"OW…Did I hit my head with a hammer?"
"Again? No, Jenny…How about you, Koro?"
"I think I hit my nose…"
"Stop complaining. Tsunomon?"
"I'm fine…"
"Pal, I think you're crushing my lungs…"
"Oh, sorry!"
"Motimon, are you alright?"
"I don't know…I can't see straight…"
"Pat?"
"I'm here…I think…"
"Biyo, how'd you get caught in a laundry line?"
"Bad luck?"
"…I wouldn't be surprised…"
Tonya sat up, running a hand through her hair and releasing a breath as she studied the wide rooftop they'd landed on.
New York traffic bustled below, making the concrete and bricks vibrate welcomingly.
"At least we made it…"
"Why do we ALWAYS have a rough landing?" Jenny whined, Gomamon on her shoulder.
"It could've been worse." Steph appeased, untangling the line from her partner's legs.
"How?" TJ wondered, cradling Patamon in her arms as he regained his senses.
Mel blinked as strange shadows began to detach from walls, taking shape in the mid-morning light…
"We could be attacked by ninja…"
"What makes you say that?" Meg questioned, tucking Tsunomon under her arm.
"THEM."
All eyes turned to see the ring of ninja, and Jenny groaned.
"We're back TWO SECONDS…"
Dark-clad ninja drew weapons and steel chains, causing Tonya to tense and Koromon to bristle.
"Bring it on."
Those guys were fast, she'd admit…
Throwing her fist forward, her fist caught one in the face, and Meg was immediately guarding her back.
With a thrust of the heel of her hand, the ice-eyed girl broke another's nose, and her foot smashed into another's solar plexus.
Steph twirled around one's strike, her foot smashing into his back, and flipped over a second.
Grabbing a discarded pipe, Jenny swung it into a ninja's shoulder, whipping around to kick another in the crotch.
Lizzy ducked under the flying body, and managed to trip another as Motimon jumped onto the ninja's face.
"Bubble Blow!"
TJ ducked behind a heating unit, hugging Patamon to her chest…
"There you are."
Eyes widening at her sudden discovery, she almost closed her eyes.
"Pat!"
"Boom Bubble!"
Mel was ducking and swerving among the army, avoiding all their attacks and drawing their attention.
"PAL!"
"Poison Ivy!"
As the ninja fell down, toppling over onto each other, the brunette turned a bit, giggling.
"Have a nice trip!"
"HEY…I thought lame jokes were MY job!"
"Don't be a hog." Meg replied, the heel of her foot crushing a ninja's.
"Guys, be careful!" Tonya ordered, getting clipped in the jaw.
Getting knocked back a bit, the redhead winced as pain finally began to register in her knuckles once more.
Ready to strike the man responsible, Tonya froze when a green blur knocked down the ninja instead.
Gold eyes widened as she recognized the form…
"Leo?"
Standing, the blue-masked turtle spun his katana before turning to check if she was alright.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine…"
Steph felt a presence at her back, and spun around, foot up in the air ready to strike…
Pausing when she realized it was actually a mutated turtle, she lowered her leg and blinked at the bright blue eyes.
"…Hi."
"Hey, babe. Need any help?"
The back of her fist met a ninja's nose, and the brunette smiled.
"No, I'm good."
Lizzy scooped up Motimon, grabbing a pipe to pull herself up before a ninja crashed into the wall beneath her.
Hopping down, she looked slightly concerned, poking his shoulder.
"A-Are you alright?"
As the body fell backwards, she almost yelped in surprise, jumping back to meet a hard chest.
Spinning around to see who it was, Lizzy paused to see a humanoid turtle…
"Oh…H-Hi…"
"Hi…You must be one of Tonya's friends."
Smiling shyly, she nodded, unable to think of a further response when Mel zipped by them.
"REALLY big guys coming! MOVE!"
Meg looked up at this shout, and sighed before someone grabbed her elbow.
The poor, POOR ninja…
The red-banded turtle watched as she literally pounded the guy into the ceiling, and gave a low whistle.
"DAMN…"
It seemed that whatever had been planning to come decided against it, and the dark shadows retreated.
This left only the Digidestined and the four turtles on the rooftop…
"Thanks again."
Smiling, Tonya caught Koromon in her arms.
"You guys sure know when to make an entrance."
"We've had some practice…"
"What about some introductions?" The orange-masked turtle asked, smiling brightly.
"Oh, right."
Turning to her friends, Tonya gestured to each of the turtles in turn.
"These are Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."
"I'm the cute one!"
SMACK!!!
"OW!"
Jenny winced, nodding in sympathy.
"Dude, I know how you feel…"
Her voice dropped to a stage-whisper…
"Meg hits HARD…"
SMACK!!!
"OW!"
"I can hear you, smart-ass."
"Darn wolf hearing…"
"GUYS." Tonya interrupted.
"Can't that wait until AFTER?"
"She started it."
"Did not!"
The redhead's glare ended that potential fight, and Jenny grumbled something about strawberry snicker doodles as she hugged Gomamon.
"This is Megan, but we call her Meg, and her partner Tsunomon."
The black-haired girl nodded in greeting, holding Tsunomon close.
"And her sister, TJ, with her partner Patamon."
The youngest of the group smiled excitedly, Patamon on her head as usual.
"Hi!"
"Here's Stephanie, or Steph, with her partner Biyomon."
The brunette smiled, giving a nod.
"It's great to finally meet you guys. Tonya told us a bit about you."
"Bet she didn't capture my awesome good looks." Mikey replied.
Blushing slightly, she giggled.
"You know, you ARE kinda cute."
"Don't encourage 'im."
"Aw, Raphie's just jealous of my MAD SKILLS!"
SMACK!!!
"OW!"
"ANYWAY…This is Jennifer, or Jenny, and her partner Gomamon."
"Fear my BUBBLEGUM UNIVERSE!"
"…"
SMACK!!!
"OW!"
"…Don't ask."
"Wasn't planning on it." Leo admitted.
"Good choice…" Tonya approved.
"Still, here's Melanie, Mel, and her partner Palmon."
"Hi."
Mel smiled sweetly, hugging Palmon like she was a stuffed animal.
"Thanks for the save again."
"No problem."
"And finally, this is Elizabeth, or Lizzy, and her partner Motimon."
Lizzy blushed at the sudden attention, looking down as she hid slightly behind her red-haired friend.
"Oh, don't worry. She's just shy…"
Turning to face her friend, a warm smile crossed her face.
"Don't worry, Lizzy. It's alright."
Motimon, knowing his partner's feeling of being overwhelmed, decided to speak instead.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm sure Lizzy would say that same…"
After a moment, the blonde nodded, finally looking over her friend's shoulder.
Don was immediately captivated by that stare without realizing it…
He hadn't been given the chance to really SEE her eyes before, but now…
They glittered with so many emotions he couldn't tell them all apart, but there was this glow, deep in her soul, that warmed them.
Leo couldn't even help that protective feeling in his own chest at seeing Tonya so soon, either.
True, he understood that months had passed, but only his heart seemed to have felt the pass of time that slowly.
Looking her over to be sure she hadn't been injured, brown eyes locked on her bandaged hands.
"You're injured."
Gold eyes flickered, showing knowledge of the injuries and a want to hide them.
"They're nothing…"
Taking hold of her hands, both felt a jolt of foreign electricity race up their skin…
"I already got them bandaged…" She admitted softly.
It was like she expected the moment to shatter if she spoke any louder, and Koromon looked up in wonder.
"How'd you get them?"
"…I messed up…"
The admission was soft, barely a breath, and then Jenny had to say something…
"Anyone know how to get out of a barrel?!"
Tonya sighed, pulling back so she could turn to see her older friend's feet swinging from the top of a metal barrel.
"How'd you even get stuck in there?"
"WELL…"
"Forget it. I don't wanna know…"
"So, what brings you dudettes back here so soon?" Mikey wondered.
"An evil Digimon and his Spirit Evolution came here with an army to kill the last member of our team." Meg answered.
"…Last member?" Don questioned.
"There was an eighth child we didn't know about…" Steph admitted.
"We were just told there was one, and that they were coming through a gate to kill them."
"They're somewhere in New York, and if we don't find them, both our worlds are doomed." Mel finished.
"How are both our worlds finished? Are they that connected?"
"Y-Yes…"
Lizzy couldn't look up, but she knew what to say.
"O-Our worlds are interconnected…Th-Through the World Wide Web…Th-The Digital World is a shadow world to our own…"
Taking a breath, the blonde looked up slightly.
"Th-The Digimon are made of data…A-And we were as well, when we there…B-But only our minds were making the data necessary for us to be whole…"
"Interesting…"
Don tilted his head, studying Lizzy more closely.
He had seen curiosity in her eyes, the same thirst for knowledge, and felt like he'd found a kindred spirit.
"How'd you find this out?"
"C-Computer code in the Digital World…" Lizzy admitted.
A shout, and Jenny flew out of the barrel, landing on her face before Gomamon landed on her head…
"…I'm okay!"
TJ giggled, going to help her eldest friend, as Tonya dusted off her hands.
"We don't have time for getting stuck in things, Jenny. We need to make sure Myotismon and Midnight don't find the eighth child."
"Don't be such a worrywart! I'm sure your stalker'll come to us!"
"JENNY!"
"Stalker?"
Leo's eyes narrowed, and the protective feeling in his chest was growing…
"Not a stalker! Jenny's just overreacting!"
Grabbing her friend by the collar, Tonya growled.
"RIGHT, Jenny?"
"No, I'm pretty sure Midnight's a stalker…"
"JENNY!"
As they wrestled…
Well, more like 'as Tonya tried to silence Jenny'…
Meg turned to the turtles to fill them in.
"Myotismon and Midnight are the main evil that came here. They're planning on taking over both worlds, and apparently Midnight wants a souvenir of their victory."
"Meg, I'm not a trophy!"
"I'm not saying you are. He thinks you are."
"Well, I'll just have to punch that out of him!"
"Tonya."
Looking up to see Leo's serious expression, she almost deflated, looking away in embarrassment.
"This is serious. You're in danger."
"I'm not in danger. The eighth child is."
Raph would have enjoyed telling his Fearless Leader that the redhead sounded a lot like him at that moment, but held back.
There were better times for jibes…
"Don't be so stubborn!" Steph insisted.
"You KNOW he'll be targeting you!"
"Then at least he's not targeting the eighth child! I'm giving them a chance!"
"What about Kitty?"
That hit a soft spot, and Mel's expression softened.
"We need you, Tonya…And so does she."
"…"
"We don't have time to think this over." Meg interrupted.
"We need to start searching."
"Right…"
Koromon jumped into her arms, trying to reassure Tonya with his presence alone, and she smiled.
"Well, let's go!"
"Can we get hamburgers? I'm STARVING…"
"No."
"AW…"
"We could take the Battle Shell." Don offered.
"Battle Shell?" TJ wondered.
"Our car, actually…"
It turned out the truck was hidden in an alley not too far away, and they all clambered in, finding seats.
"I'll drive!"
Jenny's face was met with Meg's hand…
"I don't think so."
"AW…"
Raph took the wheel, and the blue-eyed girl climbed into the passenger seat as Lizzy studied the interior.
"Th-This is amazing…"
"What's all this stuff do?" Motimon wondered.
"Scanners, thermal imaging equipment, tracking programs…"
"OOOOH, shiny button!"
"NO!"
Steph tackled her older friend, and Tonya smiled sheepishly.
"Would you believe me if I told you Jenny was the oldest?"
"Oldest what? Prankster?" Don joked.
"You have NO idea…" Mel answered.
"Hey, babe…Comfy?"
Looking up from her seat on the floor, Steph smiled slightly.
"I'm alright, Mikey."
Biyomon looked between them, trying to understand this strange feeling coming from their bond…
"OH…Now I see!"
"See what?" Palmon wondered.
"Steph likes him!"
Blushing as bright as the dye in her hair, the brunette covered her partner's mouth.
"Biyo!"
Mikey grinned wider, feeling proud and slightly giddy, to know that the attraction was mutual.
He was always appreciative of an athletic girl, one that could hold her own but wasn't overbearing like Raph could get.
She seemed more humble, easy-going and warm from what he could tell, and he couldn't help wondering if she tasted like cherries…
"It's not that I don't like you it's just that I'm nervous and the last time I had this kind of talk it didn't end well and you're just so sweet I didn't want to hurt you-."
Steph looked flustered, like a bird with ruffled feathers trying to explain herself, as her crest glowed gently.
Mikey thought she was cute like that…
"I'm rambling aren't I it's just that I get nervous and then my mouth just won't stop but I guess it can't be helped-."
Cut off when he put a hand on her lips, she blushed even darker…
"Sorry…Shutting up now."
"Jeez, babe. You can talk faster than me! There's nothing to be sorry about."
Blue eyes blinked to see her crest still shining, and crouched down in front of her.
"What's this?"
"Hm? Oh, that's my crest."
"Crest?"
"It helps us evolve past Champion. Each of them has a meaning."
"Really? What's yours?"
Her blush darkened, and Steph began to fiddle with it as the gold cooled her fingers…
"…Mine's the Crest of Love…"
"Look! It's our old apartment building, Meggie!"
"It is."
"You lived in that castle?" Tsunomon wondered.
"It's split into different rooms for many families."
"You guys lived here, too?" Mel questioned, smiling.
"I did, too. When I was eight."
"I was here when I was nine, and Tammy was five."
"I lived here, too. When I was nine, and Kitty was four."
"I-I lived around here, too…When I was seven…"
"I remember being around here…I think I was ten…Jeez, this brings back memories…"
"I remember the school around here. I went to the same one as Tonya and Meg."
Lizzy tilted her head, pieces slowly clicking into place and forming part of a slightly-fogged picture…
"We all lived around here at the same time…And then we moved. Why?"
Tonya's brow furrowed, and she shrugged a bit.
"I…don't remember…"
"What? Yer parents decided this place was bad or somethin'?"
"No. I don't think that was it." Meg replied.
"It was something bigger than that…" Steph agreed.
"Maybe…We repressed it…" Lizzy voiced.
"It might be the very reason we were chosen to be the Digidestined…"
"You don't know why?" Leo wondered, a bit confused.
"Nope. We were just sucked in, and even then, it took a few weeks for us to find out." Mel replied.
"It's not that important." Tonya reasoned.
"We should be searching! How are we gonna do that, Lizzy?"
"W-We could use our Digivices…Th-They worked well enough before…"
TJ looked at the screen, and Patamon studied it as nothing showed up.
"Maybe we should start around downtown-."
Tonya was cut off as screams cut through the air, and the Battle Shell skidded to a halt.
As people screamed down the street in a rush, Meg quirked an eyebrow and shared a glance with Raph.
"Bad video game?"
He chuckled, causing a slight smile to cross her face, before Mel looked out the windshield.
"Um…I don't think so…"
"Why?" Steph wondered, concern in her eyes.
"THEM!"
Something made the ground shake violently, and Tonya cried out in shock before falling into Leo's lap with Koromon.
TJ fell as well, yelping in pain, and Meg almost growled.
"What's going on now?"
"Looks like those guys are trying to crush us!" Jenny noted, twisted uncomfortably on the floor with Gomamon.
Footsteps continued to rock the buildings around them, and the entire Battle Shell vibrated.
"Who is it?" Steph wondered, hugging Biyomon close.
Lizzy turned on her laptop, trying to type steadily as a roar reached them through the metal.
"What do they look like?"
"A giant mammoth and a rhino!" Mel informed.
Typing quickly, the blonde flinched as something crashed outside, hearing Meg swear softly.
"I-It's Mammothmon and Crusher! Mammothmon is an Ultimate level Digimon, and his attacks are Tusk Crusher and Freezing Breath!"
"And his partner?" Tonya asked, glaring out the windows.
"Crusher uses two scimitars, and his attack is Blade Tornado!"
"I'll take him!" Koromon promised.
"Oh, no you don't!" Tonya rebuffed, catching her partner.
"We'll take them!" Steph assured, opening up the back doors.
"Babe?"
"We'll be fine. Come on, Biyo!"
As the girl and Digimon jumped out, Jenny's eyes widened at something out one of the windows…
"I think we should go, guys…"
"WHY?" Meg questioned.
"Because I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
The Battle Shell managed to avoid the main part of the thrown bus, but the debris destroyed the back tires.
"Eagle!"
The bright light even reached them as everyone piled out, the turtles seeing their first Spirit Evolution…
"Stephanie, Spirit Evolve into…TALON!"
"Biyomon, Digivolve to…BIRDRAMON!!"
As the two took to the skies, Mikey's eyes widened…
"WHOA…"
"We know." Tonya replied, smiling.
Crusher looked up first, looking more like rock than humanoid, with a heavy snout and sharp horn, with the broadest of shoulders.
His partner noticed when Birdramon attacked…
"Meteor Wing!"
As the strike bounced off, Talon clipped Crusher, managing to knock him off-balance before he caught hold of her ankle.
Flapping her wings in his face, the winged girl kicked him in the throat and managed to break free.
"You don't think she needs any help?" Leo wondered.
"Talon's fine. She's done this before." Meg answered.
Mikey, however, did not seem as convinced…
Talon spun to avoid her opponent's thrown blades, and caught one before throwing it back.
Grabbing hold of his weapon easily, Crusher seemed to think of a way to knock her out of the air…
With a toss of his head, he headed straight for the rest of the group, who couldn't defend themselves against his sharp horn.
"NO!"
Diving into his chest, Talon began to grapple with him as her wings flailed, trying to either pull her away or crash into her enemy.
"Tusk Crusher!"
Birdramon was knocked out of the sky, crashing into an abandoned building, and Talon cried out at the foreign pain.
Kicking away from Crusher, the Spirit Evolution tried to catch her balance as he slashed at her.
Holding up her arm to defend against the blade, a deep cut nearly struck nerves, causing Talon to stumble back.
'Birdramon!'
Debris began to smoke, and Tonya paused, images flashing through her mind's eye…
'Fire…Falling buildings…'
Mammothmon used his horns to toss a bus, but Birdramon managed to avoid it as the vehicle smoldered.
'Destroyed bus…Crying…'
Birdramon tried to rise once more, and flew towards her opponent as Talon charged at Crusher.
They were knocked roughly away, and the Digimon hit the sharper debris once more.
As Talon hit the pavement rolling, TJ hugged Patamon close…
"There were two monsters…"
All eyes turned to her, and Meg clenched her fists.
"Tammy?"
"There were two monsters…They were fighting…"
Lizzy's eyes widened in recognition…
"One that could fly…And one that could breathe fire…"
"On this street…And then they were gone…" Mel agreed.
"I kinda remember…But my grandma told me it was a terrorist attack…" Jenny admitted.
"That must be it. What's linking us."
Meg's eyes caught those of her friends.
"We all saw the Digimon, but no one else did. They called it a terrorist attack because no one could explain it."
"What were the Digimon?" Mel wondered.
Tonya's brow furrowed as she tried to remember…
"The one that shot fire couldn't fly…But the other could…"
"So they're different than these two?" Don questioned.
"Yeah…I think…"
Birdramon caught Mammothmon's nose in her talons, and Talon struck Crusher across the face.
"Freezing Breath!"
"Blade Tornado!"
Both cried out, flying into a heap, and Tonya's instincts flashed to life from a long-lost memory…
'KITTY!'
Leo tensed the moment he saw her dart towards the fallen winged girl, heart pounding.
"TONYA!"
Rushing after her, he couldn't quite process everything he heard.
It resonated deep in his mind, bringing back images of a dark night, thundering steps, roars, wide gold eyes…
Skidding to shield the fallen Talon, she closed her eyes as Birdramon cawed, seeing her partner's danger as Crusher charged.
Tonya felt a solid weight shield her back, and Talon's eyes widened as her crest shone…
"TONYA!"
The Crest of Love glowed brightly…
"Birdramon, Digivolve to…GARUDAMON!!"
"Transformation of Love into…Loving Talon!"
The sudden blinding feeling disoriented both…
"Tusk Crusher!"
Garudamon shielded them from the explosions, and it jolted something in Tonya's mind…
Kitty's wide blue eyes, falling debris, strangely familiar chocolate eyes…
A massive orange dinosaur, blue stripes and a brown helmet, with flaming orange eyes…
Tonya hadn't noticed that Loving Talon had slid out from beneath her, or that Garudamon had stood tall…
She knew now why she had felt so at ease with Koromon, not feared Greymon…
She'd seen them before.
Leo lifted her up, concerned at the redhead's lack of response, and paused to see wide gold eyes.
"It was Greymon."
All eyes lit up with recognition, and Meg smirked.
"I should have known Tonya would realize something like that first."
"Why?"
Turning to face Raph, she motioned towards Koromon, who seemed as shocked as his partner.
"Because Koromon's Champion form IS Greymon. And if Greymon was the mysterious Digimon that protected her and Kitty that night…"
"It's not too far a leap to realize why someone would pair her with one!" Mel registered.
"You can take them, babe!" Mikey cheered.
Loving Talon's tonfa flashed sharply, and she shared a look with Garudamon before preparing herself…
"Wing Blade!"
"Swirling Love!"
Both attacks came down at the same moment, and the pair cried out before disappearing into infinitesimal pieces…
The transformation fell away, and Steph was falling out of the air, drained from the powerful change.
Mikey jumped forward to catch her, and the brunette landed safely in his arms as she came to, Yokomon landing in her lap.
"Nice catch…"
"I could say the same thing, babe."
Blushing slightly, she smiled as Yokomon chirped happily, snuggling into her warmth.
"W-We should go…B-Before the police get here…" Lizzy warned.
The turtle's agreed, and Don managed to replace the tires quickly enough for them to get away in time.
Settling into the seats, Jenny grinned…
"Guess giant Digimon and terrorist attacks are getting more alike these days, huh?"
"The Digimon were involved all along…The only thing left to figure out is WHO chose us…" Lizzy mused.
"…This Greymon…" Raph grumbled, looking through his peripheral at Meg in the passenger seat.
"He some kinda giant dinosaur?"
"Yes. Orange with blue stripes, a brown helmet."
"…I thin' I've seen 'im 'fere…"
"How?" Mel wondered.
"I think I did, too." Mikey admitted.
"But it was when we were little turtles…"
"I remember, too. After that monster movie marathon where we escaped to the surface." Don informed.
"Yeah! And then Leo saw the girls the giant guy was protecting, and tried to help!"
Tonya nodded slightly, remembering a flash of blue cloth…
"I remember…"
"Really?" Steph wondered.
"…The Digiegg came through our computer…It grew into Greymon…That's how Kitty knew your name, Koro."
"Yeah…She saw one of me before!"
"So you two had met before?" Leo questioned.
"I don't think so…It might have been a different Koromon…But when we met, I felt like I'd met Tonya somewhere before…"
"Maybe you were reconfigured…" Lizzy suggested.
"So the eighth child must have seen the Digimon, too." TJ noted.
"If they still lived here, then they'd have been found faster than a jellybean in a raisin factory."
The turtles stared at Jenny in confusion…
"Don't ask." Meg advised.
"They probably moved like you all did." Palmon suggested.
"So Myotismon and Midnight are still searching…" Tonya grumbled.
"We'll just have to find them first!" Mel assured.
'I hope so…'