sneered, "Are you sure this plan of yours is gonna work?" Pridemon gave him a stern smile, "One way or another, it will work. On one hand, I could have myself yet another corrupted Digi-Destined; and on the other, I'll at least see just what he and his friends are capable of."

She then turned away and added, "As for those rock-type digimon, they're not as easily-corrupted as the rest of them, so I need you to make sure that they follow my orders." With his wing for an arm, he saluted her, "Yes, ma'am!" He took off in a hurry, as she crossed her arms and thought aloud, "The idea of having the Children of Friendship and Courage at each other's throats yet again amuses me.

"But I have more important things to worry about, such as securing my Power Spine." Then just like that, she faded away like a shadow.

Just as Pridemon had expected, Tai, Matt and the others found their way down the other side of the semi-lush mountain with daylight still available in the sky. It was nearly sundown, but the boys had no trouble finding a stone path, which was almost as smooth as a real street, along the way.

Curiously, they followed this road, and it took them deep into a dark, gray plateau. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but then they spotted lights- streetlights, to be exact, made from candle-like torches. These street lamps were paved along the sides of the road, which could only mean one thing: a city was nearby.

Indeed, Tai and the others had discovered Rock City, a simple town with an equally simple name, made entirely out of the bottom of a mountain. Like the pueblos built by the ancient Anasazi of old in the real world, the city's houses and shops were carved from the inside out of the rocky mountainside.

And within them, awaiting the honored guests, were dozens of rock-type digimon: Gotsumon, Golemon, and of course, Rockmon. On top of that, a few dinosaur types, like Monochromon, Mammothmon and Tuskmon, made themselves at home here.

Normally, this city would be on the move; there were activities to be done that involved the great rolling river near town. But while Tai and company approached this strange new land, the citizens of this ancient-looking town weren't just going about their daily basis.

No, they had already donned their city with decorations; balloons, flags, streamers, and almost as soon as the humans and their partners set foot into town, they were welcomed by a chorus of cheers and were rained on by confetti. This took the guests completely by surprise; so much so, that they were utterly speechless.

But then, Matt and Tai noticed that some of the rock digimon were holding up banners that read, "Welcome, Heroes." That's when they realized, someone knew that they were the Digi-Destined, and that they knew they were coming.

So, when a few of the citizens of Rock City started to approach them, the heroes were a bit shied. There was one Rockmon that led the crowd of rock-made digimon that approached the traveling heroes, and he was donned in an outfit that came complete with a top hat, a black jacket, and a ribbon pinned on his chest that indicated that he was Mayor of this town. An old-fashioned trend, indeed, but it fit the old-fashioned atmosphere of the entire city.

He greeted the teens and their digimon by tipping his hat and smiling, "Greetings, heroes! I am Rockmon, Mayor of Rock City." Tai blinked, "Uh… hi! I'm Tai, this is Agumon, and this is Matt and Gabumon." Each of the mentioned digimon waved in response, and then Rockmon courteously said, "This may come as a surprise, but when we heard that the legendary Digi-Destined were on their way here, we couldn't help but celebrate. You and your feats have been well documented all throughout the digital world, you know."

Matt and Tai exchanged faces at each other, as Tai grinned, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot, it's been a while since we were here; we must be legendary by now." "Yeah," Matt nodded.

"Come!" cheered the Rockmon Mayor; "Let's show you around this place. You must have traveled far and need some rest." "Well," admitted Tai, "I am kinda tired."

"Not me," Matt disagreed; "I'm looking forward to this place…" With that in mind, the four travelers stepped deeper into the great pueblo that was Rock City.

On the surface, the city didn't look that expansive, but on the inside it was. Floors upon floors were stacked on top of each other like a pyramid effect, going on for miles. Tai, Matt and their digimon looked left and right in curiosity, and noticed something besides the random waves and cheers from digimon that they passed by.

Tai pointed it out, "This place is nice, but… all it is, is rock, right?" Leading them onward was the Mayor, who explained, "Not far from this mountain is a great river; we've been using it for our plumbing and drinking water so far, but what we need to do is get some electricity in this town.

"You see, we're in the process of building a great dam on the other side of the mountain; with it, we could use hydroelectric energy instead of simple fire torches. We'll need the light, especially in the cave areas of town."

Matt observed as they walked on, "So, you guys are just starting to get a little modern, eh?" The Mayor joked in reply, "Well let's face it, we're not living in the Stone Age anymore. Right? Might as well evolve with everybody else!"

The Mayor of Rock City had led them across a safe passage around the mountain's side, which took them to a clear sighting of the near-finished dam. It was a great, stone wall, built entirely of clay and boulders which were being transported by Monochromon and Tuskmon, then fashioned and placed by Golemon and Ankylomon.

Behind it stood the river in its original glory; surely, if the damn had not been there, most of Rock City would be underwater. As the Mayor had then explained, "We've been working on this project for a few months now, and it's near its completion at last. We make sure we use the strongest and most solid rocks, or else it could flood half of our city if it falls."

"Wow," sighed Tai, "you guys are good."

The Mayor smiled proudly, until he caught something zipping through the air. It was DemiDevimon, overlooking the scene while trying to avoid being spotted by the heroes.

The Rockmon Mayor gulped softly as he spotted the small demonic Rookie perch himself on a stalagmite in the distance, then giving the Mayor a sharp glare.

The Mayor then knew what he had to do; he turned to the humans and made a fake smile, "Come, come! We have something special for you heroes. It's back in the city. I'm sure you'll love it."

The Mayor was suddenly moving much faster, which startled the humans at first, but then they shrugged it off and followed him back.

There it stood, just at the base of the city: the main square. In it was a well-carved concert hall, made entirely of clay and rock, which was etched out from the very earth itself. Already, dinosaur and rock digimon were gathering to take their seats in it, and onstage already was a band of Gotsumon.

"Wow!" gasped an excited Matt; "It's a concert hall." The Mayor stood before them and presented it formally, "Welcome to the Rock City Music Hall. Since we have some electricity now, thanks to our new dam, we've decided to set up this place for entertainment. We were going to provide you with all of our own music, but if you like, we will allow you to join in."

Matt pointed to himself in surprise; "Me?" The Mayor nodded, "Why, yes! Aren't you the Digi-Destined that has his own rock band?" Tai couldn't help but chuckle at this; "Heh-heh-heh! Rock band… Made entirely of rock, for real! Hahahaha!"

Matt was not amused, but he was delighted in the thought of being famous even in the Digital World as a rock star. Matt blushed slightly, "How did you know?" "Like I said," explained the Mayor, "your feats have been well documented here, and that includes all of your feats in the real world."

The shy-natured Gabumon then blushed, "Uh, I think this is our fault, Matt. We kinda told a lot of our friends that you were a musician." Matt smiled to his friend, "Aww, you guys…"

"We really would like to hear you perform… uh, Matt, is it?" smiled the Rockmon Mayor. Matt was all too flattered by this invitation, but Tai stepped in and replied, "Why don't we just get a place to rest for a while first? We've had a-"

"I would love to perform," interrupted the energetic Matt. "Wha?" gasped Tai; "…Are you sure, Matt?" "Well, why not?" he replied; "I haven't gotten a chance to really enjoy myself for a while. Besides, I think they wanna hear some songs."

Tai seemed a little too protective of his friend, but he let it go by sighing, "Alright… Agumon and I'll look for a place to rest. You go ahead and… do your thing." While he said this, he gestured to the center stage, as if sarcastic about it. "I will," smiled his friend.

Then Matt and Gabumon went their separate ways from Tai and Agumon; Tai and his partner exited, while Matt and his partner approached the stage.

This was to be the first real chance for the citizens of Rock City to finally get a taste of their newfound electricity, let alone real music. So when Matt and Gabumon set foot onto the stage, the audience was all too ecstatic, and roared with applause.

Matt took up the lead guitar, and looked to a Gotsumon base player nearby, who said, "We memorized all your sings already, so we're ready when you are, Boss."

Matt gave him an upbeat nod in reply.

Gabumno, not yet familiar with any music instrument, casually stepped into the background, letting his partner have his moment in the sun. And so, the first song began…

(Begin original song, "I Don't Wanna Grow Up." The beat is similar to that of Green Day's "Basket Case")

I don't wanna grow up

I think I'll stick to being just a kid

I'm doing better than I ever did

The thought of aging makes me have a fit

I don't wanna grow up

I'm sick and tired of reality

It doesn't have originality

It doesn't fit my personality

'Cause if I ever grow up,

I'll have to stick with paying bills

And heart attacks and sleeping pills

And something else, called responsibility

It all just seems too much, you see

And I don't think it's meant for me

So I don't wanna grow up!

I wanna watch TV and sleep all day

I wanna always wanna get my way

Now what's the matter with that, anyway?

I don't wanna grow up

The thought of going bald frightens me

No other grown-up's really kind to me

And turning forty don't enlighten me

And I don't wanna get a job

I think I'd rather stay in school

And hang around with other cool kids

I don't wanna go by your rules no more

And what the heck's insurance for?

The whole thing sounds like such a bore,

So I don't wanna grow up!

But if I never grow up,

I'll still be living with my Mom

I'll never see my senior prom

You think I'm stupid, but I do have common sense

And maybe I should not resent

The thought of being President

Still, I don't wanna grow up!

I think I'll stick to being just a kid

I'm doing better than I ever did

The thought of aging makes me have a fit

I don't wanna grow up

I'm sick and tired of reality

It doesn't have originality

It doesn't fit my personality

Now I know this dream

Really is impossible

And growing old's unstoppable

And I'll bet you are thinking that I'm full of it

My friends think my dream should quit

But they're a bunch of hypocrites

'Cause they don't wanna grow up

The adult world is full of strife

And I don't want that in my life,

So I don't wanna grow up!

I don't wanna grow up!

I don't wanna grow up!

No, I don't wanna grow up!

(Song ends)

Needless to say, the sing had just about everyone jumping and dancing, and when it ended, the audience was in an uproar of jubilation.

And then, they would call an encore, as expected. And this same cycle of song playing, dancing and cheering for more would go on… and on… until the evening slipped in like a cunning fox on the hunt.

When evening did arrive, the boys settled down in a hotel, each one sharing a room with their digimon partner. Like most of the city, the building was made almost entirely out of rock, but luckily for them, the begs and couches were cushioned with feathers and leaves.

It was in their room when Matt and Gabumon continued to write the new song, the one that Matt had dedicated to Sora. As the young man wrote the music notes on one piece of paper, Gabumon started to read aloud the lyrics on the note pad:

"I must admit, I made mistakes

I should have known better than

To go behind your back like that…"

The digimon stopped there. He felt a little disturbed by these words, and so he turned to his partner and softly asked, "Matt? What exactly are you talking about in this song?" At first, the young man was too focused on figuring out the melody, but then he blinked, "Huh?…" Gabumon explained, "It says here that you made some mistakes. Is that true?"

Slightly humbled, Matt paused to think about it, and then admitted, "Well okay, there was at least one time I made a mistake, and it nearly cost me big time." "I don't understand," blinked the dragon in wolf's clothing.

Matt gave him a frown, letting him know that he wasn't quite ready to talk about it, so Gabumon apologized, "I'm sorry, Matt. I know it's none of my business, but-" "No," interrupted his friend, "it's okay… I might as well tell you, since I trust you with everything." Then, the story began…

"It was one night, when me and Sora planned on going out to the movies together. I told her we'd meet in the park, like we always do. But then, earlier that day, I got a call from my friends saying we were invited to a party downtown. At first, I said no, but then they promised that we'd get a chance to perform in front of a huge crowd. So I only went to promote the band.

"So I went… and I lost all track of time, and the next thing I knew it, we hitched a ride with some fan-girls who wanted to spend some time with us at an after party. At this point, I totally forgot about Sora; she was probably still there, waiting for me.

"It was only when we got dropped off at this motel, when I realized how far this was going. I knew that once I stepped in there with those fan-girls, I'd never be able to look at Sora in the eyes again. So at the very last minute, I backed out."

Gabumon smiled, "So, you stayed true to Sora! That's not so bad." But Matt sat on the couch with a hung head; he frowned, "Yeah… but she found out about it the next day from one of my big-mouth band mates, and… Well, long story short, I tried to explain the truth to her, she didn't believe it, we kinda broke up."

There was a brief pause between the two of them; Gabumon now understood why Matt had been so shady about Sora, and that it was killing his partner on the inside. Matt then sighed in conclusion, "…I guess I deserved getting yelled at, 'cause I put my band before her. I still feel pretty bad about it; that's why I hope this song can help her understand just how I feel. Maybe she'll forgive me."

Gabumon listened intently the whole time, and he smiled, "Don't worry, Matt; I'm sure she will." "You think so, buddy?" asked the young man; Gabumon nodded, "Sure. You two are perfect for each other, because you're the Child of Friendship, and she's the Child of Love. You just can't have one without the other."

Matt took a moment to contemplate this, but in his heart he felt that being a child no more meant that he couldn't represent the virtue of Friendship like he used to. He stared blankly out the window, the only one in the room that gave off a fair sheet of sunlight.

Somebody was eavesdropping on Matt and Gabumon's conversation in the hallway; it was a little pink digimon with a set of long antennae-like ears; one of which was arched upward to pick up every sound coming from the room.

The little creature bounced across the hall, into another room. This one was the room of Tai and his partner, Koromon.

Tai was sitting on the bed, waiting ever so patiently for whatever it was that Koromon heard in the other room. While he waited, he was fiddling with his digivice, which started beeping to his amazement.

That's when he realized that he had e-mail waiting to be read. "Huh," he chirped, and opened the e-mail. It was Izzy's message about the Power Spines; he read it very carefully, imagining Izzy's voice as he did so:

"Guys, it's Izzy. Earlier today, we discovered something about the Sin Digimon. Each of them has what's called a Power Spine; they're being used to turn everything around them evil, and I'm sure there's more to it than that. Anyway, I'll keep this message short: when you find a Power Spine- you'll know it when you see it- just use your battle crest to destroy it. You'll know how to do it once you get there; trust me. Gotta run; there's more to explore around here."

-Izzy

"Well, whaddya know," muttered Tai; he then noticed his little Trainee partner bouncing into the room, and he whispered, "Well? How did it go?" The little Trainee frowned in reply, "I felt silly; I don't think spying on Matt and Gabumon counts as 'getting to the bottom of this.'" But Tai didn't want to hear Koromon's complaint; he shook his head and replied, "Just tell me what you heard, please."

The little pink digimon blinked, "Well, you were right about one thing, Matt and Sora did get into a fight, and they did break up." "I knew it," growled Tai under his breath. He crossed his arms and turned away, as if he was disappointed in the fact that his suspicions have been right on the money.

"What else?" he wondered; Koromon added, "Well, he feels pretty bad about it, and he wants to get back with her." Tai then scratched his chin, as though plotting something diabolical; "I just don't understand. What happened between those two? They seemed so… I dunno…"

The curious little digimon bounced his way onto Tai's bed, sat beside him, and asked, "You're not jealous, are you Tai?" At first, the question didn't register to the young man's head; but then he blinked, "Huh? …What'd you say?"

Koromon smiled, "You seem so concerned about Matt and Sora; is it because you're so close to them, or is it something else?" "It's nothing," was all he could say at the moment. Then he turned away, and tried to forget that the whole moment never happened.

Then, Koromon's antennae-like ears picked up a new sound, one coming from the window by the wall. Tai noticed that his partner's ears shoot up in the air, and he gasped, "What is it?" "I'm picking up something from outside," replied the little Trainee; "It's a voice… and it sounds so familiar."

By the time they exited their hotel, Tai and Koromon lost track of the familiar voice, but thankfully they still heard the soft marching sound of feet, heading in a specific direction. As they secretly followed this marching sound, it led them to the pass across the mountain that would lead to where the dam was being built.

When they finally got there, Tai and Koromon observed from a safe hiding spot on a wall what was going on. With suspicion running wild in his eyes, Tai narrowed his gaze at one visible character that stood on the top of the dam; "It's DemiDevimon!"

Koromon saw it too, and gasped, "It can't be the same one we saw a couple years ago; he was working for Myotismon." "Who knows how many there are?" replied Tai; then he looked over to the other digimon present at the dam.

There, they saw a band of Tuskmon, Monochromon, Tyrannomon and Golemon being put to work, while DemiDevimon, in the tone of voice that Koromon picked up earlier, screeched out orders, "Alright! Be careful with that cable, you guys! Remember, Lady Pridemon wants this thing done by morning, so get moving! You there (Golemon)! Hup to it; you're not getting' paid for overtime! Hurry up, and cover up this path! Let's go, let's go! We ain't got all night!"

Koromon blinked, "Did you hear that? They're working for Pridemon." Tai nodded, but in wonder he asked, "Yeah, but… What exactly are they doing?" Koromon replied, "It looks like they're making an extension on the dam." Tai then suggested, "Let's get down there and take a closer look."

Indeed, they skidded down the slope to get a closer look at the construction going on, and hid behind what seemed to be a secluded pile of rubble.

They peeked out from behind the rubble and noticed that the Tuskmon were carefully placing a long, dark chord in the bed of the river, while the Golemon buried it with clay. Koromon kept his eye on the bossy DemiDevimon, and whispered to Tai, "Maybe I should digivolve and smash him." "No," Tai whispered back, "let's not endanger the other digimon. Let's just wait it out until we find out what they're doing here."

Wait, they did, until the bossy little DemiDevimon called out, "Hey! Somebody bring that pile over here. We need more cover-up!" Obeying the order was a Tuskmon, who scooped up the very pile of rubble that Tai and Koromon were hiding behind.

Now that they were in clear sight, DemiDevimon whipped himself around and gasped, "Huh? …HEY! It's those bratty kids! GET THEM!"

Though they really didn't want to, the rock and dinosaur digimon felt that they had no choice; so they turned around to face the heroes, and charged at them fiercely.

Tai and Koromon had no time to fight back, so all they did was scream and run, dodging everything from tossed rocks to flame-throwers, until at last they were cast into a deep ditch, about a mile away from the dam construction.

The dinosaurs and rocks overlooked the place where the heroes had fallen, and then the bossy little DemiDevimon perched himself on a Golemon and shouted, "Don't just stand there, you idiots! Somebody find those punks, before they ruin the plans!"

Out of fear, two Tuskmon skidded down into the ditch to find out where the heroes had fallen, but their search was in vain. All too quickly they gave up, and headed back up to where DemiDevimon was waiting for them.

When the coast was finally clear, Tai and Koromon peeked out from their hiding place, which was a small brush just at the base of the ditch. He didn't know it at first, but something was slightly different about Tai, as Koromon would soon discover.

With adrenalin pumping inside of him, Tai showed off his typical die-hard gaze as he shook a fist in anger; "I can't believe it! All this time we were here, those poor digimon have been slaves of Pridemon! It really burns me, how every time we're sent here another bad guy's pushing around all these innocent digimon! I swear, once I get my hands on that nasty Sin, I'm gonna show her who's boss!"

"Uh, Tai?" Koromon peeped.

"First, I'm gonna wipe that ugly smile off her face once and for all!"

"Tai?"

"Then, I'm gonna plow 'er into the ground, until I wipe that ugly face off her face! And I'm gonna do the same thing to all the other-"

"Your hair's on fire."

"Wha??"

"YOUR HAIR'S ON FIRE!!!"

Tai looked up; the tip of it WAS on fire, thanks to the previous attack!

"AAAAHH! AAAAAAAHHHH!!! OH MY GOD!! AAHHH!" screamed both human and digimon, as the panic-stricken Tai ran frantically to the small stream nearby.

Just as frantically, he threw his entire head into the water to put out the small flames in his hair. Surely, even after this, he'd still have plenty of hair to show off. But that was no longer a concern, once he realized the other object in the water…

He flipped his head out of the water and gasped, "Hey, Koromon! I think I found one of those dark cables!" "Lemmie see," bounced the curious Koromon.

Tai was able to lift it slightly above the water; as he and Koromon examined it, he suggested, "Let's find out where it leads to." Very carefully, Tai held onto the cable and allowed it to lead him away, with Koromon following close by.

Sure enough, the dark cable led Tai and Koromon right to the base of another mountain just a few miles West of Rock City. The first thing they saw looked like the effect of a geyser at first; but then they looked more closely at it, and gasped in horror at the sight. "Tai," muttered Koromon in worry, "that looks like a geyser, but it's spouting pure data!"

Tai focused on the fact that this peak they were looking at had a blue glow to it, and it was oddly shaped like a spire. Tai's bottom lip quivered as he replied, "…That's not a geyser, Koromon; it's not even a mountain, either… it's a Power Spine!"

"A what?" blinked the little digimon; Tai replied, "Izzy sent me a message earlier; he said we'd know those things once we saw 'em, and I'll bet my Crest that this is it!" He went on to say, "If Pridemon's bossing these Rock City digimon around, then that must mean that this is her Power Spine."

Then Tai glanced back down at the dark cable that they were following; sure enough, it led straight into the side of the Power Spine. Then, as if a light bulb turned on in his head, Tai gasped, "Oh! …I think I get it now. Those digimon are being forced to draw the Power Spine's control over to their city."

Koromon frowned, "So they're using the dam to bring it over here?" Tai paused to scratch his head, "I'm not sure… If they really wanted the Spine's power over there, why hide it?"

Then, another light bulb turned on in Tai's head; "Oh!" he gasped again, "They're gonna try to use it on US!" "That makes sense," nodded Koromon. Then the little digimon jumped, "We gotta tell Matt and Gabumon!"

"Oh no, you don't!" barked a familiar voice. Tai and Koromon turned around and gasped to see DemiDevimon standing atop a cliff above them. With the little demonic Rookie stood three Golemon, each armed with a gathering of rocks and debris.

The heroes let out a scream, but that seemed to be the only thing they could do, for DemiDevimon fluttered above the Golemon and shouted, "NOW! Hit 'em with everything you got! And don't even think about disobeying me, or I'll tell Pridemon! Now do it!"

Pridemon definitely made her mark in Rock City, for the Golemon were only slightly reluctant to obey DemiDevimon. Each of them tossed the rocks and debris down the cliff, where they would crash right down on Tai and Koromon.

The heroes tried to run for it, but found themselves trapped between the cliff's wall and the deep river. Thinking fast, Tai grabbed Koromon and used himself as a shield so that the impact of the falling rocks wouldn't hurt the Trainee so much.

In mere seconds, the heroes were buried in a pile of dust and rock. DemiDevimon giggled in victory, "Heheheheheh! Good work; they'll be there all night! Now, get back to work on the dam, before I summon the mistress!"

Feeling overpowered by intimidation, the Golemon only grumbled as they reluctantly followed DemiDevimon back to their city.

It seemed as though DemiDevimon was right; all there was to show where Tai and Koromon were was the black night sky, the flowing river, the untouched Power Spine in the distance, and a silent calm of the rubble at the bottom of the cliff.

If they weren't trying to dig their way out, Tai and Koromon were mostly likely knocked unconscious. Either way, they wouldn't surface until morning…

On that same day, early on in the morning, the blue Trailmon that had picked up Veedramon Zero at the northern forest station was already well on its way through a grassland in the northwest, when something unexpected happened.

Zero was sitting by a window all alone in the cart, sulking in his gloom and disappointment over the fact that his best friend, Taichi, seemed to have had chosen an Agumon over him.

The Trailmon's voice could be heard asking him, "Hey buddy, I got a couple stops to make before I head back to the beach cities down south. You wanna make a pit stop anywhere?" The aged Veedramon just replied, "Just keep going… I'm going no place special…" Then under his breath he added, "Not anymore."

And then it happened; a silver laser in the sky came down to earth like a comet, miles from the Trailmon tracks. It caught the weary eye of Zero, who gasped and widened his eyes like a cartoon character (which he is, but let's not be cynical here).

"What the??" he gasped as he then turned to the window to see what caught the corner of his eye. But when he did turn to see it, it was gone. Something was definitely out there, and so he was coaxed to announce, "Trailmon, stop!"

The voice of the Trailmon said, "But you said to keep going just a second ago." Zero argued, "Well, I changed my mind! Stop!"

"Well, my next stop's not till-"

"NOW!"

SCREE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EECH!!

The sudden stop made Trailmon's wheels combust into little sparks for a moment, but other than that, no serious damage was done.

Before long, Zero had hopped out of the Trailmon's cart, tipped him with, "Thanks!" and headed off into the vast grassy field in which he saw the comet-like light.

"You call that a dodge!? Honestly, Jun, I've seen cement dodge rain better than that! Fire another one, buddy!"

"X-LASER!"

WHOOSH! – BOOM!

Finally, a mystery has been solved: the comet effects were coming from Ex-Veemon's "X-Laser" attack, and the reason why he was using it was for a training program that his partner Davis had made up for his sister Jun, and her partner Penguinmon. The problem? Jun and Penguinmon weren't into it at all.

They tried to play the game of "Extreme Dodgeball," but the Champions attacks caused more then just small craters in the ground.

After two or three tries, Jun and Penguinmon were lying on the ground, exhausted and covered with dust from the earth's debris.

Like a drill sergeant, Davis approached the two of them with Ex-Veemon by his side and chided, "You call yourselves Digi-Destined? You gotta do better than that if you're gonna go up against Greedmon in his Power Spine tower! Now drop and give me twenty!"

His sister glared at him with half-open eyes; "We're already on the ground." "Then let's go! Let's go!" insisted her brother; "Ex-Veemon, you go join them; drop and give me twenty!" His partner "dropped" by di-digivolving, and then blinked, "Twenty what?" "Push-ups!" barked the young man; "Let's go! Move it! Move it!"

In a matter of minutes, Jun, Veemon and Penguinmon were all trying their hardest at doing push-ups, and only Veemon was succeeding at it while the other two were as quick about it as slugs.

Davis continued on his drilling by marching back and forth in front of the three of them, saying, "I know this is hard, but getting through Greedmon's tower's gonna be even harder! Your little friend here won't be able to become an Ultimate without your Crest, so if we just keep working out, he might be strong enough to cause some damage!"

With her arms shaking, Jun complained, "Well, why do we have to fight? Why can't we just sneak in and out of there?" "Yeah," added the even shakier Penguinmon; "My flippers can't take much more of this pushing."

Davis replied with, "We have an old saying back in our world: No pain, no gain! The more you work at this, the better you'll get at it! My own dear, sweet sister used to drill me on that when I was failing in school, and I've OWED her for that for years!"

Jun sighed, "I guess this was coming a long time ago…" Soon after that, she collapsed, and Penguinmon promptly followed her. "Come on, get up!" Davis demanded with a stomp of his foot; "We're not getting anywhere!" "You got that right," moaned Jun; "You made us lose our legs!"

"…Daisuke?"

Davis's eyes bulged at the sound of a voice coming from the small hill behind him. He didn't recognize it, but somehow he knew it was directed at him. With a gasp, he whipped himself around to see who had said that name. Sure enough, there he was standing on the hill with a gleam in his eye that spelled out nostalgia: Veedramon Zero. "Daisuke," he muttered, "…is that you?"

Davis didn't know him at all, and took offense at this digimon's comment; he narrowed an eye and asked with a mean tone, "Did you just call me Dice-Gay??" His sister knew better and yelled at him, "No, stupid; he said Daisuke!" "Oh," blinked the clueless Davis.

He took a moment to breathe, and then Zero blinked, "…Isn't that your name? Daisuke Motomiya?" Surprised at how close this strange new digimon was to the truth, Davis replied, "Well, that is my last name, but… My first name's Davis!"

The aged Veedramon approached the humans and young digimon graciously with a smile, as if he totally ignored what the young man just said.

Meanwhile, Jun and the digimon got to their feet, recovering from their weakness instantly. "Davis," Jun asked softly, "who is this?" He turned to her and replied just as softly as to not let the big blue guy hear, "I don't know."

But the aged Veedramon did hear, and he smiled, "It's me! Zero! …Veedramon Zero; we met a long time ago and had some adventures together, with Taichi. Don't you remember?"

There was a pause; Davis had to think fast and recollect every shred of memories he had had in the past eight years. Sadly, none of them had shown signs of Veedramon Zero, and so he was poised to say, "I'm sorry, I-"

"Humor him, Davis," nudged his sister all of a sudden. Perhaps she was curious to hear more about the aged Veedramon, or perhaps she felt sorry for him. Whatever the reason why she wanted him to play this part, Davis understood and corrected, "Uh, what I meant to say was… I'm sorry I forgot."

The old Veedramon let out a relieved smile, "Aww, that's alright! It's been what, twenty years? Well, for me at least; you look like you only aged ten! Aww, it's so good to see a familiar face again, after all this time!"

Jun blinked, "Wow… Why does time move twice as slow here?" Zero replied with, "I'm not really sure," but then he looked and saw the younger version of himself standing beside Davis, and cooed with delight, "Awww, and look at this little guy!"

Then like a member of the family, he knelt down to Veemon's level, picked him up proudly and smiled, "You're Daisuke's Veemon, aren't you? Aren't you happy to see your ol' Uncle Zero?" Confused and a little scared, Veemon giggled nervously with seat drops; "Eh-heh… Heh-heh-heh… Da-vis??"

Seeing his little partner glance over to him for help, the boy who would be Daisuke replied, "Uh yes, he's my Veemon. You seem to know him, too." Zero put the little one down and said, "I remember most of the past vaguely, but I do remember seeing you, Daisuke."

Davis just stared at him blankly; did this Veedramon really know him, or was this a case of mistaken identity?

Tickled by all of this, Jun asked kindly, "So, Zero, where're you coming from?" "Oh," he replied with a look of pain, "…I was just coming back from the northern mountains… I, uh, thought something was there for me to see… but I was wrong." He didn't want to be reminded of what looked like the ultimate betrayal, and so he changed the subject with, "So, kids, what're you all doing here?" Davis answered, "We're trying to get ready for a big battle; one of the Sin Digimon has my sister's Crest, and we-"

"SISTER?" blasted the shocked Zero, as his bug eyes were then set on Jun; "You never told me you had a sister!" He then took a bow and said to her, "My lady! Pleased to make your acquaintance." Jun was flattered by this and giggled, "It's Jun, and the pleasure's all mine."

Davis grew impatient and huffed, "Okay, can we please get back to training now? We got a big fight ahead of us!" Never backing down from a challenge before, Zero pointed to himself and stated, "I'm still a great fighter. Why don't you let me come with you?"

Reluctant in replying, Davis turned to his sister for an answer, then after not getting one, he turned back to the Veedramon and said, "Are you sure? It's gonna be really dangerous."

But then Jun argued, "Come on, Dav- I mean Daisuke- we're gonna need all the help we can get!" "It's all underwater," remarked her narrow-eyed brother.

Then Zero smiled proudly, "I'm great underwater! I've been in Sea City, which is the home of Oceanamon herself! Maybe we can make a stop down there and see her, and she can help us get to… uh… Where exactly are you going?"

Davis then stunned his impatience long enough to say, "It's called a Power Spine; there're these evil Sin Digimon that're using them to control the whole digi-world. We gotta knock 'em down one by one, before they turn everything evil, or something."

"Right," nodded Jun.

The aged Veedramon then stretched himself and said, "Well then, we better get moving! We can use the Trailmon to take the fast way down there, and-" "Actually," smiled Davis, "we have an even faster way to go!"

He then turned to the digimon Rookies nearby and nodded, "Ready?" "Mm-hmm," they nodded back in reply.

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

"VEEMON, DIGIVOLVE TO……………………. EX-VEEMON!"

"PENGUINMON, DIGIVOLVE TO………….SABERDRAMON!"

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

"Wow," blinked the impressed Veedramon, at the sight of his slimmer, winged alternate version of himself and the giant black bird next to him. Jun was the first to mount Saberdramon, and waved to the boys, "Come on!"

And soon enough, the earth-bound heroes were carried off into the air by Saberdramon, with Ex-Veemon not far away. Off they flew, to the south and to their next adventure.

That same morning…

Thump…. Thump! …

BOOM!

"RAAAAAAARRR!!"

Greymon was never one to take things lightly, not even when it came to wake up and force his way out of the pile of rubble in which he and his partner Tai were trapped all night long.

"Tai," he muttered, as he realized that his human friend was still out of it. The giant dinosaur gently scooped up his dust-covered friend into his claw, freeing him at last from the rock prison.

Tai coughed and gagged himself to consciousness; "Ugh…" he sighed as he brushed the dirt out of his tangled hair, "…what happened?" "Sorry, Tai," frowned Greymon; "I just woke up, and I realized we were buried in that sand trap."

"Sand…" muttered the confused human. Then as he coughed, he gasped in realization, "Oh-(Cough!)-oh! Right! The Power Spine. It…"

He looked around to find it, and so did Greymon; to their shock, it seemed to have vanished; all that stood in its place was a narrow mountaintop. "What the-!" gasped Tai; "It's gone!" gasped Greymon; "But how??"

Tai narrowed his eyes, "Pridemon must be hiding it from us…" He was still brushing the dist off his sleeves when he added, "There's no time to lose! We gotta warn Matt and Gabumon about all this, before it's too late!" "Right," agreed the giant dinosaur.

He then placed the still dusty Tai on his helmeted head, and off he marched back to Rock City.

By the time they got there, and Greymon had reversed back into Agumon, Matt was already playing one of his songs in the concert hall. As usual, he had a captive audience of dinosaurs and living rocks.

Tai and Agumon dashed onto the stage, interrupting the song altogether, and paused to breathe. Sweat was already running down their necks, which mixed in with the dirt that remained on their bodies; at the sight of them, Matt sneered, "Where've you guys been? …You're a mess."

"Matt," panted Tai, "…There's… a problem! We gotta get outta here, now." Matt turned away and refused, "No, I like it here. These guys love me; I'm famous!"

Tai's eyes widened, "Dude! We got us a world to save; don't you remember? The Digi-Keepers? The Sins?"

"So what?" muttered the blonde; "Let the other guys handle it; we could use the break for once."

Tai and Agumon paused to exchange frowns to each other, then Tai tried again, "Listen, Matt; there's a Power Spine near here, and it's-"

Then, as Matt whipped his head around to glare Tai in the eye, he could finally see that Matt's blue eyes were darkened and without irises; the blonde hissed, "Look! I'm sick and tired of fixing everybody else's problems. If those Keepers are so weak, then they deserve to be caught!"

Tai and Agumon gasped in horror; it seemed that they were too late to warn Matt about the Power Spine's effects, for they were already working on Matt. "…oh no…" muttered Tai in despair; "it's started already…"

That's when Gabumon showed up; he had been working all night and all morning on that new song Matt wanted to write for Sora; now it was completed and already put on paper. Joyously, Gabumon approached his partner and smiled, "Matt! Hey, Matt! I did it; I finished the song, now you can sing it!"

Tai saw him coming, and just when the little Rookie came his way, Tai took him by the arm and softly warned, "Get away from him, Gabu… He's not himself right now."

Stunned Gabumon gasped, "What's wrong with him? …Matt?" He looked to his lifelong friend and partner for answers, but to Tai's fear, the young man glared at Gabumon with those dark eyes and sneered, "What do you want?"

The shy little creature gulped, "…Umm… I finished your song. You can play it whenever you want now, Matt. I hope you like it." He then bravely took a step forward, when Matt declared pompously, "I don't need a new song; I'm just fine with the ones I have." Gabumon blinked, "But this is the one you write for Sora. You said she'd like it."

Tai and Agumon took a step back, fearing that this would not end well, as Matt replied to Gabumon, "You're always hounding me; why don't you hang out with someone else for a change? You know, like someone who actually cares?"

Even though Tai knew better, he remarked, "Listen to yourself, Matt! You'd never talk to Gabumon like that." "I can talk to him however I want," snapped the young musician; then he turned back to Gabumon and harshly said, "If you really want to help me out, then you'll leave me alone! I'm a little busy up here, and there's a huge crowd of digimon that wanna hear my music."

Gabumon frowned, "But I just-"

"Just go!" barked his friend; the tone of his voice was sharp enough to send a chill down the little Rookie's spine.

He had no choice now but to back down; and so he did, with a heavy heart he declined from the stage and moped away into a corner. As he did, Tai called to him, "Don't worry, Gabumon! We'll get to the bottom of this!"

Tai then turned back to Matt and harshly declared, "And you! I don't care if you're not yourself right now; you'll be sorry once this is all over. Come on, Agumon; let's get that Power Spine before he gets any worse!" "Yeah," peeped Agumon.

It was then, as they were turning towards the exit lane of the concert hall, when Tai and Agumon caught sight of the Rockmon Mayor. They watched him tip-toeing away from the concert hall, looking timid as usual.

They knew this was an opportunity knocking, and they took it instantly.

Tai and Agumon carefully followed the Mayor of Rock City from the concert hall to a downtown alleyway. There, Tai had already slipped into his battle gear, and once he had the Mayor right where he wanted him, he grabbed him from around a corner and forced him into a corner.

Normally, a Rockmon would be a bit of a challenge even for a human in special armor; but this one was obviously a victim of Pridemon's power, and shook with fear at the sight of Battle-Geared Tai.

"Alright!" Tai snorted fiercely as he raised a claw to the Rockmon's face, "You know what's going on around here, now tell us!" The Rockmon glanced at him and Agumon, and sweat-dropped with defeat, "Okay, okay. I'll tell you…"

Then he gulped, "Pridemon's Power Spine's been hiding in the valley all this time; it's been zapping us of all our courage; now we're all too scared to disobey her, or her little demon flunkie."

Tai narrowed an eye, "So that explains why you guys are such wimps, but what about Matt? What's making him act so weird?"

The Mayor replied timidly, "The Power Spine's been connected through a dark cable; it goes straight from the Spine itself to our dam. Pridemon's using our new source of power to charge the Spine's dark energy all over town, and…"

He paused to take a breath, then he concluded, "And your friend is being corrupted, through his own music."

Tai gasped, "Oh! So that's why you wanted him to play his music; so that Pridemon could control him!" "Yes," nodded the Mayor; "…but it's not fool-proof. You see, Pridemon knows just about every song your friend's made. So, if there's any chance there'd be a new song…?"

Tai then glanced to Agumon, who gave him a nod of affirmation; "…There is a new song."

Not too long after this confrontation, Agumon found his way back to the concert hall to find Gabumon. He found the little dragon in wolf's clothing sitting by the stage, looking very depressed.

The little yellow dinosaur wasted no time in running up to Gabumon and explain the whole story to him. Nobody else seemed to care, because they were all rehearsing onstage.

Once he got the whole story, Gabumon blinked, "Are you sure about this, Agumon? What if it doesn't work?" Agumon replied, "We've gotta give it a try, otherwise we'll never get Matt back." Gabumon frowned in horror to think that he'd never have the old Matt back, so he nodded, "…Okay. I'll talk to him, but it won't be easy."

Agumon smiled to him, "You can do it, Gabumon. I know you're shy, but you'd do anything for your friends. Even if that means you gotta push them around." Gabumon smiled back, now feeling confident in himself. "Go and help Tai find the Power Spine," he said; "I'll do my best with Matt."

"Right," replied Agumon, and he took off. When he did, Gabumon took a moment to think over what he needed to say to his human partner, while gazing almost blankly at the piece of paper, which had written on it the new song, in his claw.

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

"AGUMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO……….. (Greymon) ………. (Metal Greymon) ………WAR GREYMON!"

------------ End vision ------------

While Tai had had own body armor painted in black, silver and gold, War Greymon was the real McCoy; a humanoid dinosaur with the ability to fly like a jet. And fly like a jet he did, to the valley where Pridemon's Power Spine was last spotted.

Tai was already there, flying around in his battle gear in a frantic search for the Power Spine. "I know it's here somewhere!" he shouted to himself, when War Greymon promptly arrived.

War Greymon took it upon himself to start glancing around for clues too; he concluded, "I'll bet those digimon buried everything; the dark cable and the Power Spine. Now we'll have to guess where they are."

Tai frowned, "That means we gotta level this entire valley!" "I know," sighed his Mega partner, "it's risky… But it's the only chance we've got."

Tai knew there was no other way, so he nodded, "Okay… Let's attack the ground until we get the dark cable. Then that'll lead us to the Spine." It was a good idea indeed, and to show that he understood, War Greymon nodded.

"TERROR BARRAGE!" Tai started; his balls of sun-fire wasn't as large as War Greymon's "Terra Force," but firing many at one time like fastballs at a homerun derby seemed like a good-enough. Like large bits of hail, they rained down on the earth until one area was completely leveled, but alas, no dark cable.

Next, it was War Greymon's turn; "TERRA FORCE!" With a fireball the size of an SUV or two, one would think that he could incinerate the hidden dark cable easily; but alas, he must have missed it because nothing seemed to happen but a crater in the ground.

A few more tries were all it took to awaken the frustrated Pridemon; she had been camping out in the valley all night, waiting for this scene to take place. Now she was compelled to fade into the scene like a shadow, only now she was in her true form- an elegant figure, dressed like a Queen of Hearts- or something long those lines- but with a menacing set of arms and fingers that seemed too long to even maneuver. But then one could see that they were more than fingers; they were grappling hooks as well, and when joined together back to back, they could shape out a pair of swords.

Her face was white like a mask, but her ruby-red lips hid behind them a pair of vampire-like fangs; she hissed, "You there! How dare you attack my beautiful valley!"

Tai and War Greymon heard this, and turned to her in surprise; "Oh, there you are!" Tai smugly remarked to her; "I was wondering when you'd show your ugly face, Pridemon!"

She growled, "Try all you want to find my Power Spine, you fools! But I must warn you: Keep trying like that, and you'll not only knock it down, but you'll risk deleting this entire mountain range!"

Tai and War Greymon glanced at each other, and then Tai replied, "Okay then; we'll just take you out first." The Sin then gave him a small grin, "Heh… Fat chance."

Gabumon knew he had to take a stand, and that the time to do it was now. He entered the concert hall again, this time with a fierce look in his eyes. He marched up to the stage, where Matt and the band of Gotsumon were already gearing up for their next song, as the audience continued to chant for a show.

"Matt," peeped the little Rookie in wolf's clothing; with blank eyes, Matt replied coldly, "Whaddaya want now, Gabumon?" His little partner shook off the fear at last and said, "It's okay, Matt… I understand now why you're not yourself. But I wanna help you get over it."

"Leave me alone," warned the entranced human, as he started to tune his guitar.

Gabumon stood his ground and continued, "I know that it's your music that's hypnotizing you, and I know Pridemon is behind it. She knows all your songs… except one. This one."

With that, the little Rookie held up a sheet of music paper and explained, "This is the song you wanted to write for Sora. I finished it for you, and now you're gonna play it."

Ignoring him, Matt turned on the microphone and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna resume the concert in just a moment." This didn't phase Gabumon; he blinked, "I know you're in there, my friend, and I know you can hear me. If you won't play the song, then I'll start it for you."

The brave little Rookie made his way to the edge of the stage, ready to jump on it, but nearby sat DemiDevimon, the small yet useful servant of the great Daemon. He saw Gabumon coming and knew his plan, and called out to the nearby bodyguard Monochromon, "Hey! Stop that guy, he's gonna ruin the show!"

The Monochromon did indeed charge at Gabumon, but the little Rookie saw him coming; not only did he dodge the attack, but he jumped up on the monster's face and used it to boost himself up onto the stage.

Desperately, DemiDevimon decided to take care of this himself, and charged at Gabumon. "BLUE BLASTER!" countered Gabumon; with his blue dragon breath, he sent the little pipsqueak of a demon flying. Not only did he fly, but he also bounced off the walls backstage like a pinball, until he bounced right out of the scene.

This commotion was enough to make Matt and his band of Gotsumon pause and stare at him. For a moment, there was peace.

But then, Gabumon climbed up onto the piano on stage, set the sheet of music paper before him, and turned to the Gotsumon; "'Evolution of My Heart,' you guys. D minor/F Major."

They had already learned this song from Gabumon himself, and nodded to him to show that they were ready to play it. Matt, on the other hand, was lost and blinked, "Huh?" Before he could argue, Gabumon had already begun to play the beginning chords on piano…

(Begin "Evolution of My Heart," an original song that changes from D minor to F Major between verses and the chorus; believe it or not, this song was inspired by Yellowcard's "My Only One," but it does not follow the same melody or rhythm)

Matt stood there like a lost child, as Gabumon opened up the song, followed by the Gotsumon introducing their drums and guitars to the beat. Gabumon had no choice but to start the lyrics on his own, and for a digimon with a throaty voice like his, he didn't do too bad of a job:

(Gabumon) I'm sick of this; let's break this wall

That stands here between us two

I know you're mad, and I know why

I just wasn't clear with-

You caught me lying, when I said I'm over you

(Gabumon/Matt) I tell you now, it wasn't true!

Finally, after a brief moment of forgetting his place, Matt's memories kicked in, and with a newfound confidence in himself, he took over the lyrics from there.

You're the reason why I breathe,

You mean everything to me, you're my salvation

All the lovers in the world,

Please believe that you're my only one

I must admit, I made mistakes

I should have known better than

To go behind your back like that

I just didn't know then

What I was feeling was more than a childish crush

Now nothing matters more than us!

You're the reason why I breathe,

You mean everything to me, you're my salvation

All the lovers in the world,

Please believe that you're my only one

(Song continues)

Pridemon could hear the second chorus being played from where she stood outside. She gasped in horror, hearing a song she had never heard before being played; "What is that?? Is that a new song I hear?"

She let her guard down for one moment to glance in the direction of the concert hall, and gasped, "How could he? That little-" She was then cut off by the impact of War Greymon and Battle-Gear Tai ramming themselves into her side.

(Song continues)

Very quickly, as the song progressed, Matt was feeling like his old self again, and it showed in his eyes, which were now back to their original blue.

I've started an evolution of

The pain in my heart, and now it's love

There's no turning back, I must move on (Sing it, Gabu!)

(Gabumon) And I want you to come along!

You're the reason why I breathe,

You mean everything to me, you're my salvation

All the lovers in the world,

Please believe that you're my only one

You're the reason I'm alive,

You just brighten up my life, just like the sun

All the lovers in the world,

Please believe that you're my only one

You're my only one!

(Song ends)

The audience was enthralled by the joyful attitude of the song, and as it ended, they gave the band a standing ovation. This ovation was unlike any other; they honestly enjoyed that unexpected performance.

Matt paused to let the crowd's cheers take him in, and led the band on their bows. But then, he turned to the little Rookie at the piano, and smiled. Gabumon smiled back, but when then slightly surprised to see his old friend approach him.

As he faced Gabumon, Matt gave a frown, "Gabumon… I'm sorry I acted like such a jerk. I dunno what came over me." Gabumon smiled graciously, "It's okay, Matt. Pridemon was just using you, but I knew the new song would snap you out of it."

The young man smiled as he scratched the little Rookie's head in gratitude, "What would I do without you, lil' buddy?" Gabumon blushed, "Actually, it was really Tai and Agumon that came up with-" Alarmed, he two of them looked at each other more closely and gasped, "Tai!"

At that point, Pridemon had no choice but to fight, so she pressed her extra-long fingers together and formed two swords and lashed at her enemies. War Greymon had the left sword covered, while Tai worked his way around the right.

The Sin, on the other hand, was as tall as ten stories of a building, so cutting through her or her weapons had proven to be a problem due to her size alone. And on top of that, she was fast; she has all of their moves down already, and acted as though she could predict their every move.

Then, after a few minutes of sword clashing with the enemies, she had enough and forced them back with one blow of her sword-hands. She then prepared to use one of her own special attacks by moving back herself. That's when the chains around her waist began to move; they spread out around her like the tail feathers of a peacock; they had black mirrors all around them, diamond-shaped and were attached to the chains like jewels.

Then she announced it: "DEVASTATING TREACHERY!"

This was an attack Tai and War Greymon thought they would never see; out of one mirror came War Greymon's "Terra Force;" out of another, Metal Garurumon's "Ice Wolf Bite;" from another, Imperial Dramon's attack; from another, Gran Kwagamon's attack. Every single one of Pridemon's black mirrors released the exact copy of a Mega digimon that was a member of the Digi-Destined team. And they all came out at once, at these two unsuspecting souls.

Tai and War Greymon did their best to dodge each copied attack, but as Pridemon declared, "You can't dodge ALL of them!"

It was true; War Greymon did take two hits; one from Seraphimon's "Strike of The Seven Stars" and the full force of Hercules Kabuterrimon's "Giga Scissor Claw."

Tai took a hit as well, from Imperial Dramon's "Mega Crusher," and like his partner, he got slammed into a mountainside, and stayed there like a splattered fly on a window shield.

"How pathetic," cooed the overconfident Pridemon, as she lowered her chained weapons and approached her enemies; "I thought you two were the crowned jewels of Gaiamon's creations. You, Tai Kamiya, were the glue that held the team together; and you, War Greymon, were one of the first of the digimon heroes to fully evolve. …Now you're both flies on a wall. It's sad, really; I thought you were going to give me a challenge."

"You want a challenge?" growled the voice of another Digi-Destined; Pridemon was taken by surprise as she turned around to see a fast-approaching Battle-Gear Matt flying on the back of Metal Garurumon; Matt added, "Try dodging THIS!"

With the force of a hurricane, Matt and Metal Garurumon collided with Pridemon, nearly knocking the wind out of her. They had successfully hit her hard, because together they combined the Mega digimon's brute strength with the power of Matt's battle gear.

As Pridemon fell to her knees, Tai winced as he looked up at the sight of his friends and smiled, "It's Matt… He's back."

"Hit 'er with everything you got, Metal Garurumon!" roared Matt; his friend replied with, "ICE WOLF BITE!" Just like that, a series of torpedoes launched from the robotic wolf's body, and homed in on Pridemon. She took the full force, and was unscathed by it; she hissed, "Nice try, but I've already memorized that move. Let's see if YOU can take it!"

One of her chained mirrors then launched a carbon copy of "Ice Wolf Bite" at the approaching Mega hero; he was taken by surprise, and just barely dodged all of the torpedoes. Those that didn't scrape him went flying into random mountainsides and slopes.

War Greymon was almost freed from the mountainside when he uttered, "That's it… Pridemon will find the Power Spine for us…" Tai understood and quickly wiggled his way out of the mountainside to which he and his partner were pinned. He acted fast and jumped in front of Pridemon, just as she was about to go after his friends, and chided, "Come on, Pridemon. You call that an attack? I dare you to try it again."

The Sin narrowed her red eyes, "You're too big for your britches, little man;" she then took his challenge and roared, "DEVASTATING TREACHERY!"

Like the tail feathers of a peacock, her series of chained mirrors unfolded again, and launched all twelve Mega attacks from the heroes. But where he had failed before in dodging them, Tai tried again by circling around the Sin as quickly as he could.

As he did so, she launched the copied attacks one by one, not yet realizing that they would find their way to every tower of rock that was visible. Tai had gotten his desired result of this; the copy of Pheonixmon's "Crimson Flame" had pierced into the side of Pridemon's hidden Power Spine.

Once a little bit of it was exposed, the whole cover-up came crumbling off. Pridemon realized too little too late what had happened, and howled, "NO-O-O!" Matt knew what to do next; he shouted, "Tai! Take care of that thing; I'll hold her off!"

Indeed, he and Metal Garurumon teamed up to hold off Pridemon, while the already battle-worn Tai and War Greymon made speed to the Power Spine.

If this wasn't an emergency, Tai and War Greymon might have enjoyed the sight of the blue sparkle of the Power Spine's interior. In fact, they did take a moment to gaze at it, while staring in awe at the massive data whirlpool. But then, they went straight to work; "Let's finish this once and for all," declared Tai with a raised fist; "Yeah," nodded his Mega partner.

Then Tai, overcome with a sense of familiarity as the others had been, raised up his battle crest and new just what to say:

"COURAGE'S LIGHT, ENERGIZE!"

With that, a bright orange beam of data shot out from his crest, into the core data, and reconfiguring it into the same shade of orange as the very symbol of the Crest of Courage. In no time, the deep blue walls were changed to bright, shiny orange.

By this time, Metal Garurumon had already been knocked out cold and, as Tsumonmon, lying helplessly on the earth, while Pridemon had Matt right where she wanted him, in her abnormally long-fingered clutch.

She was just about to impale him with her sword for a right hand, when she heard the unpleasant sound of her tower being demolished from the inside out.

Caught off guard, she glanced in the direction of the Power Spine, and just as she feared, it was already crumbling to bits as the heroes of Courage came flying out of it.

As quick as lightning, Tai and War Greymon approached her in mid-air, both of them aiming their respective claws at her; "Let 'im go," warned Battle-Gear Tai, as War Greymon growled with him. At first, Pridemon had the look of shock due to her sudden defeat, but then to the surprise of her enemies, she snickered. Then she obeyed Tai by releasing the weakened Matt from her deadly grip.

He went falling, and crashed down by Metal Garurumon's side; once side by side, the two of them di-digivolved; Matt shed his armor, while his partner warped back into his In-Training form, Tsunomon.

Then, to the amazement of her enemies, Pridemon clapped her vicious hands together and modestly said, "Bravo, bra-vo." She then folded her hands together and smiled, "It seems I've underestimated you two, but then, you'll still have to defeat me."

War Greymon replied, "We're not afraid of what happens to us, as long as we get a piece of you!" The Sin grinned, bearing her vampire-like fangs, "You simple-minded creatures have no idea what I, and my siblings, am capable of. As we speak, my brother Gluttonymon is beginning a major assault on one of your precious Digi-Keepers."

"You lie!" growled War Greymon, but Pridemon kept her cool and smiled, "If you don't believe me, then go ahead and waste your lives right now! I look forward to crushing you into the dust, just as you had my Power Spine."

On the ground below sat the dusty Matt cradling his partner Tsunomon. They overheard what was being said, and were greatly disturbed by it. Matt looked up and shouted, "Tai! What if she's telling the truth?"

Pridemon kept her focus on the confused Tai and said, "Are you really willing to risk your life, while Gaiamon remains threatened by an even greater enemy?" Tai paused, trying to think as fast as his mind would allow on which road to follow.

War Greymon, meanwhile, looked to his partner and said, "Tai… Whatever you choose, I'll follow." It was apparent now that the ball was in Tai's court, and he had to hit it now; he winced as he sighed, "Alright… We can't let anything happen to the Digi-Keepers. We gotta head back to Gaiamon, and pronto!" "Right," nodded Matt from below.

"A wise decision," nodded the overconfident Pridemon, who soon got a remark from Tai in reply, "Don't get so smug, Pridemon; we're not finished here, and we'll be back for you before you know it!" "Hmph," she muttered as she began to phase out into the air like a shadow, "…Don't be so eager to die, boy; you still have your whole life ahead of you."

War Greymon hurried to collect Matt and Tsunomon into his heavily-plated arms; "Are you two alright?" he asked them. Matt gave him a nod, and then he looked to Tai with concern; "Tai? You okay?" Tai nodded, "Yeah… As much as I'd like to give that Sin what she deserves, we gotta put the Digi-Keepers first. So let's get back to Gaiamon, before something bad really does happen to her."

There were no arguments there, and not too long afterwards, the four of them took off; a gust of wind followed their trail in the air.

Not too far from this scene stood the Rockmon Mayor and several of his citizens. They watched in awe as the heroes left their beloved Rock town in a flash. As his top hat and ribbon danced in the wind, the Mayor held up the battered DemiDevimon by a wing, and threw him into the air; "Get out of here," he growled with newfound confidence, "before we make mincemeat outta you!"

The little demon skidded through the air, but then caught the wind in his wings; as he fluttered, he hissed, "You just wait! This place is all gonna belong to the Sin Digimon, and THEN you'll be shakin' in your boots! ALL o' ya!" He then made a timid snicker as he carried himself off into the air, and out of sight.

The Mayor of Rock City then turned his attention back to the direction in which the heroes left. He let out a sigh, "There they go again… off to save the digital world, one city at a time. They truly are legends in the making."

The Rock Town citizens nodded in agreement; they knew that they had their freedom back, and it was thanks to those fated travelers.

Now those fated travelers were heading back to where they started, in the very heart of the continent where they feared Gaiamon, Keeper of the digital Land, was in jeopardy.

TO BE CONTINUED