This chapter takes place between the end of Battle For Oblivia and the beginning of Next Heroes. Got something a little different for you guys today.

About a week after the incident with Giratina, things were starting to quiet down again in Oblivia. Takumi and his friends were taking a break in Cocona Village.

Takumi sat the Rainbow Dias prop with Terriermon sitting on his knee. "Almost three months have passed…"

"Hmm? What's wrong Takumi?" Nokia asked.

"It's hard to believe it's been so long. It feels like yesterday when Ami and I woke up on Dolce Island."

"I get what you're saying." Arata replied. "Still, I'm wondering if any progress has been made on getting us home."

"Knowing father, he's working tirelessly." Yuuko said. "Just have a little faith in him. I know he wants to save all of us. He just doesn't want to make any mistakes in the process."

"Hey, Takumi! Ami!" Ralph ran over to them with his friends. "Tell us more about the adventure you had in your world!"

"You've been telling them about that?" Yuugo asked.

"It feels weird that everyone just forgot about all that back home. I feel like someone should remember." Takumi replied.

"Last time, you were telling us how you two and Arata defeated Exemon!" A village boy said. "What did you do after that?"

Takumi sighed. This was a part he was uncomfortable with, but he did promise to explain everything. "We had Magnamon and the other Royal Knights keep an eye on Exemon. Meanwhile we reported to Kyoko and then we got a call from Yuuko who found Crusadermon. So, we-

A sudden roar in the distance interrupted Takumi's story. People and Pokemon were running by from the west side of the village. "What's going on?!" Terriermon asked as he stood up.

Ami grabbed the arm of a villager as he ran by. "Hey, what's happening?"

"Some wild Pokemon came out of nowhere and are running amok!"

"What?"

"But the Pokemon in Teakword Forrest shouldn't be that violent!" Ralph said.

"Do you think it's the Pinchers?" Nokia asked. "Are some of those no-good jerks still looking for revenge?"

Takumi stood up. "We better go find out. Ralph, wait here! Yuugo, call Rand! Nokia, Yuugo, Fei, protect the village! Terriemron, Ami, Arata, let's go!"

"Right!"

The three tamers hurried past the stone of time and rushed into Teakwood. A Stantler, a Bidoof, and a Hoppip ran past them in fear. "Those Pokemon live in Teakwood." Ami aid. "What's going on?"

"We better hurry." Arata said.

The team went deeper and soon saw five beings rampaging about, throwing boulders and knocking over trees. One was a long serpent-like creature made of steel. Another was a rabbit with grey and brown fur. One was a giant red bug, and one was a rock Pokemon with hot coals on its back. "I've never seen Pokemon like that before!" Terriermon said.

"What's going on?! They're berserk!" Takumi said. "It would be best to wait for Rand to arrive to capture them safely, but at this rate the whole forest will be torn down before he gets here!"

"No choice then." Ami said. She and Takumi burst with aura.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Terriermon Double Warp Digivolve to…MegaGargomon!"

"Palmon Double Warp Digivolve to…Rosemon!"

Two Mega Level Digimon charged at the crowd. MegaGargomon grabbed the metal Pokemon by the tail, swung it over head and slammed it into the ground.

"Thorn Whip!" Rosemon thwacked the rabbit Pokemon with her whip. The red bug charged towards Rosemon with its horns out, but she jumped over it, flung her whips into the ground at the left and right of the Pokemon and slingshot herself into it.

The rocky Pokemon cloaked itself in fire and charged towards MegaGargomon's head, but he caught it, kicked it into the air and took aim. "Burst Shot!" he bombarded it with missiles, and it dropped to the floor out cold.

Just then the metal Pokemon coiled it's body around MegaGargomon and the rabbit burst out of the ground, grabbing Rosemon with it's ears and slamming her head first into the ground. "Hang in there!" Takumi said.

MegaGargomon broke out of the serpents' grip, threw it in the air, and jumped after it. He grabbed it by the head and slammed it into the ground.

Rosemon kicked the rabbit in the face to get out of its grip and got back on her feet. "Gia Element!" She threw a emerald orb at it, and knocked it out.

"That's the end of that." Takumi said. "What was with those things anyway?"

Rand then flew in on a Staraptor. "Yuugo told me what happened. Is everyone alright?"

"Hey, you're late." Arata said. "Takumi and Ami took care of this already."

Rand looked at the defeated Pokemon. "A Steelix, a Diggersby, a Scolipede, and a Coalossal?! These Pokemon don't belong in Oblivia!"

"What?" Ami gasped. "Then how did they get here?"

"To get to Oblivia means traveling across the sea." Takumi noted. "Which means…"

Rand nodded. "Someone brought them here. But why?"

As Arata took a picture of Takumi, Ami, and their Digimon with the defeated Pokemon, A man with a black hood pulled over his head, a purple short sleeved shirt, fingerless black gloves, black pants, and a purple visor was over his eyes hid behind a tree watching. MegaGargomon looked in his direction. "Who's there?!"

"Gah!" The man took off.

"Hey!" Takumi ran after him. Ami followed close behind.

"Takumi, Ami, wait!" Rand yelled.

"Eh, no use trying to stop them." Arata sighed. "Trust me I know. They'll be fine Rand. Meanwhile, we should do something about these Pokemon."

"I guess you're right…"

The suspicious man ducked into Rasp Cavern. Takumi followed him inside. The man kept running and jumped off the cliff leading to the Monument, knowing there was a back exit he could escape from…

And came to a screeching halt when he saw Ami and Rosemon waiting for him. "Nice try." Ami smirked. "We know this region well."

"Grrr!"

Takumi and MegaGargomon caught up. "Who are you?" the boy asked. "Why are you snooping around here?"

"Hmph! Not bad detectives. I didn't think I'd be spotted."

"Did you bring those wild Pokemon to Oblivia?" Ami asked.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Who's to say?"

"Take off your disguise and come quietly." Takumi said. "We have more questions for you."

"I'm sure you do, "Cyber Rangers". But I have prior engagements. The training exercise for control of Pokemon was a success."

"So that was you who brought those Pokemon here." MegaGargomon said.

"…Uh…perhaps I said too much. Well, anyway, now we just need a field test of how well we control Digimon…" the man said reaching into his coat.

"What?" Ami gasped.

He took out a strange device and six creatures came out. Three clad in armor faced Takumi and MegaGargomon. Three wrapped in bandages faced Ami and Rosemon. Takumi looked at the three he faced. "Those are Knightmon!"

Ami scanned the three facing her. "Mummymon. Ultimate Level Virus Type. It wields "Obelisk" and is know as the "Necromancer" due to it's ability to manipulate annihilated Digimon."

"He's using Pokemon and Digimon?" Rosemon asked.

"Let's take them down and capture him." MegaGargomon said.

"Be careful!" Takumi said. "You may be a level above them, but you know how dangerous Knightmon can be!"

The three Knight's dashed towards MegaGargomon. He blocked the first few sword swings from them using the barrels on his wrists. When one tried to get an overhead swing on him, he jumped back. "Burst Shot!" He unloaded a bombardment of misses on them and they brought out the shields on their backs to block the blows. "Tch! Can't even scratch those shields despite being a Level above them!"

"It's because you're at a Type disadvantage."

As that was happening, the Mummymon fired their weapons at Rosemon. She dodged the electrical trails fired from them. She leapt onto a rock and jumped off it just before it was blown to pieces. "Snake Bandage!" One of them held its other arm out and bandages flew at Rosemon ensnaring her arms to her sides and holding her in place. All three of them took aim and fired square in her midsection.

"Rosemon!" Ami shouted.

"Ngh…! Rrr…RAH!" Rosemon burst free of the bandages. "Thorn Whip!" She threw her whip into the one that tied her up and it slid back on its feet. But it cackled as it straightened back up. "Tch! My attacks aren't doing as much damage as I'd like."

"That's because they're Virus Types and you're a Data. Revert to Lillymon so you can switch to Angewomon! It'll put you at the same level as them, but you'll have an advantage in Type over them!"

"Right." Rosemon went to her Ultimate form. "Lillymon! Slide Evolution!" Angewomon!" The Mummymon continued to fire, but Ami's Digimon was able to block the blasts with her hands. "Celestial Arrow!"

The Mummymon jumped away from the attack. Angewomon kept shooting while dodging at the same time. One shot she got in on a Mummymon, left a burning mark on its shoulder and it could no longer use the arm holding its weapon. "That's it, keep it up!" Ami cheered.

"Now to finish it off!" Angewmon charged at it.

"No, wait!"

"Snake Bandage!" the Mummymon she charged at shot bandages at her again.

Angewomon gasped in surprise as she was tied up. Again. Only this pinned not just her arms but her wings to her body and she dropped to the floor yelping upon impact. She sighed as she slowly stood up. "Great. Guess I flew right into that one…literally."

"Angewmon, break free!"

The angle grunted as she strained her arms against the tightly packed bandages. "I can't! It's too strong for me in this form!"

"Then switch back to Rosemon!"

"Oh, no you don't!" the shady man snapped his fingers.

"Snake Bandage!"

Ami shrieked as one of the Mummymon coiled bandages around her, restricting her arms. "Hey!"

"Ami!" Angewmon looked at her tamer and turned back as soon as she heard the other two Mummymon attack. She jumped over an electric blast of one but while she was in mid air, bandages coiled around her ankle and pull her back to the ground.

As Angewmon was pulled over to them by her ankle, Ami was pulled to the floor and dragged over to them as well. "Release us!" she screamed as the one that caught her started tying more bandages around the rest of her body.

"Ami…!" Angewmon weakly gasped before one of them wrapped bandages around her face, reducing anything else she said to muffled screams and blindfolding her. She tried to flail her legs to keep them from getting trapped, but when the third one tied her shins together that effort was sunk.

The Knightmon kept the pressure up on MegaGargomon and soon had him pushed back. The three of them jumped into the air. "Berserk Sword!" They all got a powerful swipe that hit MegaGaromon so hard her reverted to Rapidmon.

The man laughed. "Type advantage, Level Advantage, you still can only do so much against these numbers."

Takumi growled as he looked over at Ami and her Digimon who were now covered head to toe in tightly wrapped bandages. Takumi clutched his fist. "Not yet…"

"Hmm?"

"We're not finished yet! We won Oblivia a peaceful future alongside Ben and Summer. I don't know who you are…but I won't let you destroy what we fought so hard to protect!" A yellow aura glowed around him.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Rapdimon Digivolve to…BlackMetalGarurumon!" Takumi's Digimon took a new form. One that looked like a black version of MetalGarurumon with red eyes.

"He still has energy to Digivolve?!" the man asked in shock.

A green light shined where Ami's hand was under her bandages and spread throughout her mummified body.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Angewomon Digivolve to…Magnadramon!" as Ami's Digimon grew into a dragon, she burst free of the bandages.

"Those two were wrapped tighter than a couple of presents, how the heck did they manage that?!" the man yelled.

BlackMetalGarurumon opened hatches around his body. "Ice Wolf Claw!" He bombarded the Knightmon with an assault of misses, blasting them a good distance.

"What?!"

"Nice!" Takumi grinned. "Now we have a Type and Level advantage!"

"Fire Tornado!" Magnadramon shot a golden spiral that incinerated the Mummymon.

"Garuru Tomahawk!" BlackMetalGarurumon shot missile after missile from his chest. Three in total. Each one blew up a weakened Knightmon.

Takumi's Digivice absorbed all of the shards of the six Digimon. "Alright, now to deal with- He heard a familiar noise and looked up. The man was flying away on a UFO. "Was that a Z.Z. Flyer?!"

"Grrr! We let him get away!" BlackMetalGarurumon growled.

"I got a picture of him on my Digivice." Takumi said. "Let's head back and show Kyoko. Come on Ami. Ami?"

"MMMPHGHRRRRGH!" They all looked at the tightly packed, human shaped package rolling back and forth, still trying to move.

"Oh, right, whoops." Takumi ran over to Ami and managed to pull away enough of the bandages to free her head. "Hey, are you alright?"

Ami gasped for air. "I nearly suffocated and can't move anything! Do I look okay to you, you idiot?!"

Takumi squinted at her. "Ami, how long do you think it would take to hop or roll from here back to the village like that?" His sister immediately stopped shouting. "I thought so."

Back at Rand's house everyone looked at the image of the suspicious man Takumi took a picture of. Arata also had a picture out of Takumi and Ami, with their Digimon and the Pokemon they defeated.

"And you're sure that was a Z.Z. Flyer he escaped on?" Kyoko asked.

Takumi nodded. "It looked and sounded the same. I've dealt with enough of those things to be able to recognize them."

"Hmm…It couldn't be Pinchers, could it?" Matayoshi asked. "Hey, Nate, did you hear anything from your old buddies recently?"

Leanne's new assistant shook his head. "Sorry. I haven't spoken to any of them since Purple Eyes was defeated."

"They may already know your working with us." Kyoko replied. "If so, they'd know that if they tried to contact you, you'd tip us off."

"Is something going to happen to Oblivia again?" Nema asked.

Ami looked at the pictures. "It seems like it…"

Leanne smiled. "But Rand, Nate and I need to start packing. Sorry, we'll have to leave this to you."

"Oh, that's right." Arata said. "You're leaving soon."

Nokia looked at them. "Huh? Leaving? Where are you going?"

"Did you forget?" Leanne asked. "The three of us are going to present out paper to an archaeology conference in another region. Murph's going to take us there on The Union. We'll be gone for a few days."

Rand nodded. "Professor Hastings gave special permission for The Union to be used in surveying in the sea, and we'll be going along for it. Still…what a time to be away from Oblivia with all this funny stuff going on…"

"Don't you worry about it, Rand." Date smiled. "We can handle this ourselves. You guys just have a good time!"

"Alright…but if something does come up, contact the Ranger Union and ask for backup."

"In the meantime…let's see what we can dig up." Kyoko said. "Takumi, Ami, start investigating Oblivia."

The Cyber Sleuths nodded. "Right."

About a week later, Murph showed up at the house along with Nate. "Hey, it's me, Murph! Nate and I carried all your luggage to The Union! We're ready to depart!"

"Hey Murph!" Takumi smiled.

"Hi, guys! Long time no see!"

"Speaking of sea, I hear you're in charge of The Union while it's surveying aquatic Pokemon." Arata said. "Getting the hang of sailing yet?"

"Yup! Booker only had to patch one small hole this time!"

Date groaned. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Well, I suppose that counts as improvement." Yuuko sighed.

"By the way, Rand told me strange things are happening in Oblivia again." Murph said. "Pokemon not native to Oblivia appearing, and rampaging Digimon and guys in weird getups on Z.Z. Flyers."

Rand sighed. "I wish I could help but-

"Rand, it's okay, we got this." Fei replied.

"Well, just remember to call Ranger Union if something happens."

"We know, we know!" Nokia said. "Now stop dawdling here and go have a good time at this archaeology thingy!"

Murph slapped his head. "Oh, that's right! That's right! We'd better get going soon!"

Rand smiled. "Okay, Murph. Thanks in advance." He put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Nema, take care of the house while we're out."

"Mom, Papa, have a nice trip!" Nema smiled. "Sometimes you two should go out, just the two of you. It'll be like a date!"

"Nema! Would you stop being silly!?" Leanne scolded.

"Hee, hee!"

Nokia waved them off. "Have a nice trip!"

The four of them left. "So where does that leave us?" Yuugo asked. "We haven't had much luck over this last week. All we got was a wireless conversation that Arata jacked and all we managed to learn before they caught on and cut us off was that they call themselves "Team One World"."

Takumi sighed. "Every time we get clues of a sighting they vanish before Ami and I can get there. It's like they're keeping their eyes out for us at all times."

"Well, you did best one of them by a landslide last week." Lopmon said. "Why wouldn't they be on the lookout for you?"

"Hmmm…" Kyoko pondered. "Perhaps we need to change our methods a bit."

"You got a plan Kyo-Kyo?" Matayoshi asked.

"Takumi, Ami, you and I are going to look as deep into this as we can. Come on."

"Okay." Takumi picked up Terriermon as he, Ami and Palmon followed.

"Uh, Kyoko, what about the rest of us?" Yuuko asked.

"Keep an eye on things. Make sure the wild Pokemon and Digimon don't hurt anybody." Kyoko said before she and her assistants left the house.

"Why do I get the feeling we're being she's up to something fishy?" Date replied.

"Well…I'm sure it'll work out somehow." Nema replied. "This is Kyoko, Takumi and Ami, we're talking about here!"

"Hence why I'm worried!"

"Oh, come on, cousin, sure they have their set of character quirks, but they get the job done, don't they?" Nokia asked.

"Yeah, I guess…"

Kyoko led Takumi and Ami to a storage house near the Great Booker Bridge. "This is where the Pinchers kept all the Staraptor." Takumi said. "Why'd you bring us here?"

"Just follow me."

"Follow you where?" Terriermon asked.

Kyoko stood in front of the electronic lock on the opened cage. "Connect Jump." She was sucked into the device.

Takumi and Ami were startled at first. "Oh, right. Forgot we can do that." Takumi muttered before following. "Connect Jump!"

"Connect Jump!" Ami and her brother followed Kyoko inside. They stood on a grid, with a strange background.

"This will be our new hideout." Kyoko smiled. "Our enemy won't be able to eavesdrop on us like this"

"Hideout?" Ami tilted her head.

"It's just like Lopmon said, Team One World will be keeping an eye on us. You two specifically. After all, you kids made quite a name for yourselves over the last three months here in Oblivia. So, I figured…if they thought we disappeared, maybe, they'll get careless."

"Oh, I see." Takumi said. "And if we're not with Arata and the others they might not notice them and they might be able to pick up a trail!"

"But we can't just sit around and expect them to do everything for us!" Ami objected.

Kyoko laughed. "I knew you'd say that. It's not like you to sit still while all this is happening. So, I figured you two can do some more…discreet investigating."

"Discreet? What do you have in mind?"

Five days later, Date groaned. "This is getting us nowhere. We're so caught up in handling rampaging Pokemon and Digimon we haven't the time to hunt down Team One World."

"Still no word from Kyoko?" Nema asked.

Nokia looked at her Digivice and sighed. "No. Takumi and Ami won't pick up either."

"Dang it, where the heck did they go?!" Arata growled. "People are saying they disappeared from Oblivia!"

"It's not like them to leave while something is happening." Yuuko said. "I hope they're okay…"

Matayoshi folded his arms. "Hmmm…"

"Is something on your mind sir?" Biyomon asked.

"I was hoping not to trouble anyone…but we need backup for this."

Yuugo turned to him. "You mean…?"

"Yup. Time to call Ranger Union. We need Pokemon Rangers for this."

"Good thinking!" Nokia smiled. "Maybe they'll send Ben and Summer here!"

"Yeah, they ain't Takumi and Ami, but I'd say they make a close second." Arata smiled.

Matayoshi. "Nema, will you give me a hand messaging them?"

"Of course!"

Takumi and Ami, now wearing a blue and red cloak receptively wondered through the crowded Aqua Resort. Nobody had said a word to them or seemed to take much notice. "So far so good." Takumi whispered in the raspy voice he was practicing with. "Nobody recognizes us, and it looks like everyone's starting to buy the rumor we've been spreading."

"Yeah." His sister whispered back with a fake voice as well. "But I still can't see too well with this hood over my eyes. But we still need to cover our faces. What to do…"

Takumi stopped and grabbed Ami's arm. "Hey." He pointed to a nearby stand selling goods. Most notably masks that looked like Latios and Latias. He grinned at his sister. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Ami smirked. "Are you thinking that Latias mask would look great in this red cloak?" The two of them walked towards the merchant.

In the Ranger Union Professor Hastings was listening to four teenagers as they explained their story. "Hmmm…Yes, I see…"

"So, will you help us find them?" the eldest of the teens with sandals asked.

Hastings smiled as he looked at the list of people presented to him. "Actually, I believe you're missing people have been found."

"Wait, seriously?!" the blond in the group asked. "Wow, this was a lot easier than I thought it would be!"

Rythmi entered the room. "Excuse me Professor. We received an urgent message from Obliva. I think you should see it right away."

"I understand. Gentlemen, please wait here, I'll be right back." He followed the Operator out.

The teen with white hair smiled. "Well, that worked out! Heck we didn't even need all that time Mr. Kamishiro gave us!"

"True." The leader said. "Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time waiting for our bus home." The quiet teen in the back with black hair sighed. "Hmm? Something wrong Keisuke?"

"Nothing." The boy looked down. "Are there really Digimon in this world…?"

Upstairs where the Operators monitored everything Professor Hastings red a message sent by Matayoshi. "Hmm…I see…What odd timing."

"What should we do sir?" Rythmi asked.

"First call back Ben and Summer from where they are now and have them report to the Union as soon as they can. Also…have Kellyn, Kate, and Keith return here as well. I need to go have a talk with our peculiar guests…they might be joining them in Oblivia."

"Understood."

In the Digital World a tall Digimon clad in black armor stood in front of a TyrantKabuterimon a Justimon and a Shakkoumon. "Tomorrow?" Justimon asked.

The knightly Digimon nodded. "Yes. Tomorrow, I can send you through that gap between that world and ours. There is a catch, however. The gap is small. We could get you through by converting you all into you Rookie forms, or we can wait. Like I said the hole is expanding slowly. I plan on going once it's big enough for me to get through."

Justimon shook his head. "No. We can't afford to dawdle. Who knows what's happening to her as we speak?"

"Very well. Just one more thing…"

"What is it?"

"I've been looking into this world for a while…and it seems my Partner, her assistants and her friends are not the only ones from hat other world there. Four young boys showed up."

TyrantKabuterimon gasped. "What?! Is it-

"Yes. Your former partners. And it seems they'll be joining the other lost humans there."

"What timing! If we team up with them, we can-

"Hold your horses." Justimon said. "Don't forget, they won't remember us."

"Oh…Right…"

The knight nodded. "Also…don't tell them about your kidnapped friend."

"What? Why?"

"Knowing Takumi and Ami, they'll be fixated on saving someone if they know they're in danger. If they panic and start a frantic search for her, they'll play into our enemy's hands. Just help them look into our attacker."

"I understand." Justimon replied.

TyrantKabuterimon sighed. "Well…even if you don't remember me…I hope to see you soon…Keisuke."

And there you have it. I thought it'd be fun to dedicate a chapter to all the stuff that started the events of the fourth arc. Anyway, next week I'll include Hudie in on the Quest action, so look forward to that.