A/N: This chapter was written to Scooter's "The Logical Song", just for anyone who might be curious.

Edan slowly came to. The room came into focus, one bit at a time. The walls were a rough, weathered stone. There was almost no light, except a little that came through slits near the ceiling.

He had a terrible itch on his thigh, and as he moved his arm to scratch it, he realised something was terribly wrong. He was chained to the wall.

As he looked over, he was somehow not surprised to see Kaida and Jorcy chained to the wall. In his befuddled state, it did not occur to him to panic.

And had he known what was parked just over the ridge, he would have no reason to panic anyway.

"Range, fifteen hundred meters," Jet said. He was lying down in the grass, a high-powered rifle propped under his arm, staring down the scope at the castle beyond. There was little between them and the castle. They were parked on a nearby hill, just over a small ridge.

Flame was preparing to make a dash for the castle, and Jet would be defending. He looked over at Flame, who was knelt over in something like prayer. Jet sighed and returned his attention to the scope.

"Okay," Flame said, standing up. "You know the plan?"

"Mmm," Jet mumbled.

"Good," Flame said, taking a deep breath. "Well, let's get this party started."

With that, he leaped forward, hitting the ground running - and in less than ten seconds, had crossed the entire distance to the castle.

On the periphery of his vision, he saw flashes of light - gunshots. Before him was a massive wooden door. It was almost as if time was standing still. He brought up his claw, aimed at the lock, and prepared to swing.

His momentum, plus the power of the punch, would be more than enough to blow through the door. And from there, it was pure improvisation.

The hallway was silent. At one end was a massive wooden door that led outside. Down the hall on either side were smaller doors, and at the end of the door was another barricade, that led to the control center. Just to the left of the barricade was a tunnel entrance that led to the dungeons.

The splinters were flying down the hall even before the sound of breaking wood echoed. The massive door exploded inwards, and a blue blur hit the floor, and came to a standstill. Flame was crouched, recovering from his high speed sprint, and looking around for the entrance to the dungeons.

Alarms started to sound, and he realised his time was up. He was looking at a small, arched wooden door, just to the left of a barricaded hallway. Something told him that this was the dungeon entrance, and he wasted no time moving towards it.

One of the hall doors burst open, and Digimon came spilling out, waving rifles at Flame. But he somehow managed to dodge all of them, as he flung his entire body at the door.

It came out easier than rotten wood, and he stumbled on the stairs, falling and rolling down. He quickly modified his roll, and as he hit the landing, he rolled forward once and stood up.

"Flame!" Jorcy shouted from the wall. Flame looked over, then looked back. The Digimon that had been chasing him were coming down the stairs.

The first one burst into the dungeon room - a Beelzemon. Flame raised his left claw at him.

"Ignis Murus," he said. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then the ground under the Beelzemon burst into flame. He staggered back, clutching his face and screaming. Flame drew his fist back, then punched at the empty air in front of him.

The flames that had sprouted under the Beelzemon exploded backwards with terrifying force, racing up the stairs and vaporizing every Digimon still standing in the stairwell. Flame turned away from the carnage and faced his captured friends.

"Let's get out of here," Flame said, raising his claw at the chain mounts near the ceiling, and summoned a fireball. The explosion ripped through the wall, loosening their arm chains. Kaida and Jorcy immediately tore off their leg chains, but Edan slumped to the floor, unable to support himself. Kaida rushed to his side.

"What's wrong?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"Something's disabling my enhancements - I can't move."

"Carry him," Flame ordered, then drew his claws together.

"Excellens flamma." A massive fireball burst into existence between his claws. He looked up at the point where the ceiling met the opposite wall. There were several slits near the top, that let in light from outside.

With a roar, Flame unleashed the fireball at the slits. The resulting explosion shook the foundations of the castle, and flung a massive chunk of the wall out into empty space. The sheer intensity of the explosion knocked Jorcy flat, and sent several cracks running across the floor.

Flame heard a secondary explosion above him, and watched as the flames in the stairwell died down. He heard Digimon running, and realised that they were about to be stormed.

"Go!" he yelled, then ran back to the stairs, prepared to defend the three of them until they got out.

Jorcy lifted Edan's arms, and Kaida raised his legs. They ran to the tear in the wall. Jorcy jumped out, dragged Edan out to the surface, and helped Kaida out. Then he called back.

"Flame! Come on!"

Flame turned to face him for just an instant - and that was his mistake. Cyber came barrelling down the stairs, and slammed into him, taking him to ground.

"NO!" Jorcy shouted, watching as they were swamped by a squad of BlackAgumon.

"Go!" Flame yelled again, as he struggled with the Cyberdramon that was pinning him down.

Cyber looked up, saw Jorcy and Kaida, and yelled an order to his BlackAgumon. Several at the front broke away, heading straight for them.

"Shit," Jorcy muttered, then pulled Edan up to his shoulders. He started running away from the castle, and Kaida did the same. But the BlackAgumon were gaining on them. He didn't have enough energy to fight them off and run, and Kaida was straining at the seams already.

They were heading for a nearby ridge. Jorcy thought he saw movement, then several flashes. The pursuing Digimon screamed as they burst into their constituent data. The sniper's bullets were finding their marks. As Jorcy leaped over the ridge, the last BlackAgumon was taken out with a claw swipe from the ground below.

Jorcy collapsed, and Kaida came to a stop, barely tripping over him. She spun to face Jet.

"Flame," was all the could say. Jet looked back at the castle. A squad of BlackGreymon were storming down on them. Jet shook his head.

"Too late for him. We need to go."

"But," Kaida began to protest.

"Now!" Jet yelled, as he grabbed her around the waist, lifting her clean off the ground. Jorcy had already stood up, and as Jet tore past, he shouldered Edan and followed.

Three seconds later, one of the BlackGreymon stormed over Jet's rifle, snapping it in half by stepping on it. Jet and Jorcy were far ahead, though, and they gave pursuit even though there was no chance of catching them.

"Runegate twelve - activate!" Jet yelled at the boulder in front of him as he approached it. The circle of runes burst into light, and he grabbed Jorcy's shoulder, flinging him into it. He disappeared in a puff of light. Kaida followed, then Jet jumped through, knowing the gate would close with his exit.

"Hello, Flamedramon," Cindy said, standing over the disabled Digimon with a massive grin. Her plan had worked as expected - by imprisoning the others in a low security area, she had managed to ensnare the one Digimon she was after.

"Cindy," Flame forced through gritted teeth. "You don't deserve to live."

Cindy laughed. "Quite a bold statement for someone in your position, Flamedramon. Tell me, what was it that drove you to rescue the other three?"

Flame glared at her. "Something I don't expect a bitch like you to understand."

Cindy's grin faded, and she shrugged. "Like you, Flamedramon, I do what's necessary to get the job done. At the moment, however, that doesn't bode well for you." She nodded at Cyberdramon, who scooped Flame off the floor. Flame couldn't move - his arms and legs had energy-draining bracelets snapped around them, and his muscles failed to respond to his instructions.

"Take him to camp four," Cindy said. Cyber nodded and stomped towards the stairs.

Cindy regarded the hole in the wall - and ceiling - where the other three had escaped. She knew that the pursuers had failed, but that was of no concern to her. She had what she needed. The rest would follow in time.