Far removed from the scarred sky of the battlefront, a shining sun heralded a new dawn, as light spilled over the secret plateau that held Chelone. The skies were clear, the air was cool and crisp, and two dragons were engaged in a gruelling duel of speed and wit.

Edan crashed into the ground, and quickly looked over his shoulder. Kaida wasn't far behind, falling straight for him, claw outstretched. He leaped again, rocketing at least a hundred feet into the air, and five hundred feet over the cracked rock surface.

The air-time gave him room to think. He was still in the lead, but his next three moves would be critical - Kaida was very good at this game. As he landed, he went into a roll, then exited with another leap as he finished his revolution. He was carried low and fast by his momentum.

Okay, Edan. Here we go...

He extended his legs, and hit the ground running. To his left was the start of a mountain range, and to his right, was a sheer cliff drop. He was running between them at maximum speed, intending to take a left turn and follow the ridge line.

What he wasn't expecting was Kaida suddenly appearing in front of him. He couldn't break his run, so instead, he leaped to the side, entering the mountain range. His agility and power made short work of the numerous hills and valleys, and it wasn't too long before he executed a final jump, heading straight for the mountain summit.

Then, out of nowhere, a red figure flashed below him. A split second later, Kaida plowed into him - full force, and in mid air.

"Tag!" she yelled, then kicked away from him, sending him spiralling back to the valley floor below at a (literally) breakneck speed. He had almost three seconds to react, so it wasn't a problem.

He spun around in mid air, pointing his clawed feet at the ground. And in the one-and-a-half seconds before impact, a whitish glow enveloped his body.

The impact made the mountain shake, as cracks ran up the side. The entire valley - almost a mile wide - sunk by a few inches, as the decidedly brittle rock tried to cope with the impact. Where Edan should have been, there was nothing but a white hemisphere, embedded in the ground.

At about the same time, Kaida had landed neatly on the mountain that Edan had been aiming for. She felt the shock of the impact, and looked down the side of the cliff face, wondering if maybe she hadn't overreacted with the kick.

The sphere faded away, and she was looking at nothing but scarred ground. In her amazement, she failed to react to the brief tearing sound behind her - or the sudden impact that sent her over the ridge.

"Tag!" came a voice from behind her. Edan, she realised, as mechanical Guilmon claws wrapped around her chest. He was taking her straight into the ground. From this height - and at this speed - the impact would do little more than stun her for a second. A price she was willing to pay, if her next trick didn't work.

She elbowed Edan in the side - hard - and he involuntarily relaxed his grip. In that split second, she wrestled his arms away, spun around, literally climbed around Edan in mid air, and got him in a death-grip that he wouldn't be able to break out of in the two seconds it would take to hit the ground.

He did try, though, and managed to flip onto his back before the impact. He would hit the ground back-first, but it wouldn't hurt.

At least, that was Kaida's assumption. Because when they hit the ground - Edan cushioning her fall - he let out a scream of pain that she had never heard from any sentient being alive - human or Digimon.

Their faces were about an inch from eachother. Edan's left eye shed a tear, as he tried to hold his screaming back. In an instant, Kaida wondered what she had done wrong...

"Kaida," he said, though his clenched teeth. "I know you're female ... and I know that you have no... concept of what it feels like ... but ... for the love of God..."

She looked down - right at her knee, neatly embedded in his groin. She withdrew it immediately, and Edan took a deep breath - relief from the searing pain.

"So..." was about as far as she got, before Edan kneed her in the chest, then finished it with a scissor kick, sending her flying into the cliff face behind him. He heard the undefended smack of impact, and pulled himself off the ground, wincing.

Kaida pulled herself from the cliff face, enraged. She was trying to apologise! In a fury, she spun around, and bore down on him at full speed. Before he could react, she sent him flying across the valley with the most powerful kick she could muster.

The lack of control sent her spiralling, and she had to regain her balance before she could look back at him. She was expecting to see him slamming into the wall, but...

... there was nothing.

No impact. No dust. No Edan.

She immediately went into defense mode, tensing every muscle, and tuning every sense in. But there was nothing, apart from a mild valley breeze.

"E...Edan?" she called into the silence, hearing her own echoes, but nothing else.

"Edan!" she called again, louder. The echoes responded in kind, but not Edan.

"EDAN!!" she yelled, starting to get scared. No response.

"Edan, dammit, this isn't funny. Where are you?!"

She was greeted by a gust of wind, but nothing else.

"Oh no..." she whispered to herself.

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Flame was sitting, relaxed, at his terminal. Random bits of data about the Digital World flowed across the multiple screens in front of him, but most of his attention was focused on the music in his ears - and his eyes were closed. Hew had recently taken a strange kind of interest in rock music, and he was busy listening to some "highly recommended" samples.

A beeping distracted him from his enjoyment, and he opened one eye. Then he saw what had caused the warning, and he tore the earphones out.

"Unauthorized Exit," said the massive red warning box. Something had left the Chelone area without warning.

"RED! Locate!"

The artificial intelligence drives kicked into action, and started cross-computing all the data it had. A few tense seconds later, it provided an answer.

"Location within three feet confirmed. Northern valley."

Northern Valley, Flame thought. There was nothing on the other side - just a drop off the entire Chelone plane.

"Exit profile?"

"Unable to determine."

RED was not able to tell which Digimon had exited. Flame had been expecting a negative answer anyway, but it was worth a try.

"RED, find closest Shifter."

"Located Kaida."

"Open a link."

----------------------

Kaida was still staring at the cliff face when something in her left ear rang. She waved a claw over it.

"Y...Yes?" she managed to stammer.

"Kaida, it's Flame. Have any Digimon near you dropped out of the Chelone plane recently?"

"Oh God," she said, realising. "...Edan."

There was silence on the line.

"Kaida," Flame said, his voice suddenly tense. "What happened?"

"I... I don't know. We were playing, and..." she couldn't finish her sentence.

"Kaida, return to base immediately."

"On my way."

-----------------------

"RED, can you pinpoint the destination of the exit?"

"Impossible."

"Shit," Flame muttered, staring at the protected black button on his control panel. There was no option - one of their own had gone missing.

He lifted the clear plastic panel, and pressed the switch.

"Situation Black declared. Alerting all personnel."

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