Mimi shivered, trying to focus on the campfire in front of her and not on the dark trees and those creepy shadows they cast. Koushiro promised her they weren't like those super cold ones from the campground but they looked dark enough to her. Why was she even here?! It was the middle of the night! She should be in that building, safe and warm in her bed! No, I should be at home! Why did Mommy and Daddy send me here?!

Something touched her arm. She straightened, a squeak escaping her throat… but she recognized the touch. It was just Tanemon's leaf. She looked at the bulb, making sure to not look into that creepy forest. Sure, those big scary trees were gone, but what if another Ogremon or something like him came? Why couldn't the treewall stay?!

"We don't have to be out here," Tanemon said in a soft voice, "We can go back inside." That was true. Koushiro said he was just going to wait outside for Taichi, Yamato, and Sora to come back, just in case they needed help or something. Jou was worried about them so he decided to wait with Koushiro, and TK made it clear he wasn't going back to sleep until Yamato was back.

"Just us in that big scary building?" Mimi shook her head. "No way." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Besides, that would leave TK-chan with just Koushiro-san and Jou-san." She glanced at the other two boys. Koushiro was at the opposite end of the fire, doing something on his laptop, Tentomon at his side. Honestly, what could he possibly be doing now? Probably just playing solitaire. Jou was on the fire's right side, looking around, with Gomamon not looking around so much, but seeming more alert. Jou claimed he was standing guard and, while Mimi appreciated the effort, he was really not good at it. She could just imagine someone coming along and he'd be the last to notice. And neither of them could give little TK the attention he needed.

She turned her attention to the little boy. He was between her and Jou, with Tsukaimon on his lap, staring out into the forest. Apparently that was the direction of the Equality district, where his two big brothers disappeared. Poor little guy. That horrible nightmare and neither of his big brothers are here for him. She allowed herself a small smile. But your big sister sure is and you need a big hug. She quietly stood up and started towards the boy. As she knelt down next to him, he looked at her. She reached out and… he flinched. She stopped, seeing the fear in his eyes. Then she remembered her hand going across his cheek. The hurt and betrayal in his eyes. And those horrible things she said to him.

Then Tsukaimon looked at her and she remembered something else. Namely that it was Tsukaimon's poison that killed PetriWoodmon. And that little poison spitting digimon had a good reason to hate her. She found herself backing away, ready to scream if Tsukaimon started to follow. He just settled down back on to TK's lap. She sat back down, sinking into her guilt. I hit TK-chan. I hit TK-chan.

"Just apologize, Mimi," Tanemon's voice made her jump, "And then explain. He'll forgive you." Explain? She wanted to, she really did. She'd already done it in her head. Minako and Aino would've beaten him up far worse if she didn't get rid of him. But it wasn't their fault. TK should never have talked to them that way. Sure, he was trying to defend Mimi but, if he'd just shown them the respect they deserved… Mimi shook her head. That was the problem. Every time she tried to figure out how she was going to apologize to him, it always sounded like she was blaming him. But she wasn't! She just didn't want Minako and Aino to be blamed either! After all, they were her friends, no matter what that awful Trial claimed. And then there was the whole matter of that adorable, poison spitting Tsukaimon, who no doubt hated her now.

"Hold it!" Gomamon suddenly called out, "Someone's here!" Jou jumped to his feet, frantically looking around.

"Wait, what?!"

Mimi too stood up and looked around. Nothing but those dark trees. And those shadows they cast which looked real good at hiding things. She carefully moved herself a little closer to TK again, keeping a close eye on Tsukaimon. Tanemon followed her, making her feel a tiny bit safer.

What were Koushiro and Jou doing? Koushiro was actually setting aside his laptop. Jou was looking in the direction of Equality, where Gomamon was pointing, and his legs shaking. Still, seeing the two taking action made Mimi feel better and it meant she could focus on TK. The little boy was trying to look brave but she could see the fear in his eyes, and his grip on Tsukaimon was looking pretty tight. Tsukaimon looked ready for whoever it was.

"You better show yourself!" Tentomon ordered, "Or better yet, go away!" A figure dropped down from the trees where Gomamon was pointing. She yelped and jumped back to her feet. She scurried towards the intruder, placing herself between the stranger and TK, praying she was still back enough to be ignored.

The first thing she noticed was the stranger's clothes. A yellow suit with some red marks and some absolutely monstrous faces. The stranger's face was covered by a dark blue cloak and pointed hat, revealing only his eyes, and given those faces on his costume, she was grateful. She wanted to look away but that wouldn't make him any less dangerous.

"Wizardmon, right?" Koushiro said, his voice wavering slightly. How did he know- oh, right The digivice.

"Yes, and I apologize for sneaking around like that," Wizardmon answered, "I saw those massive trees suddenly disappear, which only meant one thing: PetriWoodmon had fallen. I'm sure you understand my caution, given how strong it was." Mimi nodded, trying to think of what she could do if Wizardmon tried anything. So far, all she could come up with was grab TK run and that plan didn't exactly work the last time. And what about Tanemon? Mimi couldn't carry both and she knew what Tanemon would want but…

"Anyways, as your friend said, I am Wizardmon, a historian for the Digital Restoration Society. I was supposed to be examining this city, finding what I can about who lived here. This city is dead center in a desert that's perfectly circular. That isn't natural and on top of that, the local digimon have gone completely feral." Feral digimon? So outside this city was a bunch of angry, wild animal digimon? I just want to go home!

"Then why risk it?" Jou asked.

"As I said, we are the Digital Restoration Society," Wizardmon answered, "We aim to restore this desert to what it was originally was."

"The Rebirth Cycle handles things like that," Tentomon said, "There's nothing we need to do. Or can, really." Wizardmon shook his head.

"Normally you're right. According to our data, every other part of the Digital World is recovering on schedule, but this specific radius hasn't changed in the slightest. Even the Binary Wastes are more livable. So anyways, my group and I were sent to find out what's going on. Imagine our surprise when we found this forest."

"You got through the barrier?" Mimi found herself asking. She put a hand over her mouth. She didn't want Wizardmon's attention anymore than she wanted to meet those feral digimon!

"There was no barrier back then," he answered, "Anyways, luckily for us, PetriWoodmon was asleep but that sure didn't make rest of the Green any friendlier. Anyways, in spite of them, we found the cause. Do any of you know the history of this region?'

"Only that there was a big war involving some kind of demon," Jou answered, "It was created from the digimon that were wiped out but Vee- the digimon that told us wasn't exactly honest." Wizardmon gave a nod.

"In truth, the demon was only a small part of the larger conflict, but devastating just the same. And its body is beneath this city." Mimi's jaw dropped. A demon beneath the city?! But then again, why not?! It already had those awful Wardens and the feral digimon all around outside! Why a not a demon too?! She looked back at TK. He looked worried but Tsukaimon looked like he was trying to think of something..

"There's a demon under here?!" Jou practically shouted.

"Just its body," Wizardmon assured, "I can assure you it's quite dead." That was a small relief, but, then again, wasn't Phantomon undead? And that dinosaur digimon she still had the occasional nightmare about? "But its presence is contaminating the area. Without PetriWoodmon, I suspect the remains of this forest will be gone in a few weeks." Of course, the one decent place in this miserable land.

"Did you attempt to destroy it?" Koushiro asked.

"No!" Tsukaimon blurted out, "I mean… uh… I-It's a bad idea… I think…"

"It certainly is," Wizardmon agreed, "Upon examination, we discovered a very unusual digicore. It was carried within the demon's body but had no connection to it. Upon examination, we'd confirmed that it wasn't truly a digicore. It was more like the essence of a digimon's power but there are no digimon with anything like the powers it contained. Powers over Miracles, Destiny, Equality, Life, and Death."

"The Wardens," Koushiro said thoughtfully, "Did they take it?"

"Not exactly. We'd found that Destiny, Life, and Death were already claimed. And the two of our own, Hackermon and Slothmon, decided to claim Miracles and Equality for themselves. Luckily for me, I was surveying a different part of the city at the time. Well, to be honest, I just wanted to get away from that digicore. But because of that, I survived their betrayal. Afterwards, Hackermon and Slothmon encountered the other three and so began the five way battle, winner take all. A week later they fell into the current stalemate."

He pointed at that creepy black pentagon on the sky. "There's a barrier around the room the demon and digicore are in now. That is the key. When a Warden dies or willingly releases his power, the symbol lights up. When all symbols are lit, the barrier will drop, giving the winner full access to the digicore. As for the barrier containing the city itself, that I believe it's powered by the demon's body. It'll have to be destroyed for us to escape."

"But we shouldn't destroy the demon's body, right?" Koushiro asked.

"I'm afraid so. It sounds as if you're familiar with the Rebirth Cycle, are you aware that some digimon have been barred from it?"

"Yes, digimon who use shadow power or something like that," Jou answered.

"The five powers all originate from the Shadow. Anyways, while this demon was created using said arts, it never performed any. Nor did the digimon used in its creation. If struck down, its body would enter Rebirth."

"But that's good, right?" Mimi interrupted, "I mean, those digimon would get brought back!"

"The digicore," Tsukaimon said, "If it wasn't used for any Shadow arts, it would enter Rebirth too."

"And contaminate it," Wizardmon said, "Quite the loophole and that's the whole problem. Now, this concerns all of you. Where are the other three?" Mimi looked at Koushiro. He was probably thinking the same thing she was. How does he know how many of us are here?

"I had a really, really bad dream," TK said, "and Yama and Taichi-san and Sora-san went to beat up the Equality guy." No! TK-chan! Don't tell him that! There was a chance they could bluff or something! Now Wizardmon knew it was just them!

But Wizardmon only sagged slightly. "So Slothmon made his move. I keep forgetting how fast he can move when we wants to. All Slothmon have a degree of psychic power allowing them to influence dreams. As the Warden of Equality, this Slothmon can equalize his influence between dreams and reality, effectively bringing dreams into reality."

"I-Is Yama in trouble?" TK whimpered. If Mimi wasn't watching Wizardmon so closely, she'd risk Tsukaimon and hug the boy right there.

"As I said, the digicore only held a small sample of those powers. Slothmon's range is limited and he tends to make his territory obvious. The others should be fine. But even so, I guess it's time to confess. One cannot survive in such a power struggle without taking a side. I have allied myself with Hackermon, the Warden of Miracles."

"So you're one the bad guys?!" Mimi spat out. She wasn't surprised but it still made her mad.

"No, you need not worry. Hackermon have the power to 'hack' the Digital World, altering non-living matter. As Warden of Miracles, this Hackermon can alter living matter but either way, the process is very slow. To put it simply, Hackermon can fortify themselves but in direct combat, they fare quite poorly. You, on the other hand, defeated the PetriWoodmon, the strongest of the Wardens. You are now the strongest force in File.

"And so this brings me to Hackermon's proposal: Help him overcome his final two rivals and he will become your ally."

"Just like that," Koushiro said, sounding disbelieving.

"Please keep in mind that it is not much safer outside the city. Not only are there the wild digimon I'd mentioned earlier, but the machines wielded in that ancient war are scattered about, and more than a few digimon willing to claim them. At same time, however, returning you to your own world would be a simple task for some of them. Either way, Hackermon's power would be a great help to you."

"And he would safely lower this barrier for us," Koushiro said. Wizardmon nodded.

"Correct. Hackermon is not as ambitious as the other Wardens. He won't see you as an obstacle or threat like the others." Mimi held back a snort. Wizardmon already lied to them earlier, claiming he was just here to see what happened to the trees. But at the same time, being able to alter things? Could he…

"Can Hackermon stop Slothmon's nightmares?" she asked.

"He can as long as long it's not occurring in Slothmon's territory." An idea began growing in her head. If she could get getting rid of TK's nightmares as part of the deal… but the children might have to offer something else.

"Mimi-kun, no!" Jou spoke up, "You can't trust him! It's dangerous! He's probably going to brainwash us!"

"Your digivices make you immune to that," Wizardmon informed, showing no signs of annoyance. Digivices? I can't even use mine…

"I'll go," she said, "I'll meet with Hackermon."

"What?!" Koushiro, Tentomon, Jou, Gomamon, and Tsukaimon all exploded. TK just looked worried about her. She gave him a smile, hoping it looked more confident than she felt. Probably didn't. Tanemon looked like she knew what Mimi was thinking. I'm sorry, Tanemon. This is as dangerous for you as it is for me but it has to be us.

She looked at Koushiro and Jou. "Look after TK-chan for me, okay?" She turned to Wizardmon, struggling to muster whatever tiny shred of confidence she had in her, "Lead me there but don't try anything funny."

"Perish the thought," Wizardmon assured.


Taichi ignored his aching chest and steadied his breathing. Sword was out and pulled back, ready for yet another dashing stab. That barrier had to give sooner or later. With a shout, he charged forward, putting every ounce of strength into his strike. He plunged the blade into the barrier and, just like every earlier attempt, it stopped and his increasingly sore hands slammed into the guard.

Seconds later, Sora stuck the barrier the same way, with the same results, not even the slightest distortion from her weapon's gravity. Past her was Ishida, still hacking away, just as ineffectively. Fine. Round fifty then. No way this purple bubble's outlasting me! He started backing up again, to the corridor entrance.

Inside the barrier wasn't the rest of the city, as it looked from the outside, but a large room made entirely from gray stone. The floor and ceiling were completely featureless while the walls were made up of large bricks. It looked like a medieval dungeon or something. The corridor entrance was the only way in and Taichi didn't want to take it except as a last resort. Even he wasn't crazy enough to charge head first into an obvious villains' lair. Despite there being no light sources, it wasn't that dark, but what darkness was there was thick enough to remind him of Phantomon's palace, though it didn't carry the same oppressiveness. And worse, the light seemed to be a bubble or something that just about the size of the room. Any further ahead was pitch black. Any doubts Taichi had about Equality being the source of those nightmares were long dead. Too much to hope that angel comes and saves us again?

"Taichi," Sora called out. He stopped and looked at her and she shook her head. "We're not breaking through it."

"Either we do or it's return of Phantomon," he pointed out. If he had to face that illusion again, he didn't know what he'd do. He wasn't sure he could take it a second time. Just seeing Hikari like that, even knowing it's fake… But then again, it wasn't like he could take many more of those nightmares either.

He looked back down the corridor. Darkness. The light bubble would follow if he entered it but it wouldn't be enough. There was no way Equality set up a labyrinth without some digimon of his own and they probably knew their way around. The darkness would give them a big advantage. And for all we know, they're on their way here.

Maybe the map would help, providing the darkness didn't affect it. Peering down the corridor, he brought it up, and was immediately assault by a riot of shapes. "Gah!"

"What's wrong?!" Sora asked.

"Map," he panted, "Didn't work. Really didn't work."

"Let me see." Sora let out a yelp. "I wasn't ready for that!"

"What's going on?" Ishida asked, breathing heavily. One look at his eyes said how badly his attempts to break through the barrier had gone.

"This place is messing up out maps," Taichi answered. Ishida made a slight grunt.

"Ugh. I see what you mean." He looked back at the barrier, his fists clenched. "We have to break the barrier then."

"And I get errors when try to Tmail," Sora added. Ishida snarled at shot a fiery glare that Taichi impulsively stepped back from. Sora stepped back a little further.

"Why the hell are you two even here?!" he roared.

"Tailmon pushed us all in!" Taichi shot back.

"That's not what I mean, you idiot! Why did you follow me?! If you'd just stayed at the damn camp, you'd be there to protect Takeru! He's defenseless now!" Inwardly, Taichi flinched. Ishida was right, he should've stayed. Ishida was plenty capable and Sora would've backed him up. I should've stayed back to protect the others.

"Calm down, Yamato-kun," Sora said, her voice wavering a little, "Koushiro-kun and Jou-kun are still there."

"Against Tailmon?!"

"You're right, Ishida," Taichi said, "There was no reason for all three of us to be here. I was just too worried about TK to think straight." Ishida's expression softened a little.

"I guess I stopped thinking too! Dammit! Our digimon are unconscious, and even if they weren't, the barrier's keeping them away from us! Can we really just sit here and wait for them to wake up?!"

"Even if we did," Sora answered, "it wouldn't matter. They still won't be able to evolve."

"So it's just us against a Warden," Ishida scoffed, "We're screwed."

"Maybe not," Taichi said. The two looked at him expectantly and he took a breath. "Okay, look, this is just a thought I've been having from Phantomon and PetriWoodmon. Now, Sora will back me up on this, but Phantomon's powers were something else." Sora shivered as she nodded. "Those illusions he trapped us in felt completely real."

"I felt his scythe cut through me," Sora added in a quiet voice.

"Don't forget this tricks he used when we fought him," Taichi reminded, "I mean, seriously, creating those copies of himself?"

"What's your point?" Ishida asked impatiently.

"My point is that when we finally got through all his tricks, he folded like a deck chair."

"He promised to be merciful if we left," Sora added with a slight smile.

"And that's when you finished him," Ishida said, "but again, what's your point?"

"I'm getting to it," Taichi answered, "Now PetriWoodmon was different. Its powers were just improving the plant creation power it already had. Even its healing powers wouldn't have been so much trouble without those big trees. It was its brute strength that made it so hard to beat. If it was more around Phantomon's strength, we'd have blasted it into toothpicks in no time."

Ishida looked thoughtful. "So, these Wardens will either be magical or strong, but not both. That does make sense but you're only basing this off two of them."

"A little more, actually," Taichi said, "PetriWoodmon kept going on about 'wickedshadow' and Phantomon was using shadows."

"So Veemon might have been telling the truth about that," Sora said, "I mean, about PetriWoodmon and Phantomon being enemies." Taichi nodded.

"And if I'm right about that, then I'm going to guess Phantomon's illusions and Equality's labyrinth kept PetriWoodmon from just barging in and stomping on them. But at the same time, Phantomon and Equality weren't nearly strong enough to go after PetriWoodmon."

Ishida took a breath. "I admit that does make sense but let's not forget, even if Equality is weak, he'll only be weak by digimon standards. We're just human kids; we're not exactly strong ourselves. And there's still the matter of those powers. You're not seriously going to tell me Phantomon was an easy battle?"

Taichi shook his head. "No way. I'm just saying it's not completely hopeless."

"And our digimon can't come with us," Sora pointed out, "If they wake up and we're not here, they won't know we're okay." That was a good point. Taichi hated to make Koromon worry like that but he had to do something and Koromon would expect him to. But at the same time, to just leave his partner like that… The fact that we still stand is proof!

"They'll know," Taichi said. The other two looked at him. "It was back when we were fighting PetriWoodmon. It was going on about how Ogremon would get you two but Garurumon said that the fact they're still here is proof that Ogremon failed. They, or at least Tsunomon, know that our lives are linked." He could hear the gasps from the other two, their expressions being a mix of shock and horror.

"You Piyo- I-I mean Yokomon…" Sora started, her voice trailing off.

"Gabumon…" Ishida said, "Why?" Taichi could only nod. Why were their partners so loyal to them? How do we even deserve it?

"It doesn't matter," a voice hissed from above. Taichi jumped back, lost his footing, and fell over, his eyes landing on the big spider descending from the ceiling. It was black with red hair… and horns. Big horns. The DigiScanner called her Dokugumon. Her poison was so intense making even her touch deadly. She dropped down in front of them. "After all, you're never going to leave this labyrinth."


Now in the Miracles district, whatever shreds of courage Mimi had managed to call upon were long gone. The only thing keeping her from turning back was the fact that she'd never find her way on her own. And then there was the chance of Wizardmon turning on her. TK-chan. You're doing this for TK-chan.

Wizardmon stopped in front of a building with a big chunk of its top half gone. The door leading in was mostly gone too and, through the doorway, it looked like there was no rear wall. Was there some sort of trap door or something? But no, Wizardmon just picked up something off the ground. A doorknob? He placed it where a doorknob would be if that part of the door still existed, and gave it a turn. A click sounded and the mangled door swung open, and suddenly Mimi wasn't seeing the inside of that ruined building.

It felt like her jaw was about to hit the floor as she followed Wizardmon through. Gold. A tunnel with golden walls were lined with horizontal golden tubes. The floor, while gold too, also had a silver path going down the center. The ceiling was like the walls. And it was well lit, despite no visible lights anywhere. "Wh-What is this place?" she asked.

"As the Warden of Miracles, Hackermon's powers aren't quite so bound by the Digital World's physical laws on top of his innate hacking abilities," Wizardmon said, "Also, the Digital World is considerably more malleable than your world." Mimi could nod in response. To think something like this existed in that horrible ghost town! Maybe we can move out of that creepy forest into here!

"A golden fortress…" Mimi muttered.

"Not exactly," Wizardmon corrected, "It's an original alloy created by Hackermon. It's a standard practice for Hackermon to create guards that use energy based weaponry and then create an alloy that's immune to said weapons. The Warden of Miracles is a rather conventional Hackermon."

Something dropped down in front of her. She screamed and jumped back. Tanemon's bubbles pelted the object, having no effect. The object didn't move. It was round but hanging from the ceiling and the same gold as the everything else. In the center of the object there was a silver circle and a black circle in the middle of that, like a big eyeball. The eyeball went back up, melting into the ceiling.

"What was that?!" Tanemon demanded.

"That would be one of the guards," Wizardmon answered, "They're essentially parts of this fortress brought to life. It was just making sure you aren't a threat."

Why didn't you warn us sooner?! Mimi angrily thought but stayed quiet. She was completely at Wizardmon's mercy, this plan of hers seeming worse by the second. Why did I agree to go along?! What was I thinking?! Oh, right. She was thinking of trying to help TK. Maybe she should've just apologized after all. Too late now.

Fuming, she silently followed him to the end where there was a solid wall without any of those weird tubes. The wall suddenly opened up, revealing a room bigger than any from Phantomon's palace. It was bright too, though this light felt different from any other light she'd seen. It was warm, but not that comforting warmth from those campfires. This warmth wasn't really hot but it felt harsh and uncomfortable, like it was judging her. She wanted to hide from it. She actually found herself missing that dark forest.

Two figures emerged from the floor. They were human shaped but big and carrying golden axes. Their faces were just one black spot with a red eye. She swallowed hard as they stared her down. I'm not dangerous! I'm just a defenseless girl! I'm not dangerous! I'm just a defenseless girl! The two figures melted back into the floor and Mimi released the breath she found herself holding. Maybe the forest isn't so bad after all.

As the trio reached the center of the room, a large mass grew out of the floor with an opening directly in front. Wizardmon stepped into it and Mimi allowed herself a small sigh as she followed. Once she and Tanemon were in, the opening closed. The inside was a small, circular room. She felt the floor move downward. "An elevator?" she asked. As if answering, two big heads grew out of the walls and stretched out towards her. A whimper escaped her throat as they stared her down.

"As I said, Hackermon are poor fighters," Wizardmon said in a nonchalant tone that made Mimi want to strangle him. Did he not realize how hard this was on her?! Who am I kidding? He serves a Warden. He probably enjoys doing this to helpless girls like me! "They specialize in fortifying themselves," he continued, "and this one's had many years to prepare his defenses. Remember, he has to protect himself from the likes of Phantomon and PetriWoodmon."

The elevator stopped and an opening appeared. Reluctantly, Mimi followed the cloaked jerk, trying to think of a few other things she could call him. At least things she would allow herself to say. Then she screamed again. More of those creepy heads! Lots of them, all glaring down on her! "What's your problem?!" she cried out, "Can't you see I'm harmless?!" The heads melted back into the walls, revealing yet another big room with a doorway at the end.

The doorway lead to another tunnel, one that branched off. Thankfully, CloakedJerkmon knew the way through. You're doing this for TK-chan. You're doing this for TK-chan. You're doing this for TK-chan. Part of the wall on her right opened up. Wizardmon went through and Mimi followed, peering down the rest of the tunnel. She couldn't see the end. Inside, there was another big eye staring at her. "Go away!"

The eye finally left, revealing four of those axe wielding guards. They too melted away and Mimi found herself staring at a massive lit screen at the room's far end. And all those strange tubes along the walls were feeding into it. The screen looked like it was just giving off more of that nasty light. In front of the screen was a figure she couldn't quite make out. It began moving towards her and she wished it would've stayed put.

"Hackermon, I give you one of the Children of Virtue," Wizardmon said. Mimi never got into science fiction but she felt pretty certain that none of the robots there were as ugly as Hackermon. His chest and head were a dull gray with yellow goggles over his eyes. Or maybe those were the eyes, she couldn't tell. His left arm looked like a metal skeleton arm with wires running along it. His right arm had a thick, dark blue plating and a thick pincer for a hand. The dark blue plating started from its right shoulder and went down, covering its waist. Its lower body was long, almost like a centaur, but instead of four horse legs, it had a bunch of needle-like ones. Lots of them.

"Slothmon has gone rogue," Hackermon hissed, seemingly ignoring her. Which she was completely okay with. "My understanding was that if the Children appeared, Tailmon would be sent to deal with them."

"Tailmon?!" Mimi exploded. They were friends with that horrid cat?!

"You know how he always was," Wizardmon said with a shrug, "I'm pretty sure that if we'd ever found one of those ancient weapons, it would only be a matter of time before he was on a rooftop with it. Speaking of the weapons…" Mimi growled to herself, clenching her fists. They drag her all the way here just to ignore her?!

"Etemon has not found many," Hackermon said, "but even those he has are beyond my defenses. I fear even if I do succeed and claim the Shadow, it will not be enough. Why does Lord Vamdemon not deal with him?" Wizardmon shook his head.

"You know I'm far too low ranked to know his plans. Even Tailmon doesn't know, speaking of which, I need to update her on what's happening."

"Very well." As Wizardmon left, Mimi caught herself reaching out to him. What am I doing?! He's with Tailmon! What kind of trap did she wander into?!

"I understand you wish to deal," Hackermon spoke, moving his face much too close to hers. She took a step back while Tanemon hopped in front of her. She took a breath in a futile attempt to calm herself. Okay, Mimi. You can do this. You have to do this. This is why you came down here in the first place.

"Um, yes. Um, w-we were attacked by… uh… nightmares," she stammered, "Um… th-they came from, uh… Slothmon was it? Y-Yeah, that's what y-you called him, right?"

"Slothmon is the origin of the nightmares," Hackermon answered, "Once he is slain, they will end. I highly doubt your friends will find him as challenging as PetriWoodmon."

"But T- one of us so little!" Mimi protested, "H-He's only seven! And Slothmon attacked him too!"

"Slothmon enjoys preying on the weak," Hackermon answered, "I fail to see how it is my concern." That confirmed it. Wizardmon's story about Hackermon wanting to be allies was a lie too. But that didn't really affect her own plan. She just had to make the offer.

"If you… If you make TK-chan's nightmares stop, I'll become one of your guards!" Hackermon stiffened and Mimi held her breath. At least he wasn't expecting it.

"You will fight for me?" Hackermon asked.

"I will… I-I mean, won't fight my friends, but I will help you win! I know you're fighting the other Wardens and I'll help with that Etemon guy too!" Hackermon went silent again. He's not buying it. Why would he? One look and he can see the kind of "guard" I would be.

"Remember Mimi can evolve me!" Tanemon spoke up, "I can take on very strong forms!" Hackermon leaned forward, staring right at Mimi's waist. Her face heated under the unwanted attention.

"Where do you think you're staring?!" Tanemon demanded. Hackermon pulled back, much to Mimi's relief. Was that a hint of what he was going to expect of her? If so, she was ready to call the deal off. Then again, that probably wasn't an option.

"Your digivice sleeps," Hackermon said.

"Oh! Th-That?!" Mimi tried to hide her relief. "Y-Yes… I-I…"

"In order to be a worthwhile guard, you will need to awaken it," Hackermon continued, "but I am aware of the strain it places on your body. You will not survive. Therefore, I must do two things for you: end the little one's nightmares and safely awaken your digivice. Very clever of you." A raspy sound escaped Hackermon's mouth, which Mimi could only assume was a laugh. "Very well, I respect your courage in attempting this. I will accept your terms." Mimi caught her breath.

"Y-You will?!"

"As I have told Wizardmon, this power I have sought is simply not enough. I would prefer not to be enemies with you Children of Virtue." Wait, so Wizardmon wasn't completely lying about that? "First I will examine the boy's nightmares. Resolving them should be a simple task given your proximity from Slothmon. Upon then we will work out the specific terms of our agreement. Fixing the flaw in your digivice's awakening will too be a simple task, another reason I am agreeing to your deal." Mimi could only nod, too grateful to think of anything to say. Her plan actually worked!

She followed Hackermon over to the big screen. Half his legs lifted themselves, ever other leg specifically, and stretched out, piercing the side of the screen. An image of TK appeared, almost like a diagram of him. Did he have diagrams of all of them? That was a disturbing thought. But we might not be enemies anymore

A block splotch appeared over his head and symbols scrolled by far too fast for Mimi to even try to recognize any. "How odd," Hackermon said, "Slothmon wanted this nightmare to originate from his worst memories. Such things have no guarantee to achieve the terror he enjoys inflicting. He prefers to target their inner fears, along with the temptation to give in to them. Something that will haunt them after waking." Mimi swallowed. She wasn't sure what disturbed her more: how evil Slothmon was, or how casually Hackermon explained it.

"Now, what did that child see to inspire such terror?" Images began flashing across the screen, far too quickly for Mimi to make out. Too bad. She was kind of hoping to see what had scared TK so badly, make it easier to comfort him. On the other hand, she knew full well she wasn't that much braver than him. Maybe it was for the best she didn't see-

"Dear Yggdrasil!" Hackermon suddenly screamed, "Not them! That's impossible!" He visibly calmed down. "The barrier! It can't be down!" More flashing images. "Yes, the barrier is still strong! It must be a coincidence! The little ones have active imaginations after all! The barrier is the strongest thing in all the Digital World! They couldn't possibly escape!" More flashing images. "No! It is them! But how?! Even the Machine King couldn't break-" Hackermon went silent.

"That's it," he spoke at last, "That's what happened. It's so obvious. The barrier was created before the First Contact! Interdimensional travel wasn't even considered! A portal to the human world would completely bypass it!"

"Um… what…" Mimi started when Hackermon looked at her. His yellow goggles were as blank as ever but, somehow, she could see the terror in them.

"Forget the old deal," he said as he moved towards her, "This is the new agreement! I am defecting to your side, understand?! I am your ally now! Protect me and I will wield my power for you!" A sphere grew out of the floor with an opening as his pincer hand pushed her towards it. "That will awaken your digivice! You and Tanemon enter now!"

"Wha… I… uh… okay!" Mimi struggled to responded as he practically shoved her into it.

"Easy, we said we'd do it!" Tanemon said as she hopped in after.

"I repent!" Hackermon shouted into the air as the doorway closed, "I repent!"


Taichi's scars burned with each breath as he tore through the corridors. He had no idea where he was or how many turns he'd taken. Every path looked exactly the same but as long as he lured Dokugumon away from Sora and Ishida it was fine. It wasn't hard getting the spider to chase him; just a few shot from the CryoBlaster, but outrunning the digimon but was another matter. That thing was fast, always just behind him.

He spared a glance back. If he could just get enough distance to fire a few shots at her legs to slow her down. No sign of her. Did he somehow escape her? That seemed unlikely. He looked back ahead and Dokugumon dropped right down in front of him. Crap! "You lose!" she sneered as he pointed his weapon at her, firing blotches of ice on her face.

Running again, he turned the nearest corner, his chest on fire. Keep going! Another corner. A sudden piercing cold knifed into him and his knees gave out. He bit back the cry as his knees hit the stone floor, instead rolling so his back would hit a wall. Breathing heavily, he looked around. Nothing looked different. The stone walls were as featureless as ever, but now, the darkness filling the corridor seemed different. Malevolent. Hungry. But at least Dokugumon was nowhere to be seen.

Okay, let's see if I can't make some sense out of this map. He called it up. ERROR. Uh oh. This was not good. He had no idea where he was, where Sora and Ishida were, or anything really. Every turn in this labyrinth looked exactly the same. And to make it worse, even if he did find a way out, Tailmon would have gotten to the others long ago.

"Easy now," a gentle voice said, "You can't do much of anything when you're worked up like that." A hand reached down. Taichi took it and it pulled him up.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," the genie responded.