DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon, but I do own the plot, and DRAGOON.

Digimon Continuity

Quest for the Digimon

Chapter 25

The Other World

:. Digital Plane - Sovereign Plane
Ruins of Zhuqiaomon's Palace

05:27 PM JST

Takato screamed.

Thoughts and emotions flooded him like hell-fire, burning him yet giving him strength. His scream morphed into a battle cry as he charged the Aegis. Takato willed each triangle on his shield to charge faster, willed that he wouldn't be too late. The shield glowed a blinding white and red. He himself might not be able to make it to save his friends, but he hoped that his attack would buy them enough time.

"FINAL... ELYSIUM!!!"

A single beam of energy exploded from his shield, causing him to recoil. The powerful blast flew in an arc, intercepting the quadruple fire helix. The white beam and the red fires collided, and for a split second, the two attacks fought for domination. A split second later, the attacks exploded with all the built up pressure that had been accumulated in that split second. Dukemon blinked his golden orbs, trying to see through the smoke that had ensued to see if his attempt had been successful.

The smoke cleared to show Henry and Rika prone on the ground, hands on the back of their heads. Other than unsightly cuts that had been the result of the close call, they were fine. In his sphere within Dukemon, Takato let out a breath that he did not realise he was holding, sighing in relief and unconsciously letting down his guard. It was a mistake that cost him, as Zhuqiaomon followed his Blazing Helix attack with a Crimson Blaze. The flames shot from the Sovereign's move and impacted neatly on Dukemon's back.

Dukemon screamed in pain. The flames burned through his cape and superheated his armour. While the attack did not do much damage, it was going to make Dukemon uncomfortable enough to not be able to fight properly and give Takato an awfully bad burn to boot once this was over.

"Dukemon!" Justimon landed by the said Digimon's side.

"It's nothing," Dukemon replied. "I can still fight."

Zhuqiaomon had overheard the brief exchange and let out a bark of mocking laughter... which echoed so much Takato was reminded that he was not fighting a normal Mega but a Sovereign. "Maybe for now... but we shall see about that."

"Anyone tell you that you talk too much?" Gargomon said, which was something awfully brave to do.

"Gargomon!" Henry moaned, getting to his feet. "This is not the time!"

Kyuubimon nodded beside the Champion bunny. "I agree with Henry. Maybe you should reserve your jokes till after we defeat him?"

Zhuqiaomon snorted at Kyuubimon's words. "You can't defeat me. You may outnumber me and I may be weakened, but I am still a Sovereign. And I am not going to fall to a bunch of witless humans like you!"

"And this is the turkey speaking..."

"Gargomon!"

"Enough," Dukemon commanded. "Zhuqiaomon, we will make you pay for attacking our defenceless friends."

"Seriously, Gogglehead. Who are you calling defenceless?" Rika glared at the holy knight. "I think you are letting the whole 'knight in shining armour' thing get to your head."

"Are you Takato?" Guilmon mentally asked, even though it was a rather bad time.

"I... think so..." He had to admit it. Being Dukemon made him... well, braver and more gallant in a way. It was like he was immune to doubts as the armour he wore seemed to insulate him from them. But being Dukemon had its drawbacks... like somehow irritating Rika more easily than usual. If she were Sakuyamon however, it seemed that Renamon's patience kept her irritation level from going anywhere near high.

Strange how Biomerging could affect one's mind like that.

"Then here's your change. Crimson Blaze!!"

Dukemon held his ground, using the Aegis to hold off the Sovereign's attack while charging his lance. He peeped out from the side of his shield, and unleashed his counter attack. "Royal Saber!"

Justimon seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, as he always did during the D-Reaper crisis. "Blitz Arm!" Blue bursts shot from Justimon's metallic fist and raced toward the phoenix.

"Weak attacks like that are useless against me!" With that announcement, the red aura around Zhuqiaomon seemed to flare, radiating heat. It expanded to glow even brighter around the silhouette of the Sovereign, and their attacks mashed into the red aura, not even coming close to hitting the actual body of Zhuqiaomon.

"Hey! That's cheating!!" Gargomon called.

"Gargomon, I think you might want to reconsider attracting Zhuqiaomon's attention," Kyuubimon said calmly, though there was a slight edge of worry to her words.

"I couldn't agree more," Henry muttered, preparing his cards in case Zhuqiaomon truly chose to permanently shut Gargomon's mouth.

"Henry..." Dukemon said, giving the blue-haired boy a look that said that he was stuck and didn't know how to proceed. "Any ideas on how to overcome Zhuqiaomon's anti-attack barrier?"

The said boy lowered his head and began to think, before shaking his head. "No, Dukemon. I don't know how... though I wish I was SaintGargomon right now."

"Then we can just blast that barrier away with a good old fashioned Power Pummel!!"

This time, Henry didn't retort, deeply engrossed in his own thoughts, trying to find a way to defeat the Sovereign.

"Guys," Justimon said from across the chamber, though he never took his eyes off the Sovereign. "You might want to go back into DRAGOON."

"And may I ask why Akiyama?" Rika inquired casually, just as Zhuqiaomon unleashed yet another Crimson Blaze at Dukemon. Takato grimaced under the visor. He had been so distracted following the conversation that he forgot that he was in the middle of battle. Even with his armour, Dukemon could not hold out against the Sovereign's powerful attacks forever. But I think that Zhuqiaomon would have probably fried us alive inside this metal tin already by then.

"You may," Justimon's united voice replied with fake courtesy. "That is because that way, you guys would present less targets for Zhuqiaomon to aim at, allowing me and Dukemon to be able to protect you guys more effectively," he said as he casually tilted his head to one side to avoid Zhuqiaomon's Crimson Blaze, his tone light and calm all the while. It were as though he were truly just chatting with Rika in a normal environment, not fighting for his life. And before Rika could say anything about it, Justimon continued. "Furthermore, that way, you will have a few inches of Chrome Digizoid protecting you from Zhuqiaomon's attack if need be. That will be a lot better than the nothing that you guys have on, right?"

Rika opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. She turned to Henry, who was still deep in thought, and dragged him along toward where DRAGOON was waiting. Dukemon decided to cover them while they made the dash to relative safety, though technically anywhere in the battleground could hardly be considered safe, it was the best they could do for now.

Dukemon turned to the Sovereign, charging his Gram lance and waiting for Zhuqiaomon's next move. That would at least allow his attack to counter Zhuqiaomon's and not be wasted on the impenetrable aura that surrounded him.

As expected, Zhuqiaomon unleashed another attack to deter the Tamers' attempt... unfortunately, Zhuqiaomon chose to use an attack that was extremely hard to counter. "Blazing Helix!!" Four points lit up at the tips of the Sovereign's wings and rushed forward, leaving trailing fires in their wake and making them look like hungry dragons out for a kill.

"Uh oh, boy... we have trouble..." Takato mentally told Guilmon.

Guilmon didn't reply, instead focusing on concentrating on directing the lance toward one of the four snakes of flame soaring toward his friends. Takato followed Guilmon's initiative as well.

Dukemon rushed forward, protecting their flank with his shield, which was conveniently positioned on the correct side. Had it been on the wrong side... Takato shuttered to think how it would make things even more difficult. By now, his long strides had caught up with Henry and Rika, both of whom were currently attempting to jump onto Kyuubimon in mid-run to make better time. Dukemon positioned himself in between Kyuubimon and the incoming attack, then took aim at one of the deadly dragon-like snakes that were eager to devour all of them in their fiery mouths.

"Royal Saber!!" A bolt of blue energy that took the shape of his lance raced toward one of the flaming snakes and immediately impacted with a ear-splitting explosion. Justimon was yelling something at him, but Dukemon couldn't hear anything due to the aftershock of the explosion, one that had detonated too close for comfort. Another bad thing to add to the growing list was that there were still three of the flames soaring toward them.

The good thing was that Takato could hear Ryo's voice perfectly in his sphere within the heart of Dukemon. "DUKEMON! We have to rush ourselves into the attack! It is the only way to prevent it from hitting Henry and Rika!!"

"What about us?! I don't even think that Dukemon's armour can save us!!"

Justimon gave no indication that he had heard. It might be due to the fact that his ears were still ringing from the explosion like Dukemon's were. Instead, Justimon had already propelled himself with his powerful legs toward one of the deadly snakes. So, instead of following his common sense, he jumped after the cyborg warrior. When he looked back on this moment, he would realise that this was probably one of the stupidest things he had ever done... among all the stupid things he had ever done. But hey, he was the gogglehead Takato. Stupid things were his speciality...

And apparently, so were things that caused miracles.

That was because the moment Dukemon's feet left the ground, Takato remembered something. If Dukemon and Justimon were rushing the attack, they would only take down with them two of the three that were headed toward their friends. That left one out. Were even one of them hit his friends, there was no question that they would instantly be scrap data.

This caused him to do one of his amazing split second things. Takato processed all of this with an ability that was not his own. When it came down to it, his mind was surprisingly clear, devoid of all kinds of self-doubt whether or not he could do it. He just had to do it. There was no question about it. It was do it or lose everything. There was no room for doubt. No room for mistakes.

Takato had, for the first time in a long time, complete faith in himself and Guilmon. It were as though the time that had separated them had never occurred. Their bond was as strong as ever.

Dukemon charged his shield and lance at the same time, while Justimon prepared his Critical Arm. The first flaming vortex hit the blade of the Critical Arm, sending sparks flying up. Dukemon positioned himself in the path of the two remaining ones. I'm going to regret this... Takato thought before releasing both attacks at them. At the same instant the attacks made contact with each other, the one that Justimon was holding at bay exploded as well.

He had saved his friends from demise... but he wasn't so sure about Justimon and himself.

Dukemon's vision went white and his scream was consumed by the sound of the explosion as both he and Justimon were sent flying like rag dolls toward opposite corners of the chamber.

:. Real World - Japan, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Towers
Main Control Room

05:27 PM JST

Yamaki continued to frown his brow as he considered possibilities and facts that he had not known of before. Initially, he had thought the Digimon show to be just something that was produced from the product of original creators, the Monster Makers. Thus, he had skipped it and went straight to find the said group, not knowing what he had missed out on. Had he not accidentally stumbled on the possibility that the show could be revealing more about Digimon than initially thought, Yamaki wondered what might have happened. Perhaps it was all just a wild goose chase and it was just a coincidence. But how could one explain the classified profile of the producer?

Plus, I don't believe in coincidences.

And speaking of the Monster Makers, one of them was headed toward him now. "Yamaki," the man greeted.

"Mr. Mizuno," he greeted back. "Something up?"

"Well, yes," Gorou Mizuno AKA Shibumi said. "I was thinking about what we had discovered earlier... about there being another Digital World."

That caught his attention. "You mean the Digital World displayed through the Digimon shows, right?"

The man nodded in reply. "Yes, I was."

Yamaki allowed himself a rare smile. "Well, what a coincidence, I was thinking about it too... more or less."

Shibumi chuckled. "Well, perhaps great minds truly do think alike."

Yamaki accepted the compliment with a nod, gesturing for Shibumi to take a seat. "Maybe. But what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, I have been giving it some thought, along with the other Monster Makers when they are taking breaks not working on improvements for DRAGOON... and we have agreed on one fact. This brings about a whole new factor that changes everything we think we know."

"You lost me after 'fact'," Yamaki said in a matter-of-fact tone, even though the edge of panic was about to enter Yamaki's voice. The simple thought of there being another world parallel to theirs with a whole load of Digimon was not something that one could absorb easily. He felt dizzy, barely able to think straight. "What kind of factor?"

"...That is the thing," Shibumi said in disappointment. "There are too many to consider. It is impossible to start anywhere. It is too complex."

"I would never have thought I would hear you say that Mr. Mizuno... ever," Yamaki noted.

Shibumi gave him a sad smile. "It's really like starting from square one all over again, Yamaki. It is like knowing that you have accomplished and attained something great after ages of hard work, and then realising that you would have repeat that all over again. It is rather daunting." At Yamaki's frown, Shibumi quickly continued. "Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm giving up. I was just trying to say that it might help for us to gain some foundation on this new Digital World... like from those who had seen it personally for example. Because, otherwise, it would be like playing a game without knowing the rules."

"You really believe that the Chosen Children exist?" Yamaki asked almost disbelievingly.

"That is one possibility," Shibumi admitted. "After all, all that the show has displayed has proven to be correct. In fact, all of the Digimon content seems to fit snugly into what we know... a little too snugly... things about attributes, levels, known Digimon, gods, etcetera. It has to be true. I can't imagine a coincidence this big."

"I don't believe in coincidences either," Yamaki told the man with a slight smile.

"Hmm..." Shibumi pondered. "Well, but I suppose the Chosen Children would be hard to find, if they have slipped beneath the radars of Hypnos for so long already."

"True, but I have something that might be just as good." Yamaki proceeded to update Shibumi on what he had learned of the producers of the Digimon merchandise.

"This really is interesting. Doesn't that mean that anybody who's anybody would already know of the existence of Digimon?"

"Why would you think that?"

Surprise showed on Shibumi's features. "I thought it was obvious. Given the fact that the level of secrecy that this Taichi Kamiya's profile has... In fact, I think I'm starting to realise why you have not heard reports of the Chosen Children." Shibumi pointed to the piece of paper that held Taichi Kamiya's profile, the one with the big 'Classified' stamped on it. "That might be why."

Yamaki remained bewildered for a few more moments before catching on on what Shibumi was trying to say. Mentally, he cursed himself for being so dense.

:. Real World - Japan, Shinjuku
Matsuki Bakery

05:30 PM JST

It had been exactly two hours since Mei Matsuki and her husband had returned from the Tokyo Metropolitan Towers, aka Hypnos. During that time, Mei had tried to occupy herself with orders from customers, which made her as busy as ever. The famous Guilmon Bread had still retained its reputation. She had managed to lose herself in the rather mindless task of serving her customers, before Takehiro had closed the shop early, despite her protests.

"Come on, Mei. Stop arguing," her husband said with considerable amount of conviction and authority, something that was rare as he usually was the one being told what to do. "You know as well as I do you are only pushing yourself to stop yourself from worrying about Takato." Of course, neither of them knew at this moment, the said boy was busy fighting for his life.

Mei took a deep breath. "Alright," she finally relented. "You win, let me clean up."

"Oh no," Takehiro said. "You are not doing anything. Just take a seat, Mei. Let me do everything." Her husband proceeded to give her an intense stare until she finally sighed and took a seat at the table, resting her protesting back at long last. Unfortunately, now that she had nothing to distract her, her mind moved to Takato. Whether this was Takehiro's intention, she did not know.

She rested her head on her hands, allowing the events of the day to fill her mind. What had started out as a normal school day had become one jam-packed with unexpected twists and turns. Mei wished more than anything to have Takato back home, where he was safe from whatever that forces that were arrayed against him in the other world. She wished that Takato never found the portal, or that he would find it later... a lot later.

Mei sighed yet again. She knew that Takato finding the portal was inevitable. Her son had been depressed during the first few days of Guilmon's leaving. Mei saw it with her own eyes that nothing she did could fill the gap in his heart left by Guilmon. She had to admit, the red bread-eating dinosaur that was Takato's creation was an unforgettable being that left his mark on her heart as well. Though Mei found it weird that the dinosaur preferred bread to meat, she couldn't say that she knew much about the Digimon in general.

Guilmon was a special being, one that had livened their lives with his innocence and antics. Already, though she had only spent a fraction of time with the dinosaur compared to her son, she had felt a connection to the saurian. Thus, she could understand how depressed Takato had felt when Guilmon left. She knew that Takato would seize any chance to get Guilmon back again, even if it meant venturing into the Digital World. However, on that thought, Mei had to suppress the incredible urge to scold Takato the moment he came home. He had left without her permission, without even saying a goodbye. Of course, Mei knew that he was worried that she would not allow it, worried that he would worry her.

Ironic really, seeing how when he does these things to try and prevent me from worrying, it makes me worry more.

Then she recalled watching through the eyes of the Zero-Arms DRAGOON in Hypnos' server, remembering that Takato was now with Guilmon, who was likely able to protect her son should the need arise. After all, the dino had already proven his capabilities enough times in the past, not to mention that her son had a knack of finding ways out of sticky situations that no one thought of.

Even though she understood all this, she couldn't help but still worry for her son. That was because for all his pros, he was practically a magnet for trouble. Not to mention his clumsiness.

Don't be silly, Guilmon is there for him. I'm sure Guilmon would be able to take care of Takato. And Takato is already grown up. Not physically, but mentally. That is far more than enough. With that thought, her fears eased a little, though they were not banished.

"Mei? Hello, Earth to Mei..."

Mei blinked her eyes, before smiling apologetically at her husband for daydreaming. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Never mind," Takehiro waved the matter away.

"What? Tell me now, Takehiro... or else..."

Takehiro sighed. "Well, I was just asking if you wanted to prepare Takato's room for one extra person... or Digimon."

Mei blinked at his words, before giving him a slim smile. "Well, that's a great idea. I think maybe I'll do it now."

She gave Takehiro a kiss on the cheek, and then left him to finish cleaning up the shop.

:. Digital Plane - Sovereign Plane
Ruins of Zhuqiaomon's Palace

05:36 PM JST

That's going to leave a mark... Zhuqiaomon thought with satisfaction as he watched the bodies of Dukemon and Justimon soar through the air and fall like rocks.

"Dukemon! Justimon!" a decidedly female voice exclaimed, though for the life of him he couldn't seem to tell whose it was. No matter, it is not going to matter much after I delete them.

"Rika! Get into DRAGOON!" the boy known as Henry Wong told the female human, who was rooted to the ground along with her partner Kyuubimon. Both stared as they watched their friends land harshly on the solid ground, gravity taking a hold on them. Zhuqiaomon ignored them for now and focused on the boy. A desire for revenge filled him. He would never forget the day he lost to a human, who had disgustingly fused his data with his partner. Even to today, he could not digest that fact without some apprehension. It was wrong to the extreme. And furthermore, the boy had caused him to waste one of his Digicores to restore his strength, making him weaker when the time came for the assault on the Chaos.

Henry Wong was part of the reason why he was in his weakened state now, unable to use any of his Digicores to boost his strength as there were no energy left in any of them and had to be recharged. Still, Zhuqiaomon was glad that he had mustered the strength to call upon the fire aura, which was much like an armour.

Zhuqiaomon was glad in fact that the other two had asked their friends to gather together. It made his work that much easier. He did not recall anymore the cause of his attack, but rather was glad that he had something to take his frustration on.

"Crimson Blaze!!"

"Watch out, Rika!" The fox managed to convey to her partner and push the redhead aside before leaping to meet his attack, countering it with her own. "Dragon Wheel!!" Fool. Zhuqiaomon thought. I am two levels above her and a Sovereign to boot. Does she really think that her attack even stands a chance against mine?

He watched as his attack slammed into hers, dissolving the blue flame in a fury of red before Kyuubimon emerged from the flames, battered. They stand absolutely no chance at all. And they seek for the Saviour. Blah! Fools all of them. They wouldn't last five minutes against him. I am weakened, and yet I can hold two of their oh-so-mighty Biomerged forms effortlessly.

As for the said Digimon, Justimon was currently attempting to get up, using his metal arm to push him up. Dukemon was doing likewise, though the damage on him was far more substantial due to the fact that he took two of the fiery attacks head on. Both their armour was barely holding it together. Dukemon was lacking his lance and holding tightly onto his shield. Once he lost that, he was practically a walking tin can that could do no more harm than a housefly. Already, his shield was glowing brightly, evidence that he was charging his Final Elysium attack.

So, Zhuqiaomon decided to interrupt. "Crimson Blaze!" The flames engulfed Dukemon, who was by then already too tired to carry on dodging and had to hold his ground, abandoning his attack and using the shield for its intended purpose. Zhuqiaomon narrowed his four eyes, hurrying himself so that he could use his Blazing Helix attack again. The one downside about that attack was that it drained a lot of energy, but was well worth it.

Then, Zhuqiaomon realised that he had neglected the 'fake Digimon' that was known as DRAGOON. It appeared Henry Wong and Rika Nonaka were already inside. They never learn. Zhuqiaomon turned to face the new threat as DRAGOON unleashed a deadly Yuggoth Blaster attack. Zhuqiaomon, unfortunately, could not counter nor dodge the attack in time and was suffering the consequences. The data deleting attack began to eat at his defensive aura, eating away the heating shield faster than Zhuqiaomon could recharge it.

The phoenix blinked in surprise when he realised he had been tricked. The Yuggoth Blaster attack was meant to drain his shield, so that Justimon could close in and attack. "Critical Arm!!" The red blade plunged into his digital flesh, emitting a involuntary screech from his beak.

Justimon then jumped away as the Zero-Arms released a barrage of lasers that battered at the area. But Zhuqiaomon wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice, and turned to present his protected side to the attack, so that the lasers bounced off him instead. It was the equilivent of jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Because just as he did, Dukemon came charging with the Aegis head-on, thus changing what was intended to be a flanking attack into a frontal assault. Zhuqiaomon quickly tried to swat him away with one of his talons, but Dukemon blocked the talon with his shield and bashed that talon with it. Zhuqiaomon bit back a cry of pain as he took to the sky. The Tamers proceeded to all charge at once, which gave him the perfect opening.

"Blazing Helix!!"

Immediately, the Tamers attempted to retreat. However, it was already too late. Their momentum was what brought their downfall, literally as they fell from the sky, no longer suspended and in the reaches of gravity once again. Explosions shook the air around him, but Zhuqiaomon paid it no heed. He was basking in his victory over the Tamers.

That was what caused him to be oblivious to the sudden change in atmosphere around him. When he noticed it, the Sovereign felt fear.

No... Impossible... it can't be...

Hurray for cliffhangers!

For those that don't know, let me tell you that cliffhangers are the only way to end any chapter in any kind of story! That is my motto (or was it 'End the World'? *shrugs*).

Anyways, I would most of all like to thank Canis Black, A Flying Tomato, SpookyButt and valenciadarkness for reviewing. I would like to apologise for the for the seriously long update and I apologise in advance for the future, where chances are that I would take even longer. I am going to be very busy next year as it will be my last and most important year in school, not to mention that accessing the computer would be limited. Don't worry as I will most definitely try my best to update as quickly as I can.