VENGEANCE

Chapter 33 – Reliable Knowledge, Part III

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Paildramon and Dinobeemon found themselves teaming up in facing the MetalPhantomon. Having fighting them for nearly half an hour, both DigiDestined grew weary over the fact that their metallic phantom opponents were stronger than what they had thought. Now standing back to back, they were currently surrounded by four of the cybernetic-enhanced specters.

"Man, these guys are tough!" Paildramon groaned irritably, aiming his guns towards the MetalPhantomon. "Desperado Blaster!"

The MetalPhantomon didn't even bother to move. They remained at where they were and took the attack heads-on. A brief explosion followed, and smokes erupted. However when the murky clouds had dissipated, to the DigiDestined' dismay their opponents weren't even hurt. Not even a scratch was seen on their gleaming, metallic bodies, nor was their capes suffered any damages.

"You can say that again," Dinobeemon muttered; a sign of tire evident in his voice.

"Have any ideas on how we're gonna beat these ghosts?" Paildramon asked.

"Nothing that I know of, and nothing that we haven't tried," Dinobeemon answered back.

At first, the battle did go on well on their side. Both of them were able to fend off the MetalPhantomon on a one-on-one fight. However they soon learned that the MetalPhantomons, despite having less power compared to them, were much more resilient in receiving their attacks compared to them.

"I guess using the Irritant Buzz was out of the question too," said Wormmon, from within Dinobeemon.

'Are you kidding me? Look at what they've done to me...us... when I did that,' Dinobeemon thought irritably.

When Dinobeemon had launched the piercingly high-pitched attack earlier, the MetalPhantomon had retaliated with a joint attack in a form of a loud gravely screams of the dead. The buzzes generated from Dinobeemon died away instantly, having been overwhelmed by their screams. Not only that, but the attack did some hefty damages on his body and orientation as well. For a while, Dinobeemon needed to stay back to re-orientate himself – resulting in Paildramon to face the six demons alone.

However, that didn't mean that Paildramon never stood a chance. In fact it was quite the contrary, in all actuality. The fiery hybrid dragon however proved to be a strong opponent as well. Despite certain setbacks, Paildramon possessed numerous ranges of attack thanks to the accumulated data of Exveemon and Stingmon within him. He was able to fight with both Champions' attacks as well as his own sets of techniques. In order to tackle a large number of enemies much more effectively, Paildramon decided to switch tactics.

"Davis, let's use that Elemental Bolt technique like we used to back at Harmona!"

"I'm right ahead of you, buddy."

Launching deadly bolts of fire, water, electricity and poison, Paildramon managed to blast off four MetalPhantomon out of the way. He couldn't hurt them, as by attacking more than one enemy his power was divided into the number of enemies he was facing. One MetalPhantomon had its cape burned while another seemed to be temporarily immobilized by the water bolt. Another seemed to be handling the electrical bolt without obvious damage while the fourth MetalPhantomon fell onto the ground, poisoned.

Dinobeemon nodded with satisfaction upon seeing his friend's strategy. "Good work, Davis. Those MetalPhantomon are metal-based Digimon...they're more susceptible to be electrocuted by water."

"But how do you explain that one MetalPhantomon which got itself poisoned?" Wormmon inquired.

"Despite their metallic bodies, the MetalPhantomon are part-organic too."

"Oh, yeah...that's right."

"Anyway, I think we're ready to join in the battle again. The effect of their Grave Screams has worn off now. What do you say Wormmon?"

"Ooh...Let's do it."

As Dinobeemon flew towards the currently preoccupied Paildramon, who were facing off with the remaining two MetalPhantomon, he saw that Paildramon was in danger. The MetalPhantomon which wasn't affected with the electrical bolt was ready to deliver an attack from Paildramon's behind, and from the looks of it the hybrid Ultimate was unaware of it.

"Thinking of getting a cheap shot on my friend? Not a chance!" Dinobeemon yelled, and energized his Spiking Strike technique.

The said MetalPhantomon turned around with a hiss, hinting anger. It rose up its large pickaxe to counter Dinobeemon's glowing purple blade. The two attacks met with a loud clang, and pushed the two Ultimates away towards opposite directions. Dinobeemon was slammed onto a wall of the nearest building, causing a few cracks on it. The MetalPhantomon was thrown into a window of the opposite building, shattering the glass windows in the process. Several screaming ensued and Dinobeemon realized that there were Asuka civilians inside. Realizing that they were in danger, Dinobeemon quickly took off towards the opposite building and saw MetalPhantomon trying to get up on its usual vertical position. Several rookie and champion Digimon ran out from the building, which seemed to be a store selling some food products. However, there were still some Digimon remaining inside and Dinobeemon was afraid of them getting hurt. He then devised a way to lure the ghastly Cyborg away from the shop.

"Hey, you! I bet you're too slow to keep up with me!"

That did the trick. As Dinobeemon skidded away from the store, he saw that the MetalPhantomon had its sight on him. Using its pickaxe, the demon smashed the door to let itself out before chasing the insectoid warrior Digimon.

"Desperate time calls for desperate measures. I sure hope we're up to this Wormmon," Dinobeemon said, panting.

"What do you have in mind, Ken?"

"I'm thinking of using Stingmon's poison needles to stop this MetalPhantomon, with the effect times three."

"I don't know about this Ken...the Moon Shooter requires A LOT of our energy. And you are planning to combine it with the Hell Masquerade technique which is also an energy-eating method. We'd de-digivolve back into you and me and are going to be prone to danger to the other MetalPhantomon. It's too risky."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take Wormmon. If we didn't do anything, then this MetalPhantomon will have our necks."

Dinobeemon then turned around and generated two clones of himself. The two cloned Dinobeemon surrounded the MetalPhantomon and launched the Moon Shooter technique to poison it before dissipating into the air, because the needles technique required a high amount of energy on the main Dinobeemon. While not as deadly as when Dinobeemon or Stingmon alone delivering it, the Moon Shooter contained enough poison to give the MetalPhantomon a sense of being pricked by a thousand needles at a same time. The MetalPhantomon halted instantly, and Dinobeemon seized the chance to launch a final blow to finish it once and for all. Calling all of his depleting energy, Dinobeemon flew close to the poisoned demon and impaled the orb on its body with his blades. The MetalPhantomon shrieked in agonizing pain and combusted into a cloud of data particles, just as Dinobeemon shimmered with violet light before changing back into Ken and Wormmon.

"I knew it," Wormmon groaned. "What do we do now?"

Ken picked the rookie Digimon up. "Well, I guess we'll need to take cover for now."

Ken was about to run into the nearest building when he saw another MetalPhantomon, the one with the burnt cape, rose up from the ground. It retrieved its pickaxe which was lying nearby before having its eyes on Ken and Wormmon. With a hiss of anger and pleasure, the MetalPhantomon swept towards them with its weapon raised up. Ken sprinted off towards the food store where the earlier battle had taken place, but it looked like the demonic Cyborg was going to catch up with him. Closing his eyes, Ken leapt through the broken window of the store and rolled inside. However in the process Ken had rolled onto the broken glasses of the window, and had scratched himself on the back, arms and body. Wormmon wasn't any better himself; he too suffered from multiple scratches on his tiny body. At the time, it wasn't something that Ken and Wormmon would like to fuss about as danger was still looming. The MetalPhantomon had approached the broken window and its pickaxe flared with pale red aura.

"Soul Preda..."

Fortunately for Ken and Wormmon, the evil ghost didn't get to finish summoning the attack when an arrow of light pierced through the red orb on its body from behind. This was followed by two thin streaks of pink light which went through the orbits of the MetalPhantomon's skull. Letting out a shrill scream, the MetalPhantomon at once exploded into data bytes, and Ken was relieved to find himself staring onto the glowing figure of Angewomon.

"You ok, Ken?" Angewomon called, and with a flap of her eight wings she instantly was brought towards the broken window.

"I'm...fine, I think," Ken said, studying the cuts inflicted on him. He flinched as he felt a sense of pricking pain coming from the cuts. "Owww..."

Angewomon winced slightly as well as Ken began to wobble. She quickly grabbed the boy's hands before he landed on the broken glasses again.

"Are you sure?" she asked concernedly as she helped Ken and Wormmon out from the store. The female angel then studied the cuts and saw that a thin line of red was beginning to form on the cuts. "I think you should teleport to the lab and get that cuts healed. I've already called on HolyAngemon to attend to Gennai...maybe he can heal you as well."

"Ok..." Ken said weakly. He gathered Wormmon and pressed the teleportation button on his Diginizer. With a streak of violet light, the duo vanished.

Satisfied, Angewomon then turned around to look for Paildramon when she felt a huge mass being thrown onto her back. Breath escaped her momentarily as the hulking figure of Paildramon crashed onto her smaller stature. Disoriented from the blow, Angewomon was pushed by Paildramon's weight onto the road and was in a danger of being crushed to death by the massive dragon warrior.

Fortunately Paildramon was going to do everything he could in order NOT to let that happen. Quickly drawing his blades out from his gauntlets, he impaled the brick roads with them to stop him from falling onto his dear friend. The blades were pushed deeper onto the ground, and Paildramon's massive body was merely an inch away from crushing Angewomon.

"That was too close!" Paildramon sighed.

"I'd say!" Angewomon groaned. "Now move aside, please."

Paildramon obliged and was about to do so, when he noticed something was wrong when he tried to retract his blades back. He was having a difficulty in trying to do so. "Uh oh... Kari, the blades are stuck! They won't budge. I can't pull'em back!"

"What?" Angewomon nearly shrieked as she tried to get herself up, only to be knocked back down by Paildramon's armor. "Owww..."

Suddenly a loud zapping sound ensued followed by what sounded like a fabric-slashing sound, except that the thing that was cut seemed to be thicker than a mere fabric. Paildramon then shouted painfully and his whole large stature glowed with blue light before he changed back into his composite selves and landed onto Angewomon, thus knocking her down once more. Veemon had landed on her spread-out right wings, immobilizing the angel slightly. And unfortunately for Davis, he found himself landing onto a very compromising position.

"Davis...move aside... NOW!" Angewomon muttered, in what sounded like a mix of anger and embarrassment.

Davis had landed exactly onto Angewomon's body, and had his face buried on her budded chest. Angewomon's face was flushed out of embarrassment. She tried to push Davis away from her when the boy didn't comply with her wish, only to find the boy was knocked out unconscious. She glanced aside and saw that Veemon had suffered the same fate as well.

"Davis?" Angewomon choked out, her anger gone but the flush on her face remained. She was now more worried than angry.

"He's knocked out cold...although whether as the result of the blow he'd gotten OR because he'd landed on us, who knows?" Gatomon remarked cynically.

"He was attacked?" Angewomon gasped, and quickly looked up.

Hovering about ten meters above her was two MetalPhantomon, both in a position as if they had struck on someone, with their pickaxes-wielding arms pointing downward. They were the ones Paildramon had taken on after he had injured another four with his Elemental Bolt. The two demons then loomed down on her with their weapons ready to strike on her.

"Soul Predator!"

Angewomon immediately gathered Davis and Veemon and did a back-flip, successfully evading the attacks as they blasted the road instead of her. Rubbles, brick chips and sands blown over towards the female angel, and she had to cover herself, Davis and Veemon with her wings, which furled in front of her acting as a shield. Then those heavenly wings spread out over the air once more, enabling Angewomon to fly away to evade the MetalPhantomons. Unfortunately for her, with her arms full she couldn't come up with a counter attack, and was seriously in a life-threatening condition.

"I really need help here," she whispered helplessly as she soared towards the sky slowly. The MetalPhantomons gave chase, but something caught Angewomon's sight. A brief flicker of smile formed on her lips.

In what suited to be called as a perfect timing, Angewomon saw red and orange-yellow beams of light struck on the two MetalPhantomons from the sky above and behind them. The demons were sent crashing onto the ground, albeit not deleted but both had their capes singed by the beams. Angewomon looked up and saw the hovering figures of Sylphimon and MagnaAngemon coming her way.

"Kari! You alright?" MagnaAngemon asked, and his lips thinned when he saw what Angewomon was carrying. "What happened to them?"

"It looks like they're knocked out cold," Sylphimon noted, and looked around. She grimaced. "Hey, where's Ken? And... oh, no! NOT HER AGAIN!"

Turning their attention towards where the sylph hybrid was looking at, both angels saw that she had spotted Catrina, who at the moment was joining forces with a Digimon neither of them recognized to fight Doumon and a flowery woman in purple leotard. The fight between the four of them was intense, with Doumon and the rose-endowed woman teaming up fighting the robed Digimon while brushing away the catwoman. Sylphimon had to grin slightly; it seemed that it wasn't only her that hated Catrina with a passion.

MagnaAngemon reared up slightly, observing down below where the two MetalPhantomons he and Sylphimon had attacked were at. Near them were another two Digimon of the same types, unconscious while the ones they had attacked were simply disoriented from the attack. MagnaAngemon had used Angemon's Hand of Fate while Sylphimon chose her Top Gun to attack them.

"The four of them are injured right now. Kari and I can take care of this," MagnaAngemon said, looking at Sylphimon.

Sylphimon gave a thumbs-up. "Perfecto! Just leave that whiny catwoman to me," she said, in a somewhat vicious tone. Before MagnaAngemon could inquire even further the sylph immediately took off towards where Catrina was.

"What's with Yolei?" MagnaAngemon asked Angewomon. "She seems to have issues with that...cat lady."

The female angel shrugged. "Long story; I'll fill you in later. Right now...TK, you carry them."

MagnaAngemon obliged and took Davis and Veemon on his arms, and when they were close he noticed the faint flush on Angewomon's cheek. However before he could point that out, Angewomon glared at him. Even though her eyes were concealed by the metallic helmet she was wearing, MagnaAngemon could feel the look Angewomon, or Kari, was giving him.

"Don't even ask."

MagnaAngemon winced slightly. "Wasn't going to." He then willed his upper silver wings to glow with multicolored myriad of light. The lights then bathed the unconscious forms of Davis and Veemon. Instantly they woke up, slightly in stupor.

"Woah...TK?"

The angel hybrid smiled. "Easy does it, Davis. You and Veemon are going to the lab now. You'll thank me later." Before Davis could protest, MagnaAngemon calmly pressed the teleportation button on Davis's Diginizer and in a streak of two blue lights the duo of Courage was gone.

Loud hissing sounds were heard from the road down, catching MagnaAngemon and Angewomon's attentions. Looking down, they saw that the two formerly unconscious MetalPhantomon were stirring. They were gradually regaining their consciousness. The two which were attacked by MagnaAngemon and Angewomon hovered close to their comrades, watching as the fallen two orientating themselves.

Angewomon looked at MagnaAngemon. "We have to stop them!"

MagnaAngemon nodded. "One Gate of Destiny should do the trick." He then descended towards the MetalPhantomon and raised his glowing purple blade upward before drawing out the heavenly gate out of thin air. The golden doors of the gate formed and opened, revealing the glowing cosmos inside. The four MetalPhantomon were instantly pulled by the force inside the gate.

However the MetalPhantomon weren't going to go silently. Immediately they pulled themselves together and slashed their pickaxes towards the gate's direction. Streaks of crimson-shaped red energy were released from the four pickaxes and hit the circular gate on four strategic sites: the uppermost part, the left and right part, and the bottommost part. To the angels' shock, the gate for the first time, collapsed backward and burst into data particles.

MagnaAngemon gaped at the sight. "What! Even Piedmon and Black Wargreymon couldn't resist the Gate of Destiny! How could they...?"

Patamon's voice whimpered from within the archangel's head. "I can't believe the gate didn't work. Looks like we have to attack him using force."

"I don't like the sounds of that. The Gate of Destiny is supposed to be our forte," MagnaAngemon groaned.

Suddenly, the silvery wings of MagnaAngemon glowed with a myriad of light, in the same manner as if he was calling forth his Magna Antidote technique. However, the lights soon engulfed his body and out of instinct, MagnaAngemon began to take a meditative stance. His right arm was placed close to his chest, and the fingers were balled up in a fist except for the middle and the index fingers which stood up. His left arm was raised high and the fingers were in the same manner as the right one. The purple blade on MagnaAngemon's right arm and the purple shield on his left arm then combusted into data, and the particles surrounded the male angel and turned the multicolored aura around the male angel into a shiny gold one.

Angewomon looked down at MagnaAngemon with a feeling of awe. "What's going on?"

Gatomon replied, "I...I think we're about to see a very interesting demonstration of power now Kari. Better keep a close watch on MagnaAngemon; I think he'd end up being like Dinobeemon back then."

"He's going to use a lot of power?"

"Bingo. Uh oh, Kari... stop that MetalPhantomon!"

Angewomon saw the four MetalPhantomon trying to attack MagnaAngemon. Two were at the front, while the other two provided the rear. All had their weapons which were flaring with sinister red lights raised. Angewomon quickly fired two jets of pink light from her fingers, halting the four demonic Digimon from approaching MagnaAngemon.

The distraction provided MagnaAngemon with the perfect opportunity to launch his new attack. He then crossed his arms against his chest, his middle and index fingers still erected. His arms glowed with bright golden light and a ray of intense golden light erupted from them, heading straight towards the four MetalPhantomon before engulfing them with its sheer brilliance.

"Soul Banisher!"

When the light had dissipated, Angewomon saw that the bodies of the two MetalPhantomon closer to MagnaAngemon became nothing more than glowing yellow silhouettes while still retaining the original shape, while the other two were pushed back towards a brick wall. Then the yellow silhouettes exploded into a shower of bright light, and after the light had dissipated there was no trace of them. Nothing; not even a miniscule data particle. Usually when a Digimon was deleted it would combust into data particles, but this was not the case with the two MetalPhantomon. They had practically exploded into nothingness, with not a single speck of data particle resulted from their deletion.

After the whole ordeal, MagnaAngemon collapsed weakly onto the road and reverted back into an unconscious TK and Tokomon, Patamon's in-training form. Angewomon quickly swooped down to retrieve the knocked out duo of Hope to inspect them.

"They're out cold," Angewomon muttered quietly. "Why am I getting the feeling that I'm the one who have to watch out for these boys?"

She quickly used TK's Diginizer to transport the duo back to the safety of Asuka Laboratory for them to receive treatment. She then watched as the remaining two MetalPhantomon seemed to be struggling to get back up. MagnaAngemon had already weakened them greatly, judging by the demons' sluggish mannerisms. She now had the chance to finish them off once and for all to avoid any more trouble with the demons. Clasping her hands together, Angewomon said firmly,

"Heaven's Charm!"


Things weren't always what it seemed. That was a phrase Cody found so true, when he competed against Kazuya Suzuki in the quarterfinals.

His opponent had looked opposing, but during the first three minutes in their battle against each other Cody noticed that Kazuya's techniques, while being performed excellently, were pretty much in a same sequence as the ones he'd used in the preliminary round. Cody had watched all the rounds in the preliminary attentively in order to get to know how skillful the others were. Kazuya had superb skill, but his movements were predictable. As long as one took notice on how he moved, it would be easy for one to make a guess on how Kazuya would do next.

Thus, Cody won the quarterfinals against Kazuya and was qualified for the semifinals. The judges had merited him with an 8-9-10 score.

However as the other three pairs competed Cody found that it was harder for him to concentrate. He found himself thinking a lot about what was happening at the Digital World. He felt uneasy. Occasionally he'd shot some glances towards the older DigiDestined but they would only either wave back at him encouragingly or didn't catch Cody's look.

Time seemed to lapse quickly, and before he knew it Yugure Seito joined him on the seat.

"I can't believe that I've won!" the black-haired boy exclaimed excitedly. "Did you see me fight that big guy Koji Takahashi? How'd you think I do? The judges have given me a 7-8-9 mark, but I wanna know your opinion."

Cody's brows furrowed slightly as he tried to think of what to say. He didn't even watch Yugure's match; how would he answer to him without having to resort to a lie? He didn't want to hurt Yugure's feeling, but he didn't want to lie to Yugure either.

However, it was at that time as well when a familiar voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

"I don't think that he watched your match. His mark has been better than yours these two rounds, so why'd he bother? I know I didn't."

Cody recognized that voice anywhere. However he was surprised to hear Yugure groaning with what sounded like anger.

"Nakagawa," the dark haired boy spat.

Azuma Nakagawa grinned haughtily. "Well, fancy meeting you here Yugure. I'm surprised you've lasted this far. Last year you didn't even qualify for the quarterfinals. You must have been practicing a lot... although I don't think that you've improved that much."

"I don't see that attitude of yours is improving either, Nakagawa," Yugure shot back calmly. "Winning last year's trophy must've elevated your ego."

Azuma's grin faltered slightly. "Sounds like somebody are jealous. Well..." he turned to face Cody. "...Cody, why didn't you answer what Yugure asked you just now. I know he's just dying to hear your opinion. That is, if you did see how he did." He ended it with a sarcastic laugh.

Yugure looked at Cody and saw that the green-eyed boy was silent during their exchange. The look of hesitation Cody had on his face pretty much answered what Azuma was implying: Cody didn't see his match, but didn't want to hurt his feelings by admitting that out loud, especially in front of Azuma. He decided to reply to Azuma's question in order to alleviate the burden from Cody.

"It doesn't really matter, Nakagawa, whether Cody had seen it or not. What matters is that I did the best I can."

Azuma snorted. "Well, if that's the best you can come up with, Yugure, I'm afraid you won't last until the finals."

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. To me, I can only fail if I don't try," said Yugure evenly.

"We'll see whether you can say that after I or the other contestant beat you," Azuma retorted, and walked away as the winner for the third pair was announced (Setsuna Meiji) and Azuma's name was called to face a contestant who went by the name of Seiji Fujisawa.

Cody was impressed with Yugure's brief speech. "Did you really mean what you've said? I have to admit that I'm impressed. My grandpa taught me that too, that winning isn't really everything."

"Yeah, my sensei taught me that too," Yugure said with a smile. "He told me countless times that what matters most is that I did my best. It's the feeling inside that count, and I'm content if I lose to other contestant, provided that I've given my best shot."

Cody took this in with a nod. Then remembering that he still didn't answer Yugure's question, he quickly told the taller boy, "Yugure... I have to admit that I didn't see how you go against Koji Takahashi. I'm sorry. It's just that... I've a lot of things in my mind."

Yugure shrugged. "There's nothing to be sorry for, Cody. You didn't lie to me. Anyway, I kinda noticed that your friends have left the dojo in quite a rush. First there were that 'The Rocket' Ken Ichijouji and the brown-haired cute girl and that tan boy with goggles. Then the tall blonde boy and the violet-haired girl followed. I take it they are your friends?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't want to pry or anything, but how'd you know Ken Ichijouji? He doesn't even live around Odaiba from what I've heard."

"It's a long story and we didn't exactly have a good start with each other... but we're friends now, and a team."

Yugure smiled a somewhat knowing smile. "Hmm... I noticed that they're carrying some weird plush-toys with them. And the cute girl had a bigger white cat with her. I think I get it. Are they... Digimon?"

Cody was somewhat slightly taken aback by this, but calmed instantly. After all, with all the events happened between the previous year's Christmas Day and New Year, the public generally knew about Digimon. Appearances of Digimon in the human world were rare since the New Year, with some sightings merely saying about somebody being partnered with a Digimon. This however didn't really make headlines on newspapers and televisions the same way as the invasion of Daemon's era or the intrusions of Digimon on various parts of the world.

Yugure continued, "They are those what they called...DigiDestined, right? Chosen children being partnered with Digimon?"

"How did you know this?" Cody inquired, his eyes looking for any signs of how Yugure was accepting Digimon. He didn't see any sign of hatred or ill-intention present in Yugure's eyes and since the boy seemed to know a lot about Digimon, Cody thought that it would be alright.

"Yes, they are. And I'm one too."

Yugure brightened immediately. "Really? Wow...that's cool. I wish I'm one too. My cousin back at Saitama, I think he's a DigiDestined too. He used to stay here at Odaiba, but after this year's New Year his family decided to move to Saitama." Yugure then leaned close to Cody. "You see, he was kidnapped by this really creepy man and two Digimon last year... I forgot what their names are. He and many others were brought to this world by the man, and then to this Digital World where he said the older DigiDestined, as well as the DigiDestined from all around the world were present to fight a Digimon they called...what, I forgot... it's Malo or mayo-something... Anyway I think my aunt and uncle freaked out over my cousin's being kidnapped and immediately decided to relocate."

Cody was surprised to hear this. Yugure's cousin had been one of the children kidnapped by Yukio Oikawa to be used as reservoirs for his Dark Spores. All the children eventually became DigiDestined after the battle with MaloMyotismon.

Yugure didn't notice Cody's lack of response and continued on, "So which Digimon did you get for a partner?"

Cody smiled. It seemed that Yugure didn't have a clue that Cody was one of the 'older DigiDestined' that Yugure or his cousin had described. For now he decided to let this piece of information slip. He beckoned towards his mother over the audience's bench. "I have an Upamon for a partner... he's over there with my mother."

Yugure glanced and saw Upamon sitting quietly on Minako Hida's lap. "Cool. So... can he...uhh, digi-evolve to another Digimon?"

"You really do know a lot about Digimon now do you," Cody said. "Anyway, Upamon can digivolve to Armadillomon..." Cody was unsure of whether to say that Armadillomon could digivolve even further to Ankylomon, Digmon and Submarimon, and that Ankylomon and Angemon once could DNA digivolve into the ultimate-level Shakkoumon.

"That's awesome," Yugure said with awe. "My cousin... his name is Hajime, by the way... he first brought over a tiny white Digimon called SnowBotamon to my place when he came over during a weekend after they've moved to Saitama. We played with it and then the next thing we knew, SnowBotamon got bigger and became Nyaromon. The last thing I know from his e-mail is that Nyaromon has digivolved again to become a Salamon...or something."

Cody remembered seeing Gatomon becoming Salamon a few times and nodded. Over the background, more clapping ensued and both Cody and Yugure realized that Azuma's match with Seiji Fujisawa had ended. Azuma had won with a near-perfect score, with a nine from the youngest judge.

Yugure saw how Azuma had a smug look on his face, while Seiji Fujisawa merely retreated back to the bench where Koji Takahashi, Kazuya Suzuki and Yamada Taro were seated. The winners for the quarterfinals were then announced and they were Cody Hida, Yugure Seito, Setsuna Meiji and Azuma Nakagawa.

Once more, the MC produced the four winners which would proceed to the semifinals with the satchel which would determine the pairs, which would only be two pairs. The four winners drew each a name and gave it to the MC. The MC then cleaned the whiteboard in order to write in the pairs.

Cody Hida VS Setsuna Meiji

Yugure Seito VS Azuma Nakagawa

"The semifinals will commence after a ten-minute interval," the MC announced before taking his seat near the judges.

Yugure groaned. "Oh man, I'm gonna go up against that oh-I'm-the-best pompous Nakagawa?" He made mock-gagging moves, and Cody (and Setsuna Meiji from a distance) had to smile upon seeing Yugure's action. Azuma, who was leaning against a pillar, had an un-amused look on his face but merely turned his head away.

As Yugure left him on his own to get a drink, Cody took the time to identify his new opponent, but it was Setsuna Meiji who decided to approach him first. She bowed politely when she was in front of Cody.

"Greetings, Cody Hida. I am glad to meet you."

Cody was surprised to hear the polite tone of Setsuna's voice. Cody was polite himself, but Setsuna seemed to have surpassed him when politeness was concerned. Cody saw how the girl (who was the only girl contestant) demonstrated her skills in the preliminaries and knew that Setsuna was quite an opponent. She seemed to possess an extra degree of gracefulness tipped in her kendo skills compared to the other contestants.

He bowed back and replied the greetings in pretty much the same way Setsuna had said before taking the time to identify the girl in front of him. Setsuna was a girl seemingly at Cody's age, but was an inch taller. She had long, brown hair tied back in a ponytail and light brown eyes.

"We will be opponents. I hope we can exchange a few pointers." She held up her hand towards Cody.

Cody accepted it. "Likewise... May I ask from which district you are from? I must have missed it when the MC announced it in the preliminaries."

Setsuna seemed troubled by this and Cody noticed that her eyes shifted slightly towards the judges before replying softly, yet sternly. "I'm from Shinjuku... and I would like to say that although Jonathan-san is also from Shinjuku and also one of a judge, I can say that there is no favoritism from his part."

Cody was slightly surprised by Setsuna's reply. "What makes you think that I'd think of that?"

"Nothing. It's just that I saw how you and your friend Yugure Seito responded when the first judge's name was called," Setsuna said simply.

"It was something that Azuma Nakagawa had said to me which stirred our thoughts from that possibility," Cody said defensively.

Setsuna smiled sincerely at this. "Well...I noticed that too."

"Oh... and just so you know I've brushed that off," Cody said, and decided to change the topic. "So, did Jonathan-san teach you kendo?"

Setsuna's cheeks reddened slightly and her reply sounded somewhat bashful. "Actually, sensei Showa is my teacher, but Jonathan-san is sensei Showa's eldest disciple. Lately he's been sick; he's really old... so Jonathan-san has been taking over for him. And, Jonathan-san is the one who has registered and trained me for this tournament. Other than that, he is also my neighbor as he and his best friend live one floor below my apartment."

Cody nodded, and he did notice how Setsuna reacted. She had rambled a little, and seemed flustered. However he decided that it was not his business and dropped the thought off. Setsuna too seemed glad that Cody didn't ask even further and began taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.

The ten-minute interval was over and the MC took the microphone once more. He called for Cody and Setsuna to the hall and after a brief bow towards the two contestants he signaled for the semifinals to begin.


From the sky Sylphimon took the time first to observe the goings-on between the battling Digimon there. From her analyzer she now recognized the flowery woman who fought beside Doumon against Wisemon and Catrina was a Rosemon. Seeing how Doumon and Rosemon brushing off Catrina while focusing their attacks at Wisemon, Sylphimon decided to make the situation a lot easier for her allies.

"Hey, kitty-cat, did you miss me?"

Down below, Catrina suddenly heard a voice she hated with a passion. Her head snapped up instantly and saw a familiar figure. "You! Sylphimon...it's about time you decided to show up! Now I'm gonna make you pay forrr what you did to me last time."

This promptly stopped the battle between Doumon, Rosemon and Wisemon as they looked up to see Sylphimon.

"Oh, don't mind me Doumon. You and your friend go on with that...dark wizard Lord Voldemort rip-off. I'll handle that annoying cat."

Catrina was profoundly annoyed of how Sylphimon had regarded her, while Doumon and Rosemon looked relieved. And curiously, so was Wisemon although he didn't make it obvious.

"Well that's more like it!" Rosemon said warmly. "Now Doumon and ah can handle Wisemon without any disruption."

Seething with fury, Catrina glowered at Wisemon. "Hey! Surely you have any spell that can make me fly? I rrreally would like to give that rrrotten sylph a piece of my mind."

Without replying Wisemon merely flicked his wrist towards the yellowing pages of his book, and generated a column of dark yellow light. An illusion of a long-haired woman clad in tattered dark leather appeared from within the column. The illusion, which seemed semi-solid at first, burst into data particles and Wisemon directed those data particles around Catrina.

Instantly behind Catrina, two large dark grey tattered wings sprouted out. Catrina was at first surprised, but soon realized that she could control the wings that were now on her back. Surprised, she stared at Wisemon.

"What did you do to me?"

Wisemon answered, "I've given you the data of a LadyDevimon. You now have access to her skills and capabilities, which include flying."

Catrina grimaced. "But these wings arrre ugly!"

Wisemon groaned and ignored her. He then turned the pages of his book and summoned spirits of the dead via an incantation imprinted on the pages. Catrina snorted and tried to use the wings of LadyDevimon bestowed upon her by Wisemon. To her surprise, it felt like a second nature to her. With one flap of her new (despite battered-looking) wings she rose from the ground and began to feel a new course of power surging inside her veins. Some new knowledge flooded her mind, telling her about some new powers and techniques. Smiling viciously at this, Catrina soared towards where Sylphimon was hovering.

"Hey! Get a load of my new powerrrs!" she shouted to a surprised Sylphimon. Her eyes turned crimson and two beams shot out from them. "Poison!"

The Poison was a technique of LadyDevimon's. Sylphimon was too surprised to see Catrina having new attack and barely managed to evade the two burning lasers shot out from Catrina's eyes. The lasers however managed to singe some of her hair though.

"So what do you have a new attack? You're still the same whiny poor excuse of a cat!" Sylphimon retorted angrily. She cupped her large hands forward and fired several dark pink ring-shaped blasts, which was an attack of Aquilamon. The Blast Ring technique was an effective ranged technique and quite a fast one to boot. Catrina hadn't had time to evade it and was hit squarely on the chest.

Choking slightly, Catrina groaned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Black aura emitted around her as she spread her arms wide, releasing a swarm of bats towards Sylphimon. This was the Darkness Wave technique of LadyDevimon. The wave of bats swarmed around Sylphimon and pummeled all over her body, weakening her. Sylphimon began to limp in mid-air as the wave of bats faded. However, not thoroughly satisfied with this, Catrina then used her own Vampire Dance and released a wave of orange bats this time around to absorb Sylphimon's power. The bats bit Sylphimon all over her body and absorbed some of the remaining energy within the elemental sylph.

"Just what do you think about me now, Sylphimon?" Catrina boasted. "You'rrre no match for me. Last time you werrre lucky, but not this time. I'll finish you once and for all!"

"She's too strong!" Sylphimon gasped mentally. "What should we do, Hawkmon?"

Hawkmon was silent momentarily before replying, "Here's what I have in mind. But it will require a lot of energy."

"I'm all ears but better make it quick."

"Then follow my instructions..."

Sylphimon gathered her remaining energy quickly and evaded another wave of Catrina's new Darkness Wave by coating herself with a pink aura. Her aura burned off the bats, but that didn't stop there. She plummeted towards the Bastemon and released the Dual Sonic squarely on her opponent's face, breaking her concentration. Catrina was disoriented momentarily and Sylphimon's visor and the extended white ears coming from her visor glowed deep red before those ears morphed into Aquilamon's horns.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" screamed Sylphimon; her horns now had the tips pointed forward. "Grand Horn!"

"ARRGH!" Catrina yelled, as Sylphimon rammed the horns viciously on her chest. Catrina however managed to save her own life by pulling herself backwards, thus avoiding the horns from sinking deep into her body. However damages had been done to her and the most superficial part of her skin was torn by the sharp tips of Sylphimon's horn. Blood began to trickle down towards her body, and Catrina was horrified. Angrily she swung both arms forward and slapped Sylphimon with all her might.

Shouting loudly Sylphimon was hurled away from her opponent. Her body felt weak after receiving the blows from Catrina and she began to feel like she was going to de-digivolve. She was in danger of being crashed into a tall building nearby if it weren't for somebody to catch her in midair. Turning around, Sylphimon saw her friend Angewomon.

"Gotcha!" said Angewomon. "That was some fight, Yolei."

"That'll...teach her not... to mess with me," Sylphimon replied back.

Angewomon then helped Sylphimon towards the ground. Looking up, she saw that Catrina was still hovering in mid-air. The catwoman and the angel stared towards each other momentarily, but Catrina seemed to realize that Angewomon had an advantage against her and decided not to pursue the fight any longer. She'd seen how Angewomon and MagnaAngemon tackled four MetalPhantomon at once, despite the MetalPhantomon being the ones with the advantages.

"We'll continue this anotherrrr day," she slurred slightly, her hands grasping her bleeding chest. With a wave of orange and black light she disappeared.

"Coward," muttered Sylphimon before she de-digivolved back into Yolei and Hawkmon. Both suffered some scratches and bruises, but their conditions were better than what TK, Ken, Davis and their partners had been inflicted.

"I think you better go to the lab and get some treatments on those scratches and bruises," Angewomon pointed out.

Yolei nodded, and teleported towards the lab along with her partner in a column of red light.

Angewomon then sighed, "Now it's only me I guess..."

Suddenly a loud whooshing sound ensued, and to her surprise a dark purple wave knocked her off her feet. She landed on her back onto the road and groaned slightly over the unexpected attack.

"Urghh...what happened?" she wondered.

"The wave seemed to be coming from where that Wisemon is fighting Doumon and Rosemon," Gatomon supplied.

Screaming sounds were heard and the next thing Angewomon knew, Doumon and a Lillymon clad in purple dress crashed near her. She immediately thought of the worst, and judging from their current state, Angewomon knew she wasn't wrong. Thinking quickly, Angewomon immediately flew up and charged an arrow of light when waves of howling dark spirits rammed against her body, making her fall onto the road once more.

"Not so fast, you feisty little angel," Wisemon said silkily, as he approached the three female Digimon via the hovering magical book he had. "You and your friends have deleted all my soldiers, and I am definitely not going to let you escape with it... even if your friends have escaped me. No matter; your death shall be the first, and the others will soon follow."

He summoned yet another dark wave, but this time around the wave was blocked by a barrier. Angewomon turned to her side and saw that Doumon, while still sprawled on the road, had raised an arm to generate the dome-shaped force-field around the three of them.

"We're back to square one!" Lilymon groaned.


Cody had to admit one thing; Setsuna was a very excellent kendoka. Throughout their match both had delivered all the basic thrust as well as some other advanced skills they've learned from their instructors. In the first two minutes of their round, Cody was seen to be hesitating to attack Setsuna because he didn't want to look like he was bullying a girl. However this gave Setsuna the advantage and scored her the first full point. Realizing this, Cody increased his guard and began to deliver some of the amazing stances he had practiced with his grandfather and evened up the score with a full point. The real match then kick-started and the audiences were treated with spectacular performances by two ten-year-olds kendokas, whose skills rivaled even the defending champion.

The MC then signaled for the end of ten minute time limit, and the judges began to accumulate the scores for the two contestants.

"For Cody Hida... the score will be..." the MC announced before pausing to wait for the judges to raise their score boards. "8-10-10!"

Thunderous clapping sounds erupted throughout the dojo before the MC raised his hand to stop the noise, as he was going to announce the score for Setsuna. "For Setsuna Meiji, her score is... 9-9-10!"

Cody was surprised. This meant that their accumulated scores would be...

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a TIE!" the MC announced, and once more loud cheers and clapping erupted.

However then the noise died out as everyone tried to think of what solution the judges would come up with. After all there could not be three winners to advance to the finals. The judges discussed about this for a moment before calling for the MC to deliver their decision. The MC nodded and held up his microphone once more.

"The semifinals will now commence with our two last contestants: Azuma Nakagawa and Yugure Seito! And after their match, Cody Hida and Setsuna Meiji will be required to undergo a special round where they will be quizzed by the judges about theoretical and historical aspects on Kendo. And now, let the next match begin!"


Meanwhile at Asuka Laboratory, Gennai and the three male DigiDestined were currently receiving treatment from HolyAngemon. The angel was interrupted from his meditative cycle when Angewomon called for his help to treat Gennai earlier. Quickly he'd came up and tended to Gennai while Angewomon returned back to help the others fight. However as time passed, HolyAngemon was rather dismayed when one by one, the boys were transported and required treatment as well.

"It's just too bad that I have used a lot of my own power to restore all of you to an acceptable level of health, albeit rather imperfectly," HolyAngemon said. Truth be told, he did look a little bit paler than usual. "So now the four of you shall have to make do with the traditional ways of treatment...with medicines, ointments and bandages."

This elicited with some groans from the three teen boys, and surprisingly from Gennai too.

"Don't complain," said HolyAngemon sternly. "You, Gennai, SHOULD know better than trying to take on those MetalPhantomon on your own."

"It seemed to be the only best idea I had that time," Gennai replied back, and discarded his tattered outer beige robes and the inner black shirt he was wearing and pulled the black skin-tight trousers he was wearing up till knee level. HolyAngemon quickly did his work and disinfected all the lacerations and wounds on Gennai's body and extremities before applying some bandages on appropriate areas. At the same time he seemed to be muttering something about foolhardy warrior trying to play hero, much to Gennai and the DigiDestined's amusement.

Turning around, he was pleasantly surprised to see that Davis, Ken and TK were already treating their wounds themselves. They followed HolyAngemon's example by disinfecting their wounds. Davis then helped Ken applying the bandages on the parts where Ken was cut by the broken glasses. Luckily HolyAngemon's power had extracted any dangerous glass particles from the wounds earlier and all he needed to do now was to clean up the cuts. Davis and TK both were unconscious before they could really been inflicted some bodily harm. In Davis's case he complained of feeling an excruciating pain on his back, but this was the result of having his wings ripped away while being Paildramon. There was no evident of any harm on his body when Ken and TK inspected his back. TK too didn't suffer any bodily damage as he was knocked out due to the fact that he had pushed himself to the limit.

Their Digimon, Veemon, Wormmon and Tokomon, were in the same condition as their partners were. Interestingly enough, they followed their partners' example and treated each other's wound.

It was at that moment when Yolei and Hawkmon teleported in, and both fell onto the platform of the teleportation machine, unconscious. The Piximon working inside the lab quickly carried Hawkmon to the medical table, while HolyAngemon carried Yolei and placed her beside Gennai. She didn't seem to suffer any cuts or wounds, judging by the fact that her clothes were still in perfect condition. However there was a large red mark on her cheek, as if she had been given a forceful slap earlier.

"Looks like she and Catrina have been fighting again," Gennai remarked, and tried to move aside. However, HolyAngemon pushed him back down.

"Don't you move; she will be alright," HolyAngemon said evenly. "Maybe another dose of my healing power..." As he said this he extended his right index finger towards Yolei and Hawkmon. A small white wave of energy came out from the finger and bathed Yolei and Hawkmon in it. With a loud gasp both of them opened their eyes and blinked momentarily, trying to take in their surroundings.

Yolei then turned to her side, and met a barely-clothed Gennai with bandages wrapping his abdomen, shoulders, left chest, arms and both shins. The violet haired girl had a confused and horrified look on her face.

"Uh...hi?" Gennai asked with a hesitated smile. "I know this look...inappropriate, but..."

Gennai couldn't however finish his words because Yolei then blushed furiously, gasped, and fainted once more.

"I knew something like this would happen," Gennai said wistfully. For a moment, his blue eyes had a far-away look before he shrugged it off.

Ken blushed slightly too while Davis and TK had to suppress their laughter. Hawkmon shook his head slightly and jumped down from the large medical table, which was enough to provide space for three persons to lie on. The DigiDestined then sat on the cushions at the corner of the lab.

"She'll be fine, and Gennai, don't make a single movement lest you will hurt yourself even more," HolyAngemon said aloofly, as if nothing had happened.

"Ok, ok... I got it," Gennai replied.

The alarms of the lab blared again. Tentomon and Gomamon quickly went to them and told the DigiDestined of what had happened.

"Angewomon, Doumon and Lilymon are in danger! That wizard is going to cream them!" Gomamon said.

"Oh no!" Both Davis and TK cried at once. "Kari!"

"Davis, TK, sit back down. You can't save her unless you're in perfect health," HolyAngemon said calmly. "I can't too, as I've used a lot of my powers during my meditation and what's left to heal the more serious wounds you have inflicted on yourself."

"What do we do? We can't go back like this..." Ken said sadly.

"You will call on Cody," said HolyAngemon.

"What! No!" Davis objected. "He's got a tournament he needs to win."

"Yeah! Armadillomon told me that Cody really wants to join this. He's been practicing and practicing everyday. Armadillomon really thinks that he's gonna win!" Tokomon chirped earnestly.

"Yeah, I agree," Ken supported. "We don't want to interrupt him from his kendo tournament. He really wants to join this since last month, and it wouldn't be fair to stop him from at least competing in the finals."

TK had a thoughtful look on his face. "I don't want to interrupt Cody too, but...I did promise to call on him when we really need his help."

Davis and Ken both frowned upon hearing TK's promise to the youngest member of the team.

"It is imperative now that you call on Cody to assist Angewomon, Doumon and Lilymon against Wisemon," HolyAngemon said. "They really need help, and young Cody may be the one healthy enough to be of assistance."

"But...he can't Transdigivolve yet! It's dangerous for him to go there," TK protested weakly. "Ankylomon may be strong...but can he really go up against a dark wizard Digimon?"

"Whether he will come here or not, that alone will be his decision," HolyAngemon pressed on sternly. "You need to keep your promise and inform him of what happened. And have faith in him."

TK looked at Davis and Ken, then at HolyAngemon and Gennai, before at the Digimon. Sighing he took out his D-Terminal and begun typing his message.

"Hey, why don't you let me type the message for ya?" Gomamon offered with a cheeky smile.

Tentomon clubbed Gomamon's head with both pincers in response. "Now's not the time for your antics, Gomamon!"


After the MC announced that Azuma and Yugure would be fighting, Cody then was reminded that his fellow DigiDestined friend had not contacted him yet. But then, he groaned as he realized that he'd left his D-Terminal and Diginizer of Knowledge back at his apartment. He stood and began to head towards the dojo's door when a feminine voice stopped him.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Setsuna inquired. "After ten minutes, the judges will want to test us... if you've forgotten."

"I just realized that I have left something back upstairs, at my house," Cody replied truthfully.

"Are you going to do some last minute studying?"

"Not really...there's not much time left."

Setsuna then smiled. "Well, the judges didn't say anything about that not being allowed. I guess I'll see you later then."

Cody nodded and walked out from the door. He sprinted up the stairs and was glad that he knew where the extra set of keys was hidden. Retrieving it under the shoe cabinet he quickly unlocked the door and rushed to his room when he heard a beeping sound. His heart sunk when he realized that he was really needed.

"Cody, sorry to bother you like this but you're really needed to help Kari, Doumon and a mega Digimon called Rosemon fighting Wisemon. The rest of us and Gennai have been injured and can't help out anymore. I hope everything goes well for the Kendo tournament. – Signed, TK."

"Wisemon?" Cody thought out loud. Then he remembered something. "Oh, no! Upamon's still at the dojo."

He pocketed his Diginizer and D-Terminal and made a dash towards the door once more, nearly knocking over somebody who had just entered the door. Cody briefly registered the medium-height redhead teenager in front of him who was holding a video-camera with one hand, while a creamy puffball with the other.

"Izzy?"

Izzy smiled. "I saw you rushing out from the dojo and I thought you might need this." He handed Cody the creamy puffball, which happened to be...

"Upamon!" Cody said gladly and took him from Izzy's hand.

"So what's the rush?" Izzy asked.

Cody quickly explained what TK had told him via the D-Terminal. Izzy thought for a moment before an idea came to him.

"I know. Why don't Joe and I go to the Digital World in your place? Tentomon and Gomamon are still at the lab."

Cody shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. This Wisemon, he's even stronger than two Ultimates and one Mega. Kabuterimon and Ikkakumon won't stand a chance either. Davis, Ken and Kari are already powerful when they merge with Veemon, Wormmon and Gatomon...but still they needed TK and Yolei's help. Yet they are still defeated, meaning that this Wisemon really is an opponent to be reckoned with. Besides, although I don't know whether Ankylomon can match his strength...I feel, like I need to this on my own."

"Yeah, and maybe we'll get to Transdigivolve and beat this bad guy for good!" Upamon chirped exuberantly.

"Are you doing this because you're feeling left out?" Izzy asked the younger boy carefully. "I mean, the others have already Transdigivolved while..."

"Of course not; that's not my reason at all," Cody replied quickly. "I just feel...that I was the one who's supposed to face Wisemon."

Izzy smiled. "It's ironic, now that I think of it. Perhaps you're needed after all. Although it's just a theory..."

"What?" Cody asked, dumbfounded.

"Your enemy is Wisemon; as in, a wise monster. You are the new DigiDestined of Knowledge. It's only fitting if a wise Digimon is beaten by the bearer of knowledge," Izzy clarified. His successor nodded and he continued, "I'm a DigiDestined of Knowledge too... but now that I think of it, this is your call..."

Cody nodded, but Izzy wasn't finished. "But what about the tournament? From what I heard you really want to partake in it as well. And in my opinion you really have a chance to win."

Cody considered his options. His eyes dropped down. "I admit I really want to try and win this tournament, but as a DigiDestined I have another greater duty waiting. Besides, I think your explanation is plausible. As for the tournament...I guess there's always next year for me to join in."

"In that case, I wish you all the best, Cody. I'll try to explain to the judges about your sudden absence, and try to ask whether they can hold things up for you when you get back."

Cody brightened a little. "Thanks Izzy."

He and Upamon then pressed the Digi-Port button on the Diginizer and vanished in a column of yellow light.


"I tire of this game, priestess," said Wisemon scathingly. "You really don't think you can stay in there forever now do you?"

"I will erect this barrier for as long as it needed," Doumon replied.

"Although you've done a good job protecting yourself and your friends, but alas; all good things must come to an end. And I personally would love to be the one to end it for you."

"I am not giving up to the likes of you, Wisemon."

"So be it. Eternal Nirvana!"

Doumon immediately used more power to increase the strength of her barrier. The elemental bolts crashed onto the force-field and shook it greatly. Inside, it was like an earthquake as it rumbled, causing Lilymon and Angewomon to tumble down onto the roads. Doumon stood still, but it was clear that she was tiring. Her body shook and sweat dripped down her fine fur. Her brows furrowed close as her eyes reflected her firm determination.

"Too bad ah don't have mah rejuvenatin' potion anymore," Lilymon grumbled as she stood up. "...Ah should've brought along more with meh."

Angewomon observed Doumon and saw that the priestess' barrier won't last much longer as Wisemon continued to blast his elemental bolts onto it. She made up her mind to come out from the barrier and fight Wisemon. Lilymon's grumbling gave her an idea.

"More?" she asked the pixie. "You mean there's more?"

"Yeah, back at mah shop. Why?"

"Listen. Do you think you can go and get more for yourself, Doumon, and me? I can cover you."

"Ah think ah can do it. But it's gonna be risky. Ah bet that Wisemon won't be havin' any of it. But ah'll do it."

"Great. Ok...on three," Angewomon said, and readied her arrow. "One... two..."

"Three!" Lilymon shouted and flew out from the barrier. Wisemon immediately saw this and attempted to hurl a few elemental bolts onto her direction.

"I don't think so!" Another feminine voice interrupted Wisemon's concentration. An arrow of light shot onto his hand, and the elemental bolts faded into nothingness. Wisemon gasped as he shook his shot hand in a hasty attempt to elevate the pain. He turned up to see Angewomon hovering impressively ten meters above him.

"Excellent technique," he said. "Too bad you're not going to live long to remember it by. Pandora's Dialog!"

A column of red light emerged from his book and a swarm of bat came forth from it. This was followed by several streaks of what looked like a crimson whiplash, which struck onto Angewomon numerous times. Before she could evade the pure-energy whiplash the bats that were generated by Wisemon's spell-book overwhelmed her.

"I've experienced this before!" Gatomon gasped frightfully. "These are Myotismon's techniques: the Grisly Wing and the Crimson Lightning!"

"No..." Angewomon said weakly before plummeting down onto the ground. The brutal lashings she'd gotten from Wisemon weakened her greatly. A pink glimmer of light flashed from her body and when the light was gone Angewomon was no more. On her place were a very weak and injured Kari and an angry (yet unhurt) Gatomon.

"How dare you!" Gatomon hissed angrily towards Wisemon. She was infuriated over the fact that Wisemon had forced her to relive her bad memories while still being under Myotismon's servitude. And now, Kari had experienced it as well, although not to the extent of what Gatomon had gotten.

"Oh, little kitty wants to play?" Wisemon taunted.

"You asked for it!" Gatomon shouted. She then turned to Doumon. "Doumon...can you...huh?"

Gatomon's confusion was caused by a sudden earthquake. The ground rumbled and buildings shook. The white cat immediately retrieved her weakened partner and jumped back into Doumon's shield. She landed on her feet, as normally cats did, but Kari's weight then tumbled on her and she fell face-first onto the ground.

"Sorry... Gatomon..." Kari said weakly, and passed out.

Wisemon was clearly baffled as well of the sudden occurrence. He didn't expect it, but immediately assumed that it was the work of another DigiDestined who would stand in his way. His suspicion was answered when a large yellow behemoth appeared from the far end of the city. The colossal being that was causing the earthquake gradually approached him, and soon Wisemon could make out its feature. He recognized it instantly as an Ankylomon, and with his sharp vision he could see that the Ankylomon was carrying a young DigiDestined on his head.


"Hurry, Ankylomon!" Cody urged. "I can see Wisemon over there."

"I'm afraid that if I were to run even faster than this then all the buildings will go timbering down," said Ankylomon.

Earlier, Cody and Upamon (who'd digivolved into Armadillomon while crossing the two worlds) had teleported straight towards the lab and were surprised to see how the boys were injured and Gennai was nearly mummified, while Yolei was unconscious. They'd gotten a briefing of the current situation from Gomamon and Tentomon before setting off to save their friends.

When they arrived, Cody saw that the situation was even worse than what he had thought it would be. Kari was now unconscious as well, but well-protected inside Doumon's barrier. Even Angewomon was defeated; Cody feared for the worst but right now he and Ankylomon were their only chance.

"Another DigiDestined, I presume?" Wisemon asked silkily. "And what's this? Only a champion level Digimon to fight me?"

Ankylomon huffed. "We'll give you a good fight, that I'm sure."

"Confident, aren't we? Well, bring it on," Wisemon said and prepared to fire his Eternal Nirvana once more. He was in no doubt that he could make short work out of the gargantuan Ankylomon.

However Ankylomon wasn't a Digimon with ranged techniques, and thus didn't act like one. He let Cody down before leaping up towards the air. For a Digimon possessing a large weight, Ankylomon seemed to have a subtle amount of agility as well, and had used it well. He loomed down onto Wisemon and knocked the dark wizard down his book with a heavy kick.

Wisemon was flustered momentarily upon the brute technique, but soon regained his composure. He then fired his elemental bolts, which all hit Ankylomon squarely against his armor. Strong as he was Ankylomon ignored the attack which merely was deflected upon hitting his hard shell, and charged forward. Wisemon was surprised; he didn't expect an opponent like this. He could handle Doumon, Rosemon or Angewomon as they depended solely on their techniques, but Ankylomon was different. He was a Digimon of force and strength, and ranged attacks didn't work much against him.

Ankylomon swung his spiked tail onto Wisemon and knocked the winds out of him. The sharp spikes from the metallic club attached on the dinosaur's tail had torn the decaying flesh that formed his skin. Dark purplish green liquid began to ooze out from the wounds. Wisemon had to change strategy. He had to find a way to beat Ankylomon by using the same equal amount of force.

Summoning back his magical book, Wisemon flew up and landed on it once more. Flicking his wrists furiously he turned over a dozen pages at once before reaching the desired page. Muttering some magical incantation he summoned a column of green light forward and the images of a Triceramon appeared from within. Wisemon harnessed the power of the Triceramon and willed the projected image to attack Ankylomon. Flicking his wrists, Wisemon made the Triceramon image launching a powerful Tri-Horn Attack against Ankylomon. The three powerful horns of the Triceramon-image blasted onto Ankylomon and caused Ankylomon to crash onto the road, sending rubles and dust everywhere.

"No! Ankylomon!" Cody cried. He raised his arms over his face to protect himself from the debris.

Wisemon wasn't satisfied. He turned to another page and generated a column of red light. This time around, the image of a Vermilimon appeared. The Vermilimon-image then blasted the fallen Ankylomon with a stream of burning hot lava, incinerating the shells of Ankylomon. When the flames ceased, the formerly yellow shells of Ankylomon was now soiled with black and grey soot.

"Let's see how much more abuse your dinosaur friend can take, DigiDestined!" Wisemon growled, and summoned several spectral demons to attack Ankylomon. However, suddenly something leapt from behind of him and clung to the robe he was wearing. Wisemon felt sharp claws digging into his robe and a set of claws grazing his head, tearing into his hood. Upon reflex, he used one hand to knock the intruding thing away and saw Gatomon.

Gatomon hissed as she made a graceful back-flip before landing on her feet. Wisemon felt his hood falling, revealing a decaying purple flesh that was the same color as his hands. Glowing yellow eyes shone brightly as his whole body was shrouded with a dark grey aura. His long, grayish white hair blew in all directions as he begun to cast a spell to attack Gatomon. From the corner of his eyes he saw that Ankylomon was overwhelmed by the dark spirits he had generated and was hurt by them.

Wisemon was further stopped by a nature-based energy ball. It was Lilymon. Glaring towards her angrily he knocked her away with a dark wave. The plant fairy was knocked against the wall of a building. However, Lilymon was adamant and quickly regained her composure. She then flew towards Gatomon, and threw a small purple bottle to the feline Digimon. She indicated with her hands that it contained the vial that would heal Kari of her wounds.

Gatomon was about to sprint back towards Kari when she caught sight of Ankylomon, who was hurt. After reconsidering her options, she leapt towards Kari and pressed a button on her Diginizer to teleport Kari back to the lab. Gatomon then leapt away before the pink light caught her as well. Lilymon was surprised but Gatomon didn't pay heed at her. With feline reflex she then sprinted towards Ankylomon.

A thin streak of lightning zapped the bottle away from Gatomon's paw and crushed it in midair. The liquid splattered all over the air and landed on the ground like mere drops of rain. Shocked, Gatomon turned to see the culprit.

"I don't think so," said Wisemon smoothly. "Sneaky little creature, aren't you?"

Gatomon hissed back in response before turning to Cody and said, "That vial is supposed to heal Ankylomon!"

Cody glared at Wisemon with a silent anger. He then looked over Ankylomon and saw that the dinosaur was barely able to stand. Gatomon was nearby, and she looked as if she wanted to tear Wisemon apart. On the sky, he saw Doumon and Lilymon. The two said females then lunged towards Wisemon, alternating their attacks towards Wisemon. Doumon continuously fired streams of red scrolls while Lilymon fired her Flower Cannon. Wisemon looked like he was preoccupied by the two Digimon.

"How could Wisemon be so strong?" Cody wondered out loud. "He's also an ultimate Digimon, like Doumon and Lilymon."

His eyes searched for any sign of weakness in Wisemon. Cody then saw how Wisemon would rely on his book to release various forms of techniques against his opponent. Wisemon had summoned two Digimon from the book and had used their powers to hurt Ankylomon. He also used the book to generate the demons to weaken Ankylomon even more.

"Of course..." Cody thought. He was reminded of how Ankylomon had knocked Wisemon down from the book. The dark wizard had been genuinely flustered and had fired an attack towards Ankylomon in retaliation. His attack however didn't cause a dent on Ankylomon's hard shell, but when he was on the book again his attack became much more versatile.

Cody immediately thought of a plan. He then looked for somebody to help and saw Gatomon. Beckoning for the feline to come over him, the curious feline complied and Cody whispered the plan to her eyes. Gatomon's eyes widened and her mouth broke into a somewhat sinister grin.

"I like the way you think," she commented. "So...we start now?"

Cody nodded. "Of course."

The two tiptoed silently towards the preoccupied Wisemon. Doumon and Lilymon saw them and continuously occupied Wisemon even further with barrages of their attacks. Cody and Gatomon then reached beneath Wisemon's book and wondered what they should do. The book was hovered at a distance of at least fifteen meters above them. Wisemon seemed to be increasingly wary and had raised the book even higher than before. Gatomon wasn't able to reach it by stepping up there alone.

"Cody, I need you to provide me a stepping stone for me to reach up there towards the book," Gatomon said.

Cody bent down and joined his palms together on the sides. Gatomon stepped on them, and Cody lifted the small feline up. Feeling a little amount of pressure on his hands when Gatomon attempted to jump, Cody resisted the urge to pull down his hand and instead, jumped to provide Gatomon with a little more momentum. Gatomon flew up and impaled the thick leather cover of the book with her sharp claws. She then moved silently towards the back of the book and climbed up. A cry was then heard and Wisemon crashed down onto the ground once more, followed by the book.

On top of the book, Gatomon began shredding the pages viciously. Cody came up a few seconds after and joined her.

Wisemon stirred on the ground and quickly got up when he heard the sounds of pages being torn. His yellow eyes widened. "No!" He cried, and fired a water bolt towards Gatomon and Cody, knocking both of them away from the book. The force of the attack was luckily weak, as out of panic Wisemon didn't put a lot of force in his attack. Gatomon and Cody were merely wet, but unhurt. Wisemon then approached them and began to generate a much more powerful Eternal Nirvana. This time, he meant business.

"How dare you," he seethed. "I've fallen for your trick twice, feline. Rest assured that there won't be a third time." He blasted Gatomon away with two of the elemental bolts: the bolts of fire and poison.

"Gatomon!" Cody cried, worried about his friend. Gatomon was thrown over the wall of a building and was knocked out unconscious.

"Oh, I certainly haven't forgotten about you yet," Wisemon said coldly, aiming the bolts of electricity and water towards Cody. "You think you are so smart now, aren't you? You certainly have cost me a very useful spell book. Now, why don't we play a game before I finish you off? Can you tell me what the effect of water and electricity combined is?" He laughed smugly after saying this.

Cody's green eyes widened. Wisemon had actually implied that he wanted to electrocute Cody to death.

Wisemon jeered. "No answer? Well, no answer is always a bad answer. So much for being the bearer of knowledge."

Suddenly, Cody's Diginizer of Knowledge let out a brilliant wave of yellow light. Wisemon was knocked away by the wave while Cody was pulled towards Ankylomon. The wave then transformed Cody into a glowing mote of yellow light and he was pulled back towards Ankylomon. He then entered Ankylomon's body. After that Ankylomon's body shimmered and dark clouds began to form on the sky.

Then everything became silent.

: Transdigivolution :

Winds begun to blow from the clouds and thunderclaps erupted. The winds grew frost-cool after a minute, hinting the drop of temperature to subzero level. Doumon had to generate a shield to house herself, Lilymon and Gatomon from the bitter cold. Wisemon however, was not shielded by the cold wind and was shaking. Ankylomon seemed to be strangely unaffected by the winds.

The winds then grew more forceful and begun to concentrate around Ankylomon. A thin layer of ice formed around Ankylomon's glowing body, but with a loud roar Ankylomon broke free and underwent a transformation. He reared back as his four limbs elongated. Then, Ankylomon stood on his hind legs as his front legs morphed into a set of thick arms with humanly hands. The same alteration was true for his hind legs, but his feet retained the original shape but grew larger to provide more support for his all new bipedal form.

"Ankylomon digivolve to..."

Ankylomon stood up straight as his Tail Hammer and his hard shell were extracted from him. The tail hammer remained the same, but now a seven feet long metallic pole was attached into the spiked metallic ball, forming a rather deadly weapon for his right hand. His hard shell in the meantime became a shield for his left arm. On the wrists and ankles the grey spiked bracelets remained. After that, his rounded, rotund body slowly shrunk and took a new shape of a burly man. His tough purple hide became his body outfit, while what remained of his dark yellow shell surrounded his crotch region and formed a bikini-shaped armor before extending to cover his thighs as well. Ankylomon's head then snapped back as a wave of yellow light transformed the dinosaur-like face into what looked and shaped vaguely human. The outer two-horned shell/helmet that adorned the upper half of Ankylomon's face now extended down to cover his whole face except for his round green eyes – giving him a Paildramon-like appearance. From the back of his head, a thick set of grey hair then sprouted out up to his broad shoulders.

Then, the image of Shakkoumon flashed in the background and the digivolved form of Ankylomon absorbed it. Instantly, his yellow armor and weapons became silvery white with subtle amounts of jewels adorning parts of his shield, lance, and armor. A metallic belt with two circular compartments was secured around his waist, and silver kneecaps and elbow pads decorated with a simple blue diamond adorned his knee and elbow. Finally, completing the transformation was a large, silver-grey furry cape which was attached to his broad shoulders, and it billowed down towards his ankles. The all-new ultimate level Digimon, standing at a statuesque twelve-meter tall and looked like a cross between a Viking warrior, a dino-human and Shakkoumon then announced his name for everyone to hear.

"... Valthrumon!"

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0010110100010 - DIGIMON ANALYZER – 1010101001011001010

Name : Valthrumon
Attribute : Vaccine
Level : Ultimate
Type : Warrior
Specialty : Ice, Metal

Attacks : Katchina Bombs, Shakkou Shield, Titanic Hammer
Power Level : 78

Valthrumon is possibly one of the physically strongest Digimon in the Digital World with long and short ranged attacks at his disposal. His Shakkou Shield is said to be able to resist the attack of even a Mega Digimon, and his Titanic Hammer and Katchina Bombs are said to be able to break through the hardest of diamonds.

011101010101010100101010101010101010101010110110100

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Cody couldn't believe it. Finally, he and Armadillomon had successfully Transdigivolved together into a fearsome warrior of the ice. It was not what any of them had expected.

"Wow-wee! I'm also a human type Digimon now, and boy do I rock!"

Cody, now being the dominant part of Valthrumon, shook his head slightly. Armadillomon was obviously ecstatic of having a natural humanoid ultimate level, similar to the other partners of the DigiDestined. He cast a stern look towards Wisemon, who looked merely like a defenseless grasshopper when compared to the towering Valthrumon. His green eyes sparkled with a feeling of slight amusement.

"To answer your question, Wisemon... I don't really think that water and electricity did any harm to me and my partner. Instead, it helped us to finally attain the power of Transdigivolution."

Wisemon cowered slightly upon the stern, echoing quality of Valthrumon's voice. Barely there was any hint of the tone of a young boy speaking; the voice he was now hearing was strong and confident. He raised an arm and hastily generated barrages of elemental bolts towards his towering opponent. Even before the final barrage of those bolts left his left hand, his right hand already was in the process of conjuring spells from his book. It looked like he was going all-out now.

Valthrumon countered the attack easily with his glittering, spiked shield. The bolts were deflected back towards Wisemon, who merely absorbed it back with his extended right hand. His left hand then released a swarm of dark spirits towards Valthrumon. The titan tried to protect himself using his shield once more but the spirits then flew around him, and in time were getting closer. Valthrumon swung his Titanic Hammer around to get rid of the ghosts, but the weapon merely phased through the spirits.

"This isn't working," muttered Valthrumon. "What should we do?"

"I don't know Cody...I haven't been in this form before. This is as strange to you as it is to me."

As if responding to his plight, the hammer suddenly sparked with electricity and Valthrumon quickly directed it towards the ghosts with a full-force swing. A light blue streak of lightning zigzagged out from the hammer and caught on all the ghosts. With a loud shriek the ghosts all phased out and the lightning died away instantly.

"I don't know that that's even possible," said Valthrumon.

"Ya'll be surprised." Armadillomon replied from within. "Now let's take care of tha big guy!"

Turning his attention towards the dark wizard, an inspiration suddenly struck Valthrumon as he saw Wisemon generating a shield around him. It was pretty similar to how Doumon had done, and it looked like it was rather impenetrable. But Valthrumon had just the thing. Magic was not his specialty, but Valthrumon was a Digimon of force, and using force was what Valthrumon had in mind at the moment.

"Titanic Hammer!" he shouted, and released another streak of lightning out from his hammer. The lightning slammed against the shield, and Valthrumon saw how the shield shook slightly, though his attack didn't penetrate the barrier.

Two blurs of purple then shot towards the barrier. Doumon released her spell-undoing scrolls while Lilymon fired nature-based energy cannon. Both attacks slammed onto the barrier, and while Lilymon's cannon didn't work Doumon's was rather successful. The barrier phased in and out momentarily, and Wisemon was seen to be angered as he released a swarm of bats to engulf Doumon and Lilymon. The two females both collapsed onto the ground, but while they were beaten they had provided ample time for a certain titan to further flabbergast Wisemon.

"Katchina Bombs!"

Before Wisemon knew it, what seemed like three silver discs with spikes on their edges suddenly materialized and spiraled around him. He was stunned as the discs tore through his robe and ripped through the thick pages of his magic book. Wisemon was thrown onto the ground as the discs made short work out of his magical book. Ripping sounds were heard as the discs tore through the book on the other sides, and within a few lapse of seconds multiple disc-shaped holes with jagged edges were present all over the book. The book then let out a faint yellow glow before dissipated into data particles.

"No! My precious spellbook!" cried Wisemon, shocked. He turned to face his antagonist. "You'll pay for this!"

"Shakkou Shield!" Valthrumon bellowed, and the spikes on his silver shield let out projections of themselves towards Wisemon. A chilly wind then engulfed the spikes and froze them into dangerous-looking stalagmites. Before Wisemon knew it, the stalagmites rained onto him and pinned him onto the ground. Wisemon's robe was pinned onto the ground and he was forced to lie on his back, immobilized. Deep down, he was amazed that the spikes didn't impale him instead.

Valthrumon approached Wisemon, and looked down towards him. "You really have cost me a lot today. And you've also hurt my friends. I should just delete you for your treacheries, but I don't like to do it... especially when one was as defenseless as you are right now. I'll let you off...just go back to wherever you came from Wisemon." The titan then turned away to inspect his friends.

Wisemon was stunned, but his face then broke into a sinister sneer.

"You are certainly one with the heart...'tis a pity actually," he said silently. "One who extended pity over a dangerous enemy is weak, Valthrumon."

He then summoned bolts of fire to melt the stalagmites, and after the ice shards were vaporized he jumped towards Valthrumon, planning to attack him from the back. His arms swung to his front as he generated four orbs of poison and fire, but he didn't get the chance to release them onto Valthrumon...

... as the titan was aware of the attempt, and swung back with his shield over his body and his hammer swung freely, out of reflex and momentum from him spinning around. However what Valthrumon didn't have in mind was the result of the attack. As he spun around to protect himself with his shield, his other hand had instinctively attacked Wisemon, in a manner of how he would attack in Kendo.

The result was not pretty at all...as the hammer slammed onto Wisemon's head. A sickeningly loud crack was heard and Wisemon's eyes bulged as he gasped. Then his head exploded into data particles, before the rest of his body followed. It was a quick death for Wisemon, and it shocked Valthrumon so much that he devolved back into his composite selves. Armadillomon had gone back to being Upamon again, and Cody just stood still... eyes opened wide. Upamon plopped onto the ground as Cody didn't catch him in his arms.

"Cody?" the little in-training Digimon inquired. "Are you alright?"

The sound of his partner snapped Cody back to reality. He shook his head slightly. "I don't know Upamon... I never liked seeing death liked that. I've seen too much of them."

Upamon understood exactly what his partner was saying. Cody's dad was shot while in line of duty when the boy was young, and not too long ago Cody had watched Yukio Oikawa dying right in front of him, practically on his arms. While he had seen many more evil Digimon being deleted subsequently; MaloMyotismon, the twin dragons Megadramon and Gigadramon back during the day when they received their Diginizers and NeoDevimon back on File Island, Wisemon's death was something he did with his own hands...and it affected him.

"Do not think that you have done wrong, young Cody," said a female voice from his side.

Turning to his side Cody saw Doumon, who was carrying an unconscious Gatomon. Beside her was Lilymon, who smiled warmly to him. It was Doumon who had spoken to him.

"Yeah, don't ya think that ya've done lots of good here? Ah mean, look at what Wisemon had done to your friends. Look at this city. He'd leveled the whole Asuka City if you didn't stop him," said Lilymon encouragingly. "Now ah'm not encouragin' ya to delete Digimon unnecessarily, but Wisemon had it comin' for him. If ah have enough power and better control of mah Mega form maybe ah could have done some dents to him."

"Yeah, Cody... they're right!" Upamon chirped. "You've done good...and I never thought that I would digivolve naturally into a COOL Digimon like Valthrumon! I can't wait to do it again. Soon. Man...Valthrumon looks even cooler than the others in my opinion."

Upamon's enthusiasm and Lilymon and Doumon's words were what Cody needed to hear. Smiling, he picked up Upamon and beckoned for Doumon and Lilymon to stand close to him. Looking at Upamon before pressing the teleportation on his Diginizer, he said to Upamon,

"Yeah...I can't wait to ask what they thought about Valthrumon."


"So Catrina's plan is foiled once more," Chaos Specter mused as he switched off the monitor. Rubbing a finger on his chin, he leaned back onto the throne and continued thoughtfully, "I don't know if she realizes it... it is ironic, but her attacks had done nothing but to make it possible for the New DigiDestined of Love and Knowledge to merge with their partners."


Cody and Upamon's injuries were minimal compared to the others, as the power of Transdigivolution had automatically healed most of them when they were in one being. Wisemon hadn't had a chance to inflict any damage onto Valthrumon up to his deletion, and besides from minor scratches on his hands which were due to his inexperience of holding two heavy-duty weapons, Cody felt ready to return back.

He was about to open a Digiport to return back, when somebody tapped him gently on his right shoulder. Turning around, he saw the willowy figure of TK looking down at him with concern.

"I really hate to say this to you, Cody... but don't you think that you're a couple of hours late to complete your tournament?" he asked, gesturing towards a digital clock which was labeled "Human World – Odaiba time".

Cody stopped immediately; he was too enthralled with his new experience and didn't think of the time up till the moment TK reminded him. He grew frantic and quickly opened a gate and walked through it. The gate led him to a secluded alley near the dojo, and Cody quickly broke into a run, with Upamon held close to him. He saw that the crowd outside the dojo was already gone when he reached there. There were only two to three cars left, along with a white and navy blue van belonging to the local broadcasting company. Cody knew that could only meant one thing...and he dreaded it.

The tournament was already over. Cody wondered who had won it. Pushing the doors he walked into the dojo, and saw that most of the crowd was gone. However Cody saw some familiar faces... which included the older six DigiDestined and the Inoue family all were idly chatting with each other or doing something else.

Tai was seen talking with Yolei's sister Chizuru on the farthest side of the crowd, while Matt and Sora were seen sitting silently a few meters nearby with their gazes fixed on Tai and Chizuru. Izzy was seen busy with his laptop, which was connected with his camcorder, with Mimi watching the laptop with mild interest. Joe was reading a thick book, while glancing onto Izzy's laptop once in a while. None of them had seen or heard him coming apparently. Cody then darted his eyes towards the other side of the room.

To his surprise, he saw Azuma Nakagawa, sitting alone on a secluded bench near the judges' table. He was seen polishing his shinai idly, and beside him... Cody's heart sunk slightly upon seeing the glorious Silver Shinai trophy beside Azuma. That could only mean one thing; Azuma had won the tournament. Then Cody realized that it had been two hours after the contest was over... why was Azuma hanging around the dojo? All other contestants have left.

Not all apparently. Cody's eyes then caught Setsuna Meiji, who was talking with her instructor, who was also one of the judges – Jonathan Lee. The blonde judge was seen complimenting Setsuna, whose face glowed with what looked like a total admiration towards the older teen. Cody thought that Setsuna might have a crush on the young judge, but dismissed the thought quickly. Over a table, he saw the other two judges – Akayashi Meioh and Haruhiko Kanagawa – who were having tea with Cody's grandfather and mother. Setsuna and Azuma weren't the only contestants who were still there though; Cody then saw Yugure Seito leaning against a pole, scowling towards Azuma's direction.

Cody released the door, letting it close noisily. That immediately caused all the buzzes inside the dojo to stop. Cody cringed uneasily when he felt more than a dozen pairs of eyes suddenly focused on him.

"CODY!" nearly everyone roared. Yugure and Setsuna immediately ran towards him, while Azuma, still in his seat, smirked.

"Where have YOU been?" Yugure roared. "You've missed the whole finals."

"Not to mention, giving me a free pass towards the finals," said Setsuna smoothly. Her composed attitude seemingly had obviously returned, despite what Cody saw earlier.

Cody smiled nervously. "I...kind of had something really important to do?"

"Don't give us that, man," said Yugure, unsatisfied. "What could be more important than the tournament? In case you didn't notice, that Nakagawa boy has won the Silver Shinai. Man, I was rooting on you to win, y'know."

Cody raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Thanks, Yugure. I guess...it's not meant to be. Maybe I'll have a chance next year."

"You seem to be calm in accepting this," Setsuna pointed out.

Cody was about to reply when suddenly the microphone buzzed slightly before the voice of Jonathan Lee blared all over the dojo.

"Well, it seems that our formerly 'missing' contestant has returned. A friend of yours...the redhead with the camcorder... has told us that you have something extremely urgent to be taken care of. The judges had no choice but to disqualify you, thus automatically allowing Miss Setsuna Meiji to advance into the finals against Mr. Azuma Nakagawa. The winner of the tournament and the Silver Shinai trophy is officially Mr. Nakagawa... but after the tournament ended many felt that you should be given another chance..."

Cody's face brightened instantly and Upamon accidentally, out of gladness, broken into his pretense. However he covered it up quickly, as the blonde judge continued,

"... However, bear in mind that this is merely a mock-tournament. Mr. Nakagawa and Miss Meiji are still the official winner and runner-up, but all of us who remained here would like to see how far you can go. So, if you're ready Mr. Hida, we will start with the theoretical questions that you and Miss Meiji will partake in five minutes."

The minutes went by and after the judges were seated at their places, Cody and Setsuna were given ten theoretical questions which Cody got all of them correct, while Setsuna made a slight error on the ninth question which merited her only a half-mark. Thus Cody was the one who advanced on the finals against Azuma Nakagawa. The champion kendoka smirked.

"So we've finally are facing each other, though not exactly the way I have expected it to be."

Cody nodded. "Yes. Anyway, congratulations on being the winner, Azuma."

"Yup. Won it fair and square now," the older boy said with a shrug.

The contest between the two kendokas then started, and the judges mentioned that the first who would score two points win the match. Both Azuma and Cody displayed amazing skills which made Setsuna, Yugure and the audience speechless. It was not how the way they moved; Azuma was a renowned young kendoka while Cody had gotten some popularity from the way he advancing from the preliminary to the semi-final before his abrupt disappearance. Every thrust or strike made by one was efficiently countered by the other.

"Men!"

Both kendokas seemed to be of equal level and strength. It was strange in a way, as one could easily see that Azuma's skills were definitely better than Cody before the latter's disappearance. Cody might be an excellent kendoka, but he was still a junior in a contest such as this, while Azuma could be considered a veteran.

"Do!"

Cody found his skills being enhanced slightly after his Transdigivolution. However despite the healing he'd gotten from HolyAngemon, Cody still needed rest after fighting a fairly powerful wizard Digimon that very day. He felt his grasp onto his bamboo stick loosened slightly, which proved to be a ticket for Azuma to win. Azuma seemed to be heading to disarm Cody from his shinai, and Cody knew that without his shinai he'd lose instantly. Immediately he grasped his shinai firmly and flicked his wrist, attacking Azuma's wrist instead.

"Kote!"

And it seemed that Cody had it where Azuma didn't expect him to attack. The tip of Cody's shinai brushed against Azuma's wrist gently, enough to surprise the older boy into releasing his shinai. Azuma's bamboo stick plopped onto the floor and rolled over.

A buzzing sound was heard, ending the contest slightly. The judges all declared Cody was the winner for the mock-tournament although the official winner was still Azuma. Azuma frowned momentarily before observing Cody, with his thick brows furrowed close to each other. His face was stern.

"A diversionary tactic... how nice," he said emotionlessly. "Pretending to be tired, yet still able to give the coup de grace."

"I wasn't pretending; I'm really tired," Cody protested. His tone was earnest. He extended his right hand. "It was pleasant fighting with you."

The frown on Azuma's face disappeared upon hearing the genuine tone from Cody. He didn't knew Cody, but he did know that the boy – judging from the brief encounters he had with the younger kendoka, he knew that Cody wasn't the one who would lie. He accepted Cody's hand and smiled slightly.

"In that case, you really recovered well," Azuma remarked. "Y'know, I really must learn not to quickly look down on people."

Cody smiled. "A lesson worth knowing, in my opinion."

"I don't know whether you're being sarcastic or sincere with that, but whatever it is...you're right."

"I'm being sincere."

Another voice interrupted them. "Hey, at least you get to keep the money and the trophy, Nakagawa." It was Yugure, with Setsuna behind him.

Azuma shook his head. "I don't think I deserve the prizes; I've lost, remember? I bet you're glad at that, Yugure."

"Yup!" Yugure declared, but a glare from Cody and Setsuna quieted him down.

"I was disqualified," Cody countered. "You keep the prizes, Azuma. You deserved it."

"You've beaten me fair and square in the finals, so you deserve the prizes," said Setsuna fairly. "Your contest with Cody is a mock-tournament. Perhaps next year you should be more on your guard, as Cody might have been able to beat you when that time comes."

Azuma shrugged. "I look forward on that. Anyway, it was nice meeting you all... Cody, Setsuna, Yugure, but I must be going now. I should be home a couple of hours ago."

"Wait..." Cody stopped him. The older boy looked at him with a questioning look. "Do you have an e-mail? We can keep in touch."

"Uh...not yet, but tell you what. I'll have yours, and when I do have an e-mail I'll send a mail to you."

"All of us, you mean; I don't mind keeping in touch with fellow kendokas," said Setsuna. "Right, Yugure?"

"Hmm."

Setsuna then produced a paper and tore it into four pieces. She then asked for everyone's emails and telephone numbers, and wrote them neatly on the four papers before distributing them towards Cody, Azuma, Yugure and herself. All of them pocketed the papers safely inside their pockets, and smiled to each other. Azuma then bade them goodbye and left the dojo. Yugure followed soon after, saying that they should find some time to hang out before school reopened.

Setsuna and Cody talked to each other for a while before judge Jonathan Lee approached them. The young judge congratulated Cody.

"It's a shame that you've left the tournament so soon; or else it'd be you who have all those prizes," he said.

"It's ok, I guess. At least, I know how far I can go," Cody replied.

Jonathan Lee smiled, and patted Cody's shoulder. "Spoken like a true kendoka." He then shifted his glance to Setsuna and smiled. "I have an idea..." he said, and turned back to meet Cody's eyes. "Do you have anything to do this coming Wednesday?"

Cody was surprised to hear the question, and Setsuna looked mildly so as well. "Well...not really." he said, not counting on the sudden call of emergency he might've had from the Digital World.

"Great. Anyway, I'm holding a birthday party for myself this Wednesday. Just a small one...nothing fancy, but you see, Setsuna here is the only child who is going to be present, the others will be my four childhood friends. So I think that, since you and Setsuna are friends, maybe you can keep her company at the party, as she'd be bored if left on her own."

"That's not true!" Setsuna protested.

The blonde seemed to ignore her protest. "So can you make it?"

"Well...Shinjuku is not that far, but I think my mother or grandfather wouldn't want me to go there alone," said Cody. "I'd need a chaperon."

"Then bring some of your friends along," Jonathan said, gesturing towards the older batch of DigiDestined.

Cody was thoughtful. "I'll ask my 'computer club' friends to accompany me then... they were here, but now they're...not."

The blonde nodded in understanding. "You mean the ones with that...plush toys...with them? That's great. Don't forget to ask Azuma and Yugure whether they'd like to join as well. The more the merrier. Do you have an e-mail? Oh great, I don't have a paper and pen with me now...hang on a sec..."

"Don't worry. I've given it to Setsuna," Cody said.

"Oh, in that case... I'll e-mail you the direction to my apartment tonight. Now...just how many of you will be coming over? Give me some rough number."

"If everything goes well, I think it will be six of us, eight including Yugure and Azuma."

"Great," said Jonathan, smiling to Setsuna. He then handed the bag he was holding on his left hand towards the girl. "Well, Setsuna, we better move along now or else your mom will have my neck."

"See you, Cody," Setsuna said, taking her bag from Jonathan. The two of them then bid farewell to Cody and walked out from the dojo.

Cody then was bewildered upon the friendliness demonstrated by the young judge towards him. He'd never been to an adult's birthday party before, and wondered on how it was going to be. His grandfather and mother then came along, and told him that Izzy had explained to them in detail of what had happened and the reason of his abrupt departure. They were proud of his decision. Afterwards Cody told the older DigiDestined of his accounts at the Digital World, and that the other DigiDestined were still currently at Asuka Laboratory to 'fix some things up'. Izzy was ecstatic of hearing that Cody and Upamon had Transdigivolved together and quickly inquired for Valthrumon's details. The older DigiDestined then took their leave upon seeing that the young boy was exhausted, and Cody immediately decided that a long bath was due before a long night of rest.

After all, it was the least he could do to reward himself (and Upamon) with his achievements for today. And in Upamon's case, perhaps a large amount of dinner was due as well. He'd wait for next day to ask the DigiDestined about Jonathan Lee's invitation. Curious as he was of the reason the young judge might had in asking him to accompany Setsuna during the party, Cody couldn't be bothered with it for now.

However, he got a feeling that he was about to see a lot more of Setsuna and Jonathan Lee from this day on.


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Author's Note:

PHEW! Finally, this chapter is finished. And according to Microsoft Word word-counters, this chapter has 16, 761 words! My longest chapter to date, I don't think I want to write another long chapter as that, but who knows? It's hard to keep up with long chapters; I don't know how some people manage to do it. I have really considered breaking this chapter into two, but decided against it. I'm trying to keep up with the rough plan I have.

Valthrumon? Who in the world is that? Actually, Valthrumon is a creation of mine. As you all may know, Armadillomon's mega form is confirmed to be Vikemon, and he looks WAY too different from Armadillomon – Ankylomon line. So I thought, while penning the rough ideas for this fic: Why not create a new ultimate form for Armadillomon? Back then I envisioned a Digimon which is a mix of Ankylomon and Vikemon, but I don't have a name for this new ultimate form of Armadillomon. It was until early this year that I've finished with the rough ideas of how the whole story of Vengeance is going to be, and I come up with a list of characters from the Norse Mythology, and I saw Valthrudnir. Valthrudnir is a Titan of Ice who challenged the supreme master in the Norse Mythology - Odin.

What about Shakkoumon? Well...I don't hate him, but I find him not fitting in the Armadillomon – Ankylomon - - Vikemon line. Sorry, Shakkoumon fans. I know there's at least one of you.

Alright, now I've got this chapter out... this will be the most recent update for Vengeance for a while. I have finals to concentrate on in less than a month from now, and I really need to study. Maybe I'll update Legends, but I don't know whether I can find the time. If everything goes well, you'll be hearing from me in June. Check my main page.

Yami Vizzini – I think you'll get the answer of Jonathan Lee's intention in this chapter. And yes, all things that are mentioned here will be in Legends of the DigiDestined. Right now I'm trying to wrap up the Dragomon arc and to start with the Mephistomon arc during the summer holiday the latest. Hopefully it will be earlier, but with exams coming up... 

Digi fan – Here's a LONGER chapter than the last.

Jack the ripper – Rosemon is always thought to be Lillymon's true Mega form, though Angewomon can digivolve into her too (at least, that's what the game came up with). I wonder why they didn't put Ophanimon or Magnadramon inside, and use Rosemon instead.

Dark Qiviut – Thanks for the permission. Yes, I do use the encyclopedia as a guide for the evolutions although sometimes when I come across a line I don't really like, I'd end up making up my own evolution lines (like in this chapter). I think I've read your story about TK's thoughts, but I haven't read that part with Kari yet. I'll try to read it soon. And just out of curiosity, have you caught up with the latest chapter for Legends of the DigiDestined?

Gerjomarty – I have plans for Chizuru, though she'll not be the main character but it will be interesting to see how she turns out. And as for Chaos Specter's intention, you're getting there, but not quite. :D More of Lilymon and Doumon will be explained in future chapters, but their story starts in Legends of the DigiDestined. Catrina will be a major player in this fic, though she may not look like it YET :) That battle with Azuma and Cody may not be the one you have in mind, eh? And Akayashi Meioh's presence turns out to affect nothing of the whole event.

Bluesv20, dark672, CustomMagnum – Thanks. :D

DarkFictionWizard – A new reviewer! Welcome to Vengeance, DarkFictionWizard! Yes, the Sakuyamon that appeared in the Trial of Kindness arc is a Sakuyamon Kabuki Mode, though I never really put it into words. Thanks for reviewing and for the comments.