VENGEANCE

Chapter 32 – Reliable Knowledge, Part II

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The city of Asuka looked like it was built with a combination of modern technologies and medieval architecture in mind. It was a small, yet livid town, mould from cities of the ancient European era. Most buildings were painted in different shades of red, with brown and white mixed in for good measures. Red rectangular bricks were mainly used in constructing the buildings as well as the roads and walkways.

It was in one particular street, called the Mildred Street, where most Digimon were on a fine day such as this. The street housed a vivacious bazaar, where various merchants gathered to sell their goods, which consisted of mainly food items, clothes and some other interesting products. Customers of various shapes and sizes were seen bargaining with the merchants, who all pleasantly entertained their customers in acquiring the right prices for the goods.

It was in the middle of all the buzzes where two familiar figures were spotted walking together. Taking a break from her meditation, Doumon chose to visit the city as a form of relaxation to her mind. Gennai was seen walking beside her, and the two seemed to be sharing a pleasant conversation as he showed Doumon around.

"It has indeed been a while since I have been inside a crowded place," Doumon commented, scanning around interestedly with her sharp eyes.

Gennai grinned. "Well, you've been cooped up inside Kulon Mines for too long, I'd say. I don't know about you, but if it were me, I'd go nuts!"

The two shared a laugh. Doumon then replied, "Indeed, I could agree no more than you do. You have always been an adventurous one, as far as I remember. Unlike me, as I find content in living in servitude as I have been for a very long time." Doumon blinked slightly before shaking her head, seemingly wanting to suppress an emotion she was feeling.

"Indeed," the brown-haired warrior said, feeling slightly uncomfortable as he scanned for Doumon's emotion. Knowing of the priestess' past, he decided to change the topic, and saw the perfect thing. "Well what do you know? It's a fortune-teller establishment. Wanna come in and have your fortune looked up?" They had arrived in front of a small shop, which was painted with shocking pink instead of the usual red (it is however a shade of red), and from the glass walls both Gennai and Doumon could see the interior of the establishment which was mildly lit with orange lights. The entrance was without a door, and was decorated with roses and lilies of various colors.

Doumon looked amused. "Are you forgetting that I myself have limited clairvoyance ability? I do not need somebody who claimed to be able to see the future to see mine. I can do so myself."

"Well, you can, but I can't," Gennai pointed out with a smile. "Come on, loosen up a little. You're beginning to sound like an old monk. Besides, you'd know if this fortune-teller is telling the truth or just making up predictions."

The priestess merely shrugged. "I guess it would not hurt."

Gennai and Doumon then entered the fortune-teller shop, and were greeted with a strong aroma of flowery fragrance. To Gennai, the aroma was rather overwhelming and soon he found himself struggling not to gag. Doumon merely smiled and shook her head, her somehow not being affected with the smell. However her eyes then narrowed as her nose twitched slightly. She sensed a familiar tinge.

"Wait a second. I recognize this smell...although I have not smelled it for a very long time. Could it be...?"

Her words were however cut when a pleasant, accented, slight husky feminine voice greeted them. A petite figure walked in from a doorway behind the counter which was obscured with long beads hanging from the walls above the entrance. It was a Lillymon, albeit with one minor different detail. This Lillymon was wearing a lilac dress and a headdress of the same color instead of the pink ones worn famously by the Lillymon partnered with Mimi Tachikawa, the infamous DigiDestined of Sincerity.

Doumon stopped dead on her tracks when she saw the Lillymon, her eyes widened seemingly in disbelief. 'It is her! But can it be? I thought...'

The Lillymon however was oblivious to Doumon's presence as she had her eyes on Gennai, who was in front of the priestess Digimon. She smiled.

"Hello there. Welcome to mah place. Can ah help ya?"

'She has the same accent...'

Gennai smiled upon the hostess' pleasantness. "I'm just interested in getting my fortunes told...wait a minute, aren't you..." He frowned, as though as he remembered something but couldn't place it.

The Lillymon blinked. "Hey, ah recognized ya... ya are Gennai, that warrior who's been helpin' the DigiDestined kids lots. Ah've been hearin' lots of your stories from tha other customers. Ah'm sure glad ta meet ya today. Ya look more handsome than from what ah've been hearin'."

'And that slightly flirtatious manner...'

"Yeah, err...thanks. That's me alright," Gennai said, blushing slightly, but the frown didn't go away. "But I'm sure I recognize you from before, from my early years. Haven't we met?"

"Maybe ya've seen mah kind before. Ah mean, we Lillymons aren't that hard ta notice, if ya get what I mean," the Lillymon suggested with a playful wink which suggested some mischievousness in her. She then leaned towards Gennai from behind the counter and held out her small right palm, fingernails were perfectly manicured with glittering violet paint. "So...can ah read your fortune?"

'And there's that annoying habit of hers trying to read out other people's fortune...'

"Well sure, I mean that's why I came in here in the first place." Gennai held out his right palm towards the Lillymon. The fairy took it briskly and examined the palm with a critical eye.

'No wait... she learnt how to read fortune from ME a long time ago!'

Doumon frowned. All these details were too much of a coincidence for her to dismiss.

'It has to be her!'

"Pink Lillymons are common...but I only know of one who dresses in light purple," she said finally, her eyes twinkling with a sense of recognition. She then bore her sharp eyes into the Lillymon's dark leaf-green eyes. It got to the fairy's nerves, and she glanced away instantly.

"Excuse meh?" the Lillymon asked, confused. It was obvious that she had no idea of what Doumon was saying.

Doumon continued, "Tell me, you are a viral Lillymon, right?"

The nature fairy was mildly perplexed upon the inquiry. "Ah guess so. Ah know that ah'm a virus, but ah am not evil if that's what ya are tryin' to say." She stressed heavily on being not evil.

"No, that is not what I meant. And tell me, does your name have only one 'L' letter instead of two?" Doumon continued.

The Lillymon looked relieved upon hearing that. "Well, yeah... that's true. That's one that makes meh different from the usual Lillymons. Hey...how come ya know so much about meh? Ah don't know anythin' about yeh."

"Lilymon, do you not recognize me?"

The Lillymon, or Lilymon as she had confirmed, knitted her brows together, being deep in thought. She tilted her head slightly. "Well, now that ya've mentioned it...ah think ah've seen ya face before, but ah can't exactly place tha name yet."

"Lilymon?" Gennai wondered, and instantly a portion of his childhood past came back to him. He snapped his fingers immediately when he recognized the name. "I KNOW I recognized you before! Hey, Doumon...wasn't she one of your best friends back during the old days?"

"Best friends? Us?" Lilymon asked blankly. "Ah don't know..."

"Does the name Doumon strikes you as familiar?" Doumon prompted, ignoring Gennai's question. Her attention was solely focused on the flower pixie.

Lilymon looked like she was suddenly jolted with electricity from the way she jumped upon the revelation of the name. Her eyes still retained the confused look, but it was slowly replaced by what looked like a dawn of comprehension.

"Doumon? Ah...ah think ah've heard of tha name before," she said uncertainly, and studied Doumon closely. She blinked, feeling a sense of familiarity coming to her as she stared towards the violet-furred priestess. "Yeah...ah think somethin's comin' back to mah mind...ah remember one purple fox priestess, and ah seem to have a fuzzy image of a yellow one of ya... ya have a twin or somethin'?"

Doumon smiled slightly, looking relieved. "You are definitely remembering something from the past, then. Yes...I think you are the Lilymon."

Lilymon sighed. "Ah'm not sure 'bout that yet. Ah mean, ah remembered lots of things from the first day ah was hatched...but there are always these images that ah don't know when ah've seen them. They came in mah dreams sometimes and ah thought that ah've been imaginin' them. They feel so real though, so ah know ah'm not dreamin' when ah have these images. Ah also seem to remember one female Digimon with black wings and purple gowns, lookin' very cold an' beautiful at tha same time." Lilymon shook her head. "Ah'm really confused now."

Doumon hung her head down. "Reconfiguration can do that to you. But Lilymon... the one you have described just now matches perfectly with the lady we used to serve a long time ago. You are remembering your past."

"Reconfiguration? Ya mean, like ah've lived a life before ah was hatched? And that ah was killed by somebody, and ah got reconfigured?" Lilymon asked shrilly, her body visibly shaking. She was thoroughly perplexed. It was something she didn't expect to hear.

"Lilymon?" Doumon asked carefully, her right arm reaching out to comfort the shocked Lilymon.

However, her arm was slapped away by Lilymon, though not harshly but was done in haste. The fairy Digimon looked up towards her taller customers with a sorrowful look. "Ah'm sorry...but this is all too much for meh to accept! Ah don't know what to do. Ah...ah don't think ah can handle it just yet. Ah think ah'm gonna close the shop for today. Please go."

"But Lilymon..."

"Please...ah'm not feeling really well. Ah need to lie down... please just go," she pleaded. "Ah...ah'll think 'bout it...'bout those things ya've said. Ah need some time. This is all too difficult for meh."

Doumon and Gennai glanced at each other, and the man nodded. Lilymon escorted the two of them out from her shop, and when she was alone in the shop green vines with thorns on them shot down from the ceilings and closed the door-less entrance. Lilymon then leaned on the wall, and tears cascaded down from her wide eyes to the small of her cheeks.

Everything Doumon said came back to her like a lightning. She received some flashes of images, which confused her greatly, but what she knew that Doumon was speaking the truth.

"Ah remember now. Ah remember ya alright Doumon..."

Outside, Doumon and Gennai were bewildered with the whole ordeal with Lilymon. Gennai noticed the far-away look on Doumon's face and how Lilymon reacted with the whole revelation. Then all the little details of history came back to him... long ago, Doumon did have somebody she called her best friend. That was Lilymon, whose attitude was a hundred and eighty degree opposite to the priestess. Doumon was as serious as Lilymon was bubbly and energetic. Gennai was younger back then, and his encounters with either Doumon or Lilymon had been brief.

"Doumon, you ok?" he asked, noticing how the usually-calm priestess was shaking slightly.

"I...am fine. It is just too painful, for her not remembering me," Doumon admitted softly, her eyes shining. "We were like sisters, not just best friends."

"You've said to her yourself...reconfiguration can do that to Digimon," Gennai said calmly. "They won't immediately remember their past, unlike the partners of the DigiDestined, who usually will always regain their memories prior to hatching after a reconfiguration. Give Lilymon some time, she did look like she remembers some details, and to force her to recall all of them can confuse her. She did recognize you with the images she described, right."

Doumon nodded, and immediately wiped the tears which threatened to escape her eyes with her long sleeves. "I must look really foolish now."

"Not at all," Gennai assured with a calming smile. "Tell you what, why don't we call it a day and go back to the lab? We can come here again later to talk with Lilymon. Maybe more details will come to her in time."

"Agreed," Doumon said, nodding.

The two of them then began to set forth back to the temple... when suddenly screaming were heard coming from the bazaar, followed by a stampede of Digimon, sellers and buyers, all running away towards the opposite direction from the bazaar. Avoiding the chaos, Doumon took off from the ground while Gennai leapt onto one of the lower roofs with great agility. When the crowd dissipated, they saw the source of the pandemonium, and sighed in annoyance.

"Well what do you know," Gennai said, his azure eyes narrowed as he reached inside his robe. "It's the party poopers."

"Is that not the vain feline I saw battling with two of the DigiDestined a while ago?" Doumon inquired with distaste, beckoning towards a lithe womanly figure with cat features, standing side by side with a tall figure garbed in brown robes and yellow hood. Around them were several phantoms like Digimon in red, each had a scythe secured in its hand. Doumon studied the female Digimon closely, her eyes had the same look like when she saw Lilymon, but this time around the priestess immediately shook her head.

'This is NOT the same Bastemon.'

Gennai nodded, while taking out from his robe a metallic tube with a square red button embedded on it. He held the tube in a manner of one's holding a sword and jumped down from the roof, landing smoothly beside the tall priestess. "That's Catrina, Chaos Specter's pet cat. And I see she's bringing with her some ghastly reinforcements."

"What are you doing here?" Doumon demanded.

Catrina smiled menacingly. "I'm herrre to attack this city. No rrreason rrealy, just to experrriment with some of my latest trrrainings. How nice of the two of you to join us today...although I'm actually thinking of giving a payback to a certain Sylphimon!"

"Thinking? Well that's new," Gennai smirked. "Why don't you go find yourself a hobby and save us all the trouble? Besides, Sylphimon's not around."

"No can do, human. You see, this is a hobby of mine," she replied sweetly before stepping back, and beckoned for her companions to move forward. "If Sylphimon's not arrrround, then you'll do just fine. Wisemon, Phantomons...attack!"

"What's the hurry?" Gennai groaned, and took a fighting stance instantly. Pressing the button on the metallic cylinder, a blue blade made out of intense energy shot out from the tube. Smirking, he said, "I'm sure glad that I didn't forget to bring along my Photon Rapier."

Catrina snorted. "That weapon won't do you any good."

The robed Digimon, Wisemon, immediately charged forward and cried, "Pandora's Dialogue!"

A massive book with brown leathery cover and yellowish pages appeared under Wisemon's feet. A gust of wind came out of nowhere, turning the pages until it reached a specific place. A column of yellow light emanated from the book, energizing Wisemon. Then he thrust his right arm forward, and sent sparks of electricity towards Doumon and Gennai.

Gennai blocked the electric bolt with his weapon, only to find the laser blade exploded, leaving the cylinder intact. The warrior groaned and pressed the button once more, and another laser blade formed. "Not a very wise move, Wisemon...all pun intended."

Doumon in the meantime blocked all the bolts aimed to her by shooting several red scrolls which contained spells to undo any other spells. This attack was effective against any wizard Digimon, thus a large number of Wisemon's attack was nullified upon contact with the scrolls. To take care of the remaining bolts which still threatened her safety, Doumon produced a giant paintbrush and jumped into the air, forming a circular gateway with her weapon.

"Demon Gate Escape!"

All the electric bolts were then pulled in by the gateway, and another gateway opened near the Phantomons. Wisemon's electric bolts shot out from the gateway and electrocuted all the Phantomons. While not deleted, the Phantomons were shocked quite severely, as their master had intended for the bolts to make a quick kill for Doumon and Gennai.

Wisemon was surprised to see this and summoned another spell from yet another page of his book, and directed a wave of green aura towards the Phantomons. To Doumon and Gennai's dismay the Phantomons were instantly revitalized.

"My minions...attack them!" Wisemon ordered in his raspy voice.

The Phantomons, six of them in total, immediately launched themselves towards Gennai and Doumon. The warrior and the priestess became immediately wary of their opponents, who were all ultimate Digimon. Armed with scythes they made themselves deadly enemies for the outnumbered Gennai and Doumon.

Gennai quickly raised his rapier and charged towards one of the Phantomons. The targeted Phantomon saw him coming, and quickly slashed his scythe to make a quick finishing of the digital human. However, Gennai adeptly wielded his laser blade to block the incoming attack and thrust his free hand forward, with five fingers opened as he narrowed his eyes. The Phantomon immediately felt as if he was pushed by an invisible force and was flung backward towards his other comrades. Gennai grinned, and thanked his telekinesis ability for the advantage he had.

As the Phantomons struggled to stand upright, a battle raged between Doumon and Wisemon. Both Digimon possessed magical techniques, but Wisemon's skills were far superior to Doumon's, who only possessed limited magical techniques. However, she did know one trick that Wisemon was unable to defeat – her Spell Prohibition Papers technique was adequate enough to cancel out all of Wisemon's attack. The result of the battle between them was a stalemate, but Doumon decided to take the battle into the next level to finish Wisemon off.

Drawing a glimmering kanji over the air, Doumon aimed for the magical kanji towards Wisemon. The kanji let out an aura filled with darkness, and the symbol itself then shone with deep purple light. After that, the symbol plummeted towards the dark wizard Digimon and maimed him on the chest. Wisemon staggered a little as his robe was singed by the attack, but he was relatively unhurt.

"Excellent technique, priestess...but not good enough!" he said mockingly. "Let me enlighten you on how it's supposed to be done!"

Raising an arm upwards, Wisemon summoned three orbs of different colors. The blue one contained the power of water; the yellow had the power of electricity while the red one possessed the power of fire. The orbs shimmered as they orbited around Wisemon's uplifted arm. This was Wisemon's another technique – the Eternal Nirvana. He then let out a loud cry, and the orbs flashed in response. The blue orb released an intense stream of water, the yellow orb shot out bolts of electricity stronger than the ones Wisemon had summoned from his spell book, while the red one let out a jet of raging fire. The three attacks surrounded Doumon from three sides, making it impossible for her to escape.

Doumon however had more trick up her sleeve, as she created a magical ward around her to shield herself from the deadly attacks. At first it seemed to be effective, but the three streams of attacks continued to plummet against her shield. As time passed she grew tired, struggling to just defend herself from Wisemon's attack. The barrier soon flickered, and Doumon panicked as it would mean that she would be vulnerable to any attack. It would mean the death of her, if she didn't think of something. She needed help direly.

Gennai wasn't faring any better himself, in fact the Phantomons all had ganged up on him. They all released their Shadow Scythe attack simultaneously towards the warrior, attacking him from six different directions. Gennai proved to be a strong opponent himself, by successfully countering several attacks with his laser blade and used his telekinetic powers to generate a ward protecting him from the others. However this caused him to use up his limited resource, and soon his telekinetic powers failed. The Phantomons at once used this to their advantage and launched multiple attacks towards him. Gennai was blasted on all sides and with a loud cry of pain he stumbled on the ground, unconscious. His robe was badly torn, revealing wounds and lacerations on various parts of his body and extremities.

The Phantomons let out a gleeful laugh and was about to deliver the final blow, when a female voice stopped them.

"Back off him, varmints!"

Looking up, the Phantomons saw the petite figure of Lilymon hovering in midair. Her hands were clasped together, forming a budding yellow flower which opened up to reveal a cannon inside which was morphed from her hands. The Phantomons ignored Lilymon, and was about to resume with their cruel intention on Gennai. Their ignorance angered Lilymon.

"Ah said, back off from him. Flower Cannon!"

Lilymon then shot a green ball of energy towards the Phantomons. The attack was aimed with excellent precision, as with one blow two Phantomons were shot and plunged away from the unconscious Gennai. The other four were outraged by Lilymon's action and zoomed up in the air, wanting to get rid of her immediately. She smiled grimly and flew around the four Phantomons, generating her Flower Wreath attack in hopes to nullify the evil within the Phantomons.

The Phantomons however, had different ideas as they slashed the wreath with their scythes.

Lilymon shrugged, and took out a semi-transparent purple bottle from her back. The bottle seemed to contain some kind of vial, and Lilymon flew higher as she took off the bottle cap before drinking half of the liquid. Placing the cap back, she wiped what remains of the liquid from her lips and smiled.

"Well, ah wanted to purify y'all from the evil that is consumin' ya, but ya don't seem to want to cooperate with meh. Ah guess ah have no choice then."

Purple aura emanated from Lilymon along with a soft fragrant smell, and she gave the Phantomons a defiant look as purple and yellow lights burst from her whole body, blinding them instantly. Covering their eyes with their sleeves, the only thing the Phantomons could hear was a strong cry of evolution, coming from Lilymon.

"Lilymon mega-digivolve to... Rosemon!"

When the lights dissipated, the Phantomons saw that in place of the petite ultimate level Lilymon now stood a woman with an enviably curvaceous body. She wore deep purple leotard and long black boot which went up to her thigh, and a black cape with silvery-grey interior. Her headdress, patterned like a budding rose, was the same color as her leotard and now covered her eyes as well. Long, straight, shiny blonde hair escaped the headdress and flowed down her back. Rosemon wielded the thorny vines which were draped around her arms as weapons for both defense and attack. Her lips, glossed with deep purple color, smiled wickedly.

"Well boys...let's dance! Thorn Whip!"

By dancing, Rosemon actually meant business. She plummeted down towards the four Phantomons, and used her vines to whip the ghosts severely. She wasn't holding back, judging by the way she whipped each and every one of them, or by the way she lashed out at all four at once. Her anger however didn't deter her mind, as before whipping them Rosemon had made sure to lash on their arms first, forcing them to release their scythes. Without their weapons, the Phantomons were pretty much vulnerable from attack, much less from a Mega Digimon such as Rosemon.

Rosemon then landed on the ground smoothly on her high-heeled boots, and behind her four unconscious Phantomons plummeted down and crashed onto the brick road. Her arrival earlier had caught Wisemon's attention and he had ceased from attacking Doumon. He was dismayed upon seeing how his servants were defeated single-handedly by the female warrior of nature which had just arrived.

"Who are you, woman?" Wisemon demanded angrily.

"Yeah, what's the big idea?" shouted Catrina. She however, was intimidated by the sight of the impressive Mega.

Rosemon smirked haughtily towards the two Ultimates. "The name's Rosemon, and ah'm a friend to Doumon and Gennai. Besides, y'all are attackin' the city where ah lived! Ah must stop ya!" Rosemon declared, and approached the weary Doumon.

"Lily...no, Rosemon... you remembered after all! I am glad..."

"Hush, hun," Rosemon stopped the priestess from talking by thrusting the bottle containing the vial she'd taken earlier into Doumon's hand. "Less talkin' and get drinkin'. It's an energizin' potion...ah used it and ah can digivolve all the way to mah Mega form. Ah concocted it mah-self... but ah've never tested it on anybody else. It should work though. Try it."

Doumon smiled. "Look who is talking now." She took the half-full bottle and drank the remaining half. Instantly she felt a cooling sensation spreading all over her body. Her energy was replenished...but she remained in her ultimate level.

"Well, ah guess it works on only meh," Rosemon commented. "No digivolvin' for ya."

"It is good enough, for now," Doumon assured, and smiled gratefully towards Rosemon. "What makes you come here to save us?"

The tall fairy Digimon replied, "Ah've been tryin' to think 'bout what ya've said to meh when ah heard noises. Then I saw Gennai gettin' his butt whipped by those Phantomons. Ah took care of them ghosts, but we still need to get Gennai to a healer or somethin'. Ah can't heal his wounds."

"Then all we need to do is to dispose this dark wizard and the cat," Doumon said determinedly. She produced her paintbrush again and readied herself.

"Mah pleasure...but wait a second..." Rosemon's voice trailed off when she set her eyes on Catrina. "Did we know that feline from somewhere? Ah think she looks quite familiar too."

Doumon shook her head. "Believe me, she is not the one you think you know."

"Well whateva' ya say, sugah," replied Rosemon with an offhanded shrug, as if it didn't really matter to her.

Catrina looked terrified, as she never expected a Mega Digimon to be present. She looked at Wisemon. "Wisemon, do something!"

Wisemon was silent, before an inspiration struck him. He hovered away from his books, and the pages turned again. Wisemon then uttered an enchantment in a language recognized by no one except him. The pages turned until the last few pages before they stopped. Once again deploying his Pandora's Dialogue method, Wisemon then summoned dark powers from his spell book and waves of red light were generated from it. Wisemon wielded the power momentarily with both hands, his voice saying out the incantations even louder and with an intensity which unnerved Rosemon and Doumon.

"What's he doin'?" Rosemon wondered.

"I do not know, but I am not waiting to find out!" Doumon answered, and rushed forward. She was about to launch her scrolls when suddenly Catrina intercepted her and engulfed Doumon with a few of her energy-sucking vampire bats. Doumon was thrown back, but luckily Rosemon had caught her before she crashed on the road.

"Don't interrrrupt the show. That's rrrude of you!" Catrina chided with a sarcastic smirk. She then went back to standing beside Wisemon.

A column of red light soon formed around Wisemon, and he directed a claw-like hand towards the fallen Phantomons. Bolts of electricity shot out from the pages where Wisemon was standing on, and were conducted by the dark sorcerer's body onto his outstretched hand and towards the Phantomons. All six Phantomons writhed and came back to life before growing twice in size.

Their robes suddenly exploded, revealing metallic skeletal bodies which consisted of only the spinal bones, the scapular bones and the ribcages. Attached to the end of the last spinal bone was a glowing pink orb, which crackled with electricity. The cavities on their scapular bones didn't connect with bones of upper extremities, but instead a crackle of blue electricity connected the scapulas and the bones of hands. Their hands each held a longer, deadlier looking scythe, which consisted of a metallic pole and a pink energy blade, somewhat similar to Gennai's Photon Rapier. Each Phantomon had a red orb attached on his sternum, and the orb was attached with an onyx cape and hood which was blood red in the interior. The hoods no longer hid the Phantomons' shadowy features; instead frightening metallic grey skulls emerged, staring towards everyone with their hollow eye-sockets.

"Behold, my improvements on the Phantomons," said Wisemon arrogantly. "They are now MetalPhantomons!"

Catrina huffed smugly, while Doumon and Rosemon gulped, feeling intimidated by the frightful MetalPhantomons. They were now twice in size compared to their earlier forms, and from the looks of it, were more powerful. It would be difficult for Rosemon and Doumon to handle them this time around.

"Ah really think that we're gonna need some more help!" Rosemon groaned, readying her vines to defend herself.

Doumon energized a magical barrier around the two of them. "Let us pray that the DigiDestined will be here in time to assist us. Until then, we must hold on. I just hope that somebody is now at the laboratory and notice our plight."


Beneath Asuka Laboratory, all four angels were meditating inside a private chamber. Neither could come to their friends' aid.

Inside the lab, Piximon also was noticeably absent. He had received a tip-off from an ally – Andromon – about sightings of two massive Digimon appearing since two days back at the deserts of the eastern quadrant of the sector. The reported Digimon were said to be roaming around day and night, but never left the desert. It was as if they had something to do at the desert, but Andromon was not specific in his message. Intrigued, Piximon had decided to take it upon himself to investigate the matter. At the time the message was received, it was dawn and nobody had awoken yet. Piximon left a written note telling that he had to step out to investigate a matter, describing Andromon's revelation briefly before taking off.

Not too long after, GrapLeomon and Jewelbeemon had gotten hold of the message, and decided that Piximon would need their help. In their hurry, they had taken along the message as well, which contained the route to the location Piximon had gone off to. This made the message unavailable to the other occupants of the lab. As the result, by the time Gennai and Doumon were about to have an outing at Asuka City, everything was in order and both of them didn't suspect that anything had gone amiss.

However, two Digimon were still around the lab, observing the Piximon-staffs working on with the computers with mild interest. Gomamon was currently sprawled lazily on one of the cushion-couches at a corner of the lab, while Tentomon was buzzing around watching the Piximons working without actually disturbing them. Like Izzy, he too had utmost interest in new knowledge; and after all the times he spent watching Izzy and his interest on laptop, some of the interest had rubbed on the ladybug Digimon as well.

It was then, the lab's alarm blared, alerting the staffs and the two Rookies.

"Hey, what's happening?" Gomamon called out, still not moving from the couch. He sound annoyed. "Can somebody turn the alarm off?"

"We've got an emergency!" replied a Piximon who was sitting near the console where the biggest screen was.

"The alarm will turn off automatically," said another.

"As soon as we take a look of what the emergency is," said yet another Piximon.

Tentomon flew over to the biggest screen, where several Piximon-staffs were gathering by. One Piximon hit a flashing red button on the console, causing the alarm to stop blaring and a scene was shown by the screen. The Piximons gasped upon seeing what was being shown. Tentomon recognized Gennai, and the violet-furred priestess who was staying at the lab as well – and they were in trouble.

"Uh oh," said Tentomon worriedly.

Gomamon jumped from the couch and approached the screen. Looking up towards the screen, he whistled. "Woah, check it out. It's Lillymon! But hey...since when did Palmon decide that pink's not for her? What's with all the purple?"

Tentomon followed the white seal's gaze and saw that a Lillymon had stepped in the fight, whereas Gennai had fallen. "I don't think that's OUR Palmon. She's still back at File Island with Gabumon and Biyomon."

"Well, she still looks good."

Both Digimon then gasped in amazement when they saw the 'Lillymon' digivolved into a beautiful fairy Digimon. "Woah, check HER out! That's Palmon's mega form? She looks totally hot!" Gomamon said in amazement. "I couldn't wait to tell Palmon about this."

Tentomon snorted. "Well, a mega form or not, she might need some help. She and the priestess can't handle those bad guys alone. They're outnumbered. That Digimon in long robes really freak me out, the catlike one doesn't look like she's doing anything, but those skeletal Phantomons just gave me some weird case of goose-bumps. I don't like the odds of those two women against them."

"So what do you propose we do?" asked Gomamon.

"Well...we ought to alert the DigiDestined, that's for sure."

"And how do we do that?"

"It's easy," said a Piximon matter-of-factly. "We use the email program to do so."

"So Tentomon, get to it. Type the email to the kids."

Tentomon raised his tiny pincers. "Very funny. You think THIS would do us any good? I couldn't even hold things properly."

"And you think a pair of flippers is a typist's dream come true?" Gomamon asked, proving his point by clapping with his flippers once.

One of the Piximon flew by to a smaller computer and pressed a few buttons on a keyboard. "I can type the message to be sent to the DigiDestined. I'm now launching the email program. Tentomon flew towards the Piximon quickly while Gomamon jumped onto a chair to get a better view. Then the Piximon hovered above the keyboard and began punching in a few keys.

"DigiDestined, please come to the laboratory quick. We have an emergency." Tentomon read the message, and nodded. "That sounds good enough."

Gomamon frowned a while, before his face broke into a small sly grin. "Well it sure needs some spicing up; the message sounds tad plain. Here." Gomamon jumped into the panel, and used his claw to key in a few more letters, with the Piximon watching in interest. Tentomon however didn't bother and perched on the chair where Gomamon was at earlier. "Ok! Now we can send this message."

"What did you add?" Tentomon asked curiously.

"Oh nothing...just something that makes the message much more appealing than before."

The Piximon then said, "I'm sending the message to the D-Terminals now."


"Winner: Cody Hida!"

In the meantime, Cody had just finished the preliminary round, and had emerged victorious in his match against Sugure Masaki. Both contestants were required to demonstrate the ten basic kata against each other by the judges. Cody had won, because his opponent had made a mistake of striking on Cody's stomach. It was not allowed for any strike to be made on other parts of the body except the forearms, the both sides of the body and the top of the head. Though it was purely accidental on Masaki's part, in a contest such mistake would mean only deduction in point. Each judge could award up to ten points to each contestant, making the total marks for each contestant to be thirty. Cody had gotten perfect scores from Judges Haruhiko Kanagawa and Jonathan Lee, but an eight from Judge Akayashi Meioh.

The next contestants were then announced, but the DigiDestined paid not much attention to the others. They were here for Cody, after all.

"That dirty old geezer!" Davis whispered angrily towards the one sitting on his sides – Ken and TK. He pointed towards Akayashi Meioh and scowled. "Cody should've gotten a perfect score for that. That Masaki kid doesn't stand a chance against our Cody."

"Relax, Davis," TK grinned, patting Davis's shoulder. "At least Cody's qualified for the quarterfinals. Poor that Masaki kid – he gets a 5-6-7."

"I can see that the first judge is going to be VERY strict in giving marks," Kari said, while fiddling with her digital camera. She was seated beside TK. "I mean, Cody's opponent only did one mistake and his mark is down to half."

Ken smiled while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He did one mistake, yes...but anyone notice how Masaki moved rather clumsily, while Cody's steps were done with precision and grace? That should explain why Masaki's points are deducted a lot." Ken had read about Kendo, but preferred to practice another form of martial-arts – the karate.

"Still..." Davis persisted. "If the other two judges both gave Cody tens, then why couldn't he?"

"Yeah! It's unfair to Cody!" Demiveemon quipped silently.

"Hey, Demiveemon. We're supposed to be quiet," Patamon whispered. Gatomon merely gave the little in-training one of her dangerous glares.

"Oops, sorry!"

Yolei however seemed to be in high-spirits. "Woo-hoo! Cody! You're the MAN!" she shouted, knocking Poromon down from her lap as she stood up. Cody apparently had heard Yolei's shout. He turned around and waved, with a slight blush apparent on his face. The attention he had garnered from Yolei alone was enough to embarrass him in front of the public, as he had finished with his part of the contest and there were others who were currently contending to qualify for the quarterfinals. Nonetheless he was happy for her support.

The background blared with clapping sounds as the winner was announced. "Winner: Seiji Fujisawa."

In the meantime, another conversation concerning of a different topic took place between the older DigiDestined, just as the third pair was announced.

"Tai! Why didn't you tell us that you're seeing somebody now?" This came from Matt. Tai sweatdropped and whistled, pretending he didn't hear him. Matt had longed figured it out the identity of Tai's 'girlfriend', and had spent the whole ten minutes during Cody's match to force Sora to admit it. Sora finally relented, much to Tai's annoyance.

Sora smiled. "Sorry Tai. No use pretending now. We know."

Tai cast a dirty glance towards Yolei, who was oblivious to it. "I should've known..."

"Well what do you expect? They're sisters!" Matt laughed, and patted Tai on the back. "Hey...maybe we ought to go on a double-date or something, me and Sora, and you and your new girlfriend."

Sora grinned. "That's not a bad idea."

Tai frowned. "Guys...please, we're not dating..."

"Yet." Matt grinned. Tai aimed a mock-punch towards his friend.

"All those shopping trips can't be considered as dating yet?" Mimi leaned in to add her two cents. She however was feeling sorry for Tai, and decided to change the topic. "Hey, anybody besides me noticed that the blonde judge is rather cute?" Tai sighed gratefully and Mimi gave him a grin.

"He looks too old to be somebody you want to date," Joe said dryly. He was rubbing the down of his back. "Why didn't they give us chairs with something lean against? My back's aching from all the bad postures I've been assuming."

Izzy didn't say anything; he was preoccupied with a video-camera he'd apparently brought along. He had mentioned of wanting to take snippets of the lives of the DigiDestined to work on a personal music video about all of them. He clapped along with the other audience politely as they announced the third qualified contestant for the quarterfinals, a girl who went by the name of Setsuna Meiji.

The MC was about to announce the fourth contenders for the preliminary round, when five beeping sounds blared simultaneously. Everyone looked around, and the younger DigiDestined realized of the reason instantly.

"Sorry about that!" Davis said, and took out his D-Terminal. "I've forgotten to turn this thing off."

The MC proceeded to announce the fourth pair – Yugure Seito and a boy whom no DigiDestined had bothered to listen, as they were anticipating trouble brewing in the Digital World. The younger DigiDestined checked on the D-Terminals while the older DigiDestined decided to wait for them to spill out the message to them, as they didn't want to make themselves conspicuous by gathering around the younger ones.

The DigiDestined frowned in confusion. The message sounded dire enough, if it wasn't for the last two words that finished the brief two sentences.

DigiDestined, please come to the laboratory quick. We have an emergency. Love, Tentomon.

Kari raised an eyebrow. "Love, Tentomon? He's got one weird sense of humor."

"Weird indeed," TK muttered dryly. "But it doesn't sound like Tentomon's style. Gomamon maybe, but definitely NOT Tentomon."

Another beeping came, signaling the arrival of another message.

STUPID GOMAMON added that in the previous message. Ignore that last part. Do come here, we REALLY have a situation. Gennai's in BIG TROUBLE!

"This one doesn't sound like a prank to me," TK said, satisfied.

"Gennai's in trouble?" Yolei wondered. "What kind of trouble?"

"Well, I guess we'll know if we check it out," Davis said.

"But we'll miss Cody's match!" Yolei said, horrified. "But don't get me wrong...I just...I want to help..."

"Tell you what, why don't you and TK stay here while Davis, Kari and I go and check the problem out?" Ken suggested, knowing his girlfriend's plight. "If things get serious we'll call on you." Ken chose to leave TK and Yolei behind as they were the closest to Cody.

"Ok," said Yolei, nodding gratefully. "But you better contact us if you need us."

"Deal," Ken said, smiling.

Davis looked over to Izzy. "I have no problems on going...Izzy's recording the whole event anyway and frankly, I just want to see how Cody's doing. But think we should inform Tai and the others?"

"We're going to scout ahead and see how things are first," Ken reminded Davis. "If we can take care of it ourselves, then we will. If we need help, then we know who to call."

Davis and Kari nodded. Demiveemon immediately crept close to Davis's shoulder as the boy stood up. Ken grabbed Minomon close to him, while Gatomon simply followed Kari as the three DigiDestined went out from the dojo. Cody saw this and gave Yolei and TK a questioning look. TK shrugged, and mouthed to Cody saying that Cody needed not worry. The senior DigiDestined asked of what was happening, but Yolei simply replied with two words.

"DigiDestined business," she said, as the winner was announced.

"Winner: Yugure Seito."


At the same time at the Digital World, seeing as they were severely outnumbered Doumon refused to let down the barrier she had erected around herself, Rosemon and the unconscious Gennai. Rosemon seemed itching to fight the MetalPhantomons, but Doumon reminded her that should the MetalPhantomons ganged up against her Rosemon would not stand a chance.

However, erecting the magical ward seemed to be costing Doumon a great deal of energy-loss. She was sweating profusely, while still standing in a meditative stance. Her arms were shaking, as were her legs. Rosemon looked at her newfound (or old...) friend worriedly.

"Doumon, gal... let meh outta here. Ah'll fight these wretched varmints!"

"No, Rosemon. Simply defending ourselves is our only chance right now."

Two MetalPhantomons were continuously attacking the magical ward with their pickaxes. They slammed the energy blades of the pickaxes, and every time they did that the barrier flickered but remained erected. However with Doumon now getting exhausted, there was no telling how long the barrier would last. The other MetalPhantomons readied themselves to destroy Rosemon and Doumon as soon as the ward gave away.

Nobody however, noticed three columns of light coming from the sky, landing on the roof of the tallest building near them.

The columns shifted into Davis and Veemon, Kari and Gatomon, and lastly Ken and Wormmon. It appeared that while on their trip to the Digital World, Demiveemon and Minomon both automatically became their rookie selves once more.

"Oh wow...there's a LOT of them down there!" Davis exclaimed. "We're gonna need the help of the full team this time around!"

"I'm betting that guy over there is the ringleader!" Gatomon declared, pointing towards a robed Digimon standing on a large book. "And look at those...ghost-like Digimon!"

"Who are they?" Kari wondered, and shuddered a little. The sight of the metallic specters gave her the creeps, as she was reminded of the time when she was eight, and a Phantomon had detained her to be presented to Myotismon.

Ken then launched the Digimon Analyzer to get a better look on their enemies.

0010110100010 - DIGIMON ANALYZER – 1010101001011001010

Name : Wisemon
Attribute : Virus
Level : Ultimate
Type : Dark Wizard
Specialty : Magic, Darkness

Attacks : Pandora's Dialogue, Eternal Nirvana
Power Level : 71

Wisemon is hailed as a powerful wizard Digimon, having the ability to cast various types of spells using his Pandora's Dialogue, and to summon deadly elemental bolts with his Eternal Nirvana.

011101010101010100101010101010101010101010110110100

0010110100010 - DIGIMON ANALYZER – 1010101001011001010

Name : MetalPhantomon
Attribute : Data
Level : Ultimate
Type : Cyborg
Specialty : Metal, Darkness

Attacks : Soul Predator, Grave Scream
Power Level : 65

MetalPhantomon is formed when a Phantomon is given raw data of machine-type Digimon, and is much deadlier than its virus-type counterpart.

011101010101010100101010101010101010101010110110100

"I don't like the odds of it," Gatomon said. "There are six MetalPhantomons, a Wisemon, and...I'm betting THAT'S that irritating Catrina that Hawkmon's been telling me about." She flexed her claws.

"That's her alright," Ken muttered darkly. "Man, she always has powerful allies siding with her."

Kari peered down and saw that Doumon was with somebody else. "Who's that with Doumon?"

0010110100010 - DIGIMON ANALYZER – 1010101001011001010

Name : Rosemon
Attribute : Virus
Level : Mega
Type : Fairy
Specialty : Nature, Flying

Attacks : Thorn Whip, Roses Rapier
Power Level : 90

This is a viral counterpart of the normally data type Rosemon. She is able to manipulate her vines into a whip and a rapier with precise accuracy.

011101010101010100101010101010101010101010110110100

"Looks like she's on our side," said Davis. He noticed that Doumon's barrier was flickering – a sign of weakening of power. "We need to help them. Ready Veemon?"

"Ready!"

"Alright then, let's do it! Diginizer of Courage, ENERGIZE!

Both Davis and Veemon flared with blue lights coming out from the Diginizer of Courage. They both then merged and formed Paildramon. Paildramon, who stood four-times taller than both Kari and Ken, looked down. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

Kari took out her D-Terminal. "Well, we're going to need help fighting this battle. I'm gonna inform TK and Yolei, and perhaps Tai and the others as well." She proceeded by quickly typing a message and sent it, before pocketing the device back into her pocket. Looking full of determination, she held out her Diginizer of Light, prompting the Transdigivolution of her and Gatomon into Angewomon.

Ken immediately followed suit and combined with Wormmon to become Dinobeemon. After that, the three of them loomed down towards where the MetalPhantomons were continuously harassing Doumon and Rosemon.

"Hey uglies! Why don'tcha leave those ladies alone and fight the big guys!" Paildramon shouted, gaining everyone's attention.

Angewomon cleared her throat unnecessarily. "Ahem..."

"And girl..." Paildramon added sheepishly. Dinobeemon let out a brief chuckle.

Catrina and Wisemon were annoyed with the sudden intrusion. Already recognizing the DigiDestined, Catrina looked for a certain Digimon she wanted to sink her claws into, but the said Digimon wasn't present. She groaned in frustration, and shouted, "Hey! Arrrren't therrre supposed to be SIX of you? Why arre only thrrree of you herrrre?"

"What's the matter? Did you miss them?" Dinobeemon inquired scathingly. Catrina looked at him, and cowered upon recognizing him. She was angered too, for Dinobeemon had just ashamed her in front of the other Digimon.

"Why you!" she said, fuming but didn't do anything.

"What say we close this dump?" Paildramon suggested, and took out his guns. He aimed them towards the MetalPhantomons. "Desperado Blaster!"

Dinobeemon nodded, and shouted, "Irritant Buzz!"


Angewomon swooped down towards Doumon and Rosemon, when the barrier suddenly flickered and disappeared. Doumon looked relieved, while Rosemon immediately took a stance in case anybody tried anything. Seeing Angewomon, Rosemon relaxed for she had heard of the DigiDestined and about their partners.

The female angel regarded Rosemon politely with a slight bow of the head before her eyes (though covered) averted to Gennai's sprawled form. Doumon followed her gaze and sighed.

"Gennai has fought bravely. Now, he needs treatment. We need to return him back to the laboratory where HolyAngemon can tend to his wounds. They are rather severe," she said solemnly.

"I'll take him there," Angewomon offered.

"Ya have any healin' powers?" Rosemon asked, and Angewomon was surprised upon hearing her thick accent. She'd never heard such accent before. She shook her head to answer Rosemon's question, causing the fairy to groan. "No? Never mind. Just take 'im and heal 'im real quick. We'll cover yer back!"

"I will," Angewomon said, and knelt beside Gennai. She scooped Gennai carefully from the ground with help from Rosemon, and cradled it as she flew straight up, heading towards Asuka Laboratory which was not very far away. She would be able to reach there quick enough for Gennai to be treated immediately. Upon setting sight on the wounds on Gennai's body, particularly on the chest, abdominal and extremities, Angewomon winced slightly and felt pity for the fallen warrior.

Suddenly Gennai stirred, nearly causing Angewomon to drop him. Luckily, as Angewomon, Kari was given more strength thus she was able to carry Gennai. Besides by flying she didn't really feel Gennai's weight, but it still deterred her at the slightest.

Gennai opened one bleary eye, revealing a famished looking azure orb. It set sight on Angewomon, and to the angel's slight amusement she heard Gennai muttered in confusion and with course voice, "Mom?"

"He's delirious," Gatomon declared, rather matter-of-factly than out of amusement.

"Gennai? It's Kari...err, Angewomon," Angewomon replied back, only to find that Gennai was out cold once more. She then tightened her grip on Gennai's body, fearing that she would drop him.

Then she saw the white visage of the laboratory and sighed in relief, glad to be able to make it there without any disruption. She'd expected Wisemon or Catrina to chase after her, but with Doumon and Rosemon around to cover her back Angewomon was sure that she was safe. She landed in front of the lab, surprising the two Knightmons on sentry. The Knightmons let her through and she entered, quickly announcing Gennai's serious condition to the Piximon-staffs. One of the Piximon alerted HolyAngemon, and with him around Angewomon felt that she was no longer needed at the lab, and returned back to the city to help the others fight Wisemon and his MetalPhantomons, and Catrina.

"Well what do you know...she didn't even say Hi to us!" Gomamon huffed.


Thirty-five minutes had passed since Cody last saw Davis, Ken and Kari leave the dojo. He wondered what was up. He saw how his friends received a message via the D-Terminals, and the frown they had after reading it. He wanted to know too, but as he was seated with the other contestants it was not possible for him to just walk towards the opposite side of the dojo and ask. Cody couldn't check his own, as he'd left his Diginizer and D-Terminal in his room. At the moment, he couldn't concentrate on the final pair, who was contending with each other for the final place to enter the quarterfinals.

The other seven winners currently qualified for the quarterfinals were:

Cody Hida.

Yugure Seito.

Seiji Fujisawa.

Setsuna Meiji.

Yamada Taro.

Koji Takahashi.

Kazuya Suzuki.

Cody looked over the current pair, and saw that they were in fact, Azuma Nakagawa and another boy who went by the name of Fujihito Naoki. Both contenders displayed impressive skills, but while Fujihito Naoki's skills were as good as the other winners, Azuma's were the ones who one could not help but to admire. Cody himself was awed, there were some moves which Azuma was using, which was part of the advanced basic techniques despite the preliminary round only require contenders to display the ten basic katana. The advanced techniques were actually modifications of the basic katanas, and so were included in the basics, thus making Azuma's movements legal.

Seeing how Fujihito was flustered with Azuma's movements, Cody knew who was going to win.

The buzzer signaling the end of the ten-minute routine for the pair then went off. The judges raised the score-sheets, and Cody saw that Azuma had received perfect tens from ALL the judges. "Winner: Azuma Nakagawa."

Azuma and Fujihito shook hands, but Cody couldn't help but notice the slightly smug look on Azuma's face when Fujihito wasn't looking. Fujihito then sat with the other contestants who weren't going for the quarterfinals, planning to stick around until the finals. Azuma then went and sat beside Cody.

"So, how did I do?" he asked, grinning while accepting a tower from another contestant. He then wiped the sweat on his face and neck.

"Impressive. I really admire the skills you've displayed," Cody answered truthfully.

Azuma looked pleased with the comment, and continued, "Did you know that those skills are part of the advanced ones?"

"As a matter of fact...I do. My sensei taught me about it too."

The look on Azuma's face faltered slightly, but he covered it quickly enough. "Well, then I hope we'll get to face each other. Maybe we can exchange a few pointers. See ya later then." He then stood and left Cody.

"Yeah, maybe," Cody agreed silently. His mind wasn't at the contest at the moment, seeing as how TK and Yolei had got up from their seat and strode amidst the crowd. Both looked like they didn't want to leave. Then the MC announced a twenty-minute intermission before the quarterfinals, and Cody used this chance to get to his two fellow DigiDestined.

TK saw the younger boy coming, and sighed. "I wish we could stay here, Cody, really...but Kari contacted us, and told us that it's very important."

"However, don't be bothered about it," Yolei said assuringly. "Whatever's at the Digital World, WE'LL take care of it. You just focus on the contest and on winning. The seniors are still going to stick around, but we haven't told them exactly what was happening."

"What did you tell them?" Cody asked curiously.

"Well...we told them that it's something that WE are going to take care of. Of course, Tai wants to follow but Koromon's still not strong enough to fight after the whole thing with Chaos Piedmon," explained Yolei, rolling her eyes slightly. "Besides it would look too overly conspicuous if we all leave together. So the seniors agreed to stay behind to lend support to Cody.

"Alright," Cody said dully. His green eyes then stared up at the older DigiDestined's eyes. "But if something's up..."

TK patted Cody's shoulder and grinned. "Oh, we'll know just who to call for."

"Best of luck, Cody," Yolei said, before she and TK left the dojo.

The buzzer perked up once more, signaling the beginning of the quarterfinals. The satchel was once again distributed to determine pairings for the quarterfinals. Cody was the last once to take the number, and as the MC drew the scheme of pairings on a nearby whiteboard, Cody looked around for the one he was being paired, and saw an athletic boy with a crew-cut. This was Kazuya Suzuki.

"Go, Cody!" shouted Mimi and Sora, both taking over Yolei's position as the ones cheering for Cody.

Cody sweatdropped. "Oh boy..."


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Author's Note:

Well, this is one long chapter...possibly the longest chapter I've ever written for Vengeance, although I've written two chapters in Legends of the DigiDestined with the word-count exceeding 10,000. This chapter has around 9100 words, excluding the Author's Note. I plan on writing more for this chapter, but feel that it's enough for now.

Perhaps this update comes rather quicker than usual. I just want to say that I'm very happy that this fic has 100+ reviews now, after more than a year being featured on Fanfiction(dot)net, and start typing this chapter as soon as the counter reaches 100. :)

This chapter may not feature Cody that much, as the first half of takes place on Doumon meeting an old friend of hers. I don't know whether I've messed up the character 'Lilymon' or have written her decently... and her southern accent is something that I have in mind for a long time before introducing her. I kind of having the character Rogue from X-Men in mind when writing Lilymon, and the spellings I've used to denote Lilymon's accents are derived from X-Men fanfics which features Rogue, as I want to look on how authors write the way she speaks.

Cody however will become the main character in the next chapter, as it will be his time to shine. Of course, he has to make an important choice too.

Dark Qiviut – Momoe? No, no...It's Chizuru. Momoe's older than Tai, while Chizuru is the same age as him. This is a subplot that I think I will enjoy writing, as it's not a common coupling from what I've gathered. I'm really not in favor of introducing OC as the girlfriend, and Chizuru seems to be the only choice if I want to stick with pre-existing character. I like Taiora, but I accepted Sorato as the canon-couple as I want to be true to the TV-show.

As for the Dark Spore kids, do you mind if I use the surnames you've come up with for Keiko, Noriko and Takashi? Maybe I'll use Hiroshi's as well, I don't know yet because I've already given him a last name. However I can change it some time later, of course if you agree of lending me the names.

The sequel is currently pre-planned. I'm putting priority for Vengeance and Legends first, but maybe when Vengeance is finished and Legends is halfway done, I might start with the sequel. It may be a Tamers standalone, just to explain briefly of what's been happening at the Tamers world before I start writing the sequel. Some later chapters of Vengeance will contain clues of the goings on at the Tamers world, although it will not be a major plot line yet.

CustomMagnum – Thanks. Hmm, there's another fic using Tai/Chizuru coupling? More of his motivations will be apparent in time.

Jack the ripper – Cody has made it to the quarterfinals, but whether he'll win the whole tournament or whether he'll face Azuma Nakagawa that will be answered in the next chapter, although you can see how things are going now.

Bluesv20 – Yes, Milleniumon has two stronger Mega modes – MoonMilleniumon, and ZeedMilleniumon.

Quinton Notwen – Looks like Cody and Armadillomon's ultimate form together has been a major question of interest for readers now. Milleniumon HAS something big in mind, which will be yet another plotline crossing with Chaos Specter's own intention. Catrina, as of yet, has no intention of raiding the Human World, but has taken yet another step ahead by bringing the MetalPhantomons and Wisemon to attack Asuka City. No, it hasn't been established too whether Chaos Specter can cross the borders between the Human World and the Digital World, although he surely can reach the other dimensions of the Digital World, which include the Tamers world although he never attempted that, the Frontiers world which was blocked from his reach, the Dark World, the Dream World, and five other smaller dimensions which I'm leaving them unexplained for the time being.

dark672 – Thanks.

Digi fan – You're the 100th reviewer! Thank you. As for your question, just wait for the next chapter.

Yami Vizzini – Yes. His intention is, can I say... very complex. It will be explained briefly in time. I believe ZeedMilleniumon is the official spelling, as it is used in Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia. I used XeedMilleniumon once, but a reviewer pointed out to me that it is actually Zeed. An explanation is present at ZeedMilleniumon's entry in the encyclopedia. Truth be told, I prefer XeedMilleniumon, but I'll stick with the official spelling. I wanted to make Azuma to just sound smug, but his real character will be shown on next chapter. And why really, do you think that the judge from Shinjuku's absence is suspicious? You're right though, but it's not his absence is suspicious, but rather...it's the one who's taking his place. :P I'll say no more.