Digimon Hunters Hunters of Light and Darkness

by Star-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

It has been 1 week since the Digidestined defeated MaloMyotismon. Shadow and Grimdramon were enjoying the peace, till an Old man from another world appeared to took them to his world. This is a new adventure for the Darkness users as they become Hunters and eventually learn Shadow's forgotten Past and defeat a Great Evil unlike anything they faced before.

6. Chapter 6

I have no excuese for the long wait for this chapter. I admit that I lost interest, but I got my act together again. I understand all your anger and insults are well justified, so I won't attempt to defend to myself. But I will tell yoou that I plan to rewrite the past chapters and make them better than before. I will take into consideration what you've alll said. I won't waste your time anymore, enjoy the chapter and I hope it makes up for the long wait.

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Chapter 6: The Digimon Kendo Match! Kotemon's Blade Draws Near!

(Digimon Hunters (Xros Wars) opening)

In a street full of passing by people, Taigru ran forward, before he stopped when he spotted something. He brought out his red Fusion Loader with his right hand and held it up.

'I'm Tagiru Akashi. This adventure takes place at DigiQuartz, the surprising world of Digimon that exits really close to our own. When Digimon bind themselves to the evil hearts of humans, they cause all kinds of trouble'.

The world around Taigru started glitching on and out, before changing to DigiQuartz with Mikey, Ewan, Shadow and Kari appearing out of nowhere with all four of them holding their Fusion Loaders in their right hands. Ewan was on Taigru's left side and Kari was standing next to him on his left side. Mikey was standing on Taigru's right side and Shadow was standing next to him on his right side.

The five hunters braved themselves as the shadows of numerous Digimon appeared at the sides. Taigru, Mikey, Ewan, Shadow and Kari all looked up into the moon in the sky over the tower that they were facing.

'I work with my pals in the Fusion Fighters, Twilight's Union and Light's Hope to resolve these Digimon cases!'

In the shadows of DigiQuartz, a DemiDevimon and Togemon came out of hiding, while a Palmon was climbing up a post. A Whamon flew across the sky of DigiQuartz, giving out a groan. Someone covered in shadows jumped towards a shadow covered bird like Digimon. The human landed on the Digimon's back, who flickered around a bit.

'Now c'mon, let's start Digimon hunting!'

The bird-like Digimon flew towards the screen with its Hunter now standing up with his Fusion Loader in his right hand. Suddenly, they both glowed brightly before the title 'Digital Monsters' in front of them.

(Play Digimon Xros Wars: Stand Up)

Suddenly, the title, bird Digimon and Hunter dispersed to reveal 5 lights in the air. From the five lights came Gumdramon, Shoutmon, Damemon, Grimdramon and Gatomon with the Mini Dragon leading them.

'Yeah, stand up boys!'

'Come on, face forward'.

'The call enveloping you is your guide'.

The five Digimon landed in front of cloud of black dust. Gumdramon was in the middle, Shoutmon was on his right and Damemon on his left. Gatomon was on Shoutmon's right, while Grimdramon was on Damemon's left.

5 figures appeared around the five Digimon, covered by the dust, but it cleared to reveal that it was Taigru, Mikey, Ewan, Kari and Shadow with all of them standing behind their partner Digimon, all of them holding their Fusion Loader. Taigru was holding his right his right hand, while Mikey, Ewan, Kari and Shadow were holding theirs with their left hands.

The screen zoomed out to show all five of them apart of all the hunters gathered together in DigiQuartz. Ryouma was standing on Kari's right side, holding his Fusion Loader with his right hand with Astamon in front of him. Ren and Airu were standing on Shadow's left side, holding their Fusion Loaders with their right hands, while Darcmon and Opossummon were in front of them.

Behind everyone appeared the Fusion Fighters symbol with the title 'Digimon Hunters: Hunters of Light and Darkness'.

'Step towards tomorrow'.

'Yeah, stand up girls!'

'At the end of what's more than real'.

Mikey, wearing a red singlet with the number 5 on it, was playing basketball with shadow covered figures surrounding him and the Fusion Fighters emblem in the background. The Fusion Fighter general bounced the ball from his left hand into his right, before he took hold of it with both his hands and passed it over to a teammate.

Ewan, wearing a red singlet with the number 3 on it, caught the basketball with both his hands with two shadow covered figures behind him. Ewan spun around, before he passed the ball into the air.

The Fusion Fighters emblem in the background changed to Light's Hope symbol as Kari, wearing a blue singlet with the number 4 on it, jumped into the air and caught the basketball. She quickly tossed the ball to another player.

The Light's Hope symbol changed to Twilight's Union symbol as Shadow, wearing a black singlet with the number 1 on it, caught the ball with both his hands. He tossed the ball right up into the air above him.

Twilight's Union changed back to the Fusion Fighters' symbol as Taigru, wearing a red singlet with the number 7, caught the ball with both his hands as he leaped into the air. The young boy had a wide grin as he brought the basketball to the hoop and scored a goal.

'We'll grab a light that's been covered by thick clouds'.

Through a white flashing portal, Ryouma, Ren and Airu all entered DigiQuarts. They all turned around and held their flashing Fusion Loaders up with their right hands. Three coloured figures appeared, their forms covered by the colours, before the colours cleared to reveal that they were Psychemon, Opossummon and Dracmon.

'How we spend our days before isn't good enough'.

'At full speed'.

With DigiQuartz as the background with a dark red coloured outline of Taigru running through it towards the left with his Fusion Loader in hand, Gumdramon slid off the ground towards in front of the screen. He jumped once, before he jumped again and flipped over to bring his hammer-like tail in front of the screen.

With DigiQuartz as the background with a red coloured outline of Mikey running through it towards the right with his Fusion Loader in hand, Shoutmon slid off the ground towards in front of the screen. The Digimon King brought out his McField-brand mic, before he took hold of it with both his hands. Shoutmon swung his mic to the left, before he jumped up and brought it down to the ground.

With DigiQuartz as the background with a white outline of Kari running north of it with her Fusion Loader in left hand and ponytail being blown in the breeze, Gatomon ran up forward on all four feet. She swiped her right claw out, before her eyes glowed pink.

With DigiQuartz as the background with a yellow coloured outline of Ewan running forward with his Fusion Loader in hand, Damemon jumped forward. He brought out his tofas, before he swung them both forward, and then took a fighting stance.

With five different coloured worlds as the background with a black coloured outline of Shadow flying in the middle of the worlds with his Fusion Loader in hand, Grimdramon flew up to the screen and stopped mid-air. The Dragon of Darkness unleashed a roar, before he breathed out a dark breath attack on the screen.

'We can blast through'.

'Even the highest walls'.

'Stand up for your dream!'

With the background having multiple digital circles containing many Digimon, five digital circles containing Gumdramon, Shoutmon, Damemon, Gatomon and Grimdramon all came together, causing all of them to glow brightly.

Gumdramon, Shoutmon, Damemon, Angewomon and Grimdramon all flew into the air. Gumdramon was in the middle, Shoutmon was on his right and Damemon on his left. Angewomon was on Shoutmon's right, while Grimdramon was on Damemon's left.

Five Digital rings passed through Gumdramon, causing him to glow bright gold. Five more Digital rings passed through Shoutmon, causing him to glow bright gold as Gumdramon Digivolved into Arresterdramon. Five more Digital rings passed through Damemon, causing him to glow bright gold as Shoutmon Digivolved into OmniShoutmon. Five more Digital rings passed through Angewomon, causing her to glow bright white as Damemon Digivolved into Tuwarmon. Five more Digital rings passed through Grimdramon, causing him to glow bright black as Angewomon Digivolved into LovelyAngemon, before he Digivolved into Devastatingdramon.

The five Digimon all stood together and faced forward, ready to battle, releasing a white pulse.

'Be enthusiastic at what you do, no matter what it is'.

'Push your way through to make an opening'.

'No matter how far'.

With the background showing his face, Arresterdramon flew into a pensive, before releasing his Prism attack, shooting off spirit-like copies of himself forward to the screen.

With the background showing him roaring, OmniShoutmon channelled the Omega inForce into an aura that resembled Omnimon, which thrusts its open arms out to the screen.

With the background showing her mask covered face, LovelyAngemon punches her fists out, firing heart-shaped energy shots at the screen.

With the background showing his face, Tuwarmon brought his Matis Arms together, before wrapping the Punpun Armor around him with the ends of his twin-sickles out, before he began spinning really quickly.

With the background showing him roaring, Devastatingdramon covers himself in black energy, before transforming it into a black beam and fires it with his hands.

'The answer you're seeking is'.

Digital rings went over Psychemon, Dracmon and Opossummon, Digivolving them into Astamon, Yasyamon and Cho Hakkaimon. The three Digimon prepared for battle with Astamon shooting the screen with his Oro Salmón machinegun.

'Stand up for your dream!'

'Even if your feelings'.

'Show weakness'.

In DigiQuartz, a blast of yellow energy appeared, before green data erupted out of it, kicking up loads of dust.

The dust cleared on the left to reveal Kari, Mikey, Taigru and Ewan standing together, facing the new threat. They thrust their Fusion Loaders out with their right hands with LovelyAngemon, OmniShoutmon, Arresterdramon and Tuwarmon behind their partners, ready to fight.

The dust cleared on the right to reveal Shadow, Airu, Ryouma and Ren standing together, facing the new threat. They thrust their Fusion Loaders out with their right hands with their left hands with Devastatingdramon, Cho Hakkaimon, Astamon and Yasyamon behind them, ready to fight.

'Your voice that I hear close by'.

The eight Hunters and Digimon stood together, facing Quartzmon's agents as they drew closer to them. One by one, the agents gained two red eyes and a red smile on their faces.

'Gives me courage and strength'.

'I can go the distance'.

The old man stood on a metal ground with his black Fusion Loader in his right hand. The screen zoomed out to reveal that he was standing on a piece of Clockmon's face with red eye visible. The screen zoomed out more to reveal the world of DigiQuartz with little lights going around it before they stopped.

Multiple shadow covered figures appeared in front and behind the bright lights, before the shadows cleared to reveal Taigru, Mikey, Ewan, Shadow, Kari, Ryouma, Airu, Ren, Mashimo and the old man, all holding out their Fusion Loaders with their left hands with the little lights actually coming from their Fusion Loaders. Taigru was in the middle, Mikey on his right and Ewan on his left. On Mikey's right were Kari, Ryouma and Mashimo. On Ewan's left was Shadow, Ren, Airu and the old man.

In front of the hunters were their partner Digimon. Gumdramon was in front of Taigru. Shoutmon was in front of Mikey. Damemon was in front of Ewan. Gatomon was in front of Kari on all four feet. Grimdramon was in front of Shadow, leaning forward with a dangerous look. Psychemon was in front of Ryouma. Darcmon was in front of Ren. Dobermon was in front of Mashimo. Opossummon was in front of Airu. The old man didn't have his partner Digimon in front of him. The Hunters and their Digimon were ready to fight and defend their world.

(Opening song end)

Inside his shared room in the Castle of Twilight, Shadow was resting peacefully on the left side of the king size bed, taking small breaths as he continue to sleep, wearing a black pajamar shirt and shorts. The other side of the bed was deprived of Kari as she had woken up early to take care of something, but that didn't mean that the DigiDestined of Darkness was all alone. His younger twin sister Ruri was in, already dressed.

She was wearing a black leather biker jacket with a silver zip that opened at the front and silver studs over a black lwcra cropped top that showed her belly. She also had black leather pants with square pockets and a zip at the center. Finally, she had black high heels with no socks. Her long black hair with purple headlights was freely lose, reaching the back of her waist and her face had no makeup on.

"Hey, good morning Castle of Twilight. It is now 10:30 AM in the world of Digimon. Temperatures a balmy 20 degrees, which is good news for your Digimon, reptiles, pets, and it looks like it's gonna be a perfect day to maybe just lie in bed, sleep in. Or simply…" Ruri began, leaning her back against a cubed, before she pushed herself off it and frowned down at her brother. "Work out that flab that's hanging over the bed! Get up, Shadow!" The Princess of Darkness cried out, before she swiped her right hand out to the left and brought out a foghorn.

Ruri held it up to her brother's face and pressed on it, causing the foghorn to let out a loud honk, causing Shadow to shot open his eyes and let out a frightened cry from the unexpected wakeup call. "Ahhaaa! Ahhaa!" Shadow exclaimed in surprise, shooting up into a sitting up position on the bed.

(20 minutes later)

A little bit later in the forest, Shadow, Zero, Rouge, Yuna, Alleria, Ash, Kimberly, Takumi, Grimdramon, DemiDevimon, Keramon, Lopmon, ShadowJackelmon, BlackGabumon, DanceCatmon and Poisondramon, all fully dressed and awake, dropped down and started doing push ups in front of Ruri and Darkwindramon. A little bit away from them were Kari, Shyan, Maroochy, Gatomon, MagnaKidmon, TigerVespamon and GrimSalamon watching them, eating boxed breakfasts that Conroy made for them not too long ago. Shyan and MagnaKidmon were currently playing around and doing a bit of research on GrimSalamon as she played with them.

Shadow had an annoyed look as he continued to do push ups in between Zero and Rouge, before he looked up at his twin sister. "I don't recall ordering a wake-up call, or a morning exercise routine, Ruri". The DigiDestined of Darkness told his sister with an annoyed tone, getting Ruri to smirk down at her brother. "Hey, less talk, more pain, Marshmallow Boy!" The Princess of Darkness replied to her brother, getting all of Shadow's teammates to laugh at what she called him.

With Kari, Shyan, Maroochy, Gatomon, MagnaKidmon, TigerVespamon and GrimSalamon they were all sitting down, eating breakfast as they watched the Princess of Darkness and her Digimon partner give their brothers and team a morning workout. Kari gave a giggle at what her sister-in-law called her husband. "That's the first time that anyone's called Shadow "Marshmallow Boy". Anyone who had the nerve would be eating dirt about now". The DigiDestined of Light giggled out, getting Maroochy to look at her with a curious expression."Oh? And why's that?" The old Queen of Darkness asked in a curious tone, getting Kari to look at her.

"Shadow has a reputation back at school where no one made fun of him. It wasn't a bad one; he wasn't a bully or anything, just someone that nobody would mess around with". The brunette answered the older woman, much to her fascination as she wanted to learn more about her grandson. "What kind of student was he in school?" Maroochy asked once more, getting Kari to smile brightly as she thought back to last year.

"He was one of the popular kids. He helped out around school, he never tolerated bullying, he had a bit of a fan club and he never disobeyed the teachers. He never even let anything get to his head and always remained honest". Kari told her husband's grandmother with a found smile at remembering her school days. Maroochy felt great relief at hearing her grandson was a good student at school.

TigerVespamon looked down at Gatomon and saw her eating a small sandwich with her right paw. She had grown curious about the Vaccine Digimon and her relationship with Grimdramon, so she decided to ask Gatomon herself. "Gatomon, was it?" The Mega Digimon questioned, getting the Champion Level Digimon's attention as she looked up at her.

"I was wondering. How exactly did you and Grimdramon meet?" The Cyborg Digimon asked Gatomon, getting her to smile upon thinking of the day that she met her husband. She looked back at her sandwich and thought back to that day. "Let's just say that it wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows. You see, Grimdramon was stuck inside a cage to hide his appearance from everyone as he wanted Shadow to be the first to see him…" The Vaccine Digimon began, thinking back to when she worked under Myotismon and how she heard about a caged Digimon underneath his castle.

"An old friend told me about him, and how he ended up in that cage. I was curious about him, so I went to see him myself and brought food. We talked a bit and learned a bit about each other, before he called me "beautiful". That really took me back and even started making my heart beat". Gatomon continued with a blush upon remembering the first time her husband complimented her on her beauty.

"We became friends and I started bringing him food and water every day. Eventually, Shadow came and freed Grimdramon. And ever since then, we've been together with Shadow and Kari, and eventually, we mated and had our daughter, GrimSalamon". Gatomon concluded with a smile, getting TigerVespamon to look towards the Dragon of Darkness as he continued to do push up. "It sounds like you two have experienced much happiness together". The Mega Level Digimon remarked, getting Gatomon's face to fall slightly as she looked down at her lap.

"It may sound like that, but we've had our fair share of bad memories". The Vaccine Digimon stated as she looked down at her right paw, right where her scar that Myotismon inflicted on her was. TigerVespamon looked down at the Champion Level Digimon and frowned slightly at seeing the look on her face, the look of a sad past. Kari also seemed to notice her partner's sad look, getting her to frown, before she picked Gatomon up and held her in her arms.

Back with Shadow and Grimdramon, the two continued to do push ups with their teammates. However, the two of them looked through the corners of their eyes to look at Yuna and Lopmon, who seemed to be avoiding their gazes. Things has been a bit rocky for them ever since they met Kari and Gatomon, thus they've been avoiding the partners of Darkness ever since. The two sighed as they didn't want to be at odds with their friends like this.

"Damn, this girl is pushy". Zero remarked from next to Shadow, getting the DigiDestined of Darkness and his partner to look over to see him and DemiDevimon looking annoyed as they did their push ups. The black haired boy turned to look at his leader. "How are you even related to this chick, anyway?" He asked his comrade and friend, wondering how Shadow was related to someone so pushy like Ruri.

Shadow gave a shrug as best as he could in his position, before he turned to look at Ruri. "Who knows". The DigiDestined of Darkness answered in an honest voice, getting his comrade to sweat drop at his answer. "He's at least honest about it". Rouge remarked with an amused look on his face.

DemiDevimon and Keramon were forced on the ground to do their push ups, and so far, they were not happy. "When I get out of this, I'll give that white lizard something to work out of her system!" The Evil Digimon swore with gritted teeth, having trouble to do the exercise as he didn't have hands himself. "When that happens, I'll give ya a helping hand". Keramon told his friend, also having trouble doing push ups as he didn't have legs.

"You guys should probably learn to talk with your voices low; otherwise the person you're planning to get payback will hear you". Grimdramon told his two fellow Virus Digimon, getting DemiDevimon and Keramon to look at him, before they looked forward and paled upon seeing Darkwindramon glaring down at them with narrowed eyes. "If you two have a problem, then speak up". The White Dragon of Darkness told the two as she gave off a white aura, making DemiDevimon and Keramon gulp in fear.

Alleria, Takumi, Shadowjackelmon and Poisondramon chuckled at their friends' displeasure, before they looked over at Shadow and Grimdramon as the two stood up from the ground. "While this may have been fun, Kari and I have got some plans with a few old friends today, so sorry, but we're cutting this short". Shadow told his sister as he stretched his right hand out, getting Ruri to narrow her eyes at her brother.

"And what are these plans?" The Princess of Darkness questioned her brother in a curious voice, getting Shadow to hold up his hands in a peaceful way. "Nothing to be concerned about. We're just planning to meet up with our old friends at their kendo match, and then hang out with each other to catch up". The Prince of Darkness explained to his sister, getting Ruri to soften her gaze, before she gave a sigh.

"Okay, I'll let you off the hook this time". Ruri told her brother, getting Shadow to smile as he lowered his hands. "But when you get back here, you're resuming your push ups". The Princess of Darkness added, getting Shadow to narrow his eyes at her. "You know that I'm actually stronger than you, right? I don't need to do these push ups". The 12-year-old boy told his twin, getting her to smirk at him.

"That may be true, but there's nothing wrong with having an exercise program. It helps us stay in shape, and gives us bonding time". Ruri replied to Shadow, who just gave a chuckle as he and Grimdramon walked over to Kari, Shyan, Maroochy, Gatomon, MagnaKidmon and TigerVespamon. Shyan held out a sandwich to his grandson with his right hand, who took it with his left hand and began to eat it.

MagnaKidmon brought out a container of DigiBytes with his right hand and tossed it to Grimdramon, who caught it with his right hand. He looked down at the DigiBytes in his claws for a moment, before he clawed it open and began enjoying himself. Shadow turned to look down at Kari and held his right hand out to her. "Ready to go see Mikey and Ewan?" The DigiDestined of Darkness asked his wife, who eagerly nodded to him as she gently placed her right hand in Shadow's hand. "You bet". Kari replied with an eager voice as Shadow pulled her up from the ground and into his embrace, along with wrapping his right arm around her waist.

Unlike their partners, Grimdramon and Gatomon didn't share words as the Vaccine Digimon jumped over and landed on her husband's back, getting the Virus Digimon to smile at her. GrimSalamon on the other hand just flew on top of Shadow's head and landed on it. Unknown to the two couples was that Kimberly, Yuna, Dancecatmon and Lopmon were glaring at the partners of Light with narrowed eyes. Kimberly and Yuna's glaring only intensified upon seeing Kari take Shadow's sandwich into her left hand, before she fed him herself. Everyone else was just smiling at the four and their affection for each other.

"Don't be out for too long". Shyan told his grandson, getting Shadow to look at him and nod with a small smile. "That'll depend. See ya later". Shadow bid farewell as his cloak gleamed black, before it grew large and wrapped around him, Kari, Grimdramon, Gatomon and GrimSalamon. The cloak then disappeared from view with the four gone.

Ruri and Darkwindramon then turned their attention back to the others members of their brothers' team, but they then noticed the angry glares on the faces of Kimberly, Yuna, Dancecatmon and Lopmon. They narrowed their eyes, before they looked at Zero and DemiDevimon. "Continue doing push ups with the rest, while we have a little talk with Kimberly, Yuna and their partners". Ruri told the black haired boy, who looked up at her in surprise. He wasn't the only one as Rouge, Alleria, Ash and Takumi looked at her and Darkwindramon in confusion, along with their Digimon.

Kimberly, Yuna and their Digimon turned their narrowed eyes towards the Princess of Darkness and her Digimon partner. They stood up from the ground and looked at the two, before Darkwindramon pointed her tail's tip at the forest behind her. "Follow us". The four-legged dragon told the four, before she and her partner turned around and began walking away into the forest, which the four females followed after them.

After a good 2 minutes of walking through the forest, Ruri and Darkwindramon stopped, before they turned around to face Kimberly, Yuna, Dancecatmon and Lopmon. "This should be far enough from the others and let us have our private conversation without disturbance". The White Dragon of Darkness stated, looking down at her fellow Digimon with narrowed eyes.

"I'll cut right to the chase; why do you guys not seem to like Kari and Gatomon?" Ruri questioned the two females with slightly narrowed eyes as she crossed her arms. Kimberly and Dancecatmon kept quiet as they looked down at the ground, while Yuna and Lopmon expressed their dislike for the two users of Light. "It's because they stole Shadow and Grimdramon from us!" The Fairy of Darkness hissed out in hatred, getting Lopmon to nod in agreement. "Yeah! We called dibs on them long ago!" The Rookie Level Digimon exclaimed in agreement, getting Ruri and Darkwindramon to narrow their eyes more.

"Dibs? They're not objects that you can just claim. They're living creatures that can choose who they want to be with". Darkwindramon said with a slightly angry voice at what the two partners just said. "They should have chosen us! We met them first, and we're creatures of Darkness like them!" Lopmon snapped back at her with an anger filled voice, getting the White Dragon of Darkness to slightly growl at her.

"FYI, it was Kari and Gatomon who knew them first. You heard Shadow when he told us all how he met Kari". Ruri told the two angry females, getting Yuna to scoff with her hands on her hips. "Yeah, so what? She's still just a weak creature of Light". The short haired girl replied in anger, getting Darkwindramon to grow a smirk on her snout. "That "weak" creature of Light and her Digimon partner, took you two out without even batting an eyelash, remember". The Rookie Level Digimon reminded the two, getting Yuna and Lopmon to growl in anger at remembering their crushing defeat to Kari and Gatomon.

"Instead of being jealous, you guys should be happy for our brothers. They've found someone they love, who loves them back". The Princess of Darkness told her brother's teammates as she unfolded her arms and placed her right hand on her chest, making Yuna grit her teeth in rage as she held up her fists. "But it's not fair! I wanted to be with Shadow!" The short haired girl complained, getting Ruri to sigh a little with her eyes closed.

"I hate to break it to ya, but that wish isn't gonna come true, no matter what any of you do. Once a dragon finds its mate, it will only romantically love that person only, even if the one they love dies. It's the condition of dragons; even we Humans of Darkness who's other selves are dragons". Ruri told the four with an exhausted tone, getting her partner to nod. "She's right. Even Ruri and I will only have one mate in our life, and nothing is gonna change that". The White Dragon of Darkness confirmed her partner's words, getting Kimberly to slightly widen her eyes.

"But…" The long dark blue haired girl began, getting everyone's attention as they looked at her. "Shadow has shown signs that he's liked me before in the past. He even gave me a flower when we reunited". Kimberly said as she remembered the flower that Shadow gave her, getting Ruri to sigh once more. "I may not have known my brother as long as you guys have, but I've learned that he treasures his friends. He may have given you a flower, but it wasn't out of romance, but out of friendship". The black and purple haired girl told the younger female, getting her face to slightly fall in sadness.

During their time together 3 years ago in the battle against Millenniummon and the seven Demon Lords, she and Shadow had their moments together, but they were completely based on her trying to make a move on him, but he never made a move on her. Back then, she thought it was because he was trying to play hard to get, or because he thought they were a bit young, but she now knew the truth. It was because his heart already belonged to someone.

Darkwindramon turned to look at Dancecatmon and saw her looking down at the ground as well. "Judging by your expression and all the other ones I've seen you with in the past, you like my brother as in more than a friend, right?" The Rookie Level Digimon questioned her fellow Virus Digimon, getting Dancecatmon to look up at her and nod. "I do". The Dancing Kitten answered with an honest tone as she had no reason to lie.

It was now Darkwindramon's turn to sigh with her eyes closed, getting Ruri to look down at her partner with a small smile. She placed her left hand on the White Dragon of Darkness's head and gave her a comforting rub, before she turned to look back at Kimberly, Yuna, Dancecatmon and Lopmon. "How did you even meet Shadow and Grimdramon?" The Princess of Darkness questioned in a curious voice, having been wondering how her brother met his teammates.

At Ruri's question, the four creatures of Darkness couldn't help, but smile upon remembering the day that they met the DigiDestined and Dragon of Darkness. "Lopmon and I met Shadow and Grimdramon not too long after we were brought to the Digital World. We were suddenly attacked by an Okuwamon, and despite our best efforts, we were no match for it". Yuna began with a found smile on her face, getting everyone to look at her and listen as she told them how she met Shadow.

"After seeing that we couldn't win, we tried to run away, but Okuwamon was determined to eliminate us. We ran as fast as we could, but that thing was hot on our tails, and it got worse when it tried to hit us with its Double Scissor Claw. Just when it seemed like it was the end of the road for us, Shadow and Grimdramon appeared out of nowhere and saved us". The short haired girl continued as she cupped her cheeks with both her hands and flushed upon remembering when Shadow saved her from destruction.

Lopmon also flushed upon remembering that day, before she looked up at Ruri and Darkwindramon. "We both lost consciousness during the battle, so we didn't see the fight ourselves. When we woke up, we were with Shadow, Kimberly, Alleria, Ash, Grimdramon, Dancecatmon, Shadowjackelmon and BlackGabumon. They told us what had happened and what was happening to the Digital World, so we decided to join them". The Data Digimon finished for her partner, getting Darkwindramon to narrow her eyes slightly at her.

"Was it because you really wanted to stop the forces of evil, or was it because you simply wanted to impress Shadow and Grimdramon?" The White Dragon of Darkness questioned in a cold voice, getting Yuna and Lopmon to widen their eyes in surprise. "W-what?! No, of course not! We helped because we didn't want innocent people to suffer!" Yuna exclaimed in denial, but Ruri could see no honesty in her eyes, getting the Princess of Darkness to scoff as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You're lying". The 12-year-old female stated, making Yuna widen her eyes once more as she took a step back. "The eyes are the window to the soul, and your eyes show no honesty, meaning that you're lying". Ruri explained to the younger female, getting Yuna and Lopmon to lower their heads in shame at being found out. Kimberly and Dancecatmon gave their teammates disappointing looks, before their attention shifted over to Ruri and Darkwindramon.

"And what about you two? How did you meet Shadow and Grimdramon?" Darkwindramon questioned the two in a slightly softer tone than the one she used on Yuna and Lopmon. The two partners nervously smile with their eyes closed upon remembering that day. "Well… let's just say that it wasn't love at first sight for us…" Kimberly answered, before she began laughing nervously as she remembered the day that she met the DigiDestined of Darkness.

(Flashback, 3 years ago)

The digital sky of the Digital world was black with no sign of any stars in the air. In a dark forest deprived of any Digimon, two familiar figures were running through the forest at a quick pace. One of them was Dancecatmon, and the other was a 9-year-old Kimberly. She was different at this age as her dark blue hair didn't reach her waist, but her shoulders instead. She wore a blue coat with a hood attached over a black turtleneck sweatshirt, blue fingerless gloves, black shorts that reach her knees and white sport shoes.

Kimberly was running on her two feet, while Dancecatmon was running on all four feet behind her with the two partners running as fast as they could. The two were lightly breathing in and out as they ran, before Kimberly gritted her teeth for a moment, and then looked over their shoulders to see if they lost their pursuer. However, unknown to the two was that not too far ahead of them, two black spheres appeared out of nowhere.

The two spheres cleared to reveal both a 10-year-old Shadow and Grimdramon with their backs to the girls. The DigiDestined of Darkness was wearing a long black short sleeve t-shirt with the symbol of Darkness on the front of it. Over his shirt, he had a black, open high collar jacket with long sleeves that reached his wrists with purple trims. He wore black long track pants with purple stripes on them as well. He had black fingerless gloves on his hands with the Crest symbol of Darkness on the back of them. He wore black socks and black sport shoes with purple trims. Finally, his black cap-like cloak was over him that just reached above his shoes.

Shadow and Grimdramon were looking at the DigiDestined of Darkness's right hand, where his Digivice was being held, before they looked over their shoulders to see both Kimberly and Dancecatmon running up to them, making the two widen their eyes in surprise. Just then, the two females looked up ahead and gasped upon seeing Shadow and Grimdramon ahead.

Before they could even attempt to slow down, Kimberly tripped over a part of a tree's truck, causing her to fall and slam into Shadow, making both of them cry out as the force and Kimberly's momentum sent them slamming and rolling onto the ground with the female's hood being blown off and revealing her hair. "Shadow! /Kimberly!" Grimdramon and Dancecatmon cried out in concern for their partners as the Champion Level Digimon stopped in her tracks.

Shadow did a backward flip fall, first crying out, then groaning as his legs fell to the ground. Kimberly did a sideways rolling fall, before she placed her left hand on the ground, stabilized herself and got back onto her feet. Her eyes flashed purple as darkness briefly appeared and covered her, before it quickly cleared to reveal that she had gone under a semi-transformation.

She had grown two big cat ears out of her head, her eyes changed into light blue cat-like eyes, her nails on her hands had changed into sharp claws like that of a cat. Her teeth were now like that of a cat and finally, she had a long light blue cat-like tail that came from her tail bone. Kimberly let out a battle cry as she charged towards Shadow, while Dancecatmon stood up on her left leg, before she began spinning.

"Dancing Slash!" The Champion Level Digimon cried out as she twirled out very quickly, before she leaped out towards Grimdramon with her claws out, getting his attention as he turned to face her. "Striking Twister!" The Rookie Level Digimon roared out as he spread his wings, before he took flight and began spinning towards Dancecatmon, forming a purple twister around himself.

Dancecatmon swung his right claw down and clashed against the purple twister, creating sparks of power to form from the clash, before the force of the impact pushed the two Digimon away from one another with the purple twister around Grimdramon dispersing. The two Digimon landed on their feet on the ground, before they glared up at each other with narrowed eyes. The two then charged towards one another with murderous intent.

Shadow glared up at the approaching cat girl, before he gritted his teeth and growled a bit with his teeth turning sharp. His ears turned into ears of a dragon, his nose changed to a dragon's nose. The white in his eyes changed to black with his pupils turning draconic. Shadow's hands turned into dragon hands with sharp claws and scales appearing that went up to his forearms. Black wings like that of a dragon erupted out of his back, tearing through his cloak and spread out. Sharp nails came out of his shoes where his feet were, but didn't wreck them. Finally, a black and purple dragon tail erupted out of his tail bones and whipped in the air, having come out of his cloak.

Kimberly swiped her right claw down at Shadow, who leaped back to dodge, before she spun around and swung her tail at his head, but he leaned back and dodge. The DigiDestined of Darkness swung his right claw up, but the 9-year-old female leaned her head back and dodged. Suddenly, Shadow thrust his left palm out and palm struck her in the stomach, pushing Kimberly back by 5 feet, but she remained unharmed.

She glared at the black and purple haired boy, before she fell down on all four like that of a cat. "Relentless Slash!" She cried out with an echo in her voice, before she shot out like a bullet and started running around Shadow, moving so fast that she left afterimages. Then, fast blurs shot out of the afterimages, slashing Shadow over and over, leaving small tears in his clothes. Shadow gritted his teeth as he held his hands up.

'Not bad. She's moving too fast for the eye to see, leaving afterimages to distract and attack the enemy, while also protecting herself from harm. But there's one thing weakness with this attack pattern'. The DigiDestined of Darkness said in his mind as he grew a smirk. He lifted up his right clawed fist, before dark energy appeared and engulfed it completely. "Crushing Fang!" Shadow called out as he slammed his right fist down on the ground, releasing a powerful wave of energy.

The wave of energy spread out, causing all the afterimages to disperse and sending Kimberly crashing onto the ground on her back, before she back flipped onto her feet and glanced towards Shadow with narrowed eyes. The 10-year-old boy looked back at her, holding up his right fist as the dark energy dispersed around it. "You've got skill and speed lady, but it'll take more than that to beat me". Shadow told his opponent, growing a confident smirk on his face as he waved his right hand's index finger at her. Kimberly growled angrily, before she charged towards the DigiDestined of Darkness once more.

With the two Digimon, Grimdramon and Dancecatmon swung their claws at each other, making contact, before they both leaped back and landed on their feet. Grimdramon spread his wings out, and then took flight and flew into the air, before he looked down at his opponent. "Darkness Breath!" The Dragon of Darkness cried out as he breathed in, before unleashing a black coloured breath attack down at Dancecatmon.

"Dancing Typhoon!" The Dancing Kitten called out as she began spinning around, forming a mini typhoon around herself that split the breath attack into two when it came into contact. Grimdramon ceased his breath attack, and then Dancecatmon stopped spinning and looked up at him. "Give it up! A Rookie Level like you has no chance against a Champion like me! Underground Bashing!" The Champion Level Digimon cried out as she jumped up, before she drove down and began digging underground, leaving a hole behind.

The Virus Digimon's eyes widened in surprise at the Champion Level Digimon's words, or more exact, a few words that she used. 'She's a Champion Level Digimon like Gatomon? That's a bit surprising to be honest'. Grimdramon thought in surprise, before he narrowed his eyes in a dangerous manner. 'But that's hardly gonna matter in the long run'. He added as Dancecatmon erupted out of the ground underneath and leaped towards him, before she swung her right fist in an uppercut.

However, Grimdramon moved at incredible speeds and flew to the right, dodging the uppercut and making Dancecatmon widen her eyes in shock. She looked over her right shoulder to see the Dragon of Darkness behind her and saw him smirking at her. "Nice try kitty cat, but now it's time to feel my wrath!" Grimdramon exclaimed as his claws were covered in darkness.

"Claw Slice!" The Dragon of Darkness roared out as he swung both of his hands in an "X" shape slash on the Champion Level's back, making her cry out, before she shot out and slammed into the ground hard, kicking up dust. After a few moments, the dust cleared to show Dancecatmon lying down on the ground on her front. She groaned, lifting her head up and placing her hands on the ground.

'He's…powerful for a Rookie Level Digimon. But how can that be?' The Dancing Kitten questioned in her mind, wondering how her opponent was so powerful like that. However, before she could continue her train of thought, something slammed into the back of her head and forced it back on the ground. She looked through the corner of her right eye and saw that it was Grimdramon, who had his right foot on the back of her head, forcing her to stay down.

The Rookie Level Digimon narrowed his eyes dangerously at her, before he gave a small snarl. "Stay down, lady. I don't want to hurt you, so don't make me with the intention to destroy. Just stay down". Grimdramon warned his opponent, getting Dancecatmon to growl up at him. She attempted to push herself up to her feet, but to her surprise, she didn't move an inch as Grimdramon proved to be heavier than she expected. 'Just who…is this guy?' She questioned inside her mind as she realized that she couldn't push Grimdramon off.

With Shadow and Kimberly, the two continued to fight against each other. The long haired girl continued to swipe her sharp claws at Shadow back to back, who just leaped back, or ducked down to dodge. The DigiDestined of Darkness then narrowed his eyes as he began his counterattack. He grabbed hold of Kimberly's right wrist with his left hand, then he blocks her right leg with his foot, before he reverse flips her over his chest and throws her on the ground.

The cat girl slammed into the ground on her back, while Shadow landed on his feet gracefully. Kimberly groaned as she climbed back up onto her feet and opened her eyes, before she gasped in dread upon seeing her partner trapped underneath Grimdramon's foot. "Dancecatmon!" She shouted out in dread, before she felt something bring her into a backward headlock. She even felt something wrap around her tail and hold it still.

She attempted to break free of the backward headlock, but failed badly as the grip was very strong. Kimberly gritted her teeth as she turned her head left to look behind her and saw that it was Shadow who had her in the headlock with his eyes narrowed at her, while his tail was wrapped around hers. The cat girl let out a small snarl, before she resuming attempting to break free of the headlock, but still failed. The DigiDestined of Darkness quickly grew annoyed with her failed attempts.

"Would you knock it off already?!" He snapped at the female, making Kimberly freeze, before she turned her head left to look up at him. He gave a sigh with his eyes closed to calm his nerves, before he opened them and gave her a gentle gaze. "Look, I don't want to hurt a creature of Darkness like myself, but if you keep struggling, I'll be forced to fight with the intention to hurt. I can promise you that the condition that I'll leave you in will be nasty". The DigiDestined of Darkness warned the female, getting her to grit her teeth again, before she tilted her head down in defeat. Grimdramon and Dancecatmon silently watched their partners with the Dragon of Darkness keeping a tight hold on the Champion Digimon.

"Now, calm down and tell me what you were running from that made you attack me without warning?" Shadow questioned Kimberly, getting her to lift her head up. Before she could answer them, something large slammed into the ground nearby and kicked up dust that covered them completely, getting everyone's attention as they looked over.

The dust soon cleared to reveal the unknown creature, making Shadow and Grimdramon widen their eyes in disbelief, while Kimberly and Yuna glared at the sight. Standing 10 feet away from them all was MetalGreymon, but was different compared to the last time that the users of Darkness last saw him. His orange skin was now a dark blue color, his blue stripes were now a dark color, his blue eyes were now a dangerous yellow color and his white claws were now a dark color. The unknown MetalGreymon glared down dangerously at the four, before it unleashed an enraged roar at them, releasing a powerful shockwave that blew away the leaves of the trees and fallen twigs.

"MetalGreymon!?" Shadow exclaimed in disbelief with wide eyes, getting Grimdramon to look at his partner and shook his head sideways. "You're half right. That thing is a MetalGreymon, but it is a MetalGreymon Virus". The Dragon of Darkness corrected his partner, getting the 10-year-old boy to turn his attention to him. "Long story short, it's a MetalGreymon that's a Virus Type Digimon". The Dragon of Darkness quickly added, before they turned to look back up at the Ultimate Level Digimon.

Shadow stared up at MetalGreymon for a few moments, before he looked down at Kimberly and saw her glaring up at the Virus Ultimate Level Digimon with narrowed eyes. "Hey, is this the Digimon that you were running from earlier?" The DigiDestined of Darkness questioned, getting Kimberly's attention as she looked up at him. "Yeah, it is". She answered with a deadly serious tone, getting Shadow to narrow his eyes, before he turned to look at his partner. "Grimdramon let her go!" Shadow told his partner, making Kimberly and Dancecatmon widen their eyes in surprise.

Grimdramon immediately obeyed, trusting his partner as he lifted his foot off of Dancecatmon's head and stepped back. The Champion Level Digimon placed her paws on the ground, before she pushed herself up and onto her feet. She turned to look at Grimdramon and saw him glaring up at the MetalGreymon Virus with narrowed eyes, getting her to glare up at it. Kimberly watched the two with wide eyes, before she turned to look at Shadow over her left shoulder. "I know that we're strangers, and that we just fought, but listen. I'm a being of Darkness, just like you. Let me help you". The DigiDestined of Darkness told the young girl, getting Kimberly to narrow her eyes at him.

"How can I know if you can be trusted?" Kimberly questioned, causing Shadow to grow a sympathetic expression as he stared at her. "Because I was just like you once. Alone, afraid, no family and no one to trust. Hated by the people of the real world and treated as an outcast". The DigiDestined of Darkness said in sadness, getting Kimberly to widen her eyes in disbelief. She could tell from the sadness in Shadow's voice that he was telling the truth that he was once like her. Her gaze softened a little, before she began to open her mouth to speak, but was stopped by MetalGreymon Virus.

"Flames of Fury!" The Ultimate Level Digimon roared out as he swiped his Trident Arm, unleashing a wave of purple fire at the two children, getting them to look up at the approaching attack with wide eyes. Shadow quickly turned to look down at Kimberly and grew a slightly uncomfortable look. "Sorry about this, but I'll make it quick". The 10-year-old boy told the girl, getting Kimberly to look at him in confusion. Before she could even question him on what he meant, Shadow released her from the headlock and let go of her tail. But then, Shadow placed his right claw on her back and his left behind her legs, before he picked her up in a princess carry.

Kimberly widened her eyes in shock with a hint of red in her cheeks, while Shadow still had an uncomfortable look on his face as he quickly spread his wings and took flight, barely managing to dodge the wave of purple flames. "That was close". Shadow stated as Kimberly stared at his face with wide eyes, before he turned to look to his right and saw Grimdramon also flying in the air, only Dancecatmon was on his back. "We're unharmed". The Dragon of Darkness told his partner, his eyes slightly narrowed from the attack unleashed by the Ultimate Level Digimon.

The DigiDestined of Darkness gave a nod towards his partner, before the two flew down to the ground a little bit away from MetalGreymon Virus, who continued to glare at them with narrowed eyes full of murderous intent. The two partners landed, before Dancecatmon jumped off Grimdramon's back, and Shadow placed Kimberly back on her feet. She took a few steps back, but still stared at Shadow with a dazed look on her face. He on the other hand, kept his focus on the MetalGreymon glaring at them, before it roared and started charging towards them.

Shadow turned to look at Kimberly. "Let's fight together to bring that dinosaur down to Earth". The DigiDestined of Darkness offered to Kimberly, snapping her out of her daze as she shook her head sideways to rid herself of her flushed look. Kimberly turned to look at her Digimon partner and saw Dancecatmon giving her an encouraging smile. Kimberly gave a nod towards her partner, before she turned to look back at Shadow. "Alright, I'll trust you for now". The young girl told the boy, getting Shadow to lightly smile. He wasn't the only one smiling as both Grimdramon and Dancecatmon were smiling as well.

Everyone then turned their attention to the charging MetalGreymon Virus charging towards them, before they all took their battle stance. Their first battle together was about to take place.

(Flashback end)

"...And that's how we first met". Kimberly finished with a found smile as she tilted her head up to look at Ruri, Yuna, Darkwindramon and Lopmon, who had paid great attention to her story. Ruri had her arms crossed and had a slightly fascinated look on her face. "Wow. I can't believe that one time, you tried to claw my brother's face off". The Princess of Darkness said in slight surprise, getting the light blue haired girl to chuckle nervously. Darkwindramon turned to look at Dancecatmon and saw her looking slightly flushed. "I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet". The Rookie Level Digimon said with an amused voice, snapping the Dancing Kitten out of her trace as she glared at her.

"Oh, shut it!" She snapped back at her fellow Virus Digimon, getting Darkwindramon to lightly giggle. Both Yuna and Lopmon smiled at their friends, before their faces fell. They stared down at the ground for a few moments, before they turned to look at Ruri and Darkwindramon with narrowed eyes. "Our reasons for joining the team may have been selfish at first, but that changed!" The short haired girl told Ruri, getting her and the White Dragon of Darkness to look at her. "That's right. Our time with our friends and fighting together changed us for the better. We grew to care about the Digimon and all living creatures". Lopmon said as she jumped onto her partner's right shoulder and gave a nod.

Ruri narrowed her eyes as she unfolded her arms and placed them against her hips. "And yet, you guys grew interested in our brothers". She stated, which Darkwindramon nodded with her eyes narrowed as well. Yuna and Lopmon's cheeks flushed once more, before they looked away to the sides. "W-we couldn't help it. Shadow was so many things; he's brave, strong willed, patience, powerful and cool looking". Yuna said in embarrassment, folding her hands in front of her. "The same with Grimdramon". Lopmon remarked with a flushed look, getting both Ruri and Darkwindramon to sigh.

"Listen, we understand that you all like Shadow and Grimdramon". The White Dragon of Darkness told the four girls, before Ruri continued on for her. "But they've already found their own mates. I hate to say this and destroy your hopes and dreams, but there's no chance that they'll ever get together with you guys". The Princess of Darkness finished, making Kimberly, Yuna, Dancecatmon and Lopmon all look down at the ground in sadness. It was hard to admit, but they knew Ruri and Darkwindramon were right as Shadow and Grimdramon only showed friendship towards them. But with Kari and Gatomon, it was a different story as they showed them love and affection that was returned.

Ruri and Darkwindramon both sighed as they saw the defeated and hurt expressions that the girls grew, before the Princess of Darkness lifted her hands off of her hips. "I know that it's hard and that it hurts, but you need to let them go. If you keep trying to chase after Shadow and Grimdramon, you'll only end up hurting yourselves instead". The black and purple haired girl told them, getting the girls' attention as they looked at her. "She's right. You need to let them go". Darkwindramon added in with a sympathetic look, getting them all to lower their heads in uncertainty.

"It's best to stop chasing after them instead of ruining your friendships with them. Besides, I'm sure there's still somebody out there for each of you". The Princess of Darkness told her friends as she grew a small smile, before she and Darkwindramon turned around and began walking away, leaving Kimberly, Yuna, Dancecatmon and Lopmon alone, uncertain of what they should do.

(Meanwhile)

Within an alleyway of the city, a big black cloth appeared, before it shrunk to reveal Shadow, Kari, Grimdramon, Gatomon and GrimSalamon in the same positions that they were in when they left their friends, before the cloth shrunk down and turned back into the DigiDestined of Darkness's cloak. Shadow and Kari let go of each other and stepped back, before the DigiDestined of Darkness placed his right hand inside of his cloak and brought out a guide book. Mikey had bought him that to help him navigate his way through the streets as he didn't know them too well.

The black and purple haired boy opened the book and began searching through it, while Kari took GrimSalamon into her hands and picked her off of Shadow's head. She looked down at the Hound of Twilight with a beaming smile. "Are you excited to see Mikey, Ewan, Shoutmon and the others again, just like I am?" The brunette questioned the little Digimon, getting GrimSalamon to smile brightly. "You bet. Maybe even more". The Rookie Level Digimon replied, getting Kari and Gatomon to giggle at her response, while Grimdramon grew a soft smile. "You guys haven't had the chance to see everyone else since we ended up back here. So, it isn't too surprising that you're all excited". The Dragon of Darkness stated, getting Gatomon to look at her husband with a smirk.

"What can we say? It's been a bit unfair that you and Shadow got to see them again first, but now we finally get the chance". The Vaccine Digimon told the Virus Digimon, getting him to chuckle as he looked at her. At that moment, Shadow closed the guide book, before he turned to look at the others. "Okay, I've found where the Kendo Tournament is taking place". The DigiDestined of Darkness told the group, getting everyone's attention as they turned to look at him. "Sweet. Let's be on our way then". Kari said with a smile, before she turned to look at Gatomon and Grimdramon. "Alright, you guys know the drill". The brunette said as she brought her Fusion Loader out with her right hand, while she held GrimSalamon with her left hand.

Shadow also brought out his Fusion Loader with his right hand and held it up. "We know, alright". Gatomon replied to her partner, before she turned into a bright flash and went into the white and blue Fusion Loader. "This sucks". Grimdramon grumbled out as he turned into a black flash that shot out and went into Shadow's Fusion Loader. Kari then looked down at GrimSalamon, who gave her a bright smile, before she turned into a black and white flash that went into her Fusion Loader. With their Digimon secured, the two DigiDestined placed their Fusion Loaders away and walked out of the alleyway and into the open streets.

Shadow and Kari walked for a total of 20 minutes with the DigiDestined of Darkness leading the way and holding up the guide book with his right hand. Eventually, the two reached their destination and stopped in front of a large grey and white building with a staircase. "Guess this must be it". Shadow remarked with his hands on his hips, causing the cloak to slightly open to show the clothes underneath.

Kari hummed for a moment, before she took notice of a sign near the entrance. She looked closely and saw that it said "The 42th National Jr. High School Kendo Tournament Koto District Preliminaries". "Yup, this is it". Kari confirmed with a grin, getting Shadow to turn to look at her. "Come on then. The matches will begin soon". Shadow told his wife, before he began walking up the staircase, getting Kari to follow after him. The two DigiDestined reached the end of the staircase and walked up to the slid door, which opened for them. They walked into the building with the door closing after them.

After walking through the hall, the two eventually reached the room where the Kendo tournament was taking place. They walked in through a door to a balcony that overlooked the whole large hall. There were a lot of people on the balcony as well, adults, teenagers and even children.

"Looks like this is a lot more famous than I originally thought". Shadow remarked as he and Kari walked up to the end of the line, before they turned and looked down below. There, they saw Mikey, Ewan and Tagiru sitting down on the ground besides 2 others, facing five more males across them, wearing white sashes and different coloredwide legged karate training pants. A male adult was standing in between the two groups, holding a white flag with his right hand and a red one in his left one. Nearby, there were a few human adults watching from a couple of tables, but they were of little concern.

They saw the two groups bow respectively to each other, before all, but one of them turned around and walked out of the line. Kari's eyes light up in joy when she saw Mikey's face. It had changed a little bit since she last saw him, but he still looked the same to her, and Kari was relived. She then turned to look at Ewan, before she lightly gasped in awe at seeing him now. He now stood even taller than her and had grown into a handsome young man. She almost couldn't believe that this was the young boy that fought besides her in the last battle against the Bagra Army.

Shadow noticed his wife's amazed look, getting him to lightly chuckle as in his opinion, it was priceless. "Surprised to see Ewan like this?" The DigiDestined of Darkness asked with an amused voice, getting Kari to nod without turning to face him. "Y...yeah. I mean, I knew he'd be different, but wow. He's grown up so much in just one year". The DigiDestined of Light said in amazement, getting Shadow to nod in agreement as he started leaning against the railing. "You got that right. I was surprised myself when I saw him again". The 12-year-old boy said with a gentle smile as he brought up his left hand and leaned his face against it.

The kendo match soon began with two unknown boys taking the first match. The one from Mikey and Ewan's team won the first match through a strike to the head. The judges wrote down the victory on a score board for Mikey's team. Then, Mikey himself took the next match. Kari grew an excited smile on her face, before cupping her hands on both sides of her mouth. "Good luck, Mikey!" The DigiDestined of Light called out to the Fusion Fighter's former general, getting both Mikey and Ewan's attention at hearing the familiar voice.

The two looked up at the audience and saw both Shadow and Kari watching them. Mikey and Ewan smiled brightly upon seeing Kari, who grew overjoyed to see them face to face again. The former general of the Fusion Fighters gave the general of Light's Hope a confident nod, before he turned back to his match and placed his gear on. Shadow and Kari watched Mikey's match with complete faith in his skills and soon, he easily won the match. Kari gave her brother figure an applause for his performance, getting Mikey to smile up at her as he took his helmet off.

The third match soon began and ended with Mikey's team losing this round. Then, the fourth match would begin with Ewan going for his team this time, getting Kari excited to see his performance. "Do your best, Ewan!" She called out to the blond haired boy in encouragement, getting Ewan to smile up at her and gave a nod. Shadow smiled at watching his wife cheer for their friends, but then something at the corner of his left eye caught his attention, getting him to look in that direction. To his fascination, he saw three young girls around their age glaring at Kari in jealously, who paid no attention to them as she watched Ewan's match in excitement. 'Well, what do you know. Ewan's got his own fan club now'. Shadow said in his mind, before he gave an amused chuckle as he turned to look back at the kendo match.

To Kari's joy and awe, Ewan won the match easily, getting her to clap her hands in applause for him, getting the blond haired boy to smile up at her, before he took his seat. The fifth and final match then began with Tagiru taking his turn finally. Kari looked down at him in interest as Tagiru placed his headgear on. "So, this is the guy that caught your attention?" Kari questioned her husband without looking at him, getting Shadow to nod. "Yeah. I don't know him well, but he's a rather interesting guy. Ewan told me that his name is Tagiru Akashi, the one who "proclaimed" that he would one day surpass Mikey". The DigiDestined of Darkness answered, getting the bearer of Light to hum in thought, before she blinked upon seeing Tagiru turn to look up at her.

She then grew a bit surprise upon seeing his cheeks flush a bit as he stared up at her for a moment, before he turned straight around. She wasn't the only one who noticed Tagiru's behavior, Shadow, Mikey and Ewan all noticed as well. Shadow narrowed his eyes with a hint of anger in them, while the two former generals gulped in fear for Tagiru. The match began, but this one wasn't exactly by the book as Tagiru struck his opponent at places that he wasn't meant to, twice. Both Shadow and Kari sweat dropped at witnessing this. "Not exactly a rule follower, is he?" The brunette said to the black and purple haired boy with her eyes closed nervously, getting him to nod in agreement. "No, he isn't". Shadow replied with narrowed eyes, before he placed his right hand on his chin. 'Although, he is full of energy'. The DigiDestined of Darkness said in his mind, noticing that Taigru's strikes were full of more energy than normal.

The referee called the match a foul and gave it to the opposing team, getting Tagiru to cry out in surprise of this. "Quit dragging Ewan down!" A female voice shouted out at Tagiru, getting Shadow and Kari to look over and saw that it came from an orange haired and eyed girl, one of the three that had glared at the DigiDestined of Light earlier. "You suck!" Two nearby girls besides the orange haired one exclaimed at the same time, glaring down at Tagiru. Ewan looked like he agreed as he crossed his arms. "They've got that right. Good thing we've already won three out of four before we reached this round". The little brother of Nene remarked with his arms crossed, getting both Shadow and Kari to look down at them again.

"With a score of 2-3, Shinonome Higashi Junior High wins!" The referee called out as the score board showed the results of the match with Mikey's teaming being the victors. "Bow!" He added as the 10 middle scholars stood across each other and bowed respectfully to one another. Kari gave a smile upon seeing this as she placed her hands down on the railing. "Cody would have loved to enter something like this". The DigiDestined of Light said with a slightly sad voice upon thinking about the young boy back home. Shadow nodded in agreement as he knew that Cody would have been honored to have been apart of a tournament like this.

A few minutes later after the match was over, the judges, referee and the other team left, but Mikey and his team remained in the hall as they celebrated their victory. The 12-year-old boy gave a smile as he pushed himself off the railing, but kept his hands on it. "Let's go down and say "hi". I bet they're dying to properly reunite with you". Shadow suggested to his wife, getting her to look at him. "And how do you suppose we do that?" Kari asked with a curious tone, but knew that Shadow wouldn't take a normal approach.

"Like this". Shadow answered as he leaned over the bench and propelled his body into a handstand, causing his cloak to fall and cover the back of his head, getting Kari to take step back, while everyone else on the bench gasped in surprise. The DigiDestined of Darkness pushed himself into the air and back flipped in mid-air, before he landed down in the hall in a crouched with his left knee on the floor, getting Tagiru and the two unknown boys to gasp in surprise, while Mikey and Ewan gave a laugh at Shadow's actions.

Kari, on the other hand, gave a giggle with her right fist held up in front of her smiling lips, before she looked down. "Show off". The DigiDestined of Light remarked, before she mimicked her husbands' actions and propelled her body into a handstand as well. She then pushed herself into the air and back flipped in mid-air, before she landed on her feet in a graceful manner with her hands held out to the side. She then looked towards Mikey and smiled brightly, before she began walking towards him with her hands out for a hug. Mikey returned the favor as he held his hands out for a hug as well. "Mikey". Kari said with a smile as she wrapped her hands around the brown haired male in a hug, one that he happily returned.

The hug lasted for a few seconds, before they broke it and leaned back to look at one another. "You changed a little since I last saw you". The DigiDestined of Light said with a happy voice to see the boy that she grew to love as a brother again. The former general of the Fusion Fighters smiled at thee brunette's words. "And you haven't really changed at all". Mikey replied to Kari, before they both took their hands off of each other. Kari gave a giggle as she folded her hands behind her back. "I still have a little bit of growing up to do, but a lot has happened since last year". She told the young man with a small smile, before she turned to look at Ewan, who had been watching her and Mikey.

Kari gave him a smile, before she opened her hands out to him, inviting Ewan into a hug. He didn't disappoint her as he walked up and hugged Kari, causing the three girls from up above on the bench to cry out in jealously. The DigiDestined of Light gave a small giggle as she and Ewan broke the hug, before she got a good look at his face. "You've grown up so much in such a short time. It's almost hard to believe that you used to be smaller than me". Kari said with a soft smile, placing her right hand on Ewan's head and gave him a comforting pat, getting him to lightly blush at her.

"You can say that again. You've hardly grown any taller since back then". The blond haired boy replied to the smaller girl, getting her to lightly punch him in the arm with her left hand. Ewan gave a good laugh as Kari gave him a playful glare, before she changed her expression into a soft smile. Shadow walked up next to Mikey, who was watching Kari and Ewan with a smile, before he turned to look up at the older male. "Sorry that it took some time for you guys to see Kari again". The DigiDestined of Darkness apologized to his old friend, getting Mikey to shake his head with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad to see her again". The former general replied to his old ally, before turning to look back at Kari.

Tagiru then came up from in between Kari and Ewan, getting the two to look at him. "Hey, hey! Ewan, introduce me, would ya?" The young boy requested with an excited smile, getting Kari to tilt her head in confusion at his excitement. Mikey and Ewan both gulped in fear for their friend as they knew that flirting with Kari was a death sentence. Shadow, on the other hand, glared at the boy with a dark glare, recognizing the look in his eyes directed at his wife. Ewan gave a nervous smile as he turned to look at Kari, who turned to look back at him. "Kari, this is my teammate of the basket ball team, Tagiru Akashi". The blond haired boy introduced his old friend to his teammate, before he turned to look at Tagiru and saw him looking at Kari with slightly red cheeks.

"And Tagiru, this is my old friend, Kari Kamiya. She's the general of Light's Hope and the partner to the legendary Digimon, Gatomon". Ewan then introduced his teammate to Kari, who gave a slightly nervous wave with her right hand. Tagiru gave her a friendly grin, but before he could say anything to her, Shadow walked up to him in between Kari and Ewan, getting the two of them to look at him in concern. Shadow gave Tagiru a dark glare, getting him to start sweating and take a step back in slight fear. "...Back off..." The DigiDestined of Darkness told the Hunter, before he turned around and walked back towards Mikey, who sighed in relief.

He wasn't the only one relived of the outcome, so was Ewan and Kari. Ewan turned to look at his teammate and saw the frightened look on Tagiru's face. "Another thing you need to know is that Kari is Shadow's girlfriend, and he's a bit protective when guys stare at her". The blond haired boy told his teammate, receiving an understanding look on his face. "Oh! Is that it? Okay then". The young Hunter said with a carefree attitude as he brought his hands together behind his head. Kari blinked at him, surprised to see that he didn't look dishearten, before she a small smile. "Don't mind Shadow's attitude. It's like Ewan said, he's just a bit protective". The brunette told the Hunter, getting Tagiru to give a friendly wave of his right hand.

"Nah, I understand. I'd be a bit protective if I had a girlfriend as pretty as you". Tagiru replied to the DigiDestined of Light, getting her to lightly giggle at his words. The young Hunter then held his fists into the air with a victories grin on his face. "All right! We've won the district championship!" Tagiru exclaimed in joy as he turned to look at Ewan, who nodded to him with a smile. "Next is the Municipal Tournament to decide who moves on to the Nationals". The blond haired boy said, getting Kari to look at him and give an encouraging look. "Win or lose, just do your best and aim high". The brunette told her old friend, getting Ewan to turn towards her.

One of the teammates walked up to Mikey and gave him a thankful look. "This is all thanks to you guys filling in to help us out. Thanks a lot!" The young male thanked the former general of the Fusion Fighters, who just smiled at him as he placed his right fist against his hip. "Hey, we're doing this because we want to. Don't worry about it". Mikey replied to the younger male, getting Shadow to smile in amusement as he crossed his arms. 'I see he's still the same as before. Unable to turn away when someone needs'. The DigiDestined said in his mind, happy to see that the last year hasn't changed Mikey.

"Mikey just can't turn his back on others". Ewan remarked, turning to look at Mikey, along with Kari following his lead. "And it's just like him to see my true skills and add me as a member". Tagiru said with a grin as he thrust his left hand into the air, getting Kari to giggle a little, while Ewan just gave a simple smile with his eyes closed. "Keep on telling yourself that". The blond haired boy said as he opened his eyes. Shadow smiled at all his friends, before he took notice of something in the audience. He weakly elbowed Mikey with his left elbow, getting his attention. "Someone's glaring at you from the balcony". The DigiDestined of Darkness told his friend, getting everyone's attention with Mikey looking up at the audience.

There, they saw a human male around Mikey's age glaring down at the former general of the Fusion Fighters. He had black hair, tan skin and black eyes. He was wearing a white button shirt, dark grey long pants and brown shoes. "Who is that?" Shadow questioned with his arms crossed, getting Kari, Ewan and Tagiru to look up and finally noticed the male glaring down at Mikey. "Him, huh?" Tagiru said with narrowed eyes, getting Ewan to look at him. "You can tell?" The blond questioned in slight surprise, getting the young Hunter to look at him with a smile. "The strong know the strong, as they say". The young Hunter answered with a tough look, getting Shadow to roll his eyes.

'I wouldn't exactly call you 'strong', at least not yet'. The black and purple haired boy said in his mind, unable to take Tagiru seriously with that face of his. "In other words, no one knows Tagiru at all". Ewan remarked with a grin, getting the young Hunter to smile brightly with his eyes closed. "That's right! No one knows about-" He began, before he realized what Ewan said, getting him to raise his arms up into the air in anger. "Oi!" He snapped, getting Ewan to smile as he turned around, while Kari chuckled a bit. "That's Musashi Kenzaki from Arashi Jr. High..." Mikey commented with narrowed eyes, identifying the unknown male and getting Shadow to look at him.

"He looks like he's got something personal with you. Why?" Shadow questioned his old friend and comrade, noticing that Musashi's gaze was deadly serious as he stared at Mikey. "He lost against Mikey in the preliminaries last year, but he won third place at the Nationals". One of the teammates answered Shadow's question, getting him to look at the nameless team member, before he looked back at Musashi, who swiped his right hand up and pointed towards Mikey with the index finger. "Mikey Kudo! I fight you next!" The young man called out to the former general of the Fusion Fighters, getting Kari to slightly narrow her eyes at him. 'He's awfully full of confidence'. The DigiDestined of Light said in her mind, before she slightly widen her eyes upon sensing Musashi's presence. His presence felt like any normal human's presence, but there was something wrong with it.

Tagiru grew a massive grin as he held up his right fist. "Bring it on! We accept your challenge!" The young Hunter exclaimed in full spirits, not noticing the three girls in the balcony above sighing at his cluelessness. "News flash, he wasn't talking to you". The orange haired girl said with a sigh, getting Kari to look up at them for a moment, before she went back to looking at Musashi and saw him turn around and leave. She turned to look at Shadow and saw him watching Musashi leave as well. He turned to look at Kari and gave her a nod, which she returned with narrowed eyes.

(Half an hour later)

A little bit later, Shadow, Kari, Mikey, Ewan and Tagiru all left the building after the members of the basketball team redressed in their casual outfits, and went to the park. Ironically, it was the same park Ewan reunited with Damemon. "This place should do". Shadow told the group as they stopped walking, before Ewan looked around their surroundings and saw no one nearby. "Yeah, I agree. There's no one in sight, so we should be fine for the moment". The blond haired boy said with narrowed eyes, before he eased his gaze as he turned to look back at Shadow and Kari. The two DigiDestined walked forward a little, before they turned to look back at their friends.

Mikey and Ewan then held up their Fusion Loaders with their right hands. "Reload! Shoutmon! /Damemon!" The two cried out, before their Fusion Loaders' screen lit up brightly. Then, two flashes came out of the devices and struck the ground, before they cleared to reveal Shoutmon and Damemon. Kari smiled brightly at seeing the two, who both looked up at her with smiles. "Shoutmon! Damemon!" Kari exclaimed in joy, before she walked forward and wrapped her arms around the two, giving them warm hugs. The Digimon King and former Bagra Army warrior laughed in joy as they returned the hug to the brunette.

"It's great to see you again, Kari". Shoutmon said with a massive smile, patting Kari's back with his left hand. "You look like it was just yesterday when we last saw you". Damemon said with his usual wide smile, getting the DigiDestined of Light to laugh happily as she leaned back to look at the two. "I'm glad to see that you really accomplished your dream, Shoutmon. And Damemon, I'm relieved to see that you're back". Kari told the two with a happy smile, before she widened her eyes upon realizing something. She gave a gentle look as she let go of the two Digimon, stood up on her feet and stepped back.

"There's two people that's been wanting to see you guys again as well". The general of Light's Hope said with a soft voice, before she brought out her Fusion Loader with her right hand. Shoutmon and Damemon both smiled brightly as they realized who she was talking about. "Reload! Gatomon!" Kari cried out, causing her Fusion Loader's screen to light up instantly, before a bright flash came out and struck the ground. The flash cleared to reveal Gatomon with her pink handkerchief/scarf and whistle that Kari gave her around her neck, who smiled brightly upon seeing the Digimon King.

"Shoutmon!" The Champion Level Digimon exclaimed in joy, before she ran towards the Digimon King and gave him a big hug, one that he happily returned. "Hey Gatomon, long time no see!" Shoutmon said with a bright smile, getting Gatomon to lean back to look up at his face. "For you, it's been a long time. For me, it was just a year ago". The Vaccine Digimon told the Digimon King, getting him to let out a good laugh. "There's still someone left to say hi". Kari stated with a smile, getting everyone to look at her. Then, her Fusion Loader's screen lit up, before a flash came out and into the air. The flash cleared to reveal GrimSalamon flying in the air with a happy grin on her face as she stared down at Shoutmon and Damemon.

"Shoutmon!" The Hound of Twilight exclaimed in joy, before she shot out and hugged the Digimon King's face, who widened his eyes in anime style. "Hey! How are you even out?!" Shoutmon questioned in surprise as he could still feel Gatomon in his arms. "To be honest, we don't know". Kari answered, getting Mikey, Ewan, Tagiru, Shoutmon and Ewan to look at her and Shadow. "Like all of you guys, our limit has been reduced to letting only one Digimon out and only DigiFusing only 2 Digimon. But for some reason, GrimSalamon is immune to the limits. We've tried with even my Fusion Loader and even she's free to come out in my possession". Shadow explained to his old friends, getting Mikey to narrow his eyes in confusion.

"But how is this possible?" The former general of the Fusion Fighters questioned, getting Kari to shrug her shoulders. "Like I said before "we don't know". Maybe it's because she's the first Twilight Digimon". The general of Light's Hope answered in an unsure voice, getting Gatomon to step back from Shoutmon and look over her left shoulder to look up at her. "Maybe that old man knows". The Vaccine Digimon suggested, getting Tagiru to look down at her in surprise. "Old man?!" A familiar voice questioned, before a flash came out of Tagiru's pants and struck the ground. The flash cleared to reveal Gumdramon, who was looking at Gatomon with wide eyes.

"As in a short guy, has white old hair, wears a green hat, red sunglasses, a blue jacket over a red shirt, has white gloves, green shorts and old shoes? And uses a stick to walk?" The Mini Dragon questioned the Champion Level Digimon, getting the attention of Gatomon, Kari and Shadow as they all looked at him, while GrimSalamon kept hugging Shoutmon's face. Suddenly, a black and purple flash came out of Shadow's cloak and struck the ground, before it dispersed to reveal Grimdramon, who had his eyes narrowed at the Mini Dragon. "Yes, that old man. He's the one who brought us here in the first place". The Dragon of Darkness revealed, before Shadow looked up at Mikey, Ewan and Tagiru.

"How do you guys know that old man?" The DigiDestined of Darkness questioned in a curious tone, getting Tagiru to look at him. "He's the guy that gave me my Fusion Loader". The young Hunter answered the general of Twilight's Union, much to his fascination. "I met him once before as well. He wanted me to stay out of the Digimon Hunt". Mikey informed his old comrade, getting Shadow to hold his chin with his right hand in fascination. "So many mysterious surrounding that old timer. Next time I see him, I'm gonna get some answers out of him". Shadow said with slightly narrowed eyes with a tone promising he'll keep by his word, before he looked back at his friends and soften his gaze.

"Sorry for getting a bit off topic, but that guy's just been on my mind for some time. Anyway, how's life been for you guys since last year?" Shadow asked his friends with a soft tone, getting Mikey, Ewan, Shoutmon and Damemon to smile. "It's been great. Nene and Kotone moved to Hong Kong, Angie and Jeremy moved out of town". Mikey told his friends, getting Shadow to raise his right eyebrow, before he looked to the side. 'Come to think of it, I haven't seen Kotone during my last visit to Hong Kong. I haven't really bothered to visit Nene's house, so I guess she's there to help her sister in any way she can'. The DigiDestined of Darkness said in his mind, thinking about the hyperactive child that honestly makes him a bit nervous.

"What about Christopher?" Kari asked with a curious tone, wondering how the former Blue Flare's general has been since last year. "I haven't heard from him in a while, but he's doing great too". Mikey answered with a smile, before turning to look down at the Digimon and saw GrimSalamon hanging on Gumdramon's head, who was running around to get her off. "What about you guys? What have you been up to?" Ewan asked with a smile, getting Shadow's attention as he looked at the blond haired bow. "We took care of what we needed to do, but we got a little more than we bargained for". Shadow answered, thinking back to the adventure that he and Kari had in their world, especially the unexpected battles.

The DigiDestined of Darkness then narrowed his eyes dangerously as he looked at his old friends. "But during our adventure together, we learned a few things about the God of Death". The general of Twilight's Hope revealed, catching everyone's immediate attention as they turned to look at him with wide eyes. "The God of Death... Didn't Bargramon mention something about that?" Shoutmon questioned with wide eyes, getting Grimdramon to look at him and nod. "Yeah. After a..."visit" from an old friend, we learned a few things about whatever this thing is". The Dragon of Darkness answered, picking his words carefully to not upset his wife. Unfortunately, Gatomon's face fell upon the mention of her old friend Wizardmon that came back from the dead to warn them all of the God of Death.

"What did you learn?" Mikey asked with narrowed eyes, getting Kari to look up at him in concern as she placed her right hand on her chest. "Troubling things. 1: It isn't even a human, or a Digimon. 2: It was feared by all living things and 3: it has immortality". The brunette answered, getting Tagiru to blink at her. "Immortality? What's that?" The Hunter questioned, getting a small glare from Shadow as he crossed his arms. "It's where someone or something gains the ability to not die, no matter what. You can't even die of old age, or from illness. In short terms, it means you're unkillable". The DigiDestined of Darkness explained to the clueless boy, getting him to form a perfect "O" shape mouth with his lips.

"Well that's not good. How can we destroy what can't be killed?" Damemon questioned in slight concern, getting Shadow to shrug his shoulders. "No idea. We're still looking for a way to kill it. The old man mentioned that it'll make its move soon in this world. We're going to need some help for when this threat appears, so mind lending a hand?" The DigiDestined of Darkness asked his friends, getting Mikey to grin at him, before he held up his right fist. "Of course we'll help. You helped us, so now it's our turn to help you". Mikey answered, which Ewan and Tagiru nodded with eager grins. Even Shoutmon, Damemon and Gumdramon had confident grins on their faces. Seeing this made Shadow, Kari, Grimdramon, Gatomon and GrimSalamon all smile at seeing their friends' support.

"Thanks guys". Kari thanked her friends with a warm smile, touched that they were willing to help them. "There's no telling when this new threat will arrive, so take this time to get stronger. How many Digimon do you guys have?" Shadow questioned as he unfolded his arms and placed them on his hips. Ewan raised his left hand, getting Shadow, Kari, Grimdramon and Gatomon to look at him. "I only have Damemon". The blond haired boy answered, getting Shadow let out a small sigh, while Kari smiled in understanding. "That's understandable. It hasn't been long since you got Damemon back". Kari said to Ewan as she turned to look down at Damemon, who gave a small smile. "And you Mikey?" Shadow questioned the former general of the Fusion Fighters, who brought out his Fusion Loader with his right hand and swiped it, releasing multiple digital spheres that showed Chibitortomon, Puppetmon, Starmon, Pickmonz, Cutemon, Ballistamon and Dorulumon.

"You've got a new addition with Puppetmon, but where's Agunimon and the others?" Shadow asked his old friend as he turned to look at him, who gave a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. "Unfortunately, we're all Mikey has at the moment". Dorulumon answered for his owner from inside his sphere, getting Shadow to raise an eyebrow. "...You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking?" The DigiDestined of Darkness politely asked, getting Shoutmon to shake his head sideways. "Sorry Shadow, but this is all we have. Agunimon and the others are back in the Digital World". The Digimon King told the black and purple haired boy, getting him to sigh once more.

Kari gave her husband a small smile, before she turned to look at Tagiru. "What about you? How many Digimon do you have?" Light's Hope's general asked the young Hunter, getting his attention as he turned to look at her. He gave a grin as he brought out his Fusion Loader with his right hand and swiped it out. Four digital spheres came out, showing a MetalTyrannomon, Sagomon, GigaBreakdramon and a Blossoon (Pink). "Five Digimon with four of them being powerful ones. Not bad". Gatomon remarked with an impressed smile, getting both Tagiru and Gumdramon to blush in embarrassment as her words. The Mini Dragon then looked up at the generals of Light's Hope and Twilight's Union with a curious expression.

"What about you guys? How many Digimon do you have?" Gumdramon asked, getting Shadow and Kari to look down at him with slightly wide eyes, while Tagiru became excited. "Yeah! How many?!" He asked in an excited voice, getting Kari to giggle as she brought out her Fusion Loader with her right hand. "For me, this many". She answered, swiping her right hand out and releasing multiple digital spheres that showed BelleStarmon, Junomon, Surfimon, Darcmon, QueenChessmon, Moosemon, Kinkakumon, Magnadramon, Oryxmon, Venusmon, Kentaurusmon, TigerVespamon, MarineAngemon, Mermaimon, Hisyaryumon, AncientIrismon, Zephyrmon, Sistermon Blanc, Hudiemon, LadyDevimon, Jazardmon, Shadramon, Butterflymon, Rhinomon, Rafflesimon, Parasaurmon, Tobiumon, Witchmon, Pteramon, Ponchomon, Depthmon, Turuiemon, Seasarmon, Monzaemon, Wizardmon, Cupimon, Numemon, Gladimon, Plesiomon, Snimon, Buraimon, Crusadermon, TobuCatmon, Kyukimon, VictoryGreymon and Groundramon.

Tagiru and Gumdramon's jaws literally dropped to the ground at the 46 Digimon before them, while Mikey, Ewan, Shoutmon, Damemon and GrimSalamon looked at the two in amusement. "Ahahaha! You guys should see the looks on your faces!" BelleStarmon laughed out from her digital sphere, getting Hudiemon, Sistermon and Witchmon to chuckle in amusement. "Hate to break it to ya, juniors, but you've got a lot of catching up to do". Crusadermon told the two partners from her digital sphere. "If becoming the best is your goals, then you mustn't be disheartened by this and continue forth!" VictoryGreymon exclaimed proudly, getting Kari, Gatomon and GrimSalamon to smile at him. The brunette then swiped her right hand again, causing all the spheres to disappear.

Everyone then turned their attention to Shadow and Grimdramon, getting the two to blink. "Our turn now, huh?" Shadow said as he lifted his right hand out of his cloak, revealing that he was already holding his Fusion Loader with it.

The black and purple haired boy swiped his right hand out, releasing many digital spheres that showed Durandamon, Jupitermon, Volcanicdramon, Samudramon, GigaSeadramon, Gulfmon, Justimon, Slayerdramon, GranDracmon, Dorugoramon, ChaosGallantmon, Mephismon, Ogudomon, KnightChessmon Black, Golemon, Leomon, Spadamon, BigMamemon, LoaderLiomon, Ignitemon, Arkadimon Ultimate, Daemon (Super Ultimate), TyrantKabuterimon, Tylomon, BlackRapidmon, Jesmon, Tankdramon, Leopardmon, BlackMegaGalgomon, Marsmon, Indaramon, ShadowSeraphimon, Ornismon, SkullBaluchimon, Spinomon, Thunderbirmon, Giromon, Strikedramon, Volcdramon, Raijinmon, SkullMammothmon, Gokuwmon, MasterTyrannomon, SkullKnightmon, Imperialdramon: Dragon Mode Black, Azulongmon, Neptunemon, Tankmon, Togemogumon, Huanglongmon, Apollomon, Sangloupmon, Goulmon Black, Goldramon, Murmukusmon, Cannondramon, Gryphonmon, Dynasmon, Zanbamon, RustTyranomon and Bulucomon.

Tagiru and Gumdramon regained their jaw dropping expressions, only this time, their eyes were nearly anime poking out of their eyelids as they stared at the many Digimon that Shadow possessed. "Heha! How do you like them apples!?" Dynasmon laughed out from his digital sphere, enjoying the priceless looks on their faces. "Mikey, Shoutmon and Ewan, I am glad to see that you're all doing well". Apollomon said with a happy voice, getting the three to smile up at him. "Right back at ya, Apollomon". The Digimon King replied to the former Death General with a smile, glad to see him doing well. Mikey looked at all of Shadow's Digimon, before he blinked upon seeing one was missing.

The former general of the Fusion Fighters turned to look back at Shadow with a curious expression. "Shadow, where's Beelzemon?" Mikey questioned the younger male, getting Shadow's attention as he turned to look at him. "I leant him to Nene a few nights ago, after we were finished wreaking the Skull Hunters' main base of operations. I decided to lend her Beelzemon just in case something happened, besides Mervamon wanted to spend some time with him". The Prince of Darkness answered his old friend with an amused smile; getting Mikey to chuckle as well as he knew what Mervamon intended to do with Beelzemon. Shadow then swiped his right hand again, causing all the digital spheres that were showing his Digimon to disappear.

Mikey and Tagiru followed Shadow's lead and swiped their right hands as well, causing the digital spheres to disappear. "Keep an eye out in case something strange happens". Shadow told his friends, crossing his arms inside of his cloak. "And if you do, contact one of us and we'll come over to help". Kari added for her husband with a soft smile, getting Mikey, Ewan, Tagiru, Shoutmon, Damemon and Gumdramon to nod to her. "But for now, let's just enjoy our time together". Gatomon said with a smile, getting Shoutmon, Damemon, Gumdramon to look at her. "After all, everyone needs some time off and spend it with friends". The Vaccine Digimon added, getting Shoutmon to nod in agreement as he crossed his arms.

"She's right about that. Let's just kick back and enjoy ourselves". The Digimon King remarked, before he turned to look at Gumdramon and GrimSalamon. He grew a grin at seeing the Hound of Darkness still seated on the Mini Dragon's head. "And besides, this could be good bonding time for the squirts to bond with each other". Shoutmon added with an amused tone, getting the two young Digimon to blink at him. Gumdramon looked up at GrimSalamon, who looked down at him, before he cried out and started running around again. "Get off of my head kid; I'm not some free lance ride!" The Mini Dragon exclaimed dramatically, getting everyone to burst out laughing as they watched the two.

(The next day)

In the next day at the forest next to the town, multiple humans of Darkness and their partners were currently in a large open field, working on a crop field to plant their crops. They were either using big sickles, or using their hands to dig up holes for their crops. Among them was Shadow, who was wearing the same outfit as yesterday, on his left knee and digging through the ground with his glove free hands. Besides him 5 feet away was Bulucomon, who had his back to his general and was digging through the ground as well.

"I should have said this sooner, but thanks for letting me out and doing this Shadow". Bulucomon told his general with a smile, glad to be finally out of the Fusion Loader and stretch out. "No problem. I just wish I could let all of you guys out of the Fusion Loader". Shadow replied to the Rookie Level Digimon, finishing digging his current hole. He looked down at his right towards a basket full of yellow seeds, which he picked one up with his right hand's thumb, index and middle finger, before he placed it down in the hole. He gently brought the dirt together and filled the hole up with it, before he gently pat it.

He stood up on his feet fully; before he picked up the basket with his right hand and moved on to dig another hole. Bulucomon gave a sigh as he finished placing a seed in his hole. "I honestly never thought you'd be into something like this. You don't seem like the type to do a crop field". The Mini Dragon said to the black and purple haired boy as he covered the hole with dirt. Shadow gave a small chuckle as he knelt down and placed the basket down, before began digging with his hands. "I may not look like it, but I actually enjoy this. It's a good way to work on your muscles and get some fresh air". The DigiDestined of Darkness told his Digimon, getting him to hum in thought as he turned to look at Shadow.

Bulucomon opened his mouth to ask his general a question, but he was cut off by the roars of an engine approaching. Both him and Shadow turned to their left, where they saw a familiar black motorcycle with spikes on its wheels and thrusters on the back of it coming towards them at fast speeds with its black suited rider driving it. "There ya are, pretty boy!" The rider exclaimed dramatically as he slammed his left leg on the ground, shifted the left handlebar and stopping his bike right in front of a surprised Shadow, who just managed to save the basket of seeds from getting squashed. The Prince of Darkness rose up to his feet, before he widened his eyes when the rider suddenly pointed at his forehead with his right hand's index finger. "I've been looking all over for you, fart sucker!" The unknown rider said to the DigiDestined of Darkness, making both him and Bulucomon sweat drop at his lack of manners.

"You still are in desperate need of manners". Shadow stated with narrowed eyes of annoyance, getting the rider to slightly lower his right hand in surprise. "Are you fucking serious?! I don't need no God damn manners, I'm the biggest badass in the world!" The unknown rider roared as he thrust his left hand into the air with his pinkie, index and thumb out like a Rockstar, while he flipped Shadow off with his right hand, getting Shadow to scoff. "Keep on telling yourself that". The 12-year-old remarked, getting the rider to look back at him in annoyance. "Shut your money maker! Don't be thinking that you're some sort of badass now that you're the Prince of Darkness, have cool shit Digimon and is Ruri's brother! Check out my Digimon!" The rider told Shadow as he placed his right hand into his jeans' pocket, before he brought out a demonic looking Fusion Loader that looked a bit like a Darkness Loader and held it up to Shadow.

"This is gonna make you shit your pants! Reload! Reapermon!" The unknown rider cried out as his Fusion Loader's screen lit up, before a black flash came out and flew a little bit up into the air. The bright flash then transformed into a Reapermon, who looked down towards Shadow and Bulucomon. The two looked up at the Mega Digimon with wide eyes of surprise, while the nearby humans and Digimon spend a moment to stare, before going back to work. "A Reapermon?!" Shadow exclaimed in surprise, getting the rider to let out a triumphant laugh. "Mega fuck yeah, baby! He's got style, a sickle, a chain arm and most of all, he's a total badass! Aren't that right, my mon?!" The rider called out as he turned to look up at Reapermon, who gave a rather terrifying smirk at his owner.

"You bet your shiny ass I am!" The Cyborg Digimon replied to the rider, getting both Shadow and Bulucomon to sweat drop. 'His Digimon are just in need of manners like him'. Bulucomon said in his mind with annoyed narrowed eyes, while the rider turned to look back at Shadow. "See? My Digimon are as awesome as I am! Now, time to get my business over with. I'm here because Princess Ruri wanted me to pass on a message to ya". The rider told the Prince of Darkness, getting Shadow's full attention as he looked back at him. "What is this message?" Shadow questioned as he placed the basket of seeds down on the ground.

"Apparently, some punk-ass is going around, attacking college sons of bitches that do kendo at night and kicking their asses. He's got no sense of style as he leaves their clothes in pieces. Those losers apparently gave up kendo because they suck so badly. And some people are even calling this fart sucker a "tsuji-giri", or some shit like that". The rider told the Prince of Darkness as he gave a shrug with his shoulders, getting Shadow to look down in thought and held his chin with his right hand. 'A tsuji-giri? Could this be the work of a Digimon?' The black and purple haired boy questioned in his mind, wondering if this was Digimon related or not. "There, I've delivered the message! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a fart sucker to hunt!" The rider exclaimed as he held up his Fusion Loader to Reapermon, who turned into a black flash and entered the device.

Shadow turned his attention back to the rider with slightly wide eyes. "You're going after this "tsuji-giri" person?" The Prince of Darkness questioned in surprise, getting the unknown rider to turn towards him and nod. "You bet your shiny ass! I'm find em, kick their ass and became famous for stopping some punk-ass going around, messing up kendo wannabes! Mega fuck yeah, baby!" The rider exclaimed dramatically as he put his Fusion Loader away and took hold of the handlebars with both hands. He then drove away, kicking up dirt as he left with Shadow and Bulucomon watching him.

"You gotta wonder who it was that taught him that kind of language". The Mini Dragon remarked, getting Shadow to nod in agreement, before he looked down in thought. 'A tsuji-giri, huh? Guess I better find out what this is'. The DigiDestined of Darkness thought to himself, before he went back to helping make the crop field.

(Later on in the afternoon)

The sun was beginning to set for the day, but the day wasn't finished just yet. Outside of the Budou University, Tagiru and Gumdramon were hiding behind a post with the Hunter carrying an orange bag over his right shoulder that carried all of his kendo gear. Earlier that day, Tagiru had heard of a "tsuji-giri" attacking college kendo students and grew interested. He suspected a Digimon was behind all of this and intended to capture it. He had just finished explaining his plan to Gumdramon of using someone as bait to lure out the "tsuji-giri", impressive the Mini Dragon a bit.

"I see... So you think a Digimon is involved with that tsuji-giri". Gumdramon said to his partner as both him and Tagiru watched the open gates of the university for someone to walk out. "Yeah, that's what I think. Anyway the only place he hasn't attacked yet is this Budou University. That tsuji-giri's gotta show up here". The young Hunter told his ace Digimon, getting Gumdramon to grin in anticipation. "Sounds fun! If there is a Digimon involved, let's hunt him!" Gumdramon exclaimed with an excited tone, ready for another exciting match. "We're the ones who'll be having fun here". A familiar voice stated, getting the two partners to cry out in alarm, before they turned around to see Shadow, Mikey, Ewan, Kari, Grimdramon, Shoutmon, Damemon and Gatomon all standing behind them. "Guys!" Tagiru exclaimed in surprise at seeing everyone, getting Mikey, Ewan, Kari and their Digimon to smile at him, while Shadow and Grimdramon had their eyes narrowed.

"So we all thought the same". Mikey remarked as he placed his hands against his hips. "There you go again, doing whatever you want with no regard of back up". Shoutmon said to Gumdramon with a small frown and his arms crossed, getting Gatomon to look up at the Digimon King with a reassuring smile. "Cut him some slack, he's still pretty young. After all, didn't you used to be like that, to?" The Vaccine Digimon said to her old friend, getting Shoutmon to sweat drop and groan at remembering his younger, reckless self. "If you think we'll let you beat us to the punch to a new Digimon, you guys are dreaming". Damemon said with a confident look on his face.

Gumdramon gave a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. "Here we go again with the pointless lectures". The Mini Dragon said without a hint of interest, making Shoutmon snap. "They're only pointless because you don't listen!" The Digimon King snapped at the Mini Dragon, much to his alarm as he took a step back. Kari and Gatomon both giggled in amusement, while Shadow and Grimdramon both lightly smiled. "Shh, someone's coming". Mikey told the gang as he broug his right hand's index finger up in front of his lips. Everyone turned to the open gate of the university and saw a young man with brown hair walking out. He wore a purple vest over a white shirt, long white pants and brown shoes. He was carrying a wrapped up kendo sword with his right hand with a bag attached to it.

"Who is that?" Kari asked in a curious tone, getting Ewan to look at her. "That's Budou University's strongest swordsman, Kojirou". The blond haired boy answered, revealing the unknown young man's identity. "He doesn't look that impressive. I've seen better". Grimdramon remarked with an unimpressed look on his face. "He's an ordinary human Grimdramon, of course he won't be that impressive in your eyes. Still, the fact remains is that he's the strongest swordsman in this university". Shadow said to his partner as he turned to look at him, getting the Dragon of Darkness to look up at him. "I guess you have a point". The Virus Digimon replied to the Prince of Darkness, before he and Shadow went back to watching Kojirou.

The group followed the college student as he left his school. Eventually, the sun completely set and soon, the moon hung high in the night sky. Right now, Kojirou was walking down a tree lined alleyway with the gang watching him from around the corner. However, out of nowhere, a kendo armored boy around their age came out of nowhere and stopped ten feet away from Kojirou and held his kendo stick up in a stance, making the college boy stop. "Fight me!" The armored boy demanded, getting the gang to narrow their eyes at the sight of him. "That must be the guy we're looking for". Kari stated, before she looked down at Gatomon, who was staring at the tsuji-giri with narrowed eyes.

"Do you feel the presence of a Digimon on him?" The brunette questioned her partner, getting the Vaccine Digimon to look up at her and shake her head in response. "No, nothing at all". Gatomon answered her partner, before the two went back to watching the confrontation. "So you're the famous tsuji-giri boy". Kojirou stated with narrowed eyes as he placed his bag down on the ground. "Put on your armor". The unknown boy told the older male, getting the college student to narrow his eyes. "I'm fine this way". Kojirou replied as he drew his kendo sword from his back with his left hand, before he took his stance. "Now, let's fight!" He exclaimed, ready to battle against the tsuji-giri boy.

The two were silent as they stared across one another, before the unknown boy broke the silence by releasing a battle cry as he charged forward. Kojirou didn't flinch as he lifted his sword, intending to strike at the head. However, unknown to him, dark green energy came out of the tsuji-giri's body and covered him completely, getting Shadow, Kari, Grimdramon and Gatomon to narrow their eyes. "Head!" Kojirou cried out as he swung his sword down, but wasn't fast enough to land the strike. "Chest!" The tsuji-giri cried out as he passed through and struck Kojirou in the chest, before stopping behind him with the dark green energy disappearing. The college boy groaned as he faltered for a bit, before regaining his composure as he turned around, but the tsuji-giri wasn't done yet.

With the dark green energy around him, the armored boy struck Kojirou almost too fast for the naked eye, shredding through his clothes and making him cry out in pain. The dark green energy disappeared around the tsuji-giri's body as he stopped a few feet away, while Kojirou collapsed to the ground with his eyes completely white. "I did it! I won against Kojirou!" The armored boy cried out in victory as he turned to look at his defeated opponent, before he ran began running off. "Don't let him escape!" Tagiru called out with narrowed eyes, before he and the others chased after the fleeing boy.

The tsuji-giri took his kendo stick into his left hand as he ran, before he brought out a phone with his right hand and held it out. The device let out a digital glow of energy, before a white portal appeared in front of him, which he ran into and disappeared from sight. "Don't lose sight of him!" Mikey told his friends, before they all ran into the portal and entered a white digital-like world. They flew through the world, before they reached another portal and found themselves in DigiQuartz in a ruined version of the tree lined alleyway. "Keep your eyes out! Who knows what the guy is up to!?" Shoutmon told the gang, before they resumed running to search for the tsugji-giri together.

Their search lead them to a bridge in the city, where they heard the sounds of kendo sticks, getting the gang to stop in their tracks. "Hey, that's the sound of a kendo stick". Mikey said with wide eyes, getting Tagiru and Kari to stop and look at him in surprise. They all then looked over the edge of the bride towards the walkway underneath on the other side and saw a helmetless tsuji-giri practicing his kendo with a Kotemon watching him. "Hey, that's a Kotemon". Kari said in surprise to see the Rookie Level Digimon as she walked up to the railing, while Gatomon jumped onto it and sat down like a normal cat.

The group watched as Kotemon kept encouraging and teaching the tsuji-giri, offering advice as he swung his kendo stick. However, when the human male swung his sword to the side, it gave Shadow and Grimdramon the chance to see his face and saw that it was the same boy from yesterday, Musashi Kenzaki. 'Him, huh?' Grimdramon thought to himself with narrowed eyes, before both him and Shadow began walking towards the end of the bridge. The others followed after the two darkness users as they reached the end of the bridge and began walking towards the top of the staircase attached to the walkway. "Hey, Kotemon!" Mikey called out to Kotemon, getting both his and Musashi's attention as they looked over and saw their audience.

"Who are you?" The Rookie Level Digimon questioned as he had no idea who they were, while Musashi narrowed his eyes at the sight of the former general of the Fusion Fighters. "That's my rival, Mikey Kudo!" The young boy answered, getting Kotemon to shift his attention over to him. The gang looked down at Kotemon and Mushashi from atop the small hill, before Shoutmon stepped forward. "Kotemon, are you the one that made Musashi a tsuji-giri?" The Digimon King questioned the Rookie Level Digimon, regaining his attention as he looked up at him. "A tsuji-giri?" Kotemon questioned in confusion, having no idea what Shoutmon was talking about. Mushashi immediately came to his defense.

"You've got it all wrong! That was something I did alone, Kotemon had nothing to do with it!" Musashi exclaimed in defense for the Rookie Level Digimon, getting Kari to look down at him. "Besides, I wasn't randomly attacking them! We fought in proper matches!" The young man added, getting the General of Light's Hope to narrow her eyes at him. "You shredded their clothes to pieces, left them on the streets in terrible condition and because of you, they quiet kendo!" Kari exclaimed in anger, getting Musashi to shift his attention over to her. "I had nothing to do with their decision to quiet kendo, and I admit that I left them in bad condition, but not in terrible condition where their lives were at stake! I only fought them to achieve my goal!" The young man exclaimed, getting Tagiru's attention at what he said.

"And what is this goal of yours?" The Hunter questioned the black haired boy, getting Musashi to turn towards Mikey and narrow his eyes at him. "Mikey Kudo! After I lost to you in last year's team competition, I went through fierce training non-stop in order to defeat you!" The young man began as he pointed his kendo stick towards Mikey, getting him to narrow his eyes at Musashi. "I learned an incredible technique to do whatever it took to defeat you. I wanted to test it out, so that's why I challenged the university's kendo club to see how well it worked!" He concluded with pure determination in his eyes and voice, getting Shadow to slightly widen his eyes as he could feel the determination in his voice. 'He's determined to fulfill his goal, that's for certain'. The Prince of Darkness said in his mind, recognizing that Musashi's goal meant a lot to him.

"Still, the girl has a point, Musashi. I cannot praise you for challenging others outside the dojo. You can trust yourself that your defeated opponents are in no danger, but the same cannot be said for others. In their condition, someone could have come and either robbed, or killed them, and there would have been nothing they could have done to defend themselves". Kotemon told his human student, getting Musashi to look at him for a moment, before he looked down in thought. After a moment of thinking, he frowned as he could see that Kotemon was right as there are some humans who would have taken advantage of his defeated opponent's conditions.

Musashi looked back up at Kotemon and nodded to him. "You're right, I'm sorry. I won't do it anymore". The young kendo swordsman replied to his Digimon friend, getting Kari to sigh in relief. Tagiru stepped forward with a massive grin on his face. "So, now that that's settled..." He began, getting Mikey and Shadow to shift their attention over to him and saw Tagiru hold up his left fist. "...How about you test out that skill against me? Let's see for ourselves just how good it is". The Hunter concluded with a confident look, getting Musashi to look up at him with narrowed eyes.

"You're the guy that challenged me the other day". He acknowledged, recognizing Tagiru from the Kendo tournament. "All right then. You've got yourself a fight". Musashi accepted the challenge, getting Tagiru's grin to grow even larger than before, while Shadow simply stared down at him. A few minutes later, Tagiru and Musashi stood across each other, both in full kendo gear and kendo swords in their hands in their stances. Kotemon stood a little bit away in between the two with his right hand up, acting as the referee. Shadow, Kari, Mikey, Ewan, Grimdramon, Gatomon, Shoutmon, Damemon and GrimSalamon stood at the side as they watched the kendo match.

"One match wins it all! Begin!" Kotemon called out, officially starting the match. Instantly, Tagiru let out a battle cry as he charged and unleashed a barrage of sword strikes. "Head! Head! Head!" He cried out with a strong voice as he continued his assault, much to Musashi's annoyance as he fought hard to block all of Tagiru's sword strikes. Shadow raised an eyebrow upon seeing Tagiru's assault. "He's rushing in, attacking all over the place with no plan. That style of fighting can often be called foolish". The DigiDestined of Darkness said as he held his chin with his right hand, getting Ewan to look at him. "But Tagiru is pushing him back". The blond haired boy stated, getting Grimdramon to look at him.

"He said "often be called foolish". That doesn't mean it is". The Dragon of Darkness told the young boy, getting Ewan to look down at him, before he looked at Shadow. "Striking constantly has its advantages as the opponent isn't given a change to think of Tagiru's next move, or plan a counter attack. You could say that this style of swordplay is like a double-edged blade. But for now, it looks like it's working great for Tagiru". Shadow explained as he crossed his arms, getting Mikey to nod in agreement. "I'm with Shadow on that. Just look at Musashi, he hasn't had a chance to strike yet. He's completely on the defensive". The former general of the Fusion Fighters remarked, getting Ewan to turn back to the kendo match taking place.

Just as Mikey said, Musashi was completely on the defensive. Kari watched how Tagiru strike and couldn't help, but sweat drop with a nervous look. 'Something tells me that Cody wouldn't have approved of this kind of kendo swordplay'. She nervously thought to herself, almost picturing her teammate's disapproved face at Tagiru's swordplay. However, she then lost her nervous look and replaced it with a serious face upon sensing a presence not too far from behind. 'Someone's here'. Kari said in her mind, before she held up her Fusion Loader with her right hand. "Hudiemon, check to see if anyone's nearby". Kari whispered to the Fusion Loader, keeping her eyes on the match to not alert whoever was watching.

The Fusion Loader's screen lit up and showed Hudiemon's face. "Understood". The Champion Level Digimon replied to her general, before she looked past Kari's shoulder. Hudiemon grew a frown on her face, before she turned to look back at Kari. "It's that Hunter, Ren Tobari with his Dracmon". Hudiemon informed her general, getting Kari to narrow her eyes in caution. 'Those two? What could they be doing here?' The DigiDestined of Light thought to herself, before she directed her eyes down towards Hudiemon again. "Are they up to anything?" Kari asked in a whisper to not alert Ren. Hudiemon looked back at Ren and Dracmon and saw that the Hunter was watching the match with his arms crossed, while Dracmon had its hands up that were glowing darkly.

"The boy seems to just be watching the kendo match. It is Dracmon that I am worried about as his hands have this sort of dark glow around them". The Champion Level Digimon answered the brunette, getting Kari to raise an eyebrow at what she said. "Thanks Hudiemon". Kari thanked her Digimon, before she put her Fusion Loader away in her pants' pocket. She went back to watching the kendo match and saw that Tagiru's barrage finally made an opening for him to win the match. The young Hunter swung his kendo sword towards Musashi's waist, but then, something happened.

Black and dark green energy appeared in Musashi's left hand and formed into a kendo sword, blocking Tagiru's sword strike and pushed him back.

Kari, Gatomon, GrimSalamon and Kotemon all widened their eyes, while Shadow and Grimdramon narrowed theirs at the sight. "That's..." Kotemon whispered in shock as the black and dark green energy disappeared instantly, before Musashi acted. "Head!" He called out as he brought his sword down and struck Tagiru on the head, winning a point and the match. "That's enough! Musashi is the winner!" Kotemon called out as he swiped his left hand up into the air, declaring Musashi as the winner. Tagiru cried out as he sat down on the ground, crossed his legs and put his sword down. Gumdramon walked over towards his partner, while Kari gave a sigh of relief at seeing no one was hurt.

'Despite Tagiru's damaged pride, everyone is unharmed and safe. But still, what was that dark energy that Musashi summoned?' The General of Light's Hope said in her mind as she turned to look over her left shoulder to look at Ren and Dracmon, only to see them gone. 'They're quick to run, I'll give them that. Still, would probably be best to stay on the safe side and keep a look out for them in the near future'. She added, before she felt a tug on her left leg, getting Kari to look down to see Gatomon and GrimSalamon looking up at her with Gatomon holding Kari's left leg with her right paw. "I heard everything you and Hudiemon said, and I don't think it is a coincidence that they were here when we arrived". Gatomon told her partner, getting Kari to narrow her eyes and nod in agreement.

Gumdramon stopped besides Tagiru as he pulled his helmet off and let out a deep breath, before he looked down in defeat. "I could have sworn that he was holding another sword just a second ago..." The young Hunter stated, getting Shadow's attention as he looked at Tagiru's back. 'So, even he caught that. Guess he's sharper than I gave him credit for'. Shadow said in his mind, before he looked at Musashi as he stood in front of Tagiru, holding his helmet under his left arm. "What are you babbling about? You've lost, accept it". Musashi told his defeated opponent, getting Shadow to narrow his eyes at him.

"Say what!?" Tagiru called out in anger at what Musashi said to him. "Wait". Kotemon said to the two, getting Tagiru and Musashi to direct their attention over to him. "The Municipal Tournament coming up is where the real victory and loss is decided. You may end your battle there". Kotemon told the two young boys as he held up his left hand, getting Musashi to grit his teeth for some reason. Shadow kept his eyes narrowed at Musashi with his mind thinking about the black and dark green energy he saw earlier. 'I'm gonna need to keep an eye on him, just in case'. The DigiDestined of Darkness said in his mind, before he looked down at himself, or more exact, his clothes. 'And now that I think about it, it is probably time for a new outfit'. He added, considering it time to change his look into a new one.

"Mikey Kudo! I'll knock you down at the Municipal until you're beyond repair!" Musashi exclaimed as he pointed his right hand's index finger at the former general of the Fusion Fighters, getting Kari to narrow her eyes at him.

(2 minutes later)

The gang, now out of DigiQuartz, was walking down the same tree lined alleyway from before with Mikey leading the way and Tagiru carrying his kendo gear with his right hand again. "In the end, there was no Digimon to hunt". Tagiru said in displeasure that he lost both the match, and a chance to hunt for new Digimon. "That may be true, but at least now, the streets will be safe for the kendo students". Shadow told the young Hunter, walking besides Mikey and Grimdramon. "I guess Shadow has a point. All in all, I wouldn't say that it was a complete lost". Shoutmon remarked, walking besides Gatomon and GrimSalamon.

"Hey, Mikey... Musashi is the leader for Arashi Junior High right?" Tagiru questioned his idol, getting Mikey and Shadow to turn towards him as they walked. "You're seriously thinking of having a rematch with that guy, aren't you?" The DigiDestined of Darkness questioned Tagiru, getting him to look at Shadow and nod with a confident grin. "You bet I am! And next time, I'll win!" The Hunter exclaimed with complete confidence, getting Shadow to smile at him. Mikey grew a smile of his own at seeing Tagiru's determination as he looked forward. "Musashi is the leader for Arashi Junior High. If you want another go at him, I won't stop you". The former general of the Fusion Fighters told his teammate, getting Ewan to look towards him.

"But Mikey, you saw the difference in skills between the two of them just now". The blond haired boy stated, getting Kari to look at him and grow a soft smile. "Ewan, I may not have known Tagiru for long, but I know that he's not one to take a lost like that". The brunette said to her old friend, getting Gumdramon to chuckle a bit as she was spot on about Tagiru. "Besides, a few days is all someone needs to grow stronger. If he puts his heart and mind into it, Tagiru should grow strong enough to win". Grimdramon remarked, walking besides Gumdramon and Damemon, getting the two to look at him with his fellow Dragon Digimon growing a look of admiration.

"You're gonna need to train hard core for him, you know? He's dead set on winning that tournament". Shadow told Tagiru, getting the young Hunter to look at him with a grin. "And I'm dead set on getting some payback for that defeat he gave me". He replied to the DigiDestined of Darkness in high spirits, much to Shadow's slight admiration for his strong spirit. However, that was when he noticed his wife looking down at the ground in thought as they walked. "Kari, is something wrong?" Shadow asked his love, getting everyone's attention as they all looked towards the brunette, who looked towards the bearer of Darkness.

"No, everyone's okay. It's just that when we were in DigiQuartz earlier, I noticed that Ren Tobari and his Dracmon were watching the kendo match". Kari revealed to the gang, getting almost everyone to widen their eyes in surprise. Tagiru, on the other hand, looked confused. "Who's Ren Tobari?" He asked in a confused voice, getting everyone to sweat drop at him. "That's the guy with that girl Airu and Ryouma". Shadow answered with his eyes slightly trembling in irritation, getting Tagiru to widen his eyes in realization. "Oh... Ohhhhh..." The Hunter said with his mouth in the shape of an "O", before Shadow looked at Kari. "Were they up to something?" The bearer of Darkness asked the brunette, which she gave a shrug.

"I don't know about Ren, but his Dracmon looked like it was up to something. It's hands had this sort of black glow around them". Kari answered her husband, getting him to narrow his eyes in thought. "Something tells me that those two are up to something". Grimdramon remarked, before he turned to look at Shoutmon. "When you faced that Dracmon and Astamon, did it Digivolve?" The Dragon of Darkness questioned the Digimon King, getting Shoutmon to cross his arms as he shook his head. "That's the thing, it didn't. It was almost like it couldn't Digivolve". Shoutmon answered his old friend, getting Grimdramon to hum in thought as he waved his tail around.

"Dracmon are commonly known to Digivolve into Sangloupmon, but that isn't a certainty. Digimon can Digivolve into all kinds of different forms, so who knows what that Dracmon can become". The Dragon of Darkness said in thought, while Shadow narrowed his eyes. "I bet it's that Dracmon responsible for that weird energy that I saw Musashi summon". The bearer of Darkness remarked with a slightly serious tone, getting Mikey and Tagiru to look at him. "So, you noticed it too, huh? Guess I shouldn't be surprised that you of all people would notice". Mikey said with a grin, while Tagiru tilted his head in confusion.

"What are you guys even talking about? What weird energy?" The Hunter questioned in confusion, getting Shadow to turn towards him. "Right when you were about to hit him with your sword, for a split second black and dark green energy appeared and formed a sword, blocking your strike". The 12-year-old boy explained to the Hunter, getting Tagiru to cry out in comical rage. "I knew I saw something! He cheated!" Tagiru roared out in anger, getting Kari to look at him with a slightly nervous look. "Technically, he didn't. It isn't against the rules to use 2 swords in kendo". The bearer of Light told Tagiru, getting him to slightly calm down. "That might be true, but I don't think you can change styles in the middle of a match". Gatomon commented with slightly narrowed eyes.

"I don't know what those two are planning, but the best way to find out is to force Musashi to use that power again. Tagiru, you're gonna need to train hard for Musashi, and for when he uses that weird power". Grimdramon told the boy, getting him to grin with confidence. "Don't sweat it. I've already got my training planned". The young Hinter said with a confident voice, getting everyone curious on what he meant. "Oh? And what is this "training" you've got in mind?" Ewan questioned his teammate, getting Tagiru to turn towards him. "I'm gonna have Arresterdramon use his tail to attack me and defend against it". Tagiru explained with a carefree grin on his face.

Gumdramon looked excited at what his partner said, while everyone else looked at the Hunter as if he had two heads. "YOU DUMBASS! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!" Shadow comically questioned with anime white eyes and anime sharp teeth, getting Tagiru to tilt his head at him. "Huh? What's wrong with you?" Tagiru questioned in confusion as he saw nothing wrong with his plan. "What's "wrong" with Shadow is your plan! Seriously, thinking of having your evolved Digimon partner attack you to train? While I admit that is admiral that you're willing to train that extremely, it is still dangerous. Unlike Shadow, or Kari, you're a normal human being and they're not exactly made of strong stuff". Grimdramon explained for Tagiru to understand, getting him to look down at the Virus Digimon for a moment, before he gave another grin.

"Yeah, so what? If I play safely, I'll never get any better! You need to take a risk to get results, so I'm more than willing to risk getting hurt if it means getting better!" The young male exclaimed with a determined voice, getting everyone to smile at his bravery and strong will. "Okay, I can see that there's no way of talking you out of this. But to make sure nothing bad happens to you, I'll keep watch as you train". Kari told Tagiru with a gentle smile, getting him to turn towards her and grin. "We'll tag along as well. Besides, we still need to find the rest of Mikey's Digimon". Shadow told the two as he looked towards Grimdramon first, then towards Gatomon and GrimSalamon. The three Digimon nodded to the bearer of Darkness as they wanted to keep an eye on their friends.

"Sure, I don't mind". Tagiru replied to Shadow with a carefree grin, getting him to smile in thanks. Just then, the group came across a crossroads with one path leading forward, while the other lead east. "Well, looks like this is where we split and go our own ways". Gatomon remarked with her claws on her hips as Mikey, Ewan, Shoutmon and Damemon took the east pathway, before they all stopped and looked at each other. Wordlessly, Kari gave Mikey a warm hug, and then gave Ewan one, which the two boys returned to her. "I'll see you guys again on the day of the tournament". Kari bid farewell to her friends as she stepped back and stopped next to Shadow, folding her hands behind her back.

"We'll keep Tagiru company and make sure he gets home safely". Shadow told Mikey, getting him to nod in gratitude to his old friend. "Thanks Shadow". The former general of the Fusion Fighters thanked his old comrade, before he looked down at the group of Digimon. Grimdramon and Shoutmon shook hands with each other, before Gatomon gave the Digimon King a warm hug, one that he returned. Gatomon stepped back from the Digimon King to her husband, before the two wrapped their tails around one another as their daughter walked up to Shoutmon, who knelt down to the Hound of Twilight. "Be a good girl and listen to your parents, okay?" Shoutmon told the little Twilight Digimon, getting her to smile up at him with her eyes closed.

"Okay, Uncle". GrimSalamon replied to her uncle figure, before she turned around and ran towards her parents and into Gatomon's open arms. "See ya". Mikey bid farewell as he, Ewan, Shoutmon and Damemon turned around and began walking off with everyone watching them. Soon, the four disappeared from sight, leaving the seven alone in the tree lined alleyway. "Come on, we gotta get to work right away". Tagiru said to his friends, getting them all to look at him and nod. Tagiru looked forward, before he brought out his Fusion Loader with his left hand and held it out. "Time shift!" The Hunter cried out, causing his device's screen to gleam with energy, before a portal appeared in front of them all.

Tagiru placed his Fusion Loader away, before he looked towards the portal with an excited grin on his face. "Just you wait Musashi, we're gonna expose you!" The young Hunter roared out as he held his left fist up. "I'm right behind ya on that, Tagiru!" Gumdramon cried out with his own grin, holding up his claws into the air, before both he and Tagiru ran into the portal and disappeared into DigiQuartz, leaving an amused group behind. "He's a lot like Davis, wouldn't you say?" Kari asked her husband without turning to facing him, which Shadow nodded. "I would". The bearer of Darkness answered as he, Kari, Grimdramon, Gatomon and GrimSalamon walked into the portal and disappeared from sight. The portal closed after they all entered, taking them back to DigiQuartz.

(DigiQuartz)

Inside of DigiQuartz, a portal appeared in a tree lined alleyway like the one from the real world. Tagiru and Gumdramon ran out of the portal, before Shadow, Kari, Grimdramon, Gatomon and GrimSalamon slowly walked out. They all stopped and looked around their surroundings as the portal closed behind them, but they paid no attention to it. "We're gonna need an open space for you guys to do your training". Gatomon stated as she placed her daughter down on the ground, who started flapping her wings and flew off the ground.

Shadow looked to his left, before he began walking in that direction, getting everyone to look at his form. "Believe it or not, there's an open field nearby. Just follow me". The general of Twilight's Union told his friends, immediately getting Grimdramon to run after his partner. Kari, Gatomon and GrimSalamon followed after the two as well and soon, both Tagiru and Gumdramon walked after them.

Not too long after, the group came across an open field in the forest, large enough for Tagiru and Gumdramon to train. "This should do. What do you guys say?" Grimdramon questioned as he looked over his left shoulder towards Tagiru and Gumdramon, getting the two to grin at him. "This place is just what we needed". The Mini Dragon replied to the Dragon of Darkness, before he looked over towards Tagiru and saw him knelt down and place his bag down. "Time is short; we better get started on training". The young male stated, getting Gumdramon to nod in agreement.

Shadow and Kari looked down at their partner Digimon, who returned the favor by looking up at them. "We can't slack off and let them beat us, right?" Shadow questioned with a small smirk, one that Grimdramon returned. "Right!" The Dragon of Darkness replied to his partner, getting the 12-year-old boy to nod towards him. GrimSalamon flew up and landed on Kari's shoulder, staring at her uncle as he turned to look at the bearer of Light. "You guys stay here and watch over Tagiru and Gumdramon train. Grimdramon and I will search for the rest of Mikey's Digimon". Shadow told his love as he crossed his arms, getting Kari to narrow her eyes and give a childish pount at her husband.

"There you go again, hogging all the fun stuff to yourself". The bearer of Light said with a playful sour voice, getting Shadow to chuckle slightly, while Grimdramon looked up at him. "She has a point. Maybe we should let her and Gatomon handle the situation this time". The Virus Digimon suggested to his partner, getting Shadow to look down in thought for a moment. He lifted his head up and nodded. "You have a point, partner. Okay Kari, you and your Digimon can handle this situation when the tournament takes place". The DigiDestined of Darkness told the brunette, getting Kari to smile happily as she placed her hands on her hips. "Thank you". Kari thanked as she went up and kissed Shadow on the cheek, getting him to lightly smile.

GrimSalamon flew off of Kari's shoulder and landed on the top of his head, getting the bearer of Darkness to look up at her. Gatomon walked up to her husband and placed a gentle kiss on his snout. "Happy hunting, husband". The Champion Level Digimon said to her love, getting him to chuckle at her. "And happy babysitting to you". The Dragon of Darkness joked, getting Gatomon to lightly giggle as she stepped back. Grimdramon walked towards his partner and looked up at him, who was still staring at GrimSalamon on his head and saw her innocent stare.

"...You're not coming". The bearer of Darkness told the Hound of Twilight, getting her to grow the "puppy dog eye" look at him. "Please, Uncle Shadow". GrimSalamon begged her uncle, getting him to sigh at her with his eyes closed. He placed his hands on his hips, causing the cloak to open a little. "All right, you can come along". Shadow said to the little Twilight Digimon, getting GrimSalamon to smile happily. "Yay!" She cried out in joy as she started flapping her wings. Shadow opened his eyes, before he swiped his left hand out towards Grimdramon with the Fusion Loader in hand. The device's screen lit up in bright black colours, before it engulfed Grimdramon.

(Digimon Tri: Dark Evolution)

In a black world, Shadow's Fusion activated with words of different languages in black colour appearing on the screen, before a single word was left. The Digivice began glowing with purple rings coming forward to reveal a black hexagonal world with symbols all around. Black hexagons started coming down from above towards Grimdramon. "Grimdramon Dark Digivolve to…!" Grimdramon called out as he wrapped his arms and wings around himself with the hexagons beginning to surround him, forming a dark egg that covered him from view.

The black hexagonal egg released purple rings as it glowed black and floated into the air. The egg grew bigger and twitched for a moment, before a bright purple light came out of it. The egg began to dissolve to reveal a black form with the numbers '0', '1', and '2' all over it. The shadow covered form was a a fairly large bipedal dragon with well-developed arms. The shadow covered form floated up into the air with a purple ring coming down towards it. The shadow covered creature's form was revealed as the purple ring came down upon it.

The Digimon was a fairly large bipedal dragon with well-developed arms. Much of the creature's body was coloured a deep purple, while the underside of its neck was coloured a dark-teal. It had an almost eel-like face with small savage purple eyes and a mouth full of metallic purple sharp fangs, with the largest ones growing from its jaw. On the front of the dragon's jaw was like a tuck was a large metal spike that curved upward, and it had silver armour on the sides of his head that formed into a pair of horn-like blades that curved back. Covering the front of the dragon's torso were pieces of silver and black armour with curved glowing gold lines on the sides of the chest armour, and mounted on the sides of its forearms were two thick flat blades with small round violet gems fitted into the base. The beast's tail was wide at the end and had a pair of long metal spikes that curved upward, and on its back was a large pair of black and purple metallic wings, each with a violet orb fitted into the long metal spike that extended out towards the base of the wing.

The Dragon Digimon spread his wings and took flight. He spun around very fast like a tornado, before suddenly stopping, releasing a wave of darkness as he stared forward at the camera. "DarkAmethdramon!" The evolved Dark Champion Level Digimon roared out his name to the heavens with darkness flames erupting behind him.

(Digimon Tri evolution end)

DarkAmethdramon replaced where Grimdramon stood and gave out a powerful roar to the heavens with his claws held up. The sudden roar caught both Tagiru and Gumdramon's attention as they looked over, before crying in surprise at seeing the large bipedal dragon. "What the!? Where did that thing come from?!" The young Hunter questioned in shock as he shot up to his feet, getting Shadow, Kari, DarkAmethdramon, Gatomon and GrimSalamon turn towards him and Gumdramon. Shadow gave an understanding smile for their shock, before he held up his left hand towards his partner, still holding the Fusion Loader.

"This is DarkAmethdramon, Grimdramon's Dark Champion form". Shadow explained to the young hunter, getting Tagiru to shift his attention over to the bearer of Darkness, while Gumdramon stared up at his idol in awe. "The King told me about this. Unlike us, the Digimon of your world have more evolutions, right?" The Mini Dragon asked in an excited tone, getting DarkAmethdramon to chuckle as he looked down at his admirer. "Yes, but there's a difference. Our evolutions aren't as powerful as the ones your kind has. The evolutions of this world are incredibly powerful for just one evolution; they easily reach the Mega evolutions' power". The Dark Champion Level Digimon explained to the young dragon, much to his awe at learning the differences of the different evolutions.

Dark Amethdramon lowered his head in front of Shadow, enabling him to climb on and grab hold of the horn-like blades. The Dark Champion Level Digimon lifted his head back up, before he looked towards Tagiru and Gumdramon with his partner and daughter following his example. "We're gonna go look for Mikey's other Digimon. Hopefully, they've arrived in DigiQuartz and are nearby. We'll be back in around an hour or so". Shadow told the two, getting Tagiru to nod in understanding, before he waved his right hand. "See ya later, I'll be stronger by the time you guys get back!" The young male cried out, getting Shadow to grow a small grin.

DarkAmethdramon spread his wings out fully, before he ascended into the air, kicking up a powerful gust of wind that forced everyone to shield their eyes with Kari's ponytail being blown in the breeze. DarkAmethdramon immediately flew away in one direction, leaving Kari, Tagiru, Gatomon and Gumdramon in the field alone. They all lowered their right hands that they held up to shield their eyes, before they looked up at the sky and saw the partners of Darkness were gone. "They always have to do things in a dramatic fashion". Gatomon remarked, pressing her fists against her hips as Kari turned to look at Tagiru.

"They won't be gone for long, and they'll be fine if anyone tries anything. Just focus on your training, we'll be watching nearby". The brunette told the young boy, getting him to tilt his head for a moment, before he nodded. "Okay, got ya". Tagiru replied to Kari, before he sat back down and began going through his kendo gear. Kari and Gatomon watched the two as Gumdramon told Tagiru to hurry up, who told him that he was hurrying.

(With Shadow, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon)

Flying high in the sky above the city of DigiQuartz was DarkAmethdramon with Shadow ridding atop his neck and GrimSalamon riding on his head. The Dark Champion Level Digimon looked at his partner through the corner of his left eye. "Okay, what's the plan to find the others?" He asked his partner, getting Shadow to look down at him. "To be honest, I have no idea. We have zero leads and no idea if they're even in this world. Basically, we're on a wild goose chase". The bearer of Darkness answered, getting the Virus Digimon to groan in displeasure upon hearing that.

"Great, just what I wanted to hear". DarkAmethdramon said in a sarcastic voice, getting GrimSalamon to blink down at her father. "You hoped to hear that?" She asked in an innocent voice, getting Shadow to smile up at her. "Not exactly. It's a little something called "sarcasm". We'll teach you about it later". The bearer of Darkness told the Hound of Twilight, getting her to look down at her uncle figure in confusion. Shadow then held up his left hand that was still holding the Fusion Loader up to his face. "This would be a lot easier if we could call out the others". The black and purple haired stated, causing the screen to light up and reveal Dynasmon's face.

"You can say that again. It sucks that we're trapped in here and can't get out unless DarkAmethdramon swaps places with one of us". The Passionate Warrior complained with an annoyed tone, getting Shadow to nod. "I agree with you on that". The bearer of Darkness said in agreement as he preferred the freedom of allowing his Digimon to be free. "We'll have to make do with what we have, and as much as I hate to rely on it, that includes luck too". DarkAmethdramon remarked as he flapped his wings and increased his speed. Shadow and GrimSalamon held on tight as the Sword-Like Fangs Dragon continued to fly through DigiQuartz's skies, searching for their old comrades.

(Three days later)

Three days have passed since Tagiru's training and Shadow's search began. Right now, in the open field, Kari and Gatomon both sat down on the ground in different positions as they watched Tagiru and Arresterdramon train. Kari was genuflecting in a almost prayer-like position, while Gatomon sat down on the ground with her legs out, her claws lying against the ground and the tail up. A little bit away from them stood Tagiru, in full kendo gear and outfit with his sword in hand, standing across Arresterdramon. Three days have passed since their encounter with Musashi and Kotemon, and so far, Tagiru hasn't been making much progress as he always ended up on the ground from Arresterdramon's assault. His spirit remained strong however, as he continued to get back up and try again. Shadow's results have been the same as Tagiru's as he hasn't found one of Mikey's Digimon yet, despite the three days.

He hasn't asked for any assistance from his teammates, or sister as they were either busy hunting Digimon, helping their people settle down roots, or hunt the remaining hunters of the Skull Hunters. So, it's just been him, Grimdramon, GrimSalamon and his Digimon searching for the members of the disbanded Fusion Fighters. Kari, Gatomon and her Digimon remained with Tagiru and Gumdramon as they trained for two purposes. The first was to heal Tagiru whenever he got injured, and the second; keep an eye out for anything. Right now, the two partners of Light were now watching Tagiru and Arresterdramon train against one another.

"Rrraaahhh!" Arresterdramon roared out, resuming his assault once more as he swiped his tail at Tagiru multiple times. The young male managed to block the first two tail swipes, but the third one broke through and the force forced him off his feet and a little bit into the air with his sword knocked out of his grip. Kari lightly gasped in concern, before she climbed up onto her feet and ran over to Tagiru. "And once again, he bit off more than he could chew on". Gatomon remarked, staying in her comfortable position as Kari stopped besides Tagiru on his right and knelt down besides him. "Are you alright? I'll heal you". The brunette said in concern, before she held up her hands as white energy appeared around them.

She held her hands out to Tagiru, causing the white energy to spread over him, healing his wounds from colliding with the ground. Arresterdramon gleamed white as he De-Digivolved back into Gumdramon and ran over to his partner and Kari. "Is he okay?" The Mini Dragon asked in concern, getting Kari to turn and smile at him. "Don't worry. It's just minor injures, he'll be fully healed in a matter of seconds". The brunette answered, reassuring Gumdramon as her hands stopped glowing white, before she lowered them and placed them on her knees. Tagiru opened his eyes and groaned, before he looked over to Kari, who gave him a small frown. "You should be more careful. You're lucky you're not being hospitalized". Light's Hope's general told the male, getting him to groan again as he climbed onto his feet.

"I'm not done yet. I can still keep going! This is no-ow ow ow!" Tagiru exclaimed in pain as he collapsed to his left kneel and hissed, getting Kari and Gumdramon to grow concerned expressions on their faces. "You've been working hard for the last 3 days. My healing heals the injures on your body, but not the strain that it is going through". Kari told the young boy, getting Gumdramon to nod in agreement. "She's right. Maybe going against my tail is damaging you too much". The Mini Dragon stated, getting Tagiru to look at him and grin. "That's the reason why I want to do it". The Digimon Hunter told his partner, getting Gumdramon to blink in confusion.

"The stronger my opponent is, the stronger that I can become. The pain is well worth it to become a strong as possible". Tagiru explained to his partner, getting Kari to smile at him and his strong spirit. "You have an admirable spirit". A familiar voice stated, getting everyone's attention as they looked over and saw Kotemon standing a few feet away from Tagiru, Kari and Gumdramon with his sword in hand. "Kotemon?" Tagiru and Gumdramon said in surprise to see the Rookie Level Digimon, while Kari and Gatomon narrowed their eyes at the sight of him.

"Nonetheless, fighting against a tail is vastly different from fighting another sword". Kotemon told the Digimon Hunter, before he took a stance with his sword, like that of a kendo match. "I will be your opponent". He declared, getting everyone to widen their eyes in surprise. Kari climbed up to her feet and narrowed her eyes at Kotemon. "Why are you offering to help Tagiru? He's Musashi's opponent in the upcoming tournament, so why help your student's opponent?" The bearer of Light questioned the Reptile Digimon, getting Kotemon to turn towards her. "There are no lines between enemy and friend among those who wish to get stronger". Kotemon replied to the brunette, getting her to slightly widen her eyes in surprise as that sounded something like what Cody's grandfather would say.

"Teaching the path of the righteous blade to those who hold such pureheated feelings is my purpose in life". The Reptile Digimon added, getting everyone to smile at him as both Tagiru and Gatomon climbed onto their feet. "That's great to hear, especially from you!" Tagiru exclaimed in joy, while Gatomon walked over towards Tagiru's sword, which was lying down on the ground a little bit away. "Besides..." Kotemon began, getting everyone curious on what else was on his mind. "Is there a problem?" Kari asked in slight concern, getting Kotemon to turn towards her.

"Musashi has begun to walk down the wrong path due to his obsession with power. In order to return him to the path of the righteous blade as I had taught, he will need to battle an honest swordsman like this young man here". The Rookie Level Digimon explained to Kari, causing her to grow an understanding smile, while Tagiru was a bit surprised at his words. "Me? An honest swordsman?" The Digimon Hunter questioned in surprise, while Gumdramon grew a confident smirk on his face. "I get what he's saying". The Mini Dragon said as he completely agreed with Kotemon's words about his partner.

"Tagiru, the head stroke is fitting for someone of your disposition. I will train your head stroke to its highest perfection". The Reptile Digimon told the Digimon Hunter, getting him to grin as he held up his right fist. "All right, thanks!" Tagiru thanked Kotemon as Gatomon walked up towards him and held the handle of his kendo sword out to him. "If you're gonna train, you're gonna need this". The Champion Level Digimon told the young male, getting Tagiru to look down at her for a moment, before he nodded and took his sword. Tagiru turned to look back at Kotemon and took his kendo stance, which everyone stepped back and gave him space.

"Now, come at me!" The Reptile Digimon told the Digimon Hunter, who was more than happy to oblige. "Head!" Tagiru roared out as he charged towards Kotemon and swung his sword down towards his head. Surprisingly, Tagiru met no resistance and landed a direct hit, but it didn't seem to damage Kotemon as he didn't flinch. "Not good enough! You're too far back! Come at me with more force!" Kotemon scolded Tagiru, getting him to narrow his eyes at him. "Head!" He cried out as he charged once more. Kari, Gatomon and Gumdramon watched as Tagiru and Kotemon trained with the brunette girl folding her hands behind her.

However, Kari then looked over her right shoulder and looked at Tagiru's hidden audience with a smile. Not too far away was Mikey and Ewan, watching their teammate train for his match against Musashi. Mikey was leaning his back against a nearby tree, while Ewan had his right hand on his hip. Kari flashed the two a smile and waved towards them with her right hand, which the two males returned to her. Kari turned to look back at Tagiru and Kotemon's training, before she looked up at the sky. "I wonder what Shadow's doing right now. Maybe he found some of the members of the Fusion Fighters". Kari said in wonder, wondering what her husband was doing right now.

(Meanwhile with Shadow)

In another section of DigiQuartz, there was a really tall mountain in the middle of a forest. Atop the mountain were Shadow, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon standing at the edge of it, side by side with the DigiDestined of Darkness in the middle. However, that was one thing different about Shadow; he had a new outfit on, replacing his old one.

He now wore a long, dark black coat with a purple inner lining with the crest symbol of darkness' insignia sewn into both shoulders. The coat had a silver harness. Under the coat, he wore a purple zip-up hoodie/vest with two zippers under his coat, a black shirt beneath that. On his left wrist, he had a purple wristband held in place with a small silver belt. Shadow's legwear consists of a pair of pitch-black pants held up by a belt with a rose buckle. Over his pants, he wore silver thigh straps with small belts in them. Finally, he wears silver boots that went halfway up to his shins.

2 days ago, he had finally completed his new outfit, and he had to admit, he liked it really much. His coat was actually his cloak, but had had used his powers to reshape it. He had changed its shape to still have it on him whenever he needed to use it in battle. The rest of his clothes were picked out by his sister, who decided to help him with his new outfit. Not to mention, she had gotten him some new "toys" as well. Fully equipped, he continued his search for the members of the disbanded Fusion Fighters. Yet, their search has still ended fruitless as they had not even found a trace of them.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm just getting annoyed now". The DigiDestined of Darkness stated with an annoyed frown on his face as he had his arms crossed. The sword-like fangs dragon gave a small growl of agreement, while GrimSalamon had a small frown on her face. "You can say that again. Three days of searching, and still nothing. I'm starting to think that everyone else decided to stay in the Digital World". DarkAmethdramon said as he lifted his tail up, and then slammed it on the ground behind him. GrimSalamon flew over to the front of Shadow and looked at him in the eye. "Uncle, can I even ask why we're searching for the other members of the Fusion Fighters? Won't they just end up in Mikey's Fusion Loader?" GrimSalamon asked her uncle, getting Shadow to turn towards her.

"That is a likely chance, but there's still a chance that they could end up out in the wild here in DigiQuartz. This place has some sort of power that makes wild Digimon go out of control. That's why we need to find them before they lose control and end up kidnapping someone". Shadow explained to the Hound of Twilight, getting her to grow an understanding expression on her face, before she nodded to him. "I understand. I hope we find them soon". GrimSalamon said with a hint of concern for her friends that she hasn't seen for over a year.

Shadow turned his head forward and looked out across the view. He had learned of the out of control Digimon from Mikey, who told him how most of Tagiru's Digimon and Puppetmon had either kidnapped, or controlled humans in the real world. And when they were freed of the mysterious force controlling them, they had no clue what happened to them. This had concerned him as he had no idea if this was the God of Death's work, or the new enemy that the old clock man had warned him about. 'So many mysteries, yet not enough answers'. Shadow thought to himself as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

He then turned to look up at his partner and eased his gaze. "How ya holding up? Do you need to take a short break and have someone else take over?" The DigiDestined of Darkness asked his Digimon partner, getting DarkAmethdramon to look down at him, before he shook his head at him. "I can keep going. It'll take more than "this" to exhaust me. Though I'd prefer a good fight over this". The Sword-like Fangs Dragon answered his partner, getting Shadow to let out a small chuckle at his words.

GrimSalamon was off flying to the side, looking around her surrounding as Shadow and her father discussed matters. However, she then took notice of a flashing light in the distance, getting her to blink in surprise. "Hey? What's there?" She questioned, getting the attention of both Shadow and DarkAmethdramon as they looked over her direction and saw the flashing light. Shadow brought up his right hand, before darkness appeared around it. After a moment, the darkness disappeared to reveal black binoculars in his hand, which Shadow held up and looked through them.

Through the binoculars, Shadow was able to see that the flashing light was actually an Angemon, who was flying in a random direction with its staff in its left hand. He widened his eyes upon seeing the Champion Level Digimon, before he lowered the binoculars. "It's an Angemon". He told his partner, getting DarkAmethdramon to raise an eyebrow, if he had any that is. "Those aren't Digimon you see everyday". He stated as Angemon were rare Digimon, so seeing a wild one was a great opportunity. "You think it's the same Angemon that we fought with against the Bagra Army?" GrimSalamon asked as she tilted her head to the left, getting Shadow to shrug his shoulders.

The Prince of Darkness held up his left hand as darkness appeared over the binoculars for a moment, before clearing to revel the binoculars were gone. "Let's go ask. It's not like staying here is gonna answer our questions". Shadow told the two, getting Dark Amethdramon and GrimSalamon to nod towards him. The Sword-like Fangs Dragon lowered his head, allowing Shadow to climb on, before GrimSalamon flew towards his head and landed down on it. Pasengers secured, DarkAmethdramon lifted his head up, before spreading his wings. He fell off the edge and began falling towards the ground at a quick rate with Shadow and GrimSalamon holding on tight.

Just as he was about to crash into the ground, DarkAmethdramon pulled up and glided into the air. Shadow gave an amused chuckle at his partner's actions, while GrimSalamon cried out in excitement. "Had to do something dramatic, huh". The young boy remarked, getting the Dark Champion to chuckle as he flew towards the flashing light. Upon getting close, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon were able to see that the flashing light was an Angemon, who was flying in a random direction. The sounds of DarkAmethdramon flapping his wings caught the Champion Level Digimon's attention as he turned his head right and saw the Sword-like Fangs Dragon flying towards him with Shadow and GrimSalamon on board.

The Angel Digimon gasped upon seeing them. "Shadow! DarkAmethdramon! GrimSalamon!" Angemon called out in surprise, getting the three to widen their eyes in surprise, before their faces returned to normal. "Well, guess that settles it". GrimSalamon remarked as DarkAmethdramon stopped in front of Angemon and began flapping his wings to stay air-born. "Angemon, it has been some time". The Sword-like Fang Dragon greeted the Angel Digimon, getting Angemon to smile at him. "Indeed my old friends. I am glad to see you". Angemon replied to the Dark Champion Digimon, before he looked around their surroundings. "Perhaps you can tell me where I am". He said in a hopeful tone, getting Shadow to raise an eyebrow at him.

"You don't know where you are?" He asked in a slightly surprised voice, getting Angemon to turn towards him and nod. "That's right. Veemon, Agunimon, Rapidmon, Growlmon and I were in the Digital World one moment, then the next, we were in this strange world". The Angel Digimon answered, getting Shadow, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon to widen their eyes in surprise, before they narrowed them. "Is that everyone that was with you?" GrimSalamon asked, getting Angemon to look and nod towards her. "Well, it's something at least. Wouldn't you say Shadow?" DarkAmethdramon questioned his partner, getting the bearer of Darkness to nod down at him. "I guess you're right". The 12-year-old boy replied to his partner, before looking up at Angemon.

"You're in a world known as DigiQuartz that's connected with Mikey's world". Shadow began to explain, getting Angemon to grow a fascinated expression. "DigiQuartz..." Angemon whispered to himself as he held his chin with his right hand. "We don't know how it was created, but somehow this world connects the human world with your Digital World. In this world, there's humans known as Hunters that hunt Digimon for a competition. The hunted Digimon becomes theirs, and can't be freed unless the Hunter allows it". Shadow explained to the Champion Level Digimon, getting him to grow a frown on his face.

"I'd rather die than become somebody's property!" Angemon hissed in disgust, making DarkAmethdramon nod in understanding. "Good to know. We've meet up with Mikey, Shoutmon and the others. With them, you'll be safe from being hunted". The Dark Champion Digimon told the Angel Digimon, getting him to smile a little in relief. "That is good to hear. I'm assuming that Shoutmon is with him again, right?" Angemon asked his friends, which Shadow nodded to him, getting his smile to grow larger. "That is a relief. Then they must have the means to return us home". The Angel Digimon added, getting Shadow and DarkAmethdramon to look at one another for a moment, before turning to look back at him.

"Honesty, we have no idea. But we're certain about one thing, we need your help". The DigiDestined of Darkness told Angemon, getting him to frown in confusion. "Why? Is there something wrong that needs our aid?" The Angel Digimon questioned the three, getting GrimSalamon to nod at him. "You could say that. Another bad guy is up to something". The Hound of Twilight told Angemon, getting him to let out a low surprised gasp. Shadow placed his right hand on GrimSalamon's head and gave her a small pat, before he refocused his attention on Angemon. "We she said is true. There's an old clock man that brought us back to this world. He gave us a letter and told us that a new threat had emerged in this world and that the God of Death was making his move at last". Shadow explained to the Champion Digimon, getting him alarmed at what he heard. He looked down in thought for a few moments, before he lifted his head up and gave a determined look.

"I understand the situation. To be honest, I never thought the God of Death of would make his move so soon after Lord Bagra's defeat. Still, we are more than willing to lend our aid". Angemon told his friends, getting them all to smile at him. "Glad to hear it. Where's the others?" DarkAmethdramon questioned his comrade, getting him to grow a small smile. "Do not worry. I told them all to wait as I searched for answers on what happened to us. Follow me". The Angel Digimon answered his friend, before he turned around and began flying away. DarkAmethdramon flew after the Champion Level Digimon, keeping pace with him as Angemon lead them.

A few minutes past and now, they were flying towards a small open field of the forest. "There!" Angemon called out as he pointed forwards the field with his right hand's index finger. Shadow looked at the Angel Digimon with an eyebrow raised as they was nobody there. Instead of answering Shadow's silent question, Angemon flew down and landed in the open field. DarkAmethdramon followed Angemon's lead and landed in the field, causing a mini earthquake. "Everyone! I have returned with a few old friends!" Angemon called out with a lively voice, while DarkAmethdramon lowered his neck to the ground, before Shadow jumped off.

At first, there was no sound to respond to Angemon's cry, but eventually, four happy cries came from within the forest. Then, Veemon, Agunimon, Rapidmon and Growlmon all came out of the forest with happy smiles, which grew even more upon seeing Shadow, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon. "Shadow! GrimSalamon! DarkAmethdramon!" The four Digimon called out in joy, before they rushed towards them. GrimSalamon flew off of Shadow's head, before she flew towards Veemon with an excited smile. The Dragon Digimon held his arms out as GrimSalamon flew into them, before he gave the Hound of Twilight a warm hug.

Agunimon ran towards Shadow and knelt down in front of him. "Haha! You've grown taller!" The Demon Man laughed out, before he placed his right hand on Shadow's head and ruffled his hair, getting the bearer of Darkness to narrow his eyes in an unamused way. Growlmon gave out a good laugh as he brought DarkAmethdramon into a bear, getting the Sword-like Fangs Dragon to widen his eyes in comic surprise, while Rapidmon laughed. Angemon just watched in amusement as his former Fusion Fighters comrades reunite with their friends.

A minute later, Shadow, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon stood in front of the gathered former members of the Fusion Fighters. "You guys haven't changed that much". Shadow stated with his arms crossed, but he did have a small smile. "And you're still an emo! Hahaha!" Veemon laughed out with his hands on his hips, before he instantly shut up upon seeing Shadow's small glare at him. "I know you don't have good long-term memory, but I thought you'd remember that I told you to never call me an "emo" again". The bearer of Darkness said with a slightly angry tone, getting the Dragon Digimon to laugh nervously as he shrug. "Uhh, sorry". Veemon apologized to the leader of Twilight's Union.

Shadow gave a sigh, while everyone else chuckled at the two. Rapidmon turned to look at DarkAmethdramon with a curious expression. "Sorry if I upset you, but how are you guys even here? Didn't you all leave and go back to your world". The Ultimate Digimon questioned the Sword-like Fang Dragon, getting him to look at Rapidmon. "I'm not offended by your question. And yes, we all did return to our world, but someone brought us back". The Dark Champion Digimon answered the Ultimate Level Digimon, getting Growlmon to tilt his head in confusion. "Who?" The Virus Digimon asked in a confused voice, getting Shadow to look up at him. "You might want to sit down. This'll take a while". Shadow told the 5 Digimon, getting Veemon, Agunimon, Rapidmon and Growlmon to look at each other in confusion, while Angemon just crossed his arms.

Not too long later, Shadow, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon had finished explaining everything to the four Digimon what they told Angemon. Right now, Veemon and Agunimon were sitting down on the ground, while everyone else was still standing up. Veemon, Agunimon, Rapidmon and Growlmon all had serious expressions on their faces after listening to their friends. "Well, that's just great. Not just one, but two evil masterminds are trying something bad now. Is it too much to ask for a lifetime of peace?" Agunimon remarked, laying his right hand against his right cheek.

"You know full well to the answer to that. Anyway, will you guys help us?" DarkAmethdramon asked the four Digimon, getting Veemon to grin at him. "Of course we're in!" The Rookie Digimon answered the Dark Champion Digimon, getting the Sword-like Fangs Dragon to smile at him. "I thought fight was oven when we defeated Lord Bagra, but looks like I was wrong. I'm in, to protect our world". Rapidmon told Shadow with a determined voice, getting him to nod. "Make that three". Agunimon said with a confident grin as he stood up on his feet and slammed his fists against each other, causing sparks of fire to briefly appear.

"Four!" Growlmon roared out as he reared his arms up, getting GrimSalamon to smile at him. "Like I said before, you have my aid as well". Angemon joined in with a smile full of courage, getting Shadow, DarkAmethdramon and GrimSalamon nod at him. "Alright, good to hear. There's a kendo tournament coming up, I'll give you guys to Mikey after it's done. For now, you guys will have to stay with us". Shadow told the five former Fusion Fighters, getting Veemon to tilt his head in confusion. "Why can't we stay here?" The Dragon Digimon asked with a confused voice, getting GrimSalamon to look at him. "This weird place has a weird feeling. Uncle Shadow said that wild Digimon go out of control and kidnap humans from the real world". The Hound of Twilight answered him, getting Veemon to slightly widen his eyes in surprise, before he nodded in understanding.

Shadow reached into his coat's jacket with his right hand, before he pulled out his Fusion Loader and held it out towards the five. "This isn't permanent. Just a few days, then you'll all be back with Mikey". The general of Twilight's Union told the five Digimon, getting them all to nod at him, before they all turned into flashes that went into his Fusion Loader. Shadow turned the Fusion Loader around to look at it with a smile, before he put it away. "Looks like we didn't waste time after all. We managed to make some progress". DarkAmethdramon remarked with a small grin, getting Shadow to nod at him.

"Let's head back to the castle and check in on everyone". Shadow told his partner and GrimSalamon, getting the Twilight Digimon to grow a concerned look. "But what about Mummy and Aunt Kari?" She asked in a worried voice, getting Shadow and DarkAmethdramon to give her reassuring smiles. "Don't worry about them. They can take care of themselves, besides, anybody who messes with them is gonna regret it". Shadow told the Hound of Twilight to calm her down. GrimSalamon looked down in thought for a few moments, before she looked back at her uncle and nodded.

Shadow gave a small smile, before he looked up at DarkAmethdramon, who lowered his neck for Shadow. The DigiDestined of Darkness climbed onto his partner's neck, while GrimSalamon flew onto his head. DarkAmethdramon lifted his head up, before he shot off of the ground and into the air. DarkAmethdramon gave a cry, before he spun around and began flying back to the Castle of Twilight.

(The day of the tournament)

Four days has passed and soon, the day of the Municipal Tournament arrived. Tagiru has trained hard for this day with Kotemon, while being safe guarded by Kari. Despite his best efforts, Shadow and his partner weren't able to find anymore former members of the Fusion Fighters. He had kept Angemon, Veemon, Agunimon, Growlmon and Rapidmon safe until the tournament to return them to their rightful general.

Shadow, Kari, Mikey, Tagiru and Ewan were all in a large modern concrete building with big glass doors and windows, where the tournament would take place. Shadow and Kari were sitting down in the stands up above, while Mikey, Tagiru and Ewan were down in the kendo field. Shadow was leaning down in his seat, while Kari was sitting up straight.

They watched as Mikey and his kendo team began their first match against a random school. "All right, here's the plan Kari. The moment Musashi uses that strange energy; I'll create an illusion around them so that nobody will see it. Then, when Musashi takes Tagiru to DigiQuartz, you head over and provide aid". Shadow explained his plan to his wife, getting Kari to turn towards him and nod. "Okay. But what'll we do if Musashi defeats Tagiru without using that strange power?" Kari questioned Shadow in a curious tone, wondering what they'll do if Plan A failed.

Shadow slightly turned to look at her, before he went back to watching the Kendo Match as Mikey defeated his opponent with a chest strike. "Something tells me that we won't have to worry about that. After all, you saw how Tagiru trained hard for this". He answered the brunette, getting Kari to smile a little, before she gave a nod and went back to watching the match.

"You're right. There's no way that Tagiru will lose". Kari stated with full confidence in her new friend, before she clasped her hands together. "For now, let's just enjoy the tournament". She added, wanting to just relax and enjoy the tournament. Shadow nodded with a small smile, before he returned his attention to the kendo match as Ewan went next.

Ewan won his match with a head strike, with Tagiru following it up with his own victory. Shininome Higashi Junior High, which was the school of Mikey, Ewan and Tagiru, continued to win matches and eventually made it to the finals of the tournament. And just as expected, Musashi's school, Arashi Junior High, found their matches and made it to the finals as well.

The final match would begin soon as both kendo teams sat across one another across a field with a judge standing in between them, holding a red and white flag in hand. Shadow and Kari, having enjoyed the tournament so war, were now standing by the edge of the stands, both ready to act on a moment's notice. "We will now commence the finals for the Municipal Tournament! Begin the first round!" The judge called out, officially starting the first round.

"Yes, sir!" Mikey called out as he placed his kendo helmet on. "Mikey-senpai, you can do it!" Three familiar voices cheered out, getting Shadow and Kari to look to see the same three girls from before cheering at the edge of the stands as well. Kari gave a good giggle at seeing this, while Shadow just shook his head with a smile. Musashi had a frown on his face as Mikey walked into the kendo field. "Mikey Kudo! Are you that scared to fight me?" He questioned the former general of the Fusion Fighters, having thought he'd be the team captain as he was his team's captain.

"You're going up against our leader, Tagiru Akashi". Mikey replied to Arashi High's Kendo captain, getting Musashi to turn towards Tagiru, before he gritted his teeth as he wanted to fight Mikey and not Tagiru. Shadow was silent as he placed his right hand down behind the edge of the stands, ready to act.

Mikey and his opponent, in full kendo gear, held their kendo sticks across one another, ready to begin. "Begin!" The referee exclaimed, giving the signal to start the match. Mikey's opponent held up his sword, before charging with a cry of "head". However, Mikey countered with his own head strike as he dodged and struck at the same time. The referee held up the white flag with his right hand, signaling a point for Shininome Higashi Junior High. "A head stroke!" He called out, getting the crowd to cheer as they applause for Mikey with even Kari joining in.

Ewan went next and won with a chest stroke, earning another point for Shininome Higashi Junior, and a cheer from his three fan girls. Kari also cheered for Ewan's victory, honestly still amazed at how much he's grown since a year ago. Musashi's two teammates won the next two rounds, earning 2 points for Arashi Junior High. Eventually, they reached the final match, the match of Tagiru V.S Musashi.

"Musashi, let's do this!" Tagiru called out with an eager voice, before he placed his helmet on. "You're not worth my time". Musashi replied to the Digimon Hunter, before placing his helmet on as well. "This round will break the tie of two wins, two losses". Ewan commented from besides Mikey, sitting down on the ground in the same fashion before the match started. "The last round to decide it all". The former general of the Fusion Fighters stated, before he looked over his right shoulder to look up towards Shadow and Kari.

Both DigiDestined notice Mikey looking towards them and gave him nods, telling him that they were ready. Mikey returned the nod, before he turned back towards the match as Tagiru and Musashi walked into the field, drew their swords and took their stances. 'Come on Tagiru, it's all on you now'. Shadow said in his mind with narrowed eyes, trusting in Tagiru to blow Musashi's cover.

"Begin!" The referee exclaimed, starting the match between the two. The two immediately charged towards each other with battle cries. "Head!" Musashi exclaimed as he swung his swords towards Tagiru's head, intending on a head stroke, but he managed to block. Musashi began unleashing a barrage of head strokes, but Tagiru managed to block them all, however he was slowly being pushed to the edge of the field.

"Tagiru, you're being pushed to the line!" Mikey called out to the Digimon Hunter, getting his attention after he managed to deflect another head stroke, before he looked over his right shoulder to see that he had indeed reached the line. 'If he steps over that line, he'll be disqualified and Musashi will win the match'. Shadow thought to himself with narrowed eyes, knowing the rules of kendo and how someone loses the match if they step over the line.

Tagiru looked back in front of himself to see Musashi coming in for another head stroke, holding his kendo stick over his head with both hands. "You're mine!" He called out as he jumped into the air a little, getting Tagiru to grit his teeth as he reared his sword. "Head!" The Digimon Hunter exclaimed as he charged forward for a head stroke, but instead clashed swords against Musashi and pushed him back.

Kari let out a delighted gasp upon seeing Tagiru push Musashi back. Even Shadow let out a small smile upon seeing this. Musashi, on the other hand, wasn't too happy. 'I'll do whatever it takes to win!' The young kendo swordsman said in his mind, determined to be the winner and not the loser. The same dark energy then appeared besides Musashi, making Shadow narrow his eyes at the sight. 'Now!' He shouted out in his head as he opened his right hand, before darkness briefly appeared over it.

Faster than the naked eye could follow, darkness appeared as a sphere over Tagiru and Musashi, before it quickly cleared to reveal an illusion of the two with Illusion Musashi just holding his kendo sword. However, in the eyes of Shadow, Kari, Mikey, Ewan and Tagiru, they saw him hold the dark energy like a second sword.

Tagiru gasped upon seeing this. "Again!?" He called out in surprise, realizing that he indeed saw something in their last match. "I'll admit that you've gotten pretty good despite the short time since our last match". Musashi admitted to Tagiru, who kept his stance as he was ready to fight. "That's because Kotemon trained me as well". He told his opponent, much to Musashi's surprise upon learning this.

"What?! Why would Kotemon teach you?" Musashi questioned his opponent in a surprise voice that Kotemon taught Tagiru as well. "Kotemon said that there are no lines between enemy and friend among those who want to be stronger!" The Digimon Hunter answered, making Musashi grit his teeth in anger. "In that case, I… will do whatever it takes to gain power even greater than Kotemon's!" Musashi exclaimed, before he gave a lord battle cry.

Just then, the timer on the judges' table glowed green, before a dark green digital mist erupted out of it and headed towards the two young males. Musashi was pulled into the mist, getting Tagiru to widen his eyes in surprise. "Musashi!" The Digimon Hunter exclaimed as he chased after his kendo opponent into the mist. "T-They vanished!" The referee called out in shock, having seen all that happen with his own eyes.

The dark mist disappeared to reveal both Tagiru and Musashi were gone, causing everyone to cry out in surprise. Shadow kept his cool as he turned his head left to look at Kari, who had turned to look at him. The DigiDestined of Darkness gave her a nod, which she returned as she walked past him and headed towards the exit.

Shadow looked down towards the kendo field and saw Mikey looking at him over his right shoulder. He gave the former general of the Fusion Fighters the thumbs up with his right hand, getting Mikey to smile a little, before he looked back forward. 'It's on you now, Kari'. The DigiDestined of Darkness thought to himself, having complete trust in his wife to handle the situation if need be.

(In DigiQuartz)

Inside of a section in DigiQuartz, Kari and Gatomon were walking through a thick mist in the city, searching for both Tagiru and Musashi. "Geez, just what's up with this mist? It's so thick that I can hardly see!" Gatomon complained, waving her right paw in front of herself in an attempt to blow the fog away. "Don't worry. I think I see Tagiru and Musashi". Kari told her partner, noticing two figures in the fog up ahead. The two partners walked forward and saw that Kari was right.

Musashi seemed to have a dark look around his body and his eyes were red. He was holding both his kendo sword and the dark energy sword, and was currently in a weapons lock against Tagiru's kendo switch with his own. The two broke the weapons lock with Musashi swinging his dark sword down on Tagiru, but he leaped back and dodged. Tagiru took his stance as Musashi held his swords in a different stance.

Kari and Gatomon watched the two, but then something caught Kari's right eye. She looked and saw Ren Tobari and his Dracmon standing a few feet behind Musashi with the Virus Digimon holding up his dark glowing hands. 'I knew something was up with them'. The general of Light's Hope thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes. Both Gatomon and Tagiru then took notice of Ren and Dracmon, before the Digimon Hunter gasped in surprise.

"You're… Ren! Dracmon!" Tagiru cried out in surprise, while Ren just gave a smirk with his hands in his pockets. "So this was your doing!" A familiar voice called out as Kotemon showed up out of nowhere and ran next to Tagiru, getting him, Kari and Gatomon to look at him in surprise. "Kotemon". Tagiru said as he looked down at the Rookie Level Digimon, but kept his kendo stance.

Kari and Gatomon then joined the scene as they walked up next to Tagiru on his right side. "Ren Tobari! Just what are you doing?" Kari questioned the Digimon Hunter with a serious tone, getting the blue haired male to chuckle. "Dracmon needs strong human desires to power up. But since it's such a waste for him to take from my heart… I used that kendo boy's desire to be stronger instead". Ren explained with a smug tone, getting Gatomon to hiss at him as she reared up her claws.

"So that's how Musashi turned out this way". Kotemon said in realization, now realizing why his student had changed and became power hungry. "That's just low, using someone else's strong desire to power up instead of doing the work himself". Gatomon remarked with narrowed eyes as her claws sharpened, as if responding to her desire to scratch Ren's face for his stunt.

"Now, let me show you the results". Ren said as the dark energy surrounding Musashi was absorbed into Dracmon, causing Musashi's eyes to return to normal, before he collapsed unconscious. Dracmon gave a cry as he held up his hands, before dark energy surged around him. Ren brought up his dark grey Fusion Loader with his right hand, getting Kari to widen her eyes in alarm. 'Don't tell me that all of this was to Digivolve Dracmon!' The brunette shouted in her head, now realizing why Ren did all this.

(Digimon World Next Order OST - Battle Theme #1 (Extended) (HQ)

(Digimon Hunters Digivolve sequence)

With a white background, a pink and yellow circle appeared in front of Ren's Fusion Loader. Ren started rotating his thumb around the Fusion Loader's circular dial. "Dracmon! Digivolve!" He began with a smug grin, before he spun his right arm upward, spinning his hand in a circle motion, and then slashed it downward and kicking his right leg backwards to propel the movement and give it strength with his Fusion Loader leaving a green ring with multiple yellow and pink discs through every revolution.

Dracmon gave a chuckle as he held his hands in front of his face with his wrists locked in a cross with the right arm in front of the left. He reared his arms up, then stretched his arms out, before jumping backwards and opening his arms wide. He landed on his feet as digital rings came down from above and went over him, making him rotate his head as his body gleamed yellow.

The yellow gleam dispersed to reveal his body now glowing red. He placed his glowing hands over his eyes, before he slowly brought them down to reveal his eyes glowing their receptive colours. His body then disappeared, before a blue bear doll dropped out of the helmet. The helmet floated down to reveal a body forming behind it. A black cross-like brace formed around the glowing torso with the blue doll popping up from behind the left shoulder. The helmet shot out towards the glowing body, and once it made contact, both it and the glowing body changed.

The evolving Digimnon revealed to be a Yasyamon, who bobbed his body and head in a forward motion. The rings fully passed through the evolved Digimon, causing his body to lightly gleam white as he slowly dragged his body up, raising his arms that were armed with long wooden swords, before he spun in a clockward motion, jumping up, raising his legs a little and folding his body into himself.

"Yasyamon!" The evolved Digimon cried out as he fell to the ground and as he landed in a warrior crouch, taking a moment to spread his arms and swords out, before he stood up and swung his swords outward, preparing for battle with his right sword releasing a bright shining light at the tip.

(Evolution end)

Tagiru gasped upon seeing Dracmon Digivolve into Yasyamon, while Kari and Gatomon were plain confused. "Dracmon Digivoled into Yasyamon? How does that work? Shouldn't he evolve into a Sangloupmon?" The Vaccine Digimon questioned in confusion as she didn't think that Dracmon could Digivolve into an Armor Level Digimon. Kari gave a shrug as she had no explanation for this, and she highly doubted that Shadow had one either.

"It's wielding two swords". Tagiru pointed out with narrowed eyes, before he shifted them over to Kotemon besides him. "I see, so that's why Musashi…" He added, coming to his own conclusion on why Dracmon Digivolved into Yasyamon. Ren finally lose his smug look and replace it with a small serious one as he looked at his evolved Digimon. "Yasyamon, hunt Kotemon". Ren ordered the Armor Level Digimon, getting Yasyamon to chuckle as he slightly turned his head right to look at his Hunter.

"Why would you want a weak-looking Digimon like him? Wouldn't it be better to take the Gatomon instead?" Yasyamon questioned Ren, instantly alarming Kari and Gatomon upon hearing the suggestion. Ren shook his head at his Digimon though. "I'm not like Airu that steals Digimon she wants. I have my own limits". He told the Armor Level Digimon, getting Yasyamon to scoff as he looked back towards Tagiru, Kari, Kotemon and Gatomon. "Fine then. Honestly, I would have preferred hunting a Legendary Digimon over someone like him". The two sword wielding Digimon remarked, getting Tagiru to narrow his eyes.

"Tagiru, Reload me!" Gumdramon called out from within his partner's Fusion Loader, getting Tagiru to place his left hand into his armor, before he pulled out the device. "Reload, Gumdramon!" The Digimon Hunter called out, holding the Fusion Loader out as the device's screen released a bright light, before it shot out and revealed Gumdramon on the ground, who had his eyes narrowed at his opponent. Yasyamon held his arms out and charged towards Kotemon, letting out a battle cry as he did so. "I won't let you!" Tagiru exclaimed as he held up his Fusion Loader.

(Digimon Huters Evolution sequence)

A green light appeared, before disappear to reveal Tagiru's right hand, holding his Fusion Loader with the screen showing the same digital light, in front of the light of evolution. "Gumdramon!" He began, before he reared his hand slightly to the left, then swiped it out high to the right with his Fusion Loader leaving a green ring with multiple yellow discs through every revolution in front of himself and held his left hand out. "Digivolve!" Tagiru concluded with a strong voice.

Gumdramon faced forward as yellow rings came down from in front of him, surging him with power. He closed his eyes as he reared his head down, before releasing a powerful roar as he slowly reared it back up. His skin then peeled off, and then burst off to reveal his body completely gleaming yellow.

His red vest burst off and reassembled itself into a red rubbery armor similar to Gumdramon's vest over its torso. The yellow gleam slowly cleared to reveal black leather waders with armor plating and coattails, and a black harness, pair of purple wings then clawed hands with yellow gloves, which grasped each other. A long purple tail slowly formed with a barbed ornament on its tail. The neck and then head formed with goggles on top with the eyes having no iris, or pupil.

The evolved Digimon then grew a white four pieced prism seal, closing off his mouth like a gate. A flash of light appeared in the Digimon's eyes, before clearing to reveal green eyes. The Digimon reared its head up, before turning to face the camera.

The yellow rings completely passed through the evolved Digimon, whose body coated in gleaming yellow. The bipedal Digimon spun around and lashed its tail out, causing the yellow energy to disperse off to reveal a bipedal Dragon Digimon, who took a pose with a yellow aura around its body. "Arresterdramon!" The Dragon Digimon cried out its name to the heavens.

(Digivolve sequence finished)

"Lightning Slash!" Kotemon cried out as blue electricity surged through his sword as he charged towards Yasyamon. "Mack Flicker!" Arresterdramon roared out, rearing his left fist up as he leaped towards Yasyamon as well. However, the Armor Level Digimon managed to block both attacks with his wooden swords, stopping both Kotemon and Arresterdramon in their tracks.

Yasyamon reared his hands in, before crying out as he started spinning like a typhoon, pushing both Digimon away from him as he flew into the air. He suddenly stopped spinning and looked down at Arresterdramon and Kotemon with his hands and swords out. He fell down towards them and slammed his swords down on the ground hard on them, causing Arresterdramon and Kotemon to cry out as the force sent them flying.

The force caused Arresterdramon to De-Digivolve back in Gumdramon as he and Kotemon crashed onto the ground on their backs. Tagiru widened his eyes in concern as he ran towards his partner and knelt down behind Gumdramon. "Hang in there, Gumdramon! Kotemon!" The Digimon Hunter exclaimed in concern for the two Rookies as he turned to look at Kotemon.

"Finish them, Yasyamon". Ren told his evolved Digimon without a hint of remorse, making Kari and Gatomon widen their eyes in concern. The Armor Level Digimon stood up on his feet fully and looked down at the two Rookies. "That went by too fast". He stated as he preferred a longer battle than that. "You guys really done already?" Yasyamon questioned them as Tagiru lifted up Gumdramon's head from the ground.

Just as Kari and Gatomon were ready to join in, Kotemon sat up and looked at Yasyamon. "I will absolutely not forgive him for manipulating Musashi and using such evil swordplay". The Reptile Digimon said with strong conviction, before he turned to look at Tagiru, who turned to look at him. "Tagiru! Digifuse me with Gumdramon!" He told the Digimon Hunter, surprising Tagiru at his words.

"You're okay with going into my Fusion Loader?" Tagiru questioned the Rookie Level Digimon in surprise, wanting to make sure he knew what Digifusing with Gumdramon meant. "Yes, please!" Kotemon answered with narrowed eyes and without any second thoughts, getting Tagiru to narrow his own eyes. "Okay, let's go!" The Digimon Hunter exclaimed, before he held out his Fusion Loader to Kotemon.

Kari and Gatomon watched with wide eyes of wonder as Kotemon turned into a white flash that entered Tagiru's Fusion Loader, before the brunette looked down at her partner. "Let's see how this goes". She suggested to Gatomon, getting the Vaccine Digimon to look up at her and nod.

(DigiFuse sequence)

With a green Digital-like world as a background, Tagiru faced the camera as he held his Fusion Loader to the far right with his right hand. "DigiFuse!" He called out as he waved his right hand out to the left, before swiping it to the right with a smile as two digital sphere containers appeared from the Fusion Loader.

The left container contained Gumdramon, while the right one had Kotemon in it. "Gumdramon!" Tagiru began as he called out his partner's name, which the Mini Dragon gave out an energetic cry. "Kotemon!" He added, calling out his second Digimon's name as the two containers slowly started coming together. "Understood!" The Reptile Digimon called out as the two spheres released electricity, before they came together, causing the two Digimon's bodies to glow white. Kotemon's body then dispersed into particles that were absorbed into Gumdramon. The sphere gleamed brightly as it covered Gumdramon from view within with sparks of electricity dancing around it, before releasing a bright light.

Inside the sphere, Kotemon's particles were being absorbed into Gumdramon, causing the Mini Dragon's arms to gain the Reptile Digimon's parts. First were the sleeves, followed by the bōgu and the shinai. The helmet, now a half mask that covered the top half of Gumdramon's mask, had small spikes sticking out to the sides and the horns were slightly larger.

The sphere of data showed Gumdramon absorbing Kotemon's particles, before releasing a bright light. The bright light soon died down to reveal the sphere of data gone, revealing Gumdramon's fused form. "DigiFuse! Fuse Up Gumdramon!" The DigiFuse Digimon called out to the heavens as he drew the shinai and took a stance, facing the camera.

(DigiFuse Sequence finish)

Yasyamon charged in, unaffected by the DigiFuse, with his arms wide out, before he crossed them in front of his chest. He then spread them out and jumped into the air with everyone's eyes following him. He brought his two wooden swords together and held them over his head. "Gordian Knot Cut!" Yasyamon cried out as his two weapons gleamed green and merged into one single green glowing blade.

The Armor Level Digimon cried out as he fell towards Gumdramon, who narrowed his eyes at him as he held his shinai with both hands. "Fire Vortex!" The DigiFused Digimon cried out as he spun around with its shinai while leaving a fire trail from it, before spinning into the air towards the Armor Level Digimon.

Yasyamon cried out as he directed his blade straight towards Gumdramon. "Head!" Gumdramon roared out, before holding his shinai up towards his approaching opponent. The two made contact and created a powerful clash that blew the fog away. The winner of the clash was Gumdramon as Yasyamon was sent flying with his pants slightly torn apart.

Ren gasped in surprise upon seeing this. "What!?" He exclaimed in surprise as his Digimon crashed into the ground in front of him on his back. Gumdramon meanwhile, landed on his feet in front of Tagiru, who had a massive grin on his face. "All right!" The Digimon Hunter cried out in joy, while his DigiFused Digimon just smirked. Kari and Gatomon both grew impressed at seeing this, before they gave a small applause for their friends.

Ren's smug look was gone now as he glared at Tagiru in anger. "I'm not done yet! You're gonna pay for getting in my way! Yasyamon, get up!" The Digimon Hunter told his down Digimon, making the Armor Level Digimon groan as he climbed back onto his feet. "No matter how many times you try, the results will be the same!" Gumdramon told the two, getting Yasyamon to chuckle at him.

"Then let's change the playing field. Ren!" The Armor Level Digimon called out as he looked over his right shoulder to look at his partner, getting the blue haired male to smirk. "Way ahead of you". He replied as he held up his Fusion Loader with his right hand.

(DigiFuse Sequence)

With a green Digital-like world as a background, Ren faced the camera as he held his Fusion Loader to the far right with his right hand. "DigiFuse!" He called out as he waved his right hand out to the left, before swiping it to the right with a smile as two digital sphere containers appeared from the Fusion Loader.

The left container contained Yasyamon and the right contained Pteramon inside. "Yasyamon!" Ren called out his Digimon partner's name proudly. "Ready!" The Demon Man Digimon exclaimed from within the sphere. "Pteramon!" He added, which the Storm Calling Love Digimon called out in response as the two spheres released electricity, before they came together, causing the two Digimon's bodies to glow white.

Pteramon's body then dispersed into particles that were absorbed into Yasyamon. The sphere gleamed brightly as it covered Yasyamon from view within with sparks of electricity dancing around it, before releasing a bright light.

Inside the sphere, Pteramon's particles were being absorbed into Yasyamon, transferring its data over with the Demon Man Digimon inheriting traits from the Storm Calling Love Digimon. He grew Pteramon's wings and missiles on his back; the wooden swords turned into metal, Yasyamon gained the tail of Pteramon. His feet became just like Pteramon's feet, his mask transformed into a metal helmet exactly like the Storm Calling Love Digimon's helmet. Finally, the blue doll on its back now rested on the middle of its wings.

The sphere of data showed Yasyamon absorbing Pteramon's particles, before releasing a bright light. The bright light soon died down to reveal the sphere of data gone, revealing Yasyamon's fused form. "DigiFuse! Fuse Up Yasyamon!" The DigiFuse Digimon roared out to the heavens as he spread his arms out to the sides and fired missiles at the camera.

(DigiFuse sequence finished)

Yasyamon stood high in his DigiFused form with his new metal swords in hand. Tagiru and Gumdramon gasped upon seeing this, while Kari and Gatomon narrowed their eyes. "He has wings now!?" The Mini Dragon commented in surprise, while Ren gave a smirk, before he pointed up into the sky with his right hand. "Take to the skies!" He commanded with an eager tone, getting Yasyamon to chuckle.

"It'll be my pleasure! Ha!" The DigiFused Digimon exclaimed, before he shot off of the ground and into the sky. Gumdramon gasped as he watched Yasyamon flew higher into the air, before stopping. Yasyamon looked down at the Mini Dragon and glared at him, which Gumdramon returned with narrowed eyes. "Fire Vortex!" The DigiFused Digimon cried out as he spun around with its shinai while leaving a fire trail from it, before spinning into the air towards the DigiFused Digimon.

Yasyamon just gave a laugh at seeing this. "That trick won't work two times in a row! Stance 1: Raging Whirlwind Slash!" He called out as his left metal sword gleam green, before he lifted it up into the air. Yasyamon then swiped his sword down, releasing a crescent wind shape slash down towards the approaching Mini Dragon. "Head!" Gumdramon roared out, before holding his shinai up towards the crescent wind shape slash. Once the two attacks made contact, an explosion took place.

Gumdramon shot out of the portal still in his DigiFuse form, crying out as he crashed into the ground on his back, getting Tagiru to gasp in concern. "Gumdramon!" He exclaimed as his partner Digimon sat up from the ground, before he growled up at Yasyamon, who had grown a smug look on his face. "Not so tough now, are you?" The DigiFuse form of Yasyamon and Pteramon taunted, causing the Mini Dragon to growl.

"Kari, now would be a good time to join in". Gatomon said to her partner, getting the brunette to look down at the Vaccine Digimon, before she nodded. "You're probably right. Tagiru and Gumdramon may be strong, but they haven't been Hunters for too long. But still, they forced Ren to DigiFuse, so that's something at least". Kari replied to her partner, making Gatomon nod in agreement, before she fell onto all four feet and took off.

"Yasyamon, finish them off". Ren told his Digimon as he had regained his smug look. Yasyamon gave a chuckle in response. "Stance 3: Muramasa Strike!" The DigiFused Digimon called out, before firing missiles from his back towards Gumdramon. The Mini Dragon gritted his teeth as he held up his shinai, preparing to counterattack, but Gatomon then jumped up from behind and landed in front of him, causing Gumdramon to gasp.

"Gatomon!" Gumdramon exclaimed in surprise, getting the Vaccine Digimon to smirk as she stood up fully on her feet. "You did good, kid, but leave the rest to me. I'll take care of the rest". Gatomon told the Mini Dragon without facing him, her focus completely on the missiles approaching. Gumdramon opened his mouth, but stopped himself as he realized that this was his chance to see a Legendary Digimon in action.

Kari stepped forward next to Tagiru, who turned to face her, before she held up her Fusion Loader with her right hand.

(Music end)

(Play Digimon Adventure 01 Evolution Song [Japanese Version])

(Digimon Adventure Ultimate Digivolve sequence)

Kari's Fusion Loader turned pure pink, before shooting a beam of light towards her Tag that appeared above it. Her Crest's symbol came out of the Tag and launched into the air in a blue beam, creating a path through blue clouds. The Crest symbol of Light spun around in the air as it flew higher into the sky, before reaching a black sky. Pink sparkles of light appeared out of nowhere and were absorbed into the symbol, before a bright light was created that covered the symbol from view.

In a pink background, a blue beam with symbols cam down upon the spinning form of Gatomon. "Gatomon Digivolve to…!" Gatomon cried out, before she began glowing pink as she transformed. She transformed into a humanoid shape with her tail retracting and grew long hair.

Her glowing right glove floated out from her hand, before pink ribbons wrapped around her arm. Her glowing left glove floated out and was replaced by long white angelic winged glove, before more pink ribbons wrapped around her hand. Dove like wings came out of nowhere.

A white high heeled boot with feather like designs on it floated to the glowing figure's right leg, before clothing began to form on the figure. The figure was now wearing a skin-tight, white bodysuit that covered half of its body with another white high heeled boot for her left leg with a Holy Ring on its left ankle and DigiCode appeared on both the Holy Ring and its ribbons. The figure's hair color was revealed to be blond and she had eight white, dove-like wings with four on either side of her back.

The woman's blue eyes were briefly seen, before a helmet like that of Angemon's formed on her head, before six white wings with three on either side of her helmet appeared. The glowing figure spun around to reveal radiant porcelain like skin.

The figure was a tall, slender, woman-like Digimon with voluptuous bosoms. Through the Digivolution, the whistle and pink scarf remained around the evolved Digimon's neck. "Angewomon!" Angewomon cried out her name with glowing feathers appearing from behind her.

(Digimon Adventure Ultimate evolution scene end)

Angewomon stood in place of Gatomon in front of Gumdramon, getting him to look up at the beautiful angel before him in awe. She spread both her hands and wings put fully as her ribbon began wavering. "Holy Air!" She called out, before white wind started kicking up around her and Gumdramon. A holy tornado then appeared around the two and blocked them from view.

Yasyamon's missiles exploded upon striking the holy tornado, but were unable to blast on through as the tornado remained strong. Soon, all the missiles exploded, but the tornado remained strong. Yasyamon narrowed his eyes in annoyance at seeing this. The holy tornado then died down to reveal both Angewomon and Gumdramon completely unharmed, before the Vaccine Digimon lowered her arms.

Gumdramon had a look of awe as the Angel Digimon gave the Demon Man Digimon a playful grin, annoying him further. "Is that the best you can do?" Angewomon asked as the wind blew and slightly blew her hair in the breeze. "No! Try this on for size! Stance 2: Dead Wing Barrage!" The fused form of Yasyamon and Pteramon cried out, before he flew incredible fast, leaving afterimages of himself as he moved.

He flew down and started flying around Angewomon and Gumdramon, surrounding them in his afterimages. Gumdramon looked around his surroundings in surprise, while Angewomon looked slightly impressed. "I have to admit that's a pretty creative trick". The Ultimate Level Digimon admitted, getting Yasyamon to chuckle from wherever he was. "It's more than you think!" He responded, before a blur shot out from the afterimages and struck the Mini Dragon.

Gumdramon cried out in pain as he was sent crashing into the ground, while the blur returned into the afterimages and disappeared. "This confuses the enemy, protects me and allows me to attack". Yasyamon explained to his opponent, causing Angewomon to frown, while Gumdramon sat up from the ground. "How are we suppose to attack then?" The fused form of Gumdramon and Kotemon questioned, getting the Angel Digimon to grin.

"Leave that to me". The Ultimate Digimon told her friend, getting the DigiFused Digimon to look at her. Angewomon then held up her hands towards the sky and looked up above. "Bliss of Saints!" She called out released white energy from her hands that shot out into the air. The white energy then transformed into a large halo in the sky, which released a yellow light that shined down.

Angewomon, Gumdramon and Yasyamon were all caught in the halo's shine, but were all affected differently. Yasyamon gasped as he felt himself getting burned by the halo's shine, while Gumdramon widened his eyes as a white aura surrounded him. He looked down at his sleeve covered hands and saw his injures beginning to slowly heal. Even his shinai started repairing itself.

Angewomon just gave a smile as Yasyamon started slowing down and eventually, the afterimages disappeared. She held her left hand out as the wings on her glove stretched out with a string appearing. "And now! Celestial Arrow!" The Angel Digimon called out as she placed her right hand on the string and created a holy arrow of lightning. She pulled the arrow back and arrow back and held it for a few moments, before releasing her grip.

Yasyamon widened his eyes as he realized that he was running into the holy arrow's line of fire. 'She burned me so that I would slow down and become an easier target. Curse it; she really is an experienced fighter'. The fused form of Yasyamon and Pteramon said in his mind, before he quickly soared into the sky at the last second, avoiding Angewomon's attack. The Celestial Arrow continued on and struck the ground a little bit away from Ren, creating a creator once it made impact.

Angewomon looked up towards the sky and saw Yasyamon glaring down at her from above. "You've got good reaction timing. Just a second later, and you would have been dust". She said with an impressed voice as Gumdramon walked up next to her, before she looked over her right shoulder towards Kari. "Kari! Time to kick it up a notch!" Angewomon told her DigiDestined, making the brunette nod at her, before Kari held up her Fusion Loader with her right hand.

(DigiFuse sequence)

(Play X-treme Fight)

With a green Digital-like world as a background, Kari faced the camera as she held her Fusion Loader to the far right with her right hand. "DigiFuse!" She called out as she waved her right hand out to the left, before swiping it to the right with a smile as two digital sphere containers appeared from the Fusion Loader.

The left container contained Angewomon, while the right one showed VictoryGreymon. "Angewomon!" Kari called out her partner's name. "I'm ready!" She called out in response to Kari's cry. "VictoryGreymon!" The brunette cried out the Dragon Warrior of Heroes' name. "On guard!" VictoryGreymon called out in response as the two spheres released electricity, before they came together, causing the two Digimon's bodies to glow white.

VictoryGreymon's body then dispersed into particles that were absorbed into Angewomon. The sphere gleamed brightly as it covered the Angel Digimon from view within with sparks of electricity dancing around it, before releasing a bright light.

Inside the sphere, Angewomon absorbed the Dragon Warrior of Heroes' data and inherited qualities from him. First, her blond haired changed into a bright orange, before her wings gleamed and disappeared, and then were replaced four-pointed shield resembling wings. VictoryGreymon's Chrome Digizoid armor started appearing on her in smaller size to fit, starting from bottom to top. Even her helmet was replaced by the Dragon Warrior of Heroes' one and allowed her blue eyes to be visible. VictoryGreymon's bulky yellow gauntlets appeared on her hands, before finally, the Dramon Breaker sword appeared in her right hand.

The sphere of data showed Angewomon absorbing VictoryGreymon's particles, before releasing a bright light. The bright light soon died down to reveal the sphere of data gone, revealing the combined form of the two. "DigiFuse!" The combined form of Angewomon and VictoryGreymon called out as she swiped the Dramon Breaker up, before holding her left hand out and released a stream of flames at the camera. "Fuse Up Angewomon!" She cried out to the heavens as she lowered her left hand to the side.

(DigiFuse sequence finished)

Angewomon flew off of the ground towards Yasyamon with her Dramon Sword held out to the side, getting him to gasp in surprise. "Stance 1: Raging Whirlwind Slash!" He called out as his left metal sword gleam green; before he lifted it up into the air. Yasyamon then swiped his sword down, releasing a crescent wind shape slash down towards the fused form of Angewomon and VictoryGreymon.

However, to the surprise of Tagiru, Ren and the two fused Digimon, Angewomon just simply knocked the wind shape slash to the side with her left hand. "What!?" They all cried out in shock, while Kari and Angewomon just smiled, before the female DigiFused Digimon took her Dramon Sword into both her hands. Yasyamon widened his eyes in alarm, before he held up his metal swords in a cross shape shield.

The fused form of Angewomon and VictoryGreymon swung her blade and completely tore through her opponent's defenses and pushed him back by 10 feet. Yasyamon had wide eyes as he looked down at his metal swords pressed against his chest, having been forced their from Angewomon's sword swipe. 'What physical strength she has. Just a mere swing broke my defense'. The DigiFused Digimon thought to himself in shock, before he looked towards Angewomon.

He saw her mealy floating 10 feet away from him, holding her Dramon Sword with only the right hand now. The female DigiFused Digimon gave Yasyamon a smirk before she gave the hand sign of "bring it" towards him, which infuriated the fused form of Armor Level Digimon. "How dare you taunt me!" Yasyamon exclaimed in rage as he shot out higher into the sky with his eyes glued on Angewomon's form. "Stance 3: Muramasa Strike!" The DigiFused Digimon called out, before firing missiles from his back towards her.

Angewomon didn't flinch at the approaching attacks, just raised her Dramon Sword to her far left. "Phoenixian Arrows!" The female DigiFused Digimon called out as she swung her sword and generated arrows made of fire from the blade towards the missiles. The arrows and missiles made contact and created fiery explosions in the air.

Smoke appeared in the air, covering Angewomon from view, causing Yasyamon to turn his head left and right to keep an eye out for his blind spots in case she attacked. However, one single fire arrow shot out of the smoke in front of him and struck, causing the fused Digimon to cry out as he began falling to the ground.

Ren gasped in shock as his Digimon crashed onto the ground on his back once more, while Angewomon floated down and landed besides Gumdramon, who stared up at her in awe. "Whoa… She's pretty good". Tagiru remarked with wide eyes directed at Angewomon's back, getting Kari to turn to him. "We've been through many battles, and grown stronger through them. There's no way we'll lose to something that didn't achieve its power through someone else". The brunette told her friend, before she turned back towards the battle.

Yasyamon growled out, before he forced himself back onto his feet. "Give it up. You can't win". Angewomon told the fused form of the Armor Digimon, getting him to glare at her. "That's where you're wrong! I still got one final trick up my sleeve!" Yasyamon exclaimed, before he criss-crossed his arms in front of his chest for a moment, before swiping his hands out to the side. He spun his swords around and grabbed them in a reverse style, before he held them up to the air.

"Final Stance: Extinction Bringer!" The DigiFused Digimon roared out as he brought his swords down and stabbed them into the ground, causing wave of energy underground. Then, parts of the earth surrounding everyone rose up from the ground, getting Kari, Tagiru, Gumdramon and Angewomon to look around in surprise.

Soon, dozens of the earth floated up in the sky in the forms of meteorites, before they shot out towards Angewomon and Gumdramon with the intent to crush them. "AAAHHH!" The Mini Dragon shouted out in dread with wide anime eyes at seeing the meteorites falling towards them, while the Vaccine Digimon just narrowed her eyes. She brought up her left hand in front of her face, before holding it out towards the sky.

"Twin Fire Surge!" The fused form of Angewomon and VictoryGreymon called out, before twin fire tornadoes erupted out of her hand and shot out towards the falling meteorites. They began destroying them in a matter of seconds, reducing the meteorites to ash, before coming together to destroy the last one and create an explosion of fire in the air.

Yasyamon and Ren widened their eyes in disbelief at what they saw, before they looked towards Angewomon and saw her lower her left hand. "No…way… That was my best move". The Digifused Digimon whispered in disbelief as he took a step back. "I guess this is why Ryouma told Airu and me not to pick a fight with either her or that Shadow guy". Ren muttered to himself, thinking back to when his friend warned him and Airu about Kari and Shadow.

Kari swiped her right hand out, still holding her Fusion Loader with the screen glowing pure white. "Finish it, Fuse Up Angewomon!" She called out, using the DigiFused Digimon's full name. Angewomon nodded to her partner without turning to face her, before she held up the Dramon Sword up in front and took hold of it with both hands. "Victory Angel's Slash!" The DigiFused Digimon called out as her blade released a bright light that forced everyone, except Kari, to shut their eyes.

Angewomon held up the Dramon Sword up into the air as the light surrounding it transformed into a huge blade of light around it. She swung her blade down on Yasyamon, who just managed to open his eyes to see the huge blade of light, before it crashed down on him and kicked up dusts that covered the DigiFuse Digimon from view.

"Yasyamon!" Ren exclaimed in concern for his Digimon, facing the dust that covered the DigiFuse Digimon. Suddenly, a green light shot out of it and entered Ren's Fusion Loader in his right hand, getting him to look down at his device for a moment. He looked back as the dusk cleared to reveal the huge blade of light gone and that Dracmon was lying down on the ground, unconscious with his ever present grin on his face.

"All right! We won!" Tagiru exclaimed in joy as Angewomon's Dramon Sword stopped glowing with energy. The fused form of Gumdramon and Kotemon started glowing, before he split into two beams that shot out into the air, before striking the ground behind Fuse Up Angewomon. The beams cleared to reveal Gumdramon and Kotemon, with the Mini Dragon looking up at Angewomon's back in awe. "So incredible. She's very powerful". Gumdramon remarked with a tone full of awe, getting Kotemon to nod in agreement.

Ren held his Fusion Loader out to Dracmon, causing the Virus Digimon to turn into a flash of light that went into his Fusion Loader. He then turned his attention back to his opponents and glared at them. "Well, that's fine by me. I pay back all my debts". Ren said with an angered expression with his teeth gritted against one another, before he took off running.

Seeing their opponent was gone, Angewomon turned around to look at her partner, before she walked up to Kari. The brunette transferred her Fusion Loader to her left hand, before she held up her right towards her partner. The DigiFused Digimon smiled at Kari, before she held up her left hand. The two partners then gave each other a hi-five with their hands to celebrate their victory.

(Music end)

Just then, Musashi, who had been unconscious for the whole battle, stirred in his slumber, before he opened his eyes. "Where…?" He said in a daze, before he sat up from the ground. "What have I been doing?" Musashi questioned in a confused voice as he couldn't recall what happened. Kotemon stepped forward and stopped in front of his student. "Is your strong desire for victory no more?" The Reptile Digimon questioned his student, getting Musashi to look at him.

Musashi just gave a confused look as an answer. "But at least remember this. True victory is attained only by facing your opponent fair and square". Kotemon explained to the young man as Tagiru, Kari, Gumdramon and Fuse Up Angewomon watched them from the side. "That is how you will gain true strength". The Reptile Digimon finished explaining, getting Musashi to smile in understanding. "Yes, sir!" Musashi replied to his friend, getting them all to smile at him.

(2 minutes later/ Back in the real world)

Back in the Kendo Field, the green mist reappeared in the field, before it cleared to reveal Tagiru and Musashi back on the field in full kendo gear, much to the surprise of almost everyone. Mikey and Ewan smiled at seeing this however. "They're back!" The former general of the Fusion Fighters stated with a smile at seeing them return.

In the audience, Shadow gave a small smile at seeing the situation taken care of. Hearing footsteps to his right, the DigiDestined of Darkness turned his head right to see Kari walking up towards him with her own smile. "Nicely done, Kari". Shadow praised his wife, getting her smile to grow a little as she stopped next to him and turned to focus on the kendo match.

Tagiru gave out a happy laugh with his eyes closed. "Let's get back to the match!" He exclaimed happily, before he turned towards the referee. "Right, ref?" Tagiru questioned the adult man, snapping him out of his daze. "R-Right…" The referee hesitantly said as he and Tagiru turned to look at Musashi, who took his kendo stance.

Tagiru followed his opponent's lead as he took his stance, while the referee stood in between them. "Let's do this without any kind of trick!" Tagiru said to his opponent with a confident tone. "No problem! Bring it on!" Musashi replied to Tagiru, full of his own confidence.

Everyone watched with their full attention as the referee signed the match to resume. Immediately, the two held their swords up over their heads and charged in. "Head!" Tagiru and Musashi called out at the same time as they brought their swords down with everyone watching witht their breaths held.

Smack!

The referee held up the red flag, signaling that it was Musashi's team. "A head stroke! This match is set!" He called out, getting Shadow to lightly sigh, while Kari just gave a small applause.

(Later)

Later on outside of the building, Tagiru, Mikey, Ewan, Shadow, Kari and Gatomon stood across Musashi with all the kendo members having their kendo begs besides them. "Musashi, good luck at the nationals". Tagiru said to the black haired male with a smile, getting him to return it. "Yeah, thanks". Musashi thanked his former opponent with an appreciated tone.

Ewan looked a little surprised at Tagiru's lack of sadness or displeasure. "Tagiru is sure cheerful, even though he lost". The blond haired boy pointed out, getting Mikey and Kari to look at him. "That's because he gave it everything he had. He has no regrets". The former general of the Fusion Fighters told his teammate, getting the female brunette to nod in agreement to his words.

"That's Mikey for you! He knows my heart!" The Digimon Hunter exclaimed with a joyful look as he held up his fists before he looked at his idol, getting Shadow, Gumdramon and Gatomon to smile at him. Mikey just gave Tagiru a smile in response, while Ewan just looked at Kari in confusion.

"Musashi". A familiar voice said from within Tagiru's sash, getting everyone's attention with Tagiru looking down in surprise. "That voice… Kotemon?" Musashi questioned with slightly wide eyes as Tagiru brought out his Fusion Loader and held it out with his left hand, revealing Kotemon on the screen. "That head stroke of yours with all of your power behind it was magnificent. I have nothing more to teach you". The Reptile Digimon told his student with an honest tone.

"I… All I could think about was getting stronger, and that made me go down the wrong path". Musashi said as he slightly lowered his head in guilt, before tilting it back up. "But from now on, I'll walk on the path of the righteous blade that you taught me". He told the Rookie Digimon with pure conviction in his voice, before he bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you, Kotemon!" Musashi thanked his Digimon friend, getting Tagiru to smile and Kotemon to let out a pleased hum.

"Kendo is a man-to-man contest… But having friends who train with you sure is the best!" Tagiru remarked, getting Gumdramon to slightly narrow his eyes and smirk at his hunter. "Right. Especially good friends just like me!" The Mini Dragon said as he gave a joyful look with his eyes closed in a peaceful way. Shadow, Kari, Mikey, Ewan and Gatomon all smiled at them.

"And we learned something else too". Ewan said as he had grown his own smile. "Yeah. Some Digimon, like Kotemon, don't lose their heads and go out of control when they're in DigiQuartz". Mikey remarked with a smile, causing Tagiru to grin as he placed his hands on his hips and look down at Gumdramon. "Now that you mention it, Gumdramon wasn't going berserk when I met him". The Digimon Hunter said in an energetic voice, recalling when he met his partner sometime ago.

"Of course not! My heart is super-pure!" The Mini Dragon exclaimed with a confident voice as he held up his claws. "I see! Then as two guys with pure hearts, let's stand at the top of the Digimon world together!" Tagiru exclaimed as he held up his left fist. "Yeah!" Gumdramon cried out excitedly as he thrust his right claw into the air with his eyes closed. Mikey and Ewan watched the two in surprise, before they grew unimpressed looks, while Kari and Gatomon giggled. Shadow just smiled at the two as Grimdramon chuckled from inside his Fusion Loader that was in his coat's pocket.

Shadow then widened his eyes in realization as he remembered something important. He turned his head right to look at Mikey. "That reminds me, Grimdramon and I found some of your Digimon Mikey". The DigiDestined of Darkness told his friend, getting the attention of Mikey, Ewan, Kari and Gatomon. "Really? Who'd you find?" The former general of the Fusion Fighters asked his friend as Shadow brought out his Fusion Loader with his right hand.

"They found Angemon, Veemon, Agunimon, Growlmon and Rapidmon". Kari answered for her husband with a soft smile. "We've looked after them and kept them in shape until today. So, go ahead and take them back". Gatomon told Mikey as she gave a gesture of "go ahead" to him, getting Mikey to nod to her, before he brought out his Fusion Loader with his right hand. Shadow and Mikey held their Fusion Loaders out towards each other, before five flashes shot out of the black one and into the red one, catching the attention of Tagiru, Gumdramon and Musashi.

Mikey turned the Fusion Loader around and looked at the screen. "Guys? You there?" He asked in a hopeful tone, before the Fusion Loader's screen showed Veemon's smiling face. "Mikey!" The Dragon Digimon exclaimed in joy, before Angemon replaced him on the Fusion Loader's screen. "It has been a long time, old friend". The Angel Digimon stated, before the screen changed to show Agunimon. "How've ya been?" The Variable asked in a happy voice, getting the former general of the Fusion Fighters to smile.

"Great, especially after seeing you guys all again". Mikey answered with a happy tone, causing the Fusion Loader's screen to change and show Growlmon's happy face. "Aww, that's nice". The Virus Digimon stated happily, before Rapidmon took his place on the screen. "The feeling's mutual". The Ultimate Level Digimon replied to his former general with a look of joy.

Shadow, Kari and Gatomon watched as Ewan walked up next to Mikey to greet his friends, before the Vaccine Digimon looked up at the DigiDestined of Darkness. "You think anymore of the Fusion Fighters will end up in DigiQuartz?" Gatomon questioned in a curious tone, getting the two humans to look down at her. "Most likely. We're gonna have to keep an eye out in case that does happen". Shadow replied to the Champion Level Digimon, getting Kari to shift her attention over to him.

"With Tagiru's training done, we'll be able to lend more of a hand with that. Besides, it'll be nice seeing the world". The brunette told her beloved with a supporting smile, getting Shadow to smile in appreciation. All three of them then turned their attention to their friends and watched as Tagiru and Gumdramon question Mikey about the new editions, getting him and Ewan to growl nervous.

Shadow, Kari and Gatomon all gave amused chuckles at seeing that as they knew that seeing Mikey's new/old Digimon in his possession will just fire up Tagiru and Gumdramon even more than before. Shadow even heard all his Digimon laughing from his Fusion Loader that he was still holding in his right hand.

---

I hope you all enjoyed this and that it made up for the long wait. If you still have anger towards me, go ahead and release it, I probably deserve it. I plan to do update my Tamers story next as I had finally worked out the problem I hade before. Once again, I am sorry for the long wait and hope that I can make up for what I have done.