And here's the final chapter; you can possibly expect 'Part III: Independence' in July, but I'll be going on a camping trip next week, and I don't know if I'll be able to get much work done on it, since I'm still doing the revision, and it's on my laptop. It's just a matter of finding a power source. Part IV is still on paper, though, so I should make some progress on that.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon Frontier

WORD COUNT: 2664
TOTAL: 8635

Sunday, April 8th, 2007

Kōichi struggled against the goop pinning his arms to his sides. He'd hoped it would be stretchy, but instead it was just like Tou-san's pitiful attempt at oatmeal this morning: practically solid, yet painfully sticky.

"Lexi, look out!" His brother's shouts echoed throughout the cavern. Kōichi glanced up just in time to see the centremost head coming down right in front of Lexi. Its sticky, slimy tongue shot out and grabbed her, and before anyone could react, it pulled the girl in and swallowed her whole. "LEXI!"

Kōichi could only stare in shock as Hydramon licked her lips – all seven of them – and actually smiled. That monster had just eaten his friend! And now she turned to her next target: Kōji. He wasn't moving at all, just standing there, frozen in apparent shock. The head furthest to the right shot its tongue at him. "Kōji!" Kōichi screamed, "Move!"

A blur passed in front of them, and Hydramon reared back in surprise. Izumi hovered there, in Fairimon form, holding the tongue in both hands. Kyōsuke was nearby, too, perched on a stone pillar he'd apparently created. Also in his Digimon form, he stood at the ready. "Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to stick your tongue out at people?" Fairimon asked mockingly, before pulling hard and flying around. That one head was dragged around helplessly, while the other six continuously snapped at her. Eventually, Fairimon let go, and by then, Hydramon's long necks were all tied together in one large, complicated knot.

"Thanks, Fairimon," Kōji breathed. Fairimon whipped around and glared at him. "What?"

"How hard is it to call a person when you need their help?" she snapped, "It took us forever to find you guys!"

"I tried calling you, but you were out of range! Besides, we have more important things to worry about! That Digimon just ate Lexi!"

"WHAT?!"

Lexi hadn't given much thought to the idea of how she might die. But even if she had, getting eaten by a digital monster in another dimension would never have crossed her mind. In fact, it took a while for the thought 'I'm going to die in here' to cross her mind even as she was being eaten, because her mind was initially occupied with the startled confusion over being grabbed, and with disgust as she was pushed through a long, slimy tube – the creature's long throat.

Then another thought came to mind, after a good, solid minute of panicking: 'I'm still breathing. I'm submerged in disgusting stomach goo, but I'm still breathing.'

Nervously, she opened her eyes, half-expecting them to be burned by stomach acid, and saw something she didn't expect to see: light. A blue-green light coming from an object floating in front of her in the darkness. 'The Spirit,' she thought, wondering a split-second later how she knew that.

Another light came from her pocket where she was keeping her cell phone/D-Scanner. She pulled it out and pointed it at the Spirit, somehow knowing what to do.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

Suddenly, Hydramon began writhing around, gagging. Bright shafts of light came from her mouths. Without warning, she spewed out a lot of smelly green mush. Various cries of disgust came from the group. A tall figure covered head to toe in the slime rose up from the mess, and raised one arm towards the water, which rose obediently and formed into a huge tidal wave.

Kōichi held his breath as the wall of water slammed into them. He felt the goo holding him get softer and release its grip. He ripped his arms free and swam for the surface. Kōji, Takuya, and Junpei had already broken free, and were treading water a few feet away. Tomoki soon popped up beside him, quickly followed by Shin'ya. Fairimon hovered overhead, and Gnomemon stood on a stone pillar he'd created. "Nii-san!" Kōji called, swimming over to him, "You okay?" His bandanna had almost slipped off his head.

"I'm fine," Kōichi replied. A much smaller wave hit him in the face. He coughed and sputtered to get the salty water out of his mouth.

Their brief reprieve was broken when Hydramon, now untangled and enraged, burst out from beneath the surface, shrieking. She was about to bear down on them when… "TIDAL SURGE!" A huge column of water shot up.

Floating on top was a humanoid elfin Digimon with aquamarine skin, waist-length dark blue hair, and red eyes. She wore a light blue metal shirt and skirt split down the front and trimmed with a dark blue, and tight darker blue shorts. Armoured greaves and shin guards of the same light blue colour covered the back of her hands, her forearms, and her lower legs. She wore a blue helmet with a red jewel in the centre (a similar gem was located on the back of each hand). Thin red stripes circled her biceps, and her feet were bare.

She began moving her arms in a continuous circular motion, creating a huge whirlpool with Hydramon more or less trapped in the middle. Then she turned to face them. "Are you guys okay?" she asked. Kōichi had a feeling he knew her, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Fairimon flew over to her and stared her right in the face. "Lexi!" she cried, "I knew it! I knew you'd come around!" That was Lexi?

"Of course," Kōji murmured, "Hydramon ate the Spirit, so when Lexi got in there, she used it to Spirit Evolve. Oi, Bokomon, d'you know who she is now?" Kōichi looked around and finally spotted Bokomon and the other Digimon, who'd scrambled to a ledge above the waves' reach.

"She's Nymphmon!" Bokomon shouted back. He had to shout because Hydramon was making quite a racket. "Ranamon's purified form!"

Looking around, Kōichi realised that someone was missing. "Hang on! Juan hasn't come up yet!" Takuya nodded, and the two of them dove under. Despite the salt water burning his eyes, Kōichi fought to keep them open. Like everyone else, Juan's bindings had dissolved in the water – which was odd, considering where they'd come from – but he clearly did not know how to swim. He was flailing around, eyes screwed shut, and mouth open in a silent scream. Kōichi swam over and grabbed the boy's left arm, while Takuya took his other side. Together, the two of them pulled him up to the surface. They all gasped as they came up; Juan coughed and hacked, shaking like mad.

"Are you okay, buddy?" Takuya asked him. Juan coughed once more and slowly opened his eyes before nodding.

Fairimon, Gnomemon, and Nymphmon had been busy. The girls were combining their 'Tidal Surge' and 'Tornado Gamba' attacks to turn Nymphmon's whirlpool into a huge, towering twister of water, with Hydramon caught inside, while Gnomemon hurled the occasional rock using an attack he called 'Boulder Wave'. Kōji, Tomoki, Junpei, and Shin'ya had joined Bokomon on their stone ledge. Kōichi and Takuya swam over, still supporting their waterlogged passenger. "Come on, we should Spirit Evolve and help them!" Takuya cried.

"It won't help," Kōji reminded him, "Fire won't do us any good here, and that thing ate my D-Scanner, remember?" All eyes turned to Tomoki.

"Don't look at me," he insisted, "I told you, I dropped mine when we got snatched."

"I know; we found it, but I gave it to Lexi to give to you."s

Once everyone was out of the water, their attention shifted back to the fight. Fairimon and Nymphmon lost their grip on Hydramon, and the evil Digimon was now angrier than ever. She shrieked at the girls; the sound sent shivers down Kōichi's spine. Fairimon moved forward to attack, but Nymphmon stopped her. "I can handle this," she declared. Kōichi was shocked. The last time they'd spoken, she hadn't wanted any involvement with the Digital World. Now she was insisting on fighting a Digimon one-on-one? "AQUA BLAST!" A blast of water shot from her hands and towards Hydramon, slamming her into the other side of the cavern. Hydramon snarled, glaring at each one of them, and, finding herself outnumbered, dove under and swam for the cavern exit. Nymphmon waved her arms again, shouting: "TIDAL SURGE!" and the waters slowly receded, until it was all back in the pool, and the ledge was about ten feet above the wet ground.

Fairimon, Gnomemon, and Nymphmon landed easily and returned to their original human forms. "Lexi, that was amazing!" Izumi cried, "The rest of us almost didn't have to do anything! We are so going to win this thing with you on our side!"

Lexi, who'd been staring at her shoes, looked up suddenly. She glanced at Izumi for a second in apparent disbelief. Kōji jumped off the ledge, landing without a scratch thanks to his years of kendo training. Kōichi slowly began to make his way down with the others, while still not diverting his attention from the conversation. "Yeah, that was really something," Kōji agreed, "I'm just glad you've finally made up your mind. Welcome aboard." He smiled and extended his hand to shake hers.

Lexi hesitated, then took it. "Thanks. I really didn't think I'd be able to do this, any of this."

"So you're staying with us?!" Junpei said excitedly, "Yes!"

"Now how about we get out of here?" Takuya suggested, "Shin'ya's got a curfew."

"So do you!"

"It's not the same as yours is."

"Yes it is! And we still have hours until then! You've got something planned with Yuki, don't you?!"

"You're still going out with her?" Tomoki asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he is. You'd think she'd have better taste, though."

"I heard that, shrimp!" Takuya chased his little brother out of the cave, the others laughing and following behind.

"Hydramon, you have failed me," a deep voice declared.

An exhausted and terrified-looking Hydramon bowed low before a large dark figure in the shadows. She screeched in her own language, which only Master could understand. "Please, Master! They outnumbered me. Please have mercy, and I swear I will not fail you again!"

A sigh. "Very well. It seems these Legendary Warriors are stronger than I assumed." Several other creatures growled and hissed in fear. Never before had Master been wrong.

"What do you propose we do, Master?" one asked.

"The Spirits. They are the Warriors' source of power. Spilt up and find them first."

"And the Warriors?" a third, more feminine voice questioned.

"Divide and conquer. They are much stronger together than they will ever be on their own. Separate them and destroy them. Now go, find the Spirits, my servants." Most of the creatures flew, slithered, or crawled away. Even Master left. Only Hydramon and the third mysterious Digimon remained.

"What a waste," the unknown one spat, "Mantimon may have lost to the Warriors, but at least he did not flee from the battle. You are worthless to Master's army." And with that, she raised her right arm, and – although it was too dark to see what she was doing – the effects were obvious. Hydramon screeched before being silenced – forever.

As the Trailmon carried them back home, Lexi turned to the others. "I know I've been a bit of a bitch to you guys," she admitted, "And I'm sorry, really. These past months have just been stressful and all, and I have a deadline coming up." She took a deep breath and continued. "Five years ago last December, my older sister Londyn dropped out of high school after her eighteenth birthday and moved to live with my aunt and uncle here in Tokyo. She joined a band and for a while kept regular contact with me, then, she moved out of my aunt and uncle's apartment over a year ago and never contacted us again. She isn't the most responsible person; you give her a rule or restriction and she might break it just for fun. But she wouldn't let the people who love her worry so much. We're afraid something might have happened to her, so I convinced my mother to let me participate in the student exchange program for a year, so that I can look for her. But I've been searching since September, and I still have nothing. I have until June, and then I have to go back home. I just need to know that my big sister's alright."

She tried to keep from choking up as the memory of what had driven Londyn away came back to her.

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2000

Nine-year-old Alexis poked miserably at her plate with her fork. Again, Londyn was arguing with their parents. "I can't believe you went to another one of those… those rock concerts," their mother snapped over the mashed potatoes, saying the word like it was some sort of blasphemy.

"Would you just get over it, Mom?"

"Young lady," their father interjected, "you know very well that we've forbidden you from those. They're a terrible influence, and we will not allow a daughter of ours to spend her time with those kinds of people!"

"WELL MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO BE A DAUGHTER OF YOURS ANYMORE!" Londyn stood up abruptly and marched upstairs. Alexis just watched as Mom and Dad, still fuming, returned to their food. The silence was only broken by Alyson occasionally banging her spoon on the tray of her highchair. She hated this family. She remembered when they were a lot closer – or at least, Londyn had just gone along with whatever Mom and Dad told her to do. Now she yelled at them a lot, snuck out at night, and hid her new punk rock CDs under the bed. She even went and got a tattoo, but only Alexis knew about it.

After quickly finishing supper, Alexis started getting up out of her chair. "Alexis," her mother chided her sternly, "What do we say?"

"May I please be excused?" Alexis whispered timidly. As soon as she got her parents' permission to leave, she slowly walked out of the kitchen before running up to the room she shared with her big sister. Londyn had locked the door again, but she opened it when Alexis knocked their secret knock. As usual, she looked like she'd been crying.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Lexi," she apologised. Londyn was the one who gave her that nickname. "Mom and Dad just don't get it. I don't want to be their perfect daughter; it's just not who I am."

"But do you gotta fight with them? It's scary when everyone's yelling."

Londyn sat down on her bed, creasing the floral bedspread, and motioned for her sister to join her. Alexis did so. "I'm sorry. I promise, once I turn eighteen next December, all the yelling is gonna stop."

"You really promise?"

"I really promise."

"Pinkie swear?"

"Pinkie swear."

All was quiet in the train, then Izumi hugged her. "We're ready to help in any way we can!" she insisted, "Right, guys?" She glared at the boys, though it wasn't like they weren't going to agree anyway.

"Of course," Kōji agreed, still trying to wipe Hydramon's stomach slime off his D-Scanner (Lexi had grabbed it when she'd been swallowed), "You're one of us now, and we help each other out."

Lexi sighed, feeling a weight that had been there for over a year rise off her shoulders. "Thank you, guys. Thank you so much."

TO BE CONTINUED…

So here's a bit of a preview for Part III, but you might see some differences in the final product.

He left the house and met up with Tomoki, who was just approaching the end of his driveway. "We'll have to make this quick," he told him, "Mamà wants me to text her every hour, and I don't think I can get a normal cell signal in the Digital World."

Tomoki frowned. "That might be trouble," he admitted, "What do you plan to do?"

"What did you guys do last time? How did you keep your parents from worrying?"

"We didn't do anything. Because of how unstable the Digital World was, time flowed differently. We spent weeks in there, never went back to our world; we couldn't. But when we got back after defeating Lucemon, only ten minutes had passed. We didn't have to deal with this double life thing."

Juan sighed. "Do you think I should tell them?"

"I don't know. I'd suggest talking it over with the others first."

Juan thought about it as they got on the train to Shibuya station. He really wanted to show his mother that he was older and stronger than she thought. Maybe if she saw that, she'd stop treating him like a little kid.