Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

Chapter 5: The Past of the Ancient Warriors

Takuya's POV

I opened my eyes to see darkness all around me. After a moment I began to remember what happened to me. I had ignored the wounds I had received from protecting Zoe and Shinya made some comment on me being weak. After that I can't remember anything. I looked around my surroundings, hoping to see something. There was nothing, just an empty void.

"Where the hell am I?" I asked aloud, trying to get a response. There was none. That worried me greatly. Was I dead or still alive? Questions kept popping up in my mind, each thought crazier than the last. Calming myself down, I looked for a sign or anything to prove that I was alive.

I did find a sign, but it freaked me out. It showed Zoe watching me intently. I called her name. But she didn't respond, strangely enough. Then Taiya appeared. When I yelled her name, she seemed to have heard me, but she didn't give any response other than a curious look. The next thing I saw made me stop yelling.

The view I got was of me, more specifically my body. I was all battered up, mostly bruises but there were also bleeding cuts as well. I noted the paleness of myself. The view then moved to show the rest of the group. Everyone was on their toes except for JP who was trying to lighten the mood by taping Bokomon's mouth shut and Neemon who was oblivious.

"What the hell is going on?" I yelled in frustration. The darkness began to shift. I closed my eyes, hoping this was a dream and I was going to wake up now. Then I heard a voice calling, but not for me.

"Grey! Grey!" I opened my eyes to see a woman in front of me. For some reason, the woman looked almost like Zoe. The only differences were that she was older, her eyes were sky blue and her clothes were different. She was wearing a light purple blouse which was long in the back and short in the front. She also had a short light blue pleated skirt and a loose belt with a pink half skirt. Hanging from the belt was a fencing sword with a gold handle. The brown knee length boots she wore completed the outfit perfectly.

"Iris, what's the racket for?" I heard someone say. Then I realized I had spoken. But that couldn't be right. 'My voice' was deeper than usual. The woman in front of me, Iris, smiled and grabbed one of 'my' arms.

"Oh, hurry up! We'll be late!" That's when I saw my hand. It wasn't mine, more like I was someone else reliving something. Unfortunately, my confused brain couldn't comprehend what was going on. When I opened my mouth to scream, 'I' said something else.

"Whoa…calm down Iris! Sphinx wouldn't let Garuru start without us!" 'I' laughed as the energetic Iris pulled 'me' somewhere. She gave 'me' a smile while my still confused brain tried to comprehend and organize my thoughts. Somehow, my conscious was somewhere else while my body was with the group. Through Grey's eyes, I was able to conclude that this was the Digital World, but…What were two humans doing here? Crossing a meadow, Iris tried to get 'me' to go faster by tugging 'my' arm.

"Grey!" She pouted still pulling 'my' arm. I found 'myself' chuckling as her lower lip jutted out in a cute pout. She seemed peeved at 'my' chuckle but continued to pull 'me' to 'our' designation. Surprisingly, our designation seemed to be Seraphimon's Crystal Castle. There was a person looking out but I couldn't see who. Then I noticed that there were more plains and trees than there were in my reality.

Getting closer, the person became more recognizable. It was a young woman. She wore a light blue tank top that looked a lot like a swimsuit and a blue skirt down to her ankles. There was some kind of over-the-shoulder belt which held a gold trident. Her shoes were high heel sandals. Around her neck was a necklace made out of seashells and other jewelry made of seashells could be seen. However, her outfit didn't startle me as much as her face did. Iris didn't seem startled instead she started to jump up and down frantically.

"Mer! Mermai!" The woman turned toward 'us' with a look of relief. The almost exact face of Taiya Hale was looking at 'us'. Same brown hair in a ponytail, only it was much longer, and same small smile. Only her eye color was different. Instead of blue eyes they were ruby red. She then ran over to 'me' and Iris.

"Where have you been? Garuru was about to go get you two if Sphinx hadn't stopped him. Come on, and Grey please don't anger Garuru, he's not in a good mood and his temper is short today."

"When is he in a good mood?" 'I' asked her. Iris giggled after 'I' had asked 'my' question and Mermai gave a small smile before leading 'us' down the hall. Once we were inside the castle, I could get a good look at the body I was in.

I looked pretty much the same only older and muscular. My hair was still brown and untamed, but it was wilder and a bit longer than my 'real' self. My eye color had also changed to sky blue. My outfit had a red shirt, with a flame over the heart, a brown jacket and I wore black pants and red ankle high boots.

After noting what 'I' looked like, I braced myself to see what everyone else looked like.

That proved futile as I had gasped when 'I' saw the seven others from the 'gang'. It looked like we had been cloned and aged a bit. They each looked like everyone in my reality with some minor differences.

'Garuru' was Kouji's older-look-alike from what I could see. Attitude, facial expression and hair style were all the same. He was wearing a white shirt with a wolf over his heart, a navy blue overcoat and black pants with dark blue boots up to his ankles. At his sides were two golden blades with the handles in front. His eyes were crimson red instead of navy blue. The biggest shock, however, was when the 'meeting' started.

"Why are we even bothering to have a meeting?" Shinya's carbon copy complained. Wincing, I wondered if our attitudes and personalities had also been copied. Thankfully not. Mermai had replied.

"Volca, you agreed to have a meeting today. Besides, Grey has important matters for us to hear." At least 'Taiya' talks more here. But I couldn't help but wonder.

'Why are these names familiar?'

Taking another glance at 'Volca', Shinya's older-look-alike, in a sense he looked like Shinya, but his hair was red-tinted and wavier. He was wearing a tan long-sleeved shirt with a mountain over his heart and grey pants. Around his arms were belts. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he gave a silly grin and shrugged good naturedly. Give him sea green eyes instead of cocoa brown eyes, and that's what Volca looks like.

"Are we all here or is someone else missing?" We all looked over to Garuru, who had growled the question. Then I, actually Grey, had walked up to Garuru and slapped his back good naturedly.

"Something wrong Gar? Angry that your precious training time is cut short because we're wasting time here?" Mermai hit her head with her hand, annoyed that 'I' had ignored her warning. Everyone else backed off as 'I' started running from Garuru's wrath…and swords.

"Come back here Grey! You have crossed the line! Get back here!"

"Stop Gar! It was a joke! A harmless joke! Ahh! Mermai! Stop him from slicing me up!"

"I will not. You're the one who chose to ignore my warning."

"Ack! Sphinx!"

"Why am I always dragged into your fights with Garuru?"

"Because you're the only one who can calm him down?"

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't."

I was sweat dropping heavily. But it felt…normal. It was weird but I could tell that this was normal. By now I could identify who was who.

Sphinx, who was calming Garuru down, was Kouichi. He was wearing a black T-shirt with a purple crescent moon over his heart and grey pants. His eyes, instead of being navy blue, were brown. His hair was also shorter than how the 'real' Kouichi had it.

'Tommy' was Megatheriu, Mega for short. He looked the same for the most part except for a few differences. He was older and his hair was longer. He wore a long-sleeved light green shirt with a polar bear over his heart and ice blue pants. His eyes were brown instead of green.

The Yutaka of the group was called Wise. He was wearing a grey shirt with a black sword and shield design over his heart and dark grey pants. He also had a silver hoop earring in his right ear and his hair was back in a ponytail like Garuru's. His eyes were grey instead of brown.

'JP' was called Beet. He was wearing a green shirt with a yellow lightning bolt over his heart and blue jeans. His hair was now brown with yellow streaked throughout and his eyes were lime green instead of light brown.

Troia was Yamato. He wore a brown shirt with a wreath of leaves over his heart and green pants. It looked as though you would never be able to find him if he was in a forest with all the browns and greens he was wearing. Then again, you probably wouldn't be able to and was the point. He now had brown eyes shot with green instead of grey eyes and his hair had dark green streaks throughout it.

I began to rack my brain to find the answer to my question.

'Why on earth are these names so damn familiar?'

"How does everyone feel? Is the new data we inputted corrupting the original data?" Now that made me even more confused. New data inputted? Could these people really be digimon? Then it hit me.

'Wait…these names…does this mean that these are the Ancient Warriors? If it is, does that mean that I'm reliving the past as AncientGreymon?'

"Everything's fine. There have been no problems so far," Megatheriu chirped happily.

"Calm down Mega. It has only been a week. We still need more time until we can say that this succeeds. If it does, other digimon will be able to do this. Then perhaps we can go to that Human World," Wise said.

"I know. But I really want to go to that Human World. Don't you, Wise?

'I think I get it now…The Ancient Warriors found out about the Human World and put new data into themselves to look like humans. Let's see…I already know that I'm AncientGreymon, or Grey…Garuru is Kouji, so he's probably AncientGarurumon…Iris is Zoe…or AncientIrismon, Kouichi is Sphinx or AncientSphinxmon, Megatheriu is AncientMegatheriumon, Volca would be AncientVolcamon, Wise is probably AncientWisemon …Wait a sec…their names are the same, just without the 'ancient' and 'mon'! I am really slow today!'

I tried to wring my brain for some more information, but stopped as the meeting became more serious. Actually, the news came from 'me', or, Grey.

"I've received a message from most of the digimon who know of our idea."

Everyone looked over at 'me', curious and worried. Sphinx decided to see why 'I' had brought it up.

"What did the message say?"

"Basically it said to stop inputting data and to remove any data we've already inputted."

"What?"

Troia was bombarding 'me' with a million questions on why. Volca looked just as angry and shock was evident in Megatheriu's face. Iris stared at 'me' with wide, shocked eyes. Mermai glanced over at Sphinx, worry in her eyes.

"Quiet! Complain after Grey finishes!" Beet yelled, quickly silencing Troia.

"The Virus digimon say that if digimon can do this that they should too. But we can't let them, they would only destroy. The Vaccine digimon say that this is wrong and to remove the data within a week.

"WHAT?"

'I' winced as Troia began to yell again, this time he was joined by Volca and Megatheriu. Beet was too shocked to calm the complaining Warriors down. Wise and Sphinx were still absorbing the information while everyone else just stared at 'me'. After awhile 'I' had lost 'my' patience with the still yelling Warriors and roared out in anger.

"Pipe down and listen! You need to let me finish, damnit!" The three then shut up and shrank back in fear. Everyone was deadly quiet after 'I' had yelled.

"I'm just as happy as you are about this. But if we ignore the Vaccine's message they will remove the data themselves and if we do what the Vaccine digimon want us to, the Virus digimon will destroy us." More silence followed as everyone mulled over this.

After that, I closed my eyes and found myself back in the dark void when I opened them again. The darkness began to shift until I found myself in a shrine. Surprisingly, I was not Grey. I was now watching, not reliving. In this room I could see all ten of the Warriors huddled inside. Everyone was tense as bangs and crashes were heard.

"How are we going to get out?" Megatheriu asked, frightened.

"I know a way."

"What way would that be, Mermai?"

"This way."

She then pointed to some water and it began to act strangely. It rose out of its container and began to take a new shape. When it was done, an exact double of Mermai was standing next to her.

"We can send my copy out," both Mermai said simultaneously.

"How did you do that?" Iris asked, amazed.

"As you know I can control water. This is basically a more complex trick. She'll do anything that I think she should do."

"Do you have to speak in stereo?"

"Yes, I think about what to say and think about it while I talk. She does the same."

"Could you make a copy of each of us?"

"Probably. But not now if that's what you're thinking."

"Why not?"

"For two reasons. One, there is not enough water. Two, they would all do things simultaneously and not be different."

"You said that 'we could send your copy out'. What did you mean?"

"What I meant was to have her run out and distract the digimon. My guess is that the Virus digimon will attack my copy because they are angry that we will not input the data into them. The Vaccine digimon will probably try to erase the data by any mean. Since she looks like me as a human, they will attack her and she can lure them away."

"That's risky. Will she disappear at any time?"

"Yes, Grey. But she'll only disappear if a fatal attack hits her or if I am killed."

By now I had forgotten which one was the copy and the real Mermai. One of the two then walked to the door while the other turned and watched. The door then opened and the copy ran out. I found myself following as Mermai, or her copy, ran through the corridors of the shrine. The shrine seemed to be mostly underground. When the Virus and Vaccine digimon saw her, they began to attack just like Mermai had guessed. Mermai dodged the attacks and kept running. Eventually she ran into a dead-end. Realizing that she was out of options, she drew her trident and faced the oncoming digimon. However, before she could attack, some attacks hit her. When the attack hit her, instead of disappearing, she was cut and blood flowed out. Blood like what's inside every human and what keeps us from dying. I then realized that was Mermai, the real Mermai. She had run out and left her copy with the rest and now she was either dead or dying.

I then returned to the room where the other Warriors were. I found that while I had followed Mermai that everything in and around the room where the Warriors were had frozen so that I saw what happened to the other nine Warriors. After Mermai had lured most of the digimon away, the ones who had stayed waited to go after the larger group.

"Hurry, get out of here," Grey whispered, opening a hidden door. Everyone quickly got out through the door, Sphinx helping 'Mermai'. Before Grey could get out and close the door, one of the waiting digimon got impatient and attacked the door. The door was blown to the opposite wall. The digimon then saw Grey.

"Omega Burst!" Grey sent his attack at the digimon, destroying them, before running out. He quickly caught up with the others and went ahead of the group, leading them. Everyone followed Sphinx and 'Mermai' the last two to follow. After running awhile, Sphinx looked at 'Mermai' and slowed to a stop. Then, Mermai's copy became as formless as the water that she had been made from. Sphinx stared at the water for a moment and whispered a name.

"Mermai..."

He then turned around and ran back the way he came. When he saw the digimon coming down the tunnel (Grey never closed the door), he found a place to hide until they had passed. Sphinx then cautiously ran the way that Mermai had gone until he saw her drenched in her own blood. He then threw caution to the wind and ran over to her.

"Mermai…why?" He was too caught up in his grief to notice a Knightmon come up behind him and thrust his sword. Sphinx attacked the Knightmon using 'Necro Eclipse' before he fell on top of Mermai, dead.

I then returned to the eight Warriors that had not yet been killed. It seemed that Garuru had just noticed that Sphinx and Mermai were not following.

"Where's Sphinx and Mermai?"

"Aren't they behind us?"

"Would I be asking if they were?"

They all stopped and looked behind them. They saw neither Mermai nor Sphinx behind them.

"Where are they?"

"I don't know Mega."

"Maybe they turned to fight and give us more time."

"If they did, I'm going back there and help them."

"Don't Garuru."

"Why shouldn't I Grey?"

"Because if they did, they did it so that we could get away. Sphinx would probably prefer you ran rather than get killed."

"Fine, I'm coming."

They all began to run again. Soon they were out of the tunnel and running to a nearby forest. Before they could reach it though, the digimon hunting them caught up. A Sagitarrimon then aimed his 'Judgment Arrow'. Right at Iris. The arrow was fired and Grey jumped in front of it, just as I had jumped in front of an attack aimed at Zoe. Iris tried to run back to Grey but Wise grabbed her and pulled her into the forest. I then heard Grey utter a name.

"Iris…"

The scene then darkened until I was back in the void again. I closed my eyes and suddenly felt pain. That was when I was bought back to reality.

End of Takuya's POV

Normal POV

Zoe sighed, still watching the unconscious leader lying on the bed. JP and Shinya had another argument, bringing the number of times they had argued up to 36 times in three days. They had just arrived in Bookin Town and were getting ready to spend the night.

Kouji and Yutaka were already asleep. Kouichi was sill up, as was Taiya. Tommy was still up but fighting sleep and Yamato threw a pillow at him, ordering Tommy to sleep. JP was praying that Takuya would wake up soon, or now.

A groan attracted everyone's attention to the bed. Takuya groaned again and Tommy was wide awake, shaking Yutaka awake while Kouichi shook Kouji. Shinya ignored his brother.

Takuya then slowly opened his eyes and looked around at the group.

"So, you're finally awake?" Kouji asked, grinning.

"Obviously. So, what did I miss?"

Yamato: Takuya is finally awake!

Kouji: Bokomon is still updating his book, so we might as well take a break.

Zoe: Did Kouji just say to take a break from fighting?

Kouichi: He did.

JP: I don't think that will happen. Look at all those Meramon!

Tommy: I'll cool those hot-heads down! Execute! Spirit Evolution!

Kouji: Next time on Digital Union, Frontier! Kumamon; Small Bear, Grown Up! It's time to Spirit Evolve!