DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon Adventures, Digimon 02, Digimon World 2 and 3.

NOTE : Sorry it took me so long to update. Something's wrong with my monitor and I had to send it to the place where I bought it for check-up. Turns out, the transformer was fried! (Whatever that means, that's what the guys at the shop said). Thankfully it's under warranty, so I don't have to pay a single cent. =) I've got a temporary monitor for the time being. And, to make it up for my month-long absence, I've uploaded two chapters instead of one, thus completing the five-part "Devimon Strikes Back" saga. Read on!

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VENGEANCE

- Chapter 10 - Devimon Strikes Back, Part IV -

by

Alforce Zero

After another couple of hours of walking inside the deep forest, the Digidestined and the digimons arrived on what looked like a clearing. Looking at the watch, all of them realized that it was already late evening back on their world although here in the Digital World, it was hard to tell the time. The clouds were still hovering around the island and its nearby regions. Thankfully though, there were no more winds, rains, thunders or lightnings to accompany those purple clouds. The calmness however was unnerving, as it was already confirmed that Devimon was indeed behind this. The mere fact of the devil digimon being back on the island, and that his minions had already been successfull in beating them, caused them to feel unsure of what to do.

"Let's take a break here. My feet's killing me," Davis suggested, and he sat himself on the grounds, massaging his sore feet. Veemon joined his partner, taking his place beside Davis and leaned himseld on Davis's back. He tried to stiffle a yawn, but Davis had caught it immediately. "You're tired," he noted, stating the obvious.

Veemon yawned again. "Exhausted more like it."

"Me too," Wormmon said as he made his way beside Veemon. "I think all of us really need the break. The earlier battle was really tiring."

"I wonder why all of them retreated at the last minute, since it would be perfect for them to finish us off?" Cody wondered and sat beside Davis and Veemon's other side, forming a semi-circle.

"Whatever the reason is, I'm really glad!" Armadillomon replied, settling himself down beside his partner.

The other three Digidestined and their digimons then joined in and formed a circle amongst the twelve of them.

"I wonder what Devimon's up too," Kari began slowly, looking at T.K. who was sitting silently on her left, with Patamon perched on his hat. The tall blonde seemed to be loss in thoughts as he fiddled with the stones, picking one and throwing it away without using much force. He had that blank look plastered on his face, and his eyes didn't meet the gaze of the other five Digidestined.

"Hello! Earth to T.A.?" Davis called and leaned forward, waving his hands in front of T.K.'s eyes.

"Huh? What?" T.K. was snapped back into reality.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kari asked.

T.K. sighed. "I was thinking about what happened four years ago, during our first battle with Devimon. I thought Angemon had destroyed him for good, he had used up all of our Digivices' powers and ended up sacrificing himself to destroy Devimon. Seeing that he's back now made me thought over and over again that Angemon's sacrifice had been... useless. He never was destroyed in the first place."

The others nodded silently. Neither of them, not even Kari, had any experience of battling Devimon beforehand. Except for Ken, although he only encountered Devimon during his reign as the Digimon Emperor. Cody had heard about their battle with Devimon from Matt, when he was trying to understand T.K. during the times they had to fight Black WarGreymon, making him having a clearer idea of how the battle was like compared to Ken, Davis, Yolei and Kari.

"Now that our digimons, save for Hawkmon and Gatomon, can no longer DNA Digivolve, we really need all the help we can get," Cody said.

Yolei was typing something on her D-Terminal. "I'm informing Gennai of what's happening around here. Hopefully he'll know what to do."

"Whatever it is, it better be fast," Hawkmon said. "Devimon could be attacking any minute now."

As if on cue, a loud explosion suddenly came from north-west of the place where they were sitting, deep inside the forest again.

"You and your big mouth Hawkmon," Yolei muttered as all of them stood up instantly. "What was that?"

"We better go and find out!" Davis exclaimed and ran with Veemon back into the forest.

"Hey wait for us!" the others cried and followed them. They managed to catch up with Davis and Veemon, and together they slowed down as they approached the place. Grey smokes seemed to be coming from there, spreading in every direction. They could hear some faint cries of what sounded like Rookie digimons, shouting out attack names. They seemed to be fighting a stronger digimon, whose roar was heard clearly.

"There's a battle going on over there!" Gatomon realized as she tried to wipe away all the smokes from her face.

"And it looks like they don't stand a chance!" Armadillomon added.

"We better go and help them!" T.K. shouted as he struggled to run through the smokes. All of them followed him, and the faint cries they heard earlier became clearer every second. All of them were surprised when the cries they heard sounded extremely familiar.

"Pepper Breath!"

"Blue Blaster!"

"Spiral Twister!"

"Super Shocker!"

"Poison Ivy!"

"Marching Fishes!"

They came into a place where a river flowed by, and instantly saw Devidramon and Yashamon fighting six Rookie digimons. All of them recognized the Rookies as being Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Tentomon, Palmon and Gomamon. In short, they were the partners of the more senior Digidestined, and they were losing the battle. Devidramon and Yashamon in the meantime, showed no mercy as they pit their strength together to blast away the six weaker digimons away instantly.

"Hey! Why don't you pick someone your own size!" Davis shouted angrily, attracting their attention. The two evil digimons spun around and narrowed their eyes after seeing the Digidestined and the digimons.

"Aha! If it isn't the weaklings who call themselves Digidestined!" Yashamon sneered.

Devidramon flashed his crimson eyes dangerously. "Picking someone your size? Why, that means YOU!"

"Veemon Digivolve to... ExVeemon!"

"Wormmon Digivolve to... Stingmon!"

"Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to... Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge!"

"Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to... Shurimon, the Samurai of Sincerity!"

"Patamon Digivolve to... Angemon!"

"Give them all your best, guys!" Davis called out as the six Champion and Armor digimons jumped forward to save their friends and battle Devidramon and Yashamon. ExVeemon, Stingmon and Digmon tackled Devidramon together, while Angemon, Gatomon and Shurimon fought the swordsman Yashamon. The Digidestined had the advantage of winning, since it was two against six digimons, and both Devidramon and Yashamon were not as strong as IceDevimon and FlameWizardmon.

The six Rookies ran towards the Digidestined, seeking shelter from the heated battle.

"Thanks, guys. We don't know what we'd done without you!" Agumon said.

"Don't mention it, guys. We're really glad that we could help. But now, you guys need to run away from here. It's not safe," Davis commented.

"But we want to help you guys," Gabumon protested.

"I doubt you six can digivolve anytime soon, so it's best if you guys get going now," Ken said.

Agumon and the others relented finally, knowing that they would serve as a distraction if they stayed there any longer as the enemies would use them as targets to make their friends hesitate to attack. Meanwhile, the destined digimons were doing great, easily fighting the enemies. Yashamon found his match by battling Shurimon, as both were experts in martial arts. However, with Angemon and Gatomon to back him up, they were doing just find. A few Double Stars attack, combined with Hand of Fates and Lightning Claws whenever necessary and Yashamon was thrown away to the grounds, greatly wounded. The same thing happened with Devidramon as he was blasted continuously by ExVeemon's Vee Laser, Stingmon's Spiking Strike, and Digmon's Gold Rush attacks.

"We're winning! We're actually winning!" Yolei cheered in delight.

"Yeah! Way to go guys!" Ken shouted happily.

Devidramon cocked his head towards the kids angrily. "This isn't over yet, meddling kids!" he yelled as he took off to the skies, grabbing Yashamon with his claws in the process. Devidramon flew away as quickly as possible.

"Now what was that all about?" Kari wondered.

T.K. knitted his eyebrows together. "I don't think I like this. It seems too easy."

"It could be a trap," Cody said.

"We better get back, try to find Agumon and the others. I don't think I want to stick around here for so long," T.K. suggested.

Just as they were about to make their way however, a fearsome roar was heard from nearby. The roar was loud enough to shock the Digidestined and the digimons and they had to cover their ears. Suddenly a massive jet of yellow and green energy blast cut through the trees and blasted Shurimon, Angemon and Digmon, immediately de-digivolving them back to Rookies upon impact, causing them to be hurled away with force.

"What was that?!" Yolei asked shrilly.

"Someone deliberately attacked us just now," Cody said. "Oh no, Armadillomon!" He quickly went over to retrieve his fallen partner.

"Patamon!" T.K. cried, and quickly catched his partner before he fell onto the grounds.

"Hawkmon!" Yolei cried and went over to him. Fortunately, neither him nor the other digimons were hurt.

ExVeemon, Stingmon and Gatomon immediately took on fighting stances as they saw a tall, humanoid shadow emerged from the trees. From the darkness, they could make out a glowing pair of red eyes, and a lion-like figure. A Leomon-like figure to be exact. The figure stepped out from the trees, and the Digidestined found themselves meeting face to face with an unknown digimon, one they never had seen before. He bore some resemblances with Leomon, but while the latter was clad only in black leather trousers this digimon was armored all over, except for the head. He had orange-yellow mane, his skin took on a yellowish hue rather than Leomon's deep tan. The new digimon seemed to be equipped with weapons on his hands and legs, which added to his fearsome appearance. His expression was serious, yet calm in the same time. As the digimon walked towards them, those who stood somewhere on the right or left sides of the digimon could see a large silverish Black Gear stuck deep under the digimon's back. The digimon stood about the same height as ExVeemon and Stingmon.

"Who is this digimon?" Davis wondered and quickly searched the necessary information via his Diginizer.

----------------- DIGIMON ANALYZER ------------------
Name : GrapLeomon
Attribute : Vaccine
Level : Ultimate

Attacks : Lion Beast Killing Wave, Lion Whirlwind Kick
Power Level : 72

Extra info : While Grap Leomon is Leomon's natural Ultimate form, this digimon resulted from the fusion between two digimons.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"GrapLeomon?" Ken asked. "It has to be Leomon!"

"That's correct, fools! I am the result of a permanent DNA Digivolution between Leomon and Ogremon!" GrapLeomon acknowledged with his dual voices, which Kari and T.K. recognized as being Leomon and Ogremon's voices mixed and blended together. The effect was an echoing deep voices, which sounded eerie and commanding at the same time. The Digidestined tried hard to find a hint of nobleness from the voices, which was Leomon's, but it was dominated by Ogremon's and the effects of the silverish Black Gear.

"It's the Black Gear!" T.K. exclaimed, recognized the item which he saw Devimon used so many times to possess innocent digimons during his early adventures on the island. "Be careful everyone, he's not himself even if he's part Leomon!"

The others were perplexed. Neither of them had seen a Black Gear infected digimon before.

"So does that mean we have to fight him?" Davis asked.

"I afraid so," T.K. answered solemnly. "Or at least, remove the Black Gear. But this Black Gear is buried too deep inside him, I doubt we can get it out so easily without hurting GrapLeomon."

"Master Devimon will be so pleased when I hand him all of your lifeless forms to him," GrapLeomon said, sneering at the same time. His long fangs made him look ferocious. "Although he had ordered for me to spare the Digidestined and the digimon of Hope, as he would like to settle some old scores with him, I'll be glad to finish off the rest of you."

"Huh?" Both T.K. and Patamon were perplexed after hearing the statement.

Ex Veemon scoffed. "You have to get through us first!"

"Don't be cocky, ExVeemon! You know we're no match for him!" Stingmon warned. "We're no longer able to DNA digivolve to Ultimate, remember?"

"You're not, but I and Hawkmon can," Gatomon said. Looking directly at Hawkmon, she called. "Ready Hawkmon?"

Hawkmon looked at Yolei, waiting for approval. Yolei nodded slightly, although in her eyes Hawkmon recognized the feeling of worryness. "Be careful, Hawkmon," she said and held out her Diginizer of Love.

"Hawkmon Digivolve to... Aquilamon!"

"Aquilamon...!"

"Gatomon...!"

"... DNA Digivolve to... Silphymon!"

GrapLeomon snickered. "So you're the remaining DNA Digivolved digimon. Alas, you are no match for me."

Silphymon hovered in mid-air silently, analyzing his chances.

----------------- DIGIMON ANALYZER ------------------
Name : Silphymon
Attribute : Data
Level : Ultimate

Attacks : Static Force, Astro Laser
Power Level : 62

Extra info : This warrior of the sky results from the DNA Digivolution between Aquilamon and Gatomon, when Aquilamon is more dominant.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"He's no match for GrapLeomon," Davis muttered. "But maybe with the help of ExVeemon and Stingmon, Silphymon would stand a better chance." He then called out for ExVeemon and Stingmon to assist Silphymon in any way they could.

"Take on this. Vee Laser!" ExVeemon initiated the first move by attacking Grap Leomon.

Grap Leomon looked bored. "This is child's play," he said and deflected the attack using his Armor. "My armor's made of Chrome Digizoid, there's no way you can break through it."

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon attacked from behind, aiming for the Black Gear.

"I don't think so." GrapLeomon retorted and punched Stingmon away. "Now, my turn. Lion Beast Killing Wave!!!" he bellowed, and the heavy armor on his hands rotated faster and faster until they crackled with electricity. From the orifices yellow and green massive beams of lights shot out, firing Stingmon full blast. Stingmon managed to block some with his own armor, but his wasn't made to withstand such attack. As the result, he was hurled towards the trees, crashing them in the process.

"He's too strong!" Stingmon growled as he tried to get up.

Silphymon rose higher from the grounds as he was enveloped with pink aura. Flying towards GrapLeomon with the aura glowing around him, he then released the aura, which took on a form of himself towards GrapLeomon. "Static Force!"

GrapLeomon managed to withstand the attack, although not as effectively as he was able to block out Ex Veemon and Stingmon's.

"Seems like being a Data-type digimon has its own advantage," Silphymon remarked. He then generated a pink energy ball with both his palms positioned close together. "Astro Laser!!" he cried, and released the energy ball quickly before GrapLeomon managed to stop him. The attack hit GrapLeomon at the same spot where Silphymon's previous attack had hit him, and he was sent staggering backwards this time.

Yolei was worried. "He's still standing!"

"He's stronger than we thought!" Silphymon said worriedly.

"You may have the advantage, but don't forget that I far exceed you in terms of power! Lion Beast Killing Wave!!" The same yellow and green jet of lights were blasted towards Silphymon, but the latter was agile and flew high above the grounds to avoid being hit.

"Moon Shooter!!" Stingmon attempted his secret attack again towards Grap Leomon's back, sending hundreds of poisonous needles towards the Black Gear. The needles pricked the silverish Black Gear, but then the gear deflected back several needles back towards Stingmon, de-digivolving him back to Wormmon.

"Oh no! Wormmon!" Ken cried, trying to run towards his fallen partner. However, Davis restrained him.

"No Ken! It's too dangerous. Let ExVeemon get him for you!"

ExVeemon flew over Wormmon and took him back to his partner.

"Are you okay Wormmon? You're stung by your own attack," Ken said.

"My own poison won't hurt me," Wormmon said reassuringly.

"Astro Laser!!" Silphymon bellowed and blasted his attack again. Grap Leomon however, managed to counter it with a smaller version of his trademark attack.

"Now for some real treat," the possessed Ultimate digimon said. "Lion Whirlwind Kick!!" He yelled, and jumped into the air towards Silphymon. His right leg was raised upward and forward, and he spun himself forming a whirlwind around him. GrapLeomon then channeled the whirlwind through his extended leg before making a kicking motion towards Silphymon. The whirlwind, coupled with some electric bolts generated from GrapLeomon's leg armor, made its way towards Silphymon. Silphymon attempted to escape by flying away from it, but the whirlwend then expanded its size and successfully catching Silphymon in it. The warrior digimon was trapped inside the whirlwind's vortex while being electrocuted at the same time.

"AAAHHH!!" Silphymon cried, the pain was unbearable. "Stop it!"

"I'm waiting, tick tock tick tock. Just de-digivolve already and I'll release you," GrapLeomon said mockingly.

"Let him go!" Kari and Yolei both cried simultaneously.

"ExVeemon, try to stop the whirlwind!" Davis instructed.

"I'll try Davis," Ex Veemon replied, and flew towards the whirlwind. Unfortunately, the whirlwind threw him back away upon contact.

"You meddling fool! Lion Beast Killing Wave!!" Ex Veemon was hit, and de-digivolved back to Veemon while was thrown to the grounds.

Silphymon attempted to break free from the whirlwind by enveloping himself with pink aura like he did before. The pink aura around him became more and more radiant, and soon the whirlwind seemed to be weaker. "Static... FORCE!!" Silphymon roared, and the pink aura around him exploded, deliberately destroying the whirlwind around him in process.

GrapLeomon was shocked, but managed to hide it. "Very impressive, Silphymon. I can see now why Master Devimon wants to take away all of your DNA Digivolution abilities."

Silphymon smirked. "Now for Round Two."

"Do you honestly think you can defeat me, Silphymon?" GrapLeomon asked challengingly.

"So far I've done a good job about it, and I got my friends to back me up!" Silphymon replied.

"Your friends are no longer a threat. Not when they are in their Rookie forms!"

"I can still beat you."

"You have guts, Silphymon," GrapLeomon said.

Silphymon realized that GrapLeomon seemed to be stalling for time. "What are you up to, GrapLeomon?"

"Nothing."

"In that case... Astro Laser!!" Silphymon initiated the first move.

GrapLeomon easily countered the attack, which bounced upon contact with the heavy armor on his hand. Eyes glinting redder, and the silver Black Ring flashed momentarily, GrapLeomon seemed to regain more power. "Is that all you got? I'm sure you can do better than that!"

Silphymon's face flushed red. "You're too cocky, you know that? Static Force!!"

"I have the right to be so," Grap Leomon said. "My turn. Lion Beast Killing Wave!!"

"Astro Laser!!" Silphymon fired another attack to counter the incoming blast from GrapLeomon.

The Digidestined watched the battle between the two Ultimates with hearts thumping wild. They knew that Grap Leomon was going easy with Silphymon, he was more powerful in terms of strength and power level. Yet, he was holding back.

"I think he's trying to drain Silphymon's powers," T.K. said loudly. "We haven't seen IceDevimon and the others around yet, right? What if this is a trap to weaken all of us before the major attack. Don't forget that Devimon himself is still around."

"Our chances are very slim," Ken agreed. "But it's very unlikely that GrapLeomon will allow Silphymon back off from the fight."

Unbeknownst to the Digidestined, two pairs of red eyes were eyeing them from deep within the forest. They were standing inside the shadows cast by the trees around the forest. In fact, what really marked their presence was their glowing eyes.

"I hope Silphymon's gonna be alright!" Yolei exclaimed worriedly, as all of them watched the more powerful GrapLeomon gave chase to the more agile Silphymon. One of Silphymon's major advantages, besides the fact that he was a Data type which made him strong against Vaccine type such as GrapLeomon, was flying.

Two figures emerged from the shadows silently, still hidden inside the darkness cast by the shadows from the clouds above and the surrounding trees. They still were watching the fight.

"Don't worry Yolei, we still have Angewomon if Silphymon loses the fight," Davis said.

"That's pretty insensitive of you, Davis!" Yolei snapped back.

"I was trying to assure you," Davis said slowly.

Ken rushed in to stop the two friends from bickering. "I'm sure Davis meant well, Yolei, although it didn't really sound that way."

Kari nodded. "Davis's right though..."

Davis was ecstatic, having Kari sided with him. "Well..."

"... if Gatomon's up to it. She and Hawkmon might drain all of their energy during the fight." Kari concluded.

Cody looked at Armadillomon. "Can you digivolve, Armadillomon?"

"I think so Cody. I still have some energy left!" Armadillomon replied.

"It looks like Silphymon is going to need all the help he can get. Let's do it!" Cody said and raised his Diginizer of Knowledge.

"Armadillomon Digivolve to... Ankylomon!"

"T.K., I want to fight as well!" Patamon implored.

"You've expanded your energy by becoming Angemon just now. Let's try Armor Digivolving, they use less power," T.K. said and aimed his Diginizer of Hope towards Patamon.

"Patamon Armor Digivolve to... Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!"

"Not so fast! Frost Claw!" an icy voice bellowed from the forests. A figure in white zoomed towards them and attacked Pegasusmon right away, slashing at the Armor digimon's wings. However, the wings were made of metallic gold and were able to withstand such attacks.

"Pegasusmon! Jeez... what does IceDevimon had against my digimon anyway?!" T.K. cried angrily.

"I'm okay T.K. Stand back! Star Shower!!" Pegasusmon retaliated, and sent showers of shooting stars towards Ice Devimon. Ice Devimon covered himself with his large wings from the attack.

"I'll help you, Pegasusmon! Megaton Press!!" Ankylomon exlaimed and galloped towards IceDevimon, attempting to crush him into deletion. The sheer brute force from Ankylomon sent IceDevimon flying, and Ankylomon had successfully stepped on one of his legs. A loud CRRAACCKKK was heard, and IceDevimon hollered in pain.

"How do you like that?!" T.K. yelled, a slight grin appeared on his face.

"That was too brutal," Cody said. "Although in this case we might want to make an exception."

"I'd say. Tail Hammer!!" Ankylomon slammed his spiked metallic ball which was attached to his tail down to Ice Devimon's face. Ice Devimon coughed up blood as he was already immobilized.

"Why you... " Ice Devimon said. "Zero..."

"Oh just shut up!" Ankylomon cut him quickly, placing one of his leg down to Ice Devimon's throat.

Pegasusmon hovered near Ankylomon. "This is the perfect time to finish him off once and for all."

"Fire Clouds!!!" A jet of flaming clouds suddenly shot out from the trees aiming towards Ankylomon. Pegasusmon shouted a warning, but it was too late as the clouds immediately blast Ankylomon away, removing him from IceDevimon. The pegasus digimon was about to fly up to safety when the same clouds appeared and knocked him to the grounds. A maniacal giggle was heard from the source of the attacks, and both Pegasusmon and Ankylomon saw FlameWizardmon stepped out from the trees, his expression smug.

"Did you miss me?" he asked smugly. Turning towards IceDevimon, he said, "Tsk tsk IceDevimon. How come you've been defeated so horribly. If the Master knows, well he always knows, but you're bringing shame to his name!"

"It wasn't like I purposely get myself to being defeated, FlameWizardmon!" IceDevimon barked. "You got the orb?"

"I sure do," FlameWizardmon answered with a hideous sneer, and took out a glowing red orb from his hand.

Veemon and Wormmon's eyes widened in surprise, and Veemon smacked his forehead. "He's not gonna try that trick again, is he?"

"Better ask Silphymon to watch out, it was the same orb that caused us to lose our powers to DNA Digivolve. Although I thought it used to be black instead of red," Wormmon said.

"I'm afraid to say that this little orb here is a treat of ours, not yours!" FlameWizardmon said loftily. He held the orb up towards the sky. The red orb began to glimmer brighter. Thunders began to rumble from the clouds above, and lighnings bolted out fiercely. One lightning bolt had struck the red orb, making the orb flashed out bright crimson lights. Both Flame Wizardmon and Ice Devimon were raised from the grounds magically by an unknown force.

"FlameWizardmon... !"

"IceDevimon...!"

"... DNA Digivolve to...!"

"Static Force!" Silphymon cried and fired yet another pink projection of himself towards GrapLeomon. Just like what happened before, the attack bounced off from GrapLeomon's armor.

"You just don't know how to give up, do you?" GrapLeomon asked wearily.

"I'll fight as long as it takes!" Silphymon declared.

"Your friends don't seem to be doing good," GrapLeomon said, and gestured to the site where the others were fighting IceDevimon and FlameWizardmon. Silphymon glanced backwards and to his shocked dismay, he saw the two evil digimons jumped in the air covered with crimson lights that seemed to be coming from a strange red orb which hovered in mid-air. IceDevimon changed into a streak of white light, with black aura radiating from it; while FlameWizardmon became a streak of red light, also with black aura surrounding him. The two streaks of lights shot up in the air and merged into a tall, skeletal humanoid being with ferocious expresion and black leather wings. Silphymon recognized the digimon instantly, he had been into a battle with the digimon six months ago.

"It's SkullSatamon!" he exclaimed, shocked. "This isn't good... even Imperialdramon had to go into his Fighter Mode to beat this guy!"

"Pretty impressive isn't he, for a bag-of-bones?" GrapLeomon inquired.

SkullSatamon, which resulted from the DNA Digivolution between FlameWizardmon and IceDevimon, stood even taller than either ExVeemon or Stingmon. Eyeing Ankylomon and Pegasusmon silently, he then immediately raised his staff.

"Nail Bone!!" he bellowed and thumped Ankylomon using the staff, with an unimaginable speed. Ankylomon instantly de-digivolved back to Armadillomon. SkullSatamon then leapt into air to chase Pegasusmon, and knocked Pegasusmon on the body with the staff, promptly changing him back to Patamon.

"Hah! This will make you think twice before crossing path with me ever again," SkullSatamon said menacingly with dual voices, which blended perfectly to produce an eerie quality of the resulting voices.

----------------- DIGIMON ANALYZER ------------------
Name : SkullSatamon
Attribute : Virus
Level : Ultimate

Attacks : Nail Bone
Power Level : 75

Extra info : This evil digimon's awesome speed and strength makes him a dangerous villain.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, seems like you all have been defeated!" SkullSatamon declared triumphantly. "Only the birdman digimon's left. He alone can't take on Grap Leomon alone, what chances do you think he'd have fighting against the both of us!"

"How can they DNA Digivolve in the first place?!" Yolei asked shrilly. "Isn't that supposed to be our digimons' unique ability, with help from Gatomon's Tail ring?"

SkullSatamon laughed. "Why, it's thanks to Paildramon and Shakkoumon, of course. Don't you remember the black orbs Ogremon had thrown into your bodies? Those orbs stripped you of your DNA Digivolution ability even though you have with help from our Master Devimon we harnessed the ability to do so. And here's the catch; even if you managed to destroy us you will lose your chances of regaining the power, and if you didn't manage to defeat us, you'll die!"

"What do we do now?" Cody asked in despair. "All of our digimons are no match against him!"

"I'm not giving up!" Silphymon declared. "I'll take on them alone if that is what it takes!"

"Such noble attempt, Silphymon, but you're way out of our league," SkullSatamon said menacingly. "You won't last more than a second facing both of us at the same time!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that! Astro Laser!!" Silphymon blasted Skull Satamon with his trademark attack. Skull Satamon however, simply used his staff to knock away the energy ball, and quickly chased after Silphymon to knock him out with one blow. Grap Leomon joined in the chase, teaming up with Skull Satamon to beat Silphymon quickly. Thanks to his speed however, Silphymon managed to outrun his enemies but he knew he'd lose anyway.

Silphymon lured SkullSatamon away from the Digidestined, leading him towards the seashore by air. GrapLeomon couldn't fly after them, and resorted to chase them by land. He destroyed every tree which blocked his sight with his punch, and knocked down several trees at once using his Lion Beast Killing Wave.

"You've reached the end of the line, Silphymon!" Skull Satamon announced when they reached the beach. "It's now time to say goodbye!"

"Static Force!"

"Why don't you just give yourself up?" Skull Satamon continued calmly, evading the attack.

"Static Force!"

"Can't you see it's useless!" He successfully evaded the attack again.

However Silphymon was quicker. "Astro Laser!" The attack was blasted straight towards Skull Satamon's face just after he evaded Silphymon's previous attack.

"Oh that's it! I've had enough of you weakling. Feel my Nail...." SkullSatamon flew above Silphymon, attempting to knock Silphymon by the head using the Nail Bone attack. Silphymon, knowing that he'd lost, raised his right hand in an attempt to block any incoming attack while his left hand covered his eyes.

"Nova Blast!!"

"Howling Blaster!!"

"Meteor Wing!!"

"Harpoon Torpedo!!"

"Electro Shocker!!"

"Needle Spray!!"

Six attacks coming from six different directions suddenly interrupted SkullSatamon's attempt to finish off Silphymon. His staff was knocked off by the attacks, and he himself was thrown off his balance into the sea. Furious, he saw that he was surrounded by six Champion digimons. On the skies were Birdramon and Kabuterimon, inside the sea was Ikkakumon, while on land were Greymon, Garurumon and Togemon. On the shore, near the three digimons stood six teenagers whom Skull Satamon noticed, were older than the Digidestined he'd seen before. He got out from the sea and stood in mid-air in silence for a while, analyzing his chances.

Grap Leomon emerged from the forests and ran towards the shore when he suddenly saw six Champion digimons closed in unnoticed by Skull Satamon and Silphymon. He skidded to a halt for a while, but when he heard the sounds of the Digidestined chasing him he quickly ran towards the shore. The Digidestined and their Rookie partners came out from the forest, yelling after GrapLeomon to stop when all six of them suddenly stopped. What they saw was totally unexpected.

"It's Tai and the others!" Kari exclaimed happily.

"My brother's here too!" T.K. said in surprise.

"Sora, Izzy... even Joe... oh my God Mimi is here as well!!" Yolei shrieked in delight.

The six older Digidestined heard their names being called, and turned to face their juniors.

"Looks like we came just in time," Tai commented, and smiled at the sight of his younger sister.

"I'd say. We really need your help. Those digimons had beaten all of our digimons," Cody said.

"Gabumon and the others had told us everything. Luckily Izzy got the message sent by Gennai. Tai and I were there too, and we quickly contacted Joe and Sora. Unexpectedly at about the same time Mimi came over to Izzy's house," Matt informed them.

Mimi grinned. "Luckily my parents decided to have the summer holidays back here on Odaiba. I really missed being there, and it looks like there's another reason for my return here as well."

"I've just finished my last paper about an hour ago. So now I've started my holidays!" Joe declared.

"Prodigious! Such wonderful coincidences," Izzy remarked.

David nodded. "Look, can we talk about this later? I mean... " Davis then proceeded to tell the senior Digidestined the whole story of what had just happened to them, their digimons, and about their enemies. They were shocked to learn that ExVeemon, Stingmon, Angemon and Ankylomon had recently lost their ability to DNA Digivolve.

"This is really bad," Sora said. "Looks like all of us have to face Devimon together."

Tai thought for a while. "You know, Agumon can still Warp Digivolve to WarGreymon. He didn't exactly lost the powers given to him by Azulongmon yet."

"And Palmon can still become Lillymon. She wasn't present when the others gave out their powers to Imperialdramon," Mimi informed. She then gazed towards Kari with a glint in her caramel eyes. "Say, Kari... they say you're able to... fuse with Gatomon to become Angewomon?"

"Yeah. It's called Trans-Digivolution," Kari said.

"Cool. I'd like to see that soon," Mimi replied.

SkullSatamon and GrapLeomon were annoyed of being ignored by the Digidestined, while Silphymon retreated to be with the other digimons, and also to take a short break from the battle, which had been occuring for more than an hour.

Tai glanced at SkullSatamon. "I remember him! He's the digimon that even Imperialdramon couldn't defeat!"

Matt noticed GrapLeomon. "You said that that digimon is the result of the DNA Digivolution of Leomon and Ogremon, right?"

"Yeah, and he's inflicted with the Black Gear," T.K. answered.

"All these years I've wished to meet Leomon and Ogremon back, but not under the circumstances such as this," Joe said sadly. "Both of them are good digimons."

SkullSatamon was growing impatient. "Since no one is going to start the party, I guess it's up to us now! Nail Bone!!" He attempted to get to Ikkakumon, who was the nearest to him.

"Ack! Harpoon Torpedo!!" Ikkakumon retaliated, but he was too late as SkullSatamon knocked him on the face. He was sent splashing into the sea.

"Lion Beast Killing Wave!!" GrapLeomon summoned, and aimed his attack towards the skies where Birdramon and Kabuterimon were hovering. Birdramon and Kabuterimon moved away from the path of the attack, and then decided to attack GrapLeomon together.

"Aim for the Black Gear, Birdramon!" Kabuterimon called. "Electro Shocker!"

"Right! Meteor Wings!!" Kabuterimon's attack, which was a large light blue energy ball with purple electrical bolts around it, joined Birdramon's showers of meteors towards Grap Leomon. Birdramon couldn't focus her attacks on the Black Gear as her attacks were meant for large opponents or for hitting two or more digimons at once. Kabuterimon's attack however hit the Black Gear, but it bounced upon target.

"It's useless to do that, fools!" GrapLeomon roared.

"Nail Bone!!" SkullSatamon appeared within a blink of the eye in front of Garurumon, and swiped him off his feet instantly by his staff, knocking the wolf's head in the process. "Nail Bone!!" Next was Togemon, whom SkullSatamon sent flying with the hit of the staff.

"Nova Blast!!" Greymon roared before Skull Satamon managed to get to him. The attack distracted SkullSatamon who after being hit by the attack, decided to handle Greymon first beforehand.

Tai held out his Digivice. "This doesn't look good, SkullSatamon is more powerful than I've anticipated. Greymon, digivolve now!"

"Right, Tai!" Greymon agreed and Tai's Digivice glowed with bright red lights. "Greymon Digivolve to... MetalGreymon!!"

"Togemon, ready for another digivolution?!" Mimi called towards her partner while holding out her Diginizer.

"You bet, Mimi. I can't wait to become Lillymon, then I can kick this SkullSatamon's butt!" Togemon replied. Green lights emerged from Mimi's digivice towards Togemon. "Togemon Digivolve to... Lillymon!!" Instantly, the giant cactus digimon was replaced by a petite airborne fairy digimon. Lillymon hovered close to MetalGreymon.

"With two Ultimates with us, we're sure gonna win this one," Davis said determinedly.

----------------- DIGIMON ANALYZER ------------------
Name : MetalGreymon
Attribute : Vaccine
Level : Ultimate

Attacks : Giga Blaster, Mega Claw
Power Level : 75

Extra info : A perfect fusion of a living digimon and machine results into the Chrome-Digizoid armored MetalGreymon!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------- DIGIMON ANALYZER ------------------
Name : Lillymon
Attribute : Data
Level : Ultimate

Attacks : Flower Cannon, Flower Wreath
Power Level : 63

Extra info : This magnificient fairy is born from the flower on top of Togemon's head.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You've said it," Veemon agreed.

Skull Satamon was perplexed of having Metal Greymon, Lillymon and Silphymon closing up on him, while the remaining four Champions cornered Grap Leomon. However he managed to conceal his surprise by holding off for a while, his staff held tight in his right hand while he watched his opponents with alert eyes.

"So you've decided to play three to one now?" he asked.

"Don't waste time, guys! Attack him now!" Tai ordered.

Lillymon flew past MetalGreymon and Silphymon. "Ladies first!" she said, and winked. The nature fairy then soared to the skies and her hands began to form a yellow flower petal, which opened to reveal a small cannon. "Flower Cannon!!" Lillymon however, didn't put too much strength on her attack. Instead, she merely watched with a slight flicker of a smile as she nodded towards MetalGreymon.

"Surely you can do better than that, little girl!" SkullSatamon roared as he swiped the attack away with his staff, and attempted to chase after Lillymon.

"Oh, I don't have to, bonehead," Lillymon replied. "Why would I do that when I got two boys to do that for me?"

"Wha--?" SkullSatamon asked before he was blasted from the back with attacks enough to send him flying. Enraged, he saw Metal Greymon and Silphymon behind him, a triumphant look on their face. "You're gonna pay for that!"

"You're all talk SkullSatamon!" Silphymon declared. "Static Force!!"

"Giga Blaster!!" MetalGreymon joined in. The two attacks again hit Skull Satamon with full force, sending him flying towards Lillymon.

"He's all yours, Lillymon!" Silphymon called.

Lillymon scowled. "Oh please! Flower Cannon!!" She blasted the in-coming Skull Satamon with her cannon, sending the skeletal satanic digimon away from her. "I hate to think of even being close to him!!" she called back to Silphymon.

"Yeah?! Then let's just finish him off shall we?" MetalGreymon answered. "Giga Blaster!!"

SkullSatamon grew weaker after being attacked about five times in a row. His vision became blurred and he was having a hard time to even clear his vision, which made him vulnerable to the attacks launched non-stop by MetalGreymon, Lillymon and Silphymon. He was furthermore enraged after hearing the conversations between his opponents, which made a fool out of him. Summoning his remaining powers, he felt relieved as the pains from the attacks began to fade, and his vision became much clearer. He prepared himself in a fighting stance.

"What's happening? It looks like he's healed!" Lillymon gasped.

"This doesn't look good," MetalGreymon said warily as he fixed his gaze towards SkullSatamon.

"Let --- " Suddenly, Silphymon's words were cut off as Skull Satamon closed in on him with a blink of the eye.

"Skull Hammer!!" he thudded Silphymon's head full-force with his staff, sending Silphymon to the grounds. He then chased after the falling Silphymon and raised his staff again. A menacing smile began to form on his ugly face. "This is for making the fool out of me, Silphymon! Nail Bone!!" The staff's yellow orb on its proximal end flashed slightly before hitting Silphymon again on the head. The second attack, which was more powerful than the first, blasted Silphymon straight to the grounds causing a small explosion as he hit the grounds, sending clouds of dust everywhere. Skull Satamon looked satisfied, watching as the dusts cleared to reveal the unconscious Salamon and Poromon.

"Oh no! Salamon!!" Kari cried.

"Poromon!!" Yolei rushed to get his partner.

"A work well done," SkullSatamon muttered to himself, and turned his attention towards MetalGreymon and Lillymon. "Now, who's next?" he asked with a sneer.

"You're really twisted, you know that?!" Lillymon said angrily after watching what had happened to Silphymon. "I'll make you pay for what you'd done to them! Flower Cannon!!"

Skull Satamon evaded the attack easily before moving with great speed towards Lillymon. "Nail Bone!!" he bellowed, and paralyzed Lillymon with his attack, immobilizing her. Seizing this chance, he struck the helpless Lillymon again with his staff, sending her flying to the grounds before de-digivolving to Palmon.

"Palmon!!" Mimi cried worriedly over her partner. "Are you okay?"

Palmon opened her eyes wearily. "I think so..." she said and got up slowly.

"Two down, and a MetalGreymon to go!" Skull Satamon declared.

Tai was worried that MetalGreymon would receive the same fate that Silphymon and Lillymon had. He looked up and idea occured to him. He raised his digivice to the sky to recall back Metal Greymon's powers. Metal Greymon descended slowly to the grounds, his body glowed with yellow lights as he de-digivolved back to Agumon.

"Hey, what happened Tai? Why don't you let me fight him?" Agumon asked confusedly.

"I just think you're gonna need a power boost for this battle. Ready for some Warp-Digivolving?" Tai asked.

Agumon's expression brighthened. "Yeah! Let's show that bag-of-bones what we're made of!" Agumon then was covered with a nimbus of brilliant gold lights emerging from Tai's Digivice. "Agumon Warp Digivolve to... WarGreymon!!"

"Finally! A Mega Digimon on our side!" Davis said.

----------------- DIGIMON ANALYZER ------------------
Name : WarGreymon
Attribute : Vaccine
Level : Mega

Attacks : Great Tornado, Terra Force, Mega Claw, Dramon Destroyer
Power Level : 95

Extra info : WarGreymon is the highest digivolutionary form of Agumon, and is thought to be one of the most powerful digimon partnered to a Digidestined.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the other four Champion digimons were having a harder time to fight GrapLeomon. Their only chance was that the fact that there were many of them, which made attacking from different angles possible. Garurumon had taken the position on land, while Ikkakumon attacked from the sea. Both Birdramon and Kabuterimon hovered on the sky attacking GrapLeomon from above.

"If only I can Warp Digivolve as well," Garurumon said after seeing Agumon became WarGreymon. "I can easily beat this push over!"

"Don't give up now, Garurumon!" Birdramon called.

"Who says I'm gonna to? Howling Blaster!!" Garurumon attacked GrapLeomon again.

As if on cue, the other three digimons fired away their trademarks as well towards the evil lion warrior digimon. Kabuterimon had aimed his Electro Shocker towards the Black Gear again, but as usual the attack was deflected upon contact.

"Some digimon never learn," GrapLeomon said, and charged towards Garurumon, who was close enough for him to attack, "Lion Whirlwind Kick!!" Garurumon was hurled away, knocking over the big rocks on the shore.

"Garurumon!!" Matt called over his partner worriedly.

"I'm okay Matt! Just.. ugggh... WET!!" Garurumon exclaimed in annoyance.

"Meteor Wings!!" Birdramon fired her attack, knowing that she was advantageous in the battle as her opponent could not fly. However being weaker, her attacks had almost no effect on the stronger Grap Leomon.

"How are we going to beat this guy?" Sora wondered.

"Don't give up, Kabuterimon!" Izzy shouted.

"Ikkakumon, attack the Black Gear again!" Joe instructed.

Ikkakumon did as he was told, but again the attack was deflected. "It's no use!" he growled.

"Like I said, you never learn," GrapLeomon said and proceeded by attacking Ikkakumon in the same manner he attacked Garurumon earlier.

WarGreymon and SkullSatamon stood in midair, watching each other with deep loathing. SkullSatamon hadn't expected WarGreymon and had earlier used almost all of his powers to knock away Silphymon and Lillymon, but he couldn't de-digivolve digimons far superior than him. WarGreymon was a Mega level digimon, and being a Vaccine type made him had a better chance of winning.

"Nail Bone!!" SkullSatamon attempted to paralyze WarGreymon, but the Mega simply brushed him off.

"Don't you think it's getting really old?" WarGreymon growled and spun himself quickly, forming an orange-colored tornado around him. He then launched himself towards SkullSatamon. "Great Tornado!!"

"Skull Hammer!!" SkullSatamon countered. The result was that SkullSatamon was hurled a great distance away due to impact, while WarGreymon mearly staggered a bit.

WarGreymon smirked, although it was impossible to tell because his face was masked. "Never thought of that," he said.

SkullSatamon panted slightly. He was losing energy as time passed by.

WarGreymon seemed to notice this, and attacked again. "Dramon Destroyer!!" he bellowed and hurled his sharp claws towards SkullSatamon. WarGreymon was so fast SkullSatamon hadn't enough time to move out of way, thus he was severely slashed at the upper right arm and upper torso.

"Not a Dramon, but worked nevertheless," WarGreymon noted in satisfaction, as SkullSatamon began to shimmer. Seconds later, he de-digivolved back to IceDevimon and FlameWizardmon, who were both so shocked of the outcome.

"What happened?" FlameWizardmon wondered.

"We've lost the power!" IceDevimon cried in rage. Compared to FlameWizardmon who looked unscathed, he was severely hurt from his battle with Ankylomon and Pegasusmon earlier.

"Which makes it a lot easier for me to destroy you two," WarGreymon said, causing both evil digimons to panic. WarGreymon raised both hands up towards the sky, forming a gigantic orange glowing fireball. "Terra Force!!"

"I love this part," Tai said, as WarGreymon hurled the Terra Force attack towards IceDevimon and FlameWizardmon. The attack hit IceDevimon first, and deleted him before going towards FlameWizardmon who suffered the same outcome. Their data particles disappeared within the thick purple clouds, and WarGreymon descended towards the Digidestined and the fallen digimons.

"Woo hoo! Way to go WarGreymon!!" Davis cried happily.

"Good job pal," Tai said with a grin.

"It looks like the battle isn't over yet!" WarGreymon said, and flew over towards where the four Champions were battling GrapLeomon.

With Garurumon and Ikkakumon down, only Birdramon and Kabuterimon were left to battle GrapLeomon. As the possesed lion warrior digimon was about to attempt attacking Kabuterimon, the clouds began to blow strong winds which was too strong for Birdramon and Kabuterimon to resist. The two airborne digimon were blown to the grounds, but that was the least of the Digidestined's worries. Lightnings crackled from the clouds, and to the astonishment of the Digidestined, the digimons, and even GrapLeomon, Devimon's face appeared on the air, fifty times magnified.

"GrapLeomon, return to base. We have bigger plans!" the apparation of Devimon ordered.

GrapLeomon lowered his head in respect. "Yes, Master Devimon!" Without wasting any more time, he abandoned the digimons and flew away towards the Infinity Mountain.

"Devimon!" TK exclaimed with a tone of mixed hatred and surprise.

"Well, well, well. I certainly didn't expect this! The old and new Digidestined together on this island!" Devimon said, completely ignoring TK. Devimon's eyes flashed deep crimson, and his mouth broke into a sneer. "Perfect!"

"What are you up to, Devimon?!" Tai demanded.

"To settle some old scores," Devimon said simply, and shifted his attention towards TK. "With the Child of Hope!"

"Oh no! First you've got to get through me!" Matt shouted.

"All of us!" Davis added.

Devimon looked amused. "Very well then. Let's see what you all got. I'll be waiting for you at the Infinity Mountain." The apparation then vanished with a blink of the eye, and instantly the clouds calmed down, no longer shooting out lightnings or winds. The Digidestined were left dumbfounded of what Devimon had just said before he disappeared.