Digicross Frontier Episode 8 -Demon Hunter Raidramon.

Takeru Motomiya leaned back, listening to Sam Inoue's call on the family cordless phone. "They went off again? Jeez, they could have asked if we could go too."

"I don't think that'd be wise, all things considered." Sam's voice replied over the phone. "Right now, Ryoko, Hiroki, and Hitomi are the most experienced digidestined, considering their records."

Takeru hmph'd. "Figures. Even my cousin's getting better, even while she's on another world. Hey, Veemon's close, I can feel it!"

"Maybe." Sam replied. "And I think time is an issue. I heard Kyoko say that all the other digidestined from Izumi's world are missing. That may be why they left so quickly. Can you imagine how much of a fuss our parents would raise if we all tried to go?"

Takeru sighed. "I guess. Well, all we can do now is wait, and yell at Ryoko for leaving us behind again. The things some people do for the ones they love..."

"Jealous?" Sam asked.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

==

Twilight pulled into the station, engine silently shutting down. "Far as I can go kids. The rest is up to you."

The doors opened, and five figures stepped out. First was Izumi Oritomo, looking around, eyes widening as she recognized the place. "We're almost back where we started!" she exclaimed. "I thought you were going to take us back to the Dark Continent!"

"Trouble with the track." the Trailmon rumbled. "You'll have to go the rest of the way on foot, or find another Trailmon.

Second out was Hiroki Hida, and his partner, Armadillomon. He was dressed to travel, had a backpack on, and a small digivice clipped to his wrist on a small bracelet. "What happened to this place?" Hiroki asked. "A lot of this damage looks recent."

Last out of the train was Ryoko Kamiya, and her partner, Sneasel. "A battle, probably involving earth or ground type digimon." Sneasel observed.

"Do you know this place?" Ryoko asked Izumi.

Izumi nodded. "This is where I found my first Spirit, the one that lets me digivolve into Fairymon. A group of Mushroomon were taken over by Cherubimon, and were attacking the Floramon who lived here."

"I remember hearing about that." Armadillomon said. "That was where you met that Woodmon, right?"

"Don't remind me." Izumi replied. "But this place was restored after Wolfmon beat Woodmon. How did it get destroyed again?"

There was a sound, causing Sneasel to extend his claws and move to protect Ryoko. "Who's there?" he demanded fiercely.

A lone Mushroomon stuck his head up. "Izumi? Is that you?"

==

"Someone's come to the village." Youkomon said, smelling the air. "Humans, by the scent." he muttered.

Another Youkomon, identical to the first, looked up. "Then we had best teach them about the tribute owed to us. Master Cherubimon says that three of the Hybrids are loose and unaccounted for. We may be rewarded for bringing him a Spirit."

"Indeed." the first one said. The two digimon moved off, towards the wrecked village.

==

"I can't believe you came back." Floramon said, placing a few fruits on the table for the humans. "When Grottomon came back-"

"GROTTOMON?" Ryoko and Izumi shouted.

"How could that be?" Hiroki asked. "We beat Grottomon and took both of his spirits away."

Armadillomon nodded. "Yeah, the last I heard, Junpei had..." he trailed off, the implication sickening him.

"Junpei..." Izumi whispered. "I shouldn't have left him!" Izumi ran out of the room. Ryoko got up and followed her.

"Wait!" Floramon called, but Sneasel stopped her. "What did I say?"

"Junpei took Grottomon's earth spirit. If Grottomon's back, then it's likely that Junpei was captured and his spirits taken from him." Sneasel's expression was grim.

"Junpei?" one of the Mushroomon in the room asked. "Big guy, wore a jumpsuit, smelled like chocolate? I remember him, just after Wolfmon showed up and stopped us from attacking. I liked him."

"Then..." Hiroki said, head bent.

"Yes. They probably have Tomoki too, as well as Takuya and Kouji."

Tomoki glanced at Armadillomon, then at Sneasel. "Then we'll have to beat them all and get our friends back."

Sneasel grinned. "Admirable sentiment. We can get the information out of Grottomon when we find him. I wouldn't mind a rematch against him."

==

Outside, Ryoko walked up to Izumi, who was fighting back tears. "Izumi?"

"He was always acting like an idiot, and then he has to be some sort of hero..."

"We'll find him. He probably just lost the spirits he'd taken, and is hiding right now. He may be a goof, but he's no idiot." Ryoko tried to reassure Izumi.

"Yeah." Izumi sniffed. "He's probably trying to bribe some poor digimon with another chocolate bar right now."

"We will find him." Sneasel said, coming out of the small hut the others were inside. "Once Izzy finishes modifying the digivice tracker back in our home dimension, we should be able to track down the other children with little effort." His ear twitched. "Who's there?" he demanded.

A large black hound sauntered into view. "Cerberumon!" Izumi gasped. "But Takuya destroyed you!"

"He only scanned my digicode." Cerberumon replied. "Master Cherubimon has granted me new life, and has tasked me to track down the remaining Chosen Child. Odd, I thought there was only one human left." the dog shrugged, not too concerned. "More fun for me, I guess."

"Do not presume to leave us out of your 'fun'." Two creatures, resembling Kyuubimon but coloured blue instead of yellow, seemed to appear out of nowhere. "We were all tasked with this mission. Take the girl's two spirits and bring the other human back to Cherubimon."

"Where are the others?" Izumi shouted. "What did you do with them?"

"Defeat us and find out." One of the blue foxes taunted.

One of the Floramon crept over, and recognized the two creatures. "Those are Youkomon." she whispered to Ryoko. "They're very fast, very mean, and their Demon Fire attack can melt metal!"

Izumi gripped her D-Scanner. "Spirit Evolution...SHUTUMON!" Ryoko winced as she heard Izumi's yell as the power ripped through Izumi, before settling down. "Where are they?" Shutumon shouted, hands and feet crackling with energy. "Tell me!"

"Make me!" Cerberumon taunted. Shutumon shot forward, intent on attacking Cerberumon. A second before she hit, however, a portal opened up, and Shutumon flew inside. Cackling gleefully, Cerberumon opened up another portal, and went after Shutumon.

"I guess that makes you ours." one of the Youkomon said calmly, stalking towards Ryoko.

"Digiarmour energize!" Ryoko's digivice glowed, and the Digiegg of Light appeared.

"Sneasel, armour digivolve to...Yashamon, swordsman of Light!"

"Amusing." The other Youkomon mused. "Pathetic, but amusing." It dodged several energy bolts, then charged at Ryoko.

"Not so fast!" Chameleonmon said, appearing in front of Youkomon. "You're fighting us!" Chameleonmon's tongue snapped out, catching one of the Youkomon and tripping it up. "Now stay down!" he added, firing his Heat Eye at the attacker.

"I don't do tricks." Youkomon replied, twisting and dodging the energy blast. Its nine tails spread out, fireballs forming on the tips of the tails. "Fireball!" The missiles shot towards Chameleonmon, and exploded. "Too easy."

"And you're too slow!" Chameleonmon replied, suddenly appearing behind Youkomon and tackling it. "Miss Kyashi's Renamon could beat you in her sleep!"

Chameleonmon heard Hiroki's voice. "Good thing Takeru made us sit through all those tapes of the Elite Four battles."

"Huh?" Chameleonmon said, instinctively looking around.

"You're MINE!" Youkomon yelled. "Evil Flame Dragon!"

==

Yashamon swung his swords, but failed to connect. The other Youkomon, while not able to launch an attack, was still able dodge all of Yashamon's attacks. Already, the armour digimon was breathing heavily (Down, Ranamon! -ed), while the Youkomon he was fighting had lost only a little energy.

A short distance away, Ryoko, Hiroki, and the few remaining Floramon and Mushroomon had clambered up the side of the massive tree that formed the heart of Soyokaze Village, and watched the battle down below. Ryoko saw the Youkomon battling her partner duck into the underbrush, out of Yashamon's sight, and circle behind him. "Behind you!" she said, even though she knew Yashamon would not be able to hear her.

Incredibly, he did, and twisted around just in time to parry the flame assault Youkomon launched. "Thanks." Yashamon's voice said, making Ryoko look around.

"How..." Ryoko wondered. "Yashamon? Can you hear me?"

"Bit busy now." Yashamon's voice came back.

"Umm...your wrist is glowing." One of the Floramon said to Ryoko. Ryoko looked at her digivice, still clasped to her wrist. The small circular screen was glowing softly. A quick check showed that Hiroki's was glowing too.

"Our digivices." Ryoko whispered.

"Mewtwo said that their capabilities changed when we got our new digieggs. Talking to our partner digimon must be one of those abilities!"

Ryoko nodded. "Yashamon, I can talk to you directly though my digivice. I'll tell you where your opponent is, alright?" She heard Hiroki saying the same thing to his partner.

==

"Got it." Yashamon replied, readying himself. At Ryoko's command, Yashamon whirled, and intercepted another fireball attack, then returned fire with his Shadow Laser. The Youkomon he was fighting dodged the counterattack, and seemed to vanish again. "They're too fast!" Yashamon snapped. "I can't keep up with them!"

A short distance away, Chameleonmon was experiencing the same problem. "Hiroki! I can't fight this digimon!" He grunted at the other Youkomon slammed into him, tossing him aside. he glowed, then reverted to Armadillomon.

"Hmm...I suppose one of Arbormon's lackeys ran off and defected?" Youkomon observed. "No matter. Digicode is digicode."

"Armadillomon!" Hiroki yelled. "What..." Hiroki stopped. "My other digiegg. Maybe... Digiarmour energize!"

Hiroki's digivice glowed, then the digiegg of love appeared, and flew over to Armadillomon. "Armadillomon, armour digivolve to...Pteramon, the wings of love!" The new digimon reminded Hiroki of an Aerodactyl, but sleeker, metallic and...armed with missiles?

"What does a metallic Aerodactyl armed with missiles have to do with love?" Hiroki wondered out loud.

"...love hurts?" Ryoko replied, uncertainly. "Sneasel, I'm going to try switching digieggs! Get back here!"

"I won't let you!" the first Youkomon yelled, diving towards Yashamon, jaws opened and aimed at Yashamon's head. At the last second, Yashamon switched back to Sneasel, and Youkomon sailed over the pokemon's head, crashing into a tree. Sneasel quickly ran back to Ryoko.

"Digiarmour energize!"

"Sneasel, armour digivolve to...Raidramon, the storm of friendship!" Ryoko blinked, temporarily dazzled by the flash of light. This Raidramon was different from the one she'd seen pictures of; this one was all black, and instead of a lizard-like tail, it had a long, black tail with a silver tuft of fur at the end.

"Not bad." Ryoko said. Another portal opened up, and Cerberumon chose that moment to come sailing through, courtesy of Fairymon's powered up Doppio Perfore (Fairymon Express. When it absolutely, positively *has* to have its butt kicked. -ed) Cerberumon slammed into a tree, and collapsed.

"Didn't she go in as Shutumon?" Hiroki asked, confused.

"I'll explain later!" Fairymon called, moving to assist Pteramon. "I see your digimon gained Beast forms as well."

"You bet!" Pteramon cried, thrilled with his new form. "Sidewinders!" Missiles flew everywhere, striking all around the two Youkomon.

"Hey, we're trying to save the forest, not level it!" Hiroki called to his partner.

"Oops." Pteramon replied in a small voice.

"That just clears the way for me! Thunder blast!" Raidramon called, firing a bolt of electricity at the two attackers, who stumbled out of the way. This time, Raidramon was able to keep up, and made several biting attacks at the two fox digimon.

Cerberumon staggered to his feet, as the two Youkomon ran over. "You...you'll never defeat us!" Cerberumon cried, missing the sneers on the other two digimon's faces. Abruptly, the two Youkomon jumped back, burst into flame, and tackled Cerberumon. "Why...?"

"Your data, what else?" One of the Youkomon replied, springing back. Both of them glowed as they absorbed Cerberumon's data. Then their digicode appeared, spiraling madly, then combining to form a single, larger digimon.

"Doumon." one of the watching Floramon gasped. "A Demonic digimon that is said to have the power to summon demons."

"Ultimate level." Ryoko guessed.

Fairymon landed. "Fairymon, slide evolution...Shutumon!" the two digidestined watched as their friend changed forms.

"So that's how she did it." Hiroki breathed, a bit awestruck.

"Handy." Raidramon agreed.

"More like futile! Spell Prohibition Paper!" A Chinese ward flew out, striking Shutumon on the face. It stuck, and the hybrid warrior was paralyzed, electricity crackling over her.

"Izumi!" Hiroki yelled. "Pteramon, go!"

"Right! More Sidewinders! Bwahahahahahahahahah!" More missiles flew out, accompanied by Pteramon's accidental B-ko imitation. They slammed into Doumon, but had no effect. -Pteramon- slamming into Doumon beak first, however, did. Both digimon tumbled over, Pteramon crashing into the ground a few yards away.

Clutching her side, Doumon got up. "Is that all you have?" she challenged.

"Rrrr...RAHHHH!" Shutumon screamed, breaking the ward. It fell off and vanished. Beast side taking over, Shutumon flew at Doumon, hands and feet glowing with orange energy. She swung madly at Doumon, tearing more gashes in the evil digimon's face and torso.

"Enough! Demon Gate Escape!" Doumon called, activating her other power. A portal shimmered into existence in front of her, and a spectral hound stepped out, charging at Shutumon. "Behold, for I can still summon Cerberumon's dark spirit to my aid!"

"Not interested!" Raidramon yelled, darting around Shutumon, still struggling with Cerberumon's ghost.

"Dark Talisman!" Doumon yelled, hurling a spell-blast at Raidramon. The armoured digimon nimbly evaded the attack, and jumped.

"Raidramon," Ryoko yelled, "strike!"

"LIGHTNING CLAW!" Raidramon, front claws glowing blue from the electrical charge, crashed into Doumon, slashing the digimon, dealing severe damage. Doumon staggered back.

"How...how could you..." Doumon tried to focus. She saw a faint image around Raidramon. "Seraphimon....so, you carry his digicode..." Her digicode ring appeared.

As Doumon's focus fell away, so did the spectral Cerberumon. "Shutumon, slide evolution...Fairymon!" Fairymon took out her D-Scanner, and flew over to Doumon. "When you see Cherubimon, tell him he's next! Digicode, SCAN!" Ryoko and Hiroki watched Doumon's digicode vanish into the scanner, and saw three digieggs appear, and fly off.

Exhausted, Fairymon landed, and became Izumi again. She collapsed to her knees. Ryoko and Hiroki ran over to her. "Are you alright?" Hiroki asked.

Izumi tried to speak, but fell down. "She's worn out." Ryoko said. She noticed that Izumi's D-Scanner was on the ground, and that one of the buttons was flashing. Curious, she pressed the button. Digicode came out of the scanner, and the giant tree, heart of Soyokaze village, was restored. Hiroki noticed that some of the damage to the rest of the area was also undone, but there were still signs of destruction.

One of the Floramon stepped forward. "You can rest here tonight, if you want. It's poor thanks for saving us from those three, but it's the best we can manage.

==

Izumi woke up, wondering what happened. She saw that she was in a bed, her hat, jacket, and digivice on a chair by the bed. She picked up the digivice, staring at it. Finally, she made her decision, quietly got up, took her hat and jacket, and made for the door.

She got about five feet out of the small house she was resting in when Ryoko spoke up. "You weren't thinking of leaving us here, were you? We already said we would help you."

Izumi shook her head. "No. Duskmon would kill you without a thought. The others... they're..."

"They're not." Ryoko replied evenly. "We'll find them, I promise. But we won't do any good if we scatter all over the place. Believe me, that never works."

"Personal experience?" Izumi asked.

"Mom and dad's old war-stories." Ryoko replied. "Digidestined work better in teams. You saw how we handled those jokers today."

"Duskmon's way more powerful than that." Izumi replied. "If you go with me, then you might be captured or killed." Tears started running down her cheeks. "I can't take that too."

Ryoko stepped forward and hugged Izumi. "It won't happen. Come on, we should rest. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

Next Episode (Drumbeat) He was one of the worst foes the digidestined ever faced. (Drumbeat) A master of darkness that took 8 digidestined working together to defeat. (Drumbeat) Now he's back, and only a miracle can save Ryoko, Hiroki, and Izumi (Drumbeat) Type: Virus (Drumbeat) Level: Mega (Drumbeat) Name...Piedmon (Maniacal laughter)

Next episode: 'Crimson warrior of the storm, Jet Sylphimon' (special guest voice: Mark Hamil as Piedmon)

"Did you know you have your mother's eyes? Ah-hahahahahahahahah!"

"You won't hurt Ryoko! HYPER JIHAD!"

"Izumi, let my spirits unite, so you can fly free..."

===

Digicross Frontier Bonus Episode 'Flamon's decision' Note: This will make a lot more sense if you've seen 'Home Again, Takuya Returns' Even if I am essentially chucking the script out of the window and replacing it with my own demented vision... "I'm no good here." Takuya Kanbara said weakly to the dark Trailmon. "I failed everyone. Please, take me home."

"Your choice, kid." Takuya stumbled on, feeling a great weight lift off his shoulders. The others would be fine, he told himself, ignoring the small voice in the back of his mind telling him to get off the train right NOW, blast it. Kouji can see them through, he told himself. He almost fell over as the train lurched into motion, not paying attention as the lights dimmed around him. Then his whole body tingled, as if he had touched a live wire, and he blacked out.

==Some time later

"Last stop kid. You're back home."

"Thanks." Wearily, Takuya staggered out of the Trailmon, not noticing how everything seemed a bit bigger now. "Will the others...be alright without me?"

"Not my concern." Trailmon replied. The door closed, and the dark Trailmon left, reversing itself down the tunnel. For a few minutes, Takuya stared down the tunnel, wondering if the others would find their way back. It was then that a dark red cloud started to creep out of the tunnel. Instinctively, Takuya backed away, wondering if Duskmon had followed him here. He then saw something that was much, much more terrifying than Duskmon. It was big, red, had wings, and was reaching with clawed hands for Takuya!

"Get away from me!" Takuya screamed. Without thinking, he jumped for the elevator, covering the distance in the blink of an eye. He stabbed at the button by the door, clambered into the car, and watched, terrified, as the thing in the red mist came closer. the doors closed, and Takuya felt the familiar lurch of the elevator as it went up.

"What was that...did Duskmon slide evolve?" Takuya wondered. Worn out, he rubbed his face. "I feel so weird. I hope the others..." Takuya trailed off as he pulled his hands back, stunned.

Takuya's skin looked like he had gotten a really serious tan. Also, the fingers had small claws on the end. Glancing down, he saw his feet were the same colour, but he was now barefoot, and his feet were the same colour, and he was wearing what looked like baggy red pants. Feeling his head, he found that his normally dark hair had gone long and (after accidentally pulling a lock out) red. Where his goggles normally rested were a pair of what felt like stubby horns. So shocked by this, he failed to hear the ding of the elevator, and missed the door sliding open.

"Mommy, can I have it?" a boy's voice called, catching Takuya's attention. The boy was pulled back by his mother a second later. Everyone else was just staring, trying to figure out what The thing in the elevator was. He heard someone dialing a cellphone and ask for animal control to get to the station.

"No! Leave me alone!" Takuya shouted, inadvertently releasing a blast of fire and scaring the onlookers away (except for the boy, who just stood there and shouted 'COOL!' before his mother dragged him away). He felt a sudden tremor beneath him; saw more red mist creeping into the elevator car around him. Screaming, he jumped over the crowd and concentrated on getting as far from the station as possible.

==

An hour later, Takuya was on a rooftop, pressing every button on his D- Scanner he could find. "Switch back, please let me switch back to normal!" he pleaded, planning to throw his digivice in the nearest blast furnace he could find once he did. Barking from the street startled him. "Now what?" he snarled, glancing over the edge.

It was a boy walking a dog. Tall, thin, had a blue bandanna on his head...KOUJI? Stunned, he looked again. Yes, that was Kouji, trying to figure out what was making the dog bark so. "He must have made it back!" he said, relief flooding him. "But how? How come he didn't get changed like I did?" He looked again, wondering if he was just seeing things. He looked again, saw that Kouji was a way down the street now, the dog he was walking having broken into a run. No problem, he thought. I'll just follow him and ask him when he's alone. Or I can ask that other boy that's following him, the one that...looks...like...

Another glance, this time at the boy following Kouji. The resemblance was uncanny. If Kouji hadn't repeatedly said he was an only child, Takuya'd swear that they were brothers. This boy was wearing a ballcap, had a green button up shirt on, faded jeans, and was doing everything to stay out of Kouji's sight.

Takuya tracked the two for the better part of an hour before the boy broke off following Kouji after checking his watch. "Who was that kid? I-" he froze suddenly, looking around. That red mist was back! He could feel it reaching for him, trying to drag him back..."No!" he shouted, running, thoughts of Kouji and his mysterious follower vanishing.

==

When Takuya stopped running, He had no idea where he was. He saw a school a few blocks down the road, and a park across the street. "Okay, I lost him. Now I-" He saw a bus pull up to a large building. Hospital, he realized. And he saw his mother, father, Shinya, and...Takuya?

"How can I be there?" he gasped, stunned. Then the memory hit him. The morning of the day he left for the digital world, he had gone to visit his aunt in the hospital.

"Mom, did we have to visit today?" he head Shinya whine.

"Shinya Kanbara, you take that back this instant! Your aunt broke her hip last week when she fell, and today was the only day we could come visit her!"

Takuya swallowed, feeling sick. He remembered those same words, and what was said next...

"Don't worry," the other Takuya said, "you'll get your presents and cake soon enough, you little sugar-hog."

"Can it, Takuya." his father said sternly. "Please try to remain civil in the hospital."

"This is...this is the day I left for the digital world." Takuya gasped, watching his younger self enter the hospital. "But that's impossible! I came back before I left. Is that why I changed into this form?" Suddenly, a thought entered his head (don't say it! -ed). "I can stop me from going to the digital world! All I have to do is get in there and tell my younger self what's going to happen if I answer that cellphone tonight!"

Quickly, Takuya scanned the building, looking for a way to sneak inside. He spotted an open window about two floors up, it looked like a storage closet. "Right." he grunted, jumping and clawing his way up the side of the building. "This was a lot easier as Vritramon. I wish I'd kept his wings."

Inside, Takuya found it was really hard to get around the hospital looking like a little red demon. He knew that his aunt was in a room three floors up, all he had to do was corner the other Takuya and spell things out for him. He was creeping along when he saw the boy who was following Kouji in one of the room, talking to someone in a hospital bed.

"Just talk to him." the old lady in the bed said. "I'm sure he won't bite."

"How?" the boy asked. "'Hi, I'm the brother you never knew you had.' I don't think he'd believe that. And mom's still not feeling well."

"You're just scared, Kouichi. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But..."

The old lady brushed Kouichi's face with her hand. "Go. I think seeing the two of you together will do your mother some good too. That incentive enough?" she asked, dry humour in her voice. "Don't make that face now, grandparents are supposed to guilt out their descendants."

Kouichi nodded. "Alright grandma. I promise, the next time you see me, I'll have Kouji with me."

Takuya sat there, stunned. His brother...?

"Don't rush on my account." the lady said. "I'm not going anywhere. Now get going, your brother is waiting for you." Kouichi left the room. After a minute, she said, "You can come out now. I won't turn you over to the doctors."

Nervous, Takuya stepped out, wondering if he was about to give this nice old lady a heart attack. "Um...this is just a costume. Really, I just got a bit lost, that's all!"

"That's no costume." the old lady sighed, sinking back into the bed. "You're one of them, aren't you? A kitsune, a fox spirit? I may be old, but I'm not completely senile, sonny." There was a trace of humour in her voice.

"Something like that." Takuya admitted. "Do you...know Kouji Minamoto?"

The old lady started in her bed, trying to sit up. "You know Kouji? You've seen him?"

"Yeah. He's...quite a guy." When he's not being a jerk, Takuya added silently. "But I thought he was an only child."

"His parents were divorced when he and Kouichi were very young. His father forbade me to tell Kouji about Kouichi, and vice versa." The old lady chuckled, then coughed. "Well, there's not a lot left he can do to me, right?"

"But...that's terrible!" Takuya said.

"His father moved around the country a lot, and his mother wanted to stay in one place. They couldn't agree, so they broke up. The divorce...was not pleasant, or easy, on either one." The lady reached out, grabbing Takuya's arm. "You'll help them find each other, won't you? Please grant me this wish." She started coughing again.

"I promise!" Takuya replied, panicking. "But you have to promise to be here when I bring them back, alright? Hey, you promise?" He stepped back in horror when he saw her hand fall, limp. Quickly, he ran to the door. "Hey, someone get a doctor in here! HURRY!" he screamed, then ducked out of sight. A doctor came in, saw the old lady's hand, and called in several medics to try to bring her back.

Takuya watched them work for an hour before the medics were satisfied that the old lady was out of danger. After they left, he got out of his hiding place, and ran over. "Remember your promise." he said.

"I...I'll try." the old lady replied. "But it's not entirely up to me. Get going."

Outside the room, Takuya glanced at a wall clock. It was past 3:00; his family had long since gone home. "Great. Now I have to stop myself and make sure Kouji meets his brother...I know, I'll intercept them at the station! Kouichi's bound to follow Kouji there, all I have to do is slow Kouji and myself up so they miss the train! Perfect!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. The red mist appeared again, the demonic figure inside reaching for him much more quickly. Takuya bolted, jumping through a plate window, making a beeline for the train station.

On his way, he stopped to collect his thoughts. He was overlooking a park near a school. He blinked as he glanced into the park, a flash of something purple catching his eye. "I... Izumi?" Sure enough, it was Izumi, looking at a group of girls walking away. She looked depressed. "She said that she didn't fit in, and that her classmates tended to just blow her off all the time." he murmured. A second later, Tomoki walked into view, easily within sight of Izumi, but neither one gave any sign of recognition. A wave of guilt washed over him; "I should have done more, and not sent them off...No. I'll wreck the station, so that none of them can come to the digital world."

"Is that really what you want?" a voice asked. It was gruff, ancient, and scared the wits out of Takuya. "You think they'll be better like this? Alone in a world that doesn't give a care about them?"

"Who said that?" Takuya screamed, whirling around. Again he saw the red mist, this time it was more solid. "Get away from me!" He ran, terrified.

When Takuya next looked around, he saw the station. "Well, I lucked out here. Now I just have to...Ah NUTS!" Takuya yelled, as he saw himself, ticket in hand, go through the turnstiles. A second later, he saw Kouichi run up the stairs. "I have to stop them!" Takuya followed his younger self, and saw himself jump through the elevator doors, Kouichi slamming into the doors a full second after they closed. Takuya cursed, then guffawed as he realized he was using a rather nasty Italian word he'd picked up from Izumi. He saw Kouichi running down the fire-escape stairs, trying to catch up with the elevator. Takuya followed Kouichi, then stopped, stunned.

The fire escape was deserted, except for Kouichi and one other figure, tall, black, and looking like a clown. Bokomon's description rang in his mind. "Ch...Cherubimon! Here?"

"You wish to meet your brother, yes?" Cherubimon asked, voice seductive. "I can take you to meet him, but you must agree to help me."

"No...NO DON'T!" Takuya yelled.

Cherubimon looked up. "You shouldn't be here!" he roared, releasing a blast of raw power.

Kouichi looked around. "Who...what are you?" he gasped.

"Don't trust him!" Takuya yelled. "Get out of here!" Takuya glared at Cherubimon, terrified. This guy's scarier than Duskmon, he thought. But if he gets Kouichi...

"The boy is mine, whelp." Cherubimon snarled. "And you can't stop me! HEAVEN'S JUDGEMENT!"

Takuya's last image was that of Cherubimon's dark hand grabbing Kouichi, dragging him away, then he blacked out.

==

"You're pretty happy." Takuya said to Junpei. They had just finished liberating the Kokuwamon from Snimon and his Goblimon henchmen. That adventure had also allowed Junpei to find his own Spirit, Blitzmon.

"Hey, I got the second coolest Spirit around!" Junpei said. "You should have seen Snimon's face when I clobbered him!"

"Second?" Tomoki asked.

"Of course, Izumi-chan's spirit is the coolest around!" Junpei said. Takuya and Tomoki groaned, while Izumi rolled her eyes.

"Don't you ever quit?" Izumi asked, exasperated.

"True love never quits!" Junpei declared.

"Takuya!" Izumi yelled. "Make him stop!"

Takuya turned, ready to make a wisecrack, when Duskmon materialized and attacked. The red blade was about to strike Takuya when he woke up, screaming.

"About time." a voice said. Takuya looked up, and saw that he was now surrounded by the red mist that had been pursuing him.

"Who...what are you?"

The figure in the mist stepped forward. He was very big, red, had wings, and looked oddly familiar to Takuya. "You should know, you've been carrying my spirits around for the last... I don't know how long." The creature saw Takuya's expression. "Right, Bokomon. Nice kid, but he's way too sure of himself. I am Ancient Greymon, one of the Warrior Ten that defeated Lucemon. The goth clown was Cherubimon, the falen angel that's trying to destroy the Digital World."

"But...you're dead! Bokomon said that you all died or vanished or something when you created the spirits!"

"We live on in the spirits you kids are carrying. Normally, we couldn't interact, but the way you've been acting, you need help."

"Guhh...?" Takuya stammered.

"In case you haven't noticed, you can't change the past. All you can do is either deal with the mistakes you've made, or run away from them, like you've been doing."

"But I...let everyone down. Because of me-"

"What you did was critically underestimate your opponent. And then you added to that by running off and leaving everyone else to clean up the mess. Hello? They were all -KNOCKED OUT- with Duskmon standing over them. Don't you think they might have been captured?" Takuya opened his mouth, but the spirit of Ancient Greymon kept going. "Oh, it's not a complete loss. That girl, Izumi, she managed to go get help and come back; Irismon's gonna be full of herself for the rest of eternity, thanks to you."

"Irismon?"

"Created the two spirits of the wind. Now, I am going to make this very, very simple. You have two choices, only one of which will save your friends from the very large firepit Cherubimon's gonna toss them into. You can either run away and hope that Izumi and those two other kids she brought back can save the whole digital world, or you can go back there and help. Right now, it's just those three against all the evil hybrids. And that includes Grottomon and Arbormon, Cherubimon brought them back. So what's it going to be?"

==

Takuya, still trapped in his pico-hybrid form, stepped onto the lone Trailmon, waiting at the station. "Take me back to the digital world." he said. Silently, the Trailmon pulled out, going through the tunnel back to the digital world.

++++++ Flamon's story will conclude with another bonus chapter in episode 10, 'The return of Grottomon and Arbormon.'