Author's Note:

*Sigh* Finally... finally done...

I don't know why, but I found it extremely hard to write this chapter... maybe it's because I don't feel I understand the new Destined all to well... Well, at least it's finally done now, right? :)

Um, I really don't have much to say this time aside from that 1) two of my original characters will be introduced in this chapter and 2) my second favorite and original favorite digimon-wise is making his first appearance! ^-^ (Notice how I said first appearance xD)

Okay, so, enjoy guys, and I really hope it was worth the wait! :D

On a side note, WOOT! The story broke 20,000 words! XDDD

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Reviews:

Chapter 5-

TheGreatElisaMousy: As ashamed as I am, no, I do not have an update plan... I do really badly with those and always seem to miss the deadline. sorry for disappointing you. :(

Undying Soul98: Remember what I told you about Ryo? Sorry to say, but it wont be for a while. But, hey, he'll come in due time and I intend on making his entrance a grand one! XD

superstar22: Haha, glad I could please! And I hope this chapter is just as good! ^^

Chapter 6-

Nightshade1712: I'm pretty sure it's not... I mean, Phenomenon was never a digimon theme song, for one thing... if you really do think it is, can you find me a link? :\

superstar22: Again, thank you! ^^

"Don't be sorry. I don't have any regrets. If I hadn't met you, my life would've had no meaning. I'm glad that you and I became friends."
"That's forever."

- Wizardmon and Gatomon, that fateful day 4 years ago

DigiDestined Universe, the Park

"Hey! Happy anniversary guys," was what Tai yelled to the group immediately after he had caught his breath.

"Oh Tai," Kari sighed, her hand to her mouth as she gently laughed. That seemed to break whatever tension there was as a barrage of "hello!"s and "how have you been?"s started up.

"Hey, Tai!" Davis, ever the eager one, grinned broadly, the first to speak. He raised a hand in greeting as the older DigiDestined straightened, shrugging off Joe's complaints about him being late.

"Heh, heya Davis. What's up?" Tai just grinned, nodding to his old and new friends alike. That is, after he had calmed down Joe.

"Nothin' much, you?"

"Mimi!" A certain purple-haired teen blurted as soon as she got the chance, excited to see her idol.

"Hi!" The group's fashion fan drawled in return, beaming right back with warm reception.

"Izzy, it's been too long." The shortest among the gathered finally spoke, nodding towards the original holder of the crest of Knowledge.

"Likewise, Cody." Izzy replied with a replica nod, earning a faint smile from the younger boy.

"Gatomon! How have you been?" Cheerful as ever, Sora knelt down next to Kari's digi-kitty partner who purred in reply.

"Just fine Sorrra, thank you for asking."

"And you, Patamon?" The red-head added, turning her head ever so slightly to check on the bat-pig.

"Just great Sora!" T.K's partner cheerfully replied, jumping down from the boy's hat to land next to the Champion digimon and tall teenager with a beaming smile, sapphire eyes continuing to sparkle with delight. "How have you been?"

"Wonderful, thank goodness!" The tennis player closed her eyes, smiling brightly back.

DemiVeemon (Davis' partner), noticing how close Patamon and Gatomon were, huffed, quickly barging in-between the two, squeaking loudly. "'Ey! What about m… err… ush!" As the In-Training did this, the pink bird—Poromon—let out a chuckle at his antics while the pale blob—Upamon—giggled loudly, not even bothering to try and hide their laughter.

"Err... Tai, when did you grow a beard?"

"Beard? I told you to shave, Tai!"

Raising a hand to stroke his chin, where there indeed was a patch of bristly fuzz growing, Tai let out an awkward sounding laugh. "Uh, oops?"

Matt, while the others got reacquainted, just smiled and watched, winking at his younger brother and shoving his hands into his pockets. T.K., on his end, grinned back, copying his elder sibling. Shaking her head at her brother, Kari turned towards the younger of the duo, closing her eyes and doing one of her infamous, infectious smiles. Soon enough, even Joe had caught it.

Said Destined of Reliability smiled sheepishly at that point, yet happily, rubbing the back of his head. "Wow, what a reunion."

"It has been a long time since we've all been together." The female red-head of the group added, looking at Joe with a smile before glancing back at the gathered.

The youngest, Cody, gave one of his infrequent grins. "No kidding!"

"Yah, think about it. There's enough of us here to start our own soccer league!" T.K. laughed and soon everybody joined him.

Later, relaxing under a large tree while still in the park, the groups had decided to swap stories. And now it was the original Destined's turn, and boy, did they have a lot of stories!

"…So you see, not all the corrupted digimon we encountered were in fact bad. They were just under the influence of the evil Black Gears." Tai was speaking, enjoying the attention of his captivated audience.

Sora took up the tale next, eager. "But we found out we could destroy the Black Gears with our digivices and free them from their spell." She smiled at the memories, "they became good friends and eventually helped us defeat the four Dark Masters."

"Geez! Those Dark Masters sound like my math teacher!" Davis gaped, getting a few stares and a few more laughs.

"They should make a movie out of this story!" Yolei instead cheered, causing Tai to rub the back of his head with a grin while the others just chuckled. Well, Joe and Izzy looked pretty sheepish themselves.

"I hope these grass stains will come out of my clothes or else my mom will ground me…" Everyone pretty well ignored Cody's remark.

After letting it all sink in, Tai straightened, looking over the new group of Digidestined, and then glanced over at his best friend—Matt. "You guys have to stick together, no matter what. Remember that friendship is the key or you'll all be toast! Right guys?"

"Right!"

DigiDestined Universe, a harbor

"That's an incredible story. I must admit, I'm a little afraid we can't live up to the achievements of you original DigiDestined."

Now by a harbor, the harbor where Joe and TK rode Ikkakumon right through Myotismon's fog barrier, the Destined had just finished up their latest tale, and their successors were feeling a bit overwhelmed. This was proved by what Yolei said, speaking after Cody.

"W-we wouldn't be here if we couldn't handle it…" What with the stuttering, she didn't sound all too sure of herself. Though, that was lost on their fearless leader Davis.

Fist pumping, the boy grinned eagerly as he looked back at the gathered group from staring out over the lake. "What she said! I'm ready to fight right here, right now! Right DemiVeemon?"

"Right Davish!"

Letting out a high-pitched giggle, Sora spoke, teasing the boy, "Davis, you're so brave!"

Tai, not noticing the tease, nodded, continuing. "That's the spirit Davis; take no prisoners!"

Blinking, the new wearer of the Goggles turned towards the original, "Oh yah?" He laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, yah!"

Tai grinned back, nodding while his blonde friend spoke to the rest of the new chosen. "Can the rest of you handle it?"

Not even looking up, Yolei nervously replied, "I'm not sure…"

With an unusual mixture of calm and excitement, Joe laughed, winking as he gave her leader a playful shove. "Just follow Davis!" …Nearly sending him tumbling into the bay, resulting in a round of laughter from all but Davis and his partner.

"W-Whaaa!"

"G-Gah! Davish!"

DigiDestined Universe; 4 Days Later, the TV Station

Finally, it was August 3rd, the day the Destined defeated Myotismon, and now the children had come to pay their respects at the TV station to all those they had lost. But… something was off.

Crack! A bolt of royal blue lightning sliced its way through the once clear blue sky, an ominous pitch colored cloud rolling in a second later. Kari, being the first to react, was the one who notified the rest of this phenomenon. "Whoa, look at that huge cloud! Did you see how it just came out of nowhere?"

"Mm-hm!" her partner replied, fur standing on end as another snap of thunder shook the day, turning it to night.

"Those weathermen are always wrong!" Of course, Joe always has a reasonable explanation, though no one got a chance to hear it; as suddenly, a blast of electricity shot down, actually striking the structure!

"Ahhhh, something here's not right!" A second after Davis yelled this, people came running out of the building from all exits, screaming!

"It's the ghost!"

"It's after us!"

"Huh?" The DigiDestined were mostly unfazed by this news because it was dawning on them just what had to be going on.

Davis raised a fist, his partner copying him from within his arms. "It's a di-"

"Gatomon!" Kari cried, cutting him off before he could finish, her partner running right through a sparking doorway!

DigiDestined Universe; a Few Minutes Ago, Inside the TV Station

Hiroaki Ishida was stunned, to say the least. The day had been going bad enough… how could it get any worse?!

Well, it just did as 5 of the last of his employees ran past him down a separate hallway, screaming for their lives. Mr. Ishida soon figured out why, not that he didn't know the reason already.

His own shadow shivered, and then detached from his form, revealing a new one that belonged to no one with steeple hat high, piercing white eyes, and black cape long. It crawled a wall, skirted the ceiling, then slid down the next, retreating back down the way it came from, fading down the next passage… following his employees!

"Not again…!"

Hiroaki was not easily scared. He hadn't shed a tear at the divorce, he hadn't batted an eye when TK made his last visit before the brothers went off to camp, and he certainly had not shook like a leaf as he did now when that vampire took over his office! No, this man didn't frighten easily, but there was one thing he absolutely could not stand.

Not knowing what was happening. But, at least he knew why they were running.

The ghost was back.

DigiDestined Universe; Top floor of the TV Station, Indoors

Top floor, indoors, safe. All but the final describe the room where everything was originating from and Gatomon was running to. All but the final, because…

"Ga…to… gat-to t-t-toh…. G-gatttoo…"

…Well, the ghost is haunting this room.

"Gatomon!"

"Gatomon!" Kari, having finally caught up, panted as she came to a stop beside her feline friend. "Gatomon, what's wro-ahh!"

"It's the ghost!" Davis' turn.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" And then Yolei's.

Blinking, Kari looked straight up and stated, "Who you gonna call?" Because circling above her, above the group and around a chandelier, was what caused Hiroaki such grief. A jagged mining pick, or swerving arrow, it didn't look as scary as the static from the lone computer made it appear to be, but then again, something like this is not something to laugh at. A haunting in both Japanese and American superstition is never good.

"Hey! What's going on?!" T.K. stammered out, hurrying to catch up with the group. He entered the room just as a phone book went soaring off a table, smacking him right in face. "Gah!"

"Ah! T.K.!" Patamon cried, whacking at the surrounding paper, doing his best to protect his partner from this force he so far could not fight. But, that was about to change.

High pitched, then unbearably low, the static from the computer turned to words. "Gato-mon…!" Words that the group really did not want to hear.

Oblivious, Davis cried out with a noticeable voice crack, "What does it want!?"

"You're asking me?" His elder replied, automatically reaching up to finger the goggles that were no longer there.

"It wants me. I'm here!"

"G-Gatomon?" The group gasped, gaping down at the petite Champion.

Sounding calmer now, a few paces ahead of the group, she continued as the ghost drifted from the celling to the ground. "…I'm right here. What do you want?"

Burgundy eyes narrowed and blue hands clenched themselves, tightly holding onto tanned skin as DemiVeemon watched the digi-kitty seemingly sacrifice herself while the others could still do something to help. "Davis, I think she flipped her lid!"

"What's that?" His partner called down, not overly surprised when the blue monster hopped out of his arms. Upamon and Poromon were soon to follow.

"Oh no! Let's do something!"

"A-are you guys sure this is a g-good ide…aa?" The newest female Destined stuttered, looking down at the youngest member of their group's partner, who just spoke.

Poromon simply nodded, not even looking back at his partner as he squeaked, "We've got to save Gatomon!"

"DemiVeemon digivolve tooo… VEEMON!"

"Upamon digivolve toooooo… Armadillomon!"

"Poromon digivolve toooo… Hawkmon!"

Confident now that their partners had evolved, Yolei held up a fist. "Go get 'em!"

As the partners got into their battle positions, Hawkmon, ever the calculating one, made his deduction. "I assuoome that's a servant of the Digimon Em-peror, sent here to frrrighten us."

Izzy nodded in confirmation with his words. "Yes, it appears to be!"

Leaning forward, the latest gogglehead frowned determinedly. "He doesn't stand a ghost of a chance!"

Sighing, Kari smoothly replied. "Good one."

"Ready? On-"

"Wait!"

The Digimon jumped back a little instead of forwards, startled by Gatomon's interruption, Veemon the most out of the trio. "Huh? What are you doing, Gatomon?!"

Shaking her head at him, the cat quickly turned back towards the scene. "I'm here!"

Meanwhile, Mimi, surprisingly the one being the most observant out of the group this time, had been staring at the lone computer in the room the entire time, finally deciding to speak up. "Um… why is it doing that?" She pointed out the PC and Izzy immediately dashed over, catching the attention of the rest of the older group.

"Aaoohhh… aaatooo…"

"Prodigious! The ghost appears to be causing this electronic device to malfunction! That would explain why my laptop was having such problems, but maybe…" He trailed off, taking out his signature orange pear laptop. Just as he was inserting a plug into the computer in order to connect the two devices, a surge of electricity literally pushed the cable out, one red word flashing across the blue screen.

At the same time, Izzy's own laptop fizzled a little and turned blue, much to the boy's dismay. "Oh no!" He was about to pull back out of shock and fear when something caught his eye. The word, or really name, from before appearing in numbers as the one-word message scrolled endlessly down the screen.

~ GATOMON ~

Tensing up a little as she too noticed, Gatomon herself spoke. "Don't move guys."

"Aaoohhh… aaatooo…"

Shaking, Cody finally snapped. "Gatomon! Run for it!"

She, as with the others, paid him no heed, calmly stepping forward, directly in front of the shadow now, despite the danger she was in. Holding her arms out to the sides, sapphire blue eyes wide and sparkling, she cried out a name many of the gathered thought they would never hear.

"Wizardmon!"

Kari, T.K., Patamon…

Tai, Matt…

Sora, Mimi…

Joe, and finally, Izzy looking up from his computer screen in surprise. All gasped in shock, unable to believe their ears. But, their eyes proved it true as none other than Wizardmon, Gatomon's first true friend, rose out of the depths of the shadow.

Steeple hat turned comforting and true, eyes emerald green, and cape long and blue. It was Wizardmon.

"Gatomon… Gatomon, I'm glad you've come."

Everyone gasped this time, and Kari looked close to tears. "Wizardmon!"

"A friend?" Cody gulped.

"Oh! I sure hope so!" Yolei's squeaky voice replied, the startled girl clutching her hands together in front of her.

Shaking her head and blinking away tears unbidden, Gatomon smiled up at her old comrade and friend. "Wizardmon…" she swallowed, letting out a little laugh. "It's good to see you again."

Wasting no time with pleasantries, the wizard went on. "I need to tell you something, Gatomon."

"What is it, old friend?"

Expression unchanging, the Champion kneeled down closer to his fellow in level, coming eye-to-eye with her. "Your great enemy… you cannot beat him as you are now!"

Gatomon looked startled for the first time that night, though she wasn't the only one as Davis exclaimed, "Does he… does he mean the Digimon Emperor!?"

Green gaze rose, meeting the wild haired boy's own brown. "Your enemy is not only the Digimon Emperor, but a much greater darkness. The darkness… it cannot be defeated with strength alone. You must return the one wrapped in darkness to his true self!"

"What? True self?" Gatomon, confusion in her voice, questioned. "Wizardmon, this isn't the time for riddles!"

"I know Gatomon… but this is what it has come to me as." He paused, almost dramatically, before continuing. "Kindness will release the Golden Radiance."

"Kindness!? I hope he doesn't mean we have to be nice to Ken!" Yolei blurted.

Unfazed, the wizard went on. "Kindness alone will not prevail, Gatomon. The Golden Radiance is also necessary."

Hesitantly, Kari's partner nodded. "…I see, but-"

Shaking his head, Wizardmon stood. "No, no buts. You don't have much time—you must hurry!" Another pause, and then, "Goodbye, my friend."

Veemon ran forward ahead of the group to stop behind Gatomon, calling out, "But wait!"

He, Wizardmon, seemed to sigh. "I can't… Gatomon. Be careful."

"Wizardmon!" Not wanting him to go after finally getting him back, Gatomon, holding back tears, desperately held out her gloved, yellow and orange striped paw. Wizardmon, understanding, held out his own gloved one. The two reached for each other, but… it was not to be as Wizardmon's still ghostly, transparent hand passed right through her own, the cat shaking as the tears became harder to hold.

Retracting his arm and uneasily stepping backwards, the patchwork digimon looked down at his hands, seeing the floor instead. Lowering them, he closed his eyes and barely whispered, "…I'm sorry…"

Gatomon looked up in time to see his form begin to drift backwards, farther and farther away from her by the second. Letting out a gasp, the cat stepped forward, breaking into a run across the room and colliding with the window as he passed through it. "Wizardmon!"

As his form faded out of sight, one last word of advice drifted back to the group. "Hurrryyyyy...!"And then, as quickly as he had come, the magician was gone.

"No… Wizardmon…" A deep, shuddering breath, and finally, the tears came. Slipping between the lids of her eyes and sliding down her pure white fur… As Kari walked over, she sorrowfully noted that this was the first time in a long time since she had seen her partner cry.

"Gatomon…" The girl joined her, bowing down, hunching beside her friend and draping an arm around her, the two now sharing tears as they mourned the renewed loss of their old friend.

Behind them, the gathered stood, either in confusion, or sorrow like the two before them.

Sora's voice rang out, saying, "He came back to tell us."

Finally speaking the question that was on all of his teammates minds, Davis stepped forward, turning to the girl. "Who was Wizardmon anyway?"

The tennis player slowly closed, than once more opened her eyes as she flashed back to the past along with the rest of her group. "We were battling a very evil dark digimon named Myotismon. He was about to destroy Kari and Gatomon…! Wizardmon stepped in the way of Myotismon's attack… and he paid the ultimate price. Wizardmon sacrificed himself in order to save Kari and Gatomon," almost as though they really had stepped into the past, a long past scream echoed throughout the room when the last word was spoken. "And they'll never forget him for it."

Slowly, the chosen joined Kari and Gatomon by the window, staring out into the still brewing storm, though, no one made any cheap weatherman comments this time. Minutes passed like hours, until finally,

"Will we ever see him again…?"

Kari's shaky, but still calmer voice spoke. She was asking no one in particularly, though it seemed meant for her brother, and he soon replied.

"I'm sure we will, Kari."

At the base of them all, Gatomon still crouched, now holding the roses her partner had brought for her. The red bouquet clashed dramatically with the dull, dim, depressing scene, but it wasn't as though anyone cared.

She raised a paw to her face, paused, and then removed it, not wiping the tears she had intended to clear away. Instead, she pressed it once more against the window, where the still warm imprint of her hand was from when she chased after the wizard. Shortly afterwards, Kari placed her own next to Gatomon's.

"That Wizardmon... what a friend… Even from beyond he still continues to watch over me."

Same day; America, New York

A young girl by the name of Kaitlyn Klein sighed, absently playing with the silvery trim of her bandanna. Biting her lip, the girl's eyes slid to the side as she watched her friends quarrel over yet another of their games.

Sighing again, she turned back to her blank cellphone. After a moment's hesitation, she turned it on.

A pause that seemed to last forever started, her finger hovering over the Call button. Finger twitching, she was going over it all once again in her mind. Grimacing, she quickly shut her eyes and jabbed her finger down, and before she could regret it, her phone was dialing the number.

Ring… Ring… Ring…

'Come on, pick up, pick up!'

Ring… Ring… Ring…

'You know what? Don't pick up. I'm good with that, right?'

Ring… Ring… Beep!

'Urgh…'

"Um, hey, Michael? I… I need to talk to you about something… It's about… uh… well, do you know what Digimon are?"

Flashback

"W-What are you?"

"Hi! My name is Candlemon! Or Candmon for short! Don't be scared, Kaitlyn, I'm your friend! I've come here to help you!"

"W-with… what?"

"With something I wish you didn't have to be part of, Kaitlyn. Something that doesn't just concern you, but all of the DigiDestined."

Unknown

It didn't know where it was. All it knew was that it had been here for as long as it had remembered. But… where was here?

'Curious? Good. Curiosity leads to development, and consequently success.'

A voice it did not recognize, and so, it attempted to respond. "Who… are you?" Although horse in sound, it managed and was thus pleased.

'Who I am does not concern you. What does concern you, is your mission.'

"Mission?" This confused it. What was a 'Mission'?

'Yes. Wake, MVA-10; it is time to serve your Master.'

Author's Note 2:

I don't really have much to say this time other than that sorry it was so short... well, I still hope it was worth it. :)

Yep, I basically just copied the episode onto paper, but that was intended. Don't worry, like one reviewer noted, this mostly just sets a start point for the Adventure side of the story.

Anyways, one last thing. In my chapter 3 I said I was considering doing chapters in certain people's points of view. Next chapter, back with the Tamers, will be when I decide if I do that or not for the majority of the rest of the story. So, to help me decide, I'll be re-posting my poll from before onto my page... vote and review guys! :D

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Next time...

'WHAT?! Why didn't you tell us before Goggles?!'

'B-big b-bwother… I… I hate yoow!'

What Henry didn't know, was that Suzie actually did have a good reason... for in Suzie's hands was perhaps the best thing that could have ever happened to the boy.

'What is it Riley?'

'The scanners are picking up something... it's... a Digimon!'