"Often when you admire someone or something, you will try to emulate it in many ways…

Perhaps what I saw as the most unusual way of emulation is to actually imitate the idol…
Humans no doubt seem to have…'perfected' this in the best of varieties, not perfection, since I admit that they are not always expert in imitating others…

But I do hope that this desire of emulation that comes from admiration can really aid the Child of Light…
For I know that in her heart, there is still one thing that truly troubles her, aside from knowing her feelings well…"

Chapter 10 : 'Armored' convention

The day started rather normally and peacefully for Regan…at least, for once…
Yawning and stretching as he raised out of the bed, since this time, Kari decided to sleep on the couch bed. As he slowly walked out of the bedroom, still slightly sleepy eyed and in his pyjama, he noticed Kari, sitting cross-legged on the couch bed and in her pyjama as well. She looked slightly more awake than Regan though, and she was holding her digital camera in her hands, looking at its screen.

"Good morning Kaaaaaaari…" Regan said with a yawn. Kari giggled as he yawned, making Regan feeling yet uncomfortable for a brief moment.
"Good morning Regan." Kari replied with a smile.
"What are you looking at?" Regan asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Oh, simply the pictures we took yesterday." Kari replied before moving aside to better show Regan the screen of her camera.

Right now, on the camera showed a picture with Regan, Kylee and Riza. Regan stood between the two Tamers and had his arms around the two others while the two others had an arm around him. Riza stood at his right, grinning and winking while Kylee showed a more kind and pleased expression. As for Regan, he smiled more with a more determined expression as well and winked. The sun had also started to set, and it had created a brighter setting of color, but the picture was quite well despite that.

"Man, that's an awesome picture Kari." Regan said, smiling at her. Kari laughed a bit. "Thanks. That's probably my best one." She replied.
She pressed a button on the camera, changing picture, to one where Impmon was seen stealing Riza's piece of a cake, and started leaving away with his prize while Riza had an outraged expression. Regan, Kylee and Kari were also seen in the picture, along with Gatomon. While Regan laughed a bit and Kari was giggling, Kylee was smiling hesitantly, and obviously sweating. Gatomon, who was seen only a little bit, had more of an annoyed expression, while Veemon, who was also seen in the picture, had a more worried expression.
As for Lizomon, he wasn't seen in the picture, but considering that there was the hint of a claw in the upper right corner of the picture, it obviously showed that he was the one who took the picture.

"Man…Lizomon got really lucky with that one…" Regan said, chuckling as he looked at the picture. He then stopped chuckling and his look turned more worried. "He didn't take some kind of…embarrassing picture, did he? He could have done that…" Regan then asked.
Kari smiled hesitantly. "Don't worry, he didn't take one…fortunately." Kari answered.
Regan looked toward the bedroom, where Lizomon was still sleeping…and his snoring could actually be heard a bit. Gatomon though was still sleeping, curled up on a cushion.

"Man…it's just so peaceful…and it's so great…" Regan said with a tired and pleased smile.
"Yeah…" Kari said dreamily…
After a while, Regan finally got up from the bed, stretching a bit again. "Well, we should get ready soon to go meet up with Kylee and Riza, for whatever that surprise is…" Regan said.
A few seconds after that, the telephone rang. Regan went up to it and took off the receiver. "Hello?" he asked.
"Hey Regan, it's Kylee. I got some other news for you. Come meet us at my house a bit after dinner. Oh, and also, there's another detail for Kari." Kylee said in the phone.
"Oh what is it?" Regan asked.
"Kari will have to come dressed with her normal clothes. I mean, the show's clothes, if you get what I mean. Oh, and she doesn't need to put up hair dye" Kylee answered.
"May I ask why?" Regan asked again, his expression darkening slightly.
"You'll see later!" Kylee answered on a happy tone. "Bye!"
With that, she cut off the communication between them.
Regan was slightly troubled about what Kylee had just asked. All four of them knew that Kari couldn't really go around with her 'Season 2' clothes, since she would draw too much attention…So why is Kylee asking that Kari comes to her house dressed with those said clothes?
"Something wrong?" Kari asked a bit worryingly.
"Something weird I should say." Regan replied, giving a slightly weird glance at Kari. "It was Kylee. She was that we meet them at her house after dinner…and she also asked that you come dressed with your 'normal' clothes…And put on no hair dye today."
"What? You mean my clothes, like in the show? And no hair dye? But everyone around will think I am Kari Kamiya." Kari said.
"I have no idea why she's asking that, but she should know about that fact too…" Regan said. "We'll take Dracomon to go to Kylee's house, so to be less noticed."
Kari nodded to that idea. "And I guess I'll need to wear your cloak, again…"
"Well, probably not when we'll be at Kylee's place, but for whatever else she planned out, yes." Regan added.
Kari then sighed. "Oh well, we should get dressed up then…"
With a nod, Regan went into the bedroom while Kari went for the bathroom with her clothes…

---

"They're not suspecting anything, do they?" Impmon asked with a sinister grin.
Kylee giggled. "Yup. I'm sure they have no idea what we're planning for these two."
The phone rang again and Kylee picked it up.
"Hey Kylee, it's Riza." Riza said on the phone.
"Hi Riza!" Kylee said with a smile.
"So, is it working?" Riza asked.
"Yup! They have no idea what we have in store right now…" Kylee said, lowering her tone more like a conspirator.
"Hehe, yeah…They're probably worried about why we're asking that about Kari…But I'm sure they'll love it later." Riza said his tone also lowered on the phone.
Kylee giggled again. "Yup…I'm sure Kari will love it the most…"
"Anyway, see you after dinner?" Riza asked.
"Yeah. Nothing's changed for the hour. But you should better hurry because I'm sure Regan and Kari are going to come with Lizomon digivolved."
"Got it. Bye." Riza said as he put back the receiver.
On her side, Kylee also put back the receiver.

"I see that things are going well for you two's plan…" a voice spoke behind Kylee. Surprised, she turned, Impmon as well, to see the Elder standing behind them, a little distance away, his arms crossed.
"Hey! You never heard about privacy or what?!?" Impmon said angrily.
"I simply wanted to see how things were going concerning your plan." The Elder simply said.
"Oh, well, it's going well. I think neither Regan nor Kari have any idea of what we've planned." Kylee said with a little smile.
"Good. Perhaps I should be watching once you will be 'there'." The Elder said.
"Well…that's your choice…" Kylee said with a shrug.
The Elder nodded before vanishing again.
"Geez…that guy is just plain weird…" Impmon said with a frown.
"I know…" Kylee replied. "But remember what Lizomon said about him."
"Yeah, I know…But he's just weird, and it's really hard to really trust him…" Impmon said.

---

Krasus reappeared far elsewhere from Kylee's house, and deep underground…

He stood in a large cave…one of the caves used by the Dark Spear criminal gang, but now it had been completely emptied of their presence and Krasus had taken claim of the area.

Walking into the 'arena' in which Kylee fought Devidramon, Krasus looked around, and also upward, where the hole had been completely repaired. He sighed then raised one hand upward, then started speaking words unlike anything that even the Tamers had heard before…

Darkness spread out from his hand, darkness that poured out everywhere and devoured everything, leaving Krasus in a seemingly emptiness of darkness…

He then kneeled down, lowering his head. "I, humble servant of your Greatness, await your desires…" Krasus spoke.

"Ahh…my dear…Krasus…" A female voice spoke…

But it was not Ysera's. This one spoke with a motherly gentleness.

"So, are you ready?" A male voice asked, seriousness being the only thing that sounded in the voice.
"Indeed…" Krasus replied, his head still low. "We are ready, the plan is in place." He said.
"Sssoon…all piecesss will be…ssset…You will need to ssstand ready, Krasusss…You and the mortalsss…" Another male voice spoke slowly and hissing often.

"So…Now, we will be able to gain more insight concerning those events on this world. Finally." Another female voice spoke, and this one was familiar, for it was Ysera's voice.

"Truly a chance that there is this event that will happen today. It will be of good advantage for us." Krasus said. "And not simply for attempting to discover more insight about those attacks, but it will be useful for the Digidestineds and the Tamers."

"Mind to explain?" the gentle female voice asked.

"Of course…" Krasus answered. "I know how troubled the Child of Light is. This could actually help her."
"Humpf…" the serious male voice snorted with some slight disdain. "And in which way exactly?"
"Kari Kamiya, the Child of Light, is troubled in her mind…Mainly because of the situation on this world, concerning her status as who she may be on this world…" Ysera explained.
"Yesss…Because she would be a fiction to the eyesss of many…Not real…" the slow male voice said.
"Indeed." Krasus added. "This will allow her to see more of the perception that many may have about her…It could be troubling her more instead, but it is a risk that we can take…"
"I see…" the serious male voice said. "One detail…Krasus….
You should not manifest yourself greatly today, so to lessen chances of being noticed by those forces we seek to discover more on…"
"But perhaps you should make sure that the Tamers can be safer and stronger…" the gentle female voice spoke again.
"I had already considered this." Krasus spoke. "And dealt with that detail already."
"Good then. It is settled." Ysera said.
"Good luck, my dear Krasus…And be wary…" the gentle female voice spoke once more…with a slightly more concerned tone.
"I will…" Krasus answered with some pride, which was a bit unusual…

Then the darkness faded around him, and Krasus found himself back into the large cave. He rose up before summoning out a large throne-like stone chair and sat on it. The hooded mage then held up one open palm skyward before muttering a few words, creating out a blue ball of light in his hand.

Lowering his hand, Krasus focused and gazed into the ball…
The light inside the ball shifted, new colors manifesting before it shaped into recognizable forms…First, Kylee's house…then inside the house…
Krasus continued to watch with his magical probe as he considered his next actions…

--

The door bell at Kylee's house rang and Kylee soon went to the door and opened it to see Riza waiting. "Hey there Kylee."
"Hi Riza. You're just in time." Kylee said with a smile, and then it faded. "Hum, mind coming into my room? There's something I have to show you…" she added a bit worryingly and silently.
"Mmm? Sure." Riza said, wondering what it was.
He entered the house and followed Kylee to her bedroom. On the bed, there was a small package that had already been opened.
"What's that?" Riza asked.
"It came with a message. Here." Kylee said, handing the message to Riza.
Riza took it and started reading it:

'To Kylee Henke and Riza Ryuzaki,

I apologize for the rude introductions we had, but I would like to apologize. For this, I have decided to give something to both of you.

Also, take it as a 'Thank You' for having helped Regan and Kari when they needed help.

The Elder.'

"The Elder? A gift? What is it?" Riza asked.

"You're not gonna believe it…" Kylee said, and then put her hand in the opened package…
And pulled out two identical cards…She handed one to Riza…

And he could recognize that it was…a Digivolution Card.

"H-How did he manage to get that? And why is he giving us that?" Riza said, obviously a lot surprised.

"I don't know…" Kylee said a bit confusedly. "But I guess he has his reasons…" Kylee replied.

The sound of the door bell ringing again snapped both Riza and Kylee, along with their digimon, from their current thoughts.

"I'll go get it!" Kylee's mother said.
Frowning a bit, Kylee hurried out of her bedroom for the door, to see her mother starting to open it.

---

As both Regan and Kari had arrived at Kylee's house with Dracomon (who had de-digivolved back to Lizomon) and Gatomon.
And a little while after Regan had pressed the door bell's button, a woman, which had to be Kylee's mother.
"Hello, are you Kylee's…" she started, then looked a bit oddly…at Kari…
Kari started to feel very uneasy, and really wondered why Kylee had wanted that she came, dressed as her real self…
"Oh, you're here!" Kylee said from behind her mother. "Hey Kari, you did your costume really well! You look just like Kari Kamiya from the show!" Kylee said with a little giggle.
"Hum, thanks…" Kari said.
"Oh…for a moment I nearly thought that you were indeed that girl from the show…Nicely done for a cosplay costume…" Kylee's mother said before going back in the house.
Regan and Kari looked a bit oddly at her, then at Kylee.
"Well, don't stay here, come in!" she said.
Unsure, both Digidestineds and digimon took the invitation and entered the house, Kylee closing the door behind them.
Soon after that, Kylee led them to her bedroom, where Riza and the Tamers' digimon were waiting. "Hey guys! Nice to see you came." Riza said.
"Well…thanks…" Kari replied. A frown then came up on her face as she looked at Kylee. "Mind explaining what's going on? Why did you say to your mother that I was wearing a costume?"
"Just keep up with that for now Kari. You'll understand later." Kylee said.
"Alright mom! We're ready to go!" Kylee then shouted to her mom, from the bedroom.
"Okay! I'll get the car ready!" her mom replied back.
"What's that about?" Regan asked suspiciously.
"You'll see guys! Just be patient!" Kylee replied as she, Impmon, Riza and Veemon left the bedroom and started going outside.
Unsure, the two Digidestineds and their digimon looked at each other.
"We follow them?" Gatomon asked.
"Well, I don't think we go lots of choices…" Kari said.
"Besides, I'm curious what they have in store for us…They obviously wouldn't want to harm us in any way. I trust them enough for that…" Lizomon said.
"Yeah…I really, really wonder what's their surprise, and why you had to be dressed as…'yourself'" Regan said to Kari.
"Yeah…but I think, just in case, I should use a false family name. They've been calling me Kari, so I got to use something else than Kamiya…
I think I'll use…Miyaka…" Kari then said.
"Miyaka?" Regan asked. "Well…that's a slightly odd choice…considering who's the guy with that name…but we can go with that…"
The others nodded before they finally went outside. Kylee was sitting up at the front with her mom, Impmon on her lap while Riza was in the back seat with Veemon on him.
"Come on in!" Riza said.
Regan opened the door then looked at Kari with a slightly wry grin. "Ladies first?" he asked jokingly.
Kari rolled her eyes at this and giggled lightly. "Nah. You can go in first. I don't think I want to be between you two." She replied with a wry smile of her own.
Shrugging with a smile, Regan went in first with Lizomon before Kari entered the car with Gatomon and closed the door.

Seconds later, they were gone to whatever place Kylee and Riza wanted to bring them too…
And what was in store for them was the only thing on the Digidestineds' minds at the moment…

---

Things seemed to go well for now, for the Tamers and their plans, from what Krasus could observe.
But for now, nothing odd had happened. At least, odd in the criteria of the gray cloaked elder.
Still, his attention was not unwavered…

---

The Digidestineds and the Tamers talked a bit during the trip to wherever Kylee and Riza wanted to go with the Digidestineds. But, it was obvious that despite the talk, neither Regan, nor Kari, or their digimon were distracted from what the Tamers could have in store for them…

Lizomon was keeping a close view at whatever was outside the window, obviously seeking to know where they were going.
"Hey, is this the place where we're going?" Lizomon then asked, pointing at something outside. The others (except Kylee's mother) all looked at where Lizomon pointed: A large building where many people could be seen at the entrance. They were too far from it to distinguish peoples' appearance right now…

"Yup! It's there." Kylee answered.
Kari looked a bit worried toward the building in question, and the many peoples around it…

What did Kylee and Riza had planned for them? They weren't going to reveal the truth about her to dozens of persons, would they?

Kylee's mother stopped the car in the building's parking before letting everyone out.
"I'll get back to take you when you're over, okay?" she asked.
"Thanks mom." Kylee replied as the Tamers and the Digidestineds had left the car.
With that, Kylee's mother drove away, leaving the teenagers and their digimon there.
"So…what is it?" Regan asked grimly.
"Come on guys, don't make too much about it." Riza said.
"Well, I'd think that if you were in our position, you'd probably be thinking that…" Lizomon replied.
"Yeah, sorry about that…" Kylee said, rubbing the back of her head hesitantly. "But you'll know soon. Come on."
She started leading them on, as the others followed behind.
As the neared the building's entrance, Kari was feeling more worried, considering that right now, she had every chance of being mistaken for 'herself' as the 'cartoon character' that she supposedly is in this world…

But as they neared the building's entrance, Kari, and surely the others, could notice some nearby persons all talking with interest…

What actually was stranger…was that some of them…

Looked like other of her fellow Digidestineds friends…

She saw a boy that was dressed like her brother, back in the first time they had went into the Digital World. He had, in a way, everything of the appearance, save for a less 'imposing' hairstyle as her brother's.

Around, she also noticed other people that were dressed like other characters, like TK, or Davis, or even Ken, either as the Digimon Kaiser or after that time…
And some times, she had to look twice to notice that in some cases, some of those male characters were actually girls dressed like the boys from the 'show'.
And from the look of surprise in Regan's, Gatomon's and Lizomon's, they too had noticed the many people.
"Kylee, what's all of this?" Kari asked, a bit unsure.

"Well, an anime convention of course!!!" Kylee answered, turning to the two Digidestineds with a wide smile. "Well! What do you think of that?" she said.
"Anime convention?" Regan asked.
"Yup!" Riza replied. "A big event where lots of anime fans are coming up and meet many persons, like anime voice actors, and other stuffs. Of course, there are always cosplayers around, as you noticed."

"So…that explains why you wanted Kari to come as herself…" Lizomon said.
"Hey, Riza and I thought she really had to see this. There's still many digimon fans, as you saw. Easy after all, considering that Digimon Tamers tournaments are still a lot popular." Kylee added.
"So Kari, not too disappointed? Are you interested?" she asked again.
Kari pondered briefly, and a small interested expression came up on her face. "I think it's worth a look…" she said.

---

If outside was already impressive, the building's inside was even more so to the Digidestineds.
"It's actually the city's battle arenas for the official Digimon Tamers Tournaments there is sometimes." Kylee explained. "The building's a lot big, so it's ideal for the convention, as you see."
Kari remained silent, watching around at the many apparent digimon fans. She did look surprised to a point. What drew her attention the most was that there were some people that were cosplaying as herself.

"So guys, isn't it too bad?" Kylee asked.
"Well…" Kari started.
"I'd like to ask something Kylee. Is the arena still in function despite the convention?" Lizomon interrupted.
"Uh, why are you asking that?" Riza asked.
"Because Lizomon and I are hearing battle sounds and cheering coming out a good while from that way…" Gatomon answered, pointing her right paw toward a wall that was a good distance from them.
"Uh…yeah, you 'guessed' that right…" Kylee said with a sweat.
"I don't know…but could we check it out?" Regan asked.
"Hey, that'd be a good idea Kylee!" Impmon said. "Besides, since we're the champions, we're probably gonna get challenged!" Impmon said with a grin.
"I think I'd be fine with it…" Kari said. "I don't mind that you guys go for that."
"Kari, don't talk as if you'll be left behind. You're coming up too!" Regan said.
"Oh, sorry…" she replied.
"Well, okay then!" Kylee said. "I'm fine with that too! So, we're going?"
"I wonder if I should try to challenge you Kylee…" Riza said.
"You could do it anytime!" Kylee replied with a teasing wink.
While it made Riza a bit uncomfortable, both Digidestineds either giggled or chuckled at that reaction, which only made Riza yell out at the two for mocking themselves…

---

So far, nothing.
Krasus' observations had brought nothing as a result. But the elder wizard would not be deterred so easily. Years of experiences told him otherwise…

That the situation would go differently sooner or later…

---

The Tamers led the Digidestineds to the arena they had mentioned, although there had been a few stops on the way, like other Digimon fans having interest in Kari as the character, a TK and a Davis wanting to rehearse some lines of the show. Surprisingly, Kari actually accepted before all three acted out the said scenes, like when Kari said that Davis was so insensitive (which made Regan, Kylee and Riza remember about the said episode 'Big Troubles in little Edo') and Davis 'ridiculously' replied he's so sensitive that he's using a special toothpaste so that his tooth wouldn't hurt when he's eating ice cream.

Although that made Regan and the others chuckle, Kari burst out in laugher, which surprised Regan, Lizomon and Gatomon a bit, though the two cosplayers clearly looked pleased, considering that normally, in the show, Kari had replied out to Davis' sentence with a laugh.
After a few other re-acting with the cosplayers, though the others didn't brought out a big laugh from Kari (though it usually brought up a smile on her face), the Tamers and the Digidestineds finally went on their way to the inside arena.
Kari's smile had rather mainly faded, though she still had a small one, although with some little regret and sadness.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Regan asked, putting a hand on Kari's shoulder as they followed Kylee and Riza.
"Oh well…nothing too serious…
Just remembering…and thinking…" Kari replied.
"Some good things I hope…" Regan said.
"Mainly…" Kari replied, the small smile coming up. "But also about how those kids and teens around us are thinking about the show…They're clearly more fans of it than I admitted…"
"Guess they aren't only that interested in trying to know every thoughts of the 'animated characters'…" Lizomon said with a little smirk.
"I hope so!" Gatomon said looking rather offended.
"I know…" Kari said with the smile, looking at the backs of Kylee and Riza. "Oh, I know…"

---

Although they did arrive at the arena, no one of them could get a place to fight right now. The only thing the Digidestineds and the Tamers could do for now was to watch the current fight.

The two Digidestineds looked around themselves in the stands as they followed the two Tamers as they took up seats closest to the arena itself.

Although Kylee had explained that the arena's settings could be changed, right now, it was a plain stadium floor.

As they all sat, Regan could take more interest in the current fighters.
It was an Agumon and a Patamon that were fighting.

From what Regan managed to see, the Patamon's owner, which was on the side away from them, was another TK cosplayer.
As for his opponent, Regan couldn't see much of him (since the boy was having his back turned to them), but he had some spiky brown hairs and was wearing a light green shirt with pale blue jeans and yellow and white shoes. He also wore light brown short fingerless gloves.

"The Agumon's doing pretty good…" Lizomon commented as he examined the fight with clear expertise.

"Duck now Agumon!" the boy said. Regan frowned slightly when he heard the boy's voice. It sounded a lot familiar…And all his friends had clearly noticed the similarity as well…
"Kari?!?" a young girl's voice asked to their side with surprise and curiosity. The Tamers and the Digidestineds (along with their digimon) all turned to look at their left.
And sitting to their side was indeed a younger girl that looked very familiar to Kari…
And she also wore the same outfit than what Kari herself once had when she first went to the Digital World. She looked a lot like Kari herself from back then, aside from the shorter hair bang, and the blue eyes…

"Catherine?!?" she said, recognizing the girl despite her different look. "Catherine! Nice to see you!" Kari said happily. "You recognize me, don't you?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah of course!" Catherine replied with a giggle and a smile. "You look great as Kari from the show! You're just like her!" the little girl said.
"And you really don't look bad either as a 'younger me'." Kari replied with a giggle, which made Catherine giggle as well.
"Hum Kari…who's is she? A friend of yours?" Kylee asked a little bit confused.
Catherine gasped as she eyed Kylee. "You're Kylee Henke!" she said.
"Hehe…yup! The best City Tamer!" Kylee said with a smile.
"Ya better don't forget me!" Impmon replied, jumping strait on Kylee to show his presence.
Catherine giggles again. "Yeah of course! You're her cute Impmon that she likes to hug!" she replied with another smile.

Impmon stopped 'posing' and literally froze…now blushing and looking more hesitant.
At that moment, Lizomon was really fighting hard to hold out an obvious laugh, and Regan too was straining not to laugh while Kari was trying not to giggle. Gatomon on the other hand simply looked at Impmon with a sly smile. As for Riza (especially Riza) and Veemon, they looked at Impmon with some mockery.
"Gaaah!!! Kylee! Look what you've done to my reputation!!!" Impmon said angrily to his Tamer, storming in anger.
Kylee chuckled hesitantly as she sweated. "Hehehe…I just love to hug you when we win?" she said.
"Hey, you better not forget me as well." Riza interrupted. "I'm the second best after all."
"Oh yeah. You're Kylee's short friend." Catherine said with another pleased expression.

Now it was Riza's turn to be ready to bust a vein while Impmon looked at Riza with clear mockery. Veemon only had a really worried expression, and unfortunately, the Digidestineds and their digimon did nothing good as well as they only struggle not to laugh or chuckle, except Gatomon that rather kept an amused expression and was smiling.

"Gah! I'm not short!!!" Riza said very angrily. Regan rose behind him…now obviously showing the size difference between the two.
"Hem…Can't really say that Riza…" Regan said with a sweat…as he looked down on Riza.
"Just stop enough already!" Riza replied angrily at Regan, clearly having busted a vein.
"Is there something wrong Catherine?" another voice asked, which made Riza stop his outbursts as they looked toward Catherine, where another person had talked…

Or rather, had come up on her lap.

Looking rather like a yellow blob with a cat-like mouth and two large red eyes along with cat-like ears and yellow cat tail with some purple stripes…A Nyaromon, Gatomon's In-Training form.

"No, it's all right Nyaromon." Catherine said with a smile to the digimon.
"You managed to get a digimon?" Kari asked to Catherine.
"Yup!" Catherine said with a wide and happy smile.

"Hey look!" Gatomon said, pointing at the arena. All the others turned to see Patamon having evaded a Pepper Breath attack from the Agumon, only to be struck down by a punch from the dinosaur digimon, and knocked out.

"Yay! He won!" Catherine said happily, jumping from her seat, still holding Nyaromon. "You did it brother!"

"Brother?" Kari asked. "The Agumon's Tamer's your brother?"
"Yup!" Catherine answered.

They watched the Agumon returned to his Tamer as the crowd cheered on and the commentator pronounced the teen's victory.
Then he turned back and went toward the stairs leading to the stands, to obviously go meet back with his younger sister with his digimon.

And as he neared, all the Tamers and the Digidestineds' look turned a bit surprised.

Although he clearly did not have as much spiky hairs as Regan, he had a ponytail and blue eyes…but his face…
They all recognized it, even if it had some differences…
It was a lot similar to Regan's…

"Is there something wrong?" the boy asked with a voice that indeed sounded a lot like Regan's. He looked curiously at Regan. "Geez, we're nearly like twins." He said with a chuckle.
Regan chuckled hesitantly "Yeah…never thought that too…" he replied. The others stopped tensing a bit. "I'm Regan Astrasz. What's your name?" Regan asked to the other 'him'.
"I'm Reynold Estar." The boy replied. "And I see that you've met my sister." He added.
Regan looked at Catherine, who looked a bit surprised about how Regan and her older brother actually looked a bit similar.
Thinking about the fact that the little girl was possibly the 'Kari of this world', it should make sense that there's also 'another Regan'…At least that's what Regan thought about this.

"Hey! You're Kylee Henke!" Reynold said as he looked at Kylee.
"Hehe, yup. I'm the champion Tamer." Kylee said with a smile.
"And this is Kari." Catherine said to her brother, pointing at Kari herself.
Looking at her, Reynold's eyes widened a bit in surprise, obviously amazed of someone that looked so alike Kari Kamiya from the 'show'…
"Man…I gotta say, you're making the most realistic Kari Kamiya I've ever seen!" Reynold said to Kari. "Geez, you look as if you are Kari Kamiya!"
"Well, thank you…" Kari said with a little smile, holding an arm behind her.
"I think you've got a rival…" Lizomon whispered to Regan, who shot a glare at him
To be honest though, Regan was a bit annoyed and interested by the presence of their 'counterparts' here…But honestly, he also wanted that the conversation turned a bit away from Kari…But for that…Wait…

"Hey Kylee. You're the reigning champion of course, right?" Regan suddenly asked, interrupting everyone.
"Well, you should know that well Regan. What about it?" Kylee asked.
"Well, you said you wanted to get some challenges, right?" Regan said, a small sly grin coming on his face.
"Don't tell me…You?" Kylee asked with a slight frown.
"What's wrong? Scared?" Lizomon suddenly said, hovering above his partner, seemingly echoing him.
"Of course not!" Kylee said, annoyed. She pondered about this for a moment. "Fine…You want a match Regan? You'll get one." She replied, slightly annoyed.
She really wondered why he suddenly challenged her. Besides, couldn't they get a rest from all the fighting action they had recently?
"Come on then Regan." Kylee said, rising from her seat and leaving, followed by Impmon. Regan and Lizomon soon went after her.
"Well, guess I'll take a fighting break now." Reynold said, taking Kylee's seat. "By the way, I've never seen that boy's digimon before. He's a new one?"
"Well…you could say that…" Kari answered after pondering the question for a little while. "But he's a lot strong."

A little while after, the announcer spoke again.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We are pleased to announce the presence of the great champion of Phoenix City, Kylee Henke!"

Kari noticed lot of people cheering on around, Riza also adding up to them.

"She has accepted a non-official challenge from a newcomer, which clearly look full of promises…Ladies and Gentlemen, please give out a warm welcome to our two next fighters…

Kylee Henke and Regan Astrasz!"

As the two 'Tamers' stepped in the arena, along with their digimon, the crowd cheered even more loudly, and this time, Kari joined on.

Regan and Kylee stepped up to each other before they shook hands.
"May the best win, Kylee." Regan said with a determined smile at Kylee.
"We'll see who's gonna win Regan…" She replied with a smile of her own.
Then both walked away, going up to their digimon.

"Alright…Get Set…Ready…Go!"

Both digimon rocketed from their starting positions before going strait for their opponent.

"Here I come!!!" both Lizomon and Impmon yelled at each other.
As they neared, both threw out a punch before striking each other, and blocking each other with the attack. As Impmon simply went forward from the momentum, Lizomon spun upward before landing further away.
Both turned to face each other again, and charged once more.
However, at mid-distance, Lizomon changed course, going sideways and around Impmon. Energy glowing in his mouth, he also opened it, yelling out "Strato Ball!" as he spew out a multi-colored energy ball toward Impmon.
"Roll Impmon!" Kylee ordered. Impmon quickly threw himself forward and rolled on the floor, dodging the coming energy ball. Lizomon went strait for Impmon.
"Stand ready Lizomon!" Regan shouted.
Impmon quickly stood up again before turning to face toward the incoming Lizomon. Despite that he clearly expected Lizomon to evade the attack, Impmon did it nonetheless. Snapping his fingers together, Impmon created out a fire ball before throwing it at Lizomon, yelled out "Badaboom!" as he did.
And indeed, Lizomon leapt above the fire ball before letting himself drop some feet until he started flying again, but now circling around Impmon.
Lizomon simply grinned as Impmon kept him constantly in his sights…
Then, Lizomon struck. He dove forward, strait at his target, claws bearing. Impmon stood his ground until the last moment and evaded Lizomon's claws and punches as he slammed the ground on all four, but quickly bounced from the ground, throwing himself at Impmon. However, as he neared, Impmon quickly jumped forward Lizomon…but also a bit sideway. Sparks on his gloves, he threw out another "Badaboom!" at Lizomon, who this time, was struck by the attack.
Yet, just as the flames (and the crowd cheered) exploded on Lizomon, Impmon was flung backward, as if struck by a strong force. He fell on the ground, just as Lizomon was also sent down. Both started to recover from their wounds, Impmon shaking his head. "What the heck did you do? You didn't even touch me!" he said.
"No…But my wings' air shockwaves did…" Lizomon said with a sly grin. "I slammed my wings together strong enough so that I sent an air shockwave at you with 'Hard Wings' Remember that one?" Lizomon said with a little grin. "Oh, yeah…I remember…" Impmon said.

Despite the crowd cheering on, neither did the attention of Kylee and Impmon, nor the one of Regan and Lizomon shifted to anything else other than the battle.

Lizomon readied himself before charging at Impmon once again. Impmon prepared himself as Lizomon neared.

But as the dragon digimon approached, his eyes suddenly widened in surprise, and he pulled back.

A giant blast of smoke suddenly exploded right in the midst of the arena, hiding out of view the fighters…
And the ground started shaking madly before giant cracks opened in the ground of the arena, spreading outward and toward the stands.
Panic spread everywhere among the spectators, many rose up of their seats, running away in panic.

Surprise also got to Kari, Riza, Gatomon, Veemon and those nearby them. As the panic spread and the flood of people started to overwhelm them, Kari was quickly to grab unto Riza's arm.
"Come on!" she said. "We gotta get to Regan and Kylee!" she said.
Barely nodding as he also held on Veemon, Riza 'unwillingly' followed Kari as she struggled against the wave of people, Gatomon clutched on her.

And when they finally managed to get down in the arena, the smoke had barely started to fade. And still no signs of the others…

---

In the smoke, Regan covered his face with his arm and his hood. He was completely unsure what the hell had just happened. He needed to find out.

"Lizomon!" he yelled. "Try to get that smoke away!"
"Hard Wings!" was the answer Regan heard right after he yelled.

Lizomon slammed his wings together once more, creating a powerful air shockwave that pushed the dust and smoke of the sudden blast away, in a good part.
At least now it allowed Regan to see most of what was happening.

He then noticed Kari, Riza and their digimon running toward him, Kari obviously being more relieved of seeing him.
However, this wasn't the only problem right now…
"Regan! Hurry here, quick!" Lizomon yelled from a bit deeper in the smoke's remains. Regan didn't wasted time running toward Lizomon before hearing "Help!!!" …and it was Kylee's voice.
As he neared, Regan saw that a huge crack in the ground had opened, and Kylee would have completely fell in it, if not for Impmon and Lizomon who were currently holding one of her arms to try to pull her back.
Regan soon came up to the edge, and as he saw Kylee's panicked face, he also saw something else that made his eyes widen.
"Regan! Let's deal with getting Kylee out of there first!" Lizomon suddenly yelled. He probably guessed that Regan had been distracted by 'that'…

"Give me your hand Kylee!" Regan said to Kylee. "Hurry!"
In desperation, Kylee threw her ungrabbed arm toward Regan, but sadly missed grasping on his hand.
"Try again!" Regan insisted.
"I…I can't!" she replied.
"Try it!!!" Regan insisted more. He quickly turned toward Riza and Kari. "Come over here, now! Kylee needs help now!"
He focused his attention back on Kylee, as she made another attempt to allow Regan to grab her hand, but to no avail.
"She musn't look down…she musn't look down…" was one of the things Regan was thinking about.
"Hold on Kylee! We're gonna help!" Riza said as he neared the hole, but when he gazed down in it, he gasped, along with Veemon, Gatomon and Kari when they saw what it was too.
"No time for that! We got to get her out now!" Impmon said.
Riza nodded before he quickly grabbed on the arm Lizomon and Impmon were currently holding.
"Lizomon! Can't you try to push her from below?" Regan asked to his partner.
Knowing in good part what Regan meant, Lizomon nodded. "I'll try." He answered before leaping in the hole, but quickly opened his wings and hovered behind Kylee then grabbed her by the waist, trying to aid in pulling her up.
"Come on now Kylee!" Regan said.
Unsure and panicked, Kylee once again flung her arm toward Regan…and this time he caught her hand. "Gotcha!" he said. "Now let's get her out of here, now!"
Kari soon kneeled to the edge and grabbed on the Kylee's arm that Regan held, helping out as they finally managed to pull Kylee out of the hole, all stumbling backward on the ground as she finally was pulled up to safety.

"Man…Lucky she didn't fell in that thing…" Lizomon said. The others looked at him with worried and understanding looks. However, unsure, Kylee turned back to the edge…and looked down before gasping too…

The hole seemed to lead out…elsewhere.
But it was constantly fluctuating…as bits of data were seen floating in 'it'…
"W-W-What the heck is that?!?!?" Kylee said, flinging herself backward.
"I think it could lead out to the Digital World…but I'm not sure…" Lizomon answered darkly. "Whatever it is, it's probably not good."

Then Regan's digivice started beeping before a familiar voice was heard coming out of it…

"Regan? Do you hear me?" It was Krasus(or the 'Elder')
"Yeah. We hear you Elder. Listen, we got some big-" Regan started…
"I already know. Are you inside the building right now?" Krasus interrupted.
"Yes." Regan answered.
"You should go see what is happening outside. And hurry." the Elder's voice said.
"Well…let's go whatever he wants us to see…" Lizomon said.

---

Minutes later, the group arrived at the main entrance of the building. And clearly saw something they did not expected…

Multiple dark forms were seen moving all around in the distance…and the faint glint of some dark force field covering the entire building and some areas around it were visible…

But perhaps what made it even more troubling was one thing that was visible from the group's point of view…At one edge of the dark shield, there was…
A tower. It seemed like a tower at first, but a second glance could identify it as some sort of tall obelisk…which was completely dark…

Lizomon's eyes narrowed as he eyed the obelisk in the distance. "I really don't like the feel coming out of that thing…And it's really familiar to me…" he said.
"No…" Kari said, sounding worried…and afraid. "Gatomon…it can't be…"
"Yeah…" Gatomon answered darkly, and worried as well.

"It's a Control Spire…" the cat digimon said.
"What?!? A Dark Obelisk?" Lizomon asked, clearly caught off-guard.
"Huh? No, I said Control Spire." Gatomon replied.
"Oh yeah…forgot that's the way you've been calling them…
But honestly, I remember when last I saw them…
Remember the war I spoke about? Well, those Control Spires were also used back then. We called them the Dark Obelisks. They were transmitters of our enemies' dark power over their digimon servants. It had the nasty effect on interferring on most digimons' digivolution as well…except the Ancient Guardians, and those using that special digivolution…" Lizomon explained.
"You mean…the Armor Digivolution…" Kari said, adding up to what Lizomon meant, and surprised about hearing that the idea of the Control Spires actually originated from a farther past than anyone might have expected…

"But…how's a Control Spire's here?!?" Riza said.
"I have not discovered how yet. However, there are four Control Spires surrounding the convention building and the surrounding areas. They are no doubt the source of the dark shield that is trapping everyone inside, and no doubt it also generates the dark creatures that are starting to appear.
Also, I believe that they are the cause of the rift in reality that has opened inside the building." The 'Elder''s voice answered, coming out of Regan's digivice.
"Then we have to take those spires down!" Regan answered.
"Indeed. You four may be the only ones to do so. After all, all four of your digimon is capable of armor digivolving." The Elder's voice added up.
"Right." Kari said. "Should we separate and each of us go for one Control Spire each?"
"Well…I don't see why we should…" Kylee answered with a worried shrug.
"Okay…But guys, each of you, be careful." Kari said.
"One last thing. You can use digivices to communicate to each other. Do not forget that detail. Warn the others if you may need help or report a situation." The Elder warned out.
"Thanks for that Elder. We won't forget." Regan said.

"Alright then. Let's do it." Kylee said, having taken a card Riza handed to her. And both Tamers readied their digivices

"Digi-Modify! Digi-Egg of Friendship, activate!"
"Digi-Modify! Digi-Egg of Courage, activate!"

"Impmon, armor digivolve to…Thunderbirdmon, Friendship's Stormy Wings!!!"
"Veemon, armor digivolve to…Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!!!"

"'Friendship's Stormy Wings'?" Kari asked as she eyed Thunderbirdmon who stood aside Kylee. "That's a bit weird for a title…"
"Hey! Stop commenting about that on my title, kay?" Thunderbirdmon replied angrily at Kari and the others.

Lizomon briefly chuckled before his expression hardened. "Anyway…
Regan, Kari. Let's do it, Digidestined style!" he replied.

Regan nodded while Kari looked at Gatomon who nodded as well.

"Digi-Armor Energize!!!" both Digidestined shouted.

"Gatomon…"
"Lizomon…"

"armor digivolve to…"

"Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!!!"
"Dracomon, the Strength of Life!!!"

The two armor digimon stood aside their own partners, Dracomon bearing his black armor while Nefertimon bearing her gray plate and Egyptian cat mask.
"Alright guys, let's do it." Regan said. He then looked toward his digivice. "Elder, where are the Control Spires?"

A small beam of light came out of his digivice before focusing in front of everyone, creating a small holographic map with four dark towers visible on it. "Here are their locations. Good luck." The Elder replied.

"Okay. I'll take the closet one, south of us" Riza said.
"I'll deal with the farthest one that is north." Regan replied.
"East one is mine and Thunderbirdmon's." Kylee added.
"Okay. I'll take the west one." Kari finished.

With that, Regan, Kari and Kylee climbed on their digimon before they all flew away in different directions while Riza started running away, Flamedramon in tow.
Of course, their departs did not go unnoticed by some panicked people…

---

The die was cast.
It was easy for Krasus to envision the current events as something else…
A game of chess…In which the Digidestineds and Tamers are his pieces, and the Control Spires along with the dark manifestation that came along being those of his unseen adversary.
Sadly, it always seemed to come to such kind of thing…
He, being an unseen force that pulls the strings on others…

---

Arriving at the south Control Spire, Riza noticed some Tamers and other people nearby, but he couldn't let them being too much at risk. As he and Flamedramon neared, some dark flames appeared out around the large black obelisk

"Come on Flamedramon! Take them out!" Riza said.
"Flame Fist!" With a strong punch, Flamedramon threw a volley of fire balls toward the growing flames, breaking down most of them apart.
"What now Riza?" Flamedramon asked as he saw new packs of dark flames slowly forming into figures.
"Get that Control Spire down now!" Riza replied.
"All right! Fire Rocket!" Flamedramon yelled as he burst in flames and charged strait toward the Control Spire before crashing right into the middle of it, breaking the spire in two before it completely shattered and burst into data, causing the dark flames to disperse immediately.
"All right! Good work Flamedramon!" Riza said.
"What now Riza?" Flamedramon asked as he came back to his partner.
"Mmm…I think we should go back to the convention center. The others may go back there too." Riza replied.
"Got it."

---

It didn't took long for Regan and Dracomon to get to the farthest Control Spire, the north one, however, as they neared, both noticed multiple dark flaming forms waiting for them.
"Regan! We got some company!" Dracomon warned out.

Multiple blasts of flames were then propelled from the figures on the ground.
"Life Shield!" Dracomon shouted, stopping himself in mid-air before the gem on his forehead glowed, creating a large white shield around himself, blocking the flames attacks.

"Regan! You should try to get off me so I can more faster on them!" Dracomon shouted to Regan.
"Right!" Regan replied. He looked at the nearest building. "Get me there!"

Dracomon nodded before cancelling his shield, going strait for the building's top, passing overhead close to it as Regan jumped and landed on the building.
With that, Dracomon rushed strait for the Control Spire before rearing his head high and threw it down, aiming at the spire as he yelled "Living Flame Blast!"
A torrent of crimson and golden flames rushed out of his maw, increasing in size as it completely engulfed the Control Spire, burning the spire to nothingness.

And with that, Dracomon noticed that the dark flaming creatures were gone. He quickly flew back to Regan. "I don't think it's over Regan." The armor digimon said.
"Yeah." Regan replied. "Let's go back to the convention center." And he climbed back on Dracomon before the digimon flew back toward the center.

---

"Alright Thunderbirdmon! Here it is!" Kylee shouted, pointing at the tower. She noticed other Tamers that were 'occupying' some dark flaming creatures that surrounded the tower. "Let's take it down!"
"Thunder Stormer!" Thunderbirdmon yelled, flapping his wings before unleashing a a stream of lightning from his wings, which spread to the Control Spire, shocking it before it dissipated into data.
"Geez, way too easy!" Thunderbirdmon said with a smirk.
"No…it can't be just that simple…" Kylee said, sounding serious and worried.
"Eh? What do you mean Kylee?" the digimon asked.
"Let's go back to the center Thunderbirdmon. I don't think it can be that simple…" Kylee said.
Unsure, Thunderbirdmon nodded before flying back…

---

"Here's the Control Spire Kari!" Nefertimon said.
Kari simply nodded, unsure. "Why would there be Control Spires here?" she muttered.
"I don't know Kari, but we should take them out now before it causes too much problem." Nefertimon replied.
"Nefertimon, look!" Kari suddenly said, sounding panicked as she pointed earthward.
She noticed some people that were trying to defend badly against some strange flame beasts that seemed to be created by the spires.
And she recognized Reynold and Catherine that were attacked.
"Help them now!" Kari said.
"Queen's Paw!" Nefertimon shouted, her metallic bands on her forepaws glowing before they shot series of gems toward the flaming beasts.
And she struck them head on, destroying them all.
"Huh?" Reynold and Catherin turned backward and upward to see who had just saved them. And Catherine gasped and smiled as she saw who it was.
"Kari!" she said happily, and waved at her, still holding her digimon.
Kari replied with a satisfied nod before focusing her attention back on the spire, her expression becoming serious. "Finish it Nefertimon." She said.
"Rosetta Stone!" Nefertimon shouted before a large pink beam erupted from her back, and from the beam shot out a large stone tablet written with ancient language. The tablet went strait for the spire, striking it dead center, causing it to collapse and burst in data.
"Thanks a lot!" Reynold said as Kari and Nefertimon lowered down to the pair.
"Wow! I never thought you could do an Armor Digivolution on your digimon! It makes you look even more like Kari from the show!" Catherine said with excitement.
Kari nodded with a slight smile. "Glad to see you two are all right. Sorry, but I'll have to go." She said.
"Is it about that Control Spire?" Reynold asked.
"Yeah, I think so. I'll have to go back to the convention center. I'm just glad you two are all right. Take care now." Kari said before she looked at Nefertimon and nodded. The digimon replied by taking to the air again before flying back toward the convention center.

---

So far so good…
But still, Krasus doubted it would end so easily…
And as he casted his unearthly senses toward the convention center, he knew he was right…

---

A few moments later, as Riza waited at the entrance of the convention center, he noticed familiar flying figure approaching…
"Hey guys!" Riza said, waving at them as Kylee, Kari and Regan landed before their digimon de-digivolved back to their rookie forms. "Nice to see you thought like me."
"Yeah." Regan replied. "Surely with simply destroying those Control Spires it just can't be enough."
"It isn't." Kari replied, looking at the sky. "That shield is still there."
The others looked upward to see that the dark shield that imprisoned the area around the convention center was still there.
"Digidestineds, can you hear me?" the voice of Krasus came once more from Regan's X-D3.
"Yeah we hear you clear Elder. Did you discovered what is still wrong?" Regan asked.
"Yes. The rip in reality that is inside the convention center isn't gone. I think something is maintaining it. You should go see there at once."
"Yeah, yeah…I think we get it…" Regan replied, sounding slightly annoyed about something. "Anyway, let's go guys." He said to the others.
And they all went back inside the convention center.

---

As they all entered the arena once more, the Tamers, Digidestined and their digimon noticed that the rip in the ground had not faded at all, and it had grown.
"What's wrong with this thing?" Kylee asked. "Why isn't it gone yet?"
The ground started shaking before a beam shot out of the ground. It started expanding slowly before a form slowly coalesced into it before it jumped out of the beam and landed in front of the kids and their digimon.
It was rather yellow in appearance, and its appearance also reminded of an insect. However, he had a large drill as a 'nose', and two drills at the end of its arms. Purple symbols were also visible on its body.

"A Digmon…" Lizomon said. "But he clearly isn't normal…"
True, for there was a dark aura that surrounded the digimon, and its eyes were completely red.

"Another armor digimon?" Riza said. "Well, we'll just have to armor digivolve again."
"Wait. The aura that surrounds this digimon is in fact a shield…Strangely enough, it is a shield that makes this Digmon completely immune to the attacks of other armor digimon. You will need to digivolve to champion to defeat it." The 'Elder''s voice suddenly came out of Regan's digivice once more.
"Champion? Fine then." Regan replied. "You heard him Lizomon, digivolve!"
"Right!" Lizomon replied with a nod before he started glowing.

"Lizomon, digivolve to…Ryumon!!!"

And where Lizomon was, now stood his champion form, a darker crimson dragon, Ryumon.
Gatomon stepped forward, ready to fight, considering that she's a natural champion digimon.
"All right Veemon, you're ready for this?" Riza asked, taking out his new Digivolution card.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Veemon replied, sounding excited.
"Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate!"
"Veemon, digivolve to…ExVeemon!"

As the light faded from Veemon, everyone could see him in his champion form, the one of a tall blue dragon digimon standing on two legs, its belly white with an 'X' like symbol marked on it, and had white wings and a blade-like horn for the nose.

"Come on Kylee! Do it too!" Riza said.
Kylee stood her ground uncertainly, the Digivolution card in her hand. "I…I don't know…" she replied hesitantly.

"Gold Rush!" Digmon suddenly yelled before aiming his drills toward everyone and shot them. However, Ryumon raised his wings high before they charged with electricity as he yelled "Thunder Wings!" before swinging them forward, sending streams of electricity to form a shield that blocked Digmon's drills.

"What?!?" Impmon said looking completely confused at his Tamer. "What's wrong with it?"
"Beelzemon…" Regan said silently. "That's why…" he added. "Because she's afraid that something like the time Impmon became Beelzemon could happen again…"
"Kylee…" Riza said.
"It's alright to be afraid Kylee…" Kari suddenly said, surprising the others. Kylee looked confusedly and uncertain at her. "What do you mean?"
"My brother once made the mistake of forcing Agumon to digivolve, turning him into SkullGreymon, however, Agumon had been unable to digivolve until he and Tai managed to learn from their mistakes…but also by bringing back the trust and faith between each other…
I don't think you should really be that scared Kylee. After all, you and Impmon trust each other really well, don't you?"

"Special package for you!" Ryumon suddenly yelled, diverting the kids' attention again. He had grabbed Gatomon(probably with her consent) and threw her with force toward Digmon. The armor digimon prepared to shoot at the cat; however Gatomon's eyes started glowing pink…
"Cat's Eye Hypnotism!" Gatomon shouted before a flash of pink light erupted from her eyes, paralyzing Digmon in his tracks.
"Strato Force!" Ryumon then shouted, shooting out one large multi-colored energy ball toward the paralyzed digimon who was struck and hurled backward in a powerful explosion.
"Kylee, I know you can do it." Kari said, nodding at the Tamer.
Regan also gave her out a confident gaze, Riza also doing the same when she looked his way. And she finally looked at Impmon, who looked strait at her with a determined look. "I won't fail you Kylee!" he said.
Kylee clutched the card tighter. "And I know you won't…"

She raised the card high, along with her D-Arc.

"Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate!" were her next words before she swiped the card in her digivice.

And Impmon was engulfed in a glow of light.

"Impmon, digivolve to…Ignatismon!!!"

And as the light faded, everyone around beheld, for the first time, Impmon's new Champion form…

He stood still on his two legs, however, his body was far taller, actually much more grown, as if he transformed from a little 'child' to an 'adult' version of himself. It was clear by his strong looks that he would be able to give out a hard fight to anyone trying to face him. He was still colored purple, although of a slightly darker shade, but gone was the yellow face on his belly. His tail was longer, but by the smooth movement of it, it was clearly prehensile. His ears had clearly changed, for they looked more like horns that pointed backward, however they broke at the middle, giving the horns a more lightning style shape.

He was wearing a long flaming stylized jacket on himself, which slightly showed his strong body. The bandanna around his neck had also lengthened more to a scarf, and instead of gloves, Ignatismon wore fingerless knuckles which were painted in a flaming style, which also revealed claws at the end of his hands. Claws were also visible on his five toed feet now. The same green that were Impmon's eyes were still visible in Ignatismon's slightly smaller and more sharper eyes of his more adult face. Face that had two fangs coming out of the mouth, longer than Impmon's.

Kari, Riza, Regan, and most of all, Kylee, all stared with amazement at the sight of the new champion digimon.

- Digimon Analyser -

Ignatismon : Virus Champion digimon. He's a demon that combines his powerful and fast fighting style with his flaming powers, resulting with many burns to his opponents

- End Digimon Analyser -

"Welcome to our world, kid." Ryumon said toward Ignatismon, with a clear grin.
"Hey now Ryu, I ain't just a little kid anymore, so you better bring out more respect to me, ya hear me?" the new champion replied to Ryumon with a glare, showing up a right fist upon which flames burst, surrounding it.
"You're still gonna be a kid to me, no matter what, Impmon, or Ignatismon. I'm more than 10,000 years ahead of you after all." The darker red dragon replied, still keeping his smile.

"Imp-Ignatismon…" Kylee started, looking at her newly transformed partner.
"Huh? Kylee?" Ignatismon said, looking at her, with some slight uncertainties. "I hope I'm not too bad, right?"
"You're awesome!!!!!" Kylee shouted then ran into him before she hugged him.
"Hey! Cut that out now!" Ignatismon yelled, sounding very uncertain, considering he was also blushing.

"Kylee, when you're done stripping Ignatismon of his 'manliness', I think we should return our attention to our little problem with that powered Digmon." Ryumon spoke, looking toward the digimon who finally rose back up.

Gatomon came back to Ryumon's side, ready to fight once more.

"Alright guys, you're ready for this?" Riza asked to ExVeemon and Ignatismon.
"Of course!" ExVeemon answered.
"You bet'cha!" Ignatismon answered.

And both rushed to Ryumon and Gatomon's sides.

Digmon took position, waiting for his opponent to come…

"Okay guys…be careful now." Kari warned out.
"It's time to show him what you can do…" Regan said.
"So, give everything you've got!" Riza said.
"And make sure he sees plenty of stars!" Kylee finished.

"So, go for it!" all four kids then yelled.

"Right!" all four digimon replied before they charged at once toward Digmon.

The armor digimon waited for them to come before raising his drills…then slammed them down in the earth as he yelled "Rock Cracker!" shattering the ground, creating a large spreading crack toward the digimon.
Gatomon and Ignatismon quickly went sideways while Ryumon and ExVeemon went both to the air.

Both dragon digimon looked at each other before nodding…then aimed toward Digmon, Ryumon's maw charging with energy while ExVeemon crossed his arms on his chest and symbol.

"Strato Nova!"
"X-Laser!"

Both attacks went strait down toward Digmon, who quickly moved sideways to dodge them.

However, just as he had started moving, a small white form quickly jumped in his vision, yelling "Lightning Punch!" and Digmon got struck strain in the face by Gatomon. As Digmon stumbled back, Gatomon quickly regained her balance on the ground before leaping again at Digmon, and shouted "Lightning Kick!" as she delivered a powerful kick strike in Digmon's face, sending him backward.

"Make sure he'll get everything Ignatismon!" Gatomon shouted.

Digmon barely registered that just as he got intercepted by another waiting digimon…
"Heh…now it's my turn…and let's see what I'll do…" Ignatismon spoke from behind Digmon.

"Blaze Striker Punch!" he shouted, delivering a series of fast flaming punches at Digmon, who was completely caught helpless, harried.

Then Ignatismon quickly moved around and stopped in front of Digmon before he started spinning on himself at high speed, his flaming gauntlets in flames. "Spiral Flame Tornado!" he shouted, forming a tornado with his spin, and flame spread in it through his gauntlets.

And Digmon was caught in the tornado, struck several times by Ignatismon inside, burnt by the flames, before he was hurled upward in the air.

"Alright! Now it's time to finish this!" Ryumon said. "ExVeemon! Ignatismon! With me!"
ExVeemon crossed his arms on his chest again as Ignatismon stopped spinning and held one hand behind him, tightened in a punch.

"Strato Nova!" Ryumon shouted, shooting out a ball of multi-colored energy from his maw.
"X-Laser!" ExVeemon shouted as he shot his X-shaped beam from his torso symbol.

"Ignatis Flare!" Ignatismon yelled, throwing out his back punch forward, opening his hand as it completely burst in flames and one fiery ball was launched from it.

And as all three attacks collided with the Digmon, resulting in a massive explosion that completely covered the digimon, and when the explosion finally faded, there were no traces of Digmon…

And the rip in the ground had started vanishing slowly…until there were no traces of it anymore.

"Yeah! We did it!" Kylee said happily, the other joining her in her excitement before the digimon came, all de-digivolving(except Gatomon) back to Rookie.
"Impmon! You were awesome!" Kylee said, hugging her digimon tightly.
"Kylee!!!" Impmon yelled panicky as he was once again hugged, which caused the others to laugh.

---

As the four kids and their digimon started to leave the convention center, obviously tired of what had happened, they still talked a bit to each other.

"Uh oh…other problems ahead…" Lizomon interrupted as he motioned ahead of them.
The others stopped to look ahead, which didn't make them looked pleased.

Many police officers and other persons were waiting for them. One stepped forward, coming to them.
"Kylee Henke, Riza Ryuzaki, you and your friends are suspected of implication with unknown attacks here and around this center."
"Are you insane?!?" Regan said angrily.
"If it wasn't for us here today, then lots of people could have died! Give us more respect than that!" Lizomon added.

"Excuse me, mister the officer, but could I have a word with you please?" a new voice intruded, and a familiar one as well.
Krasus stood some distance behind and away from the officer. Looking uncertain, the officer went to the tall cloaked man before both started to talk.
"What are they saying?" Kylee asked.
"I can't hear anything about it." Gatomon said. "He must have put some sort of sound shield around him and that police officer."
"I find that a bit odd…" Lizomon said with a frown.

The officer was seen nodding to Krasus before he left him, and the cloaked wizard went to the Digidestined and Tamers. "The charges upon all of you have been lifted due to clear lack of proof and from other proof pertaining to your presence in helping the situation." The elder wizard spoke.

"Really? Thanks a lot Elder! I don't think we were really well to deal with that kind of thing for today." Riza said.
"Indeed true." Krasus replied with a nod. "You can all go home. All of you truly deserve a rest now…"

All the kids nodded before they started walking away…
Although when they walked past Krasus…
The elder wizard took notice of Regan staring at him…before he continued on.

"Nice work with Ignatismon anyway Kylee!" he then said as he continued on with the others.
"Oh really? Thanks a lot!"
"Hey! Now perhaps I could beat Ryumon!" Impmon said, still in Kylee's arms.
Lizomon burst out in laugher. "Hah! True, you got some good strength, but it won't be enough to beat me!" the dragon digimon replied with a laugh.
And the conversation went on…

And while they talked, the elder wizard went inside the building…

---

Standing in the slightly ravaged arena where the children's battle had been, Krasus surveyed the place, with not only his eyes, but with other unique senses.
And easily found the trace of what he was looking for.

"So it is true…The same force that created those spires and that rip here is the same…
And it is the same one that has attacked me and those Tamers some time ago…
And it is probable that it is the same dark force that has attacked the Digidestineds even further prior…" the elder wizard spoke to himself. "I will need to inform the others of this…
Truly, something may seek the demise of the Digidestined…"

And with that said, the wizard vanished from the arena, returning to his little sanctum to make his 'report'…

There was still much to be done…