"Sir, I've got something for you."

Turning away from the two that he had been speaking with, BanchoLeomon motioned for the Hawkmon to come closer. The Hawkmon handed over the paper and retreated from the room. Ignoring the inquisitive expressions of Angela and Devimon, the lion read through the report. A brief look of apprehension appeared on his face before his eyes widened. Though it was small, Angela could see him smiling.

"What is it? This is the first time I've seen a look on your face that wasn't dread."

The smile widened. "The DigiDestined are back."

"Really?" Angela asked, mirroring his smile. "Then we may have a chance after all!"

"With them back, that means there'll be less focus on us," Devimon said with a smirk.

"There is bad news, though," BanchoLeomon grunted, his smile fading. "File City was attacked. No one was killed, but many were injured. Mervamon survived an encounter with Beelzemon."

"All that matters is that they're okay. We'll still have their help."

"That is true. I will see how many can be brought here. After that, we need to start making new plans. The arrive of the DigiDestined has given us the chance we need to turn things around." The lion turned to Angela. "Gather the others."

With a grin on her face, Angela nodded. "Yes, sir."

~0~

The entire city seemed to wake up as the sun rose. Most of the DigiDestined would rather have slept in, but were greeted by the booming voice of Zudomon instead. Knowing that they needed to get ready, they climbed out of their beds and prepared for the day. When they left the room, Zudomon directed them to the conference room, wishing to speak to them once again. Laid out on the table was enough food for all eleven of them. The duration of their meal was mostly silent, interrupted by short conversations that lasted only a couple minutes.

It was after everyone had finished that Zudomon chose to begin speaking.

"Where do you plan to go next?"

"We haven't quite decided on a destination yet," Renamon said. "The only reason we came here was because Mervamon recommended we visit."

Tadashi tapped his fingers against the table. "Set destinations won't be helpful given how often the enemy moves around. Instead, our primary focus should be intercepting Laylamon's forces at the locations they target."

"And weaken her army while doing so," Zudomon grunted.

"Precisely."

"I see. In that case, I would advise you to visit the Resistance headquarters. All the information gathered by the members is sent there. You could read through various reports detailing the past movements of Laylamon's army as well as information about some of her strongest soldiers."

Because they had found out very little since arriving, it would be their best bet. It was possible they could find out more about Beelzemon, too; after all, there was a strong possibility they would end up facing him in battle.

"Sounds like a plan. Where is it?"

Before Zudomon had a chance to answer Daiki, the door burst open and Gomamon ran inside, frantic.

"Sir, urgent news! One of the Resistance scouts reported that a group of soldiers are going to attack Block City!"

Everyone was on their feet within moments up hearing the announcement. With the others rushed out of the room, Daiki turned to Mikami and grabbed her by the shoulders. She blinked and waited for him to figure out what he wanted to say.

"Mikami, promise me you'll stay away from the battle."

"I promise." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "I'm surprised you're even letting me go."

"Even though I know Zudomon would protect you, I can't bring myself to just leave you here while we're so far away," he admitted. "I want to be able to know for sure that you're okay. If something were to happen here while you were still here…"

The look in his eyes was akin to that of an overprotective, worried father. Putting her hand on top of his, Mikami looked him in the eyes. His concern was both endearing and infuriating, as there were much more important things that he needed to be focused on rather than her. Still, the fact that he was so worried about her made her smile. The smile must have unsettled him, as he opened his mouth to say something and closed it again when he couldn't think of what to say. He let go of her, flustered.

"We shouldn't keep the others waiting."

"Right," he muttered.

When they walked outside, Shizuka gave them a quick glance before Garudamon scooped the group into her hands and leaped into the sky.

The first time they had flown a long distance had been the day they met with Angela. Luckily for them, Garudamon was much faster than her Champion form. It was nearing sundown when they arrived in Toy Zone. From the air, the group of enemy troops could be seen closing in on the city. Standing around the outside edge of the city were more Digimon that were facing the oncoming foes. The massive bird flew over the city and landed in the square, where Monzaemon and several of the city residents were waiting.

"Thank goodness! I was surprised when I heard you had returned, though I am beyond grateful that you've come to provide backup for the Resistance Digimon."

"Just leave everything to us," Shizuka said. "We'll help protect the city."

Garudamon lowered her hand to let Mikami jump down.

"Monzaemon, can you do me a favor and watch out for Mikami?" Daiki asked.

Confused, the giant teddy bear stared at the brunette before nodding. "It's the least I can do."

With that done, Garudamon flew back into the sky and made her way towards the outskirts of the city. Once she was clear of the buildings, she landed in front of the Resistance members that stood waiting. She crouched down and lowered her hand to ground to let her passengers climb off. The rest of the Digimon partners Digivolved into their Ultimate levels.

To say they were anxious was an understatement. It was the first time since facing the Devas that they would be in a real battle.

Yet all of them were feeling a sense of anticipation.

Taomon turned her attention to the Resistances members. "Excuse me, but which one of you is leading this battalion?"

"Me." A large bipedal dragon stepped forward and folded his arms. "The name's Vritramon."

"I have a plan, if you would hear it out."

The DigiDestined exchanged glances. None of them had talked about a plan.

"Go ahead," Vritramon said.

She explained in full the details of the plan, from the role each of her friends would play to how Vritramon's battalion could help them. It involved some risk, but given the circumstances, that was to be expected. It didn't take long for her friends to agree to the plan, as it was the only plan they had. Vritramon, on the other hand, took a moment to ponder on his decision. Seeing as how there wasn't much time before their enemies reached them, he finally settled on an answer.

"Sounds good. We'll do it."

Taomon nodded. "Then let's start."

Vritramon leapt into the air. A fiery aura surrounded his body, which he let build up before releasing it. Just before the swirling flames reached the ground, Taomon threw several talismans into the fire. They exploded, causing a plume of smoke and dust to spread outwards and cover the area.

"Now!" Taomon shouted as she led the charge forward.

Most of them rushed straight in without a second thought. Under the cover of the smokescreen, they were able to take their enemies by surprise. Garudamon hung back to avoid blowing the smoke away, instead deciding to wait in case back-up was needed, while Angewomon provided support from a distance by shooting arrows at any enemy she could see. Attacks were fired wildly by the opposing forces, but were easily avoided; those that performed the attacks were quickly dealt with.

By the time the smoke had cleared, a sizeable group of the foes who had been caught in the smokescreen were taken out.

A chain flew upwards and wrapped around Angewomon's ankle. The angel was yanked out of the air with a shout of surprise and slammed into the ground. The rough terrain tore at her wings as she was dragged until one of Garudamon's feet landed on the chain, breaking the links. Freed from the chain, Angewomon flew up and nocked an arrow, ready to shoot whoever had attacked her.

Before she could, WereGarurumon lunged at the SkullMeramon responsible.

When he attempted to get in a kick, SkullMeramon caught his ankle and swung him around, slamming his back against a nearby boulder. When the humanoid raised him back into the air, WereGarurumon rammed his foot into SkullMeramon's face. This caused him to be dropped. Still reeling from the surprise hit, SkullMeramon was unable to move in time to avoid the claws that were soon plunged into his chest.

Garudamon joined the fray, landing on top of two MetalGreymon and crushing them. A third sent out a barrage of missiles that were detonated when they were hit by Angewomon's arrows. The MetalGreymon was soon squashed by Garudamon's hand. This caught the attention of a group of Cannonbeemon, who swarmed the bird. Being a large as she was, Garudamon's moved too slowly to catch them. Every time she swung her arm, the Cannonbeemon dodged and continued with their attacks.

DoruGreymon came to the rescue, flying directly into the group and impaling several of them on his horn. Using his tail, he knocked several more out the sky. Those that fell were set on by Resistance members and taken out. The Cannonbeemon abandoned their previous target to go after DoruGreymon, though Angewomon was picking them off while the dragon avoided their attacks.

Down below, Taomon, Vritramon, and a small number of their allies were dealing with a group of Assaultmon and Andromon. The Andromon launched several missiles, prompting Vritramon to spin around and shoot at them. This caused them to detonate, sending smoke billowing upwards. With their vision obscured by the smoke, the Assaultmon fired blindly. Taomon motioned for Vritramon to get back and held up her brush.

"Talisman of Light!"

The following explosion blew away the smoke and replaced it with a wall of dust that, luckily, settled quickly. The Digimon around her moved forward to deal with those that had escaped the explosion.

When Taomon noticed that Vritramon's attention was turned elsewhere, she tried to figure out what it was that he was looking at. Standing away from the battle was tall Digimon with a horse-like appearance. Taomon was quick to recognize the Digimon as none other than Indramon, one of the Devas. A loud growl came from Vritramon as he glared.

"There he is."

As he shot up into the air, Taomon went after him. "Vritramon, wait!"

The dragon refused to listen and dove down at Indramon with a roar, flames building around him. Indramon, showing no signs of emotion, pulled the trumpet shell off his back.

"Wildfire Tsunami!"

Instead of the attack hitting its intended target, it was sucked into the massive shell held by Indramon. Vritramon stopped and stared, wondering what had just happened, until the flames shot back out at him. He crossed his arms in front of him to protect himself, though the blast pushed him backwards a few feet. Taomon caught him and held him for a moment so that he could shake off the attack.

"I told you to wait," she chided.

"I need to finish him off now," Vritramon replied.

Indramon snorted. "As if you could."

With a snarl, Vritramon tried to launch himself at Indramon once again and was stopped by Taomon.

"We need a plan," she said. "Charging into a battle with him will only end with you being defeated. Or worse."

He was prepared to argue, but Vritramon realized that the fox was right and huffed. "Alright. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Avoid attacks that can be absorbed by the shell. Attack him directly."

"Alright. I'll do my best."

"Keep him preoccupied," Taomon said, "but be careful."

Realizing that she had a plan, the dragon nodded and lunged. He swung a fist, striking Indramon in the face. The Deva swung one his legs upwards, hitting Vritramon in the stomach. With a grimace, Vritramon moved to the side and rammed his foot into the back of the horse's head.

With Indramon's attention drawn to Vritramon, Taomon located WereGarurumon and rushed over to him. An Andromon went flying past her, followed by WereGarurumon. When the android landed, WereGarurumon grabbed it by the head and crushed it. He finally took notice of Taomon.

"What is it?"

"I'm going to need your help with him," she said, looking towards Indramon.

"Gotcha."

He followed her to where Vritramon and Indramon were still battling. Before Indramon could get another hit in, WereGarurumon leapt forward and punched Indramon in the jaw, causing the Deva's head to snap upwards. In retaliation, Indramon smacked WereGarurumon away. The werewolf landed on his back but was up on his feet again within moments. Vritramon began shooting Indramon's back. Annoyed, the Deva turned to attack him. However, WereGarurumon used the distraction to deliver a harsh kick to the side of Indramon's head. He followed up with another kick. A third hit came from Taomon, who swung her brush with enough force to cause the horse to stumble.

Disoriented by the attack, Indramon was unable to stop Vritramon from knocking the shell out of his grasp. Taomon used her Talisman of Light attack to destroy it. She then turned and threw a handful of talismans onto Indramon. They detonated, making Indramon lean to the side. He was then slammed into the ground by Vritramon.

The dragon rose into the air, pointing his Rudriya Darpana downwards while doing so, and proceeded to fire the weapons.

WereGarurumon jumped up and spun around with one leg extended. A blade of energy shot out and cut through Indramon's neck, decapitating him. The horse shattered, and Taomon and WereGarurumon absorbed his data.

"You were right. I shouldn't've rushed in like that," Vritramon grunted. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Taomon replied. "Let's finish off the rest of his troops."

Vritramon nodded.

Once they were certain all the enemies had been dealt with, they gathered near the city. Vritramon triple-checked his troops, counting the number of Digimon gathered each time. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the number of loses was nowhere near what he had initially guessed.

"Thanks to you guys, we were able to get through this with minimal loses," Vritramon said. "Still, I wish we hadn't lost anyone."

"It's inevitable in war," Renamon muttered. "At the very least we were able to—"

"DigiDestined! There's a problem!"

Various heads turned as a ToyAgumon ran up to them with a panicked expression. He bent over and caught his breath before continuing. "Monzaemon was attacked. Your—your friend—she's gone!"

The dark look that crossed Daiki's face caused the small Digimon to shrink back in fear.

"What?"

"I—!"

A startled yelp came from the ToyAgumon when Daiki grabbed him and raised him into the air, shaking him back and forth. Shizuka grabbed Daiki by the shoulders, trying to get him to let go of the poor ToyAgumon.

"What happened? Where is she?"

"I don't know! I'm sorry!"

"Monzaemon was supposed to keep her safe!"

With a shout of "Daiki, calm down!" Shizuka threw him to the ground, causing him to drop the frightened Digimon. She turned to look at the others, who were staring with wide eyes. Whether it was from what had just happened, the news that their friend was gone, or both was unclear. Shizuka, though, was furious. She knew something would happen if they brought Mikami along, yet none of them had listened to her when she tried to tell them. Now what were they supposed to do? Fighting a war and scouring the entire world to find Mikami and whoever had taken her was going to be hard.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a choking sound that she discovered was coming from Daiki.

"This is my fault. I should've made her stay in Web City."

"You're right. This is your fault, you idiot," Shizuka said before spinning around to look at the others. "Actually, all of you are to blame! This is why I didn't want her to come with us! I told you it'd come back to bite us in the ass! Now she's gone. All because you guys couldn't stand to say goodbye!"

"Enough!" Renamon snapped.

No one had expected the fox to lose her temper, let alone grab Shizuka by the shirt. "We are all aware of our mistake. There is no need for you to speak that way. This isn't the time to be arguing. We should be focusing on finding her."

"And how do you suggest we do that? In case you forgot, we're in the middle of a war!"

With narrowed eyes, Renamon growled. "That doesn't matter. I am not going to lose another friend." The growl that followed made Shizuka's eyes widen. "We will find her or die trying. If you would rather not to, that is your choice, but I am going to search for her."

Shizuka stumbled when the fox shoved her away, but recovered her footing and glared. "You think I don't care about her?"

A few tense moments followed until Vritramon cleared his throat. "Look, I don't know how much help my men and I can be, but we can help search. But we had better start right now. I'll even have a message sent out to other strongholds to let them know."

Renamon nodded and turned to her friends. "You heard him. We'll start with the Toy Zone and spread outwards. Let's spilt up to cover more ground. Meet back here when you're done."

There was little hesitation from most of them. Judai, Yoko, and Salamon were flying through the air on Dorugamon as soon as she stopped talking. Tadashi and Garurumon left next. Vritramon gave the order and sped away, his troops following him. Shizuka muttered a few choice words before she and Birdramon disappeared into the distance. Letting out a heavy sigh, Renamon walked up to Daiki and goaded him to stand. The young man's face was pale and he was shaking in her grasp.

"Daiki—"

He cut her off. "If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself."

"I know," she whispered, placing a paw on his shoulder. "We're all worried, Daiki. We will find her. Now, let's go."