Jeri couldn't move when it began talking to her. She was in danger, but she couldn't budge. Calumon was tugging at her pants. "Jeri, we have to get out of here!"
Everything was moving so fast, yet so slow all at once. The voice that came from that thing….sounded like her partner. She turned, seeing Grapleomon and Taomon closing in. They were trying to get to the nonmon before it got to her. She flinched, as the digimon attacked, the nonmon who seemed to find a second wind. Grapleomon was at it, locking arms again. Grapleomon's turbines began to rotate as he gathered energy to push the nonmon back.
Rika and Madi were right behind their partners. "Grapleomon, get that thing away from her!" Madi yells, warning him about how close Jeri was. Grapleomon shifts, trying to keep it from Jeri.
"Jeri, snap out of it!" Rika yells, running to her, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her away. Calumon jumps onto Jeri's shoulder. The three women watch on as the brawl continues.
Taomon slams her brush into the back of the nonmon's legs. It's legs buckle from the attack, Grapleomon taking advantage and ripping him into the air, throwing the nonmon away from the tamers.
Jeri reaches into her bag. "Rika, it's Leomon!" She yells.
Rika looks to her. "Jeri, that's Madi's partner. It's not Leomon."
Madi looks over to the two as Jeri begins again, "No, that thing." She says, quickly, "It's Leomon. I know it is!" She pulls something out, a yellow and silver digivice. She hits some of the buttons, the screen not doing anything. She smiles. "I have to help him! Tell them to stop."
Rika looks to her friend, trying not to hurt her feelings. "Jeri, I know you miss him, but he isn't coming back."
She's even more determined to convince her. "You thought the same thing about Renamon. Yet here we are, working with Mr. Wong and YOUR partner." She squeezes her digivice. "Calumon, you believe me don't you?"
The tiny digimon nods, "Mmmmhmmm!" It agrees, enthusiastically. "How else would he have said your name."
Madi gathered a lot from the conversation. She wasn't as skeptical as Rika was. There was a connection between partners. This was similar to her and Bearmon when he first came back.. "I do too." She says finally, "What can we do?"
Jeri smiles, excitedly moving in front of Madi, "Really!? You'll help me!?"
"When Bearmon came back, he didn't recognize me." She explains. "It took convincing to get him to stop using his eyes to see me. Once he did, he recognized me." She looks over at Rika. "If Jeri thinks that's her partner, then we have to at least try."
Rika reluctantly agrees, "Fine, we'll give it a try. But if we can't contain that thing, we have to take it down."
Jeri thanks them, with tears in her eyes, a smile on her face. "It's going to work, I just know it is!"
"Grapleomon!" Madi yells, "Change of plan, we need to restrain that nonmon!"
"You're kidding me!" He strains.
"Taomon, back him up! We have to do this!" Rika says, looking through her cards.
Grapleomon, in another lock up, changes stance, no longer trying to keep it off balance for Taomon to strike. He's the lead now. He thrusts the nonmon's arms down, putting his shoulder into it. With his arms wrapped around, he hoists it into the air, coming straight up and slams him into the the ground with a suplex. He rolls away, his turbines beginning to spin as he stands.
Taomon wraps the nonmon in her talismans, not detonating them. It holds it in place as Grapleomon advances. As he get close, a burst of energy comes from the nonmon, a knife formed in its hand. It breaks free of the talismans, delivering a kick to Grapleomon's head, then punching a recovering Taomon. The two digimon are down. It turns on the girls again.
Grapleomon struggles to get up. Taomon is up in a flash. "Thousand spells!" She throws a barrage of talisman slips, covering the nonmon. The area is covered in smoke from the detonation. Using the cover, she gets to the tamers and Calumon. She slaps a talisman slip to the ground, chanting "Talisman spell!" Forming a hemispherical yin yang shield around the group.
The nonmon appears from the smoke, appearing to be unaffected. It bring the hand with the knife, striking the shield. Taomon is silent as she focuses on keeping it strong. Another slam with its other hand as it begins thrashing. Spiderweb cracks begin to form on the barrier.
Rika swipes a card, "Digi modify! Recharge activate!" Taomon glows as she receives the upgrade, the spider cracks receding a little. "It won't hold for much longer!"
Grapleomon emerges from the thinning smoke, "Cyclone turbine!" He yells as he hits the nonmon with a barrage of kicks. Grapleomon manages to knock the nonmon away from the barrier. He moves between it and the barrier. The two square off, gauging one another. "King of fists!" Grapleomon rushes forward, punching the nonmon clear in its chest. Several cracks develop there.
"Sorry Madi. I'm not holding back. This thing is too strong to restrain!" He doesn't look back.
Jeri calls out, "You can't! It's him! I know it is!" Tears begin to stream from her face.
The nonmon gets its footing, stumbling from the blow. It holds out its knife hand, holding the blade horizontally and facing away from its body.
Rika watches, shocked. "It's starting to look like him." She says quietly.
Madi yells at her partner, "Would you have done the same to me when you didn't see me!?" She yells. "You're better than this!" Her tone is angry. "I won't help you do this. If you make this choice, you're doing it on your own!" She's so frustrated, her eyes start to well up. She looks over to Jeri, "What do you need me to do? He's too caught up in trying to protect me."
"We have to snap Leomon out of it." She answers. "The only way I can think of doing that is by getting to him myself."
Rika snaps, "That's crazy! He…it…..whatever that is is trying to take us down!" She's sounding like Grapleomon. "We can't just let you go hug it. Don't be stupid."
Taomon breaks her silence. "Rika…..we owe it to him to try…." She says, her voice a little strained. "I wouldn't be here….if it weren't for him."
Rika is silent for a moment after this, knowing her partner is right. She looks at Madi, "Think you can get your partner in check?"
Madi, sounding uncertain. "I'll try…" she answers, "We've never disagreed like this."
"Then we'll plan without you two." Rika responds, coldly.
"Your call Rika." Taomon says, still focusing on the barrier.
Grapleomon and the nonmon charge each other again. Grapleomon brings his arm up to block the slash the nonmon takes with its knife. He spins his turbines, striking with his other arm, as hard as he could. The nonmon's head falls back with the impact. But it charges back, striking Grapleomon in the stomach. The two continue, striking and hitting one another several more times. The nonmon takes the upper hand, knocking Grapleomon down. It knocks him back, landing where the barrier was moments ago. It rushes, kicking him and knocking him back even more.
Grapleomon doesn't move. He glows as he reverts to Bearmon. The nonmon still marches toward him. Taomon is nowhere to be seen, but Madi rushes from the tree line to Bearmon's side instantly. She covers him with her own body, protecting him from the nonmon. "Don't you dare quit on me!" She whispers as the nonmon arrives, towering above them.
Jeri screams out, coming from the tree line now. "Leomon, stop!"
It doesn't react to her. It hasn't moved, looking down on Madi and Bearmon.
"Leomon!" Jeri yells, desperation in her voice. "Look at me!" She stomps her foot. "Look at me right now!"
The nonmon begins to raise its blade. The voice of the cloaked man echoes out, "No, what are you doing?! I need them. Stop at once!" The nonmon stops, it's blade halfway up as it begins to shake, straining against itself. "Take them. Those two will be a good place to start…"
Jeri almost to the nonmon, Madi, and Bearmon. "Leomon! I'm here. Don't do it!" She skids as she stops between it and the partners. "Look at me!" She yells, fighting to get its attention.
"Don't do anything that woman says. I am your master, you will listen to me." The voice echoes out again.
"Leomon, I know you can hear me. You have to fight." Tears are still streaming from her eyes, "You told me…I have the heart of a lion." Her voice is breaking as she talks, "Well it's only because you helped me get stronger!"
The nonmon struggles to look down as the voice tells it to stop. "J…..Jerrrri…."
"How are you doing this!?" The voice protests, "I created you. You can't fight me."
The nonmon's voice shakes as it answers its captor, "A very wise girl once told me. You can't escape destiny…."
Jeri smiles, tears still streaming down her face. "It really is him!" She says.
Madi looks up, the nonmon still has its hand halfway up. She looks around, knowing Taomon is out there watching, waiting to strike if she's needed.
Madi looks down at her partner, his eyes still closed. He's intact though, causing her to worry a lot less.
The nonmon continues. "I remember everything. I will use it, I will help that poor digimon you're torturing and I will make sure you never hurt another digimon again." It still strains, but it moves to one knee, putting it's knife hand to the ground. "My Jeri, my brave Jeri. I'm glad I could see you one last time…."
Jeri's expression goes from a smile to shock. "One last time?" She asks quietly, "Leomon, no. I won't let you go this time."
"I have to end this." He says, fully taking over, "I can't be trusted like this. I need you to leave so that I can end everything."
"You, tamer.." He addresses Madi. "I've accessed your phone and given you all the information on this new enemy. I don't know who he is, but I saw enough to hurt him. Please use it to help those digimon that he's experimenting on."
Jeri begins to break down, "Listen to me Leomon!" She dashes forward, hugging him, or his leg, rather. "You can't go! I already lost you once. You can't leave me again! You have to fight for me!" Her digivice, still in her hand starts to glow with her growing sorrow.
The nonmon pushes her off of him. "Jeri, I'm limited in how much I can move." He explains. "If I go with you, I'll turn on you eventually. I'm still connected to him."
Jeri notices her digivice as she looks down. "I won't accept this!" She yells, "You have to fight for me….for us!" She hold her digivice up to show Leomon. "I know it's possible because I can feel it, I know because this digivice is telling me it is!"
The nonmon is still unmoving. He hangs his head, "It's not possible…." He says, "But if anyone could win that fight, it would be you…." He flinches, defying his body. "I'm sorry Jeri, I can't hold this off anymore…" he brings his blade to his chest in a flash, before anyone can make a move.
"No!" Jeri screams in a panic. A beam shoots out from her digivice to the nonmon as fast as his knife. The combination lets a brilliant flash of light loose, a shockwave knocks Jeri back.
The whole area goes quiet. When the light fades, it's revealed that Taomon had returned with Rika, a barrier in place to protect them all again.
"No!" Jeri cries, breaking down. "Not again!" Uncontrollable tears pour down her face as she begins to cry. "You can't be gone again!" She yells.
Madi and Rika embrace her to console her. Calumon hops into her lap, hugging her. "I'm so sorry Jeri…" Calumon 's ears retract, barely visible. Taomon remains quiet in focus, keeping the barrier up.
It's silent for a long time as she cries for her lost partner a second time. Bearmon comes to, looking up at the sight. He knows what happened. Guilt hits him as he realizes it. He hangs his head low, his ears coming down, he could have prevented it. But he couldn't risk losing Madi.
They're interrupted though, a small blob digimon smashing itself against the barrier to look inside. "Jeri! My Jeri!" It cries out happily in a tiny voice.
The three tamers look up, surprised. Jeri's digivice releases a holographic image. Motimon: despite its cute appearance, it holds a lot of knowledge and wisdom.
"Leomon?" Jeri asks, leaning forward and breaking from the other two women. Calumon hops off of her.
"Jeri!" He yells, falling back from the barrier and squishing back to normal size.
Taomon lets down the barrier, allowing Jeri to quickly crawl to her partner. She wraps her arms around him, happy to be with him once more.
Madi looks back to her partner, who sits, looking up at her. He looks small, scared, as he looks her in her eyes. She's angry with him and it shows, causing him to look back down again.