VENGEANCE

Chapter 27 – Mind over Matter

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The land was barren, with no traces of trees or water within a hundred mile radius. Only the yellowish brown sand were seen in each and every direction, made hot by the warm rays of the sun which shone brightly over the cloudless sky. Once in a while, one could see a few digimon made to stand the harsh condition of the desert passing by, ranging from the rookie to champion levels. However, those occurrences were almost rare as many preferred to stay within the shade during the day, and only come out during nightfall where the temperature was cooler.

Almost being the key word here. This day however, was not one of the normal days for the desert of East Sector.

Kimeramon and MetalGreymon landed on the sandy grounds smoothly, emitting only an ignorable thud and smokes generated from the sands. The two ultimate digimon uttered no words; their expressions bore the looks of utmost confusion. Despite their quiet outlook, within their minds a voice spoke.

"Excellent, my children. Now, look for the remains of my old castle. It is around here somewhere, that I am sure."

Both obeyed the voice inside their minds, and began to walk straight. Once in a while, they would stop and scanned the whole badlands before resuming their quest. The hot weather didn't seem to bother them at all, despite any normal digimon would have wanted to stop for a break or for a rest. They were like drones, with only one mission at hand.

"It is a good thing, eventually, for my decision to leave a portion of myself back in this world before battling that boy . . . Ryo . . . in the past. But, how unfortunate it is that a portion of me that did go to the Digital World's past is now residing within that dreadful Monodramon, and somehow making him strong enough to stay in his ultimate level. That Ryo is behind of this, him and that strange Digivice of his. I have never foreseen the event of him using the DNA Digivolution power to bind me to that pitiful rookie!"

As they were approaching a giant lump of sands, Kimeramon and MetalGreymon suddenly stopped. It seemed like they were waiting for a command.

But, the one who were controlling them seemed to take no notice, as it dwelled on its memories of the past.

"I wonder where Ryo is now. Is he in this same dimension, or in another? The memory of this MetalGreymon seems to store no information of him."

Then, Kimeramon and MetalGreymon let out a growl, alerting the one within their minds instantly. They were standing in front of a huge pile of golden sands, and nothing seemed to be out of ordinary with the pile. In fact, it looked just the same as any other sand piles around the desert.

"Here? Inside the sands? Well, what are you waiting for? Clear the sands now."

Kimeramon instantly fired his Heat Viper towards the lump of sands. Upon impact, the sands were blown away, leaving a huge hole. Nothing could be seen inside the rounded cavity, so Kimeramon sent his signature move once more. More sands were blown away, and the hole was now a hundred meters deep. Onyx stones were barely seen as they were still half-covered by the sands.

"Excellent! It seems that you have uncovered the roof. Now look for the trap door. I have made a trap door connecting the tunnel within the mountain where my beloved castle once stood with a secret basement hideout. Do it now, and the Digital World shall once again be graced with the return of Milleniumon!"

But both digimon didn't respond. Instead, they looked as if they were alerted of something. They jumped out from the hole and flew onto the air. The reason of their alertness instantly became apparent.

Six black rings were seen approaching them from the direction where they came. Using MetalGreymon's memory, Milleniumon instantly learned that those were Chaos Specter's Digiranium Rings. They were used to weaken any digimon; those who were weak could easily be de-digivolved by them.

"Digiranium? Those metals supposedly contradict the use of Chrome Digizoid, and can weaken even the Harmonious Ones. Where in the world did that human obtain those metals? The Digiranium does not exist in this digital plane."

Another scanning over MetalGreymon's mind provided Milleniumon with the answer. He learned that Chaos Specter had traveled into several of the Digital World's alternate dimensions, and one of the dimensions housed the Digiranium metal. Milleniumon's own knowledge of the Digiranium came from the fact that his separated half had once conquered multiple dimensions, as Zeed Milleniumon. While they were separated, their link remained true and whatever Zeed Milleniumon had encountered and accomplished, the Milleniumon residing inside the Zeed Crystal would sense it too. However the bond was broken when Zeed Milleniumon was forced into merging with Monodramon back in the past.

" A smart human that Chaos Specter is, but I am not stupid either. My intellects far rules than any mediocre human such as him, or any of Azulongmon's precious DigiDestined. Ryo may be the only one who has outsmarted me, but then again . . . he is, after all, supposedly destined to be MY partner."

Milleniumon let a soft sigh, before regaining back his composure.

"I will not be fooled by a human again! Kimeramon, MetalGreymon . . . attack!"

Kimeramon rose quickly towards the air, and opened his massive jaw. "Heat Viper!"

"Giga Destroyer!" cried MetalGreymon, still uprooted on the desert land. The missile launchers embedded on his chest opened, and two black destroyers shot out. They joined together with Kimeramon's attack and caused a massive deafening explosion over the badlands. The ground shook momentarily and a temporary sand storm resulted over the vicinity. But, both ultimate digimon were unfazed.

"Well done, children. That is the end of the rings. Resume the task I have set you to do now."

Thick, grey smokes erupted as the result of the collision between the rings and the two ultimate digimon's attacks. Milleniumon thought that that was the end of it, as the smokes cleared revealing six static Digiranium rings, all lying on the ground without any sign of movements. Electricity crackled around each Digiranium ring, which Milleniumon simply brushed off as a sign of the rings malfunctioning.

But, being a careful, calculated digimon as he was, Milleniumon decided that it was harmless to check the real status of the rings. He didn't want to be interrupted again, and to him it was best if he got rid of the rings once and for all.

Deciding that Kimeramon would be better off with the digging task due to his multiple limbs, Milleniumon ordered MetalGreymon to approach the rings. The ultimate digimon rose from the crater once more, approaching the seemingly dead rings. No other reaction came from the rings. Milleniumon made a quick assumption that the rings were already dysfunctional from the powerful impact, and was satisfied. MetalGreymon then turned around to return to the crater and resume the digging task he was set to do.

However, by turning around, Milleniumon failed to notice that one of the rings had suddenly crackled back to life.

The single, functional ring shot up towards MetalGreymon, clasping itself on the unsuspecting digimon's tail. MetalGreymon roared as his power was drained by the ring. It then released a green aura, and instantly the remaining five rings crackled to life again. The ring had absorbed MetalGreymon's energy, and transferred his power to the others.

Milleniumon was perturbed. "I have been tricked! Damn that rings!"

Two more rings hovered around MetalGreymon, generating powerful electrical bolts and formed a barrier around MetalGreymon. The third ring unclasped itself from the tail and hovered with the other two. A green force field was subsequently emitted around MetalGreymon.

Kimeramon flew out from the crater and fired his Heat Viper once more towards the three rings on way to him. The rings were unaffected, and flew around in separate directions as if having a mind of their own. They generated enough bolts of electricity to counter Kimeramon's continuous fire assault.

"No! Do not let those blasted rings capture you, child. Attack!!"

Fueled by the command given to him, Kimeramon launched over the air as the three Digiranium rings made their way towards him. The chimera digimon let loose a stream of fire from his mouth, only to be countered by mass of electric currents showered by the rings. While strong, Kimeramon had the disadvantage of being large in size, which made him slower than the rings which moved as fast as a blink of the eye. The rings quickly surrounded Kimeramon in all direction and generated a force field around him.

"No! NO!!"


Grinning with satisfaction, Chaos Specter leaned back against his throne, his emerald green eyes still fixed on the main screen. The Digiranium rings had done the assigned task satisfactorily, and Chaos Specter knew it too. After all, the rings did catch the four Harmonious Ones, what chance did two ultimate digimon really have against them? Watching as both Kimeramon and MetalGreymon were contained inside two deep green spherical force-field, Chaos Specter issued the command for Chaos AI to shrink the two Ultimates and transport them back to the Velvet Claw.

Earlier, the tubes linking the four Harmonious Ones from the digital dimension in which they were imprisoned had been removed into a larger chamber in one of the lower floors of the flying fortress. Chaos Specter's main intention of doing that was to have more space inside the chamber whenever Chaos Seadramon was around. The serpent general himself was large enough to occupy a fifth of the chamber, and the four thrones occupied another fifth.

His thought was interrupted by a loud series of complains, coming from a voice whom Chaos Specter knew only too well.

"That rotten, stupid, ugly, irritating Sylphimon is really getting on my nerves! How dare of her . . . owww . . . those slaps! I'm gonna get her for this!"

Smirking, Chaos Specter calmly asked, "Back already, Catrina?"

It was Catrina, and she had already de-digivolved back into her champion form. Both her cheeks were slightly red, and she herself was fuming in anger, which amused Chaos Specter. The BlackGatomon, not noticing her master's presence yet, scowled upon the question and merely let out a soft hiss in response. She then looked up and saw her master observing her intently, and her face dropped in surprise.

"Oh . . . I . . . don't expect to see you, master. I thought you're still at the lab. Chaos AI told me so," she stammered.

Chaos Specter frowned slightly. "Let's just say that I've already taken care of my business there. However what I'm interested now is to know what you were up to, by attacking the DigiDestined just recently. Not to mention, bringing along another digimon with you."

Catrina's eyes drooped down as she sighed. "I just wanted to take down the DigiDestined while you're gone, but . . . I've . . . failed!"

"Failed? No, no . . ." said Chaos Specter. "It was your first attempt, and you still lack experience. I saw your fight with the DigiDestined . . . and . . ."

"You hate it, you are ashamed . . ." Catrina cut in sullenly, while staring at the metallic floor.

"Hmm? Ashamed? No, of course not!" said Chaos Specter, surprised. "What makes you think that way?"

"It figures. I failed. I lost the fight, and Asuramon is deleted."

"Not everyone is successful in their first attempt. Even I fail sometimes . . ."

"You . . .?" Catrina asked skeptically, eyes wide-opened. "That's not possible."

Chaos Specter laughed appreciatively. "As flattered as I am from that comment, yes I do fail sometimes. As for today, my experiments failed – causing the destruction of the Protocol Ruins and the deletion of Datamon, the one I have given the responsibility to foresee the experiment."

"Really? Can you tell me what happened?"

"Why don't you come over here to the throne, and I'll tell you what happened to me in details?"

Catrina eagerly leaped over the steps of the throne, and towards the topmost podium where Chaos Specter's throne and Catrina's own special velvety maroon cushion just beside the throne were located. She settled down quickly on her cushion, and Chaos Specter related the incidence happened to him today. He mentioned the events about his failed experiments, up till his success in recapturing Kimeramon and MetalGreymon.

"As you can see, even for a pioneer like me is prone to failure, unexpected as it may be. When it happen, there's no use moping around for our letdown, rather we should take action. If one way of solution doesn't work for us, perhaps we should tackle the problem from other angles," he ended.

The BlackGatomon simply nodded, while trying to digest the advice imparted to her.

"Anyway, what makes you choose to take along Asuramon in the first place?" asked Chaos Specter.

"Well, I've asked Chaos AI to scan the DigiDestined's digimon. One of them, the one I thought to be the most dangerous of all, is a virus type; a Wormmon, who is able to digivolve all the way into ultimate level with his human partner, forming a virus type Dinobeemon. So I thought, who can I use to beat Dinobeemon, and I thought a vaccine type ultimate digimon should be able to do the trick. It was Chaos AI who suggested Asuramon, although his power level had been lower than Dinobeemon. So I was thinking, with a little team up with me myself, maybe we can overpower Dinobeemon. I really don't expect that Sylphimon to appear as well. We've beaten Dinobeemon, and the other three digimon hanging around there as well. If she didn't interrupt I could win the fight. It's not fair!"

Chaos Specter nodded. "A well thought-out plan; with only an unexpected obstacle being the reason for it to fail. Good girl, you really did impress me with your plan, for a first-timer. However bear in mind that if it comes to power level, attributes don't really play much of a part. If two ultimate digimon, one of them a vaccine, while the other a virus, and both having equal or near-equal amount of power, the vaccine type will win the battle in most cases. However, should the virus be a stronger ultimate among the two, the tides will surely turn over to favor the virus instead. It's complicated, but you'll get it in due time. I think an example is apt . . . Chaos AI, launch battle footage happened in File Island, between Devimon and the seven DigiDestined, four years ago, up until the first appearance of Angemon."

"Affirmative. Accessing footage database . . . battle footage found. Displaying now . . ."

"Now look closely," said Chaos Specter, as the battle sequence between Devimon and the six champion digimon belonging to Tai and the others was played. Catrina watched with rapt attention, and noticed how Devimon single-handedly defeated all Champions – ranging from the fire type Greymon and Birdramon, the ice type Garurumon, water type Ikkakumon, thunder based Kabuterimon and nature type Togemon. It was until the appearance of the saintly Angemon that Devimon was finally defeated, but to the expense of the angel's life himself.

"So, what can you say about this?" asked Chaos Specter, breaking Catrina's concentration.

"Well, Devimon is an evil type of digimon, a dark type to be exact. He also seems to have a higher power level than the other champion digimon, except for the Angemon who has beaten him."

"True, but not quite, Catrina. Angemon is strong; more powerful than any average champion digimon . . . but still, his power level at the time hadn't exceeded Devimon's. Even with the combined power of the DigiDestined's Digivices and his own sacrifice, Devimon still wasn't completely beaten. It was only until recently that Devimon had truly been defeated, and ironically, to the same angel digimon. The advantages Angemon had against Devimon when they first battled were the fact that he is a holy type and a vaccine at the same time, which is strong against a dark type virus. However Devimon had already possessed the power close to an ultimate digimon when he first battled the DigiDestined. In comparison, he was almost on par with Etemon and Myotismon; the other two villains the DigiDestined have met prior to their encounters with the Dark Masters. As the result – both of them were destroyed, but Angemon is able to be reconfigured while Devimon remained in a digital limbo, in a digital spirit-like form."

"So I shouldn't rely on attributes alone, but also to pay attention to the other abilities a digimon have when I want to battle it?"

"Precisely. You catch on pretty quick. Now let's see if you can analyze this one instead. This is a relatively easy one, I'm sure you will be able to figure it out." Chaos Specter then issued a command for Chaos AI to display a yet another battle footage from the database.

This time around, much to the dark feline's chagrin; it was the earlier battle she had with Sylphimon.

Catrina blushed, but forced herself to analyze the battle in the way Chaos Specter had taught her.

"I can't, and will not say that I'm weak against the likes of her, but I have to admit her power level is definitely higher than me," she said sulkily. "My advantage over her is the fact that I'm a virus digimon. And it's really unfair because she can fly!"

Chaos Specter grinned. "Correct on all three accounts. Very good, Catrina. Now, let's see if you can solve this one. Chaos AI, launch the battle footage happening at Tyrannovalley three days ago, between Chaosdramon and a Sakuyamon residing there."

"Affirmative. Displaying now . . ."

As the footage played, Catrina took an easy guess and assumed that the virus type Chaosdramon would be the victor. But to her surprise, it was the data type Sakuyamon who won the fight. Quickly, Catrina recalled all the information she had gotten from the footage, and became deep in thought.

"It's alright if you can't figure this one out, Catrina," said Chaos Specter.

Suddenly, the feline's eyes lit up. She sat up straight and looked over him straight into his own emerald eyes.

"No, no, I think I got it. You've said that attributes won't matter much when one had higher power levels than the other, right? Certainly that's not the only reason to overcome the attributes factor. From what I can see . . . that priestess digimon had the advantage of being more agile than that big lump Chaosdramon. I don't think it has anything to do with power levels here, that priestess looks pretty weak compared to Chaosdramon. She's merely using up her advantages to the fullest extend, and also her attacks seem to be very special in dealing with Chaosdramon. The flower attacks, and the fox attacks, both seem to be unique in dealing with Chaosdramon. Also there's the fact that she can fly, which is very advantageous in the battle. In the meantime, Chaosdramon was the stronger one, with more firepower, but he could barely move around. He's not agile at all. To be frank, he is slow, for lack of a better word."

Chaos Specter was stunned to hear the lengthy explanation coming from the rather unassuming pet digimon of his.

"An excellent observation, Catrina; I couldn't have said it better myself," he complimented. "This Sakuyamon, while no match for Chaosdramon's power, is indeed a highly skilled fighter and a very experienced sorceress . . . I should know."

"Huh? You sound like you really know her, master," Catrina pointed out, puzzled.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do . . . from long ago. But that's not important now; what I want to say now is that I'm impressed of how much you have grown. It's just not too long ago when I took you in, and now you're already able to fight on your own."

Catrina bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, master. But surely you don't mean that. You're the one who taught me. I still have a lot to learn."

"And you're a fast one at that," Chaos Specter continued. "Don't put yourself down. Truth be told, you catch on even quicker than the Chaos Generals when they were under my training a few years back. Chaos Piedmon is a fast learner too, I have to say, while Chaos Wargreymon was decent to say the least. Chaos Seadramon on the other hand was quite slow. It took him a while to grasp the theory, but when he did, all he could do was to gloat over the fact that he's supposedly stronger than Chaos Wargreymon. Mind you, they were all without the power I've given them back then, and were merely in their champion forms. Imagine his surprise when Chaos Wargreymon, then only a Greymon, defeated him without breaking a sweat."

Catrina laughed heartily upon hearing that. "I can't imagine. It must be hard for him to accept that."

"Yes. You're a much better learner, and soon maybe you will earn a spot as a general yourself."

This time, the response Chaos Specter received was in a form of a soft gasp coming from the BlackGatomon.

"Really, master? I . . . I'll train harder, I promise."

"Your physical prowess will improve in due time, if you continue with the trainings I have set for you," Chaos Specter continued, slightly amused by the eager tone coming from Catrina. "But now, you will need to be familiar with the basic strategy-making skills . . . a training of wits."

"I'll do my best, master. Do you really mean it when you said that I can be a Chaos General myself?"

Chaos Specter nodded. "Yes. You'll have your chance, but first you need to be able to reach your mega level. But until then, I will allow you to come up with ways to attack the DigiDestined. However for now, we will focus our attention to the Tree Top Village, where Chaos Piedmon is supposed to be."


Tree Top Village. It was a village built on top of massive, sturdy trees that grew on the north-east side of the East Sector. It was said that long ago, the village was first constructed on the grounds, inside the forest where the big trees grew. However, due to constant intrusions by unknowing land type digimon the elders of the village had decided to move the village up over the trees.

Years had passed, and the village enjoyed peace under the rule of the current elder: an armor level digimon called Kabukimon. Despite his feminine flowery features, Kabukimon identified himself as a male. His head was patterned in a shape of a flower with eight white petals. Long, red mane of hair cascaded down his back and front torso, which was garbed in a loose red garment, a shade lighter than his hair. His legs and hands were white, and the hands were also patterned to look like flowers.

In nature, Kabukimon was a just ruler with a profound love in nature. Albeit a slightly fiery demeanour, he had always believed in doing what was right. And his patience was now tested, upon the arrival of Chaos Piedmon and his lackeys towards the village nearly a week before.

Kabukimon had heard of several similar villages around the East Sector which had also targeted by Chaos Specter. Asuka City, Seiryuu City, Harmona Town, Marina Bay Village, Emeraldo City . . . but in four out of five cases, the famed DigiDestined had driven the Chaos Forces out of the towns.

Rumor had it that one of the digimon of the Chaos Forces – a high-ranking one, said to be a Chaos General, had turned against the side of evil and helped free Marina Bay Village from a crazed WaruSeadramon. While on Emeraldo City, a fierce battle had ensued between the DigiDestined and another Chaos General – Chaos Seadramon – and it was also said that even Chaos Specter himself had made an appearance to battle the DigiDestined. However one of the digimon partnered with a DigiDestined had gone berserk, forcing Chaos Specter in retreating. The DigiDestined and some of their digimon allies then banded together to drive Chaos Seadramon away.

With the humiliating defeats suffered by the other Chaos Forces, Kabukimon knew only too well of why Chaos Piedmon had taken extra precautions around Tree Top Village. A blockade had been formed by the Chaos Forces – an army of Vilemon, Nanimon and BomberNanimon had been placed around the grounds where the trees housing the village grew. The champion digimon were all led by an armor digimon who went by the name of Baronmon. Chaos Piedmon himself never left Tree Top Village, and took the liberty of inviting himself to stay over one of the largest huts on the village – which so happened to belong to Kabukimon himself.

As much as Kabukimon wanted to take on a one-on-one battle with Chaos Piedmon, he was constantly reminded of the fact that he wouldn't even be able to lay a dent on the powerful mega digimon. One digimon had tried just that, and had already suffered a near-fatal consequence.

The challenger was a mysterious ultimate level digimon, who had been residing in the village as well for as long as Kabukimon had taken charge. Kabukimon had never seen such digimon before. At first he was wary of the digimon, fearing that he would some day challenge Kabukimon's authority as leader. However to his relief, the digimon only wanted a place to stay, and had promised to help protect the village in return. It was a promise which nearly took his life away, if it wasn't for Kabukimon himself to stop the fight. It was because of that Kabukimon didn't even dare oppose Chaos Piedmon.

Besides, there was another matter which required his attention.

The blockade had cut down all of the Tree Top Village's sources for food. The digimon from the cities of the sector's west quadrant who usually delivered the village's monthly supplies of food had been turned away by the Chaos Forces, and the food materials which they had brought over were seized. The villagers were in danger of starvation and dehydration, surviving now only on fruits, nuts and berries which could be picked from the trees.

Knowing that he would need the DigiDestined to help, he had sent a Biyomon to relay the message to Asuka Lab. The Biyomon had returned with a reply, saying that three ultimate digimon were on their way to help, as the DigiDestined were still in need of recuperating after their last fight with Chaos Seadramon. Besides, the one who replied to Kabukimon's message – Gennai – informed him that the DigiDestined would come to help, but the three ultimate digimon would be sent first in order to assess the strength of the Chaos Forces.

As he was deep in thought, Kabukimon was interrupted by a commotion happening outside his temporary hut. A crowd of rookie digimon had gathered over the balcony outside the hut, all chatting among themselves excitedly.

Kabukimon stepped out and quickly heard sounds of explosions coming from the grounds.

"The promised assistance . . . finally, but what took them so long?" he grumbled, but couldn't help to feel glad as well.


After almost a day of surveillance, the trio sent by Gennai to Tree Top Village had decided to take down the Chaos Forces themselves by nightfall. All of them were champion digimon, with one peculiar armor level digimon leading the team.

Right now, all three digimon were safely hidden from any observing eye and ear within Piximon's invisible sphere bubble.

"This should be easy," said GrapLeomon, turning to face Piximon. "How many digimon are there exactly?"

Thanks to his ability to make himself invisible by use of an invisible sphere, Piximon had easily sneaked up on the resting Chaos Forces in close proximity earlier, and had made some analyzes and important mental notes to help them with the fight.

"Well, there are those gross Nanimon and their equally obnoxious cousins BomberNanimon, and those sneaky little creatures Vilemon. There are at least ten of them each. There's also an armor digimon called Baronmon present, and from the looks of it he seems to be the one in charge."

"And Chaos Piedmon?"

"He's nowhere in sight, but he could be up there on the village."

Jewelbeemon was puzzled. "What interest does Chaos Specter have on this village on trees? Should he not pay attention to the power of time he has been wanting for so long? The way he places a team of . . . blockade around here, it seems as if he really has his eye on here."

Piximon shrugged. "I don't know. There's nothing of value in here actually. But then again, this seems to be the last place which is still under his control."

"So, we attack now?" asked GrapLeomon impatiently.

"Should we not wait for the DigiDestined to come with us?" Jewelbeemon reminded. "I thought we are here to assess the strength of the Chaos Forces?"

"We are, but look at them! All of them are champion levels, and one armor level shouldn't be much of a threat either," said GrapLeomon loftily, in a manner befitting the Ogremon half residing within him. He waved his hands airily. "It's not like yesterday when we were in Emeraldo City – where they placed ultimate digimon there. Wonder what's going on; has that stupid human overlord gone soft this time?"

"Don't listen to Ogremon's reasoning," said GrapLeomon again, sounding quite different from before. This time it was obvious that it was the more rational Leomon who had taken charge of the fused body. "I don't believe we should act rashly. We should wait for the DigiDestined to come."

Jewelbeemon was confused once more. "Did I miss something here? You are the one who wish to attack. Yet now, you are against it."

"Don't worry about it," said Piximon. "It's just that GrapLeomon is actually formed from two digimon who couldn't be more different than each other. The noble Leomon; and the brash Ogremon. It's purely accidental and it's a long story which I don't think we have time to hear for now."

"Believe me, I wouldn't want to fuse with Ogremon for the rest of my life," said GrapLeomon regretfully.

"Bah! It's not like I'm liking it either!" Ogremon's voice cried out indignantly. "Especially when it's your ultimate form we're taking on. It even has your stinking name plastered on it! Why can't it be Grap-Ogremon or something, huh?"

"Live with it," GrapLeomon muttered, brushing the insult and complain off.

"Are they always like this?" Jewelbeemon inquired to Piximon. "I don't remember GrapLeomon being this talkative yesterday?"

The pink puff-ball merely grinned. "You don't know the half of it. You haven't even seen how they were like when they were in separate forms. As for being talkative, my guess it's just that once in a while, GrapLeomon just lets loose his control over his Ogremon half . . . mainly for his amusement. Leomon is the dominant half of GrapLeomon, so he usually has total control over the fused body. But Ogremon does want to have his opinions heard from time to time, so Leomon will usually allow him to do. If not, having Ogremon screaming into his mind will surely give him a headache."

"I guess it just proves that opposites do attract," replied Jewelbeemon thoughtfully, earning a smirk from Piximon and a scowl from GrapLeomon.

"I find that highly implausible," GrapLeomon retorted.

"Great, now you make me agreeing with you, Leomon!" Ogremon's voice screeched. "Piximon! Are we going to attack those numbskulls or not?"

Piximon groaned. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this, but see those stacks of boxes over there? My guess that someone had been here a while ago with the villagers' monthly supplies of food and drinks, but those items were seized by those obnoxious digimon." Piximon pointed with his staff towards the Chaos Forces, who were all currently resting, and some of them were eating the supplies. Empty boxes were seen scattered about, yet there were still quite a large number of boxes which still remained intact.

Jewelbeemon shook her head sympathetically. "The villagers must have been starving now. Perhaps you are right, we must do something."

"Yes," said GrapLeomon, observing the Chaos Forces. "I can say that they're not up to an unexpected fight this night."

"So what're you saying, lion-boy?" Ogremon's voice demanded.

"I can't believe I have to agree with you this time, Ogremon."

"It's a start. Glad you're beginning to see things my way."

"Then it is settled," said Jewelbeemon with a sigh. "I do not like this, but I trust both of your judgments."

Piximon held out a small circular device which he was holding within the grasp of his small hands. "I'm sending a message to Gennai, saying that we're moving in for an attack. Hopefully he can send the angels, Doumon or the DigiDestined to help us. We're getting our hands full with just them; I'd hate to think if Chaos Piedmon decides to appear anytime soon."

By pressing a small button on the device, the message had been sent. "Alright now, I'm lowering the barrier. Let's do it. And GrapLeomon, do try to keep your Ogremon half at bay."

With a wave of his staff, Piximon removed the spherical barrier, making them able to be seen by the Chaos Forces, which were all surprised by the sudden intrusions. But the three ultimate digimon quickly attacked, not giving their enemies a chance to retaliate.

"Spike Buster!"

"Pit Bomb!"

"Lion Whirlwind Kick!"


A beep radiated from the computer Gennai was working on. The wise sage immediately recognized it as a signal relayed to him by the surveillance team he had sent earlier that day to observe the situation around Tree Top Village.

He frowned; Chaos Piedmon was there too. Why GrapLeomon and the others would deem it was safe to attack?

Unless they had seen a chance where they could actually make it? After all, Piximon was there to cover their backs. He could easily hide them.

Gennai shuddered at the thought. During the era of the Dark Masters, Piximon had done just that to ensure the DigiDestined's safety and ended up getting himself deleted by Piedmon.

And right now, it was Chaos Piedmon they were about to face.

Doumon was still in the gym, and was meditating. From the looks of her, Gennai knew that she wished not to be disturbed. It would take her a longer time to regain her mega form if she was whisked out to send for battle. The angels were peculiarly silent as well at the temple beneath the laboratory.

Ken and Yolei had just gotten off from a fight with a Bastemon and an Asuramon earlier that day. Gennai assumed that their date had been disrupted, but he had gotten no complaints from them about it. It also looked like they had managed to take care of it, by Yolei and Hawkmon's timely Transdigivolution into Sylphimon. Gennai decided to let them be for the night.

TK was still in France. It was bad enough he had to be called out from the vacation he was having with his mother to assist in fighting Chaos Seadramon and Chaos Specter himself. Gennai wouldn't want to call him again unless it was really necessary.

Cody and Armadillomon remained the only pair which hadn't acquired Transdigivolution yet. It was extremely dangerous for them to be sent to fight Chaos Piedmon. Besides, as far as Gennai had noticed, Cody seemed to be a little preoccupied with a tournament he was about to participate in.

All of this downed Gennai's choice to Davis and Kari. Davis was always eager to help out and Gennai couldn't help but to remember the times when Davis and Veemon actually chose to stick around Harmona Town to assist the rebuilding of the town after Chaosdramon's invasion. Gennai was sure that impulsive Davis wouldn't mind coming. And hopefully Kari wouldn't mind either.

With that in mind, Gennai typed a message to be sent to Davis and Kari's D-Terminals.


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Author's Notes:

Sorry I took so long to come up with this chapter. Anyway, this chapter is without the usual battle scenes, which I'm reserving for the next one. Thanks to all of you who took the time to review.

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Digi Fan – Yeah, I was hoping for it to be funny. Poor Hawkmon.

Jack the Ripper – A new reader! Welcome, and I'm happy that you're enjoying the story. As for your questions, in this story arc they will not be reaching mega forms, but there's a sequel where they WILL become mega, but with a slightly different twist from the way they Transdigivolve in this story. As for Chaos Specter and Catrina . . . boy that WILL be funny to see. A male and a female digimon . . . but no, they will not Transdigivolve. Chaos Specter is not a DigiDestined, you see. Besides, handling Yolei and Hawkmon was hard enough.

Quinton Notwen - Yeah, Silphymon did get a nasty lashing by LadyDevimon, but not exactly in a way Angewomon and LadyDevimon fought. I believe the dub has cut out the scene where Angewomon and LadyDevimon exchanged a few slaps before the arrival of WereGarurumon and Garudamon in the Daemon Corps arc. I don't know about dangerous; I think Season One's fight between those two is more violent compared to Season Two.

Captain deoxys – Another new reader! Welcome, welcome! Willis will make an appearance, but in the sequel of this story. I'm keeping the Diginizers of Destiny, Darkness, Miracles, Friendship, Reliability and Sincerity unoccupied for the time being. I'm excluding the movie where Willis makes an appearance, and will be giving him a brand new start. I think it's not much of a guess to determine which Diginizer he'll end up with, eh? Stay tuned.

J.D. Guy – Last time it was fast, now I bet you're thinking that this update is horridly slow, eh? Sorry about it . . . school and stuffs, the usual deal. I'm glad that you like the ending of the previous chapter. Yeah, Chaos Specter's big explanation is coming much, much later, but I've dropped a hint in this chapter too, if you didn't miss it.

Change of heart - Wow! One, two, three reviews from you. Thank you for reading and reviewing! Thanks for the correction, it's my mistake. How did that 'five years' get in there? It's supposed to be three years. Thanks for pointing that out, it must have been a slip of the fingers. Heh! The DigiDestined don't actually fight Milleniumon according to the canon story, I'm just using one of the Wonderswan games story to give Ryo a better introduction. In my opinion, the battle with Milleniumon should happen after they've fought Diaboromon (I like the spelling Diablomon better though), as that's what stated in the game. And your last question about Black Wargreymon, no he's not going to return. But I think there will be mentions of him though in the future / sequel, I have to double-check with my notes.

Bluesv20 – Yeah, Cody will be next, but not in a couple or more chapters to come. I'm preparing a special arc for him – just like Ken's arc. No comment about the ultimate form he and Armadillomon will be taking just yet, it would spoil the story.