"Many things are complex to understand, from the most advanced of computer programs, to even simple living beings.

While many ponders much about the goals and reasons of existence of some of those complex beings, others like me seek to understand, to discover.
However, I have given myself a different duty as well.

Balance. Not only through me, but through many others.

And in the Digital World, the Digidestineds are those who aid in the balance…
But…

I have my own parts to play in such…"

Chapter 8 : Wisdom of Trust part 1

As another day rose up on Phoenix City, everyone started to wake up to start their new day…

As for Regan and Kari, and their digimon, they were so tired that they had gone strait to bed without even changing clothes. Regan woke up on the bed couch in the living room, his eyes slowly opening as he heard the snoring of his partner, Lizomon. As he started rising up, he held his head, as his head swam.

"Alright…we aren't gonna do that kind of stuff again…or it's either something I ate…" Regan muttered.

Not bothering to take the cape that he had left on a chair before going to sleep, Regan started going for Kari's room, that headache still present. Regan didn't felt really well because of that, but then, it had been an exhausting night…

Regan started taking a look in Kari's room. "Hey Kari, perhaps it would be time to wake up and get a change of clothes." He said.

Kari, on the other hand, still slept, looking tired as well. Gatomon was lying on her bed as well, curled up on herself.

Regan was a bit unsure of doing that, but perhaps he should insist.

He went up to Kari.
"Hey Kari, time to wake-"

He suddenly gasped, having suddenly discovered something.

---

While the day seemed to start normally for everyone, all at peace with themselves as the new day started…but not everyone…

Darius Duke was worried. Yesterday night seemed like it ended okay, but there were some peculiar things that happened…
And there were some things he knew that made him worried…
As he started going into his home's kitchen, still in pyjamas, he yawned a bit as he neared the refrigerator…

"I assume that you are Darius Duke, are you not?" a strong deep voice suddenly interrupted, coming from the other side of the kitchen, at the entrance to the living room.

Darius nearly flung the refrigerator's door wide open as he heard the voice and spun around, looking toward the unknown speaker.

It was a tall figure, probably seven feet tall. And that person was wearing a long gray hooded cloak that hid all of the person's features, but judging from the voice, it probably was a man.

"Who-Who are you?!? How did you get here?" Darius asked, panicked.
"I am one who works for the Balance…just like you, Darius Duke…"
"The Balance…" Darius repeated, his eyes widening. "You're with them?"
"We are both working for them, as you are saying…" the cloaked figure answered.
"I…I see…" Darius said, looking defeated. "What do you want?" as asked as he looked uncertainly at the cloaked person.
"I am searching for two persons, two teenagers. I have been searching for them since a while already, and I have been informed that they were here, in this city. Thus, knowing that you are recently one of our group, I was wondering if you knew their wherabouts."
"Okay…So, who are those two you're looking for?" Darius asked, still feeling discouraged…

Because he knew he had to obey.
He had no choices after all…

"Their names are Regan Astrasz and Kari Kamiya." The cloaked man said. "Yes, you did heard 'Kari Kamiya', just like from the Digimon anime show. In fact, it is indeed her, from the show, as we could say…"
Darius was uncertain. He knew about Kari…since he did met her once…

"Well…I'm not sure I've seen them. How are they looking like? I'm talking about that Regan of course." Darius asked.

The cloaked man raised one hand, and then he held his palm upward, wide open. A light glowed, floating above the cloaked man's palm before it started twisting and then taking the shape of a small version of Regan.
"As for Kari, I do not think I would need to show you her appearance…" the cloaked man said. Darius was sure the man was smiling beneath his hood.
"That boy…yeah, I think I've seen him before…a few times already. I also saw him with a girl, which looked a lot like Kari. Perhaps it could be her?" he said.
"Perhaps you could show me then…" the cloaked man said before he brought his hand down, dispelling the image he had projected, and then took something in his cloak before he approached Darius to give it to him.
Darius extended his hand to take it and then looked at it. It was a small crystal-clear globe. It seemed to have no imperfections of any sort and was easily fitting in his palm.
"Now then…" the cloaked man said.
Darius nodded and tightened his hold on the sphere, knowing what he had to do. He concentrated himself, thinking about the girl he had often seen with that Regan.

The globe in his hand glowed before a light appeared over it, creating a small image of the said girl, the day when he had bumped into her and Regan…

After he had…died…

"She looks a lot like her." Darius said, eyes still closed. But somehow, he was able to see what he was projecting.
"I think it is her. She must be using a hair dye, not doubt. And if indeed, you saw her with Regan Astrasz, I doubt it would be someone else.
Any informations about their whereabouts?" the cloaked man asked.
Darius opened his eyes and lowered his hand holding the globe, dispelling the images at the same time. He nodded negatively.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know where they could be. However, I know they seem to be good friends with two other persons."
"And these two are?" the cloaked man asked, tilting his hooded head a bit.
"They are Kylee Henke and Riza Ryuzaki. The two best Digimon Tamers in this city." Darius said, and then concentrated himself, projecting an image of the two with the globe, showing when he had met them yesterday.
"The girl has an Impmon while the boy has a Veemon. Kylee is the best of the two, and the best of the city." Darius added, his eyes closed.
"And their whereabouts?" the cloaked man asked again.
"I know where they live. I can give you their addresses if you want." Darius said, dispelling the images once more.
"Please do." The cloaked man answered.
Darius nodded before starting to walk away, giving the cloaked man his globe as Darius started writing on paper the addresses, then gave them to the man who had hid the globe in his cloak.
"Thank you. Your efforts will be noted of course." The cloaked man said as he read the addresses.
"I understand, Master." Darius said, lowering his head a bit, now feeling nervous.
"Master?" the cloaked man said curiously. "I believe you are making some misassumptions. You see, I am indeed working for them, and I am indeed on a much higher rank to them than you are, but I do not see why you must call me 'master'.

True, I heard the reasons that made you being one of their 'minions'. Not exactly something truly honorific indeed…" the cloaked man said, speaking seriously.
Darius said nothing, but was still very nervous, he was sweating a little.
"I think I do understand why you are so respectful.

After all, not everyone has been granted the privilege to live again, right after having died. And as a return for your new 'life'…" the cloaked man said.
"I have to work for those who are our masters…" Darius finished. "I know…I haven't forgotten anything…nor what happened when and before I died…"

Despite his actions to the Tamers and the Digidestineds, Darius Duke was still the same one that they had encountered when he was the leader of Black Spear…
Only, he had to change…for he had no choices anymore…
He owed his life to others, and had to work for them now…

"Thank you again for your work, Darius Duke. If I will need your services again, I will do so." The cloaked man said before starting to walk away…and then vanished into nothingness…

Darius Duke finally breathed a little bit easier…but he still was very worried.
He wondered what this man wanted with Regan Astrasz and Kari Kamiya…

---

Kylee and Riza had woken up late, considering how late they went to bed. The day started rather normally for the two of them. Right after breakfast, Kylee phoned Riza, asking him that they should meet up to go to Regan and Kari's hideout to see how they were doing with their partners back. Riza had agreed.
And so Kylee left her home, along with Impmon, while Riza went on with Veemon.

Both kids met up along the way to Regan and Kari's hideout. "Hey there Kylee…" Riza said, a little bit uncertainly though. He clearly hadn't forgotten about the 'date' yesterday night. And so hadn't Kylee…and especially not Impmon, though he didn't knew a lot about what happened, but it had been a lot to him.
"Hey there Kylee's boyfriend!" Impmon said to Riza as he waved at him.
"Impmon!!!" both Kylee and Riza yelled, blushing both. Veemon sighed and slapped a hand to his face. "Impmon, could you cut out about that for now?" Veemon said.
The 'death-glare' sent by both Tamers also added insistence to what Veemon had just said.
"Humpf…fine…" Impmon pouted as he crossed his arms and looked away.
All the other three sighed, more relieved.
"So, nothing new?" Riza asked.
"No, nothing. And especially didn't heard anything about the school re-opening." Kylee said with a smile.
"Yeah, at least that's kinda a good thing." Riza said with a hesitant chuckle. "I wonder how the other two are doing right now."
"Well, considering that their partners are back, I'm sure it must be really well…though I'm sure that Lizomon will try to spoil out as much as possible…" Kylee said, finishing with a moan.
"Yeah, sometimes Regan isn't really lucky." Riza said with another chuckle.

---

Kylee's mother had also started getting ready for her day, when she heard someone knock on the door. She went for it and opened.

A tall, gray cloaked man stood at the entrance. Though, it was clearly a man, some of his features were hidden by his hood. "Excuse me, but is Kylee Henke here?" he asked.
"No sorry. She's out somewhere." Kylee's mother answered.
"Oh? And you might know where they could be?" the man asked again.
"No, I'm sorry. Are you from the police?" she finished worryingly.
"Oh, not at all. Your daughter has done nothing wrong, don't worry madam. Thank you for your time." The man replied.
"You're welcome." Kylee's mother replied, and the cloaked man turned and walked away, as Kylee's mother closed the door later on.

So…he had missed her. And he suspected that if Kylee was not at home right now, Riza Ryuzaki probably wasn't as well, considering he had checked up at Riza's home right before coming to Kylee's house…

Very well, he would still have to search more…
But he truly wanted to find Regan and Kari soon…

---

After an eventless walk to Regan and Kari's hideout, both Tamers and their digimon went upstairs in the old building, arriving in front of the appartment used by the two Digidestineds.

"Hey Regan? Kari?" Kylee said as she entered the appartment, and saw no one in the living room.

"Kylee? Is that you? Get here, quick!!!" Lizomon's voice came out from the bedroom, and he sounded…panicked…

Lizomon's voice tone obviously spurred out the Tamers and their digimon as they hurried strait for the bedroom.
And all four of them gasped as they saw what was wrong inside.

Kari, still half-lying in the bed, with her sickened look in her face while Regan was down on the floor, as if he had fallen. His right hand was holding one of Kari's hands. And he too didn't look well.

Both Gatomon and Lizomon were there, looking very worried about their partners.
"Regan!"
"Kari!"

Both Tamers went up to the two stricken Digidestineds. Kylee went on the left side of the bed to check on Kari while Riza went on the other side, going for Regan.
"Do you guys know what's wrong with them?" Riza asked to Lizomon and Gatomon.
"I'm not sure…" Lizomon said worryingly. Gatomon also nodded negatively, looking worried as well. "We woke up and we found them like that…" she said as well.
"Kari doesn't seem to react at all…" Kylee said, sitting near Kari. "I'm getting a pulse…but that's all…What about Regan?"

"Let's put him on the bed, that'll help." Riza said. With Lizomon's help, he dragged Regan on the bed, making him opening his hand that held Kari's at the same time.
While Riza was busier in putting Regan on the bed, Lizomon noticed a detail when he saw the hand that had been holding Kari's.

Regan had removed his glove on his right hand…
Though right now, Riza hadn't noticed something peculiar in the palm…
An egyptian ankh-like symbol in a four pointed star, all of the symbol being coloured red.
And that was the Crest of Life.

"I get it…" Lizomon muttered darkly as his gaze hardened on his partner.
"Huh?" The two Tamers and their digimon looked at him confusedly, while Gatomon looked a bit worryingly at him. "What do you mean Lizomon?" Gatomon asked.
"Now I get it why he was holding Kari's hand…" Lizomon answered.
The others looked at his right hand, and the Tamers and their digimon looked only more confused.
"What's that mark in his hand?" Impmon asked.
"His crest." Lizomon answered. "Yeah, he got it before as a tag, but there was a little problem, and it involved Ragnarok in it. Anyway, the crest shattered, but he managed to recover it…but in that way…" Lizomon explained. "And it's through the crest that Regan is using his healing power…you're getting it now?"
"Yeah…" Veemon said hesitantly.
"He somehow noticed Kari was sick, and he used his crest to try to heal her…" Kylee started.
"But it didn't worked…or perhaps it did…but Regan got that malady as well…" Riza finished.
Regan stirred very slightly.
"But it looks like Regan's in a better state than Kari! Look!" Impmon said, pointing at Regan who moved slightly.

"Regan!" Lizomon spoke loudly, jumping on the bed and near his partner. "What happened?"
"Ugghhh…Lizomon?" Regan muttered, barely opening his eyes and moving.
"What is wrong with you and Kari?" Gatomon asked, jumping on the bed as well.
"Poison…some…malady…" Regan replied.
"Huh?!?" All the others were a lot confused, but then Gatomon and Lizomon looked a bit down.
"I think I get what he means…" Gatomon said.
"What?" Kylee asked.
"In the places where we've been, we kinda caught up some sort of sickness, since the place isn't really, really healthy at all…but it never affected us. We thought we were immune to it and had nothing to worry about that…" Gatomon explained.
"But when we got back to you…we transmitted it to Regan and Kari when we Bio-Merged…and they're even more vulnerable to it as well, since we absorbed the exceed data they had from their Bio-Modify." Lizomon finished.
"Uh…what do you mean?" Riza asked. "Has Bio-Modify something to do with Bio-Merge as well?"
"Well, actually, the one who arranged the Bio-Modify process planned on Bio-Merge to actually 'heal' Regan and Kari of the digimon data in their bodies, since we can't really remove the data that they accidentally got. It would kill them.
So, it has to be removed slowly. That said guy has actually planned that Bio-Merge is the key for that. When Regan or Kari Bio-Modifies him or herself, he/she release the digimon data, which is stored. The data merges, in a way, with their bodies, and changes them.
But when it's over, the human body can't really handle well all the extreme activities they did, which explains their pained condition every time they're over with it.
But as they constantly use Bio-Modify to get that data, in spread, in a way, in their bodies, making them…'different'…as long as that data isn't removed." Lizomon said.

"So, to remove that data, you guys are using Bio-Merge…so that the data goes back to the digimon, right?" Riza asked.
"Exactly." Gatomon answered with a nod. "But right now, Regan and Kari are at their most 'purest' human 'status', which means they're the closest they can be to normal human.
And that state is also the most vulnerable to that malady they've gotten."
"Darn…that really sucks for them right now…" Impmon said uncertainly.
"But there's gotta be a way we can help them!" Kylee said.
"There's…something…" Regan said weakly.
The others looked at him.
"I'm…I'm using my…'life force'…to sustain Kari…to help her fight her own…
Somehow…I know I can fight it…but Kari…somehow…she can't…" Regan continued.
Kylee and Riza instantly thought about those times (in the show) when Kari had been very sick. Even though it seemed that Kari had rather gotten rid of that…she still was weak and vulnerable, in some ways…
And no doubt that Lizomon and Gatomon knew that detail…
Regan strained to rise up. "I've got to…" he started.
"No!" Kylee interrupted. "You can't just always try to help her, especially if you could be killing yourself!"

In all of this, Kylee remembered her conversation with Kari, in the restaurant's bathroom...
How she had said about Regan that nearly killed himself before, as he tried to save Kari...
"Regan, what would Kari think if she knew what you're doing right now? She'd understand that you can't always do everything to help her, okay?" Kylee asked, looking strait at him, in his eyes.
Regan looked down, saddened…then he looked at Kari, still looking sick.
"But...we got to help her..." he said.
"Hey look, we can try to think of something, okay?" Impmon said.
"He may be right..." Lizomon said with a thoughtful expression.
Regan was clearly unsure if he should really agree on that.
"Hey look Regan. We're your friends, right? And Kari's a friend of us as well. So, we'll help her. Got it?" Kylee said.
Sadly, and still as sick as before, Regan finally nodded. "Okay..."

Kylee sighed in relief. She then looked at Riza. "Hey Riza, do you think you could try to find out something for Kari?"
"Uh, me?" Riza said. He then rubbed the back of his head. "Well…I don't know what I could do…but I'll try…" he said. "Come on Veemon."
With one last glance at Kari, Riza and Veemon went away, leaving the appartment.

Regan struggled again to sit this time. He groaned and looked at Kari.
"Regan…please…You got to recover your strength too…" Kylee insisted.
Regan shot up a glare at her. "But I'm the only one that can try to help Kari. You want that I do nothing and watch her die?" he asked.
"Regan, it's not what she wanted to say." Gatomon interrupted.
"She's right about this." Lizomon added.
Regan looked at the digimon, still rather unpleased.
"Regan…you need to recover…
But…me, I'm all right…
Could you give Kari some of my own strength?"
"Kylee are you crazy?!?" Impmon said. "You get that thing too!"
"Well…I'm not that sure about that…" Lizomon said, thoughtful. "You guys did touched both of them, and you didn't got sick. As for Kari and Regan, they got it because they directly connected to us in Bio-Merge. If Regan were to transfer some of your life force in Kari, you wouldn't get that sickness after all…if I'm not wrong…" Lizomon added darkly.
"…Lizomon may be right…
But you really want to do it?" Regan said, looking darkly at Kylee.
Kylee nodded, her eyes determined. "Yeah. I'll do it."
"Alright…Put your hand on hers…" Regan said.
Kylee did as Regan asked. She put her hand on Kari's.
Then Regan put his hand over both Kari's and Kylee's. "You're still-"
"Yeah. Do it." Kylee interrupted.
"You'll probably feel a lot tired after it…if you're lucky and don't get that sickness…" Regan warned before he closed his eyes and concentrated himself.

A red glow appeared beneath Regan's hand, slowly enveloping Kari's hand and Kylee's. Kylee then gasped.

The three digimon simply watched a bit helplessly and worryingly.

---

"Man…how are we supposed to find some kind of help for them?"
"Yeah, Kylee got some weird ideas by asking us to go away. What could we be searching for?"

Both Riza and Veemon were walking in the streets, looking quite unsure as they talked among each other about the current and serious problem they had on their hands.

"But Riza, what should we do now? Go to the pharmacy?" Veemon asked.
"Uhh…wellll…" Riza started.

Then he bumped into another person and fell on his back.
"Oh Riza! Are you okay?" Veemon said.
"Yeah…" Riza said, then looked at the person he had bumped into.

That person was quite tall…really tall compared to Riza. The person also wore a long gray cloak with a hood, which had fallen.

And it was a man, with strong, narrow hawk-like features, along with sharp and deep black eyes. His hairs were of a silver color, and were quite long as well, probably of shoulder length.

But perhaps the most unusual and unsettling detail about that man was on his right cheek…

He had scars on it, which were parallel and travelled down his cheek.

"Hum, sorry mister." Riza said a bit uncertainly. "Kinda was distracted."
"It's alright…" the man said with a strong deep voice. "I was not paying a lot of attention as well…" he added as he reached out a hand to Riza to help him get up.
"Well, thanks, but I got to be on my way. Goodbye sir." Riza said with a little nod and started walking away from the cloaked man.

As he started walking away, the cloaked man dusted himself slightly and started putting his hood on…

"So Riza…what are we gonna try to do for Regan and Kari?" Veemon asked to Riza as both had been some distance away from the man.

Behind them, the man froze, and his eyes narrowed as he slowly turned to look a bit at the pair.

"So…I've found you, at last…" the man muttered as he put his hood completely on. "And clearly, Darius was right…You know of Regan and Kari…"

He then waved his right hand in front of his face…and as he did, a shadow started to cover his face, masking it completely in darkness.
"Now…we begin…" the man spoke…before he vanished…

"Darn it. If only we could find out something to do…" Riza said, completely unaware of the cloaked man that had vanished behind them.

"Riza Ryuzaki…" a deep voice spoke in front of the two. Riza and Veemon stopped as they noticed the gray cloaked figure now standing in front of them, hood down…and the face completely hidden, impossible to see…

"Uhh…weren't you behind us just a minute ago?" Riza said uncertainly, looking worryingly at the cloaked man.
"That doesn't matter…For you have something I want…Or rather, know something I seek…" the cloaked man said.
"I seek the Child of Life… And I am quite sure you know where he is…" the cloaked man added.

"Child of Life? Who's that?" Riza thought. Whatever that mysterious man spoke of, he probably wasn't planning something good…
"Uh, I don't know who you're talking about, honestly." Riza said, stepping back slightly from the cloaked man.
"I am quite sure you know of what I mean, Riza Ryuzaki…" the cloaked man said, stepping forward once.
"Well, what are you gonna do if I'm not wanting to 'help' you?" Riza asked angrily.
The cloaked man raised a hand then tightened it into a fist. A large fire burst out around the hand, growing as he opened his hand and the fire continued to remain intense.

He then held out his flaming hand toward a nearby bush before the flames rushed out from his hand, enveloping the bush and incinerating it, leaving only ashes…

"Does this bring out an appropriate answer?" the cloaked man asked very seriously.
Riza and Veemon's eyes widened as they both gulped. Whoever was that man…if he actually was one…Well…he didn't look that sympathetic…

"Oh well…Hey, what's that?!?" Riza suddenly said, pointing behind the cloaked man.
The cloaked man started turning around, and Riza suddenly ran away, grabbing Veemon by the arm.

"What was that kind of trick?" Veemon said.
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Riza said. "I don't think we should fight that guy! So, let's run for now!"

The cloaked man's eyes narrowed again as he stopped turning and heard very well the footsteps of Riza going away. He sighed. "Fools…"

He held out a hand toward Riza. Flames emerged around the man's hand before they rushed forward, going strait at Riza. At mid distance, the flames changed shape, turning into a large hand.

Both Riza and Veemon let out a scream as they ran out into a side alley, barely evading the large flaming hand which dissipated further away.

"Man…Who is that guy?" Veemon said.
"Like if I'd know." Riza replied. "But how can he do that? And wouldn't there be anyone noticing what's happening?"

"No, there will be no one who will notice." The voice of the cloaked man spoke he appeared in front of Riza and Veemon once more.

"Riza! We run?" Veemon asked.
"…No! We fight!" Riza replied. "Digi-Modify! Digi-Egg of Courage, activate!"

"Veemon, armor digivolve to…Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!!!"

The cloaked man simply stared out at the digimon standing in front of him.
"Very well then…" he said as he simply crossed his arms, then snapped his fingers together, energy sparking on them.

"Fire Rocket!" Flamedramon yelled before he threw a series of flaming ball at the cloaked man.
Flamedramon's mysterious opponent reacted by waving one hand in front of him before an orange colord barrier appeared and blocked all of the fire balls.
"Uhh…Riza, we have a plan B?" Flamedramon asked uncertainly.
"You could simply surrender and tell me what I want to know. As simply as that.
But since you decided to make this harder on me, I will have to take more drastic steps…" the cloaked man said as he dispelled his barrier before energy glowed in his other hand.

"Let's finish this right here and now..." he simply said.
He then held his hand toward Flamedramon and Riza.

---

A few streets away, as people went on with their lives, like Catherine, the little girl Kari had met a few days ago, the ground briefly shook, making the little girl who was reading a book and sitting on a bench, startle.

She looked around and noticed nothing wrong. Shrugging, she went on reading again…

Unaware of whatever dire fate had just befallen Riza Ryuzaki and his digimon partner…

---

Kylee felt really, really tired. She didn't know how much time she had been only half-conscious, but truly, the feeling of having her life force drained wasn't a pleasant one.

Still…there didn't seemed to be that much changes in Kari's state, and though Regan seemed to have recover more of his strength (and was still fighting his own sickness), he still didn't look well either.

Right now, she was lying on the couch in the living room. Slowly, she rose up before taking out a long tired breath.

"Man…I hope I didn't make a wrong decision with that…" she muttered as Impmon was walking to her, a glass of water in hand.

And suddenly, Kylee and Impmon stumbled on the floor as it suddenly shook briefly.

"What the hell was that?" Regan said from the other room.
Lizomon quickly rushed out of the bedroom before going out at the window.
"I don't like this…Something's not right…" the dragon digimon said, his eyes narrowed. He sniffed the air once…then his eyes widened. He started sniffing again.

"No…this can't be right…" he said.
"What's wrong?" Gatomon said as she hurried up out of the bedroom as well.
But before Lizomon could answer, the phone started ringing.

Impmon, who was the closest to it, picked it up. "Hello?" he asked.
A little while after, he frowned. "Kylee, it's for you." He said.
A little bit worried and confused, Kylee went up to the phone, with some little troubles though. When she was close to it, Impmon gave it to her.
"Kylee here." She said in the receiver.
"Kylee Henke…" a deep voice spoke in the phone. That voice didn't made Kylee feel really well, but rather nervous. "I have your friends Riza Ryuzaki and his partner Veemon in my possession."
"You what?!?" Kylee said, eyes widening.
"Yes, I have them. I am quite serious."
"Who are you? What do you want?" Kylee then said more angrily.
"I seek the Child of Life." The man answered on the phone.
"The Child of Life? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I am quite sure you know of who I am talking of…" the man spoke again, his tone sounding slowly more impatient.
"I don't care who's that 'Child of Life' you're looking for! All I want is that you let Riza go from your hands!" Kylee yelled in the phone.
"Very well. Let us consider an arrangement. Come meet me at the eastern city park as soon as you can. I will be waiting there…to fight you.
If you succeed in defeating me, then I will let Riza and Veemon go.
If I defeat you, then you will tell me all I want to know about the Child of Life.
Is that clear?" the man said on the phone.
"…Okay. I'll do it." Kylee answered.
"Very well. I will be waiting now. Oh, make sure to bring Impmon with you." The man said before he cut the communication.
Kylee put back the phone as she stared at it.
"I think we'll have to leave that in your hands Kylee…" Lizomon said darkly.
Kylee hadn't noticed that both Lizomon and Gatomon had approached her while she was talking on the phone. It was probable that they actually heard the conversation thanks to their superior hearing.
"Alright. Just keep an eye on Regan and Kari. Make sure he doesn't make something too stupid." Kylee said.
"You got that right." Lizomon replied.
"Let's go Impmon." Kylee said to her partner.
"Okay. You'll tell me on the way." Impmon replied.
Then both Tamer and partner went on, though Kylee still showed some signs of fatigue…

Lizomon's eyes narrowed as he looked at the two going away.

"Gatomon…" Lizomon started darkly.
"Yeah?" the cat digimon asked.
"That voice on the phone…That man…
I'm not completely sure because of the phone…

Bu I think that voice was familiar…" Lizomon said.
Gatomon was thoughtful for a little moment before replying.
"Yeah…you're right. It's familiar to me too…"

---

"Riza and Veemon kidnapped?!?" Impmon said.
"Yeah! That's what that man said! He wants us to meet him at the east park!" Kylee said to Impmon as both ran to meet up with whoever had captured Riza and Veemon.
As they ran up among the crowds, a small form quickly darted from the shadows of buildings to trees, quickly and steathily attempting to keep up with the pair…