First and foremost, I would like to thank Linkmaste for the cover she drew for this story. It's amazing, and it's kind of sad that you can't really see the details here. You can, however, check out the full thing on her deviantArt page. (Also, please ignore the fact that I wrote Kyubimon instead of Taomon in the Digivice's analysis of her last time. I type faster than I think sometimes, so I screw up, and often don't notice, even when rereading it, until it's posted. Anyone who's read Digimon Academy and Digimon Academy 02: Return of the Demon Lords should remember the pillow remote incident)

Anyway, here comes episode 11~

Renamon: "We managed to meet up with Miyuki again, but one of the Digimon we encountered, Leomon, attacked her, thinking DemiDevimon was a threat. As soon as we managed to convince him that he was wrong, however, we were attacked by some virus-infected Digimon. Leomon was destroyed, but I Digivolved to Taomon to finish the battle."


"It's only a matter of time before he succumbs to his true nature."

Leomon's words were still ringing in Miyuki's ears as she and the others reentered the tunnel. She knew he was wrong. Yes, DemiDevimon sometimes lost control for a moment as Devidramon, but she had always been able to pull him out of it. If he was becoming like the rest of the Viruses, he would have killed her long ago.

DemiDevimon looked at his partner, having a pretty good idea of what she was thinking about. Honestly, he was thinking about it, too. He had been losing control more and more often lately, and that terrified him. What if he went too far one day? What if he hurt someone? What if he hurt her? He'd never forgive himself... He didn't know if he could bring himself to Digivolve again, even though he knew he'd need to. He just hoped that when he reached his Ultimate form, whatever it may be, he would have more control over himself.

Hana looked back at the brunette and her Virus partner. She'd already been pretty sure that they were bad news in one way or another, and Leomon's words only backed that theory up. The others kept calling her stubborn, but she felt she was just being practical. How were they supposed to believe that some weird, cloaked figure or whatever showed up in her room and brought her in? It just didn't make any sense. She and the others had been sent in the internet by a device built by the government to do so. It was science. She wasn't sure how they did it, but it was a reasonable explanation, not some weird 'magic' or whatever. It just didn't make sense, but for some reason, the others were just taking it at face value, and it was driving her insane. What was worse was that she knew even her own partner agreed with them.

She sighed. There was a small part of her that hoped she was wrong, because if the other girl was trouble, it would just be bad for them. Not only would they have the regular Viruses to face, but a girl who knew how they fought by now. She would know their strengths and their weaknesses. If she turned out to be an enemy, it would be a huge problem later on.

Hana was pulled out of her thoughts when Labramon spoke. "I know we're probably all thinking about Leomon," he began. "And I know it makes sense, considering what he said, and then what he did for us, but... we have bigger things to worry about right now." He paused. "When this is all over with, then maybe we can do something nice, you know, to remember him by, but don't we need to focus on what's ahead of us?"

"That... was surprisingly insightful..." Yumi said, a bit stunned that her typically act first, think later partner could realize that.

"You're right," Hana told the Rookie. "Come on. There's a way to another site."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Miyuki asked, pushing any worries to the back of her mind for the moment. "Let's go."

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

A large figure, shrouded in shadows, smirked as he saw them in the distance. The humans had entered his domain. They were his prey now.

They wouldn't get far.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"Are we... underwater?" Hana asked, stunned to find herself suspended in water. The others looked just as stunned as she did.

"How are we able to breathe down here?" Kiira asked.

Miyuki looked at her. "You really wanna think about that?" she asked. "How about we just be grateful we aren't drowning?"

"As curious as I'm sure we all are," Palmon began, "Miyuki's right. The only really important thing is that we can breathe without any trouble. We can worry about the details later."

A figure began swimming toward them, slowly appearing in the distance. The girls pulled out their Digivices while their partners did their best to take defensive stances while floating in the water.

The creature in front of them was blue with what appeared to be a dive tank on its back.

"Name: Divermon. Classification: Data. Threat: High."

"Wait!" the Ultimate in front of them said, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "I'm not going to hurt you." He paused, studying them. "You're them, aren't you?" he asked. "We need your help."

"Them?" Yumi asked. "You mean, Digi-Destined?" They had been hearing that term a lot, even though so far, Miyuki seemed to be the only one to fit those requirements.

Divermon nodded. "Please, you have to help us."

"What's the problem?" Hana asked.

He sighed. "Our protector is gone, and the Digimon are slowly become corrupted."

"Wait, what?"

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Divermon led them down, and to their surprise, there was no problem regarding water pressure. Somehow, they were perfectly fine. Perhaps it was the same reason they could breathe underwater, whatever that reason was. They ended up in what looked like a city made of coral structures, though many were in ruins. Divermone brought them into the largest one still in one piece. Inside were a larger group of Divermon, along with Digimon that looked like large blue crabs.

"Name: Crabmon. Classification: Data. Threat: Minimal."

"Okay, so what's this about your protector being gone?" Hana asked.

A Divermon that looked a bit older than the others spoke up. "We were once protected by a Digimon named Whamon. Our home was always peaceful. However... a Virus appeared one day and destroyed him. Almost every day, it returns and destroys another part of the city and takes one of our own, twisting them into one of its minions. At this rate, we'll lose both our home and our lives as we know them." He looked the blonde straight in the eye. "However, with you here, there is a good chance that we may defeat him and take our domain back."

Another Divermon looked to the Crabmon. "So many of the young ones have lost their families, either to the Virus or the battles that used to ensue when he came."

"Used to?" Palmon asked. "What happened?"

The older Divermon spoke again. "Too many lost their lives in the battles. Eventually, we simply hid, hoping we could escape him, but it never worked. It is a horrible feeling, seeing a friend or family member dragged away, but being too afraid to try to save them." He closed his eyes. "I hope you can help us."

"We'll do everything we can," Kiira assured him.

"Where does this Virus hide out?" Hana asked.

"He resides in a cave to far east," one of the Crabmon told her.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"These poor Digimon," Miyuki said softly. "It has to be horrible, what they're going through."

DemiDevimon nodded. "Yeah. Losing their protector... They're practically defenseless here." He frowned. "Who's to say that nothing else will show up in this thing's place when we get rid of it?"

"We can't know that," Yumi said. "But we have to try. And if we can get these Digimon back their families..."

"Right," Labramon said with a nod. "Let's go."

"I just hope it won't be too difficult, trying to battle in the water," Renamon said. "This Virus is going to have the home field advantage."

"We just have to adapt," Hana told her partner. "We can do this. We have to."

Before anyone could say anything else, multiple figures approached them quickly. They looked like fossilized fish, but they were dark red in color, with glowing red eyes. These were no doubt some of the Digimon infected by a virus.

"Fossil Bite!" they yelled, biting down on the Rookies, who tried to shake them off, wincing in pain. Renamon, Palmon, and Labramon were able to dislodge their opponents quickly, but DemiDevimon was too small to effectively throw off the Digimon clamped down on his legs.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon yelled, slightly damaging it and weakening its grip.

"Poison Ivy!" Palmon attacked, wrapping her vines around it, pulling it off. She managed to get it off DemiDevimon, but in the process, she was sent sideways a bit, having no ground to brace herself on.

DemiDevimon shook himself for a moment. "Thanks, guys!" he said.

"Any time!" Palmon replied.

"Name: Coelamon. Classification: Data. Threat: Medium."

"Alright, let's even the playing field a little, huh?" Miyuki asked. It's alright, DemiDevimon, she thought when she saw her partner's nervous look. You'll be fine.

"Renamon Digivolve to... Kyubimon!"

"Labramon Digivolve to... Seasarmon!"

"Palmon Digivolve to... Togemon!"

"DemiDevimon Digivolve to... Devidramon!"

"Are you sure that was a smart idea?" Kiira asked Miyuki, knowing the girl and her partner were still a little nervous about Digivolving.

She shrugged. "I think so. Nothing's telling me it was a bad idea, anyway."

The other girl nodded. She had learned by now that they could all trust Miyuki's instincts.

"Sun's Courage!" Seasarmon called out, firing at a group of Coelamon, knocking them backward.

"Needle Spray!" Togemon yelled, everyone swimming out of the way. Unfortunately, the attack couldn't do as much damage as it would on dry land, and the water began to slow the needles down.

Kyubimon had a feeling her attacks, being fire-based, wouldn't work underwater, but she had to try. "Fox Tail Inferno!" she called out, though as expected, the flames died almost immediately.

"Well, this is working just about as well as we expected," Miyuki muttered. "Devidramon?"

"On it," he replied, raising one of his arms. "Crimson Claw!" he yelled, bringing it down on his opponents.

Kyubimon looked back at her partner. "Hana," she began, "I'm useless right now in this form. I need to Digivolve."

The blonde nodded, opening her Digivice. The data flowed toward her partner.

"Kyubimon Digivolve to... Taomon!"

"Alright, that will probably help," Seasarmon commented as the Ultimate raised her giant calligraphy brush.

"Talisman of Light!" she called out, purging the Champions of the viruses that had infected them.

One blinked before looking up at them. "Did you... save us?"

Hana nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "You're free now. You can go home to your families."

"And you don't need to worry about this Virus coming after you ever again, either," Miyuki added. "We're getting rid of this son of a bitch."

After watching the Coelamon make their way back, the group continued on their way.

"What do you think we're in for?" Yumi asked.

"Something strong enough to take down a Digimon like Whamon, we know that much," Seasarmon replied. "And Whamon's a pretty big Ultimate."

Kiira looked to Miyuki. "Anything?" she asked, everyone knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"Yeah," she said with a nod and a grim expression. "And it's bad."

Almost as if on cue, the cave came into view and a Digimon was emerging from it. They couldn't see any details yet, but they could tell it was even bigger than Devidramon.

"Oh, no," Togemon said. "Miyuki isn't the only one with a bad feeling here."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little humans meddling where they don't belong," the Digimon said. It came into view, revealing a blue creature with two large tentacle-like appendages coming from its back. It bore a slight resemblance to the Devimon they had fought a while back.

"Name: MarineDevimon. Classification: Virus. Threat: High."

"Yep, that looks strong enough to take out Whamon," Seasarmon muttered.

Devidramon was the first to act. "Crimson Claw!" he yelled, only to be batted away by one of the tentacles. He hit the ocean floor, sliding across the sand but digging a claw in to slow down.

"Sun's Courage!" Seasarmon yelled, aiming for MarineDevimon's head. The Ultimate simply moved its head to the side, dodging the attack with ease. He slapped the Champion away with his other tentacle.

"Talisman of Light!" Taomon called out.

MarineDevimon opened his mouth. "Dark Deluge!" he attacked, an inky substance shooting out of his mouth and hitting Taomon, sending her flying backwards. She looked up at him, looking a bit weakened but refusing to back down.

"Thousand Spells!" she yelled, causing many talismans to form around her opponent, causing them to explode. Marine Devimon growled, damaged but not weakened in the slightest.

The Ultimate just barely caught the movement behind him when he heard, "Crimson Claw!" He was forced to take a step to avoid losing his balance before turning on the Virus Champion.

"Dark Deluge!" he attacked, but Seasarmon was by his side in an instant, trying to pull him out of the way, despite their immense size difference. Both took a hit, but it wasn't as bad as the direct hit that would have gotten Devidramon if Seasarmon hadn't acted as quickly as he did.

"Talisman of—" But before Taomon could finish, she was knocked to the side by one of the tentacles, pushed into the ground by one of his hands.

"You all think you're special, that you're going to 'save the internet'." He laughed. "What a joke. You're all just children."

"Hey, let go of her!" Togemon yelled, charging him. He hit her away, but hissed in pain as some of her needles embedded themselves in his hand.

I have to do something... the cactus Digimon thought, looking from the other Champions who were too weak to fight, to the Ultimate being pushed into the ground. She glared up at MarineDevimon. She would take him down if it was the last thing she did...

"Togemon Digivolve to... Lillymon!"

In the cactus Champion's place stood a humanoid figure with a flower on her head and wings made out of leaves.

"Wow..." Kiira whispered, watching as her partner took off from the ocean floor, using her small size and wings to swim easily through the water.

"Name: Lillymon. Classification: Vaccine. Threat: None."

Lillymon narrowed her eyes at MarineDevimon. "Hey," she told him. "She was weakened in battle. Why don't you pick on someone who can put up a fight?" Sorry, Taomon, she thought, hoping her friend wouldn't take it personally.

Marine Devimon thought for a moment, looking down at the Digimon he had subdued. As much as he'd like to finish her off right now, he needed to take out this other nuisance. It wasn't like Taomon was getting up soon, anyway. He tossed her to the side, looking up at his new opponent.

"Good," Lillymon said with a smile. "Let's see how you like this!" She brought her hands together, arms pointed out. "Flower Cannon!" she yelled, pushed back by the recoil of her attack, but using the momentum to swim away from the tentacle that had shot out while she fired her attack. It hit MarineDevimon in the face, causing him to pause, a bit stunned for the moment. "I don't know what your problem is with our human friends, but trust me, whatever you want, you're not going to get it."

The Virus laughed. "I'm not the one that wants you gone this badly," he said. "Yes, it's true that this battle is fun..." He shot out a tentacle, which Lillymon dodged once again. "I'm working under someone else's orders."

"Who?" Hana asked. "Who are you working for?"

MarineDevimon laughed again, looking at the four humans. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know? You'd be surprised what kind of havoc a single creature can cause."

Lillymon had paused in her attack as her friends tried to get information out of her target, but once it was clear that he was done speaking, she swam in circles above him, dodging from side to side as he tried to swipe at her. She slowly got lower and lower, eventually circling his neck. "Flower Wreath!" she yelled as a circle of flowers appeared on the Viruses neck. His eyes widened as he froze. "Sorry, buddy," she said with a shrug. "But those tentacles of yours were getting pretty annoying. Flower Cannon!"

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

The group returned to the coral town where the Digimon living there waited for them.

"Thank you so much for saving us," one of the Coelamon said.

"We are very grateful to you for bringing our families back together," one of the Divermon spoke up.

One of the Crabmon looked a little hesitant. "But... how do we know that nothing else will come by and do the same thing?" he asked. "We don't have a protector anymore..."

Miyuki looked at the group, eyes landing on the older Divermon from earlier. "You're the leader of this town, right?" He nodded. "I have an idea." She turned to the other girls. "Open your Digivices."

"What?" Hana asked with a raised brow.

"Just do it," the brunette said, opening hers. She knew the viruses that the devices had absorbed would be purified into regular data. If she was right...

The data flowed toward the older Divermon, surrounding him in a bright light. When it was gone, a scaled, merman-like Digimon with a trident stood in his place.

"Name: Neptunemon. Classification: Vaccine. Threat: Extreme."

Miyuki smiled at the newly Digivolved Mega. "Looks like this place has a new protector."

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"How did you know that would work?" Kiira asked as they exited back into the tunnel.

"Let me guess," Hana said sarcastically. "One of those feelings of yours?"

Miyuki glared. "Okay, one, yes, and two, are you seriously still doubting me after all of the ones that saved our asses?"

Hana crossed her arms. "Whatever..." she muttered. She didn't doubt that one of these days, Miyuki was going to try leading them all into trouble.

Labramon looked up to see a troubled expression on his partner's face. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I was just thinking..." Yumi said. "What did MarineDevimon mean, the havoc a 'single creature' can cause? Is there... is there only one thing behind all of this? And if it is... it has to be strong enough to screw with everything, and I don't know if we can take it on. I don't know if we'll ever be strong enough. And where did this thing even come from, anyway? Something that strong doesn't just appear."

"You have a point..." Kiira said.

"Whatever's out there ahead of us," Hana stated, "it can't be good."

Next time:
DemiDevimon: You know, I'm not sure she'll ever trust us.
Miyuki: I know. No matter what I do, she just won't get it through her thick head.
Kiira: Just give her time.
Miyuki: She's had time.
DemiDevimon: You know what we have to do now, right?
Miyuki: Yeah.

Well, there you have it. I actually kinda like the way this one came out. We're now learning a little bit about the mysterious main enemy. I had someone ask me about plot progression, and I wasn't sure how to hint at the main enemy without giving it all away. See, all of them need to make it to Ultimate and then maybe have another few episodes after that before I can do my big reveal that I have had planned basically since the beginning.

Anyway, I think that's all I have to say, so that's it for this time.

See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~