Digimon Adventure Tamers

by DigimonAT0318

A retelling of 02 and a sequel to Tamers, set in the year 2003. The Digidestined and the Digimon Tamers, heroes of two worlds, join forces to face their greatest challenges yet. What's more, Davis has been to the Digital World before with Ryo and Ken to fight Millenniummon. Under the leadership of Tai, Davis and Takato, along with Ryo, can they prevail? Elements of tri. later on.

13. Chapter 13: The Override of the Rings

Digimon Adventure Tamers

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

Here we go, the first full day of the Digidestined and the Digimon Tamers working together. What's going to happen and how will it go down? Let's find out.

Also, I now have more than 70 reviews on this story. I said in Chapter 11 that if I got more than 60 reviews, I would put in a special treat in Chapter 13 at the beginning and end. This treat is how I think the opening and ending for this story would go if it was an anime series. The beginning song is The Biggest Dreamer, which I think is the best Digimon Japanese opening, and the ending is Days -Aijou to Nichijou-, just like the second half of Tamers. Tell me what you think of the opening and ending in the reviews.

The Biggest Dreamer: TV Size

(The opening begins with Guilmon's silhouette roaring before zooming out to Takato letting out a scream and running)

Wanna be the biggest dreamer

Zensokuryoku de/Running full speed through

Mirai mo ima mo kake nukero/Both the future and the present

(The camera zooms out more to see Takato running with Tai, Davis, Rika, Henry, TK, Rika, Kari, Matt and others. Agumon, Veemon and Guilmon dash past the camera as the characters turn to the screen. Multiple shots of Tai, Davis and Takato are shown before the logo appears with Calumon playing on it)

DIGIMON ADVENTURE TAMERS

Sou boku wa ki zuitan da/That's right, I've realized it,

Zutto shukudai wasureteta/I forgot to do my homework

(Tai and Davis are walking in the Digital World and turn around. Zoom on Davis with a look of shock on his face as the camera shows the Digimon Emperor flanked by Stingmon and several Digimon. Millenniummon's silhouette appears behind him)

Sore wa hitotsu no nazo nazo nazo/That's one puzzle, puzzle, puzzle,

(The sky splits open to reveal Takato, Rika and Henry dropping down from the sky with their Digimon and landing on the ground)

"Boku wa dare nan darou?"/"Who am I?"

(Ryo and Cyberdramon appear in an area that zooms out to reveal a forest in the Digital World)

SURAIDINGU shite surimuketa/Even if I slide

Hiza itakutatte ne/And skin my knees

(Tai raises his Digivice in the air while Davis does the same with his D-3 and Takato with his D-Ark. The other Tamers and Digidestined appear behind them, raising their Digivices in the air as well.)

Sugu tachiagaranakya/I've gotta stand back up,

CHANSU wa nigete yuku wakatteru sa/I know my chance will run away

(Agumon slashes at the screen while Greymon, MetalGreymon and WarGreymon appear behind him. Veemon makes a motion like he's performing a headbutt while ExVeemon, Paildramon and Imperialdramon appear behind him. Guilmon spins around once while Growlmon, WarGrowlmon and Gallantmon appear behind him. The two Earths slowly approach each other as a bright light consumes the screen)

Big and bigger, biggest dreamer!

Yume miru koto ga subete hajimari/Dreaming is the start of everything

Sore ga kotae daro/That's the answer

Dare yori tooku e tonde miseru yo/I'll fly farther than anyone

Subete no asu wo tsuranuite/Through all the tomorrows

(A silhouette of Tai and Agumon sitting and relaxing together is shown while Agumon is seen firing his Pepper Breath, replaced with Greymon striking something with his tail, MetalGreymon firing his Trident Arm, and WarGreymon standing tall. Davis and Veemon are running together towards something as Veemon is shown performing his Vee-Headbutt, ExVeemon firing his X-Laser, Paildramon firing his Desperado Blaster, and Imperialdramon glaring at the screen. Takato and Guilmon are sitting back-to-back while Guilmon fires his Pyro Sphere, Growlmon fires his Exhaust Flame, WarGrowlmon attacks with his blades, and Gallantmon prepares to attack with his lance and shield.)

Wanna be the biggest dreamer!

Zensokuryoku de/Running full speed through

(Tai, Davis and Takato each take off their goggles, placing them on their heads)

Mirai mo ima mo kake nukero/Both the future and the present

(Meiko and Meicoomon are seen walking together with the Hypnos building behind them while Dagomon, Daemon and Apocalymon appear behind them. Calumon pops up and flips backwards, taking flight with his wings over a massive grassy field where the Digidestined and the Tamers stand together with their Digimon partners, holding their Digivices up high. Opening ends)

(Play Digimon Tamers Aban)

Reuniting with the Digidestined, Ryo brought his old friends to Primary Village in File Island, where the Digidestined met the Tamers for the first time ever. There, Ryo told the two teams about Millenniummon being his Digimon partner, and a Dark Spore from Millenniummon turning Ken into the evil Digimon Emperor. Now, the Tamers are living with the Digidestined in Odaiba. What awaits for the two combined teams in the future?

(Play Digimon Tamers: Subtitle 2)

The Override of the Dark Rings

(Play Digimon Adventure: Hashiru Senritsu)

Kari felt ice cold water on her feet. Opening her eyes and looking down, she saw gray, mushy sand between her toes, and white froth from receding waves around them. She was on the beach, and it confused her greatly. She didn't remember leaving her apartment and going to the beach in the middle of the night, while still wearing her pink pajamas.

Looking back up, Kari took in her surroundings, and what she saw made fear grip her heart. Across the shore were houses and fences that were splintered in ruins, and the only sounds that filled the air was the howling of the wind and the breaking of waves. And when she looked up, she noticed the sky, just like the sand, was a dull gray; in fact, everything around her was shades of gray, but the ocean before her was as black as tar. And when she sniffed the air, it took everything she had to not gag and cough. The air stunk of decay and bodily fluids. Wherever she was, it was definitely not the Odaiba beachfront.

The wind blew past her, and she gasped upon feeling the coldness of it. Whatever this place was, she didn't like it and she wanted to get out of here. She tried to move, but her legs refused to budge, as well as her arms and even her neck. She was frozen to the spot.

'What's going on? Why can't I move?!' she thought in panic. Her bad feeling became even worse when she noticed the water bubbling in the distance and something rising out of the depths. Kari couldn't make it out clearly, as it was shrouded in darkness, but the figure was tall and hideously shaped that rose to the sky, completely covering Kari in its shadow. The stench in the air became worse when the figure breathed. Its breath was deep and hollow.

Kari's stomach froze when she saw the figure and her fingernails dug into her palms, breaking the skin slightly. Then, in the deepest recesses of her mind, a low, soft, dangerous voice spoke to her, saying only one name.

"Kari…come…" The bearer of Light wasn't sure, but she knew the voice was coming from the creature before her.

"Come to me, Kari…" the figure said, looking down at Kari with two violent eyes that glowed like rubies. Kari's mouth opened in a silent scream as the creature raised its arms in the air, ready to grab her.

"I can see your desire for strength…come with me, and I shall make you strong!"

---

"No…NO!" Kari screamed, finally finding her voice. Shooting up like a gunshot, Kari's eyes only saw darkness for a few moments before they adjusted and she saw that she was still in her bedroom, in her home. Sweat trickled down from her face and shoulders, dampening her pink pajama top. Squeezing her blanket to make sure it was real, Kari sighed in relief, realizing she just had a really bad dream.

"Kari, what's wrong?" Looking up, Kari saw Gatomon sitting next to her, completely wide awake.

"Gatomon…" she whispered.

"Yes, it's me," said the white cat, eyes filled with worry. "What happened?"

"It's nothing," said Kari after thinking for a moment. "Just a bad dream…"

"Ah," Gatomon said sadly. "So you're not the only one."

"You too?" Kari asked in slight surprise.

"Yes…" Kari stayed quiet for a minute before speaking up again.

"Was it…about…"

"Yes…it was about Wizardmon again," Gatomon sniffed sadly. "I don't know why these dreams have been happening nearly every night now. I used to only have them once every few months, but now…"

"Oh, Gatomon…" Kari whispered, pulling her partner into a warm hug. Gatomon sniffled again, happy to have a partner like Kari in her life. But she was also sad as her first and closest friend had died to ensure that they stay together.

"I just wish…he could come back…"

"So do I, Gatomon…" Kari whispered, rocking Gatomon back to sleep. Once she was sure her partner was asleep again, Kari placed her down gently before returning to sleep herself. Even though Gatomon was able to sleep the rest of the night away in peace, Kari had a hard time getting back to sleep.

---

In the Digital World, Wormmon looked at his partner with worry. Ever since they had returned to their base from the Valley of Death, Ken had been sitting still in his chair for a long time, not saying a single word or moving an inch.

It unsettled the caterpillar Digimon. Earlier today, Ken had been excited about finally getting revenge on Davis. Everything seemed to be according to plan, but the sudden reappearance of Ryo and Monodramon stopped everything. Deep down, Wormmon was glad that Ryo was back. With the older boy back home, he was hoping Ken could be saved now.

"Ken…it's late. The sun set four hours ago. Shouldn't you be getting home?"

Ken still said nothing, but he did move, which meant to Wormmon that he was still alive. Raising his hand into the air, Ken pressed several buttons that appeared in midair, and moments later, every monitor in the room was filled with an image of a wide-eyed woman with a big smile and a microphone.

"Ken? Are you all right?" Wormmon asked before the reporter began speaking.

(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Yogiru Fuan)

"We're here today to find out who the young boy genius from Tamachi, Ken Ichijouji, really is," she said, moving over to a smirking midnight-haired boy in a gray uniform.

"Oh, I really haven't done anything special," said Ken, a shy smile on his face.

"That's what you say," said the reporter, "but you must be really working hard, yes?"

"No…not really," Ken said with a shrug. "I'm more of a soccer guy, deep down."

"Ah, you're an athlete as well, I see!" said the reporter. "You know Ken, they say prodigies are 1% talent and 99% effort. What do you think of that?"

"I guess that's true," Ken said with a smile.

"By the way, since you're an elementary school student, you must like animals."

"Well…I do, but I can't really have one. My family lives in an apartment building that doesn't allow pets."

"You live in a fairly normal place for a boy genius, don't you think?" the reporter then asked.

"Yes, I'd say I do," Ken replied with a light chuckle.

"You know, in places like America, there's a skipping system that allows children your age to study in college. Now, we don't have that system in Japan, but if we did, would you like to skip ahead?"

"Well…the idea does have some merit…" said Ken. "I do enjoy a little challenge."

"Well folks, that's all the time we have," the reporter said to the viewers before turning back to Ken. "Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Ken."

"No problem." Those were the last words Ken spoke before the screen changed to an advertisement for a fast food restaurant. Ken deactivated the monitors, leaving the room in darkness as he looked down at the floor, remembering the day he did that interview.

"Ken…?" Wormmon asked again, but the Emperor still said nothing as he let his mind drift off.

---

"Thanks for letting us speak with you again Ken," the reporter said, placing her hand on Ken's shoulder. "Good luck with your studies."

"Thank you," said Ken. "Any time."

"That was well done, Ken!" a Tamachi teacher said, walking up to Ken as the news crew went away.

"Oh, it was nothing at all sir," Ken replied, turning to the teacher as he brushed his shoulder where the reporter touched him.

"No, it's a great help!" the teacher insisted, coming up to Ken, a book under his arms. "You're definitely doing wonders for our school's reputation."

"Well, I'm glad to be of help," Ken said with a quiet smile. It annoyed him deeply that the principal would suck up to anyone that would make him look good.

"By the way, on a more personal note…" the principal said, leaning down to whisper to Ken. "…I was wondering if you would tutor my daughter? I'd pay, of course, if you were interested."

Ken's eyes narrowed without letting the principal catch him; so that was his game. The young boy had more important matters than tutoring some idiot principal's brain-dead daughter. But he kept up his nice act.

"Thank you sir, but I have to wonder…how old is your daughter?"

"Oh, Yuriko? She's seventeen."

"I'm afraid I have to decline the offer sir," Ken said with another quiet smile. "I don't think I'd be that experienced for tutoring. Plus, given the age difference between us, it could give off the wrong impression."

"Oh, of course!" the principal said with an embarrassed laugh. "I guess I didn't think that through well!"

'Of course you didn't,' Ken thought darkly as a distant bell rang five times, signaling that the time was now 5:00.

"Oh, goodness! Is that the time?" the principal asked in surprise. "I must be going then…but if I could ask one more thing?"

"Yes?" Ken asked politely.

"An autograph…for my daughter?" the principal asked, offering the book and a pen to the boy.

Ken smiled wryly; of course it was for his daughter. Taking the items, Ken wrote down an encouraging message for the girl before signing his name.

"There we go," Ken offered the book back to the principal. "Will this do?"

"Oh, yes of course!" the principal said, happily accepting the book and reading the message. "So this is the autograph of Ken Ichijouji…she'll love this!"

(Play Digimon Adventure: Yuugure)

'Yeah…she…' Ken thought, walking out of the park with a scoff. Once he reached his apartment, he opened the door as quietly as he could without being detected, but he could have sworn his mother had enhanced hearing, as she poked her head from out of the kitchen entrance.

"Oh, Ken! Welcome home! You're just in time for dinner!"

"Good," Ken muttered, closing the door behind him and sitting down at the table, looking at the meal.

"We saw you on TV just now," his mother said, offering him a plate of food. He accepted it mechanically. "You were at the park, right? I should have been there."

"That was a good one," his father said with a chuckle. "That 1% effort and 99% talent thing, I'm telling you…"

Ken took a few bites before setting his chopsticks down and standing up from the table. "Excuse me, please."

"Ken, what's wrong?" asked his mother.

"Nothing," Ken muttered before walking out of the apartment, both his parents exchanging curious looks.

Walking up several flights of stairs, Ken stepped up on the terrace of the building, taking in the view of Tamachi. The wind blew his hair as he stared out at the buildings, hearing car horns, dogs barking, radios, and other bothersome things. He wished he could silence it all with a wave of his hand.

Leaning over the railing, he looked down at the people below the street with a sneer. At this height, they looked like little ants. Insects that spread filth and disease wherever they went. It made him, the Emperor of the Digital World, sick to his stomach.

"INSECTS!" he shrieked, clamping the railings tightly. He decided then and there, it was time to move out.

---

"Ken?" Wormmon asked again to his unresponsive partner. "Are you all right?"

"I'm just peachy Wormmon," Ken snapped, his voice slightly scratchy due to not speaking for hours.

"It's getting late," Wormmon said, relieved to know he was still talking. "Shouldn't you be getting home?"

"I'm not going home," Ken said, standing up from his chair and going over to a computer terminal. "There's nothing left for me there. Besides…now that Ryo has returned, things have become more complicated."

"So, does that mean you're now thinking about lots of complicated things that I can't understand?" Wormmon asked innocently.

"Of course you wouldn't understand," Ken said irritably, not pausing from his typing as a new plan came up in his mind.

---

Morning came upon Tamachi, and it was quiet in the Ichijouji apartment. Ken's mother looked out of the kitchen and down the hall where her son's bedroom door remained closed. She was worried; it had been two days since the soccer game he lost, and he hadn't come out since then.

"Nothing today?" her husband asked, looking up from his newspaper.

"No," she said, a sad frown appearing on her face. "I'm worried…"

"Something has to be wrong," he said, standing up and looking out the hallway with her. "I don't think it's the soccer game, he wouldn't be that down about it."

"I don't know at all…" she said sadly. "I'm his mother, so I should know what's bothering him…but I don't. And it makes me feel bad."

"Parent-teacher conferences were last week, right?" he asked, getting a nod from his wife. "Did you talk to his teachers?"

"I did, and…" she bit her lip before continuing. "They said to let him deal with whatever's bugging him on his own."

"What?!" he asked in surprise and anger.

"Well, they said he's so smart, they don't know what he's thinking…they've practically given up on him."

"How irresponsible," he growled lowly, angry at the thought of his son being forsaken by the school system. "That's it, I'm breaking that door down!"

"What?!" she asked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"If the school system won't help our son, then we'll help him!"

"But to go that far?!" she asked as he started running towards the door. To his surprise, the door flew open with a crash, as it hadn't even been locked. The room was empty and dark, the only light shining from the computer.

"Ken?" he called for his son, checking the bed.

"Ken!" he called again, checking the closet. Walking out to the balcony, he saw that all that was on the balcony was a pile of junk that was always there.

"Ken, where are you, son?!" He bit his lip, looking down at the street nervously.

His wife entered the room, and noticing the glowing computer screen, she walked over to it, and what she found made her gasp in shock.

"Honey…the computer!"

"What? What is it?!" Running back into the room, he looked down at the screen, and he felt his blood turn cold when he read the words on the screen.

(Play Digimon Adventure: Zetsubou)

I have no further use for this world.

Farewell, you little gnats.

Ken Ichijouji.

"What…what is this?!" he gasped once he read the message. His wife sank to the floor and began to wail uncontrollably.

"Why…why?!"

---

(Play Digimon Tamers: Yukikau Hitobito)

Over in Odaiba, the school day started, and new students were starting there today. As the Tamers were still children, they still had to go to school, much to the annoyance of Kazu and Kenta ("I feel your pain", Davis told them, with Tai agreeing.). After arranging things, the Tamers would be going to Odaiba school as transfer students. Takato, Henry, Rika, Jeri, Kazu and Kenta were in the same class with Davis, Kari and TK. Ryo, being fifteen, was in the same class that Tai, Matt and Sora were in. Suzie was in Cody's class, and Ai and Mako were in first grade.

Another problem that came though were the Tamers' Digimon. Terriermon, Lopmon, Betamon and Calumon were small enough to hide in the computer lab with the other Digimon from Davis's team, and Renamon was able to fade away into her surroundings to avoid detection, appearing whenever Rika called for her. Unfortunately, Guilmon, Kokuwamon and Monodramon were too big to bring to the school. However, Izzy talked with his mother and the three of them could stay there for the day whenever school was in session. For most of their part, the Tamers said little to nothing during the school day, since the lessons at their school were different than the lessons here.

---

"'And thus, the country was saved,'" Cody read from a book to his class, which were learning English now. "'With the downfall of the king, peace had returned to the country. The people were deeply saddened by their king's downfall. That sadness remained forever with the people, and it became a legend in time.'"

"Thank you Cody," the teacher said, turning to the blackboard. "Now, as you heard from Cody, English literature can be different than the spoken language. The extra rules for writing are as follows…"

"Geez, Cody, could you make it any more boring?" whispered Suzie, who sat next to the brown-haired boy. The young girl looked bored out of her mind, almost ready to fall asleep. She never had classes like these back home.

"It's not boring, it's informative!" Cody hissed. "And it's important to learn!"

"Sure…whatever," she sighed, paying attention to the teacher again. Cody sighed in annoyance, reiterating his point from last night that it would be a while to get used to Suzie.

---

"All right, we take this fluid…" Yolei held up a beaker in her science class. "Next we mix it up with the other fluid in a beaker, and then heat it up with an alcohol lamp…and then, we wait three minutes!" Said time passed, and the yellow concoction in her beaker began emitting purple smoke in ring-shaped puffs.

"Yolei, I don't think you got it right," said one of her classmates. "Your concoction is yellow, and everybody else's is blue."

"Wait, what?" Yolei asked, looking around the classroom to see everybody else's beakers were filled with blue liquids.

"Wait…what did I do wrong?" Yolei picked up her book and flipped through it until she realized her mistake.

"Uh, oh…" That was all Yolei could say before her liquid began bubbling violently and the ring smokes came out even faster.

"HIT THE DECK!" yelled one of the students. Yolei could only stare in slack-jawed disbelief before her concoction exploded, blowing Yolei's hair back and covering her glasses and teeth with black smoke.

'Great…' Yolei thought abysmally as she went over to the supply cabinet to clean up her mess and herself. She normally was better focused in chemistry, but the revelation that the boy she completely fawned over was driven mad by a dark force grinded her gears to no end.

'That Millenniummon…if he wasn't inside Monodramon, I'd kick him in the groin for what he did to Ken!' she thought, scrubbing the table furiously before cleaning off herself.

---

In the school gymnasium, Davis, TK, Takato, Henry, Kazu and Kenta were in their gym clothes, having worked up a sweat with exercising throughout half of the gym. The other half of the gym was occupied by the girls, who were practicing dance routines. Kari and Jeri enjoyed being able to dance, as it allowed them to blow off steam after a stressful day of school. Rika stood off in a corner, not doing much except watching the classes proceed.

"Rika doesn't seem like much of a dancer," said Patamon. The winged Digimon had snuck into the gym with Gatomon, DemiVeemon, Terriermon and Betamon to watch their partners' class from the rafters above.

"Yeah, she's just been standing there ever since the class started!" said DemiVeemon. A gust of wind was heard behind them, and the Digimon turned around to see Renamon sitting cross-legged. DemiVeemon, Gatomon and Patamon let out a short yelp, but Terriermon and Betamon barely reacted.

(Play Digimon Tamers: Renamon no Theme)

"How did you do that?!"

"She's mysterious like that," Terriermon answered Gatomon's question.

"Rika is not an ordinary human girl," Renamon answered, looking down at her still partner. "She is, how the humans say, a tomboy."

"Oh, you mean like Sora?" asked DemiVeemon, having learned that terminology from Davis, who knew Sora well.

"Yes," Renamon said with a nod. "She obviously thinks dancing is a foolish activity that she does not like. She probably wants to play basketball. And even then…she would probably feel out of place."

"Out of place?" asked Patamon.

"In our dimension, Rika goes to a private all-girls' school, due to the money her mother makes as a model," answered Renamon. "She's never really been in a school with both genders."

"Oh…" DemiVeemon said, looking down again when he heard something slamming against metal. The little dragon's eyes went to the boys' half of the gym, where basketballs were being thrown up, some hitting the metal hoop while others went in.

"The boy's game is about to begin!" he said, getting everybody's attention. The Digimon turned their attention to the game, and the girls stopped dancing to watch as well. Rika moved away from her place in the corner, as she wanted to watch as well.

(Play Digimon Adventure: Teki wo Yattsukero!)

The boys split into two teams of five. Davis, Takato and Kazu were on the team that wore all white jerseys, while TK, Henry and Kenta's team wore red vests over their jerseys.

"And…begin!" the coach dropped the ball in the middle of the court and TK grabbed the ball, running past the opposing team as he bounced it past the other players. It was a clear path to the net, and he leapt up and threw the ball. The ball soared through the air, hit the backboard…and bounced off the rim without going into the net.

"Darn it!" TK said in frustration. Henry ran past TK, and scooped up the ball from Kazu, tossing it up and getting two points for their team.

"You all right, TK?" asked Kenta. "You seem out of it."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," TK muttered, his mind drifting to last night's conversation regarding Ken and Millenniummon. He suspected that the Digimon Emperor was a Digidestined corrupted by darkness, and now that it was confirmed, it made his blood boil about the forces of darkness brainwashing a Digidestined into becoming evil.

"Kazu, I'm open!" yelled Takato. Kazu tossed the ball to the goggled boy and Takato tossed the ball to Davis, who managed to score a three pointer by putting his soccer skills to use.

"Nice shot, Davis!" Kari cheered loudly for her boyfriend while Jeri applauded Takato's teamwork. Davis laughed and gave a thumbs-up before heading back into the game.

"Kenta, here!" called TK. Kenta grabbed the ball and ran past the other players. Takato stood in his way, and the glasses-wearing boy weaved through, but he felt his ankle snag Takato's leg, giving out, and he hit the floor, allowing Kazu to grab the ball and score for his team, getting the victory for the white team.

"Kenta!" Betamon gasped, seeing his partner clutching his ankle in pain.

"Is he all right?" DemiVeemon asked worriedly.

"Let's hope so," Gatomon said as Takato and Kazu went over to their friend and helped him up.

"Kenta, are you okay buddy?" asked Kazu.

"No…I think I twisted my ankle when I tried getting past Takato," Kenta groaned, unable to put much weight on his ankle. Takato looked down at Kenta's foot with a guilty look on his face.

"Aw, man…sorry Kenta…"

"Not your fault," Kenta said, sitting down at the bleachers. "I guess I should have been paying more attention."

"So, what do you guys think of our school so far?" TK asked, approaching the three boys with Henry.

"Not bad," Kazu said with a shrug. "It's a little boring, though. Your homeroom teacher makes Miss Asaji look exciting in comparison."

"I take it Miss Asaji is your teacher back home?" asked Davis, who had come up to the Tamers with Kari, Jeri and Rika.

"Yeah, she's not bad…although I swear she comes to work with a hangover half the time," said Takato.

"Okay, too much information!" said Kari, getting everybody to chuckle.

"They're definitely like their TV counterparts," Terriermon noted to Betamon and Renamon, watching the scene below them.

"Indeed," said Renamon. "But yet, they may also be different from them." The bell rang to signal the end of class and the school day, and the children headed to the locker rooms to change, Davis and Takato helping Kenta, as the black-haired boy's ankle was still sore.

---

Ryo let out a sigh as the school day came to an end. It was a strenuous day and the Legendary Tamer barely paid attention to half the stuff that was going on in class. His mind was mostly on what the next move in the Digital World would be. If he was correct, then Ken would no longer be in the Human World, but now taking up permanent residence in the Digital World, which meant he would be able to work faster.

Today would be the day that Ken's disappearance would be discovered by his parents…and the day Ken would also kidnap Agumon and force him to Digivolve to SkullGreymon. The brown-haired boy's face was set in a grim expression. He knew Agumon was in the Human World, which meant Ken wouldn't be able to get to him…but what was to stop Ken from coming back to the Human World to grab Agumon?

Once the bell rang, Ryo immediately got out of his seat and looked for Tai, finding the brown-haired boy in the hallway talking with Sora.

"Hey, Tai!" Ryo ran forward to greet the messy-haired boy. "Where's Agumon at?"

"Agumon?" asked Tai. "Oh, he's at home at my apartment. I figured he would be all right there, since I can't really take him to school."

"And Biyomon's sleeping in a tree outside," said Sora.

"All right…" Ryo nodded while thinking to himself, 'Good…Agumon should be safe…but just in case…'

"Anyway, Sora and I both have soccer practice today and we need to get going," said Tai, getting Ryo's attention again. "What will you do?"

"I plan on heading to the Digital World with Davis's team and any Tamers that will be able to go," Ryo said, his face set in a grim expression. "Things are going to be harder now."

"Why? What's happening?" asked Sora.

"In the show, Ken bolted for the Digital World and left the Human World behind when his secret as the Digimon Emperor came out," answered Ryo, getting gasps of shock from the bearers of Courage and Love. "Now that he's taken up permanent residence in the Digital World…"

"…he'll be able to take over the Digital World at a much quicker pace!" Tai said, realizing the problem as well.

"Exactly," said Ryo. "We may have to make some moves as well, Tai."

"You mean we may have to take up permanent residence in the Digital World as well?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Possibly," Ryo answered. Tai and Sora remained quiet and thought over the possibility of staying in the Digital World for a long time again. It was one thing before since time was much faster in the Digital World, but now that the Digital World and the Human World were both aligned, it was now impossible.

"We'll have to work out the details later," Ryo then said, knowing what his old friends were thinking. "In the meantime, I should get over to Izzy's place, since we agreed to meet there today."

"Is something happening today?" asked Tai. "I know I shouldn't be asking this, but did anything happen on this day in the TV show?" Ryo thought for a moment and decided to tell him.

"Agumon?!" Tai yelled in shock. "Ken's going after Agumon?!"

"I don't know yet," said Ryo. "It was easy for Ken to get him in the show since Agumon stayed in the Digital World, but now that he's in the Human World, he may be safe. Although, since Ken has a D-3 that can open up a Digital Gate on any computer…" Tai's blood ran cold when he realized what that could mean.

"I've got to get home, and fast!" he said. "Sora, tell the coach that a family emergency came up for me!"

"Go, Tai," Sora insisted, knowing how important Agumon was to her best friend. Tai turned around and ran down the hallway. The red-haired girl watched with a worried expression, hoping things were all right at Tai's apartment.

"Let's hope he's in time," Ryo said before heading down to meet up with the others, leaving Sora to her worries.

---

In the Kamiya apartment, Yuuko Kamiya was cleaning up the apartment before she settled down for a quiet afternoon to herself…or rather, herself and Agumon. The yellow reptile was snoozing quietly in Tai's room, which is why the apartment wasn't filled with the sounds of Agumon watching TV or eating something.

'Funny how someone as loud as Agumon can be so quiet when sleeping,' she thought, entering Tai's bedroom to gather the dirty laundry. Looking over to where Tai's hamper was, she sighed when she saw all the clothes strewn around the floor.

"That boy," she muttered, going over to the hamper and picking up the clothes. "He's got a hamper. Why doesn't he use it?"

"He does use it, but he usually throws his clothes," said a voice, making Yuuko turn to see Agumon had woken up. "Of course, he can be a lousy shot."

"Except for soccer," Yuuko chuckled, picking up the hamper and walking out of the bedroom, closing the door to give Agumon some privacy. Had she stayed longer, she would have noticed the computer screen, which was turned on as Agumon was surfing the Internet earlier, light up like a Christmas tree.

Agumon did, and he walked over to the screen, curiosity taking him over when he saw what was on the screen.

"A Digital Gate…?"

Yuuko walked over to the washer that was in the apartment and began tossing clothes in, trying to decipher what was dark and what was light. Her process was suddenly interrupted when she heard a loud crashing noise from Tai's bedroom, and Agumon yelling.

"Get off me! Let me go! PEPPER BREATH!"

"Agumon?!" Yuuko asked, startled at what she heard. "Agumon, what's wrong?" Dropping the shirt she was holding, the brown-haired woman ran for Tai's bedroom and threw the door open, gasping at what she saw.

(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Ankoku no Hohoemi ~Digimon Kaiser no Theme~)

A boy, probably Kari's age, with hair like Tai's and a bizarre blue-and-purple outfit and purple glasses stood over Agumon. The orange reptile's hands were bound with rope as well as his legs. Another rope was tied over his snout, muffling his words and preventing him from using his fire attack. A burn mark on the ceiling indicated that the Pepper Breath Yuuko heard Agumon yell out hit there.

"What are you doing to Agumon?!" Yuuko yelled angrily, startling the boy. "How did you get in here?!"

"Damn it…!" cursed the boy. "I didn't think anyone else would be here!"

"Answer me!" Yuuko yelled. "What are you doing with Agumon?!"

"If you must know, I have plans for Agumon," said the boy. "And I will not leave without him!"

"You are leaving without him," Yuuko said firmly, marching over to the boy. Agumon tried to yell something to Yuuko, but the rope over his mouth muffled his words.

Before Yukko could advance any further, she felt something sticky hit her legs, wrapping around them and making her lose her balance. The brown-haired woman yelped when she hit the floor. Looking down at her feet, Yuuko saw they were wrapped up in something white and sticky.

"STICKY NET!" yelled out a voice. Yuuko gasped when more of the white sticky stuff flew forward and wrapped around Yuuko's arms, pinning them to her side. Struggling in the webbing, Yuuko saw a green caterpillar standing off to the side.

"Excellent work, Wormmon," the boy said, picking up Agumon and slinging him over his shoulder. "Now let's return to the Digital World."

"You are making a big mistake, kid!" Yuuko yelled looking up at the kid as best she could. "Once my son finds out what you've done, he's going to teach you…MM!" Whatever else she was going to say, it was cut off when Wormmon fired another glob of webbing from his maw that covered Yuuko's mouth.

"Correction…I'll be teaching your son a lesson, as well as your daughter," the boy chuckled as he held up his black D-3 and the screen lit up, sucking in the boy, Wormmon and the bound Agumon, leaving Yuuko struggling on the floor alone, worrying about how Tai would react when he found out that Agumon had been kidnapped right in front of her.

---

Once school had ended, the Tamers had met up at Izzy's apartment with Davis's team and Izzy. Once everyone had gathered, Ryo told them about Ken leaving the Human World.

"Ken's living in the Digital World now?!" asked a shocked Yolei.

"Yeah, and it won't be long before his parents find out and file a missing person report," said Takato. "It should be on the news tonight."

"Aw, man…his poor parents," Yolei said sadly. Davis looked down sadly before turning to look at Kari. He was surprised to see Kari had a far-off, scared look on her face; one he rarely saw on her.

"Kari, are you OK?" he asked, placing a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Huh? What?" Kari looked up with a start, then after a moment, let out a small laugh. "Oh…I'm fine Davis, don't worry. I just…didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Yeah, me too…" the goggled boy said, looking downcast. "Anyway, if Ken is in the Digital World now, then he'll be able to make more Control Spires much faster!"

"You're right in that assumption," Henry said, moving over to Izzy's computer and pressing some buttons, bringing up the Digital World grid map. The number of black squares had doubled, indicating Ken's growing domination over the Digital World.

(Play Digimon Adventure: Hirogaru Fuan)

"We're going to need a new plan," said Izzy, his face grim as he turned in his seat. "Davis, Ryo, Takato. Do any of you have suggestions?"

"Well, we could split up into teams," said Takato. "That way, we'll be able to work faster."

"But that work could go to waste if Ken simply rebuilds everything," said Cody. "He seems capable of doing that."

"We'll just see about that," Rika said with a smirk. "I always wanted that little punk to be real so I could knock some sense into him!"

"Take it easy, Rika," said Ryo. "Remember, he's not himself right now."

"Either way…" said Rika.

"And what about Impmon?" asked Ai. "Can we still look for him?"

"I guess we can," said Jeri, her face knit with concern. "But with so many Control Spires…" The brown-haired girl trailed off, wondering what she could possibly do.

"We won't be able to do much today," Yolei said, noticing the time read a quarter to four. "It's getting late..."

"Okay, I think I have an idea," said Davis. "Some of us can go to a random location, scout ahead and destroy a Control Spire, and come right back, while the rest of us go with Ai and Mako to another location to find this Impmon guy. Izzy, give us a location."

"One minute…" Izzy typed furiously on the computer before finding a spot on the outer fringe of blackness. "Here's something; it's called Pyro Pit Prairie."

"We'll go there!" said Davis, gesturing to his team.

"Count us in!" said Takato, standing up with Kazu and Ryo.

"So where can we go?" asked Jeri. Izzy typed again before finding another suitable location.

"It's called Wild West Town."

"We'll take that one," said Rika, looking over to Jeri, Ai, Mako, Kenta and Suzie.

(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Saa, Digital World e Ikou!)

"Suzie, be careful," Henry said to his sister. "I won't be able to come with you. Izzy and I have to finish working on this Digivolution software for the Digivices and D-3s."

"All right!" Suzie said, throwing her hands up in the air. "For God's sake Henry, I'm not five years old anymore!"

"But you certainly still act like it sometimes," replied Terriermon.

"Terriermon…" Henry said with a groan.

"Moumantai!"

"Okay, what does that mean, anyway? Moumantai?" asked Yolei.

"It's Cantonese for 'take it easy'," replied Cody.

"Okay, if that's settled…" Davis held up his D-3. "Digital Gate, open!"

The computer flashed and moments later, Henry, Izzy and their partners remained in the bedroom.

"Why do I get the feeling that something bad may happen?" Tentomon asked nervously.

"Because something bad always happens," said Terriermon, who wasn't joking this time. Henry nodded, knowing Terriermon was serious.

---

"Let me out of here!" Agumon yelled, struggling against his chains in the darkness of his cell as Ken and Wormmon stood above him watching.

"No can do Agumon," Ken said with a smirk. "I have need for you." Wormmon shivered, knowing what Ken was planning to do.

"What are you planning to do with me?" Agumon asked as he glared up at the boy. He had a feeling what Ken was planning to do to him, but he still wondered what he was planning to do after he did it.

"You are going to be the most powerful Digimon in my army yet Agumon," Ken grinned, pulling out a Dark Ring from behind his back. "And you will bring about the downfall of your own friends." With one swipe of his arm, Ken sent the Dark Ring flying and it latched on to Agumon's neck. The orange reptile yelled as he felt the ring's programming take him over. Agumon's head slumped down momentarily, until he lifted it again and his eyes opened to reveal blood-red orbs.

"Wormmon! Release Agumon!" Wormmon obeyed his partner, and pressed a button that freed Agumon from his chains.

"Come, Agumon!" Ken motioned to his newest servant. "We have work to do! It will not be long before the Digidestined arrive!" Agumon obeyed and followed Ken and Wormmon outside of the cell.

---

The blinding light faded and Rika, Jeri, Ai, Mako, Kenta and the Digimon with them opened their eyes to reveal a small western town in the distance, a massive desert in front of them and fresh, green pastures behind the town.

(Play Digimon Adventure: Iya na Yokan)

"So this is Wild West Town," said Kenta. "If I'm right, this was the place the Digidestined went to in Episode 12."

"Yeah, a useless filler episode," Rika muttered before walking forward. "Let's see if Impmon is here. Ai, Mako, pull out your D-Arc and see if Impmon's around here." Ai and Mako nodded, the latter pulling the D-Ark out of his pocket and activating the function to detect Impmon. The screen lit up, and the group waited several moments for a reaction. The words 'DIGIMON NOT DETECTED' lit up on the screen in red letters in moments.

"He's not here…" Ai said dejectedly, Mako looking sad.

"Hey, don't worry," Rika assured the twins, placing her hands on Ai's shoulders while Jeri did the same for Mako. "This is just one area. We still have a lot of work to do."

"Um, speaking of work, can we at least destroy the Control Spire while we're here?" Kenta asked, pointing to a water tower that he knew was a disguised Control Spire. "I don't want our trip here to be a total waste of time."

"Hey, looking for Impmon's not a waste of time!" Mako yelled angrily, making Kenta step back.

"Woah, easy Mako! I didn't mean it like that!"

"Yeah!" said Betamon. "We may not have found Impmon, but we can take down a Control Spire."

"Oh…I see…" Mako said, calming down. "I'm sorry Kenta."

"No, I'm sorry," Kenta said sheepishly. "I guess I didn't say it the right way…"

"All right, let's go then," said Rika. "Kenta, Suzie, come up front with me. Jeri, stay close with us. If we end up getting into a fight, take Calumon and the twins and get to safety."

"You can count on me," Jeri nodded. The Tamers began walking towards the town when a voice rang out from nearby.

"Greetings, humans. I don't think we've ever met before." Stopping at the voice, the Tamers turned to see a red Digimon standing on top of what looked like a broken birdcage. They easily identified the Digimon as an Elecmon with scars on his chest and a sword hanging by his side.

"All right, who are you?" Suzie asked, her hands reaching down for her D-Arc and cards. Elecmon jumped off the birdcage and held his hands up.

"At ease, my friends. I am not here to fight you. As you can see, I am not under the Digimon Emperor's control. And from what I can see, you have Digimon with you, which means you are Digidestined, yes?"

"Yeah, we have Digimon partners, but we're Digimon Tamers," said Rika. "And we're not friends. We've never met before!" Elecmon raised an inquisitive eyebrow before speaking again.

"Regardless, whether you are Digidestined or…Digimon Tamers, as you call yourselves…our goal must be the same: to defeat the Digimon Emperor and free the Digital World from his grasp."

"You're fighting the Digimon Emperor?" asked Renamon. Kenta looked at Elecmon again, taking in his scars and sword before gasping.

"Hey, I heard of you!" the black-haired boy said, getting looks from his fellow Tamers.

"Kenta, what are you talking about?"

(Play Digimon Tamers: Shutsugen)

"Don't you remember what the Elecmon at Primary Village said a few days ago, Rika?" replied Kenta. "He said that there was an Elecmon out there partnered to a Digidestined, and unlike most Elecmon, he had three scars on his chest and a sword! That must be the same Elecmon!"

"What?" Rika exclaimed, looking at Elecmon again and realizing Kenta was right when she saw the scars on the red mammal's chest.

"Your friend speaks true," Elecmon said with a nod. "I am not your enemy." As Elecmon spoke, Jeri looked down at the Elecmon's sword, and she felt her heart tighten slightly when she noticed the sword he carried looked very much like the sword her partner Leomon once carried. Forcing down the negative feelings building up, Jeri asked, "So you really are partnered to a Digidestined that was around before the eight Digidestined?"

"If you want to call her that, then yes," Elecmon said, his eyes lingering on Jeri for a few moments before looking back at the Tamers. "Anyway, I am glad to see some help has come. The Digimon Emperor placed the Control Spire here in Wild West Town three days again and I've been here attempting to destroy it."

"All by yourself?" asked Kenta. "Aren't there any other Digimon in this town?"

"Only two, Starmon and Deputymon," said Elecmon. "Starmon is under the Emperor's control, and Deputymon proved too wild to control."

"So where's Deputymon then?" asked Rika. "If he's not being controlled by the Digimon Emperor, then he can help us."

"I tried to tell him that, but Deputymon seems more content with playing cards," Elecmon said, turning around and heading into the town. "Follow me."

"Do we trust him?" Rika asked to her partner.

"I believe so," said Renamon. "I sense no hostile thoughts from him, and he speaks the truth about being a partner Digimon. However…"

"What?" Rika inquired further, noticing the thoughtful look on Renamon's face.

"There seems to be something…familiar about him," said the kitsune Digimon. "Like…like I've seen him before from somewhere."

"Where?" Rika asked, interested.

"…I cannot say," said Renamon, her eyes cast on Elecmon. Rika looked over at Elecmon as well with interest.

---

Moments later Elecmon led the Tamers into a small house where they saw a gun-shaped Digimon with arms and legs, and cowboy clothes on, sitting at a table with some playing cards in his hands. The gun-shaped Digimon looked up when he saw the arrivals.

(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Power of Earth ~Iori no Theme~)

"Well, what do we have here? The Elecmon warrior is back, and he's got some new rodeo partners," the gun said in a Southern drawl that would remind one of the cowboys seen in the American western movies.

"A talking gun?!" Mako asked in surprise. Suzie pulled out her D-arc to scan the Digimon before them.

"Deputymon. A Vaccine Mutant-type Digimon, Champion level. His sense of justice is as strong as his love for gambling. His special attack is Justice Bullet, where he shoots a massive bullet from his chest."

"Yes sirree, that's who I am," said the Digimon, shuffling the cards before him. "Deputymon's the name, and justice is my game…although I'm not one to say no to a good game of poker. Do you ladies want to play? I don't let boys play because they cheat."

"Hey!" Mako, Kenta and Betamon said indignantly while Elecmon simply rolled his eyes and Calumon laughed.

"Mako and Kenta don't have it in them to cheat!" Ai said, not happy about Deputymon's accusation. "Besides, you're a boy, so doesn't that mean you cheat as well?"

"Ooh, nice one, Ai!" Rika said with a laugh.

"I don't need to cheat to win at poker," Deputymon said simply, laying some cards on the table. "So, who wants to play?"

"We're not here to play poker," said Renamon. "We're here to destroy the Control Spire that resides in this area."

"Well, good luck to you then, missy," Deputymon said, propping his feet up on the table. "You'll have to get past Starmon, and he's one tough varmint to beat. I tried…and I got beaten badly. The only reason I'm not wearing one of those Dark Rings is because nobody controls me, except for me!"

"Haven't you tried fighting him again?" asked Kenta. "It sounds like you haven't fought him more than once. We could use some help against Starmon, and any other Digimon in this town."

"Hey, my philosophy is one and done," said Deputymon. "You fight one time, and no matter what the outcome is, one fight's enough." Rika looked annoyed at Deputymon's refusal to fight.

"So, how about it?" Deputymon held out several cards for someone to take. "Any of you girls interested?"

Rika huffed and made to move towards Deputymon, but she was surprised when Jeri stormed over to the gun-shaped Digimon and swatted the cards out of his hand, an angry look on her face.

(Play Digimon Tamers: Ruki no Theme)

"You are an absolutely pathetic excuse for a hero of justice!" she yelled angrily, startling Deputymon. "You think it's over just because you fought Starmon only one time! I've had my own share of fights, and I learned to never stop at one fight just because I lost! I learned to keep fighting and fighting for what's right until I win! That's what we're here to do! To fight the Digimon Emperor! And we may lose one fight now and then, but it's not enough to keep us down!"

"J-Jeri!" Rika gasped, surprised at Jeri's outburst. Ai, Mako, Kenta, Suzie, Lopmon and Betamon were surprised, Calumon wasn't all that surprised as Jeri often yelled like that at anybody that picked on her brother, and Elecmon watched with an interested look.

"N-now…see here, little lady…!" Deputymon stammered nervously, but Jeri cut him off again.

"See what? That you're a coward and a hypocrite?" Jeri asked fiercely. "Forget it, Deputymon! We're leaving, and we're taking care of Starmon and the Control Spire. Join us when you get a change of mind and attitude!" And with that, the brown-haired girl stormed out of the building, the rest of the Tamers following her. Deputymon stared at the door they just left from in wide-eyed disbelief before sighing and beginning to pick up his cards. A good game of Solitaire would calm himself…but he couldn't seem to get the girl's words out of her head…why?

---

"It's hot…" Yolei whined the minute the team touched down in Pyro Pit Prairie. What they saw was a barren, red land, populated with lava-filled chasms that would randomly spew out its contents in the air like a geyser. The Digidestined and the Tamers were sweating from the intense heat, while Guilmon, Kokuwamon, Monodramon and Veemon looked okay.

"Stop complaining Yolei, we're all hot," Davis said, looking around for a Control Spire. It didn't take long to find it. The black obelisk stood in the distance.

"There it is," Kokuwamon said, noting the Spire. "Let us proceed, my friends!"

"And let's be careful," said Ryo. "We don't want to get splashed with lava." Everybody nodded and stuck close together, keeping their eye out for lava explosions.

"Let's not forget the possibility of a trap…" added Takato.

---

(Play Digimon Adventure: Kuroi Inbou)

"So, they've arrived," Ken said, looking down at Wormmon in the monitor room.

"Yes, they're in Pyro Pit Prairie," said the green caterpillar. "And it looks like they didn't come alone." The monitor screen lit up to reveal the five Digidestined and Ryo, as Ken expected. But what Ken didn't expect was to see two other boys with a Kokuwamon and a red Digimon he didn't recognize, one of the boys wearing goggles.

"What? Who are those two?"

"I don't know, but when I zoomed in…" Wormmon pressed a button on the terminal, and the image zoomed in on the two boys to reveal bizarre-looking Digivices in their hands, Digivices that Ken didn't know, but recognized…

"They're just like Ryo's," the emperor noted, a surprised look on his face before turning into a smirk. "So, Ryo brought some friends from the other dimension. I think they deserve something special. Agumon, to me!"

"You summoned me, my master?" Agumon asked, stepping forward and kneeling down.

"Yes, it's time for the experiment to begin. Wormmon, call in the Meramon. We'll give them a little bit of a challenge before we arrive."

"All right then," Wormmon said, pushing a button to call in the Digimon residing in the area.

---

"Ken, where are you?!" Davis called out as the group walked towards the Spire. "We don't want to fight! We want to talk with you! Please!"

"Davis, I don't think Ken is here," Cody said to the burgundy-haired boy. "He could be in some random area besides this one."

"Plus…I don't think talking will work anymore," Ryo said sadly, putting a hand on Davis's shoulder, making him stop. "We may have to fight him." Davis slumped down, wondering why Ryo would suggest something like that. Why would he fight Ken, someone who was his brainwashed best friend?

"Ryo…" Davis started before the pit near the Digidestined began bubbling and erupted, releasing six tall figures. Another pit erupted and released six more figures that landed in front of the team. The figures' bodies were entirely engulfed in flames, Dark Rings clamped around their necks.

"Meramon!" Kari and Takato both exclaimed, recognizing the Digimon.

"There must be a dozen of them at least!" gasped Yolei.

(Play Digimon: Break Up!)

"Then let's plow through them!" said Davis. "DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"VEEMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…BLAZING COURAGE, FLAMEDRAMON!"

Once Veemon transformed, the Meramon began firing their Burning Fist attack, lobbing fireballs at Flamedramon. The dragon man Digimon dodged the attacks and lobbed his Flaming Fist, but the Meramon didn't seem affected at all; in fact, they grew bigger the minute the fireballs made contact with them.

"Gah!" Davis growled. "I forgot it doesn't work on them!"

"Yolei, I think it's our turn!" announced Hawkmon.

"I agree!" said Yolei. "DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"HAWKMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…FLAPPING LOVE, HALSEMON!"

Taking to the air, Halsemon spun around and released his Tempest Wing, the tornado enveloping the Meramon. However, the fiery Digimon welcomed the strong winds, as their bodies grew again from the flames being fanned around.

"Halsemon, stop!" Yolei called to her partner. "You're only making them stronger! Use one of your other attacks!"

"TK, Kari, it's our turn!" Cody said to the bearers of Hope and Light as Halsemon ceased his attack.

"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"ARMADILLOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…STEEL KNOWLEDGE, DIGMON!"

"PATAMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…SOARING HOPE, PEGASUSMON!"

"GATOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…LIGHT OF SMILES, NEFERTIMON!"

"ROCK CRACKING!" Digmon slammed his drills into the ground, creating a fissure that caused some of the Meramon to fall into the lava pits below. Pegasusmon and Nefertimon forced the remaining ones down into the pit with Star Shower and Beam of Isis.

"You did it!" Cody cheered for his partner and the other two Digimon.

"Okay, I don't mean to sound rude," Kazu said to the younger boy, "but you do realize the Meramon are fire-based Digimon, right?"

"And?" asked Digmon, not getting the point.

"You knocked them into a lava pit, where they can get stronger," Takato said, making Cody and the three Digimon realize their mistake. The lava pit erupted again and the Meramon leaped out, bigger than before.

"Oops…" Cody muttered sheepishly.

"Takato, I think it's my turn now!" Guilmon said, eyes shrinking into slits as he began growling. Takato nodded, knowing that when his partner was like this, it was time for a fight.

"Got it!" Pulling out his D-Arc, Takato grabbed the right card he was looking for, and swiped it through the D-Arc's slot.

(Play Digimon: SLASH!)

"DIGI-MODIFY! DIGIVOLUTION ACTIVATE!"

"GUILMON DIGIVOLVE TOOO…GROWLMON!"

Releasing a massive roar that made the ground beneath him crack, Growlmon charged for the Meramon, ramming into one with his head. Two Meramon released their Burning Fist, but the attacks barely affected Growlmon, who turned his head and growled at the opposition before him.

"Growlmon, don't use Exhaust Flame!" called Takato. "Use Plasma Blade!"

"All right, Takato! PLASMA BLADE!" The blades on his arms glowing bright blue, Growlmon slashed forward at the two Meramon, breaking their Dark Rings and knocking them back down into the lava pit.

"Woah!" Flamedramon gasped, surprised as Growlmon picked up another Meramon by the head and threw him into his brainwashed comrades. "Growlmon looks so strong!"

"I don't think I've ever seen a Digimon like that before!" noted Nefertimon.

"Well…Guilmon is a, well…rare Digimon," Takato said nervously, not knowing how to tell the Digidestined that he created his own Digimon partner.

"Still, Growlmon's only one Digimon," Cody noted, watching the giant red dinosaur fight the remaining ten Meramon. "He needs help, but I don't think our Digimon's Armor levels will be able to do much!"

"So what can we do?" asked Yolei.

"Well, you could use physical attacks," said Kazu, "or, you could swap D-Terminals and Digimentals."

"Wait, swap D-Terminals and Digimentals?" Davis asked confused. "Kazu, what do you mean?"

"Oh yeah, I remember now!" said Takato. "Your Digimon partners can Digivolve with any Digimental, not just the ones you lifted!"

"Wait, we can do that?" asked a surprised Halsemon.

"You can," said Ryo. "Figure out who gets what D-Terminal. Kazu, let's back up Growlmon!"

"Got it!" said Kazu. "Kokuwamon, you ready?"

"As I shall ever be!" said the insect robot.

"Monodramon, you'll have to use water-based attacks for this one," Ryo noted to his partner.

"I hear you," the purple dragon cracked his knuckles and moved his neck around.

---

"Do you think Deputymon took Jeri's words to heart?" Kenta asked as they walked further into town. Calumon had heard piano music in the distance, and Rika suspected Starmon was playing the piano. Deciding to strike him first, the group of Tamers headed for the saloon where they heard the music.

"He better, or he'll deal with me next," said Rika, looking over to Jeri, whose face was set in a light glare. The red-haired girl was surprised when Jeri yelled at Deputymon, as she rarely saw that side from her friend, and it worried her a bit.

(Play Digimon Adventure: Kanashimi 2)

"Hey…Jeri, are you all right?" Jeri breathed several times before answering.

"I'm fine Rika. I just didn't like hearing Deputymon saying he was giving up after one fight. I don't like giving up easily. I did it before when the D-Reaper caught me…"

"I see," Rika said, wrapping an arm around her friend with a soft smile. "To be honest, I know how you feel. It just seems cowardly."

"Both of you speak true," said Elecmon. "I have had some shortcomings in resisting the Emperor and finding my partner, but I refuse to give up until I have achieved both those goals!"

'This partner Elecmon speaks of…who is she?' thought Renamon, still as curious as ever as to wo the red mammal's mystery partner was.

"So this is a saloon," Suzie said once the group stopped in front of the building where the music was coming from. "I never thought I'd see one for real."

"Me neither," Kenta said with a smile. "I wonder if they have a spittoon."

"No spitting in front of the young ones," Rika reprimanded before walking into the saloon. Her eyes swept across the place until they settled on the piano nearby. Sitting in front of the piano and playing it was a Digimon with star-shaped armor, a dark ring wrapped around his top point.

"Hey! Sherriff Starmon!" Rika called out to the Digimon. The piano ceased playing, and the Digimon turned around to look at Rika with star-shaped armor.

"Well, well, looks like the Digidestined have moseyed on into Wild West Town," Starmon said in a Southern drawl like Deputymon's. "The Digimon Emperor was wondering if you would come. He told me that if you did, you would be executed immediately!"

"E…executed?" Mako asked, shivering slightly at Starmon's words.

"Yes," Starmon chuckled. "The Emperor has branded you Digidestined as criminals that need to be brought to justice!"

"Really? And what exactly is his justice?" asked Jeri.

"Hanging from the gallows," Starmon said with an evil chuckle. "Such is the justice for criminals to the Digital World. It's useless to resist me, so I suggest you surrender."

"We shall do no such thing!" Elecmon said, pulling out his sword. Starmon laughed again when he saw the red Digimon.

"And you've decided to come along as well, Elecmon! Good, good! The Digimon Emperor will be pleased when he hears of your demise!"

"Which shall never come!" Elecmon said with a growl. "Now we shall show you our justice!"

"And just so you know, we're Digimon Tamers!" Rika pulled out a card and her D-Arc. "We're nothing like the Digidestined! Renamon…walk all over him."

"My pleasure Rika," Renamon stepped forward as Rika swiped her card.

(Play Digimon: SLASH!)

"DIGI-MODIFY! VOLCANO ARMOR ACTIVATE!"

"What the?!" Starmon yelled in surprise as he saw a silver armor suit that reminded one of a football player's chest protector appear on Renamon's chest. With a loud yell, Renamon charged into Stramon, sending him flying out of the saloon with a crash.

"Holy…mackeral…" Starmon muttered, disoriented at the attack. Renamon leapt out and rammed Starmon again, sending hm flying off his feet again, but the Digimon managed to regain his footing and glared at Renamon.

"Not bad, furball, but let me show you a taste of my justice! METEOR SHOWER!" Starmon raised his arms in the air and summoned a mass of meteors that rained down on Renamon, creating an explosion of white light. When the light faded, Renamon was nowhere to be seen.

"Ha! One criminal down," Starmon said with a victorious laugh.

"Not so fast, Starmon!" said Suzie, a card and her D-Arc in hand. Kenta stood by her, mimicking the action. "You still have to deal with us!"

"And me, as well!" said Elecmon.

"DIGI-MODIFY! HIGH-SPEED PLUG IN B!"

"Here we go!" Betamon charged forward, the card Kenta just used providing him with an extra burst of speed as the green amphibian leapt up and rammed into Starmon, making him stagger back a step while Suzie used a card of her own.

"DIGI-MODIFY! STRENGTH PLUG-IN G!"

"BLAZING ICE!" The ice barbs, stronger than before, flew forward and hit Starmon's hands, freezing them solid in icebergs.

"Hey, what's this?!" yelled the star-shaped Digimon.

"I realized that you need your hands to perform your special attack," said Suzie, "so I had Lopmon freeze your hands solid."

"That means you'll be unable to perform your Meteor Shower," said Betamon, "which means I can do this! ELECTRIC SHOCK!"

"SUPER THUNDER STRIKE!"

Betamon and Elecmon's attacks flew forward and hit Starmon, the law enforcer yelling in pain from the electricity. Had his star armor not been made out of special metals, he would have been electrocuted to death. Once the attack ceased, Starmon breathed heavily before looking up at the three Digimon.

"I may not be able to use my Meteor Shower, but I do have other attacks! And trust me, you'll wish you hadn't turned my hands into ice cubes! STAR UPPER!" Charging forward, Starmon rammed his ice-covered fist into Elecmon's stomach, knocking the wind out of the red mammal Digimon. The star-shaped Digimon then spun around and punched Lopmon in the head. The brown rabbit let out a yell of pain and fell to the ground.

"Aw, man…" Suzie said, realizing her mistake as she watched Starmon kick Betamon away. "I didn't think the ice would make his punches stronger! Plus, I didn't know he had that attack!"

"The fox was the first," said Starmon. "Now the rest of you will face the Digimon Emperor's justice!"

"Here's a taste of my justice! JUSTICE BULLET!" A loud gunshot was heard, and Starmon looked up, yelling in surprise to see a giant bullet flying towards him. The bullet collided and Starmon was knocked off his feet again. Surprised at the attack, the Tamers turned to see Deputymon standing several feet away, his two revolvers in hand and his barrel chest smoking.

"Starmon, your days of dispensing 'justice' for the Digimon Emperor are going to end before they even begin!" the mutant Digimon said, keeping his guns aimed at his former law enforcement partner.

"Is that so?" Starmon asked, standing back up and glaring at Deputymon. "You're making a mistake fighting me again, you oversized pop gun! You remember the last time we fought, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," said Deputymon, his grip tightening on his guns. "But that was one fight…and I'll win the second round! JUSTICE BULLET!" Deputymon fired more bullets from his chest, but Starmon dodged the attacks before holding up his ice-encased fists. The bullets struck the ice and shattered them, giving Starmon complete control over his hands again.

"METEOR SHOWER!" Starmon's attack rained down on Deputymon and sent him flying off the ground, but the gun-shaped Digimon stood back up, glaring at Starmon.

"Hmm, I'm surprised," Starmon said with crossed arms. "The last time we fought, you ran off after I hit you with that attack once."

"I gave up too easily," Deputymon snorted. "I won't give up this time!"

"Wow!" Kenta said, impressed with Deputymon's attitude. "I think you really got through to him, Jeri!"

"You…you really think so?" Jeri asked, blushing slightly.

"Definitely," Rika said with a light smile.

"Well then, I'll just give you a second Meteor Shower!" Starmon raised his arms to perform his attack, but suddenly felt something hard hit him in the back. Stumbling forward, Starmon turned around to see who had attacked him, and gasped when he saw Renamon standing behind him.

(Play Digimon Tamers: Tamer Action)

"You?! I thought I wiped you out!"

"You only wiped out a clone," said Rika, who pulled out a card labeled 'Alias'. "We don't fall that easily, Starmon. Renamon, do it!"

"I'm on it, Rika!" Dashing forward, Renamon grabbed Starmon by the arms and spun him around, chucking him towards where she knew the Control Spire was.

"JUSTICE BULLET!" Deputymon aided the kitsune, firing his attack again and sending Starmon flying further back into the water tower. The tower broke and collapsed into wooden fragments upon colliding with Starmon, and the Control Spire was revealed in its black, intimidating glory.

"Now for something a little stronger than Meteor Shower," Rika smirked, pulling out a card and swiping it through her D-Arc.

"DIGI-MODIFY! SUPERSTARMON ACTIVATE!"

"Super…Starmon…?" Starmon asked in surprise, pulling himself out of the crater he made upon colliding with the Control Spire. Renamon leapt into the air and raised her arms in the air, and a number of meteors, bigger and more powerful than Starmon's Meteor Shower, rained down on the corrupted law enforcement officer and the Control Spire.

Starmon yelled as he was sent flying through the air and crashed to the ground, and the Control Spire was destroyed completely, leaving only a crater behind.

"You did it, Renamon!" Ai and Mako cheered as the yellow fox walked over to the other Digimon that fought Starmon. Deputymon helped Lopmon up to her feet while Elecmon checked up on Betamon.

"Thank you," Renamon said to the gun-shaped Digimon, "for making the right choice."

"Well, I guess the little lady was right when she said I should get off the chair once in a while," Deptuymon said, nodding to Jeri. The brown-haired girl smiled and nodded, glad to see Deputymon had decided to not give up so easily now.

---

Tai ran through the streets of Odaiba at breakneck speed, determined to get to his apartment as fast as he could. The moment Ryo told him about the possibility of Ken breaking into his home to kidnap Agumon, the brown-haired boy left school in a frenzy, pausing only when he reached a stop sign to make sure he didn't get run over.

'Please be safe, please be safe, Agumon!' Tai pleaded in his head, finally reaching his apartment. Throwing the door open, Tai ran into the hallway, not bothering to take off his shoes.

"AGUMON! AGUMON, ARE YOU HERE?!" he yelled out. The moment he stopped yelling, Tai heard loud thumping from his bedroom, as well as what sounded like muffled yells. Running into his bedroom, Tai stopped short when he saw his mother lying on the floor, white stuff wrapped around her arms, legs and mouth.

"Mom! What happened?!" Kneeling down, Tai reached out and took the white stuff off of Yuuko's mouth so she could talk. Feeling how sticky it was, Tai guess it was a type of webbing.

"Tai…Agumon…" Yuuko breathed, her face broken. "Some kid grabbed him and went into your computer. I tried to stop him…but a green caterpillar did this to me!"

"No…" Tai whispered, sitting down on the floor in dismay. He was too late…but perhaps if he made it to Izzy's apartment…

"Tai, where are you going?" Yuuko asked, seeing her son stand up and walk out of the room.

"To Izzy's apartment. I need to get to the Digital World to find Agumon!"

"Wait, what about me?!" Yuuko called out as she was still tied up. "Can you at least untie me?!"

"Oh…right!" Tai gasped, running over to the kitchen and grabbing a knife to cut his mother free before he headed to Izzy's apartment.

---

(Play Digimon Tamers: Sousa)

"DIGI-MODIFY! SHELLMON ACTIVATE!" Kazu swiped a card with Shellmon on it through his D-Arc, allowing Kokuwamon to release a burst of water that knocked several Meramon off their feet, but they stood back up, steam hissing off their bodies. Ryo followed this with a Frigimon card for his own partner.

"SUBZERO ICE PUNCH!" Monodramon charged forward and slammed his icy claws into a Meramon's Dark Ring, but the heat surrounding it evaporated the ice in an instant.

"Water and ice attacks are just as useless," Ryo noted. "There's too much heat in this area."

"PLASMA BLADE!" Growlmon slashed out again with his blades, but the Meramon dodged and released their Magma Bomb attack, which was a rain of flaming rocks.

"Move it!" Monodramon yelled. The Digidestined and the Tamers moved out of the way of the falling rocks, Growlmon knocking away any that came towards him.

"Have you guys figured out who gets what D-Terminal yet?" Takato asked Davis's team.

"Yeah, we did," said Davis. "I have TK's D-Terminal, and TK has mine. Kari has Cody's, Cody's has Yolei's, and Yolei has Kari's."

"Then what are you guys waiting for?!" asked Veemon. "Armor Digivolve us!"

"I wonder what I'll look like as a Digimon of Love!" said Armadillomon.

(Play Digimon: Break Up!)

"Here we go!" said TK. The five Digidestined raised their D-3s in the air and yelled out, "DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" The D-3s glowed brightly as Veemon, Patamon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon and Gatomon felt the respective power of Hope, Courage, Light, Love and Knowledge flow through them.

"VEEMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…SAGITTARIMON!"

"PATAMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…BAROMON!"

"HAWKMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…HARPYMON!"

"ARMADILLOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…PTERAMON!"

"GATOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…BUTTERFLYMON!"

Veemon transformed into a centaur with black and red armor on his body. His claws gauntlets resembled Flamedramon's, and he wore a black helmet with a golden horn. In his hands was a red bow and a quiver filled with arrows was strapped to his side.

Patamon stood before everybody as a human-shaped Digimon wearing a green cloak with a red cape and brown boots. His face had transformed into a mask resembling one of an Aztec warrior.

Hawkmon took flight again, but instead of Halsemon, he was now a tall Digimon with a human face, giant wings for arms, and bird legs, all covered in white feathers.

Like Hawkmon, Armadillomon took flight as well. He had transformed into a grey Pteranodon with dark blue armor, a number of missiles loaded up underneath his wings.

Gatomon landed in front of everybody as a yellow butterfly Digimon, the red stripes on her arms reminding one of her gloves, and her ears and wings were the same white-and-purple color as Gatomon's fur.

"No way…new Armor level Digimon!" Yolei gasped in surprise.

"Pteramon looks amazing!" said Cody.

"Woah, it's Baromon and Harpymon!" said Takato, recognizing two of the Armor Digimon before him. "Those two are tough customers!"

"Not bad," said Ryo with a nod. "Now things are looking even!"

"Let's show them our new powers, guys!" Sagittarimon said, getting nods from everybody.

"BURNING FIST!" The Meramon launched their fireballs again, but Sagittarimon expertly dodged the fireballs, being much more nimble with four legs, and drew three arrows out of his quiver, aiming them at the fireballs.

"JUDGMENT ARROW!" The arrows flew forward, going through the fireballs and striking three Meramon, breaking their Dark Rings off easily.

"SWEET PHEROMONE!" Flapping her wings, Butterflymon released a golden powder that floated over the seven remaining Meramon. The flame Digimon suddenly stopped short, and began looking around, with confused looks on their faces.

"What was that?" asked TK, noticing the Meramon wandering around aimlessly.

"Butterflymon's Sweet Pheromone is a powder that contains hallucinogens," said Ryo. "The Meramon have no idea what to do now."

"Now's our chance to finish them!" said Harpymon. "WIND SEEKER!" Swinging his arms forward, Harpymon released a blade of wind that struck the two Meramon closest to him, sending them into their own fellow Meramon.

"Now's the part where we make it rain!" said Pteramon. "MISSILE STORM!" Taking aim at the Meramon, the Pteranodon Digimon released his missiles from underneath his wings.

"METEOR DANCE!" Twirling around on his feet, Baromon opened up his cape, which began glowing dark. Leaping into the air, Baromon flapped his cape and released a number of meteors from the red fabric. The flaming rocks and streaking missiles collided with the remaining Meramon in a fiery explosion. When the smoke cleared, all of the Meramon's Dark Rings were shattered, and the flaming Digimon were unconscious.

"All right!" Yolei cheered. "Harpymon kicked butt out there! I wonder what Hawkmon would look like with the Digimental of Knowledge…"

"Let's take care of the Control Spire before anything else happens," Kari said, looking to the obelisk in the distance.

"Right!" The group made to move when a voice yelled out to them.

"RYO! DAVIS!" The two boys turned to see Tai running towards them, a panicked look on his face, and Henry and Izzy behind him. The moment Ryo saw Tai's face, he knew what was wrong.

"Tai! What's wrong?" Kari asked, seeing her brother's shaken look.

"Agumon…he…he…" Tai breathed hard, unable to talk from running so much.

"Ken got him," Henry said gravelly. "He kidnapped Agumon."

"No…!" Kari gasped in shock, Davis staring in disbelief.

"But…but how?" asked TK.

"He…Ken…got into my room through a Digital Gate and he grabbed Agumon," Tai said, a miserable expression on his face. "I tried to reach him in time, but…"

"Oh, Tai," Kari whispered, hugging her brother tightly for comfort.

"So…he actually got him," Ryo said with a grim expression.

"Did this happen in the TV show?" asked Cody.

"It did, but it was different," said Takato. "Agumon was in the Digital World when Ken kidnapped him."

"Ryo told me what was going to happen, but even then, I couldn't…" Tai whispered, his face broken.

"Tai, don't worry," said Takato. "We'll get Agumon back."

"But how?!" asked Yolei. "We don't know where Ken took him!"

"Um, guys…I don't think looking for Ken and Agumon is going to be a problem," said Kazu, his gaze diverted to the sky. The group looked up with Kazu and saw Stingmon descending from the sky. Ken sat on the green insect's shoulder, a smug smile on his face.

(Play Digimon Tamers: Panic)

"Well, well," the tyrant said as he looked down at the kids before him. "I see you've made some new friends Ryo…and I see you achieved new Armor levels."

"And you're as predictable as ever!" yelled Terriermon. "Using our friends against us? What kind of a lame-ass supervillain are you?!"

"Terriermon, I don't think now's a good time to insult him," Henry said with a frown, knowing where this was going.

"Where's Agumon, Ken?!" Tai snarled, his face contorted with rage. "What did you do with him?!" Ken smirked as Stingmon landed and he jumped off his partner's shoulder.

"I have him right here." Ken gestured to Stingmon, and something fell off his back with a thud. Seconds later, a familiar orange Digimon walked out from behind Stingmon and stood before the Digidestined.

"Agumon…" Tai whispered in shock when he saw the Dark Ring around his partner's neck.

"Damn it, Ken!" Davis cursed to his old friend. "This is taking it too far now! Let Agumon go!"

"Oh, I don't think so Davis," Ken remarked as he climbed on board Stingmon's shoulder again. "You see, I need Agumon for a little something I have planned."

"And what is this 'little something?'" TK asked. Ryo, Takato, Kazu and Henry knew what was coming, and they knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

"You see, I've come to the conclusion that the reason why my Dark Rings failed in controlling Andromon is because he was already at the Ultimate level when I captured him. But if I Digivolve an Ultimate level from a lower stage, I'll have total control over it!"

"What?!" Sagittarimon yelled in surprise. "That can't be possible!"

"Oh, it is," Ken pulled out his black D-3. "You see, my D-3 is linked to the Dark Rings. If I feed it enough power, then Agumon will Digivolve into MetalGreymon!"

"No! Ken, don't do this!" Davis pleaded to the former child of Kindness. "I don't want to fight you! Surely we can talk this out!"

"It's no use Davis," said Monodramon.

"He's not going to listen at this point," said Growlmon.

"Agumon!" Ken yelled, raising his D-3 in the sky. "Digivolve to Greymon with the power of my D-3!" The D-3's screen flashed brightly and Agumon was enveloped in a purple color. In a matter of moments, Agumon's shape changed and grew until Greymon stood before everybody.

"G…Greymon…" Tai whispered, a heartbroken look on his face.

"Excellent," Ken chuckled, pleased to see the first part of his plan was a success. "Now, Greymon! Absorb the power of darkness and dark Digivolve! Become MetalGreymon and destroy your partner and your friends!"

(Play Digimon Tamers: Hakai to Konran Futatabi)

"KEN, NO!" Takato yelled as Ken's D-3 screen and Greymon began glowing bright purple. Greymon roared in pain from the dark energy coursing through his body. The purple shape that was Greymon grew in size until it was fifty feet tall. The shadow looked to be MetalGreymon, but the form suddenly twisted and warped, becoming a different shape.

"GREYMON…DIGIVOLVE TOOO…!"

"No…it can't be…" Tai whispered, trembling at the sight of the familiar figure from his nightmares.

"Is that…MetalGreymon?" Yolei asked in a small tone.

"No…it's worse," Izzy said gravelly. The purple aura faded, and everybody, including Ken and Stingmon, gasped in shock at what they saw. What stood before them wasn't a cyborg dinosaur, but a giant skeletal dinosaur with an orange missile attached to his back. An orange mass rested in his ribcage, and it could only be his insides. The skeleton opened his blood-red eyes and yelled his name in a jagged tone.

"SKULLGREYMON!"

"Oh, no…" TK whispered, remembering the horrific Digimon from so long ago. Yolei and Cody both stared wide-eyed at the monstrosity in front of them, and Kari could only stare in disbelief.

"Ken, what have you done…" Davis whispered, seeing what became of his mentor's partner Digimon, courtesy of his old friend. Henry and Ryo stared up at the Digimon with grim expressions, while Kazu looked between scared and fascinated of seeing a real SkullGreymon, and Takato was having flashbacks to a certain day in his life.

"What happened to Greymon?!" Yolei screamed, finally finding her voice.

"It's a Dark Digivolution," said Izzy, his face grim. "Ken tried to force Greymon to Digivolve to MetalGreymon, but he became SkullGreymon, an unstoppable monster whose only impulse is to destroy and fight everything around him!"

"Agu…mon…" Tai said, his voice barely above a whisper. The bushy-haired boy could only stay rooted to the spot as he watched the skeletal monster throw his head back in a roar. He remembered the day he made Greymon become the hideous beast before him, and it was definitely not one of his prouder moments.

"Skull…Greymon?!" Ken yelled, his eyes filled with terror as well; something had gone horribly wrong with his plan.

"I don't understand…what happened?!"

"I guess the Dark Rings can't control Ultimate levels at all…" Stingmon noted, looking at the monstrosity below in fear as well.

(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Aku no Butai ga Yatte Kita)

"We have to fight!" said Sagittarimon, drawing out an arrow. "We can't let our friend be turned into a monster! JUDGMENT ARROW!" The arrow soared through the sky, but SkullGreymon swatted the metal projectile away and swatted Sagittarimon with a strong arm. The horse man yelled as he was sent flying through the air and crashed into the ground, reverting to Veemon.

"Forget fighting, we have to run!" yelled Tentomon. "We can't fight a SkullGreymon! He's far too powerful for us!"

"Maybe for you!" said Monodramon. "Terriermon, give me a lift!"

"All right!" The long-eared dog leapt off Henry's shoulders and grabbed Monodramon's hands, taking flight with his ears spread like wings.

"Terriermon, get back here!" yelled Henry. "We don't know how to fight a Digimon like that!"

"EXHAUST FLAME!" Growlmon's fire flew up and hit SkullGreymon's face, but the skeletal Digimon barely felt the attack and looked down at the Digimon foolish to attack him.

Roaring loudly, Growlmon charged forward, only to be grabbed by SkullGreymon's massive hand. The Ultimate level Digimon shook Growlmon by the head before throwing him into Baromon and Kokuwamon. All three Digimon slid across the ground, moaning in pain from the impact. Baromon glowed brightly and reverted to Patamon, but Growlmon remained in his Champion level, standing back up and snarling at the skeletal Digimon.

"BEAK PIERCE!" Soaring up in the sky, Pteramon aimed his sights on the Dark Ring around SkullGreymon's neck before diving down, his sharp beak aimed for the Dark Ring. Before he could hit the Ring though, SkullGreymon turned around and opened his mouth.

"CURSED BREATH!" A purple and green smoke flew out of his mouth and enveloped Pteramon, who coughed and gagged from the gas before falling out of the sky. SkullGreymon then lifted his foot and kicked Pteramon back, changing him back into Armadillomon.

"SILENT SYMPHONY!" Harpymon released a wave of sonic rings from his mouth, but they barely fazed SkullGreymon as he knocked Harpymon out of the sky. The bird man crashed hard into the ground, turning back into Hawkmon.

"Now, Terriermon!" said Monodramon, letting go of the green Digimon's hands. "BEAT KNUCKLE!"

"BUNNY BLAST!"

The green fireballs peppered SkullGreymon's head as Monodramon's fist connected with his jaw, but the skeletal Digimon didn't even flinch as he swatted both Digimon down to the ground.

"We have to run now!" said Cody. "He just took out all of our Digimon!"

"But we can't leave!" said Davis. "That's Tai's partner, our friend! We can't leave him like that!"

"Uh, guys?" Kazu asked nervously. "I think it may be too late to run!" The rest of the group looked up to see the missile on SkullGreymon's back beginning to spew black smoke.

"Oh no, everybody get down!" yelled Takato. "That's his strongest attack!"

"GROUND ZERO!" The missile took off, but instead of soaring towards the Digidestined, the missile looped and spun around in the sky before it hit the Control Spire. The whole world went white as an explosion sounded, and an atomic wind swept across the area, knocking the children off their feet. Growlmon stood his ground though, planting his feet firmly into the rocks. The Control Spire didn't just break in the explosion; it disintegrated into nothingness.

(Play Digimon Adventure: Aku no Shutsugen)

"This was a failure…" Ken snarled before whistling loudly.

The ground shook and the Digidestined and Tamers turned to see ten black dinosaurs with green spikes on their backs, brown bands on their arms, and Dark Rings around their necks storm towards SkullGreymon, who roared at the new challengers.

"Are those Tyrannomon?" asked Yolei, recognizing the dinosaurs from somewhere.

"Not Tyrannomon, DarkTyrannomon," corrected Kazu. "It looks like Ken's having them fight SkullGreymon!"

"Good luck with that," TK muttered.

"We need to get to safety!" said Takato, seeing a big enough rock nearby. "Everybody, get to that rock! Growlmon, give us cover!"

"I'm on it, Takato!" Growlmon breathed more fire to the ground, providing the group time to get to the rock. Davis turned back and saw Tai still standing in place, shock and disbelief still etched on his face. Davis couldn't exactly blame Tai for the way he was. If it was Veemon who Ken forced to Digivolve, he would be stunned as well. But he also knew when to run.

"Tai, come on! We need to get out of here!" Davis grabbed Tai's arm and pulled, but the older boy refused to budge.

"Come on, Tai! Snap out of it!" Takato yelled, running over to the bearer of Courage.

"Get ahold of yourself, big brother!" pleaded Kari.

"We'll have to drag him," said Ryo. "Pull!" Ryo and Davis both pulled Tai to the rock where everybody else was, and they watched as the DarkTyrannomon all surrounded SkullGreymon.

"FIRE BLAST!" The DarkTyrannomon released streams of flame from their mouth, and the flames danced around SkullGreymon. The skeletal Digimon didn't seem to care, however; he raised his arm and slapped them all away. One DarkTyrannomon charged forward, but SkullGreymon reached down and wrapped his bony fingers around the dinosaur's waist and lifted him into the air. The black dinosaur breathed more fire, but SkullGreymon wasn't bothered by the attack at all as he opened his mouth, inserted the DarkTyrannomon's head into it, and bit down with a loud crunch.

"Oh, my God…" Kari gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth in horror.

"He…he's eating him!" TK gasped. Yolei whirled around and puked at the sight while Ryo and Cody watched with rigid eyes.

"I knew SkullGreymon was dark, but I didn't think he'd be this dark!" Kazu muttered in fear as SkullGreymon chomped down on the rest of the DarkTyrannomon. Davis, Henry and Izzy were horrified and Takato felt sick to his stomach. Tai sank to his knees and dropped his head down, unable to watch what his partner was doing.

---

"Four aces!" Jeri said with a laugh, placing her cards on the table for everybody to see.

(Play Digimon Tamers: Juri no Theme)

"Aw, dag-nabbit!" Deputymon yelled, throwing his cards on the table. "That's the third straight game in a row! What's your secret, little miss Katou?"

"My family owns a restaurant," said Jeri, "and I help there often, so I pick up a few things on Poker when some friends of my father play there!"

"Well, you certainly picked up the right ways to win," Starmon said with a chuckle as Rika placed her cards on the table as well. After Starmon had regained consciousness, Deputymon had asked if they could play a celebratory game of Poker before they left, and Jeri and Rika agreed to humor them while Kenta decided to play outside with Suzie, Betamon, the twins and Calumon. Renamon and Lopmon were inside the saloon, watching the poker game with Elecmon.

"So let me get this straight," said Starmon. "You use cards with Digimon on them to help your partners fight in battle?"

"Yes, that's right," Jeri said, pulling out some cards and offering them to Deputymon, who took the cards and flipped through them with interest. "There's also options for strength and speed, as well as weapons."

"Ooh, hello handsome!" Deputymon said, noticing a card with him on it. "I take a mean picture!"

"Well, I must say, the Digimon Emperor's rule will definitely be brought to true justice now," said Starmon, "with people like you helping."

"That is true," Deputymon placed the Digimon cards on the table before looking up at Jeri.

"Listen, Jeri…I want to thank you for…that talk," said the talking gun. "It definitely inspired me to keep on fighting no matter what, and no matter how many times you lose. Had you told me that before, I would have put away a lot more criminals without letting them go after fighting them the first time."

"Think nothing of it," Jeri said with a light smile and a blush. "I don't think it should be a one-and-done when fighting. I learned that the hard way."

"Well, you definitely seem like quite the fighter," said Starmon, looking over to the brown-haired girl.

"Indeed," Elecmon muttered, eyeing the former Tamer. "She has the heart of a true warrior inside her." Renamon heard Elecmon and her eyes narrowed. The way Elecmon was acting, as well as what he just said about Jeri, definitely remined her of someone she knew…but it couldn't be…

"Anyway, we were wondering if you guys have ever seen an Impmon around this part of the Digital World," Jeri said to the two western Digimon. "He's the Digimon partner to Ai and Mako, the two young kids outside."

"An Impmon, eh?" Starmon asked, propping his feet on the table. "Hmm…I don't think I've ever seen an Impmon before. I know what they're said to look like, though. Purple devil Digimon with a smiley face on his chest?"

"Yes," Renamon said with a nod. "So you haven't seen an Impmon ever?"

"No," said Deputymon, "but…we did meet a Digimon that said he Digivolved from an Impmon."

"What?" Jeri and Rika asked in surprise.

(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Sorosoro Yuuhan da ne)

"Oh, now I remember!" Starmon said with a snap of his fingers. "It was long ago, a few years before the Dark Masters attacked the Digital World and created Spiral Mountain. A Digimon came here in the middle of a stormy night, looking for shelter. We offered it to him, and when we asked what he was doing all the way out here, he said he was searching for something important to him."

"He said he couldn't remember what it was though, since he was suffering from amnesia," continued Deputymon. "He stayed the night and the next morning once the storm passed, he left and that was really the last we saw of him."

'Amnesia…?' Jeri thought in shock. Impmon had amnesia and didn't remember Ai and Mako? Although, Starmon and Deputymon said he was searching for something important, and she knew it had to have been Ai and Mako. This made her all the more determined to find Impmon and reunite him with the twins. If she did, then Impmon would possibly remember the twins.

"Who was this Digimon anyway?" asked Rika. "Was he really tall, with a black leather jacket and two guns bigger than Deputymon's?"

"Hmm…I don't think so," Deputymon said, looking down at the Digimon cards. "I'm not sure what he…wait…" the gun-shaped Digimon's eyes widened when he saw a card in the pile and he pulled it out.

"Well, here he is right here!" Deputymon threw the card into the middle of the table, and Jeri, Rika, Lopmon and Renamon leaned forward to see the Digimon on the card. What they saw made both Jeri and Rika gasp in surprise.

"Oh, my…" Renamon gasped, also surprised.

---

Pyro Pit Prairie was becoming even more of a wasteland than it was before. SkullGreymon tore through the other DarkTyrannomon in his path, crushing them underneath his feet, throwing them into lava pits, squeezing their heads until they burst into data. The land underneath the skeletal Digimon was torn up as he continued on his rampage.

From the sky above, Ken and Stingmon kept their distance as Ken was waiting for SkullGreymon to cease his rampage. He knew it was only a matter of time before he ran out of energy and reverted to Agumon…but would he revert?

From their hiding spot, the Digidestined and the Tamers could only watch in horror as SkullGreymon crushed the DarkTyrannomon before him.

"I can't believe it…" Kari whispered with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe Agumon would do something like this!"

"That's not Agumon doing it," Ryo said with narrowed eyes. "It's that Dark Ring that's making him do this."

"I can't believe Ken would do something like this," Davis said in despair before turning to Ryo. "He's really gone past talking, hasn't he?"

"Yes…he has," Ryo said with a nod, causing Davis's expression to become more miserable.

"What do we do now?" Yolei asked, not wanting to see anymore of SkullGreymon.

"We have to leave," said Cody. "Our Digimon were no match for SkullGreymon, and if we stay any longer, he could come after us!"

(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Yuukan ni Tachimukau zo!)

"No! We can't leave!" cried Takato. "That's Tai's partner out there! If SkullGreymon reverts to Agumon, then Ken will be able to spirit away with him again! We have to save Agumon!"

"But how?" asked TK. "All of our Digimon are hurt!"

"Not all of us," Growlmon said, his eyes narrowed and his fangs bared as he looked over to SkullGreymon.

"Takato, are you crazy?!" yelled Tentomon, realizing what the goggled boy was planning.

"Maybe I am," said Takato, a card in one hand and his D-Arc in the other. "But a Tamer never gives up until the end. We can't afford to lose this battle or Agumon! We're still standing, so that means the fight isn't over yet!"

"That's right, Takato!" Growlmon yelled, charging for SkullGreymon and firing his Exhaust Flame. The attack hit SkullGreymon's arm, and the monstrosity turned his attention to the red dinosaur. Roaring loudly, SkullGreymon brought his arm down, but Growlmon raised both his arms and blocked the hand, keeping it at bay with all his strength. As Growlmon fought, the card in Takato's hands turned blue and began glowing brightly.

"What…what just happened?!" Izzy asked when he saw the blue card in Takato's hand.

"That's a Blue Card!" said Henry. "It's what allows Ultimate Digivolution!"

"We better get back, then!" said Terriermon. "This is going to be ugly!"

"DIGI-MODIFY!" Takato slashed the card through his D-Arc with one swift motion. "MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION…ACTIVATE!"

Growlmon roared as he heard Takato say the words, and he began glowing bright red, much to the shock of SkullGreymon.

(Play Digimon: EVO)

"GROWLMON DIGIVOLVE TOOO…WARGROWLMON!" SkullGreymon was thrown back by the glowing red figure, which was now fifty feet tall. When the light faded, Growlmon's new form as revealed. Besides growing much taller, Growlmon's arms were coated in a silver metal with sharp blades on the sides. His upper body was covered in armor with two cannons on his chest. Two long, rectangular jet thrusters jutted from his back, along with a long cable between the thrusters, and his lower face was covered in a silver and red mask with wings like Guilmon's ears.

"He Digivolved…" Izzy said, looking at WarGrowlmon in awe.

"Get him, WarGrowlmon!" called Takato. "Save our friend!"

"I'll save him, Takato!" WarGrowlmon said, his blades glowing bright blue. "RADIATION BLADE!" The cyborg dragon swung his blades at SkullGreymon, forcing the monstrous skeleton to step back. SkullGreymon roared at the challenger, delighted to finally find a worthy opponent. SkullGreymon and WarGrowlmon charged for each other and met in a battle of strength, pushing each other back as the ground beneath them began cracking and shaking.

"Holy cow!" Armadillomon gasped, feeling the vibrations. "Is it those two causing this earthquake?"

"It is them," said Henry. "WarGrowlmon is one of the most powerful Ultimate level Digimon, and his power is not to be used foolishly, or underestimated."

"Push him back, WarGrowlmon! You've got this!" WarGrowlmon grunted in reply to Takato's yells, and ignited his jet thrusters, taking flight and throwing SkullGreymon to the ground. The red and silver cyborg dropped down and attacked with his Radiation Blade again, but SkullGreymon dodged and grabbed the cable on his back, pulling it and sending WarGrowlmon flying into a boulder.

Roaring loudly, SkullGreymon began swinging his massive, bony fists at WarGrowlmon, the punches connecting with his head and chest. WarGrowlmon grunted from the punches, and when TK looked over to Takato, he was surprised to see the boy's head and body moving from side to side with swift movements.

"Takato, are you okay?" he asked with a concerned look. His answer was several grunts from Takato.

"He can feel every hit," said Henry, recognizing the movements. "Every time WarGrowlmon gets hit, Takato feels the pain as well. Our bonds with our Digimon is higher than yours are, especially at the Ultimate level."

"Is he all right?" Yolei asked in concern.

"I've…been through worse…than this!" Takato yelled, standing at full height and raising his arms. WarGrowlmon mimicked his Tamer's movements and raised his arms, catching SkullGreymon's next punch. Roaring at the skeletal monster, he swung around and sent SkullGreymon flying back several feet. SkullGreymon stood back up on his feet before dropping down on his hands, the missile on his back sputtering smoke.

"He's going to fire his Ground Zero again!" yelled Tentomon.

"Meet it head on, WarGrowlmon!" yelled Takato. "ATOMIC BLASTER!"

"As you wish, Tamer!" WarGrowlmon growled, the cannons on his chest glowing bright red. "ATOMIC BLASTER!" The red energy beams flew from WarGrowlmon's cannons and collided with SkullGreymon's incoming missile, both attacks meeting in a colossal explosion that shook the Earth and created a strong gust of wind that knocked the Digidestined and Tamers off their feet, and nearly caused Ken to fall off of Stingmon.

WarGrowlmon and SkullGreymon were both thrown off their feet and flew through the air from the force of the explosion. SkullGreymon crashed into the ground while WarGrowlmon fell into a nearby lava pit.

"WarGrowlmon!" Takato yelled for his Digimon, running for the lava pit with Henry and Izzy.

"What about SkullGreymon?" Cody asked, looking to where SkullGreymon fell. The skeletal Digimon lay there for a moment before glowing bright yellow and shrinking back to Agumon, who was unconscious.

"Agumon!" Tai yelled, finally able to move once SkullGreymon vanished. "Hang on buddy, I'm coming!" The brown-haired boy sprinted towards his partner with Kari, Davis and Ryo right behind him.

"I don't think so!" said Ken, looking down at the scene before him. "Stingmon, get him!" Nodding, Stingmon swooped down and grabbed Agumon before flying back up.

"NO!" Tai yelled, his eyes beginning to water slightly.

"AGUMON!" screamed Kari.

"Dammit, Ken!" yelled Ryo. "Let him go!"

"I think not," said Ken. "I'm not finished with him yet. With Agumon, I shall be one step closer to achieving my ultimate destiny!"

"Ken, don't do this!" begged Davis. "Stop this before it gets out of control! Please…come back to us." The burgundy-haired boy's voice cracked at the last few words. Ken stared down at Davis with an emotionless expression before scoffing.

"It's too late for that now, Davis," he said coldly. "Nothing shall prevent me from bringing order back to the Digital World! Stingmon, take us back to base!"

"Yes," Stingmon muttered and nodded before flying off.

"NO!" screamed Tai. "AGUMON!" The bushy-haired boy dropped to his knees and punched the ground with his fists, ignoring the cuts and bruises that formed on his hands.

"Agumon…" Tai whispered, breaking down completely.

"Tai…" Kari whispered, bending down and wrapping her arms around Tai in a warm embrace of comfort.

"We'll get him back Tai," Ryo assured his friend.

"Y…yeah, we will," Davis said, though he was still conflicted. Could he truly bring himself to fight Tai's partner if they had to fight him again? And could he truly bring himself to fight Ken? Davis always believed friends should never fight each other…but now he didn't know what to think.

---

"WARGROWLMON!" Takato called down into the lava pit. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Are you sure WarGrowlmon is all right?" asked Tentomon, looking down in the pit. "That lava looks too hot for anyone to swim in!"

"Oh, please!" said Terriermon. "Guilmon once swam in a vat of hot grease without getting a burn! This lava is probably like a summer swim in a river!"

"Is that true?" Izzy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Surprisingly, yes," Henry said with a nod. Seconds later, the lava bubbled and broke, revealing Guilmon's small head.

"Guilmon!" Takato cried happily as his partner swam out of the lava and climbed out of the pit, his body showing no sign of burns.

"Takato, what happened?" asked Guilmon. "I remember blasting SkullGreymon's missile and then I flew. Did I win?"

"Yeah…you won, buddy…" Takato stroked Guilmon's head and looked over to see Kari and Ryo comforting Tai, "…but we also lost."

---

(Play Digimon Tamers: Namida no Yukue)

After the poker game had ended, the Tamers headed back for the television set they went through. Elecmon bade them farewell and left Wild West Town for wherever he could help out against the Digimon Emperor. Jeri and Rika stayed back from the other Tamers so they could talk in private.

"Rika, the Digimon they showed us…you don't think it was…our Impmon, right?"

"I don't know," Rika answered Jeri truthfully. "We do know Impmon can Digivolve into that Digimon in some of the new video games…but is it possibly him?"

"Well…Starmon and Deputymon did say he was looking for something important to him, but he couldn't remember it clearly," Jeri said with a sad expression. "I can't begin to imagine how Ai and Mako will react when they find out Impmon has amnesia and doesn't remember them."

"I don't know Jeri," Rika frowned sadly. "If the Digimon they showed us was Impmon…well…you know what happened to him in the show…"

"But it couldn't have been him!" insisted Jeri. "I know the TV show is an alternate universe, but…"

"We may have to consider that possibility." It hurt Rika to say it, but if the Digimon they saw on the card was their Impmon, then a reunion between Impmon and the twins could not happen.

Days -Aijou to Nichijou- TV Size

(The ending begins with a Real World Sphere appearing on the screen before pulling back. Lyrics begin)

Aozameta sora nijinda hi no hikari dokomademo tsuzuku/The light that spreads across the pale sky is continuous

(The camera shows a part of Odaiba with Agumon alone on the street, Tai's silhouette standing nearby. Tai comes in focus, leaning back with his arms behind his head. Tai looks at Agumon with a smile)

Kurikaeshi hibi iiwake to kyogen to wakaranakute/The repeating days, excuses and lies don't know

(Veemon is shown on a soccer field, Davis's silhouette nearby. Davis comes into focus, one hand on his hip as he turns to Veemon with a smile and a wink)

Watashi wa tada koko ni ikiru sonzai imi o tou/I just wonder why I exist here

(The camera changes to a sidewalk in Shinjuku with Guilmon, Takato's silhouette next to Guilmon. Takato comes in focus, sitting on the ground while looking at Guilmon with a soft smile)

Kimi wa nanimo iwazu soba ni ite hohoemi o kureta/You stayed nearby without saying anything and gave me happiness

(Monodramon is on a bridge in Shinjuku, looking out as Ryo's silhouette behind him. Ryo comes in focus with his hands in his pockets. He turns back with a small grin to Monodramon. The camera then pans to Shinjuku, with the Real World Sphere above it)

Aijou to nichijou ni karamu kokoro kisu de umete yo/Bury the heart that is entangled with love and every day with kisses

(The Real World Sphere moves forward and Shinjuku dissolves to reveal the Tamers' Digital World, a barren desert wasteland. Tai, Davis, Takato and Ryo are standing on top of a canyon, taking in the view before turning to the camera one by one, all with smiles on their faces)

Ima ijou kore ijou tsyuoku kowareru kurai dakishimete/More than now, more than this, hold me tight so that I may break

(The Real World Sphere pulls back again before moving forward, the desert dissolving to reveal File Island in the Digidestineds' Digital World. Agumon, Veemon, Guilmon and Monodramon stand on Infinity Mountain, looking down at the island before turning to the camera one by one, all with smiles on their faces)

Motto kitsuku motto motto.../More tighter, more, more...

(The camera pulls back to show Tai, Davis, Takato and Ryo on Infinity Mountain with their partners. The ending closes like that)

END CHAPTER 13

So a lot happens in this chapter. Ken is now living in the Digital World and has Agumon as his slave. And from what happened with SkullGreymon, Ken realizes he may need something else to control Ultimate level Digimon. The 02 gang now have an ace up their sleeves by swapping Digimentals in battle if it's necessary. It seems like Rika and Jeri have a lead on Impmon, and they don't like it. And to top it off, the Dark Ocean drama has begun for Kari.

As you may know, Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Patamon and Gatomon can Armor Digivolve using any Digimental, not just the Digimental that their partners picked up. And Wormmon can Armor Digivolve as well. You have six Digimon and ten Digimentals (Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Hope, Light, Kindness and Miracles). Add them all up, and you have...sixty Armor level Digimon! This concept was used in a CD Drama, and some of said Armor Digimon were seen in the later seasons after Adventure 02. I figured I could add that little fun concept in the story as well. Now, I'm not going to go through all said Armor Digivolutions for the Digimon, but they will be seen in the story as either the Digivolved forms of the partner Digimon, or as enemies and allies.

And what about SkullGreymon, huh? This is what we should have seen SkullGreymon be like in the show, a rampaging monster that crushes his enemies in violent ways. Since we have the Tamers involved, and given how brutal the fight scenes were in Tamers, some of the fights in the future are going to be no holds barred. The Tamers' partners may be immune to the Control Spires, and the Digidestined will be able to bypass the Control Spires soon, but don't think everything will be a walk in the park for them. Things are going to be hard for the combined team in the future.

So, what do you think of this chapter? What did you think of the Digimentals being swapped? What is it about Elecmon that has Renamon looking at him funny? Who is the Digimon that Starmon and Deputymon showed that has Jeri and Rika worried about finding Impmon? What did you think of the hardcore battle between WarGrowlmon and SkullGreymon? Tell me in your reviews. Here's hoping we get up to 100 reviews once Chapter 16 is posted.

Also, I don't have any plans for the story regarding this question, but what Crests do you think would go well with the Tamers? It's something that I'm curious about, and I'd like to see your opinions on it.

In the next chapter, Jeri, Rika and Sora brave a daring mission to rescue Agumon. Elecmon returns to aid them, and will more be revealed about him? And get ready for the showdown of the century:

The Digimon Queen Rika Nonaka vs The Digimon Emperor Ken Ichijouji! Who will win?