Wade Barrett is back with them tonight, if only just for this week since WWE's in Florida and the arena's not that far away from where he lives. For this reason, things feel normal once more, the ten of them trooping through grass to reach the target in the Vaccine zone that their Digivices are directing them towards. Between Seth Rollins limping- maybe for show, maybe not- and Wade's arm held protectively at his side in a sling, however, it's clear things aren't entirely perfect.

Heath is walking next to Wade, careful not to jostle him and also making sure he doesn't lose his balance in the uneven turf as Heath tells him all about Lopmon's Digivolution, and how awesome Moosemon was, the rookie Digimon staring at them from atop Heath's head as he and Lunamon exchange stories about how it had felt, what they'd experienced in the bigger forms of their Champion levels. AJ smirks as she walks near them, hearing bits and pieces of the conversation... wondering what it would be like, to witness Renamon becoming stronger. If the tall Digimon would even give her enough of an opportunity to even help her reach that level of strength. The divas champion sighs slightly, flickering her glance towards Renamon briefly, not wanting her to realize in case she'd move away, walk a further distance from AJ.

The walk is horrendous- lengthy on ground that goes from soft and uneven to hard and dry, and Heath has just suggested that Lopmon Digivolve to allow some of them to ride on his back the rest of the way, his dark eyes fluttering over to Wade briefly, then to Seth, before resting on Alicia and, finally, AJ. She stares back at him, daring him to even suggest that she couldn't make the trip on her own, and he quickly looks away, about to urge Lopmon to do it anyway when Renamon speaks up drily. "We're here."

Heath's mouth clanks shut midword and he looks down at his Digivice, realizing she's right. "Oh. Ohh ok." Renamon rolls her eyes and pushes past him, the bright haired man frowning after her until Wade nudges him, urging him to continue on. All of them had learned early on it's not a good idea to lurk around, especially when any distance from the others.

AJ follows after Renamon, curious to see what the latest problem in the Digiworld requiring their assistance is, when something powerful explodes at their feet, sending both of them flying backwards, only just missing Heath and Wade both. "What-!" the girl cries out, her entire body throbbing more than it had been after the series of matches she'd wrestled this week. "What was that?" Troubled brown eyes scope the area and all she can see are the various Digidestined and their partners frozen, looking in the general area of where the blast had apparently come from, Renamon's form sprawled not far away. AJ's only comfort is the rise and fall of her furry chest just visible from this angle.

She grunts and forces herself up onto her elbows, trying to catch a glimpse of who had caused this to happen. All she sees is sleek black glinting in the sun, shadows shifting to reveal more of the creature. Shredded wings a deep shade of red, thick claws for feet and smaller ones for hands, the Digimon steps forward and examines them all, his mouth the only visible part of his face, an armored mask the dull shade of brown blocking the rest from view.

AJ's about to say something, ask, when Renamon speaks up off of a slightly winded grunt. "Cyberdramon," she wheezes, almost making it up to her feet as well. Everyone twists to look at her, shocked.

"You know him?" Heath demands roughly, standing between Wade and the tall creature leering over at them, his teeth poking out between his lips.

"Unfortunately." She stands up, still falling short of coming close to Cyberdramon's height. "He used to be in charge of keeping this area safe. I'm guessing that's not the case any longer... Dammit." Her paw goes right to her midsection and AJ frowns, realizing her partner is injured. Before she can say anything, however, Renamon rushes forward. "DIAMON-"

She's batted away like she's nothing and Cyberdramon roars viciously, the terrible sound leaving the younger Digimon all cringing away, DemiVeemon whimpering in Ricardo's arms as he peeks up at the larger monster. "DESO-"

There's a desperate scramble. "MOVE!" Monodramon, Impmon and Gabumon all yell at once, tackling their partners down and whoever else that's close enough- Impmon drags Dolph, Zack and Patamon down, while Gabumon snags Ricardo, pressing him against the ground not far away from where he's pushed Alberto to, DemiVeemon's strained cries louder than before.

"-LATION CLAW!" Just barely in the nick of time, Monodramon snags Seth, Alicia and their Digimon, forcing them down to safety with Mike as well, when something hot and dangerous flies over their heads, causing Alicia to scream. When they all look up, there's a huge hole in the ground, data streaming up from it in a sickening fashion. None of them want to imagine actually getting hit with it. Cyberdramon loses interest in them after missing, turning his dark attention back towards those still standing- AJ, Wade and Heath.

The three of them and their Digimon gape helplessly as he snarls, claws clicking together as he prepares for yet another attack. It happens so suddenly that none of them could prepare for it, Heath barely having the chance to clasp his Digivice, preparing to attempt Lopmon's Digivolution sequence, when they look up to find that Cyberdramon is rushing towards them.

"CYBER NAIL!" he roars, his terrible claws glinting in the sun... but Wade, acting with the foresight and terrible instincts that he'd gathered from years of bareknuckle brawls in England, tangles the fingers of his good hand in the shredded holes of Heath's shirt and tugs, forcing the younger man down with all of the strength he has remaining after his surgery only a few weeks ago.

It's just enough, the horrible Digimon flying over their heads and embedding his claw in the loam. This time, when he gets up, he yet again avoids the target he'd just failed on, instead focusing on AJ and Renamon. Now more steady, the fox-like creature steps forward to challenge him, ignoring AJ's faint gasp as she grips her Digivice. "No-"

"DIAMOND STORM!" Renamon yells once more, trying to attack him with her strongest possible attack... but the shards merely ping off of his armor like pea-sized hail on a sidewalk. This gives Renamon pause as she backs away from him. It all seems to be happening in slow motion as AJ watches, her eyes wide with terror.

"DESOLATION CLAW!" The attack is as terrible as it was the first time, if not worse, and AJ swallows, unable to watch her partner suffer the same fate as Veemon... or any other Digimon they'd watch delete. One minute she's behind Renamon, then she blinks, and she's standing in front of the Digimon, her arms held out protectively. She's thin and she's short but she hopes it's enough, to keep Renamon from deleting as well.

"What are you doing?!" Renamon screams at her, the most she's ever said to her at one time, and AJ almost smiles through the tears that the intensity of the attack is bringing to her eyes as it nears. "AJ-!" And then everything stops. A blinding white light that overwhelms everything, including Cyberdramon's attack... neutralizes it as if it had never existed... comes from AJ's hand, and she looks down to realize that the Digivice has come to life.

"What-" she's just mumbled when she turns to discover- the light is focusing on her partner, Renamon starting to spin in a tight circle.

"Renamon Digivolve to..." Her body shifts, elongates, gleams with light not offered by the Digivolution process. Flames surround her, flick from the... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... nine! Nine tails that she now has. Instead of standing on two legs, she eases forward on four and waits as the Digivolution concludes. Her body is still a soft cream color, white fur spiking out around her neck, which has a red and white fabric curling around it, curious golden shapes on either end. The tao symbols on her leg and forehead, between her crystal blue eyes, fascinate AJ. "Kyubimon," she declares, her voice deeper and more in control now as she lands, settles into her new form.

AJ thinks she hasn't seen anything more beautiful in all of her life. "Kyubimon," she tries, the syllables tripping off of her tongue as the four-legged creature leaps over her, immediately heading for Cyberdramon.

"Dragon Wheel!" she yells, the flames overwhelming her body but not harming her as she collides into Cyberdramon. He roars in pain and tries to slash her but she's too quick, her flames dancing along his body and melting the armor, leaving him screaming in pain as his data is compromised, unable to stand up under the heat, her onslaught. He tries again, and again, and again to attack, even turning his attention to the others, but she's always right there, alternating the intensity of her flames to ensure that he's not going anywhere, and sure enough a deep crack fissured through his armor all the way to his body, leaving his data scattering all over.

His chin tilts towards Kyubimon once more, his lips parted in silent screams of pain, and finally he shatters, his data streaming every which way as the Digidestined all watch, breathless and shaken. There's still signs all over of his attack, the ground dotted with sections completely missing, but they're all alive and regrouping.

Before AJ can get a good look at her partner in this new form when not in the middle of a battle, however, Kyubimon glows and quickly becomes the more agile form of Renamon once more. She marches towards AJ, pausing only for a minute by her. "Never... ever... do that again."

AJ stares up at her for a moment, somehow not surprised. "Yes, ma'am," she says in a falsely chipper voice. Even so, as they walk around to help the other Digidestined regroup, find their footing, get ready to return to Luke, she can't help but feel that something's changed between her and Renamon, even if she's not sure what, or how... She smirks a little.