Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own Kibomon, Aiwemon, Velinemon, or Gessmon, who were created by RoyalKnightX, Shire Folk, Silver Kitsune Lunara, and Miss Anonymous hp.

A/N: A couple of things to mention before we get this chapter going! For starters, you may have noticed that the last few chapters have been in Ryoko's POV. There is a reason for that as it will eventually be a lead in to the next Spirit Chip. Also, the Highton View Terrace incident. Just a reminder, I am writing my story based ONLY on the information that was given in the actual English version of the show. The English version of the movie contradicts even what was said in the show, and it would be impossible to incorporate my story with both the show and the movie as I cannot make sense of what already doesn't make sense. This story is complicated enough as it is without further trying to confuse my readers! So, again, to simplify things and cause less confusion, the Highton View Terrace incident is based ONLY on the information that was given about that time period in the English version of the show. Also, there's a new poll up on my profile, and it's also on the forum. Vote for your favorite original Digidestined member from Digimon Chronicles! I believe that covers everything I wanted to say. Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 253: The Ultimate Experience

Ryoko Ishida

Hikarigaoka, Japan, Earth

"These Demon Lords sound like a nasty bunch," Dai commented, making a face.

"Not only that, they were also extremely powerful, but more about them later," Tal replied. "Anyways, all this time we had hoped to run into this Gennai and this Benji that the villagers had told us about, but even though we were now on Server where supposedly Gennai lived, we still hadn't come across him yet."

"But as we mentioned before we did learn that LadyDevimon and her gang had secured a base of operations on Server to track Gennai's movements," Mai said indignantly, making a face. "They were attempting to figure out what Gennai and his gang were up to, and they were interested in knowing just how much Gennai knew about the situation, so LadyDevimon and her group were spying on him as he would come and go from the continent of Server."

"They wanted to make sure he didn't try to thwart their plans or interfere," Izzy guessed.

"And they certainly didn't want us meeting up with Gennai," Kenji added.

"LadyDevimon and her allies discovered that we were trying to find him, so they were even more determined to destroy us and steal our Data Cores before Gennai could intervene," Mai explained. "In the desert we confronted Wisemon, and he tried to use Inca as a hostage to force us into giving up our Data Cores. It was there that Tal's Data Core finally came to life, and Kikoumon digivolved into his ultimate form of Kobushimon. We were able to save Inca, but Wisemon got away from us."

"He wasn't there to win. He was testing our strength first and hoping to gain a few Data Cores along the way," Kenji said slowly, frowning. "The next time we fought him, he wasn't so generous."

"We were unknowingly starting to get closer to their base, and they didn't like that too much," Seta continued. "Because of that they started to get more aggressive. Astamon came after us next as we were attempting to make our way through this weird graveyard of digital equipment. We were all in real trouble, and this time it was Inca who saved us all. Ohtarmon digivolved to his ultimate form of MaltaOhtarmon, and catching Astamon off guard we barely escaped with our lives."

"We eventually came across a huge carnival city where the digimon told us that Gennai had recently been spotted in the area. While we were there Mephistomon attacked the city, and it took everything we had to protect both the digimon in the city and ourselves," Kenji said, looking to his wife to continue the story.

"And to add to our predicament my husband here got himself into a whole lot of trouble again," Mai laughed, smiling at Kenji. "Both MaltaOhtarmon and Kobushimon were too far away to reach him in time, and with the power of my Data Core Nekomon digivolved to her ultimate form of Bakenekomon to save him. With three ultimates, two champions, and tons of help from the digimon in the city we were able to drive Mephistomon off."

"For the time being," Tal laughed.

"During the fight, though, Mai had also been injured, so we decided to stay in the city for the night to recover our strength," Kenji said, his voice growing soft. "It was that night when I was helping her get into bed that she told me she was pretty sure she was falling in love with me."

"I was just a kid back then, but I knew even being so young that there was nobody else for me," Mai said quietly, for the first time looking very serious. "He told me I was too young for him, but I could tell even then that his own words were hurting him."

"What did you say to him in return?" Kara gasped, completely enthralled by Mai's tale.

The blond female smiled, and reaching up to take Kenji's hand, she said, "I told him I wouldn't be too young forever, and he'd better wait for me to grow up or he was going to be in a whole lot of trouble!"

"I take it he took your threat seriously?" Renmi laughed.

"I would have been a fool not to," Kenji replied, smiling slightly. "But by that point even I wasn't stupid enough not to notice that there was definitely something going on between us. I knew then that I had definitely met my match, and for some reason I didn't seem to mind losing to her once in a while. We remained close friends through our young teenage years, but I had every intention of dating her as soon as she was old enough. It was a promise I made to her after we saved the Digital World, and I was going to make due on that promise as soon as we were ready."

"It's such a great story, isn't it?" Riya asked, beaming at her parents.

"It is," Kara agreed, blushing as she turned to gaze rather obviously at an oblivious Daichi.

"Getting back to the story, it's time to tell you where our journey carried us next," Kenji interrupted, taking pity on his embarrassed sons and quickly changing the subject. "We were still inadvertently traveling in the direction of LadyDevimon's base on our search for Gennai, and by this time LadyDevimon and her companions had become quite furious with us for stepping into their territory, especially since they too had lost track of Gennai and were also now looking for him."

"They were obviously worried we would find Gennai before they could locate him again," Mai snorted. "And that's exactly what they didn't want because they knew with Gennai's help we would be even more of a threat to them."

"And that was why they continued to get more aggressive," Seta explained. "And it was why they were even more determined to steal our Data Cores and destroy us as soon as possible."

"Unfortunately, though, we were still no closer to finding Gennai than we were before, and our next journey took us through a place that the villagers in the carnival city had told us was called the Forest of Skeletons," Inca continued, shivering at the memory. "It was a dark and gloomy place, and we were all very uneasy. All of the trees were ghostly white, and they didn't have any leaves. The dirt beneath our feet was black, and there were strange noises and sounds coming from all around us. We were never able to identify the source, but it was enough to make the hairs on the backs of our necks stand up. The forest itself was really dense and hard to navigate, and the sun's light was just barely able to break through the skeletal trees."

"Sounds like a lovely place," Rosa said dryly, shaking her head in amusement.

"It was in that forest where we first met NeoDevimon," Kenji announced, his green gaze growing dark and stormy at the memory. "He seemed especially evil, and he was ruthless to the core. We were in serious trouble until Porcumon digivolved with Seta's help to his ultimate form of Erethimon. With four ultimates we were somehow able to escape from NeoDevimon and the forest, but it wasn't easy."

"I can imagine," T.K. said quietly, shaking his head.

"Despite his name, I don't think NeoDevimon is the same Devimon you knew," Kenji quickly reassured the golden-haired Digidestined. "But...I do believe you have met him before."

"What do you mean by that?" T.K. asked curiously.

For some reason Kenji looked at Ken, and speaking quietly, he said, "You'll see."

"As we continued our search for Gennai we met up with LadyDevimon and her four allies several more times, and each time we were lucky to escape with our lives," Tal said quietly, his silver gaze turning back to Kenji. "We were also concerned because despite all of our battles Gabrielmon had not yet managed to digivolve to his ultimate level. We couldn't understand why Kenji's Data Core wouldn't work yet when it'd had plenty of opportunity to do so."

"No one was more confused and worried than I was," Kenji said slowly, his green gaze taking on a faraway look. "I felt completely useless, and though I wouldn't admit it to the others I was worried that I was becoming a burden to them. I was afraid that maybe I wasn't worthy of being a Digidestined after all, despite having Halomon as my partner. I was scared that sooner or later I was going to let everyone down, and if we ended up losing it would be all my fault."

"No way!" Matty said furiously, clenching his hands into tight fists. "There's no way you would have let down your friends!"

Kenji merely nodded at the praise, and continuing the story, he said, "Despite Gabrielmon's inability to digivolve to the ultimate level, we were eventually able to defeat Mephistomon and Wisemon with our combined strength, but that still left three powerful digimon who wanted to destroy us and steal our Data Cores. At this point we had discovered that LadyDevimon's base was close by, thanks to a helpful group of digimon who were fleeing the area, and even though LadyDevimon and her allies had lost track of Gennai at this point, we thought maybe there might be a clue in their base that they might have overlooked. If there had been even a hint about Gennai's whereabouts that might not have caught their attention then it would give us an idea of where to start looking next. They did use up a lot of time and energy spying on Gennai and his counterparts, so we figured there had to be something in the info they were able to obtain."

"As you can imagine, there was no way we were going to defeat LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, and Astamon all at once, but we were willing to try to sneak into the base and see what we could discover," Mai said, wincing at the memory. "And as I'm sure you've already guessed, it was a complete disaster."

"We were discovered, and it all went downhill from there," Seta informed them.

"Remember, by this time the amount of digimon who hated humans had grown astronomically, thanks to the lies that LadyDevimon and her allies were spreading all over the Digital World, and helpful digimon friends were getting harder to find," Inca said sadly. "At the time, we thought everything that was happening in the Digital World was all because of LadyDevimon and her companions. It was only later that we found out they had a master, and even once we knew that much it was still a while before we found out that their master's true name was GranDracmon. By this time LadyDevimon and her allies had gotten stronger, but GranDracmon's powers had also grown as well. The warp in space he had created after managing to emerge from behind the Wall of Fire had also grown considerably. Thanks to him and his loyal servants the Digital World had become overrun with darkness, and it was now becoming a serious cause for concern."

"Naturally, it was much later when we actually realized all of this about GranDracmon, but for the sake of understanding what was happening we're telling you now," Mai warned them. "Now, it was during our battle with LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, and Astamon that the darkness threatening the Digital World finally reached a critical point. GranDracmon's emergence from the Wall of Fire, and even the creation of our own Data Cores, had weakened the barrier between both worlds, and thanks to his servants spreading lies and casting darkness over all four hemispheres of the Digital World the barrier weakened further. In fact, by this time it had grown so weak that during our battle with our three foes at their base on Server the barrier finally split. A crack appeared in its surface, and it caused a digital gate to appear between both worlds," Kenji explained. "In the human world that gate appeared over Highton View Terrace, and in the Digital World the entrance to the gate appeared over File Island."

"We didn't know about the breach during our battle with the three evil digimon, but we were about to find out," Seta said seriously. "We probably would have lost our lives that day if Gennai and his counterparts hadn't finally made an appearance at last. Using one of Azulongmon's twelve Digicores that had been given to him for safe keeping, Gennai was able to save us with the power of its light. In fact, the light was so powerful that it sent LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, Astamon, and all of their guards fleeing from the base. Thanks to Gennai, we now had the base to ourselves and a moment to rest."

"And it was LadyDevimon's base where Gennai and his counterparts finally told us a little bit about what was going on in the Digital World," Tal finished, smiling at the memory.

"On that day Gennai explained to us who he and his counterparts were and what their purpose in the Digital World was. He also told us about the Four Guardians and the Entity that protects the Digital World," Inca explained. "He mentioned what he and his counterparts had been up to, and although he told us quite a bit, there were things he still kept from us at the time."

"They had spent much of their time gathering information and consulting with the Entity and the Four Guardians," Tal continued. "And while LadyDevimon was spying on him, Gennai and his counterparts had tracked her movements and those of her allies in return."

"Much of what Gennai had to tell us about LadyDevimon's group was stuff we had managed to figure out on our own, so there weren't any big surprises," Kenji finished. "But like Inca said, there were some things he also refrained from revealing to us at that particular time."

"Like what?" Matt demanded.

"Gennai suspected that LadyDevimon and her allies were working for somebody else," Seta explained. "Though Gennai didn't know who that someone was or what his name was, he suspected they might have a master who was the real source of the evil threatening the Digital World. That was something he did not reveal to us until after we came back to the Digital World following the Highton View Terrace incident."

"During our meeting with Gennai at the base he also told us a lot about ourselves," Mai continued. "He talked about how we were chosen, and he told us a lot about the Digivices and the Data Cores, expanding on what we had already managed to figure out about them ourselves. After the history lesson, that was when we really got down to business."

"Gennai and his counterparts told us that because of the darkness in the Digital World, much of which could be blamed on LadyDevimon and her allies, it had weakened the barrier between the human world and the Digital World so much that a crack had appeared in its surface," Seta added, making a face. "Gennai had digimon friends stationed on File Island when it happened, and via the transmitters they were using to keep in touch those friends informed him that there was a breach in the barrier above File Island."

"At this point, as we mentioned before, we knew LadyDevimon and her gang were intent on ruling both worlds, so naturally we were worried," Mai warned. "We knew that if something wasn't done about the barrier LadyDevimon and her evil buddies would be able to use it to wreak havoc in the human world. Having that breach in the barrier there would have been the perfect opportunity for them to start causing trouble in the human world."

"And though we didn't know it at the time, even more concerning was the fact that GranDracmon would have had a chance to make use of the gate as well," Tal reminded them.

"Gennai's friends on File Island informed him that a couple of digimon had managed to slip through the gate, which were Parrotmon and that Greymon that Tai and his group of Digidestined saw," Kenji explained. "But the reason no other digimon were able to slip through is because the Entity that watches over the Digital World used her own life force to protect the breach in the barrier, which prevented many other digimon from slipping through."

"Wow, that's amazing," Kari said softly, smiling.

"She did it to stop LadyDevimon and her crew from trying to reach the human world," Tal explained. "And she also did it to stop any other evil digimon who might have had any nasty ideas about going there to hurt humans. The Entity is very powerful, so even if LadyDevimon and her allies had tried to slip through the breach they wouldn't have been able to do so."

"But it was only a temporary solution," Inca informed them. "The Entity could not continue to protect the breach in the barrier forever. Her powers were needed elsewhere in the Digital World for it to thrive and to fight back against the darkness. We needed a more permanent solution so the Entity could be free to continue her efforts in helping us save the Digital World."

"Which meant there was only one thing we could do," Kenji said quietly.

"Fix the barrier by repairing the breach," Izzy finished, nodding to show he understood.

"Exactly," Tal agreed. "And besides, somebody needed to get that Parrotmon and that Greymon back to the Digital World, and we were the only ones at the time who could do it."

"Once we understood the situation, Gennai explained to us what we needed to do," Inca said. "It was time for us to return to the human world to repair the barrier and send back the digimon who managed to slip through the breach."

"The Airdramon who had been assisting Gennai and his counterparts in their travels offered to give us a lift back to File Island so we could get back to the human world," Seta explained. "We accepted, and leaving Gennai and his counterparts behind we made our way back to File Island."

"As we were leaving Gennai left us with a final warning," Tal said. "Beware time runs differently between the human world and the Digital World."

"We had no idea what he meant, but we were about to find out," Mai laughed. "And it would become even more obvious once we returned to the Digital World later."

"And so Airdramon dumped us through the breach in the barrier, which the Entity allowed us to pass through, and we found ourselves back at Highton View Terrace on the very same day we had left, even though we had been in the Digital World for several months," Tal finished, shaking his head at the memory.

"And it was awful," Inca said slowly, her eyes filling with tears. "The media blamed it on a terrorist attack, but we knew right away what was going on."

"That Parrotmon and Greymon were fighting because they were at odds with one another," Mai explained. "Parrotmon was a digimon who hated humans, while Greymon was a digimon who defended humans, and that was why a fight broke out. That Parrotmon probably wouldn't have cared if he hurt humans during the fight, but Greymon was a little more cautious. He didn't want to injure humans."

"Not an easy task," Kenji said slowly. "When we first left for the Digital World, the place was deserted, but on our return, the Highton View Terrace grounds had turned into a war zone. It was utter chaos. The noise the digimon were making had attracted a lot of attention, and everyone was desperate to get as far away from Highton View Terrace as possible. I don't think most people even realized what was happening, and some were so scared that the place was being attacked by terrorists that they probably didn't even notice the digimon. People were screaming and panicking everywhere, and they were trying to get as far away from the bridge as possible. A lot of families got separated that night, so it was no wonder the media were able to make a convincing cover story."

"We knew the bridge was in danger, but there was nothing we could do with so many people around at that time, so we did our best to direct traffic and get people out of there," Mai explained.

"I remember while living at Highton View Terrace I had seen a blond boy there wearing goggles. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world," Tai spoke up, his eyes settling on Tal. "That boy was you."

Tal looked surprised, and smiling, he said, "Really?"

"Where do you think I got my inspiration to eventually wear goggles myself from?" Tai laughed, smiling in return. "I only realized who you were later, though, when Gennai told us about you. So, even though I never officially met you back then, our paths had crossed."

"That's pretty amazing when you think about it," Tal said, gazing thoughtfully at the darkening sky.

"You met T.K. and I, as well," Matt interrupted, catching Tal's attention. "T.K. and I had briefly gotten separated that night, and both of us had lost sight of our parents. You helped me find my brother."

Tal once again looked surprised, and grey eyes widening in recognition, he said, "You were the little blond boy I took a moment to help! I remember now! We ran into Kenji, and he had your brother. That must have been T.K. We didn't have time to stick around, though, so we had to leave the two of you before running off."

"It's a small world," Kenji said quietly, turning to gaze at T.K. "I remember it well. I carried you with me while I went to look for Tal, hoping to find your brother along the way."

"Though you never mentioned your friend by name, if Tal had seen your face then he would have known how worried you were," T.K. said quietly, giving Kenji a look.

The raven-haired Digidestined didn't deny it. He simply nodded in agreement and gave T.K. a small smile.

"I also had help," Sora spoke up, smiling at Inca. "You were the one who pointed me in the right direction of my parents."

"Did I?" Inca replied, looking happy. "Well, in that case I'm glad I could help."

"You helped me, Seta," Izzy added, smiling at the principal. "You were the one who helped me locate my parents as you were passing by."

"I'm glad to hear it," Seta replied, beaming at the computer expert.

"I just remember passing by a bossy blond girl who was ordering people around and telling all the other kids to stay close to their parents," Tai laughed, giving Mai a teasing smile.

"Hey, who are you calling bossy?" Mai joked.

"That definitely sounds like you," Kenji said dryly, rolling his eyes at his wife.

Mai responded by smacking him in the knee, and continuing the story, Tal said, "As you all know, it was on that night when the next Digidestined were chosen. Even though the Entity was protecting the barrier in the Digital World, she still had enough control over her powers to help Gennai and his counterparts with the scanning process. She wasn't able to travel quite as freely through the internet with most of her attention focused on the barrier, but her strength and distance were great enough to perform this one task. And so all of the children at Highton View Terrace were scanned, and Tai and his friends were chosen to become the next Digidestined."

"We never even saw our families that night, since we weren't actually in the human world for very long," Mai informed them. "We were only there long enough to fix the barrier and see that Parrotmon and Greymon got back safely to the Digital World before going back ourselves. Because of that our presence largely went unnoticed in the human world, and our digimon were careful to stay out of sight."

"That's why only Parrotmon and Greymon were spotted by other humans, and it's the reason why nobody ever saw any of our partners," Tal explained. "They were very careful about making themselves scarce."

"We're good at hiding," Gessmon squeaked with pride.

"When it comes to the people who knew us, the only person who saw us that night was Kenji's stepbrother, Kensuke," Inca said softly, her dark eyes turning to Kenji. "And even then it was only Tal and Kenji who saw him."

"That morning before school I hadn't been in a good mood, and Kensuke was worried about me," Kenji said quietly, his green eyes sparkling at the memory. "We'd had a fight, one that I had started. When I was a little late coming home that evening, thanks to meeting up with Tal and the others, he came outside to look for me just as the bridge was hit. While everybody else was running away from the bridge, he was heading towards it. He was scared that I had been caught in the explosion."

"I can't even imagine how terrified he must have been," Daichi said slowly, looking rather impressed. "That takes a lot of courage. He must really care about you."

"He does, though at the time I was unable to see that for myself," Kenji murmured. "Tal and I happened to be in the area when Kensuke arrived, but even though the explosions had ended the remains of the bridge were still unstable. When Kensuke spotted me he came running towards me and wouldn't turn back even though I told him to."

"Kibomon and Gabrielmon were hiding in the area, and as Kensuke came towards us the remains of the bridge started to crack off," Tal explained. "Debris was falling everywhere, and Kensuke was right in the line of fire."

"I knew if I didn't do something he would die," Kenji whispered, his eyes taking on a haunted look. "And he almost did when a huge section of the bridge crumbled away and fell straight towards him. It was then when Gabrielmon came out of hiding and finally digivolved to his ultimate form of HolyGabrielmon, and he saved Kensuke from certain death."

"There were no other witnesses around, but we knew we had to get out of there before the police and fire trucks showed up," Tal warned. "That night Kensuke was the only witness to our digimon partners, and even then he only saw Halomon, not Kibomon."

"We didn't have time to explain anything to him," Kenji admitted, frowning slightly. "I simply told him he needed to get out of there and find our parents. He wanted me to come with him, but I told him I had things to do."

"What did he say to that?" Mickey whispered.

Kenji smiled, and speaking softly, he said, "Kensuke couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of HolyGabrielmon, but he didn't argue with me. He seemed to understand that I was involved in something incredibly important and that it went beyond his understanding. Instead of forcing me to come with him, he simply hugged me tightly and told me that whatever I was doing he believed in me and that he would be rooting for me. Then he wished me good luck and made me promise to return home safely."

"And as he was leaving he had some words for Tal, too," Inca reminded them.

"He did?" Matty asked, looking surprised.

"He said, I don't know who you are, but you seem to be getting through to my brother in a way that nobody else has been able to do," Tal quoted softly. "Please protect him and keep him safe for me. That's what Kensuke said to me."

"And you kept your promise," Mai said happily, pumping her fist into the air.

Tal looked at Kenji, and smiling, the golden-haired Digidestined said, "Yeah, I did."

"After all the excitement we were somehow able to fix the barrier by using the power of our Data Cores, and as a result of our actions Parrotmon and Greymon were sent back to the Digital World as the gate was closing," Seta finished. "It stayed open long enough for us to get back through too, but when we returned it was a very different Digital World then the one we had left behind."

"Thanks to the time difference, many years had passed in the Digital World, and they weren't peaceful years," Inca said sadly. "The Entity was finally free from having to protect the now fixed barrier, but there were other problems to deal with."

"Like the Demon Lords," Mai snorted. "Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into..."