Rebuilding Luke's base moving along smoothly, the Digidestined feel a little more secure in venturing around, exploring the Digiworld. Trying to find trouble before it grows too bothersome, or encompassing. Even so, they still feel a little shaky alone, so they usually go out in teams of two. For this reason, Alicia and AJ are wandering around on their own, trying to figure out what their Digivices are pointing them towards when Renamon cries out and immediately hits the ground, as if tripped up by something. AJ stops sharply and turns towards her, eyes wide. "What's wrong?! Renamon?"

Her partner takes a minute to respond, but when she does, it's clearly not Renamon. Her eyes aren't their usual, icy blue shade. Instead they're dark, deadened. She gets to her feet and stares coolly at the two women and Palmon before flicking her nails together. "Diamond storm," she hisses, aiming the attack right at Palmon, who is frozen and unprepared.

Alicia moves, however, her long legs sending her forward with enough force that she succeeds in tackling her partner away from the sharp blast, AJ gasping as dirt is thrown up towards her. "Renamon?"

Palmon regroups quickly after making sure Alicia is alright, getting up to her feet. She'd witnessed AJ and Renamon both when possessed by the evil digimon not that long ago, and there's little to no doubt that this is something different. They circle each other, staring each other down, before Palmon sends vines towards Renamon, struggling to keep up with her as she races around, very agile and nimble as she avoids each of Palmon's attempts.

It's a simple miscalculation, Renamon ending up too close to AJ- who runs out in front of her, trying to stop her- when Palmon shoots forward and wraps her vines around Renamon's legs, once more tripping her but this time she only hits her knees, struggling to stand once more when Palmon, beginning to panic at the lack of response to her Poison Ivy, which is normally enough to paralyze her opponents at least for a few moments, tangles her vines higher, wrapping around Renamon's knees to her midsection, finally tying her arms to her sides.

Renamon's struggles grow harder to ignore and it's with some shock that AJ realizes her Digivice is gleaming, Renamon forcing a Digivolution. "No!" she cries out, seeing every opportunity she has at regaining her partner slipping through her fingers. How she succeeds at stopping her Digivice from reacting to her partner's need, she's not sure, but it feels like it listens to her, suddenly turning dark in her hand.

Officially trapped now, there's little Renamon can do as Palmon approaches warily, their eyes locked. "What are you going to do?" Alicia asks her partner, fearful for her, considering everything they'd seen already.

"I think she's infected by dark data," Palmon says quietly as she takes another couple of steps towards the bitterly seething Digimon. "This can be absorbed just by walking over something that's not visible."

"How do we fix it?" AJ demands, desperate to have Renamon returned to normal as quickly as possible. "When Mike helped us..." She hesitates, the memories fuzzy at best. "He used his Digivice and-"

"He was able to do that because he's the Digidestined of Light," Palmon interjects, not unkindly. "This is an entirely different situation... I'm going to need to extract the data from her."

AJ stares from Palmon to her downed partner, swallowing hard. "How will you know the difference?"

"I won't," she admits grimly. "But I have to try something..." She stares at AJ. "Alright?"

"Yes," the diva finally mutters, her eyes grim as Palmon nods and approaches her partner.

Avoiding another swipe of her claws, Palmon skitters aside, then steps forward again. "Root Breaker," she mutters, one of the vines glowing as it starts to absorb data from Renamon. It's a slow process and the fight is clearly leaving Renamon along with her data and strength, and AJ is terrified as Alicia clings to her, the two of them watching on in horror. However, it's just as clear when Palmon finds what she's looking for, because she shudders and breaks the connection, Renamon immediately de-volving to the much smaller form of Viximon.

"Are you ok?" Alicia asks her partner anxiously, AJ peeking over her shoulder as she scoops her partner up and hugs her close.

Palmon nods, shaking herself. "Yes, it didn't enter me. I overwhelmed it with Renamon's pure data and my own, and it was destroyed. Everything's fine now." She walks forward and lays a gentle hand on top of Viximon's head, smiling at the baby creature as she opens her wide blue eyes and stares up at Palmon. "You'll be alright, Viximon."

The young Digimon's voice is soft, almost shy, but definitely grateful. "Thank you, Palmon," she murmurs.

Alicia grins and rests a hand on Palmon's forehead, eager to return to the relatively safe group setting with them all together. "Come on, guys," she urges, leading the way. Neither of the divas notice when Palmon peeks back towards where Renamon had stepped when the data had begun to overwhelm her...