Digimon: The Digital Keepers Saga Chapter 23: Know Thyself, a digimon fanfic

(Author's Note: Some material in this chapter is based on a plot of the original series and may inadvertently contradict some elements to it, so my apologies to the creators of Digimon. Also, due to intensified violence, graphic song lyrics and dark themes, this story is now rated PG-13, and is no longer appropriate for children under 13.)

"Penguinmon and I had been waiting for this day to come- now, with the help of Davis and Veemon, as well as a new friend named Veedramon Zero, we were all set to take down Greedmon's Power Spine and win back my Crest of Humility. I gotta tell ya, it was even harder than I imagined, 'cause not only did we have to fight the Sin, but we also had to break through his dark influence. We were made to believe that we were back home, and that we should stay in our world for good. If it weren't for my friends, I would have fallen for that cheap trick, but I broke free and now I'm officially part of the group! But wait… whatever happened to Zero? Is he gone forever?"

-Jun

DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA

Book Twenty-Three: "Know Thyself"

It was nearing sundown as Davis, ExVeemon, Jun, and Saberdramon were flying high in the sky back to the Great Gardens. They had also completed their latest mission, and it showed as Jun's purple crest glittered proudly on a golden bracelet around her left wrist.

But this wasn't a complete victory; despite their excitement over defeating Greedmon's power, they were without their newest friend, Veedramon Zero. The last they saw of him was falling to certain doom in Greedmon's underwater lair; even though he showed great strength, he was still just a Champion, and one that needed to breathe air.

So while Davis, Jun and their partners felt that they had to celebrate this victory, they were troubled at the same time, believing that their new ally had made his last stand. That's why, during their aviated trip into Gaiamon's realm, they showed signs of neither joy, nor sorrow.

It would be mid-sundown before the team would show up at the foot of Gaiamon herself; still in her willow tree form, she rested comfortably as a cool, gentle breeze brushed her hair of leaves.

That same breeze plucked off a leaf or two, causing them to trickle down toward the earth. There, they would meet Ken, the Digi-Destined of Kindness, who was still overcome by a coma due to his last battle, which was now just a few days earlier.

Right next to him, appearing to be asleep, was his partner Wormmon. He laid there, curled up in a ball as peaceful as he could be, until his antennae wiggled in reaction to the falling leaves. Then he opened an eye to see for himself that a leaf was making its way from Gaiamon's branches to Ken's face. Not one to let ANYTHING touch his partner as he slept, Wormmon advanced the falling leaf with a small spit of webbing.

Naturally, the leaf was thrown back, glued onto a nearby tree bark, and there it would sit in a web, along with many, many other web-spat leaves. As for Wormmon, he took pride in knowing he was doing his job as a guardian, and tucked himself back in to rest again.

The little green caterpillar sighed in his sleep, but it was a sleep that would be cut drastically short by a sudden gust of wind. The wind carried with it a few tree leaves, some of which threatened to scrape Ken's face, so Wormmon quickly took action by jumping in front of his sleeping partner in order to shield him.

Then the little caterpillar realized what was causing this gust; it came from the flapping of Saberdramon's and ExVeemon's wings, as they made a landing near Gaiamon herself. Though his peace was utterly disturbed, Wormmon smiled (if you could call it a smile; that vertical-jawed mouth of his had no lips) with delight in seeing his friends arrive. "Davis! Jun! You made it," he cheered, as he crawled as fast as he could to the humans who were dismounting the Champion digimon.

Davis was the first to bend a knee and greet the little caterpillar; "Hey, Wormmon! How're things on the home front?" "Well…" started Wormmon, but then he was at a loss for words as he looked back at Ken, whose head was resting atop a pile of leaves for a pillow under Gaiamon's shadow.

Davis and Jun both gasped in despair to see this; "Aww," Davis sighed, "he's still out cold…" "It's been almost three days," frowned his sister, as he and her brother approached Gaiamon and her comatose chosen one.

They leaned in to get a better look at their friend; there wasn't much to see, because nothing about him had changed since they left him and Wormmon alone with the Keeper of the Land. Speaking of the Keeper, she leaned her human-shaped body in to join in the huddle that was staring at Ken; she took the humans by surprise by muttering, "He looks peaceful, doesn't he?" Davis and Jun jumped back, and then Jun sighed, "Uh, yeah… But we were kinda hoping he'd be awake by now."

Davis then held out his sister's left arm and smiled in victory, "Wait'll he sees this; Jun's got her crest now!" Gaiamon moved her green-shaded human form closer to the said crest and smiled with joy, "Oh… Indeed, you've gotten it back from Greedmon. I'm so happy for you, Jun, and I'm sure my sister Oceanamon is even happier."

Davis then slapped his face and grinned, "Oh! Where are my manners?" He then moved to his sister's side and formally introduced her, "Gaiamon, I don't believe you've met my sister, Jun." Gaiamon made a giggle, "Thank you, Davis, for that charming gesture. It is nice to meet you at last, Jun." Jun gave her a soft smile and a blush, "Pleasure's all mine…"

But soon she glanced at the earth for a moment when her smile started to drop.

As Jun took a seat, just inches away from Ken, Gaiamon frowned, "What's wrong, Jun?" The young lady looked back up at her and replied, "I'm just thinking about everything we've gone through so far. First, I get thrown into this world out of the clear blue, next I meet Penguinmon, but for a while we're all alone. And now all of a sudden, I get the one item I needed all along, and I owe it to a digimon whose…" "Died?" concluded an approaching Veemon with Penguinmon by his side; the two of them looked as depressed as she was.

Davis then sighed to Gaiamon, "Yeah… We met this nice ol' digimon named Zero, and he helped us escape Greedmon's lair. But we didn't see him make it out with us." "I see," frowned the Digi-Keeper; then she looked back to Jun and said, "Don't worry; Zero's sacrifice doesn't mean the end of him. Digimon are immortal, in a way; when they die, their data gets reconfigured and they'll eventually be reborn."

"Yeah, I heard of that," nodded Jun, "but I still feel upset about it. I mean, that's just how I am…" Gaiamon smiled to her, "Jun, your concern for others is one of the main reasons why we have chosen you as a Digi-Destined…" she would continue her speech, but instead of just addressing Jun, she made sure that everyone around her gathered to listen:

"In the beginning, it was easy to select the first team of children, because they were the first to see real-life digimon. Then, as the years went by, more and more children saw them through the Internet. These days, it no longer matters who sees them and who doesn't, because a digimon's heart and spirit is no longer bound to that of a human child. As you humans have matured over time, so have they.

"That's why even now, as you children are starting to become adults, you still have the power to help your partners fight evil. It's not a question of destiny per say; it's more open than that. You thirteen are the prime examples of everything about humanity that is good and worth protecting, because it is your desire to do the right thing, to fight for good, that makes you who you are."

Jun blinked, "Is that why it took me so long to become a Digi-Destined? Am I just a late bloomer?" The lady in the tree smiled, "Well, Jun, in your case it may seem that way. In truth, it's never too late for anyone to obtain a fighting spirit, but with you it was more a matter of believing in yourself.

"You see, children (and she also addressed the digimon here), anyone could be a Digi-Destined, but it takes courage and faith in oneself to really earn the title. That is why it took years for Davis, Yolei and Cody to join in the ranks."

Davis guessed, "So, it really wasn't that we were chosen, just that we were that willing to fight alongside Tai and the gang?" Jun then asked, "Then why are we called the Chosen ones?"

Gaiamon smiled, "It is not I nor my sisters that have chosen you, children; it is you who have chosen yourselves." Jun now breathed a sigh of calmness, "…I think I understand now." There was a pause, but then Davis, in his usual airhead thinking, said, "I don't."

Jun then looked over to the sleeping young man beside her and wondered, "I guess Ken's still a Chosen one, even after his incident as the Digimon Kaiser, 'cause deep down he's always been a nice guy. Right?" Gaiamon looked at him as well and replied, "Yes, that is correct, Jun. No matter how hard Myotismon tried, he could not completely take over Ken, because the human mind and spirit is far more complex than a mere computer program.

"However, Ken's situation is a complicated one; it was never my intention, but it seems now that my Kind One is a poster child for both the light and dark side of the human heart. For now, as long as he has that dark spore inside, the evil ones will never stop trying to use him for their purposes."

"That sucks," Davis softly remarked; "I wish we could help him." "Unfortunately," Gaiamon replied solemnly, "the only one who can help Ken at this point is himself. Something tells me that even now, while he's sleeping, there's a struggle going on in his mind. Only when he has finally conquered his inner demons will he be able to wake up, and there's just no telling when that will happen."

(Begin "1stp klosr," from "Reanimation," by Linking Park featuring The Humble Brothers and Korn's Jonathan Davis)

It may have seemed that Ken was right there, by their sides, but in truth he was far, far away. If one were to just look close enough, they could see that his eyes had stopped rolling behind his eyelids, that his heart rate slowed, and that his breath began to still.

Something inside him was dying… or, about to be reborn.

------------ Vision: Ken's Dream World, Part I ------------

(Song continues; faded song lyrics as part of the intro can be heard, but aren't documented)

Those moments of Ken's past that have been spared by the effects of the dark spore began to slowly return to him, deep within his subconscious. It was as if he were watching an old, poorly edited movie, with hardly any color showing and one memory harshly jumping to another.

This was how he could remember his life as a child, in this cut-and-paste motion, because ever since he was eight, the dark spore had devoured almost everything he held dear to him. All but the memories of his brother, Sam.

He could see himself as an eight year old again, playing with his brother with games like tag and learning how to blow bubbles for the first time out on their balcony.

But then, the happy images soon turn to tragic ones; Ken was forced to recall the time when he became to grow jealous of Sam, because he was a child prodigy in his parent's eyes while he sunk into the background like a shadow. It seemed to Ken that everybody admired Sam for being such a genius, that little Ken heard himself say, "Sometimes… I just wish Sam would just disappear!"

And then, as if a genie had sprung up behind him to grant his wish, the moment of Sam's death appeared. The poor boy was struck by a car in a busy street; the reason as to why he was in that street in the first place would forever remain a mystery to Ken. All he knew for certain was that this was the moment he fell from grace.

The next thing Ken saw was himself at Sam's funeral; it was raining that day- how appropriate, as Ken's eyes started to rain themselves. "…It's all my fault," he muttered softly.

That guilt would soon lead him back to his bedroom, and onto the computer, where he had received a very eerie email regarding the loss of Sam. It mentioned there being another world, a digital world, where he could escape the pain that plagued him. How could the child resist?

After quickly reclaiming the digivice that was once taken away from him, Ken now saw himself back in the digital world- but this was not the paradise he once protected. Rather, it was the Dark Ocean network, an alternate world covered in gloom and despair.

On the beach, he knelt down to the water, dipped his hand and digivice into a dark puddle, and when he pulled them out, he was holding a black D-3. At that moment, he was no longer Ken; he was something else altogether, and the real Ken could see it for himself. He was also being haunted by a familiar voice; the voice of Lustmon, purring, "Evil never really dies…"

What all of this meant, he was about to find out.

I cannot take this anymore

Saying everything I've said before

All these words, they make no sense

I found this an ignorance

Less I hear the less you say

You'll find that out anyway…

The next thing he knew, Ken seemed to have woken up. But in truth, he was still sleeping; here, he was wandering around aimlessly in his dream world, and it appeared to be a barren desert or wasteland. He glanced left and right, hoping to see if there were any other signs of life.

There was, but it wasn't what he would expect; it was the shadow of the Digimon Kaiser, floating around in a cloudy sky and fading in and out like television static.

Soon the gloomy clouds would find themselves over Ken, painting the scene gray. And then, a giant dinosaur foot stomped on the ground by him…

I find the answers aren't so clear

Wish I can find a way to disappear

All these thoughts, they make no sense

I found this an ignorance

Nothing seems to go away

Over and over again

Ken looked up in the foot's direction, and found it to be that of Metal Greymon's. Oh yes, this was the same Metal Greymon that belonged to Tai, but as Ken could see, he was not himself. He saw that he had red-glowing eyes, bluish-purple scales, and had wrapped around his right arm a device called a control spiral, given to him by the Kaiser. Yes, this was another image of Ken's dark past; the time when he captured Tai's Agumon and turned him against his friends.

He watched helplessly as the Kaiser took a whip to Metal Greymon, letting him loose on those Digi-Destined that came to save him. The group of them jumped around to dodge every one of Metal Greymon's swipes at them, but how long they could keep it up seemed a mystery.

Over and over again

Over and over again…

The vision of Metal Greymon then faded out, and as it did it was replaced by a Kaiser-Owned Andromon going after Kari and her then armor digimon partner Nefertimon. After them, it was a Kaiser-owned Red Veggiemon going after more Digi-Destined, and after that, a Kaiser-owned Digitammamon going after more armor digimon… It was as if these images of the Kaiser's actions were being played like a broken record, and the real Ken (as it were) was there to see it all.

One thing that these visions all had in common was that they seemed to be those of the digimon that he took control that were originally allies to the Digi-Destined. While getting these glimpses of the past, Ken was beginning to wonder if this was a sign of repressed guilt, or simply his mind trying to recollect its memories.

Just like before

And then, he turned around and saw another image he hoped he wouldn't; it was the Kaiser's old base- a giant floating fortress, hovering slowly across the barren desert.

On top of it stood the Ultimate (literally) instrument of the Kaiser's tyranny, the jigsaw puzzle of a monster known as Chimeramon. Ken would remember this beast to be his own creation, a monster built for one purpose, and that was to obey the Kaiser, and normally he only went by one command: Destroy.

He unfolded his two sets of wings, one belonging to Airdramon and the other belonging to Angemon, and set off to deal with the latest member of the Digi-Destined that was sent to put a stop to his reign of terror: Magnamon. The great beast took a leap off of the Kaiser's base, and launched himself at the golden-armored digimon.

Everything you say to me…

And I'm about to break

I need a little room to breathe…

I'm about to break

Everything you say to me…

And I'm about to break

I need a little room to breathe…

And I'm about to…

(Break)

It wasn't quite the same fight as the one in the past, but this was after all a dream sequence. And it was enough to get Ken's attention, who saw the whole point of it. He watched closely- perhaps too closely- as Chimeramon launched one attack after another on Magnamon.

Like the other visions Ken has seen up until now, these two were almost completely dulled in black and white, so Magnamon's once glorious armor was not justified here. Even so, as the two enemies dashed through the air like dragonflies, both were at the top of their game.

They seemed to have gotten carried away, because they would soon zoom down near the ground level, where Ken was watching. He ducked just in time before Chimeramon and Magnamon barreled themselves right through him. He threw himself into sand, which as expected nearly blinded him on impact, but it didn't matter because he still felt no physical sensations.

But his mental stability would soon be questioned, as he lifted his head upward, only to find the very Kaiser himself looking down on him…

These are the places where I can feel

Torn from my body, my flesh it peels

During this night, we can cut off

What we like

Waiting alone I cannot resist

Feeling this hate I am never missed

Please, someone, give me a reason

To rip off my face

The Kaiser was the darkest and most unreal of them all; he even fizzed in and out like television static for a moment. But he stood there over his true self, smiling down on him as if he were one of his unfortunate minions that would be begging for mercy.

And then he lifted the glasses off his face, revealing his blue eyes- gorgeous as they were, they were also beaming with evil. As this happened, the Kaiser's coloring came to him at last; now he seemed to be just as real as Ken did.

Ken, meanwhile, got to his feet and stared intently at his former self. The two of them seemed as though they didn't know just what to do next; seeing each other in the same place at the same time was mind-boggling. Even if this were a dream, it felt scary.

…But it was about to get worse.

The Kaiser suddenly doubled over, holding his face in pain. He twitched, as a small split in his skin started to rake across his face- it was as if he were made of glass, and somebody just broke him. Ken made a gasp in fear and wonder, as the Kaiser suddenly started to liquidate…

Blood is a-pouring,

And pouring and pouring

And pouring, and pouring

And pouring, and pouring…

Shut up when I'm talking to you!

Ken kept trying to assure himself that this was all just a dream, just a dream… but seeing his other self grow in size while his body seemed to inflate like a balloon was beginning to freak him out. The Kaiser himself seemed pained by this, as his body started to take on a strange shape, like there was something inside of him trying to pop out.

But it soon became clear to Ken that this was all part of something bigger than the Kaiser. He was about to meet the monster that turned him into a monster.

Shut up! (Blood is pouring)

Shut up when I'm talking to you!

Shut up! (Blood is pouring)

Shut up!

I'm about to break

Before Ken's horrified eyes, the Digimon Kaiser turned out to be nothing more than a shell, which started to hatch- truly tore itself apart, like an egg sac or a paper sheet, starting with the Kaiser's face. It split clean off from the sides like a can of sardines, spilling a little blood in the process, and out from underneath came the dark blue face of a digimon.

It wasn't just any digimon; this one had a pair of big, fierce eyes, with red corneas and yellow irises. His head was insect-like, with a face like Kabuterrimon's, only twice as big.

Then the Kaiser's back ripped open, revealing the digimon's many arms and giant spikes that ran down its own back. One of the creature's extra long arms threw itself to the ground, causing a brief but effective earthquake.

Ken couldn't watch anymore; he turned tail and ran just as the giant digimon shook off the rest of his Kaiser shell…

Everything you say to me…

I'm about to break

I need a little room to breathe…

I'm about to break

Everything you say to me…

I'm about to break

I need a little room to breathe…

And I'm about to-

Everything you say to me takes me one step closer to the edge

And I'm about to break

I need a little room to breathe, 'cause I'm one step closer to the edge

I'm about to break

Everything you say to me takes me one step closer to the edge

And I'm about to break

I need a little room to breathe, 'cause I'm one step closer to the edge

And I'm about to-

It had to have been a Mega digimon; nothing that big could ever be otherwise.

But there was something eerie about this digimon; its likeness almost completely copied that of Chimeramon, the digimon that Ken believed to be his own creation. The difference between Chimeramon and the one that just hatched itself from the Kaiser was that this creature's body parts were all colored in dark blue. It was as if this monster was not a mismatched copy of Champions, but that its bony, multiple limbs and other body parts actually fit together.

It let out a roar, probably to unleash his fury that was built up from within, and then it realized that its host had run off, so it took off after him.

Ken didn't get far; he was a mere human, and a young one at that, while the Mega digimon was more than ten times his size.

Once the beast did catch up with the small human, it unfolded one of its crimson-nailed claws and swiped him in the back. Ken took a wild tumble from this, but survived. The swipe, however, did cause him to slow down so that the other claws of the beast could have their shot at him.

Ken drove himself as far away from them as he could, but he did so while lying on his wounded back, like a reversed crawl. It only got worse when the ground in front of him had suddenly split open, turning the sandy plain into a cliff.

By the time Ken realized this, it was too late; he was trapped between a raging dark monster and what seemed to be a bottomless pit. The poor young man knew that he couldn't stand a chance, even though he wanted to make a move. But just as he tried desperately to come up with a way out, the monster's insect-like head was right on top of him.

With green drool, it opened its massive jaws, and lunged them at him. The last moment of that vision ended with Ken seeing the interior of the beast's seemingly endless throat. He knew for sure that the light at the end of this tunnel would certify his death.

(Song ends)

But Ken didn't die; the next thing he knew, he was lying face down in desert sand once again. Startled by this, he quickly collected himself, and rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't dreaming anymore… But he was. He could tell, because he couldn't feel a thing, even though sand was flying everywhere, even in his face.

It seemed that the monster he saw was not truly an enemy, but rather a stepping stone for the next level of his dream world. For a moment, he was just happy to know that he was still alive, but then he had to question himself, as he was trapped yet again in a barren wasteland.

There just had to be a reason why he kept seeing himself in a desert; there had to have been some significance, because everything else he had seen at this point were all connected to his past, whether it was forgotten or not. As Ken contemplated this, he didn't realize that he was about to get his answer in the form of an old friend.

But first, he was welcomed by the sounds of distant gun blasting, beastly roaring, and screaming from about a mile away. He couldn't see where the sounds were coming from, because a tall dune was blocking his way. But then, just as the young man began to crawl his way to the top of the dune, he heard a huge wallop, followed by a body flying through the air, over his head, and like a tossed pebble on a lake it skipped across the sandy plain.

When it came to a crashing stop, Ken could see who it was: "…Paildramon!"

It was indeed the fused version of ExVeemon and Stingmon; he had been knocked across the desert by something that had to be bigger and stronger than him. Still he watched as the Ultimate mutant forced himself back on his feet slowly, shaking the sand off of his face and shoulders.

With a look of pure frustration in his battered face, Paildramon glanced back in the direction from which he was thrown, and then he took a running start and flew back in that direction, over Ken's head and the dune again.

Ken followed him, quickly struggling to get over the dune, and when he did he could finally see the battlefield as it was. Paildramon was in the middle of a battle alright… but to Ken's shock, it was against the same dark beast that he had seen just a minute ago. The one that looked like the granddaddy of Chimeramon.

For a second, Ken wondered if this was just a pure dream or a lost memory, but then as he skidded down the sandy hill, he was beginning to realize that it was, indeed the latter. For standing just several feet away from the battle itself, waiting to see the outcome of it, were two young boys- one of them was a small, black-haired and blue-eyed child that looked exactly as Ken did eight years in the past.

The four-winged Ultimate brushed himself across the field by the Mega monster's side, while at the same time unleashing a barrage of bullets with his "Desperado Blasters" move. The Mega monster seemed riddled by the bullets, but his body proved to be rock-hard, or perhaps even harder, as he seemed to take the attack with barely a flinch.

Paildramon paused to launch another attack, when suddenly one of the boys nearby shouted, "Paildramon! Try to hit him underneath; he's got to have a weakness down there!" The boy that said this was much taller than the eight-year-old; he had spiky reddish-brown hair, dark eyes, and an autumn-themed outfit complete with a sweater and pants. The sharp look in his eyes must have been an indication that he was in charge; he certainly sounded like it, with the way he commanded Paildramon.

The Ultimate obeyed the command, and took a running start before he leaned back and skidded toward the Mega monster's underbelly. The Mega digimon tried to move away, but as soon as Paildramon skidded his way, he proved to be too fast for the behemoth. "DESPERADO BLASTERS!" summoned the Ultimate, and released his attack on the giant creature's stomach.

The creature bellowed in pain, but was still able to counter-attack with the stomping and pounding of his multiple limbs, in an attempt to squish his enemy. Paildramon rolled out of there just before one of the creature's fists came down on him. Now he was right by the left side of the Mega digimon, who whipped his gruesome head around and launched a bazooka-like breath of dark energy on Paildramon.

Paildramon was hit in the back, and when his face met with the sand, he was officially weakened into de-digivolving. When he did, he became not one Rookie, but two: a small blue dragon, and a small green caterpillar. The two of them were out cold as an effect by the dark fiery blast.

"Wormmon!" shouted the horrified eight-year-old, and ran across the plain to check on his digimon partner; as he did, what was apparently his present-day self watched from behind. Ken's eyes blinked, "…Worm-mon?" He looked on to see the young child running toward who was, in fact, Wormmon.

He muttered to himself, "I get it now… This isn't just a dream, it's a memory. And that little kid… That's me!"

He was right, and as the young boy picked up the weakened Wormmon in his tiny arms, the little Rookie confirmed it by prying his eyes open and muttering to his small friend, "Ken-chan…" Then he winced in pain.

The other young boy, the taller and obviously older one, ran to the scene as well, and like Ken he tended to the other digimon, who turned out to be Veemon. The present-day Ken, who seemed to be like a ghost to these characters of the past, glanced at the young boy looking over Veemon and dropped his jaw; "…Wait. This can't be right… That can't be the same Veemon! …Can it?" His question would go unanswered.

Little Ken looked to his human friend and began to panic, "Ryo… We can't do this! Lookit our digimon; they're not strong enough to fight anymore." The other boy responded with a look of concern, "It's okay, Kenny! We gotta stay strong; if we don't finish him off now, he'll only get worse and destroy all of us!"

As they were speaking with each other, the dark blue Mega digimon was turning himself around to face them head on. He stared directly at the children and seemed amused by their plight; he showed it by cracking an eerie smile. Little Ken saw it, and was instantly terrified by it; he trembled, "Uhhh… We- we should get outta here!"

But the slightly older boy picked himself up, turned to face the Mega beast, and glared back into its eyes with his own; he said, "I'm not giving up… You hear that, Millenniumon?? I'm NOT gonna let you destroy this world!!"

Again, the Mega beast was amused, and let out a purr (which sounded a little like a tiger's snarl) as he smiled on.

Ryo, as he was called, turned back to his little partner who was just coming out of his state of shell shock and commanded, "Come on, Veemon! We can still win this; you just gotta have faith in yourself!" The little blue dragon slowly pushed himself upward, and almost lost his footing when he finally got to his feet.

Though he was obviously battered by the fight, the little Rookie showed an equal amount of determination in his red eyes as Ryo showed in his brown; he smiled, "You're right, Ryo! We can do anything if we just work together!"

At that moment, Millenniumon, as he was called, dropped his smile. He knew they meant business, and was not about to let them get the upper hand. So he bared his massive fangs, unleashing green drool from his jaw, and roared, "DIMENSION DESTROYER!"

Little Ken's eyes widened to their limits as he gasped, "…RUN!" He knew what was coming, and so did his friends. Ryo quickly scooped up Veemon in his arms, while Wormmon was still in the arms of little Ken, and the two of them headed for the hills, literally, as quickly as they could. As they did so, Millenniumon raised his arms in the air, all of them, and magically a huge black orb of pure darkness appeared over them. He then launched this orb at his enemies like the world's largest dodge ball.

Just as Millenniumon's attack came right at them, the two boys tucked and rolled away just in time. But they wouldn't be completely safe; the attack met with the sandy earth, causing a massive tidal wave of desert sand on the land. By the time the boys stopped moving, they were buried in the dirt.

But just when Millenniumon started to laugh maniacally in victory, Ryo popped out his head from underneath the sand and hollered, "HA! You call that an attack? That tickled!" The great Mega beast was now furious, and snarled at the boy.

Nearby, a present-day Ken chuckled in amusement. "That Ryo kid has spunk," he thought to himself.

Soon enough Ryo's friends crawled out of the sand, but they could clearly see that the effect of Millennium's attack was not over yet, for a sandstorm was forming all around them. The young ones shielded their faces with their arms as the sandy wind blasted through them, as Millenniumon started to howl in frustration.

"This is it, Kenny," said Ryo to his small human friend; "We've got just one more shot at him, and it's over! He can't counter our attack if he's not concentrating." Little Ken looked to his tall friend and frowned, "I… I don't think I can do it, Ryo… Wormmon's hurt bad; I'm afraid of what can happen to him if he Jogresses with Veemon again. Besides, you've got the Crest of Power; if you're up to it, then you should go for it."

The tall one seemed surprised by this comment; he reached into his left pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a dark red crest. It was symbolized by a set of triangles, one big one centered around three little ones, as if they really were two big triangles overlapping each other. This was the Crest of Power, one of many forgotten items lost in the past, it would seem.

Ryo turned back to his friend and remarked, "Are you sure? Our digimon are probably stronger when they work together. That's how they Jogress digivolved in the first place." Little Ken gave him a nod, "I know… but I believe you guys can do it…"

He then reached into his own pant pocket and pulled out yet another crest; this one was magenta, and had what appeared to be a rosebud for a symbol on it. He smiled to Ryo, "I've got my Crest of Kindness; with it, I can fight with you in spirit."

Ryo then understood what his little friend was trying to say; the child seemed to know that winning a battle meant more than brute strength, and that he didn't need his friend's partner in order for his own digimon to reach his highest level.

Ryo then took little Ken's advice, and gripped harder onto his own crest; likewise, little Ken clutched onto his own, and as they both did this, their crests started to glow in different shades of red. Normally, this would have powered up both Veemon and Wormmon, but on this particular day, during this battle, it only powered up Veemon. The little blue dragon was clothed in a red halo of light, and started to briefly levitate. Wormmon watched in awe; so did Millenniumon, but his attitude was negative toward it. He knew what was coming…

"VEEMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO…………………. IMPERIAL DRAMON!"

"Hmmm?" hummed the deep voice of Millenniumon, as he witnessed a digital field appearing out of nowhere around Veemon. The field was summoned by the aligned powers of Kindness and pure Power itself, it seemed, and when the fog lifted, there appeared before them a dragon as big as Millenniumon. It was light blue-scaled, red-winged, and armed to the teeth. Topping off his armor was a giga-cannon on his back.

Without thinking twice, the huge dragon jumped into the sky, far above the sandy winds created by his enemy, and with a voice far more human than Millenniumon's, he roared, "POSITRON LASER!" His enemy was about to counter-attack with an equally powerful "Dimension Destroyer," which was that giant black orb of pure energy summoned from his claws. However, this attack summoning came too late, as Imperial Dramon's giga-cannon unleashed a furious white light.

It was strong enough to push back Millenniumon's energy orb, and as a result, the wretched beast took in both his own and Imperial Dramon's attacks. As he screamed in horror, the dark blue monster felt the full force of both light and darkness, and before long, he was knocked to the ground, causing another great earthquake.

For a few moments, the atmosphere was covered in sand and fog, but when it was cleared, it seemed that very few parts remained of Millenniumon. Most of his body had been severed and digitized; the rest of it was laid out on the ground, lifeless.

The young ones seemed to have waited a long time for this moment, but when it finally came, they couldn't believe their eyes. There was a moment of silence as the thought of seeing their archenemy dead sank in, and then Wormmon broke the silence with, "We did it!"

"…We…won!" muttered a stunned Ryo, and then he shook off his shock by turning to his little human friend and smiled, "We won!" "Yeah!" little Ken replied, followed by a laugh of jubilation. Wormmon then laughed along with his partner, and the three of them started to rejoice out loud.

Ryo was then met with his own partner, who floated from the sky and into his arms in the form of a blue, bubble-shaped baby named Chibimon. Their celebration probably would have gone on for a little longer… but someone had other plans.

Ryo cradled Chibimon in his arms as he turned to little Ken and said, "Let's go home now." His small human friend nodded in reply, and the two of them, along with their digimon, turned away from the corpse of their fallen enemy.

But then, without warning, little Ken's ears picked up the sound of a breath being taken by the fallen Mega digimon. He whipped his head around just in time to see the beast, who was desperately hanging onto his last breath, opening his mouth one last time. The creature made a sudden cough, and out from his jaws shot what looked like a small black bullet.

Little Ken gasped in horror, seeing the bullet flying straight for his friend Ryo. "Lookout!" he shouted; Ryo turned around in response, but he wasn't moving fast enough to dodge the oncoming bullet. Though he was half the size of Ryo, little Ken was fast enough to push him down, thus saving his life, it would seem.

Unfortunately for him, he had inadvertently put himself in the line of fire, and became the receiver of Millenniumon's bullet.

But it wasn't a bullet at all, as it turned out; it was a spore. A small black spore, which entered the back of his neck as if it were transparent like a ghost. Just as little Ken received this spore, a shock went through his body like electricity; at the same time, as if by instinct, a nearby present-day Ken, still unseen by these characters of the past, felt the same shocking pain, and like his younger self he clutched onto the back of his neck in reaction.

He knew all too well what this meant; that was the moment he received the dark spore; the same instrument that turned him into the Digimon Kaiser, and the same instrument Daemon craved in the present.

Elsewhere, a satisfied Millenniumon let out a soft sigh, and laid his head to rest. His revenge, it seemed, was exacted.

"Ken-chan!" gasped Wormmon, as he noticed a sudden change in his partner. The small child doubled over in extreme pain, howling in agony. Ryo and Chibimon, as well as the little green caterpillar, dropped their jaws in horror.

They had no idea as to what just happened; only Ken did. But that didn't stop them from moving over to the child's side in an attempt to comfort him and help him to his feet. Little Ken, all the while, remained silent; his teeth gritted in pain.

"It's okay, Kenny," said Ryo, "we'll get you home, okay? Just try to stay calm; we'll get you home…" That was the last moment Ken would witness regarding his past self and his former friends. For as the wind picked up, it caused a wall of flying sand that soon took away the images of young Ken and Ryo, along with their digimon.

Once the wind died down, only the corpse of Millenniumon remained. As it laid there, lifeless, the present-day Ken stared at it in awe and curiosity. He never thought he'd get such a good look at this monster after all these years, yet there it was right before his eyes.

He decided to approach it, and see what would become of it next. He walked all the way to the left side of the great beast's face; its head alone was tall enough to measure up to an average high school. How Paildramon ever stood up against it was an incredible mystery.

"So…" Ken muttered as he stared directly into the closed eyelid of his archenemy, "Millenniumon, is it? I guess I should be happy that my memories are finally coming back… but then, losing them in the first place was your fault. …It was all your fault! When I went home, and my brother died, that spore of yours turned me into a monster, just like you. I guess that was your intention after all…"

The more he stared at that closed eye, the more he hated the sight of it; Ken's eyes narrowed as he went on, "I never understood why there are evil digimon. Why were you so bent on destroying us? …Did you honestly wanna rule this world, or were you programmed to think that way? Were you that robotic?? 'Cause if you were, then I almost feel sorry for you. Digimon as I know them are allowed to think for themselves…"

Then his anger calmed down; seeing Millenniumon dead was enough to do that, because he knew in his heart that it was already too late for this monster's soul… if he ever had one. "Well," muttered Ken, "I guess it's too late to go back now…" He wanted to move on, and so the young man turned away from the monster's head to take a step forward.

Suddenly, the great big eye opened- its cornea blood red and cracked, its iris a think orange-yellow, and its pupil as black as night, piercing in the most eerie way imaginable. Glossy, it blinked like a crocodile's as it stared intently at the small human. Then the great dark beast let out a sigh that was as thunderous as a tiger's growl.

Ken stepped back in shock and gasped, "…you're… You're alive?" The great red eye focused on him as the beast's deep voice was heard, slowly and calmly whispering, "…I died a long time ago, kid… But I'll come back. I always come back; that's why they call me Millenniumon."

The young man by the beast's side huffed, "Heh… Sure; all digimon come back." "That's not what I meant," replied the beast's soft, deep voice; "Everyone has a purpose in this world, kid. My purpose is to rule this world, until somebody (his harsh tone was echoed by the sharp glare of his eye, directed at Ken) defeats me. Then, I return a thousand digi-world years later, at the exact same time, in the exact same place."

Ken stood there with a look of distrust and said, "A thousand digi-years, exactly? …How long would that be in human years?" Millenniumon's voice muttered, "I believe it's four years, according to your world."

Ken then paused to think it over, then he argued, "No, that can't be… Four years ago, I was fighting creeps like Arukennimon, and Mymmymon, and MaloMyotismon! I never saw you, and I never even heard of you four years ago."

The dark creature's great eye blinked again, "You did see me; I just had a different look back then." "Whatever," muttered Ken; he was obviously not buying this talk, and started to turn and leave as he added, "I'd like to say it's been nice talking to you, but… Heh."

Just then, the monster stopped him by asking, "Why did you create Chimeramon?"

Ken was stunned by this question, and stopped in his tracks just as Millenniumon wanted him to. He turned back to the nearly-lifeless creature as it purred, "Did you honestly think you made him all by yourself?" Ken gulped as he approached the beast yet again; "…What do you mean by that?"

Millenniumon softly replied, "When you were the Digimon Kaiser, all you wanted was power. So you took all your knowledge of the Champion digimon you fought or controlled, and took the most powerful parts of their bodies to make the ultimate fighting machine. …And he was, indeed, an Ultimate.

"Now I ask you, kid, did you really think that was just coincidence, that I would give you a dark spore, make you an evil Kaiser, and then let you create Chimeramon?"

From where he stood, Ken could now see his reflection in the glossy red eye of the monster; he gasped in horror, starting to realize at last what Millenniumon was trying to say. But then, the beast just came out and said it, "That's right, kid… Chimeramon… is ME."

A chill took over the atmosphere- really it was Ken's subconscious reacting to his shock. He knew now that what Millenniumon was saying made sense; it had to be true. The young man then replied, "So… that's why you gave me the dark spore… You used me to recreate you."

Millenniumon replied calmly, "I didn't care who took the spore… Either one of you humans would have sufficed. But yes, that was my ultimate goal, to make one of you bring me back to life, one thousand years later, in the same place at the exact time I died."

Ken then looked around; this desert scene was just a shadowed thought in his mind, but it represented the deathbed of Millenniumon. Then he thought it over, and realized that Chimeramon was also killed in a desert, four years ago. It was all now very clear to him, and it was enough to shake him up a little. The young man grasped onto his arm as goose bumps ran up and down it, and he gazed blankly at the ground- or what seemed like the ground.

Millenniumon went on to say, "Of course, that power was destroyed, once you came to your senses. But then, you wouldn't be hunted by Daemon or other bad guys if it wasn't completely worthless, now would you? Daemon seems to think that dark spores have more than one purpose… though, I don't suppose he wants it for the same reasons I once did."

Ken replied as he stepped away from the monster, "I'm not letting you or Daemon make me do evil ever again. If you think I'm stupid enough to bring you back a second time-" "I'm sure you never will, but don't think I'm gone forever, kid," interrupted the soft voice of Millenniumon; "Whether you like it or not, whether it'll be your fault or not, I will come back… I always come back… That's why they call me… Millenniumon."

With that last ounce of strength in his dying voice, the dark creature slowly closed up its devilish eye at last, and then, like a true flesh-and-blood digimon, he disappeared into the atmosphere.

Once again, Ken found himself all alone in this strange dream world. It remained a vast desert, and perhaps it would stay that way for some hours to come. Why, he would have to find out on his own.

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

Somewhere far beyond the Great Gardens, beyond both Sea and Sky City, and even beyond the great unified continent of the digital world, a river of data was flowing in the sky, magnetized by a dark force.

It found its way to a forbidding looking fortress, one taller than any Power Spine, and more menacing and evil in appearance than even Greedmon's underwater lair. This mountainous castle was the home of the Keeper of Darkness himself, who had assumed the form of the demon lord, Daemon.

Deep in the heart of this castle, a group of gathered villains witnessed the arrival of this stream of stolen data, as it trickled down from the outside to the center of a room. There, it was being poured into a pot that was about the size of a baby pool, and when it rested within it, it appeared to be like water.

Present in this room were Daru, Preserver of the dark network, Gluttonymon, Pridemon, various minions of theirs that preferred to keep their identities secret as they hid in the shadows, and the father of them all himself, Daemon. He too sat in the shadows, but he did so atop a noticeable throne. The closest to the gathering data were Daru and the Sins.

Pridemon had her arms crossed, as if she were not amused by what was happening; she raised an eyebrow, "So this is all of the data that was stripped of the digital world's core? It doesn't look like much." Her dark master's voice replied, "It only takes a little bit of data to create a great kingdom, my dear Pridemon, like it takes only a little bit of sand to make a sandcastle."

Then his human associate spoke up, "Will it be enough to weaken the Keepers as we've planned, Lord Daemon?" The Keeper of Darkness replied calmly, "It will take much more than that, but I have faith in my servants. They have succeeded in breaking the spirits of some of those children; that will guarantee our victory in no time… But for now, I must take what data we have collected and use it against those Keepers, before their power grows any stronger."

He then reached out his bony hand and pointed, "Gluttonymon!" The piggish, bloated sin aimed his attention to his master; "Yess?" he said in a startled voice. Daemon commanded him, "You will be the one who will use this data. Absorb it- all of it- and it will give you more strength than you could ever imagine."

He had just made the Sin's day, for Gluttonymon's smile grew its widest; "YES!" he cheered, nearly jumping for joy; "Oh, thank you Master! I won't disappoint you, I promise!" Without even giving it a second thought, the Sin dipped his warthog/hyena-spliced head into the pool of data and started chugging it down as if he were at a frat party.

Pridemon was aware of this plan for a while, but she still appeared to be miffed by it. She then showed her true colors by turning away from Gluttonymon, disgusted by his actions, and then questioned her own master; "Lord Daemon? I don't understand why Gluttonymon should be the one to take this mission. Not that I'm questioning your judgment, but any one of us will do. Is there any particular reason why you chose this… slob?"

She paused right there, because right before she finished her question, Gluttonymon took a brief break from his feeding to let out a rude belch.

Daemon replied to Pridemon, "I cannot guarantee that he will fully succeed in this mission; if he fails, then I will have at least six Sins left to aid me." With a mouth full of drooling data, Gluttonymon slobbered, "Hey! …I'm just as important as the rest of them! What makes you think I'll fail, Master??"

Slightly disgusted himself at Gluttonymon's feeding, the Keeper of Darkness kept his cool as he narrowed his eyes at his servant and replied in a soft, almost secretive voice, "…We shall see…"

One night would pass before Davis, Jun and the others would meet up with any other parties of their friends. It was in the morning, during an hour in which the sun was fully present in the sky, when they would wake up to see some more familiar faces.

Davis had his own run-in with one of them, as he crawled into a tree to fetch himself some fruit. The fruit appeared to be a cross between an apple and a peach; it had tough skin, but was soft and peachy on the inside. It was more than enough to get Davis's hunger going.

In fact, he got a little carried away at one point; with one of these fruits clutched between his teeth, he scrambled to get more when he shook a branch hard enough, and sent a dozen of them tumbling to the ground.

He moaned with disappointment, but when his eyes lit up with surprise when he saw Tai walking over and picking up one of the fallen fruits. His mentor looked up at him with a smile; "They were right; there isn't that much difference between humans and monkeys!"

As soon as Davis opened his mouth to say, "Hey! At least I don't look like a French poodle," he lost the one pure fruit that he kept safely in his mouth.

Tai started to help his younger friend gather more food when the two of them started talking about their adventures; "So, what's been going on while we were gone?" started Tai.

Davis replied as he climbed down the tree, "Well, let's see. Where should I start first? Oh yeah! Ken's in a coma-" "What?" gasped Tai in shock; Davis nodded, "Oh yeah, long story…"

Within minutes, Matt, Gabumon and Agumon made their way to Gaiamon, where they would be reunited with Jun, Veemon and Penguinmon. Tai and Davis walked into the scene just as the others had been clued in on what happened to Ken. Tai approached the comatose when and frowned, "Aww… I guess we should've been there."

"It gets worse," came without warning the voice of Gaiamon. The Keeper made herself visible through the willow tree she seemed to be attached to; she explained, "I've been getting a bad vibe all morning; something about my Great Gardens has been changing, as if something was deleting them."

Davis said to her, "Sound like trouble. Should we head off for it?" The mossy-green woman with her hips connecting to the tree trunk shook her head, "You won't have to; the fight's going to come here. I can feel it…"

She then glanced down at the young man who was resting in her shadow and frowned, "I'm mostly worried about Ken; he can't move while he's in this stare. If you want to take him somewhere, you may… But you'll have to take Wormmon, too." "Sure we will," replied her Brave One.

Then Matt glanced around and asked, "Where is Wormmon, anyway? He's usually Ken's shadow." Again, the Keeper frowned, "He's fighting his own inner demons as we speak…"

Not too far away from this group gathering was the little green caterpillar in question. He had been looking down on a river from a log on the riverbank. Gaiamon was about to tell his story to her company, but it was already being played out in Wormmon's mind, haunting him.

(Gaiamon) "What I am about to tell you children now, Wormmon already knows. He was shown the truth about his past by the Sin Digimon; they had shown him everything that he was meant to forget… and what he wishes would remain forgotten…"

------------ Flashback: Wormmon's Past (Narrated by Gaiamon) ------------

(Most of this story is self-explanatory, so details will only come when they seem most necessary)

"We had just begun the finishing touches of the digital world, when we decided to give it a test drive. We had selected a group of children form our own world to venture into the land we created for them. For a while, life in the digital world was peaceful.

"The children loved it; they were happy with the life-like plants, and sunlight, and running rivers. But what they wanted more than anything were pets that they could call their own. And so, we created the first digimon…

"Where one once stood, soon became filled with many. Back then there was no need for them to evolve into bigger and stronger creatures, so the biggest of their kind were what we now call Rookies.

"My sisters and I couldn't be happier with the results of these tests; soon the entire digital world was ready to be opened to the general public…

"But we were wrong. Someone else was taking advantage of our project. Someone else decided to use his own computer technology to echo the world that we created, only his world became dark, threatening, dangerous… His world is what you now know as the Dark Ocean.

"It was he, the one we call Daemon now, who created all of the Virus-type digimon… and yes, when I say all, I mean all."

"Even now, Daemon is convinced that all realities need a balance of good and evil, so as soon as his Dark Ocean world was complete, he began to create a bridge between it and our digital world, so that his evil minions could call the world that was meant only for the innocent their home.

"And it started with Caterpillmon."

Caterpillmon was unlike most of the Dark Keeper's minions; the majority of them consisted of demons, ghosts and mutants. But there were a few insect type digimon in this group of rogues, and Caterpillmon was one of them.

But for a digimon that served such a dark and malicious monster, he was actually very cute.

Though, back in this day he had a difference in color; he was orange, not green, and his eyes were yellow, not blue, and his legs and mouth were red, not purple.

On the day his master decided to storm the digital world, he summoned this tiny creature, and blindly the little larva answered. "Caterpillmon," commanded the mysteriously dark Keeper, "our time has come to see just what kind of world my fellow Keepers have created. I need you to be my scout; search the network for as much information as you can. Give me digimon names, stats, and most importantly, the weaknesses of every area you enter."

There was nothing else for the little larva to say except, "Yes, master."

"As his master ordered, Caterpillmon became a scout that would give his friends all the information they needed on the digital world's weaknesses. His task was nearly complete, until one day when his path crossed with one of our children…"

Caterpillmon was doing his job perfectly; he had already sent his master information on the mapping of the digital world's main fields, and he had almost every name of the digimon he saw there. But there was one form of creature he was not expecting to find, and that was the human.

The little orange caterpillar was scoping out the area from a tree, when he was spotted by someone who called out, "Hey there! Whatcha doin' in the tree?"

Startled, the little larve gasped, "Huh?? What?? ...Who said that?" He sweat-dropped, thinking that his enemies had finally caught onto his scheme.

But to his amazement, the voice- that of a little girl- replied, "Are you looking for someone to play with?" "...Play?" blinked the confused Caterpillmon. Then he looked down, and sure enough there was a human girl looking up on him from the ground. She waved to him innocently, "Hi! My name's Kaiya, what's yours?"

Thinking her to be a counter spy at first, the little digimon replied, "Uhhh... I have no name! I'm just one of those default programs, you know? In fact, I think I'm fading out now. Gotta go!"

He then rolled himself up in a ball, trying to make it look like he was being digitized, but instead he lost his footing and rolled all the way down to the base of the tree. Kaiya caught him in her arms with a giggle, "Hahahaha! You're funny..."

The little larva looked insulted and huffed, "Funny? Hmph!" He threw himself out of her arms to face her and said, "I'll have you know, I'm a very powerful and dangerous digimon! One of these days I'm gonna evolve into something even scarier, so you better watch out!"

The little girl didn't seem to pay attention to his warnings; instead, he reached out to his antennae and started twirling one of them with a smile. "You're probably just saying that 'cause you're shy," she guessed.

The little caterpillar looked insulted again and replied harshly, "I'm warning you! One bite, and I could send you to the digi-hospital faster than you can say-" "I like you," she interrupted cheerfully.

Now the little larva was at a loss for words. Well, sort of; he stuttered, "...You l-like me?" "Yeah," nodded Kaiya, "you're cute!" "...Cute?" echoed the confused digimon; "W-what does that mean?" The little girl, who was actually not that little when compared to him, giggled, "You don't know what cute means?" "If it means I have the makings of a ruthless monster," replied Caterpillmon, "then yes. I am cute."

"I'm bored," said the young Kaiya as she scratched her nose; "Wanna play hide and seek?" Caterpillmon blinked, "...What's that?" His new friend explained, "Oh, it's easy! I'll go hide, and then you go and find me." "Oh!" smiled the caterpillar; "You mean 'Seek and Destroy!' I know that game. Okay, you go hide and I'll find you." The little girl laughed, "...Close your eyes and start counting. He did so, and off she went into the woods.

"From there, an unlikely friendship was born. He didn't know it then, but Caterpillmon was in fact created with the same technology we made to create our own digimon types. Even though he was a Virus, he had all the makings of a loyal pet, and guardian. And thanks to Kaiya, his instincts took a seemingly unexpected toll… He became her new best friend.

"But all of this peace and serenity came to a crashing halt when Daemon's minions arrived. They grew too tired of waiting for Caterpillmon's return to the Dark Ocean, so as soon as the bridge between their world and ours was complete, in they came.

"Quickly, we tried to bring the children back to the gate which was opened to them from our real world. Only by going back to their own reality would they be safe from the evil monsters that came after them. But in this chaos, Kaiya and Caterpillmon were lost."

They were in the middle of one of their innocent games, when Caterpillmon noticed the sky turning black. It never turned black before, especially not in mid-day, so this concerned him greatly.

He moved as quickly as he could with such small legs to an opening in the woods, and to his horror he saw that the sky was being filled with demonic digimon. Of course, he knew where they came from and he knew what they were there to do; he gulped, "Oh no..." There was no time to waste; he had to find Kaiya.

As he raced through the woods, he noticed that one area started to freeze over; it was odd, because it was the middle of summer, and here there was frost on the ground. Caterpillmon took this as a sign, and followed the frost all the way to an area that was completely frozen over.

Soon he knew why: an Ice Devimon, one of the first Champions to ever set foot in the digital world, was loose. And to make the situation even worse, this one had in his grasp Caterpillmon's human friend, Kaiya.

"Let me go!" she screamed, as the icy white devil tried to hold her down with one claw, his other raised in the air. "Hold still," he hissed at her; "This isn't gonna hurt a bit now, okay? ...Actually, I'm not sure if it ever hurts, but I never got a complaint from any of my other ice sculptures! Hmph."

"Help!" she started screaming; "Caterpillmon! Help me!"

Her friend, at this point, was not far away; he paused to observe the situation from underneath a brush. But seeing his dear friend in such peril, about to be turned into an ice statue, made his eyes glimmer in a way they never had before. He was suddenly filled with compassion, and rage.

Without thinking twice, the little caterpillar shouted, "Hang on, Kaiya!" He then made a mad dash into the open, catching the icy devil off guard. Caterpillmon then rolled himself up in a ball and launched himself at the arm which had Kaiya in its grip. Amazingly, this trick worked, and the two young ones made a soft landing in the snow.

Once Kaiya realized what had happened, she turned to her little larva friend and reached out to hold him; "Caterpillmon," she muttered. But the little larva jumped to his feet frantically and said, "Hurry! We gotta get out of here." With that, he led her back into the summery woods.

The Ice Devimon could have easily followed them, but instead he watched them leave and laughed, "You won't get far, you little insects! This entire forest is filled with demons now, and it's all thanks to YOU, Caterpillmon!" His maniacal laugh echoed through the forest, and it would seem to haunt the little larva for the rest of his existence.

They were still far off from the gate that would lead Kaiya home, when the two young ones were ambushed by a group of Devimon. The black devils surrounded them, each threatening the larva and the human with their blood-dipped claws.

Overcome with fear, the little girl started to shake; "Caterpillmon," she said with a trembling voice, "I'm scared..." Her little friend stood his ground, and even moved closer to her as the Devimon moved in; in a calm, soothing voice he replied, "It's okay, Kaiya. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise."

The situation was bleak; here, there was only one Rookie, up against five Champions. But instead of running and abandoning the human, instead Caterpillmon curled up around her shoulders in an attempt to shield her. The two of them then braced themselves as the Devimon hissed, "TOUCH OF EVIL..."

"…By the time we got there, it was too late…"

The Digi-Keepers, still in their human forms at the time, looked on with despair as Caterpillmon curled himself around the still body of Kaiya. "…Kaiya," he begged, "you've gotta get up… Come on, we gotta take you home now… Kaiya? ….Kaiya??"

Gaiamon picked up the girl in her arms, and could see that the child had taken a blow to the head during the onslaught. Caterpillmon stared up at the Keeper; "I-is she alright?" he peeped. The Keeper looked down on him and narrowed her eyes, "…She's been knocked out cold. I'm not sure just how serious her injury is. We must take her home now."

As she and her sisters rushed toward the gateway to their real world, Caterpillmon called out to them, "Wait!" With that, he made a mad dash- as mad a dash as anyone with his tiny legs could- tailing the Keepers.

"We wasted no time in eliminating the bridge that Daemon had built between his Dark Ocean world and our digital world. But when we did, we realized that many of his digimon remained in our once proud paradise. And we couldn't delete them ourselves, thanks to their Virus formation; so my sisters and I had no choice but to leave this place as it was. A place where good and evil live together.

"We did, of course, take into consideration of upgrading our creatures so that they too could become Champions, Ultimates and so forth. In those forms they could act as the protectors against the evil ones, and for this reason alone we've upgraded them. But before we began this process, there was only one thing left that I needed to do…"

She found him curled up under a willow tree, more weepy-eyed than the tree itself. Gaiamon looked down on him with a heart heavy with pity; she whispered, "There, there. It's alright… No one's going to hurt Kaiya anymore."

Caterpillmon wiped his eyes as best he could, and sniffed, "…S-she… she's never coming back, is she?" Gaiamon shook her head sadly, "No. I'm afraid she's not… I don't think any of them are ever coming back. This world is no longer safe for children-"

He then interrupted her by burying his head in shame, "It's all my fault! I started it; I was sent to help destroy this place…" His sobbing and sniffling continued on until Gaiamon hushed him with, "Caterpillmon… I've been watching you with Kaiya, and I've seen for myself that you are not to blame for what happened. In fact, you tried to save her…"

Her soothing words were enough to make the little caterpillar stop sniffling. At once, he turned his big yellow eyes to her; he gulped, "A lot of good that did… I wasn't meant to be a fighter. I'm just… I'm…"

"You're a digimon," Gaiamon finished his sentence with a small smile; "…And as a digimon, you have the right to stay here, and be who you choose to be." Caterpillmon looked confused; "…Wh-who I choose to be?" he echoed. "Yes," nodded the Keeper; "I will let you stay here in my realm, where you could decide for yourself who you wish to serve."

He gave it very little thought; soon enough he looked back at her and gave a meek nod; "I wanna stay here… With you. Make me one of your digimon. …Please, Gaia?"

With that she only smiled, and stretched out her right hand to him, touching his brow. With that, he fell into a deep sleep under the tree.

Then, using her own powers, she raised up her hands high enough to quietly summon a blanket of moss, which enveloped Caterpillmon inside of it. Like a real caterpillar, he had been cocooned by this moss; soon a ray of light began to shine from within the cocoon, and when it had diminished, a flower bloomed.

Within the flower appeared Wormmon- the Wormmon as we know him today; green, purple, and blue-eyed.

"That became the first day I've ever reformatted a digimon- and a Virus type, nonetheless. But if you ask me, it was certainly worth it."

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

"…Wow… That's just… wow," was all Davis could say.

This was back with those who had gathered around Gaiamon, of course. They've just heard the story about how she became the proud owner of Wormmon, and just the little Rookie, they were all moved by it. "I never thought such a sweet little guy like that could've been evil once," said Jun.

The lady in the tree replied, "Well, what he'd gone through proved to me that even if they are programmed to think a certain way, digimon can develop minds of their own. I would like to think that the same could be said about all of Daemon's creatures… But I'm sure most of them choose to be evil."

"It's like a bad habit," remarked Matt, who stood leaning by a tree nearby; "They can't help themselves."

"No," shook Gaiamon's head, "perhaps not… But at least one of them did. Now all he has to do is let go of the past." "Gee," muttered Davis, who was tempted to glance at his nearby comatose friend, "this is starting to sound like another story I know…"

There was a pause of silence then. Nobody noticed, but within the brief hush that fell upon the gathered heroes, the pinkish rose-shaped symbol on Ken's battle crest began to softly glow.

------------ Vision: Ken's Dream World, Part II ------------

"Uugh… Of all places to get lost in… Why does it always have to be a desert? …I mean this is my dream world for crying out loud; at least make it rain!"

Feeling hot and tired after walking through a vast wasteland, of course, was all in Ken's head, but the strangest part was that it was beginning to feel more real with every minute… or hour… or however long he's been in this state of unconsciousness. And it was starting to get to him at last.

But now, as the so-called wind picked up, making a wave of sand catch up with him as he reached the peak of a sandy dune, Ken started to think to himself out loud, "…Maybe I can't help it… Maybe I'm stuck here 'cause my mind's all messed up from that fight with Gluttonymon… We were in a desert for real, after all; maybe when I got hit, seeing the desert was the only thing I could remember…"

Then he stopped; all the while he was walking aimlessly, his eyes were fixed on the road-less ground, but now they finally caught the sight of something unusual.

"…Footprints?"

There were two sets of footprints; the pair on his left were clearly that of a human's, for they were shaped out like shoes. The footprints on the right, however, were half the size of the human ones, and had three toes each. Clearly, they had to be made by digimon feet.

Ken put two and two together by remembering that he had seen Ryo and his Veemon before and guessed, "If this is the same desert I saw before, then these must be Ryo and Veemon's prints… But… how could I see these if I never found out what happened to them? I mean, after I went back home these two just… disappeared."

He then gazed out into the horizon, where the footprints would lead, and would perhaps go beyond it. As much as he wanted to follow them, he knew that he couldn't. His mind had so many limits, he just felt that following those footprints would take him nowhere.

His heart started to sink with sorrow as he frowned, "…Those two and Wormmon were the best friends I had. How could they just disappear like that?"

Feeling like the lost soul that he was, Ken sat down in the sand, accepting certain defeat. He sighed deeply as the wind started to brush his hair, "I feel so alone… I hate being alone. I wish Wormmon were here…

"Wormmon?"

When he muttered that, he started to grow worried, as if he could start to sense something in the air. It was his natural instincts given to him by his title as a Digi-Destined; he knew that Wormmon was near, and that he needed him. He jumped to his feet and started to call him, "Wormmon! …Wormmon, are you out there?? Can you hear me??…"

It didn't seem like anyone could hear Ken; he seemed to be just a dot in a never-ending desert. But perhaps the desert was holding him back all along; maybe if he looked to the sky instead, which he then did…

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

All of a sudden, Ken found himself back in the waking world, at last. He could see the emerald trees surrounding Gaiamon, and he could hear the birds chirping within them.

He could see familiar faces nearby; there was Davis and Veemon, sitting on a mossy log, and near him sat Jun and Penguinmon. To his surprise, he could see Tai walking by, and Matt was in the scene too, under a tree shade with Gabumon. He had to be awake, because he could almost swear he felt the cool breeze in the air, and the sun in his face.

"…Am I… awake?" he asked himself. He then decided to investigate by calling out to his friends, "Davis! …Veemon? …Jun! Penguinmon! …Tai? …Matt? …Can you guys-"

He was about to finish his question, when the answer became all to clear to him soon enough. Perhaps by accident, Ken turned himself around and looked downward. There, he saw something he never expected to see: himself.

He was still unconscious, it seemed, and the only reason why he could see everything in the waking world was because he was having an out of body experience.

"Okay," muttered Ken in his ghostly form, "this is way too weird…" But then he could see that his Battle Crest of Kindness was blinking; not just that it was blinking, but it seemed to be blinking in syncopation with his heartbeat.

Feeling its energy, he spoke to the crest, "You brought me out here."

It was then clear to his spirit that he was out in the waking world for a reason; "Wormmon…" Then, he seemed to have disappeared.

"I knew it… I knew there had to be a reason why I'm the only Virus type of the whole gang…"

As a leaf trickled its way down into the water, Wormmon was still staring at his reflection in the river nearby, sulking over his guilty past.

He continued to lecture himself softly, "Virus types were never meant to be friends with children. They were never meant to be friends with anybody. Why was I so different? What made me change myself like that? …Do you think there could be more like me? …Or am I one of a kind?"

He paused to wonder this, when he heard a strangely familiar voice: "You certainly are one of a kind."

Wormmon was shocked to hear the voice of Ken, because not only was it his voice, but it sounded like he was a child again. The little caterpillar turned around, and as if he were psychic, he could see a transparent eight-year-old version of his human partner. Wormmon's eyes glimmered with both surprise and joy, as he whimpered, "…mmm… Ken-chan?"

He hadn't called him "Ken-chan" in what seemed like a lifetime; that was his personal pet name for the little boy. Equally moved by the moment, Ken's spirit blushed, "Yeah… it's me, Wormmon. I had a feeling you needed me."

Wormmon started to shake with anxiety, "I did!" he nodded; "I mean, I do! I need you right now…" Even though he couldn't touch anything, Ken's chibi-like spirit knelt down and reached out for his troubled partner; Wormmon reacted by practically jumping into the transparent arms. They couldn't really come in contact with each other, but it was the thought that counted.

As he nuzzled the spirit and his eyes welled with tears, Wormmon said, "I was beginning to think I wasn't worthy of you; that I was never meant to be a Digi-Destined partner."

Ken's spirit frowned, "Why would you ever think like that, Wormmon?" The little green digimon replied, "I was created by Daemon. I was supposed to be on his side, and if it weren't for the other Keepers, I'd probably still be on his side."

Ken's spirit paused, but then he smiled, "Hey… It's okay, buddy; I know exactly how you feel. And look, we're both better people now, so nothing we did in the past matters now." Wormmon sniffed, "…How did you do it, Ken-chan? How did you forgive yourself after you realized every cruel thing you've done?" The spirit sighed, "I'll be the first to tell you that it's not easy… But I forgive you."

"You don't even know-"

"And maybe I don't wanna know. But I don't really care…"

The youthful spirit of Ken then leaned in closer to his partner and said, "Wormmon, you were sent to me for a reason. Maybe somebody knew that we'd be connected like this, or maybe it was all just coincidence. But no matter what, I've always been proud to have you as my digimon, and I always will. I couldn't ask for a better partner, and I mean that with all my heart."

As if he wasn't choked up enough, the little caterpillar was then on the brink of balling his eyes out and sobbing like a baby. But something held him back from doing so, and instead he just let the tears stream down his face.

Seeing his partner's spirit was one thing; hearing it speak those sincere words was perhaps more than what Wormmon needed to be at peace with himself. Perhaps the spirit would have been just as emotional, if he had a physical form.

Then he just remembered that he did have a physical form, and that it needed him to return as soon as possible. Ken's spirit let out a small gasp, alerting Wormmon.

"Ken-chan?" he muttered with a blink; Ken's spirit frowned to his partner and could only say, "I gotta go…" And just as Wormmon tried to coax him to stay by uttering, "Wait! Ken-chan?" the spirit had vanished. Wormmon gasped, thinking that something horrible had happened to Ken's spirit just then.

But a moment later, it dawned on him and he frowned, "…I guess he's back where he belongs… in his body…" He sighed, starting to miss his partner all over again.

He wouldn't have to feel lonely for long, because shortly afterward, he started to feel a tremble in the earth. It was a very unnatural tremble; it was as if a volcano was erupting a few miles away. Alarmed, Wormmon gathered his wits and quickly crawled back to Gaiamon's tree.

"…What's going on?" panted the little caterpillar once he met up with his friends by Gaiamon. They all turned to him in surprise, but Gaiamon herself replied to him with a look of distress in her face, "It's happening again… My realm is weakening in power…"

Then, sensing another bad vibe, she widened her eyes in revelation, "It's Gluttonymon."

Tai balled a fist, "Where is he?" "In the heart of my gardens," replied the Keeper. Matt looked to his digimon partner who stood by his side and asked, "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's pay him a visit!" "Yeah!" cheered Agumon and Gabumon.

------------ Vision: Digivolutions, 1 ------------

"AGUMON!"

"GABUMON!"

(Both) "WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO………….

"WAR GREYMON!"

"METAL GARURUMON!"

"Tai Kamiya!"

"Matt Ishida!"

(Both) "BATTLE-GEAR DIGIVOLVE, BASED ON…….

"WAR GREYMON!"

"WEREGARURUMON!"

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

Just when Davis was about to unleash his own digimon's power, Tai called out to him, "Davis! You and Jun stay here and look after the others. We'll try to hold off Gluttonymon for as long as we can." "Okay," replied Davis, "but first let's gear up."

------------ Vision: Digivolutions, 2 ------------

"VEEMON!"

"PENGUINMON!"

(Both) "DIGIVOLVE TO………..

"EXVEEMON!"

"SABERDRAMON!"

"EXVEEMON, DIGIVOLVE TO………….. PAILDRAMON!"

------------ End Visions ------------

As Gaiamon had informed them, Tai and his crew flew over to the center of the Great Gardens. The two humans were transported there by their Mega-level digimon, who shot through the air like rockets; with their speed, they reached their destination in no time.

But when they arrived at the scene, they seemed to be too late. No longer was there a single tree that stood as tall as a building, or a flower patch that would have been sprinkled across the plain, or even a babbling brook that would scrape through the fields in zig-zag formats.

No, the only thing Tai and friends could see was a completely wasted valley with uproots, debris, and trails of dirt which could have been made by bulldozers. The humans and digimon paused to glare at the sudden change of the Great Gardens and were horrified.

"My God…" muttered Battle-Gear Tai as he dismounted War Greymon's back; "I hear ya," replied Battle-Gear Matt as he dismounted Metal Garurumon. Tai looked to his human friend and frowned, "I never thought one Sin could do so much damage in such a short time.

"…Who? Me?"

This voice came from behind them, and the heroes knew off the bat who it belonged to. But when they turned around to face their enemy, who seemed to have emerged from the ground in a surprise attack, they never thought that he would be so tall. His shadow not only loomed over them, but it went on for at least a mile…

"I never liked this plan… I just know someone's going to get hurt! And that someone that I don't want to see get hurt!"

These words came from the voice of Lustmon, as she snaked through the treetops in her shadow form, frantically searching for the Digi-Destined. Well, one in particular… And she found him, alright; to her surprise, he was being lifted in the air by a Saberdramon, who also had on his back a young lady and a small caterpillar.

These, of course, were Jun and Wormmon, and soon enough they were joined in the sky by Davis and Paildramon. Lustmon was watching them from a safe distance, but she could hear Davis say, "Okay Jun, you guys take Ken as far away from here as you can. Paildramon and I are gonna try to help Tai and Matt!" "Okay," nodded Jun.

But one second later, there came an unpleasant change in the atmosphere. A far distant explosion went off, followed by a mushroom cloud that went on for miles. It was as if someone set off a nuclear bomb, and it soon felt that way too, as a major shock wave affected even the area in which Davis and crew were in.

Lustmon knew what this meant, as she glanced in the direction of the explosion; "…Too late."

This was an attack made by Gluttonymon, and unfortunately for them, Tai, Matt and their digimon were right there in the area in which the enlarged Sin exploded.

War Greymon and Metal Garurumon were literally blown away by this explosion, that before they were taken off by the force of the explosion's shock wave, they de-digivolved back into their In-Training forms. With them, in the shock wave, flew Matt and Tai.

And it didn't end there. Gluttonymon's power was so great, that a monstrous wildfire spread from the area in which he was in all the way to Gaiamon's region. And that was miles away.

While they were still being pushed back by the shock wave of the explosion, Davis and company watched in horror as the fires of Gluttonymon started to wipe the land clean of all of its plantation. While Paildramon was in his Ultimate form, he was strong enough to hold himself steady in the air.

Saberdramon, unfortunately, wasn't that powerful, and found himself flapping his wings like crazy as his body started to turn vertically. Jun held on for dear life to his neck, but then realized that she had another passenger on board, and he was slipping off fast.

"Ken!" she hollered in vain; Wormmon tried to reach him, but his partner was already on the verge of falling off Saberdramon; "No!!" he gasped.

Ken did fall off Saberdramon, but he wouldn't come to harm, for just as he was in mid-air, he was intercepted by a dark flash, and with it he was gone.

Wormmon couldn't believe his eyes; "Wha?" he blurted out. Just then, Paildramon and Davis (who was clinging onto his partner's left shoulder) came floating by due to the force of the shock wave; Davis called out, "What just happened!?" "Something's got Ken!" Wormmon replied; "I'm going to find him!"

As planned, the little Rookie leapt off Saberdramon's back and shot a "Silk Thread" from his mouth to a nearby tree branch. Then like Tarzan, he swung to the ground, which by then was now nothing more than ash and dirt.

Wormmon wasted no time in crawling around for his human partner; he knew that calling out to him would be pointless, since Ken was still unconscious.

But his search ended almost as quickly as it began, when Wormmon jumped through a withering bush to find his partner at last… in Lustmon's arms. The Sin had caught him, saving his life, and was at this moment laying him back down on the ground.

"Hey!" shouted Wormmon, startling her. Wormmon had warned her before about staying away from Ken, and now this seemed to be the straw that broke the caterpillar's back; "What're you doing?" he growled; "Get away from him! Go on, get outta here!"

There was an unfamiliar look in the Sin's violet eyes; she seemed to show concern. Whether it was concern for Ken or for herself seemed unclear, but either way she quickly turned tail and scampered off into the withering forest without even thinking about picking a fight.

It was only when Wormmon got the chance to move in closer to Ken and see that he had not a scratch on him when the Rookie finally realized what just happened; "…She saved his life."

About that time, the wind finally died down, allowing the others to make soft landings nearby. When they did, the humans immediately threw themselves from their digimon partners' backs and rushed over to Ken and Wormmon's side. "Oh my God," gasped a very concerned Davis, "is he alright??" "He's okay," replied a much calmer Wormmon; "Don't worry. I think we're all alright now."

"Not really," interrupted a very deep, inhuman voice.

Creeped out by this voice that seemed to come from behind them, the gang slowly turned around and came face to face… to face… with a Gluttonymon that stood an abnormal four stories high.

Not only was he three times his original size, but he was much darker this time, with brown skin (and tan boils on his bloated stomach), red hyena-like hair running down his back, dark gray shaded blades on his arms which still shaped out a fork and knife, yellow teeth in both jaws, and his two pairs of eyes (one on his spliced animal face, the other to go with the rubbery jaws of his tummy) were light blue. The giant Sin sneered at them with his hyena/warthog face.

The group of heroes before him had to take a few steps back, even Paildramon. "What the heck??" gasped Davis to the Sin; "You were much smaller last time I saw you!" "I know," gloated the overexcited Gluttonymon; "I had myself a major upgrade done, thanks to my master! Now I'm twice as powerful, and there's nothing you can do to stop me from wiping out this entire forest!"

Jun had picked up Ken by his shoulders to move him back, and stayed with him at that moment; she looked up at the Sin and frowned timidly, "No you won't! Tai and Matt will take care of you before that happens."

"You mean these guys?" smiled the spliced face of Gluttonymon, followed by the opening of his stomach's mouth. It coughed up the battered and temporarily shell-shocked Tai, Matt and their In-Training digimon.

"Tai!" Davis gasped, followed by Jun's gasp, "Matt!" "Puh," said Gluttonymon, "They were a cakewalk, and even in their highest levels…. Mmm… Cake… Now I'm hungry! Who wants to be my next meal?" When he asked this, he raised up his fork and knife for arms.

Davis, Jun and their digimon prepared for the worst, when suddenly a pinkish glow interrupted the scene. Startled, the heroes, including Wormmon, turned to where it was coming from: Ken's battle crest. It was a very brief glow, but it was just the kind of signal they needed to see, because once it died down, something else started to stir, and that was Ken himself. After nearly four days of being locked in a state of unconscious, he was now fluttering his eyes open.

Though his friends were excited to see this, it was a moment of joy that was then rudely interrupted by Gluttonymon; "Oh good, lazy boy's awake! Now he can get to watch as I eat him and all his little friends alive!"

"…You'll do no such thing," came a lady's voice from another direction.

To even the surprise of Gluttonymon, this was the voice of Gaiamon, and when he turned to the far left to see her, she stood there, free from her willow tree form (though she still shaded green from the head down, and her hair was still dripping with leaves) at last.

She glared mercilessly at Gluttonymon. "It's not them you want," she said to him, "It's me." The Sin grinned with both mouths, "Too true… You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this; now I'll not only have your data, but all the power that comes with it!" Then he laughed, as any power-drunk villain would at a moment like this.

Gaiamon then turned her head over to her friends and said, "Leave this place, children. I can handle him on my own." Reminding himself of the responsibility that was appointed to him in the first place, Davis dared to argue, "But Gaia-" "Go!" she blurted out; "Now!"

Davis seemed to be taken back, but he could tell in her tone of voice that she was dead serious, and that she could have handled this situation on her own. So he took command and said to his friends, "Let's get out of here."

In no time, Saberdramon took to the sky with Jun, followed by Stingmon cradling a still weakened Ken, and then last but not least to jump in the air was Paildramon, who had Tai, Matt and their partners in his arms and Davis hanging onto his back. The three of them took off with Davis muttering as he looked back at Gaiamon, "I hope she knows what she's doing!"

She did, indeed; the Keeper of the Land stood perfectly still without flinching her eyes at Gluttonymon. No matter how much power he had gained, she seemed confident that she could defeat him.

But the enormous Sin, drooling greedily with his two massive jaws, just laughed at her; "Look at you! I was expecting someone big and threatening, and here you're just a little girl as thin as a stick! You haven't even given yourself a chance by making all your friends go away. Oh… this is gonna be almost too sad!"

The Keeper just glared at him, "Just do as you wish." Gluttonymon raised his fork and knife for arms in the air again and replied, "Fine! I'll give you the same treatment as your little cronies… RECKLESS DESTRUCTION!"

Just as he promised, his stomach's jaws opened wide and unleashed a torrent of fire, which had the same destructive force as a nuclear bomb. It seemed to have smoked Gaiamon, as well as the entire area within a ten-mile radius.

While the land was still painted in flames, the Sin laughed insanely, believing that this one attack was all it would take to claim victory… But then, something he didn't expect happened; "Huh??" he gasped.

He saw it with his top blue eyes; where the Keeper once stood… was still standing, but instead of being made of leaf and vine, she was now covered head to tow in flames. Her flesh and eyes, in fact, were shades in red, yellow and orange. And she remained calm and unflinching, as she did before he launched his attack on her.

"How??" he growled in frustration; "HOW did you survive that attack??" The Keeper replied, "You know what they say about that which doesn't kill you…"

But there was more to it than she let on; Gaiamon was not only the Keeper of the Land, but also everything that survived on it, and that included fire. This was a bit of information that Gluttonymon, perhaps, could have needed. But it was too late at this point.

It was then her turn to attack; Gaiamon moved forward, preparing to take a flying leap at the bloated Sin. He saw it coming, so he opened his stomach's jaws as widely as he could- they were wide enough to swallow a mad truck, or two. Though he did this, Gaiamon didn't decline from her attack; instead, she pushed herself forward, appearing to be like a firecracker or a comet in the process. She then had no choice but to enter Gluttonymon's stomach, which was his plan… and hers as well.

Before the Sin could even pause to gloat about this, he realized what he had allowed Gaiamon to do, and almost in a flash, she exited his body from his back, thus cutting right through him in a blaze of fire. It seemed as though even with twice the amount of power, he was still not strong enough to take down a Keeper, and was about to pay for it heavily.

Gluttonymon paused to notice the giant hole in his torso and bellowed in terror, "…What… have you DONE??" Gaiamon was nowhere in sight to respond; she seemed to have disappeared in the fire. Nevertheless, he got his answer soon enough; in seconds, his body started to crack like glass, until it covered him from head to would-be toe.

Helpless to stop this, he let out a roar of anguish, and then like a balloon with too much air, he exploded in a burst of data. It was enough to make the ground quake, and the blast could be heard throughout the rest of the forest.

It took a few hours for the smoke to clear and the fires to die down, and when they did, those heroes that were forced to leave returned to a desolate wasteland.

All of the trees that once blocked out the sun, even on the clearest of days, had been swept away by Gluttonymon's careless destruction. It was more than enough to dampen the spirits of the humans and digimon that have sworn to protect this land. And their spirits weren't any more lifted when they realized that Gaiamon was missing.

Tai, Matt and their partners woke up to this scene and were devastated. They stayed in one place, while the others gathered the strength they had to go look for the Keeper. They shouted her name, looked behind every ashy corner, and time was slipping away. Still no Gaiamon.

The whole group came to a stop after nearly an hour of hopeless searching, and rested in the area in which the Keeper of the Land was last seen. Jun looked to her digimon parner for comfort by muttering, "She... she can't be gone, can she?" Penguinmon replied in a somber tone, "I don't know... Maybe she went back into the Earth to regenerate herself. ...Or maybe-"

"Maybe she was too weak to withstand Gluttonymon?" guessed a nearby Davis; he then narrowed his eyes, "No way! We can't start thinking like that. She's just gotta be around here somewhere."

But Jun's heart was filled with doubt; "Look around you, Davis," she replied solemnly; "Look at all the destruction... All the trees, the flowers. They're all gone. Let's just face it; we failed..."

No one seemed to notice, but there was a certain lack of coloration in her eyes when she said this. And for a moment, nobody seemed to argue with her.

But then, out of nowhere it seemed, Ken's soft voice said, "You only fail if you give up." Davis had almost forgotten that his best buddy had finally awakened, so he, along with most of the others, were stunned to see him standing on his feet nearby.

He wasn't quite finished talking, but he paused to glance down at the Battle Crest that hung around his neck like a charm. It was glowing hot pink, just as it did when he snapped out of his coma. He then said, "We can find her, if we just put our powers together... Tai. Davis. You each have a crest that shares part of Gaiamon's power. Let's use them."

Farther away from him than Davis stood Tai; he was reminded that he and Ken were both cosen ones of Gaiamon, and that one third of Davis's crest came from her as well. "Yeah," he nodded, clutching onto his crest, which started to glow orange.

Davis was next to follow in line, and as he reached down to his own Crest, it started to glow red. The three of them unleashed the power of their crests, and out from them came three specifically colored rays of light. Red, pink and orange lights, as bright and soft as the sun's own rays, found their way to one particular spot on the ground.

There they stayed, until the earth magically opened up. The Digi-Destined and their partners watched in awe, as out from underneath a desolate patch of earth sprouted a flower. But it wasn't just any flower; this one was glowing with pure green energy, almost angelic-like. When it bloomed, its petals shown in a glorious shade of red-violet.

But then the flower's shape started to shift into the figure of a young lady, and its top part grew a face; its petals remained, but took shape of long, flowing hair at the same time. When she opened her mossy green eyes, everyone knew who it was and cheered, "Gaiamon!"

Indeed, the Keeper of the Land was reborn in the form of a great flower; her former size was now halved, though. She was about as high as the humans' legs, but that didn't phase them.

They all ran to her in jubilation, along with their digimon. Gaiamon greeted them all with a warm smile, "Children... I'm glad you brought me back; thank you." Davis meekly rubbed his nose, "Ahh, it was nothin'! I told you it was nothing we couldn't handle! Right, guys?" "Uhh... ehh..." was the resounding reply.

The small Koromon then asked, "Whatever happened to Gluttonymon?" "He's gone," replied the Keeper; "He was too reckless in thought that he couldn't handle his newfound power. Though I must admit, taking him down was a little more difficult than I expected... But I did manage to snatch something of his."

Her audience looked on in curiosity as the flower-shaped girl pulled something from behind her; it was a heart-shaped topaz stone. "What is that?" asked Davis; Gaiamon replied with a smile, "You wouldn't believe it, Davis, but this is Gluttonymon's heart."

"He had a heart??" everyone gasped in surprise.

Showing her frailty, Gaiamon laughed very softly, "Hmm-hmm... I'm not quite sure what this means either, but perhaps we'll know in time... Here." She handed the heart over to Tai, who took it graciously; "You hold onto it for now," she said with a weakening voice tone; "I think I'll rest for a little while... Wake me up when something else happens."

Figuring that the Keeper had just about enough excitement for one day, the group allowed her to close herself up in her flower form, and like a real flower during the night she dozed off.

While she started to sleep, her chosen ones started to reflect on their hectic day. Tai observed aloud, "Wow... So, Gluttonymon is gone now, and we've got his heart, but now the Great Gardens are almost totally destroyed. Where exactly do we go from here?"

Matt rested himself by a charred rock and replied weakly, "Maybe we should just wait 'till the others show up, Tai. Besides, I think Gaiamon's got the right idea... Why don't we rest a bit?"

"No offense, you guys," Ken cracked a smile, "but I think I've had enough rest to last me a lifetime." Davis patted his back, "You said it, bro! Let's go round up the rest of the gang and fill them in on everything!" "Okay," nodded Ken. Within moments, their Ultimate digimon came alive and took off in the sky.

The others took Matt's advice, and tried to rest themselves. It had been a crazy day, and it was only halfway done.

And as his friends started to succeed in finding their peace, Tai stayed awake the longest, observing Gluttonymon's yellow topaz heart. He still couldn't believe that a Sin digimon would even have a heart.

But one thing he could believe was the simple fact that it was ice cold, hard as stone, and not beating.

TO BE CONTINUED