Thechaosmaster: Hello, everybody, and I hope you're all having a wonderful night, day, or whatever time you may be reading this. This chapter took so long to write, and I am sorry.

Kurivolt: But we are here now, so that is all that matters.

Chaos: Yeah, but I guess that is all we have to say, Kurivolt, take it away!

Kurivolt: Chaos does not own the rights to Digimon, or any other characters, nor does he own me, we all belong to our respectful owners.

Thechaosmaster: Greetings, everyone, and I am sorry for all the waiting and junk, work has been torture. But, I had learned that the Digimon English Voice actress for Mimi Tachikawa, Philece Sampler has sadly passed away at 67 from a heart attack, we lost a legend, and I just wanted to get back into this.

Blossom: So, we want you guys to leave either your favorite Mimi quote from the original series, or the 2020 reboot, or a small poem for the actress herself, and for the next three chapters after this one, we will put one or two of our favorites in the opening, and closing A/N, depending on how many we get.

Chaos: Yeah, I'm sorry for not uploading for a while, the next chapter of Undertale: Fates Intertwined is, stubborn, I have over 6,000 words for it right now, but, well, writers block and all that.

Blossom: Yeah, but alas, here we are, back and ready for another chapter for, Digimon New Life.

Chaos: But, for now, let us return to our irregularly scheduled program.

Chapter 20: Keeping Hope Alive

"It's funny, I see myself, the way you remember me. And you see yourself, the way I remember you." Roxas, Kingdom Hearts 2

We didn't know how, but somehow, me, Olette-Hime, Dori-San, Rouge, Tai-Nii, and Koromon-San, all six of us had all been transported from the Digital World, and back to our home, the human world, and on the very same day that we left, which, to me, wasn't all that surprising. But what did surprise me, was that Kari-Chan actually seemed to remember the Parrotmon and Greymon fight that took place over four years ago. And not only that, but she also seemed to have known the truth about me already. And when we received a very cryptic message from Izzy-San, telling us not to return to the Digital World, but we knew that we had to figure out a way to return to our friends, but we got nothing.

So, while we stayed at home until we could come up with a game plan, I wrote two letters, one for Kari-Chan, and another for both Gatomon-San and Wizardmon-San, in hopes to change their fates, or, more specifically, the fate of Wizardmon. But that wasn't all, shortly after reuniting with our Imouto, evil Digimon started showing up, and when we tried to leave to fight the Digimon, Kari-Imouto tried to stop us, when we tried to explain that this was something we had to do, she refused to let me go, that was when Rouge and Olette-Hime promised her that they wouldn't let anything bad happen to me or Tai-Nii.

They even shook hands on it, but that was when the most surprising thing, for that day, anyways, happened. From in between Olette-Hime and Rouge's hands, came a bright light, when the light died down, it was revealed that Olette-Hime, the girl who appeared in my head, and who eventually became my girlfriend, was now an official DigiDestined, or Tamer, to be more accurate, and she also obtained her own Modify Cards, and strangely enough, she also obtained her very own Tag and Crest, with hers being Faith. What else will happen on this never-ending journey?

"We're back. And in one piece, good." I said while stretching after looking at all of us, grateful that not a single part was missing. And me and Nii-San finished banging our heads against the ground for forgetting about our powers.

Then Olette-Chan then looked around, not seeing anyone nearby and asked, "Yeah, but, where's everyone else?"

Then Tai-Nii, our ever-valiant leader, then cupped his hand over his mouth and yelled out, "Hello! We're back!"

Then Agumon-San looked around but couldn't see anyone, then he asked, "Where is everybody?"

Tai-Nii then folded his arms in annoyance, and grumbled out, "Great. Some welcome home." To anyone who couldn't tell, he was being very sarcastic.

Then Agumon-San looked behind us, and saw the pyramids and said, "This is right where we left them."

I turned to the both of them and said, "Like I told you guys before, time moves differently between our world and the Digital World."

Olette-Chan then looked to me and asked, "Well, how long do you think we've been gone, Luke-Kun?"

I turned to our newest DigiDestined and shrugged, then pulled out my D-Ark and said, "Hard to tell. My memory of how time works here is very fuzzy. So, it could be anywhere from four days to a week, the most."

Then Dorumon-San turned to me with a curious expression and asked, "You really think it has been that long, Luke-San?"

I nodded at my partner and said, "Most likely, Doru-San."

That was when all of our Digivices stared beeping. I looked down at my D-Ark and suddenly a black holographic arrow appeared, then it started spinning wildly, then stopped and pointed Northeast, then I said, "Well, it looks like someone is still around."

Tai-Nii nodded at me and said, "Yeah, we're getting a reading from their Digivice."

I nodded and said, "Yeah, and I've got a lock on whoever it is."

Then I heard Olette-Chan say, "So do I."

I turned to my girlfriend and smiled, then I said, "Why don't you lead the way, then, Hime?"

Olette-Chan looked at me in surprise, then she asked, "Really?"

I gave her a gentle smile and said, "Of course, my Hime. You're a member of the team now, so it should be no surprise that as your first 'mission' could be to track down our friend. What do you think?" Of course, I lightly giggled to show her that even though this was serious, it didn't hurt to have some fun with it.

Olette-Hime giggled lightly as well, and blushed ever so lightly, then she nodded and said, "Thanks, Luke-Koi." Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but when she opened them, I saw the pure look of determination on her face, then she turned to Rouge and said, "You ready, partner?"

Rouge nodded, then she jumped on Olette-Chan's right shoulder, kinda reminding me of Ash and Pikachu from the Pokémon series, then she said, "Lead the way, Olette!"

Olette-Hime nodded then she started walking in the direction of where the signal was coming from, I felt Tai-Nii tapping on my shoulder, I turned to him and asked, "What is it, Ani?"

Tai-Nii gave me a confused expression when he asked, "What was that all about, Luke-Kun? Why did you ask Olette-Imouto to lead the way?"

I looked forward, making sure that Olette-Chan and Rouge didn't get to far ahead of us, then I turned back to Tai-Nii and said, "Simple, while it is a simple task to follow the signal, I believe that by having Olette-Chan lead a mission for a change, it will work as a small step to giving her true confidence and help prepare her for being a DigiDestined." I saw the confused looks on both Tai-Nii and Agumon-San's face, then I said, "It's not that I don't have faith in Olette-Hime, just the opposite, in fact. I trust her with my life. I am just doing this to show her how much I believe in her."

Then I saw Tai-Nii's eyes widened as he said, "Oh! So that means that by giving her what seems like a simple task to complete, you are actually installing some confidence in herself, right?"

I nodded at his answer as I said, "Correct. She has done so much for me already; I just see this as me repaying her for everything she has done. But I am also doing this to allow her to get used to being a member of our team. She's been with us since Izzy-San and I were in that massive battery, and she has always had my back, now it's my turn to have hers."

Everyone seemed to nod, then I heard Rouge say, "Pretty humble of you, Emo-Sama." I jumped at Rouge's voice, then I turned to see both girls were trying to hold back a laugh, and when I said both girls, I mean only Olette-Hime, who was actually being polite and put her fist to her mouth to try, but failed at hiding her laughter, Rouge, well, she was laughing loudly.

I blushed with embarrassment, then Olette-Hime smiled at me and said, "Arigatō, Luke-Kun, for trusting me."

I smiled as I felt a warmth in my chest as I said, "Don't mention it, O-Hime. After all you've done for me, this is my way to repay everything, and give you a chance to show us that you girls can handle things together."

The girls nodded then we continued walking through the desert. As we were walking Dorumon-San asked, "Just how far are we from the signal, anyways?"

I was going to say something, when Tai-Nii said, "Well, judging by what my Digivice says, I'd say a couple of klicks away."

Then as we passed by an oasis, Dorumon-San asked, "Hey, Luke-San, what exactly is a klick?"

Then I turned to him and said, "A scientific way of saying a curtain number of miles. My best guess about how far we have to walk, well, I wouldn't know, maybe, twenty-four miles, give or take." I said the last part with a shrug, then I said, "But we are getting closer."

Then Agumon-San rubbed his stomach as he said, "I hope so, I'm hungry."

I chuckled at this and said, "You're always hungry, Agu-San."

Then we heard Olette-Chan say, "Ano, guys?"

We all looked up and I asked, "Yes dear?" Then she pointed upwards and my jaw dropped, and I said, "NANI!?" In front of us, was a massive green forest. with a HUGE lake.

Then I heard Tai-Nii say, "Look at this place. Where are we?" The confusion on his face was as clear as crystal.

Then Agumon-San scratched his chin as he said, "I don't know, but it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen."

I looked to Olette-Chan and asked, "O-Chan, is the signal close to here?"

Olette-Hime looked down at her D-Ark and nodded, then she said, "This way, follow me!" She then started flying over a bridge.

As we were following her, Tai-Nii looked to me and said, "Sometimes, I forget that your girlfriend can fly, Luke-San."

I looked to Tai-Nii with a knowing smirk and asked, "How can you forget that she can fly, Tai-Nii? She's been floating ever since she first started appearing out of my mind when we reunited on File Island after it was split apart."

Tai-Nii simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, it's just that, I almost always seem to forget that she's a spirit that lives inside your mind, that's all."

As we caught up with Olette-Chan, she turned to us and said, "The signal's getting stronger." Then Tai-Nii's Digivice began beeping rapidly, and Olette-Hime's D-Ark Arrow was now flashing.

Then I saw something, it looked like a figure lying down next to something. Then I heard Agumon-San ask, "Who is it? Who is it?"

I went to walk forward, but the moment I put my foot down, I also had to blink, but that was when I quote "saw" unquote vibrations run through the ground and towards the figure ahead of us. Then I saw who it was. "It's Tokomon-San!" I called out in surprise.

Tai-Nii looked at me and asked, "How can you tell, Otouto?"

I shrugged and said, "I kind of blinked the moment my foot touched the ground and I guess my seismic sense just went off. Come on, no more dilly dallying. Let's go!"

We all ran up to Tokomon-San and Olette-Hime gently picked him up and asked, "Tokomon-San? What happened? And where's Takeru-Kun?"

Right after my girlfriend asked her question, I asked, "Tokomon-San, are you alright?"

Then Tokomon-San weakly said, "Not exactly." Tokomon-San's eyes opened up about halfway and he said, "You lot look like Tai-San, Luke-San and Olette-San." Then Tokomon-San's eyes widened, and he said, "You lot are Tai-San, Luke-San and Olette-San! You guys are alive!"

I looked down at myself, making sure, once again that I was still in one piece and said, "Last time I checked, yeah." And to double check that, I put a finger to my arm, and waited to feel a heartbeat, and when I did, I said, "Yep, still alive."

Then Agumon-San looked down at the battered and beaten Toko-San and said, "I'll bet that a black gear Digimon got you, right?"

I sighed hearing, once again of the mention of the dreaded Black Gears, and said, "Guys, we destroyed all of the black gears already. So, there is no way in the nine circles of hell could they be responsible for this. So, besides that, what happened to you, Toko-San?"

Tokomon-San sighed sadly and said, "I wish that it was something as simple as that, that way I wouldn't feel so bad." Then Tokomon-San jumped out of Olette-Hime's hands facing away from us.

Then I knelt down to Tokomon-San's level and softly asked, "Tokomon-San, where is everybody? And more importantly, where's Takeru-Kun?"

Tokomon-San turned towards me, almost tears in his eyes, and he sadly said, "I don't know. He's probably off with his new friend."

That seemed to strike a nerve with me, then I asked, "What new friend?" There was something in his voice that just felt wrong to me, it almost sounded like spite, but why would Toko-San spite Takeru-Kun? They're best friends, after all. Something big must have happened while we were away.

Then Tokomon-San turned away in anger and said, "I think you better ask Takeru." The way that Tokomon-San said Takeru-Kun's name was harsh, and Tokomon-San's actually sounded, now that I replayed what he had said, he sounded betrayed. Add to the fact that Toko-San never added 'San' or 'Kun' to young Takashi's name, was the final nail in the coffin that something happened between the two.

Tai-Nii looked down at Tokomon-San and said, "We would, but he's not here and you are. Now start at the beginning, more importantly, how long were we gone for?"

Tokomon-San looked away from us in sadness, then he said, "You guys were gone an awfully long time." Not being very clear on the amount of time we were gone for.

"We were? How long?" Ani asked, eyes slightly widened in surprise at hearing this, even though it told us nothing for how long we were gone.

Tokomon-San didn't answer right away, instead he said, "We looked high and low for you. I did most of the low part. Finally..."

***WARNING YOU HAVE ENTERED FLASHBACK ZONE AND POINT OF VIEW CHANGE ZONE! POINT OF VIEW CHANGING TO TOKOMON! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED***

It was getting dark out, we were all sitting by a campfire when Matt-San said, "It's no use. We're practically lost ourselves."

Then we heard Mimi-San whimper as she said, "I've been lost ever since I got here."

"What about Gennai-San? Maybe he could help us." Izzy-San suggested to the group, probably hoping that he would be able to shed some clues as to where you guys ended up.

But Joe-San walked up to Izzy-San and he asked, "Yeah? And where do we find Gennai-San? I think one wild-goose chase is enough."

I looked over to Mimi-San as she sadly said, "This is the most depressing campout ever."

However, me and Takeru-San began to grow tired, and we fell asleep shortly afterwards. But during the night, Sora-San and Biyomon-San left, they were the first, but unfortunately, they wouldn't be the last. I woke up as they were leaving, but Sora-San put her finger to her mouth, then she said, "Shh. We're going off to find Tai-Kun, Luke-San and Olette-Chan on our own. Don't wake anyone."

Then Biyomon-San softly said, "We'll see you later, Tokomon-San."

As they left, I fell back asleep, and that's how it started. First Sora-San left, then we all went in search for Sora-San. Then someone said we'd cover more ground if we split up, so Izzy-San and Tentomon-San went one way, and Joe-San and Gomamon-San went another, and pretty soon only Matt-San, Takeru, Gabumon-San, and me were all that was left.

Shortly afterwards, we ended up around here, the four of us were over a bridge, then Takeru-San looked down and sadly asked, "Why did everybody go away? When you're lost, you're supposed to stay together. Luke-San said so."

That was when Matt-San rubbed Takeru-San's head as he said, "We just had different ideas of what was the best thing to do, Takeru-Kun. We've looked everywhere. If they were in this area, we would have found them by now. Not to mention, Luke-San probably would have made some kind of big, dramatic, and all-around flashy entrance by now."

That was when Takeru-San looked towards his Nii-San and said, "We could've missed something. We gotta keep searching. Come on, Onii-Chan, if we hurry, we can still catch up-"

That was when Matt-San gripped his hands into fists and yelled out, "Hey, it's hopeless, all right? We've already done everything we could!"

Hearing that caused Takeru to start crying, and Matt-San, seeing what he had just done, tried to apologize to him saying, "Oh, come on, don't cry. I didn't mean it." Then he calmly said, "Don't worry. Wherever Tai-Baka and Agumon-San are, they have Luke-San and Dorumon-San with them, and they have Olette-San and Rouge as well, and I'm sure that they're perfectly all right. And I bet that, no matter where they are, they would stop at nothing to come back. They'll be back soon, I'm certain of it."

Hearing those words, I looked up and saw that Takeru was now smiling, even though the tears, then he asked, "Really, Onii-Chan? Any minute they'll be coming back, right?"

Matt-San smiled softly at Takeru-San and said, "Yeah, and they'll be bringing presents with them."

Then I happily looked up to the older boy and asked, "Oh, wow, you think so?"

Then Takeru-San ran up and hugged his Nii-San and said, "Oh, I hope you're right. I really miss my friends. And I miss the stories that Luke-San used to tell at the campfires."

I knew Matt-San was kidding Takeru-San about the presents, but that didn't matter because just then we came across what Matt-San called an 'Amusement Park.'

Takeru-San then looked up in wonder and happiness towards the large gates and said, "Oh, look, Matt-Nii! Is it real? Everybody's going to love this place! I bet Luke-San could skate on the rides using his shield! What do you think, Matt-Nii?"

But Matt-San didn't seem too excited. It was like there was always something on his mind that he couldn't stop thinking about. Then, once we arrived at the park, we found that it was completely empty. Then, as we were passing by one of the rides, Takeru-San said, "Look at this, no lines!" At first, he seemed overjoyed at that, then he became afraid and said, "Actually, there are no people here at all. Maybe they forgot to tell us that they're closed."

After a while of exploring the park, Matt-San told us that he needed to go out and find the others, we ended up at a boat that Takeru-San called a 'Swan Boat' whatever a swan was, then Matt-San looked towards his Otouto and asked, "So, Takeru-Kun, you sure that you'll be all right?"

The look on the little guys face was hard to watch, but, with tears in his eyes, Takeru-San nodded and said, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Matt-San smiled softly at hearing this and rubbed Takeru's head and proudly said, "That's my big Otouto."

Takeru-San put on a brave face as he asked, "But you'll be back pretty soon, right?"

Matt-San nodded with a gentle smile and said, "Right. I'm just going to look around and really check this place out. I'll be back in maybe a couple of hours, at the most."

Then Gabumon-San looked down at me and said, "Tokomon-San, you're responsible for looking after him. Ok?"

I knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but I also knew that Takeru-San was my partner, so I couldn't let him down, I nodded and said, "Sure."

After a final exchange of words, we watched as Matt-San and Gabumon-San paddle away from us. Then as they left, Takeru shouted out, "Don't worry. We'll be waiting right here."

Then as we were waving goodbye, Matt-San said, "Great, and remember, it's an Amusement Park, so, like, amuse yourselves. See you soon!"

And just before his Nii-San was out of sight, Takeru-San said, "Okay. Buh-bye!" But I saw that Takeru-San was very sad that everyone had left us alone now.

I had taken responsibility of collecting food for the both of us. Hours went by, and still no sign of Matt-San. I ran up to Takeru-San, who was sitting on the pier and I said, "He'll come back, Takeru-San. Just be patient."

Takeru-San looked down at his hands, which he had resting on his knees as he asked, "I wonder what's keeping them." I could feel that Takeru-San was getting close to crying.

This was an answer that I couldn't answer, because I didn't know where he could be either. So instead, I put an orange on his lap and said, "You gotta eat something."

Takeru-San looked down sadly at the fruit and said, "He should've come back by now."

We waited at the park for almost a week. Takeru-San spent the whole time staring out at the water, except when he just couldn't stay awake anymore. He waited...and waited.

"He's coming." Takeru-San said sadly while staring at the water. "Any minute now I'll see his boat out there." But, almost like a dam burst behind his eyes, he started crying, it broke my heart to see my best friend and partner like this.

I ran up to Takeru-San's side and said, "Don't cry again."

"He's gone! I just know it!" Takeru-San said with tears flooding down his face. "He's gone away like all the others! He said he'd be back in a couple of hours!"

I was forced to watch as Takeru-San fall to his knees in despair and cried his heart out. I tried to comfort him by saying, "Now, don't give up hope." But he just continued to cry. It was really painful to watch.

But that was when he arrived. "Hey, what's all the squawking about?" Then a small black ball shaped Digimon appeared with no arms, a skull on his forehead, two large wings, and talons. Then he said, "DemiDevimon's the name. Mind if I drop in?"

"DemiDevimon?" I asked in confusion. Then my eyes widened as I remember hearing about this particular Digimon and I said, "I've heard about you."

Then DemiDevimon seemed to blush in embarrassment as he said, "Oh, great. I'm flattered." You could hear the pride in his voice.

But I turned my head to the side as I said, "Don't be. Nothing I heard was good."

Then he flew back a bit and said, "Okay, okay. I admit I used to be a bit of a wise guy, but that's only 'cause I was working for Etemon." Then he flew in closer to us and said, "But now he's kaput thanks to you guys. Something I'm eternally grateful. Personally, I never liked the guy."

Then Takeru-San rubbed his eyes with his arm as he asked, "Have you seen my Onii-Chan out there? He's in a boat."

The look I saw on DemiDevimon was not something I was comfortable with as he said, "Is that what's got you down, squirt? Well you've come to the right Digimon. What's his name, your Onii-Chan?"

Then Takeru-San smiled brightly as he said, "His name is Ishida Yamato, but his friends call him Matt."

DemiDevimon nodded with a smile that seemed friendly and said, "Got it. Let me see what I can do. Back in a flash." And just like that, he was gone.

This seemed to make me relax a bit, maybe I was wrong about DemiDevimon being a terrible Digimon, then I smiled and turned towards Takeru-San and said, "Well, maybe he has changed."

Then Takeru-San turned to me with a hopeful expression and he asked, "You think?"

I couldn't believe that one of Etemon-Baka's creepy henchmen was being helpful, but sure enough, just a few minutes later he came back, then he said, "Gomen for making you two wait."

I tell ya, the smile on Takeru-San's face looked like it could possibly light the deepest darkness as he asked, "What about it? Did you find my Onii-Chan? Did you find him?" At that one moment, Takeru-San was the most hopeful he has been since you and the others disappeared, Tai-San.

But then, I saw it, for a single second, I saw an evil grin appear on his face, but it was gone before I knew it, then he said, "I sure did!"

Then Takeru-San almost began dancing in joy where he stood at the thoughts of Matt-San coming back and he asked, "Is he on his way back? Well? Is he?"

Then DemiDevimon flew around as he said, "Well, that's the bad news, kid." At that very moment, I began understanding your continuous usage of the expression 'feeling a disturbance in the Force' Luke-San. Because this mon had just set off many warning bells in my head as he spoke.

Takeru-San obviously wasn't aware of the wrongness that DemiDevimon-Baka was giving me, as he seemed more interested with whatever it is that the small bat was gonna tell him. And he looked like he was going to start crying again as he asked, "Na-Nani?"

Then that evil grin appeared on DemiDevimon-Baka's face as he said, "It kills me to have to be the one to break this to you, but your Onii-Chan ain't coming back. In fact, he never wants to see you again. Said he was tired of babysitting a crybaby."

At that point, it really looked as if Takeru-San wanted to cry. He looked like he was trying to deny what it was that DemiDevimon-Baka had just told him as he said, "No way!"

Then I walked up to Takeru-San and said, "It can't be true, Takeru-San. You should know more than anyone that your Nii-San wouldn't say something like that."

But it appeared that my words fell on deaf ears as Takeru-San began crying and he said, "He called me…"

Then DemiDevimon-Baka began flying around Takeru-San's head as he said, "Crybaby. He called you some other stuff, too. But I don't want to repeat it. Anyway, he's gone."

And that was it, that was all it took, and Takeru-San broke down and began crying, then he ran away. I ran after him, but while I was chasing after him, I heard DemiDevimon-Baka say, "Don't take it so hard. Gomen!"

Then Takeru-San continued to run through the park, and I tried to keep up with him, after a while, Takeru-San finally stopped at a river and began throwing rocks into the water. Then I looked at him and said, "Come on, Matt-San would never say stuff like that, you know that. Besides, we've been working on the crying thing, and you're getting better, you really are. Don't believe that guy."

But I saw that he was confused, so I decided to go and get him something to eat, to hopefully clear his head, but then, "Hey, floppy." DemiDevimon-Baka said as he suddenly appeared.

I turned around and glared at this Digimon, knowing that whatever it is that he said would be a lie, then I said, "You have to stop lying to Takeru-San."

But then DemiDevimon-Baka grinned, and he asked in an almost fake shocked voice, "Lies? What ever could you mean by that?"

I was getting very upset at this, then I said, "Take back all those lies, or you'll be sorry."

DemiDevimon-Baka only smiled at me as he said, "My, my, those are pretty bold words coming from a pink gerbil with an overbite." Then he flew up into a tree and asked, "Besides, do you have any proof that I'm lying about it? Huh?"

I looked down sadly at this, mostly because I knew that I didn't really have any proof and said, "Well, no."

Then DemiDevimon-Baka said, "There you go just assuming the worst because of my background. That's not fair. It's prejudiced. That's what it is. Just because I'm not a cuddly butterball like you, I must be a bad guy. That's so, I don't know, superficial." Every word he said, it hurt me, it made me feel weak, then he said, "Luckily, Takeru-Kun is a little more enlightened than you are." That did it, I launched a Bubble attack at him and knocked him out of the tree.

But that was when Takeru-San showed up and asked, "Tokomon-San, what are you doing?"

"Nani, Takeru-San?" I asked my partner as he walked up in front of me.

But Takeru-San angrily said, "I saw you take a shot at him."

Then DemiDevimon-Baka flew between us and said, "Don't be too hard on him, Takeru-Kun. I understand what the poor guy's feeling. It's only natural he should feel resentful that you found yourself a new friend."

I turned away angrily, but then Takeru-San said, "I don't know what's gotten into you, But I think an apology is in order."

Then I angrily said, "Well don't hold your breath!" It could have just been because of all the stress that has been building up since you guys left, but I didn't mean to sound so angry at Takeru-San. I just wasn't going to apologize to someone who I knew was no good.

But Takeru-San didn't see it that way and angrily said, "Do it!"

"I will not! If you like that flying rat so much, maybe I ought to leave!" I said angrily. I thought that Takeru would have realized that we had taken things too far, like how you and Tai-San would, but I was wrong.

"If you won't apologize, you have to leave." Takeru-San almost yelled to me. Showing that this wasn't going to be a quick forgive and forget moment.

I was scared at the tone of Takeru-San's voice as I asked, "You really mean it?"

Takeru-San angrily nodded and told me, "Yeah, sure, go on."

Then I walked away, but before I left, I turned to Takeru-San and said, "I won't be coming back, you know."

Then Takeru-San turned to glare at me as he said, "You don't see me crying about it. And I don't want these stupid gadgets, either." He then pulled out his Digivice as well as his Tag and Crest and threw them to the ground in anger, but I could have sworn that I saw tears build in his eyes.

Then he ran into the forest and said, "Come on, DemiDevimon-San, let's go ride the roller coaster."

Then I saw the evil grin on DemiDevimon-Baka's face, but I didn't care, I just said, "That suits me fine. Goodbye!" But then I started crying at the loss of my friend."

***RETURNING TO NORMAL POINT OF VIEW AND ENDING FLASHBACK***

I gripped Takeru-Kun's Crest of Hope and Digivice tightly in my hand as I heard Agumon-San say, "You see, Tai-San? We go away for a couple of DigiDays, and everything falls apart."

I looked up and saw Olette-Chan holding onto Tokomon-San in, what could easily be seen as a motherly motion, trying to sooth him. It was times like this that reminded me just how much of a gentle soul my girlfriend was, we all knew that she cared about everyone like family, and in a way, that's what we've all become since becoming DigiDestined. Family. Sure, Olette-Hime joined in later, but everyone usually got along just well, sure Tai-Nii and Matt-San didn't always get along, and there were days when I wanted to knock Joe-San's head clean off, but no matter what, we were always there for each other, and seeing the youngest members of our team fighting each other, it hurt my heart.

Deciding to get our show on the road, I turned to Ani, who was looking down at his Digivice and I said, "Let's find out what's Takeru-Kun's up to. Then we'll look for the others." Everyone nodded, knowing that as friends, as the dysfunctional family that we were, we had to look out for one another.

I put Takeru-Kun's crest around my neck, but unlike Tai-Nii's Crest, I felt nothing coming from it, probably because all of Takeru-Kun's hopes were crushed by DemiDevimon-Baka. Or, more likely, because me and Takashi-Kun weren't related by blood.

Making my decision, and getting similar looks from everyone else, I nodded and turned towards Tokomon-San and said, "Take us to 'em, Tokomon-San."

Tokomon-San nodded with determination and said, "You got it." He then walked off into the forest and we followed after him.

As we were walking, Olette-Hime looked to me and asked, "Luke-Koi, do you know anything about this DemiDevimon?"

I looked to my girlfriend and nodded with a small glare aimed at no one in particular, then I said, "Yeah, he's nothing but a liar. So, everything that he has ever told Takeru-Kun, is not true. He is one foul, foul fiend. And he seems to get a kick out of making people and Digimon turn on each other."

Tai-Nii looked at me with a curious expression and asked, "How can you be so sure, Luke-Kun?"

I looked at my Nii-San with a deadpan expression and asked, "Seriously? Tai-Nii, we're brothers, even after everything that either of us has ever done, would either of us ever abandon the other or our Imouto?"

Tai-Nii then quickly yelled out, "Of course not! Not in a million years!"

Then I tightened my hand into a fist as I asked, "Then why would Matt-San abandon his Otouto, the same Otouto that he got entangled by Seadramon-Baka in order to save? Why would he do all of that, if he was just going to abandon Takeru-Kun? Something is not right here, and I'll bet next week's lunch that it has something to do with that annoying black bat."

Tai-Nii didn't say anything, but he did nod, knowing that I was right. But Rouge then asked, "But why hasn't Captain Cold return, Emo-Sama? Surely the safety of the young Hatchling would cause him to have return as soon as possible."

I looked at Rouge and said, "First, let's just deal with Takeru-Kun, then deal with Matt-San." One problem at a time, after all. 'All I know is, that Yamato-San had better have a good reason for why he's not here right now, or I'll start using him as target practice for Aporo no Kami no ya.'

We all nodded and then we arrived at the entrance of the park and Olette-Hime asked, "Whoa, is this the place, Tokomon-San?"

Tokomon-San nodded sadly and said, "Yeah. Takeru's somewhere around here with that flying phony."

I gripped my D-Ark tightly, angry that someone as young as Takeru-Kun had been tricked by DemiDevimon-Baka and said, "I'll crush that jerk who lied to Takeru-Kun. That I promise."

Then I heard Dorumon-San growl softly as he said, "Just as long as leave some of him for me, Luke-San."

Then Olette-Hime turned to me and said, "You boys aren't forgetting about us, are you? We want to trim that creeps wings off as well."

I was kind of shocked at how violent that sounded, but then I realized how close all of us were to each other, Olette-Chan really took a shine to Takashi-Kun, it's no wonder why she would be angry. Then Rouge said, "Yeah, I want to introduce that flying rat to the Demon Lord of Lust."

As we entered the park I turned to the gang and said, "Remember, all of this trouble started when the gang started to split up, I think it would be best if we didn't follow that logic, last thing we need is to lose each other, understand?" Everybody nodded and we headed to the park.

Then as we were walking past the Ferris Wheel, I got a strange feeling, 'Why do I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen? And why do I always have this bad feeling where ever we go?' But as always, I didn't get an answer.

Then I heard my Digivice go off, I pulled it out then I heard Tai-Nii ask, "Why are they going off?"

I then heard Agumon-San softly say, "Could be trouble."

"That what they usually mean, Hot Head." Rouge said in an annoyed voice.

Then Olette-Hime pointed a head of us and said, "Never mind that now. Look who we've found."

I looked up ahead and saw that Takeru-Kun was resting his head on a nearby table, then I felt relief flow through me as I thought, 'Thank goodness, he's alright.' Then I ran up to him and said, "Takeru-Kun, yoo-hoo! Hey! Takeru-Kun!"

The young Takaishi quickly looked up and asked, "Huh?"

Olette-Hime then flew up to him, giving him a great big smile as she said, "Takeru-Kun, thank goodness you're safe!"

Then Takeru-Kun happily got off his chair and said, "It's my friends!" He then laughed as he stood up.

Then Tai-Nii ran up to him and said, "Hey, little guy."

"You're back!" Takeru-Kun said as he almost danced around us in pure joy.

We all smiled, then Olette-Hime said, "Yeah, and are we glade to see you!"

Then Takeru-Kun ran towards us, then I opened my arms, and he ran right into me, I then closed my arms and hugged the little tyke. Despite all the madness and insanity that we all go through, Takeru-Kun is like my Otouto, and I treasure him dearly. Then, through his blinding smile, he said, "I'm so happy. Aw, guys, I was worried. You guys were gone so long. We thought something bad must have happened."

I then looked Takeru-Kun in the eyes and smiled, then I said, "Well, we're back again, and we're all in one piece."

Then Tokomon-San jumped off of Agumon-San's head with a squeak. Then Takeru-Kun looked down, and in a surprised voice he said, "Tokomon-San, you came back, too." Tokomon-San nodded with an unreadable expression on his face, then Takeru-Kun knelt down to meet his partner's eyes as he asked, "So, you finally admit that you were wrong, and you're going to apologize to him now?"

I had to shake my head at the, currently, youngest member of our team as we watched Tokomon-San angrily turned his head and said, "I wasn't wrong, and I won't apologize."

This caused Takeru-Kun to harshly glare, well, as harsh as an eight-year-old COULD glare, at Tokomon-San, and he asked, "Tokomon-San, what's happened to you? When did you get to be such a brat?" Wow, just wow. I had no words to describe the harshness between these two, formally close friends.

But before this argument went any further, I summoned my shield and put it between the partner and his Digimon, both of whom looked up at me and I looked down at them, disappointment clear in my eyes as I said, "That is enough, from the both of you."

I'm telling ya, I have called upon my shield so many times that it feels like an extension of my body now, it's almost like breathing. Sure, Nii-San has better control over his element, something that I am slightly jealous of, but I also have an entire deck of trading cards that I can use to give me and Dorumon-San advantages over the others, so, I will not be petty that I can't use my Earth powers as well as Nii-San.

I just didn't like the fact that these two, who should have been the greatest of friends in the whole world, were now fighting like preschoolers on the playground, and I made this clear as I said, "You guys are supposed to be partners, and we're all friends here. No fighting each other, especially not when we're supposed to be looking for our friends."

Tai-Nii nodded in agreement as he said, "He's right, you two, so chill out. Knock off this bickering right now because we've got too many problems to worry about."

I nodded as I lowered my shield to my side before dismissing it and said, "He's right. We've got to find Matt-San and the rest of the DigiDestined."

Takeru-Kun turned around with folded arms and he sadly said, "Not me."

Then Olette-Hime floated in front of him and asked, "What? But, why not, Takeru-Kun? I thought you would have been happy to go looking for your Nii-San."

But Takeru-Kun glared at her, not in any kind of threatening way, but you could still tell that he was angry as he asked, "Why should I? They're not nice. They all left me behind, first Sora-San, then the rest, then even Matt-Nii."

Then I walked up to Takeru-Kun, and tried to comfort him and I said, "Come on, Takeru-Kun, it's not your fault they left."

But Takeru-Kun turned away and said, "They hate me. They think I'm a crybaby. Even Matt-Nii said I was."

"Woah, man, I don't know what this new friend of yours has been telling you, but I happen to know for a fact that Matt-San does not hate you." Tai-Nii said, slightly shocked at hearing those words, but also trying to calm the young DigiDestined down.

But Takeru-Kun didn't seem to have the same feeling, then he said, "You might not be saying nice things about him if you knew I wanted to keep searching for you guys, but he didn't. And he's really jealous of you, Tai-San. Especially you, Lue-San!" I knew that Takeru-Kun was upset, and probably doesn't mean any of the things he is saying, so I just let him vent out his anger and frustration.

"Haven't any of you guys ever notice that he gets all upset when you, me or even Luke-San do stuff together? He hates it when I talk about either of you." This caught us all by surprise, but what he said next, shocked me to the core. "Do you guys think that I could be your Otouto instead?"

Tai-Nii was about to say something, but I put my hand in front of him and shook my head, letting him know that, as HIS Otouto, I would be able to understand Takashi-Kun more than him. I then knelt down in front of Takeru-Kun and in a soft voice, I said, "Takaishi Takeru."

Takeru-Kun looked up at me in surprise as I said his full name, then I said, "Takeru-Kun, listen to me, you may not believe it, but I know just what you're going through. I am the middle brother to Tai-Nii, who I am only a year and a half younger than, and our little sister, Kari-Chan, and I am only older than her by two years. And believe me, siblings fight a lot, trust me, I know. Two lifetimes of being the middle brother has taught me all about being a middle child."

And it was true, not that I'm complaining or anything, but I could understand what Takeru-Kun was going through, so I could relate to him a lot more than Ani ever could. "But I also know that no matter what, siblings could never hate each other. The three of us will probably always drive each other up the walls sideways."

I said the last part with a small smile, and this caused Takeru-Kun to let out a small chuckle and smile softly at that, then I continued, "But we will never turn our backs on each other. Matt-San is the same way, I'm certain of that. And I have noticed the looks Matt-San gives us, but I also know the true emotions behind those looks."

Hearing this caused Takeru-Kun to look at me in confusion as he asked, "True emotions? What do you mean?"

I smiled softly at the little guy and said, "While it may be true that he could be jealous of us, it is just because, that deep down, he truly cares for you. And he fears that he could lose you to us, but we could never take away something like brotherhood from Matt-San. Listen, it is only natural for brothers to fight, trust me, back in my old life, I was still the middle brother, but I had an older brother and a younger brother."

And boy, did we have our own personal fights back then, sometimes it turned into a small war, well, at least, when came to my little brother, anyways. "And while I can't say that I was a perfect child, but even after all the times I fought with my brothers, I still cared for them, even when I became angry at them, and deep beneath my anger, was my love for them. You will always be an Otouto to me, Takeru-Kun, but you must understand that no matter what, Matt-San will always be your Nii-San, and he will always love you, no matter what."

Takeru-Kun looked at me with tears in his eyes and a hopeful expression in his eyes and he asked, "You really think so?"

I gave Takeru-Kun a gentle smile and a playful rub on the head as I said, "Takeru-Kun, I know for a fact that your brother cares about you. More than you could ever know."

Takeru-Kun then looked up at me as he rubbed his eyes and he asked, "Well, if he does care about me, then why hasn't he come back? Why did he leave me all alone?"

This time, it was Olette-Chan who spoke, "Takeru-Kun, I don't think he meant to leave you alone for so long, I think he may just have gotten himself caught up in trying to find the others, but I know that no matter where he is, you will always be on his mind."

Takeru-Kun rubbed his nose as he asked, "You really think so?" I could tell that Takeru-Kun was starting to get his hope restored, if that face breaking smile was anything to go by.

Both me and Olette-Chan looked at one another, and then at Takeru-Kun and smiled, then we both said, "We know so."

Then I put my hand on Takeru-Kun's shoulder and said, "Listen, Takeru-Kun, me and Tai-Nii will be your Nii-Sans, but just temporarily until we find Matt-San, okay?"

Takeru-Kun nodded happily as he said, "Okay."

I smiled warmly at Takeru-Kun, in many ways, he already was like my Otouto, besides, he helped me when Shellmon-Baka was squeezing Ani to death, so this is the least I could do. Then I said, "And Olette-Hime here could be your Nee-San as well. Right, dear?"

Olette-Chan smiled warmly at me and Takeru-Kun, then she knelt down to Takeru-Kun's eyes and said, "Of course, Luke-Kun. So, how about it, Takeru-Kun? Would you like me to be your Nee-Chan?"

I swear, that face splitting smile became even bigger, and I swore that once he shone his teeth, that his smile would have become blinding to look at.

Then we all heard wings flapping, we all turned and saw DemiDevimon, then Takeru-Kun pointed towards the small bat Digimon and said, "Look, it's DemiDevimon."

"That's him?" My Nii-San asked, and I could see that there was a far-off expression in his eyes, that told me that Amaterasu was talking to him.

I noticed that the little baseball with wings was carrying a basket of some kind, then I said, "Guys, I know I say this a lot, but I have a bad feeling about this guy."

Then Rouge extended her claws as she said, "Let's not forget that he doesn't look like the most trustworthy kind of Digimon I have ever seen, and I know six other Digimon who, if given a bad day, wouldn't be the very trustworthy kind of mon, and Daemon is the least trustworthy kind of mon, no matter what day of the week it is."

Then DemiDevimon flew down and looked at all of us, then he said, "Welcome back, Tokomon. How you been?"

Then Dorumon-San got into DemiDevimon's face and asked, "Okay you little kickball, what did Matt-San really say to you?"

Then DemiDevimon moved back and said, "Cool it, buddy. Just who are you squirts anyways?"

I pulled a card from my collection then I started to flip it between my fingers as I calmly said, "Oh, I think you know who we are, but just to be clear, we're Takeru-Kun's REAL friends. And unless you want to join Etemon-Baka in being nothing but DigiDust, then you better be real honest with us and start speaking the truth. Quickly."

Then DemiDevimon-Baka looked at all of us and he said, "It happened just like I told Takeru-Kun. Matt-San said he was tired of the little guy and didn't want to hang with him anymore. I told Matt-San that brothers ought to stick together, but he wouldn't listen to me. That's the truth, cross my heart."

Rouge scoffed at the bat freak and said, "That is if you've got one. You ugly little troll."

Then DemiDevimon-Baka turned to us with a hurt expression and asked, "Hey, why would I lie?"

Then both me and Rouge asked, "Do we need to make out a list?"

The two of us looked at one another, then nodded, then I stared back at DemiDevimon and said, "For one, you could be trying to steal Takeru-Kun's Crest Of Hope."

Then Rouge nodded and said, "Or you could be trying to turn him against his own friends, just like the slimeball that you are."

Then DemiDevimon-Baka looked hurt by this and said, "What? I would never."

"Then you won't mind taking us to Matt-San, so we can ask him ourselves." Tai-Nii said, now fully ready to get to the bottom of the mystery of the missing Matt-San.

DemiDevimon-Baka nodded and said, "Not at all. I warn you, he's far away."

Then I lifted up my D-Ark and spun it once in my hand before grabbing it and holding it to my side as I said, "Well, let's get started then. I don't like wasting time."

DemiDevimon-Baka smiled but said, "Fine, but it's been a long day. Wouldn't you kids like to eat something first?" Motioning towards his basket of mushrooms.

Then all of our stomachs rumbled and me, and Tai-Nii as well as our Digimon said, "I am hungry."

Then Takeru-Kun rubbed his stomach as said, "Me, too." And Olette-Hime nodded in agreement.

Tai-Nii looked down at Takeru-Kun and said, "Well, in that case..."

Then Rouge looked at the basket full of mushrooms that Tokomon-San was smelling, then she said, "There's something fishy about these mushrooms, but I don't know what."

Then DemiDevimon-San scoffed at Rouge and he said, "Nonsense, I picked these myself. They're fresh and juicy."

Then Dorumon-San glanced towards the bat and asked, "Then why does that make me more suspicious about them."

Then as Agumon-San reached for a Mushroom, Tai-Nii held out his hand as he said, "Wait. Don't eat them raw. Let's do this right."

We all watched as Tai-Nii set up a station where he began cooking the mushrooms, then in a faux French accent that was completely terrible, he said, Voilà LE Mushroom De La Barbecue. They will be ready in just a minute."

I rolled my eyes at Ani's horrible French accent, then I said, "Ani, what have I told you about that accent? I find it really annoying."

Then Agu-San had jumped up really quick as he said, "Whoopsadasiy! Got to use the little Digimon's room."

Then Tai-Nii turned to him and smiled and said, "Don't forget to wash your hands or claws or whatever they are."

I cracked the kinks out of my neck as I shrugged and said, "Well, I need to go for a walk, and I need to make sure that Agu-San doesn't end up falling into some kind of trap. You guys coming? Doru-San? O-Hime? Rouge?"

Dorumon-San turned to me and shrugged, then he said, "Sure, better than just waiting around here until food is done."

Olette-Hime nodded and said, "Yeah, plus I would like to see what else there is around here. You coming, Rouge?"

Rouge looked back at the mushrooms, then she said, "Yeah, might as well, maybe it would get my mind off of those annoying mushrooms."

Then I turned to Tai-Nii and said, "Ani, we'll be back in a few minutes, don't eat without us!"

Tai-Nii simply waved his hand and went back too cooking. I shook my head, then we followed after Agumon-San, then we saw him staring at another patch of mushrooms, then Agumon-San said, "Hmm. What do you know? More mushrooms."

Then Rouge looked at them with some kind of accusing glare, then she said, "I swear, I know what these are, but I can't put my claws on what they are."

Then Agumon-San ran into the bathroom, and was out a few minutes later, then he turned to us and said, "No offence to your Ani, Luke-San, but I prefer my mushrooms raw."

Then just as Agumon-San picked up a mushroom, and as he was about to eat it, we all heard Sora-Nee's voice call out, "Don't eat them! They are the mushrooms of Forgetfulness. They'll make all your memories disappear."

Hearing the sudden voice caused all of us to jump up in surprise, then Agumon asked, "Who's there?"

But Rouge snapped her claws as she said, "That's why these look so familiar! Back during the war, Daemon-Teme used these against our opponents to turn them against each other!"

Recognizing the voice, I turned toward the source and asked, "Sora-Nee?" But before I could ask a question, I remembered, "AH! TAI-NII! AND TAKERU-KUN!"

Dorumon-San growled, and he said, "It's a trap!"

Olette-Hime glared and she pulled out her D-Ark and looked to all of us. We all nodded, then she said, "Rouge, it's time we turned DemiDevimon-Teme into Demi dust!"

Rouge extended her claws and smiled viciously as she said, "Fine with me."

Agumon-San quickly threw the mushroom to the ground then we all ran to Tai-Nii and the others. But as we were running, I turned back and even though I couldn't see Sora-Nee and Biyomon-Chan, I knew that they were there, so, using my seismic sense to "see" where they were, I stopped for a minute then turned to them and I said, "Sora-Nee, Biyomon-Chan I know you girls are out there, you girls should know that you can't really hide from me, but thank you for looking out for us."

They didn't respond to me, but I knew that they heard me, so, I turned back towards the others and said, "But please, we need to be a team, and no one, not even you two, should be doing things on your own." When I didn't get a respond, I turned back towards them and said, "Please, just promise me this, no matter what, stay safe. That is all I care for, your safety." And at that, I lifted up my HyperChip Modify Card and said, "HyperChip, Activate!" And then, I was off in a flash!

Then I caught up with the others, slowing down my speed, then I said, "Sorry, just taking care of business."

Everyone nodded in understanding, then we saw Takeru-Kun about to eat one of the mushrooms, but luckily, he got burned, and had to take the mushroom away from his mouth, but I saw Tai-Nii was about to eat one, so I summoned my shield, and transformed it into its crossbow, activated my Targeting Modify Card, and fired away. Everyone looked our way.

Then I yelled out as loud as I could, "Takeru-Otouto! Tai-Nii! Drop those mushrooms at once!"

Olette-Hime, just as worried as I was, then said, "Those are not good mushrooms!"

Then Tai-Nii, the oblivious Nii-San that he was, cheerfully said, "It's alright, guys. There are plenty of mushrooms to go around."

But I went full speed, not bothering holding back my speed, and literally creating a dust cloud behind me and stopped right in front of Nii-San and took both of the mushrooms from him and Takeru-Kun, as well as all of the mushrooms nearby and said, "No, these mushrooms are poison. You eat these, and you will forget who you are."

Then DemiDevimon-Baka, obviously angry that things have stopped going his way, angrily said, "Hey!"

Then Tai-Nii, completely taken by surprise at what was happening, loudly said, "Wait! What is this all about?"

Then I pointed one of the mushrooms at DemiDevimon and said, "You guys don't see him eating them, do you? No, because he is trying to make us forget who we are. Here, why don't you eat it, bon appétit!" Then I threw the mushroom at the flying baseball, but he refused to eat it.

Then Agumon-San glared at DemiDevimon and said, "He won't eat one."

Then Olette-Hime gripped her D-Ark in her hand tightly as she said, "He was trying to slip us some kind of mushroom that makes you forget things."

I watched as the hairs on the back of Rouge's neck as she began hissing, she said, "I bet that he was going to originally use it on Hatching to make him forget about his brother, but when we showed up, he figured he could try to trick the rest of us."

Hearing this seemed to make Takeru-Kun very angry, so he ran up to the rat with wings and he asked, "Is that true? Were you trying to poison us?"

Then DemiDevimon-Teme got very nervous as he slowly started to fly away and he said, "Don't be silly!"

But Tokomon-San growled at Demi-Bakamon and said, "You're lying, just like you lied about Matt-San!"

Then as he tried to fly away, Agumon-San quickly grabbed DemiDevimon-San and Rouge jumped up and slammed her paw into his face, then Agu-San said, "It was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." DemiDevimon-Baka said as he flew up and rubbed his injured face. I even think she bruised his ego as well.

Takeru-Kun was in tears now as he said, "You flying rat!" Then he ran up to Tokomon-San and asked, "Oh, Tokomon-San, can you ever forgive me?"

Tokomon-San simply smiled at his partner and said, "If you promise we'll always be friends."

Takeru-Kun smiled brightly as he held his arms open and said, "Of course." Then Tokomon-San jumped into Takeru-Kun's arms and they both started laughing.

I smiled at seeing the younglings happy and their friendship restored, then I pulled out Takeru-Kun's Digivice and Tag and Crest then I said, "Good work, at least that's one problem taken care of. Takeru-Kun, I believe these are yours." Then I put Takeru-Kun's Tag and Crest around his neck and his Digivice in his hand.

Takeru-Kun looked down at his DigiDestined belongings and he said, "You betchya. Oh."

We all watched as Takeru-Kun's Crest started to glow. "Check it out, Takeru-Kun, your Crest is glowing." Tai-Nii said in surprise.

Seeing this caused DemiDevimon to freak out and in a panicked voice he said, "That's not good." Then he bit Agumon-San, who was forced to release him, then he turned to Takeru-Kun and said, "Who gave you the idea that Crest is yours? Hand it over, you little squirt!" But just as he was about to grab the Crest, Tokomon-San went up to bite at the flying baseball.

Then Tokomon-San started growling more and more as he said, "I'm going to teach this mon a lesson."

Then Takeru-Kun pointed his Digivice at Tokomon-San and said, "Go after him!"

D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N

"Tokomon Digivolve too...Patamon!" And just like that, Patamon was back in action, and boy, did he seem angry.

Then we all shouted out, "Way to go, Patamon!"

Then Rouge stretched out her claws and she said, "Clean the floor with that creep, Patamon!"

But DemiDevimon kicked our favorite flying hamster away from him, Patamon-San then landed in one of the spinning teacups. Then Agumon-San launched a Pepper Breath at DemiDevimon.

And while he did get sent flying, he was still hanging around, then I looked to Tai and asked, "Think you can summon your sword, Ani? Because I really want to hit this guy myself."

Tai-Nii looked at me in confusion for a little bit, then he nodded and said, "I can try." He then closed his eyes and lifted up his hand, then he said, "From night to day, dusk to dawn, I call upon the Sword of Amaterasu!" And in a flash of fire, his sword was in his hands, then he nodded at me.

I raised my crossbow up and aimed my Arrow at DemiDevimon-Baka, then I closed my left eye and shouted out, "Aporo no kami no ya!"

And not soon after that, Tai-Nii quickly shouted out, "Amaterasu no inferuno!"

Then as our attacks rushed towards DemiDevimon-Baka I felt the bond that I shared with Nii-San, and for that one moment, I felt Tai-Nii reach out for me, and it was like our very souls became one, and along with it, our attacks converged.

Then, being in complete synch with each other, we both said, " Asura no shinseina sukōchiarō!" And that combination attack completely knocked DemiDevimon-Baka out of the air and into the same teacup that Patamon-San was in. But I also watched as the green arrow with black flames continued to fly onwards until it hit a tree and exploded in a ball of fire.

Me and Nii-San were completely shocked at the display of destructive power that our combination attack has, but then I heard DemiDevimon-Teme say, "Come here, you!" Snapping me and Nii-San back into the battle.

Then I heard Takeru-Kun cry out, "Patamon-San!"

We all watched as DemiDevimon-Teme was now pulling Patamon-San out of the teacup ride by his wings while saying, "Let's try the roller coaster. It's a gas, especially without a seatbelt."

I was trying to aim another kami no ya at DemiDevimon-Baka, but I couldn't get a lock on without harming Patamon-San, and I doubted that Targeting would be very useful right now. Then I watched as Patamon-San was dropped on the tracks and we all watched in horror as Patamon-San and DemiDevimon-Teme fought. Then I heard Olette-Hime shout out, "DigiModify, Hyper Wings Activate!"

We all turned to see Olette-Chan slashing her Modify Card through her D-Ark, then Rouge grew six wings, then she said, "Hold on, Patamon, I'm coming!"

Then I heard DemiDevimon-Baka saying, "You know, you really should consider renting yourself out as a football."

Then we all heard Rouge viciously say, "And you should consider renting yourself out as a punching bag."

DemiDevimon-Teme turned to see Rouge's fist glowing in shadows as she said, "Eat this you Kusojāku! Phantom Punch!"

Hearing what she said, I quickly covered Takeru-Kun's ears, and I said, "That's not a word you should know, Takeru-Kun. Don't ever repeat it." Takeru-Kun nodded dumbly, obviously not knowing what Rouge had just said, hopefully.

Rouge then delivered a powerful shadow punch to DemiDevimon-Teme's face, making him drop Patamon-San, who managed to recover then the two shared a look, and nodded.

Patamon-San smiled at the black cat as he said, "Thanks for the help."

Rouge nodded simply and said, "Don't mention it. You go low, I'll go high."

But Patamon-San shook his head and said, "No, this time, I've got this."

Rouge raised an eyebrow then asked, "You sure about this?" Patamon-San nodded, then she said, "Fine, but if I see you're in trouble, I'm coming in." Patamon-San nodded once more then charged at DemiDevimon.

Takeru-Kun was confused as to what his partner was doing and asked, "Patamon-San, what are you doing?"

Then I heard Tai-Nii say, "Let him do what's he's got to do."

I nodded and said, "He's right. This is Patamon-San's fight, we should not interfere. Besides, I have a feeling he's going to be all right."

Then we watched as Patamon-San fought against DemiDevimon-Baka. Patamon-San then bashed his head against DemiDevimon-Baka's, I flinched at seeing this and said, "Ohh, now that's using your head."

Patamon-San then inflated like a balloon then he shouted out, "Boom Bubble! Hah!" That sent DemiDevimon-Baka flying onto the coaster tracks. But then Patamon launched yet another, "Boom Bubble! Hah!" And he kept on unleashing Boom Bubble after Boom Bubble at DemiDevimon-Baka.

Tai-Nii whistled at this and said, "Man, I don't think I have ever seen Patamon-San this vicious before."

I nodded then said, "Well, maybe he's got some anger he needs to let go of. Kami knows I do." I said the last part softly, but I knew the others heard me.

Then we watched as Patamon-San unleashed one final Boom Bubble and sent DemiDevimon-Baka flying off past the trees. I couldn't help myself but to shout out, "Strike three! You're out!"

Then the others cheered at the small hamsters victory, "You the mon!"

And Rouge slowly clapped her paws as she said, "Now that's how you take out the trash!"

Then Takeru-Kun ran up to Patamon-San and said, "You were awesome, Patamon-San." Then he looked down and said, "Now I feel even worse about the way I treated you."

Patamon-San smiled and said, "We promised we'd always be friends. And the first rule of friendship is forgive and forget. Let's forget it ever happened, okay?"

Takeru-Kun nodded and said, "Okay, I'll pretend I had a bite of that funny mushroom."

Then Patamon-San jumped into Takeru-Kun's arms and said, "Me, too."

I had to wipe the tear from my eye as I heard Tai-Nii say, "Aw, that's kind of cool, isn't it?"

We all nodded and said, "Yeah, it sure is."

Then Tai-Nii said, "And it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for you guys. By the way, how did you guys find out about those mushrooms anyway?"

Then Agumon-San turned to Nii-San and said, "A voice in my head."

Tai-Nii looked completely baffled at this and asked, "You're kidding me?"

I chuckled and said, "Uh, Tai-Nii, in case you have forgotten, we both have a couple of voices in our head, remember?"

Tai-Nii's eyes widened at being reminded at that, then he said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot."

I sighed then asked, "Are you sure you didn't eat one of those mushrooms, Nii-Baka?" I closed my eyes to rub them, but subtly, I used my seismic sense to see where Sora-Nee and Biyomon-Chan were, I 'saw' them hiding behind a few bushes about ten feet behind me, then I thought, 'Nee-San, don't let what Myotismon-Teme and DemiDevimon-Baka said get to you. We all love you, and nothing will change that. But, please, be safe. I don't want to think about my friends getting hurt.'

Then, as the sun was setting, we all were staring at the ocean, then Tai-Nii said, "Okay, listen up. Izzy-San was totally right when he said all the weird stuff going on in the Digital World would somehow affect our world, too. I don't know how we're going to do it, but we've got to fix things in this world before we can return to our own world, but we've got to work together as a team. Everyone one of us is important."

Then Takeru-Kun walked up to Nii-San and asked, "Am I important, too?"

I smiled and rubbed his head and said, "Yes you are, our little budding angel of hope. Yes you are."

Olette-Hime smiled as well as she said, "Yeah, because you're a part of the team. And nothing in either of the worlds will ever change that."

Tai-Nii nodded and he looked up towards the setting sun and said, "Now, let's go find the others."

We all nodded and said, "Yeah!"

Then Tai-Nii said, "This goes to show that sometimes, you don't need a forgetful mushroom to make us forget who our real friends are."

"Yeah, sorry, Patamon-San." Takeru-Kun said softly to Patamon-San.

But Patamon-San simply turned to him and said, "It's forgotten, remember?"

I watched as Takeru-Kun realized what Patamon-San meant as he smiled and said, "That's right. I forgot."

And so, we returned to the Digital World, only to find our friends have all split up, and gone their separate ways. Now it is time for us to bring the team back together again, one member at a time. But who could DemiDevimon be working for? Well, duh, Myotismon-Baka, but just how long until he shows his ugly mug? Only time will tell, so stick around for the next chapter of Digimon: New Life!

Thechaosmaster: And there we have it, folks. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter; I know I did. Well, no long-winded closing statement, I will just say, goodnight.

CHAOS CONTROL!

Thechaosmaster: Woah boy, you have no idea how long it took me just finish this bloody chapter. But, as I said before, when I learned of Philece's death, well, I'll admit, I don't pay much attention to voice actors/actress, but, knowing that we'll never hear Mimi's iconic voice, it kinda hurts. But, getting back to happy thoughts, not much changed in this chapter, besides changing the combination attack to Japanese and showing just how dangerous the combos can become, well, I kept you all waiting long enough, good day, night, morning, evening, or whenever you read this, and remember, leave your favorite quote, or a poem, or even a haiku in the reviews, and I will choose my favorite ones to put in the next three chapters. DigiDestined around, please raise you Digivices and crests to the sky to honor a voice actress (Note: Yes, I know she voiced more than just Mimi, she also voiced Cody, but, let's just remember her for as she was, a legend.

R.I.P.

Philece Sampler

1953 – 2021 You will be missed.

CHAOS CONTROL!