Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon in any form. All characters and Digimon of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copy right infringement intended.

AN: This chapter actually gave me some trouble. Not sure why, but it did. Anyway, it's been a while (in my opinion) since my last update. I was playing a lot of Borderlands 2 lately since I recently got Krieg. Any of you guys play? I'm up for playing if any of you do.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews guys. They were appreciated. Also to will, I have to thank you for the Arukenimon suggestion. It's great and I can see some nice things being done with it; already have some ideas in mind. And to clarify, in chapter 3, Plutomon turned Marsmon, so he is actually on Plutomon's side right now.

Hope to hear from you guys again this chapter. Oh! before it begins, for some reason a few of my scene dividers won't show up, so just a little heads up. Well, on with the show.

New Comrades?

Joe, Yolei, and Kari had just finished tending to Ken, T.K., and Davis. The three of them were shaken, especially Yolei. She'd finally gotten her chance to go out with Ken. It had been a around six months since the two had begun their relationship. Seeing her boyfriend so hurt frightened her.

Kari's best female friend, 15 year old, Yolei Inoue hadn't changed all that much since the defeat of Armageddemon. . Yolei is energetic and usually confident, only being embarrassed to admit her true feelings if they didn't live up to her standards for herself (though Ken's been trying to help with that). Yolei is a bit on the geeky side, stubborn, and loud yet she has proven to be sincere time and time again. Though these traits have stayed, she's matured.

Yolei's changes physically were more pronounced than those to her attitude. She'd grown taller, almost as tall as Ken now and she'd traded in her large circular glasses for smaller, more rectangular ones. Her eyes were light brown, almost amber and stood out on her nearly as much as her lavender hair that was still straight, though a little longer. Her figure had filled out more and she was starting to catch the eyes of many boys, much to Ken's frustration. She was clothed in a yellow shirt, a blue denim maxi skirt, and sandals.

Now that the unconscious boys were situated in Tai's room, 20 year old Joe Kido, the Digidestined bearing the crest of Reliability, told everyone the extent of their injuries. They weren't as bad as predicted, but they weren't good either. Joe was the oldest of the original Chosen Children and now he was a college student. He wasn't as study crazy as he used to be, but he could still get out of hand sometimes according to Tai. Joe still worried a lot, but not nearly as much as he used to, partially thanks to his girlfriend, Momoe, who is one of Yolei's older sisters. Now that he was older, Joe was really starting to show why he owned the crest of reliability. He was a vital member of the team.

Joe was tall as ever, and he'd cut his blue hair, somewhat resembling his childhood days when it was spiky. His eyes were black and though he could still be seen with his glasses he wore contacts more often. Currently, the bearer of the crest of reliability was clothed in a very casual white shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

Following Joe's diagnosis of their friends, a moment of silence took hold of the group, Until, surprisingly, Cody Hida spoke up. Cody is 12 and the youngest of the Chosen children. Though still serious and mature beyond his years, he's long since softened about his black and white view of the world and is more prone to having fun than he used to. Cody still sports his bowl cut, keeping his brown hair trimmed. His eyes are a dull shade of green. Currently, they boy is wearing a long sleeved grey shirt, blue jeans, and boots.

"Well," said Cody, "We can't do anything about the three of them right now, so…" he trailed off, sure they understood his meaning. Tai sighed, as concerned as he was, Cody was right.

"We're sorry about your friends," offered Zoe. Sora smiled her way, a thank you.

"They'll be alright," Sora replied, "they're pretty tough." Zoe smiled back, happy to see they had such faith in their friends.

"I guess we should get started," said Tai. Takuya nodded and then the Digidestined relayed their adventures to Takuya and his friends. Kari watched their surprise and assumed it was because they never thought such wild adventures could be possible. In truth, it wasn't the adventure that surprised them; in fact, they thought it to be a standard Digital World adventure. The warriors were surprised by the smaller details of their story – though some weren't exactly small in their opinion.

First, they found it odd that the Digidestined had walked everywhere; they hadn't mentioned the Trailmon once. Did that mean they were gone? The second thing that concerned them was how they fought. They had Digimon partners and couldn't actually transform into one. Of the two, the Chosen Children's way seemed more plausible, but it was very thought provoking for the warriors.

What concerned them most though, was how they never mentioned Lady Ophanimon. According to them, she hadn't called them to the Digital World. It had been a digital human of sorts, known as Gennai, and on a higher level, the protector of the Digital World, Azulongmon. Last they heard, Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and Cherubimon were the protectors of the world.

The only time they had mentioned Seraphimon and Cherubimon was during a brief fight where Cherubimon was infected by a virus and had become Kerpymon. While the three warriors didn't like the implications of the Chosen Children's adventures, they at least understood they weren't a threat. Koji hoped that they'd have a chance to meet this American Digidestined in the future. If one of his Digimon was Cherubimon then he knew that, at some point, they'd need to contact him.

In the meantime, they'd focus on finding Ophanimon and getting on T.K.'s good side, seeing as how Seraphimon was his partner. Of course, all this was on the assumption that the Cherubimon and Seraphimon mentioned by the Chosen Children were the same as the original Digital World protectors. Despite the odds of them being different digimon, this was their best shot right now. This chance brought something else to Koji's mind though. If these partner Digimon were the same as their Seraphimon and Cherubimon, Koji wondered why they'd chosen these kids over the warriors.

Was this their way of saying the warrior's group was no longer fit to protect the digital world? Or had something happened to their spirits? Even if that was the case, why choose new kids over them? Koji frowned to himself. Things just weren't adding up and instead of getting more answers, as he'd hoped, he was only coming up with more questions.

"We understand. You guys aren't bad," said Takuya, smiling. Though Koji often said otherwise, Takuya wasn't an idiot. He could think things through pretty well and he was about to prove it.

"Good," said Tai, "So, where are your Digimon partners?"

"They're not with us right now," replied Takuya. His response brought a ghost of a smile to Koji's lips. For a moment, the light warrior thought his fiery leader would let something slip or just be downright too open. "We left them at home," Takuya added.

"That's fine. As your seniors, if you have any questions, feel free to ask," Tai replied. Takuya smiled in response, though his thoughts weren't so submissive. He was no one's junior, not when it came to Digimon. Based on the timeframe of their story and the details they'd been concerned about, he knew he and the other warriors had been to the digital world first and that some significant amount of time had passed there before Tai's group went. As for human world time, he assumed anywhere from half a year to a year and a half had passed until Tai's group was called.

Now that Takuya had set up a suitable situation where all their questions could be answered. He glanced at Koji and the light warrior nodded. His leader had just given him the okay to go ahead and set things up further. Takuya probably could have done it himself, but Koji always seemed to enjoy this kind of thing, at least more than he did. That in mind, he let his best friend do as he pleased.

"We trust you guys," said Koji, only giving a half truth, "so we'll be honest. There are three more of us. They were busy so they didn't come today…" Koji trailed off as the Chosen Children jumped into a triad of questions. He glared, quieting them with a show of dominance they hadn't expected. Zoe giggled at all of it.

"Also," continued Zoe, taking the reins from her two friends, "We'd like to ask if you could take us to the Digital world." Matt lifted a brow at this.

"You can't get there yourself?" he asked. Takuya laughed Awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. If they didn't play this right the Digidestined would get suspicious. Then the Digital World would be lost to them again – this time it might stay that way.

"Well – 'fraid not," replied Takuya, "Never been." Izzy frowned at this. What Takuya was saying and what Izzy saw his Digivice do as well as their status as new Digidestined wasn't adding up. His Digivice had more data on it than the D-3s and based on past experience (even if it had only happened once), new digivices always retained the functions of the old, plus something new. The young tech genius decided to look into this later, preferably when he could consult Gennai.

"We would love to take you," beamed Kari. Takuya nodded dumbly, finding himself thinking her smile was adorable instead of keeping his thoughts on the more important subjects at hand. Tai agreed with his sister, not catching the look in Takuya's eyes. He was prepared to take them now, but after a comment from Joe about waiting until their friends awaken, Tai said it would be best if they waited.

"Well," started Zoe, standing to her feet, "We should go. It's already past eleven." None of them had realized how late it was and if the three warriors didn't get going within the next hour or so, they'd risk missing the last train. The warriors were saying bye when Kari made a bold move, a move that did not go unnoticed by her brother: she asked Takuya for his cell number. Tai could only stare in disbelief as they made the exchange. Kari did the same with Zoe, who said she wanted to get to know her, soon after. As Zoe went around collecting numbers from the other girls in the room, Tai approached his sister.

"Why did you ask for his number?" he inquired. Kari sighed, rolling her eyes in recognition of his protective brother mode.

"We need to be able to keep in touch with them. He seemed to be their leader, so being able to speak to him is priority, no? Don't blow this out of proportion, Tai."

Tai opened his mouth to argue. He didn't think he was blowing anything out of proportion. Unfortunately, the crest bearer of courage found nothing to say. Kari's logic was sound and he had no rebuttal. He still didn't like the situation though. Unfortunately for him, his sister didn't seem to care whether he liked it or not; poor Tai.

Zoe rejoined her friends once she was finished collecting numbers. She was so happy she seemed as if she was floating. Takuya smiled fondly at her as she came his way; he was happy she finally found other girls she could truly relate to. Who knew they'd meet so many women who knew of Digimon the way they did?

"Takuya," called Kari, pulling the boy from his thoughts, "I'll call when our friends wake up." Takuya simply nodded, smiling before he, Zoe, and Koji left.

"So, Kari," started Yolei a few minutes after the door closed. Kari knew what was about to happen and apparently, so did Mimi. She'd led Tai to his room, giving the excuse of checking on their friends the moment Yolei started walking towards his sister. Sora giggled as Tai followed Mimi, oblivious to the conversation about to be held. They boy really was a dense one sometimes.

"He was hot." Kari sighed; she had a long talk ahead of her.

Zoe, Takuya, and Koji had just boarded their train when the blonde smirked. She looked to Takuya while Koji made a call to his brother. The light warrior was filling the elder brother in on tonight's happenings.

"I saw you, Taku."

"Saw me what?" He asked, raising a brow and shooting her a funny look. Zoe only smiled in response, a mischievous smile.

"I saw you staring at Hikari," she replied, eliciting a blush from the boy. Takuya sputtered, trying to find something to say, but Zoe continued, "Don't try to deny it. It was so obvious. You like her or something, Taku?"

Takuya shut his mouth and thought about it. Takuya found Hikari to be beautiful – excessively beautiful. Aside from Zoe, she was the only other girl he thought to be so attractive. The only difference between the two being Zoe's status as almost-yet-not-quite-family. So Kari was the only one he could (in his opinion) look at with interest. He could admit he was interested in her, but he wouldn't go so far as to say he liked her yet.

"She's cool, so far anyway. Cute too," he understated, thinking it best not to clue Zoe in on his actual thoughts on her looks, "but I wouldn't say I like her like that right now."

But later that could change. He knew it and Zoe probably knew it too.

"Right," nodded Zoe, an odd look in her eyes. Like the initial train ride, the rest of it was passed in small talk or comfortable lapses in conversation.

Takuya yawned as he walked into his house. The day had been a very long one for him and he wanted nothing more than to sleep – after he ate, that is. It was past midnight now; he would have been home earlier if he hadn't walked Zoe home, but his father's teachings would allow no such thing. Taking his shoes off at the door and slipping into his house shoes, Takuya walked deeper into his home.

"I'm home," he called as he looked into the living room. The room was large. There were two couches, a coffee table, and a flat screen mounted on the wall; a ceiling fan hung overhead, rotating and breathing cool air into the room. Sitting on one of the couches were his parents.

His mother, Yuriko, a young brunette with short hair was snuggled up against his father, Hiroaki, a young man with short black hair that didn't even make it to his ears. Hiroaki was alternating between reading a book and watching TV with his wife. Takuya's father looked to him, a steely gaze set on his face.

"Why were you out so late?" his father asked.

"Well, we lost track of time at a friend's house. Zoe, Koji, and I, that is. After that I walked Zoe home," replied Takuya carefully, "Sorry for being out so late," he added, "Sir."

Hiroaki nodded and the boy sighed in relief. Hiroaki was a hard man. He believed whole-heartedly in discipline and a stern hand. Takuya didn't even think of crossing him. The warrior of flame often wondered how he and his mother got together. It didn't quite make sense to him.

"Your dinner is in the microwave, sweetie." Takuya smiled.

"Thanks, mom," he replied. Yuriko was a very kind-hearted woman, the polar opposite of his father. Takuya, found it hard to believe there was a mean bone in her body – but there were some rare moments when his dad did something to make her angry that proved otherwise. She was fun loving and enjoyed taking risks. Between the two of them, Takuya could see how he'd developed some of their personality traits. His fun loving side came from his mother and the side that forced him to take action and get serious was from his father.

Takuya walked into the kitchen and warmed his food, while he was waiting, he poke his head back into the living room and asked if Shinya, his younger brother, was already asleep. His father looked over him, raising a brow as if to ask his eldest son if he had really just asked such a thing.

"Right," said Takuya in response to the look, "Of course he is."

The warrior of fire ate quickly then went up to his room to sleep. He'd had a long day, and the moment his head hit the pillow he was out. It was time for him to dream, he hoped.

"Gennai, thank you for caring for me. Thank you for this kind act as well," said Ceresmon as she looked at the portal that would lead her to the real world. Now that they were safe from Marsmon, thanks to the distraction from his Digidestined, she hoped she could get something done now.

"It is nothing, but are you sure about this? You're positive that Davis and his friends were not the children you saw?" asked the old man. Ceresmon nodded, she was sure. She'd seen the children who defeated Lucemon clearly and they weren't the same as the children who had helped her escape Marsmon.

"I shall find them. I am in dire need of their assistance, and so I shall seek it. You must seek the help of your children as well. This threat – it may be too much for either group to handle alone," replied Ceresmon.

Gennai nodded and let the Olympian Mega pass into the real world, the portal closing behind her. The old man sighed at the new information he'd received. When she told him of seeing children at the defeat of a powerful digimon he assumed he meant the Chosen Children (she hadn't gone into such great detail with that part of her tale). She was speaking of a different group of kids though.

"If these children are not the ones I recruited… who are they?" Wondered the old man to himself. They couldn't have been new Digidestined, and that part of her tale was far before his time if so, then did that mean she was speaking of the first children? The original Digidestined that were like a fleeting legend?

Gennai sighed again. The Digital World was in peril and with this new information he could only imagine how things would turn out. He knew one thing though, he hoped to be able to speak with his Digidestined soon. There was much they needed to discuss – much indeed.

Kari sighed in relief, Yolei had stopped questioning her and she was so thankful. She was tired now and wanted nothing more than to go home and rest, but she could see that wasn't going to happen. About an hour after Takuya and his friends left (and 30 minutes after Yolei left her alone, though she had been forced by Sora), Izzy said they needed to talk. Once everyone got comfortable again, sitting on the couch and around the small coffee table, he brought up the inconsistencies of what Takuya said about not being able to go to the digital world. Matt agreed with him, finding it odd as well.

"But then, what does this mean?" asked Cody.

"Yeah," piped in Yolei, "They were obviously Digidestined, I mean, they even tried passing off that Digivice as a game. If they were just trying to trick us I don't think they would have been so secretive and unwilling to trust us." Sora agreed with Yolei here. The three of them, though nice enough, had an air of suspicion about them for the majority of the night until they said they could trust the Chosen Children – a declaration that wasn't said until the Chosen Children spilled their whole adventure.

"Now that I think about it," said Matt, "they never actually told us any of their experiences. Not even how they got their digimon."

"Maybe they just wanted to wait until their friends were with them?" offered Mimi from her spot at Tai's side. Speaking of Tai, he'd started to become more aware of her lately. He noticed how often she'd come hang with him and these days it was rare that they weren't seen together. At first he just thought she wanted to be better friends; the two of them hadn't been the closest of friends (though not hostile) even though they've gone through so much, which he thought was understandable.

They lived in two different worlds and she'd also moved away for a while. Now though, he wasn't so sure. She'd seemed to be dropping hints – but this was Mimi – the flirty member of the group. She always dropped hints – even when she didn't mean to. With that in mind, Tai wasn't sure what to make of this.

"Yeah, that might be it," said Tai, running an hand through his hair, "or they might be hiding something from us. I'm not saying it's a bad something, but we should take this as a sign that they don't trust us as much as we think."

"Well, we'll just have to fix that," said Kari, forcefully. Forceful wasn't exactly her thing so the other Digidestined were surprised to say the least. They didn't know why she was so concerned, well, most of them. The girls had an idea, of what it might be, but weren't too interested in letting the guys in on it.

Just as they were about to get back into the conversation and throw around some ideas, Davis Motomiya, the leader of the second generation Digidestined limped into the room, catching their attention. Davis was taller now, and looked a little more muscular. His maroon hair retained its usual style behind his goggles, though some of it fell over his blue eyes. He was wearing a black jacket with a flame-designed shirt beneath it, blue shorts stopping just below his knees, and black shoes.

Davis had matured, losing some of his temper, but he was still silly. He'd never lost his courage and was easier to get along with now. No one quite knew what caused the change, since it seemed to happen overnight, but they weren't really complaining either. He still fawned over Kari, though sometimes Tai swore the boy just didn't have his heart in it anymore. Davis looking so weak now, was in stark contrast to his usual appearance; it unsettled them. Tai helped Davis sit down with them and asked the boy what had happened. They needed answers.

"We went to check on Gennai," he started, "and when we got there we were attacked. The Digimon said his name was Marsmon. He was strong." Tai raised a brow at this. Ken was with him, so Imperialdramon should have been able to handle it.

"So he was able to surprise you two?" asked Joe. He couldn't imagine them losing unless they were separated. When Davis shook his head, his friends were confused and worried. If Marsmon hadn't surprised them… then how strong was he?

"He gave us the first hit. Imperialdramon gave it his all… and then – then Marsmon tore us apart. He was a monster," growled Davis, remembering what the Digimon had done, "He was stronger than Armageddemon – way stronger. We – we couldn't win." His fists clenched as he looked down in shame.

Ceresmon appeared in the real world in a park. She looked around, finding the real world to be very – different. As she took a more human form, she walked towards the lights of the city she understood to be Odaiba thanks to Gennai. She would start here and hope she could find the children she was looking for.

"I must return what was lost."

To Be Continued…