Welcome back :D

This is the official start of Season 2, I'll be updating once a week-ish, depending on how things go over the holidays. Currently its about 75% done, and has some of my favorite things I've written so far!

Hope you guys are ready for a fun ride!

Also, to help with following individual stories, I'm going to start marking each segment with which characters are either involved or focused on! I'll also be retroactively going back and editing older chapters to do this as well!

Anyways, enough our Season 2 Premier!

. . . Dragomon . . .

When thrown through the portal, forced back to his realm in both defeat and shame, Dragomon and his followers were picking themselves up from the proverbial dirt of the ocean floor. Having been scattered around the sunken city which made up his domain. The great titan of a digimon was furious, searching for any sign of those pesky humans and their partners, that had denied him conquest.

"Search every corner of the Digital World!" He commanded his servants, "Find them!" His thunderous voice booming into the depths, "I want them brought before me in CHAINS!"

Before a shrill chuckle sounded from above, drawing his attention to a tall shadowy figure watching this defeated Lord's tantrum play out in real time through the glowing orb. The same orb they'd used to communicate many times before, "Quite unlike you to lose your temper, Dragomon."

The wrathful titan narrowed his eyes, lumbering over to the orb and raising it in his tentacled hand. "I underestimated the humans, it will not happen again."

"Indeed, assuming you can even open another gateway." The shadowed lord of darkness answered simply. "It will be quite difficult now that they're in our world."

Dragomon nodded, "Your agents can travel further and faster than mine," He admitted, "Dispatch them, bring the humans to me and we'll throw the gate open once more!"

Another amused laugh echoed through the orb, "Oh don't worry, everything is in order to see the humans brought before me, but I don't think I'll be handing them over to you."

"WHAT?!" Dragomon's grip tightened on the stone, sending cracks throughout its surface. "We had a deal, you would aid me in conquering the human world!"

"You tried, and failed." He answered simply, a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him. "Quit while you're ahead, if things continue as they are you won't survive another encounter with the humans."

"You sound so sure," Dragomon grumbled, "Do you know something I don't?"

"Only that brute force is not going to win this fight," The dark lord answered simply, "You've learned as much, take my advice and retreat to the depths once more, recover your strength and muster new followers." Before those sharp red eyes narrowed, "Get in my way, and the humans will be the least of your worries."

Perhaps in better shape, not fresh from a brutal battle with the humans, Dragomon might have argued with his rival. "Hmmph... You will pay for this..."

"By all means," The wicked digimon chuckled, voice deep and carrying a weight even the Deep Lord dare not argue with. "Begin your war against me, I promise it will be over quickly."

As his forces were now, Dragomon knew he wouldn't win that fight. Even in his prime, he wasn't quite sure he could defeat the lord of darkness either. "Then our business is concluded..." Before crushing the orb in his hands, letting it fall to dust on the ocean floor. "Find the humans, but do not engage them... We must gather our strength."

"And when the time comes... I will have my revenge on both the humans and you too!"

. . .

. . . Kai And Kotemon . . .

Kai awoke laying in a empty field, there was a sun shining overhead and the grass that surrounded him was several feet high. He sat up slowly, blinking in surprise, "Am I... Dead?" His head just barely poking above the blades of grass.

"KAAAAAIII!" His eyes darted across the field, spotting Kotemon running towards him. The little armored digimon crossing the distance at a dead sprint, sliding to a stop and panting heavily. "There you are, I've been running around this field for what feels like hours!"

"Kotemon, sorry to worry you." Kai bowed his head slightly, before rising to his feet. "But... Where are we?" He didn't remember anything after being sucked into that- "Wait, is this..." He looked towards the horizon, seeing mountains in the distance and strangely shaped trees at the edges of the field. "We're in the Digital World?"

"That's right!" He nodded excitedly, "Not far from where I came from actually! My village should be just through the forest."

But Kai had other concerns, as he looked to the sky and saw no evidence of a gateway. "Have you seen the others?"

"Uh- No, actually..." Kotemon realized, as if it were the first time he'd thought about it. "Though, since we appeared so close to where I originally came from, maybe they're with their partners too?"

"So we've been scattered," Kai surmised, sighing heavily as he pulled out his Digivice. Pulling up the map but not seeing any sign of them, or anything at all really. "Some kind of interference? Or maybe the range on this thing isn't enough to see them..."

"Don't worry we'll find them!" Kotemon assured, waving his oversized sleeves around. "But first we should head to my village, it's a safe place full of good Digimon! We can rest there and get supplies." He added.

Kai nodded, "Sounds like a plan, lead the way partner." Before internally remarking, "An entire village full of Digimon? Well this is certainly going to be interesting..."

. . .

. . . Cody and Shamanmon . . .

Wherever Cody happened to be when he opened his eyes, it was dark. He groaned, feeling a pain in the back of his head as he sat up and looked around. "Where the hell-" Before noticing a fire lit nearby, illuminating the walls of whatever cave he was in. He could see the entrance not too far away, sunlight shining in from outside. Instinctively, he pulled out his Digivice, "Dammit, no signal on the others..."

But there was on red ping, so he jumped to his feet and began heading towards the entrance. "Hey! Shamanmon!?" He called out, breaching the exit to the cave and into- "Holy shit..." Stopping in his tracks, seeing the beautiful lake in front of him, lights glimmering in strange colors off the surface. He was in some kind of valley, surrounded by dense jungle, the air was hot and humid.

"Cody!" Came the response he'd been hoping for. The abrasive young man spotting his partner down by the water waving his club around. "Down here! Come on!"

The young man was still processing all of this, but began making his way down to the waters. Along the way he pulled off his jacket so he was only in the white t-shirt underneath, which seemed appropriate given the heat. "Shamanmon, is this really the Digital World?" He asked, reaching his partner near the waters. "And... What are you doing down here?"

"Was going to get you water," He explained with a grin, "Built fire to keep you warm, and it dried you out after we landed in the lake."

"Landed in the-" Cody stopped himself, shaking his head. "We fell from the sky? Have you seen the others at all?"

But Shamanmon shook his head, "Nope, no sign of them, could be anywhere in the Digital World."

"That's just great," Cody sighed, looking out across the water. Now that he was closer, he could see strange colors in pixelated patterns occasionally shimmering across the surface. "Man, this place is kinda trippy..." Before he sighed and sat down on a large rock, "So here we are... In another world..."

Shamanmon looked to him, tilting his head. "You okay?"

"Just... Processing." He nodded slowly, gripping his knees. "Do you at least know where we are?"

"Oh yeah," The goblin digimon nodded, "Southlands, land where I lived before, tribe not far either."

"Can we go to them for help?" Cody questioned.

"Eh... Probably not," Shamanmon scratched the back of his head, "Didn't leave people on good terms..."

Cody's leg was bobbing slowly as he nodded, "Right right, you mentioned that I think... So... What are our options?"

Shamanmon opened his mouth to speak, before stopping and putting a hand on his chin. After a moment of silence he shrugged, "Start walking?"

Cody fell back onto the rock, staring up at the sky, "I'm going to die out here aren't I?"

But before his partner could respond a deep, thunderous roar sounded as a large beast of a Digimon erupted from the nearby treeline. It looked like a dinosaur, with black armor plating on its back and a single horn on its head. It turned towards both Shamanmon and Cody, before lowering its head and charging!

"You've got to be kidding me!"

. . .

. . . Thomas and Kokuwamon . . .

While the others awoke in places sunny and warm, Thomas opened his eyes to see a smog filled sky above him. The land darkened by black smoke, a smell akin to burning fuel filled the air but somehow he didn't have any trouble breathing. He groaned as he began to sit up, noting the environment. He was surrounded by what appeared to be a countryside, but it was reduced to a wasteland with no living vegetation. "Where-" Before realizing something that made him freeze up. As he looked down at his feet, and felt his toes moving.

"M-My legs!?" Cautiously hoping what he felt wasn't just the aftermath of some kind of head trauma, Thomas slowly put one foot beneath him and began to push himself up. In a moment, he was doing what he hadn't been able to do in years, stand on his own two legs.

"B-But..." He couldn't take his eyes off the once weak and immobile limbs, "How is this possible?"

"Thomas!" Came a familiar shout, from somewhere up one of the nearby hills. Pushing through dying or dead bramble, came the familiar form of his partner. "There you are!" The metal beetle exclaimed happily, and began running down the hill towards Thomas, coming to a stop before him. "Hey when did you get so tall?" Kokuwamon asked.

Thomas honestly couldn't tell if he was joking or not, "My legs... They work again, but how?"

"Oh that's easy!" Kokuwamon laughed it off, as if it were so obvious. "We're in the Digital World now, that's why!"

"I-" Thomas shook his head, "I know where we are, but why does that explain this!?" He added, kicking his feet in the dirt.

"Your organic body was damaged, but in coming here your body was converted to data just like us Digimon!" Kokuwamon explained simply, before lowering his arms. "Hmm... I don't know if it'll be the same when you get back to your world though..."

"When? That's certainly optimistic." Thomas thought, looking around again. "Where are we?"

"In the land of the machines!" Kokuwamon explained simply, "Near the factory I was born in actually, I spotted it just a little ways away from where I landed."

"Land of the machines huh?" Thomas repeated, remembering how Dragomon referred to himself as a Lord as well. "Don't suppose those digimon also want to destroy humans?"

Kokuwamon shrugged, "Never really asked, we'll have to go find out."

Thomas sighed heavily, slouching his shoulders as he pulled out his Digivice. "And no signal, seems like we're cut off from the others... If we landed near where you were born, its possible that inverting the signal landed us all somewhere near the origin points of our partners before they were sent to our world..." Before he looked towards the horizon, "We need to find a way to boost our signal, so we can contact the others or at least find out where they are."

Kokuwamon nodded, "Right! So how do we do that?"

"Got any spare tech laying around here we could use?"

"Not here, but I think I know somewhere that might..."

. . .

. . . Madison and Tsukaimon . . .

While her comrades awoke in relative peace, Madison would find no such rest. Instead she was blasted awake by the sound of a familiar roar, opening her eyes and bolting up to see great shadows looming over her. Her vision still blurred, she was on her feet stumbling in a split second, heart racing as she quickly shook off her sleep addled brain. The sound of more roars, snarling and fighting behind her.

It was dark, not as if it were night time but as if a dark shadow was cast over the land itself. She finally ran far enough she felt safe looking back, and did so just in time to see Devidramon smashing a massive sludge monster into the ground.

"Tsu?" Madison asked, swallowing nervously.

Devidramon looked towards her with all four of those big red eyes, nodding slowly before she started lumbering towards Madison. "Need to... Leave," She growled out, extending on long arm, offering her a hand to climb on. "Can't stay."

Madison nodded, and wasn't going to argue. "Right lets get out of here." This had to be it, the dark and terrible place Tsukaimon came from.

"No, you two won't be going anywhere." A familiar voice sounded from above, as Devimon loomed in the sky, "Come now, our master is waiting for you."

Devidramon snarled in rage up at him, claws digging into the ground like she was about to charge. Madison knew fighting here was a bad idea, they needed to run! "Tsu don't-"

But her partner was not so easy to control, and instead launched herself at Devimon. The fallen angel digimon gracefully evading her outstretched arms, weaving around the behemoth dark dragon as numerous shadows began to appear in the sky around them. "So aggressive! I'm sure our Lord will happy to see how you've improved... But first you must be disciplined for your actions! VILEMON!"

There must have been dozens of them, impish demonic digimon with batlike wings and massive mouths. They were appearing in the dark sky all around Devidramon, maws starting to glow with dark energy. Madison watching in horror, "TSU RUN!"

But it was far too late for that, as they opened fire. Blasting her from all sides with their attacks, while Devimon watched and laughed as her roars of pain echoed into the night sky. Perhaps under better circumstances, Devidramon might have had a chance. But fresh from her battle with Dragomon, her body was already badly beaten and weak.

Madison could do nothing but stare disbelief, as Tsukaimon's badly beaten body plummeted from the cloud just moments later. "NO!" She cried out, running to try and catch her, before one of those disgusting Vilemon got in her way. "Agh! MOVE!" She tried to shove past him, "TSU!" Tears welling up in her eyes.

Before Devimon caught Tsukaimon with one long arm, "Don't worry human," He sneered down at her, "Our lord has need of her, so she won't be destroyed, the same goes for you." He assured, as several Vilemon floated around her. "Take her, we return to our Dark Lord, victorious!"

Madison tried to struggle, but against the impish digimon she had no chance of fighting them off. As she was lifted up and carried away by them, towards some kind of massive dark palace in the distance. She feared what might come next for herself and her partner, silently praying to whoever might be listening that her friends had found better fortune than her...

. . .

. . . Samantha and Darcmon . . .

While the others had awoken after taking a great fall, to be recovered by their partners and protected, Samantha and Darcmon awoke in a location they were both very familiar with. Samantha didn't have to wake up, because the transition was easy for her, like floating down to the ground. As her feet touched down on the marble floors of a large chamber. A glowing golden ring lined with symbols in the Digimon language, their glow slowly fading as her arrival finished.

"So... Here we are again." Samantha noted, looking around at the vaguely familiar walls. "Not much has changed in five years."

Darcmon nodded, "Indeed." Before she took one step, cringing in pain as her battle injuries sapped what was left of her strength. She fell to her knees before shrinking down, returning to the form of Kudamon.

Sam smiled faintly and picked her up, "Here, I'll carry you." She offered, setting her partner on her shoulder. "You've done enough for today, get some rest."

Before the now diminutive digimon could respond, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of metal doors sliding open. Atop a nearby staircase, lights shining out as a single figure stood in the archway. The lights fading around the figure slowly, revealing an older man with ebony skin wearing a longcoat. He stared down at them both, his grizzled visage softening as he recognized those standing before him.

"Samantha?" He said in a gruff voice, "Is... Is that really you?"

She nodded her head slowly, but her face remained stoic. "Dad."

"I- How did you- When-" He started stammering before shaking his head, "Please, come inside! It's..." He paused briefly, putting on a tired smile. "It's good to see you again."

Sam started to ascend the stairs, though she didn't return his enthusiasm. "Right, we've got a lot to talk about."

She was focused on finding out the state of the digital world, and finding out where the others had ended up before it was too late...

. . .

. . . Tsukaimon . . .

She didn't remember much after returning to her rookie form, thoroughly beaten and carried off by her captors. Tsukaimon weakly opened her eyes, everything was so dark, an iron grip around her body as Devimon carried her down a long hall. The entire corridor was lit by torches of purple flame, and at the end she could see those massive double doors. Ones she recognized despite having no clear memory of seeing them.

But she hardly cared about where she was, the badly beaten rookie realizing the Vilemon carrying her partner had broken off some time before entering the massive structure.

"W-Where is..." She barely managed to rasp out, her body feeling like it might break down any minute now.

"Alive and unharmed," Devimon sneered, as he began to push through the massive doors. "For now."

He flew into the great hall, towards the looming shadow at the far end seated in his throne. The hall itself was practically empty, darker than anywhere else in this terrible place. Devimon landed before him, the Dark Lord, bowing his head and waiting to be addressed.

A pair of eyes watched from on high, the towering form of this lord overshadowing them both. The darkness of the room hiding most of his appearance aside from his hooved feet at the base of that throne. "Ah, I see our darling darkling has returned to us..." His voice was calm and powerful, carrying a weight that imposed more fear over Tsukaimon than Dragomon ever could. "Excellent show against that fool Dragomon, I really didn't think you had it in you."

Devimon carefully put Tsukaimon the floor before their host, stepping back slowly while the injured rookie weakly looked up at him. "Y-You were... watching?" She muttered, before the weight of her predicament began to assert itself, feeling a familiar sense of dread as he looked down upon her. "Maddie... Where is... Maddie?" She asked.

A deep rumbling chuckle emanated from the Dark Lord. "You know I tried so many times, I used every method I could think of to make you master that shard of darkness inside of you." Blatantly ignoring her question, "It's almost ironic that it took a human partner to make you awaken your lust for battle."

He said it as if she enjoyed turning into that hideous monster, Devidramon. "If..." She struggled to sound strong, forcing herself to stand up but didn't dare try to fly. "If you... Hurt her-"

"You'll what?" He asked, amusement clear in his voice. "You barely survived fighting Dragomon, if you want to get rid of me you'll need to become much stronger first." He assured, as if he welcomed the challenge. "But don't worry about your pitiful human, I see now that I'll have far better luck making you behave yourself so long as she is alive and here."

"Ngh! I-I won't... I won't do it..." She shook her head, stepping back pathetically. "You can't... Can't make me..."

"Oh but I can and I will," He said simply, "You're going to tell me everything about the humans that you know, and you're going to finally start putting that power of yours to proper use," A dark flame began to form between them, one oversized hand looming over it, pouring more into the abyssal fire. "Even if I have to drag every iota of your darkness out, one painful surge at a time!"

As the flame grew larger and larger, beginning to consume the entire center of the hall and Tsukaimon herself, all throughout the palace would Digimon be able to hear her screams...