Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. If I did, you wouldn't have to rely on my writing skills to picture these events.

Davis glanced around at the DigiDestined gathered around him. After TK and Kari had shown up, both seeming to have come out of their depressions yet somewhat shier than usual around each other, the whole team now consisted of the younger group from the second adventure accompanied by Joe, Izzy, Sora, and Mimi. Not exactly the most battle-ready group, but it would have to do. Seeing as time was of the essence, he immediately got right into the business of the meeting.

"Ok, we have a lot to get done and not a lot of time to do it. As everyone knows, Lilithmon has basically kidnapped Tai and Matt and is currently holding them in the Dark Ocean. This provides two major problems: we don't really have a way into the Dark Ocean in the first place, and even if we did, Lilithmon somehow absorbed Gulfmon's ability to prevent Digivolution. Add this to the fact that she's already a powerful Mega, and we have to think outside of the box if we want to win this before time runs out. Luckily, I have a few ideas on how to get around that second problem."

"What do you mean, Davis?" Gennai asked.

"Well, I'm just thinking back to when Yolei, Cody and I first came to the Digital World. The problem then was nobody could Digivolve, yet we still managed thanks to Armor Digivolution."

"That sounds good at first," Ken replied, "but we're facing a bit more of a challenge than I ever posed. All you had to do to beat me was destroy the Dark Rings or Spirals I was using to control Champion and Ultimate level Digimon. Since Armor forms are approximately equal to Champion in power, they could manage just fine against those opponents. Now we're facing a Mega. Remember how much BlackWarGreymon trounced us until we had three DNA Ultimates on our side? Armor forms won't cut it."

"I was getting to that," Davis answered. "I was just thinking about two other fights where Armor forms didn't help: against Kimeramon and Cherubimon. In both cases, the enemy was powerful enough to just play around with our highest forms at the time. However, when I used the Digimental of Miracles and Veemon Golden Armor Digivolved into Magnamon, he was strong enough to beat both opponents, with help from Wormmon and Rapidmon of course."

Once again, Ken had to present a flaw in Davis's plan. "That's all great, but you don't exactly have the Digimental of Miracles on you. The first time you used it, it was created from my Crest of Kindness, and once my Crest returned to me the Digimental disappeared. And even though I wasn't part of your group when you fought Cherubimon, I know that it took Patamon and Gatomon turning to their Mega forms in order to release the Digimentals for you and Willis. It's not like they can go to Mega if they can't Digivolve at all. And even if they could go to Mega, why exactly would they release the Digimentals instead of fighting as Megas anyway?"

Kari was the one who answered Ken's question. "Back when we fought Cherubimon, there was a very good reason we didn't fight as Megas. You have to remember, we didn't have Crests back then, so we shouldn't have been able to go beyond Champion without DNA Digivolving. However, we ended up finding a way around that problem after we got stranded on a train trying to catch up with the others. As we were trying to get back, we somehow got pulled into the Digital World by the Sovereigns. They gave us the power of the Digimentals of Miracles and Destiny, but Gatomon and Patamon couldn't use them themselves. Instead, they were sort of stored inside of them, giving them the power to Digivolve beyond Champion temporarily. Of course, it wasn't enough energy to allow them to fight in their Mega forms for long- they'd only last one hit each, so instead they just released the Digimentals when they got the chance. Now that we don't have that power source, Patamon and Gatomon won't be able to go to Mega unless TK and I somehow unlock the form through the power of our Crests. Though since the only ones of us who ever reached Mega on our own did so through an ancient prophecy, I'm not exactly sure if that would even work."

It was Gennai who now felt the need to explain something. "In theory, anybody with a Crest, or should I say the power from a Crest, would be able to achieve Digivolution to the Mega form. However, it would be extremely difficult to accomplish. If you recall, to unlock the Ultimate level you had to display the trait indicated by the Crest in order to activate it and give your partners the needed energy, and the first time you reached that level required a much greater display of the trait. To reach Mega without the aid of an ancient prophecy involving you and TK essentially shooting your own brothers with the powers of Hope and Light would require a display of your particular traits to such a degree that it almost blocks out every other character trait you have, at least for a moment. Of course, once you reach the level a first time, it becomes much easier, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to get it done the first time."

"Thanks for explaining that," Davis responded, "and I have another question I'd like to ask you a little bit later, but for right now, I'd like to continue from where Ken interrupted me. I know I don't have the Digimental of Miracles on me right now, but I do remember one fight that showed me how to get it whenever I really need it. Right before you joined our group, we came across a Mutant Digmon called Parallelmon. He was a nasty piece of work who could travel between parallel dimensions and grew stronger by absorbing anybody who had a Digimon partner. I messed up a bit and rushed in to attack him before I knew any of this, and it took TK shoving me out of the way of his attack to realize how big of a mistake I had made. Unfortunately, the others all got absorbed into Parallelmon, but I somehow got flung into another dimension. While there, I worked together with an alternate version of Tai to save the others, and they all somehow channeled their powers to me and created the Digimental of Miracles. If we could do the same thing, we should be able to get Magnamon again to help take out Lilithmon."

While this news excited everyone, Izzy felt the need to stay rational. "While Magnamon will definitely help our cause, I highly doubt he will be enough. No offense to you, Veemon, but when you fought Kimeramon, you were an even match for him, and he was technically an Ultimate level. When you fought the Mega level Cherubimon, it took the help of another Golden Armor form in order to take him out, and even then what you destroyed wasn't so much him as it was the virus that was corrupting him. Lilithmon has the title of a Great Demon Lord. She won't be a pushover, so I think it would be best if you had more help than a bunch of rookies and a few Armor forms."

Davis let out a triumphant grin. "That's where phase two of the plan comes in. You're approaching this as if Armor Digivolution is the only way to work around Lilithmon blocking our Digivolution powers, but we had a clear example of why that isn't the case. Just ask TK and Kari- Patamon Digivolved well after Gulfmon unleashed his Black Requiem. I'm thinking it would be possible for everyone to Dark Digivolve like he did. Now that you have your Crests, you might even be able to Dark Digivolve to Ultimate or even Mega. With that, we should have just enough force to beat Lilithmon, which would free Tai and Matt from her control before we raid the Dark Ocean to stop whatever the heck is going on in there."

Cody took his turn at pointing out potential flaws in Davis's plan. "It's good that you have a plan, but I still see two major issues. First, you are relying on Dark Digivolution, which sounds really dangerous against a foe that can control the powers of darkness as well as Lilithmon can. Plus, don't you remember SkullGreymon? He was a Dark Digivolution of Agumon, and even with a Dark Ring on him Ken couldn't control him. Apparently the first time Agumon became SkullGreymon, he just destroyed everything in his path until he ran out of energy. What happens if we Dark Digivolve to fight Lilithmon only to lose control of our partners and have to fight them as well? Even if we don't run into any of those problems, how exactly can we even find Lilithmon? Just knowing she's in the Dark Ocean doesn't help us much. That's like saying a person is somewhere on Earth. We'd need to narrow it down before we have a chance of even finding her, assuming we could even get in to the Dark Ocean at will."

Ken once again joined the conversation, adding, "I'm not sure if we will be able to get to the Dark Ocean. I tried opening a gate there last night, but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried. Unless Gennai has a different way in, we might be stuck without a way to fight back."

Gennai could only shake his head at this. "Unfortunately, we do not have a way to open a gate into the Dark Ocean. If TK or Kari were currently in the Dark Ocean, they might be able to open a gate out, but the powers of Light and Hope serve as a way out of darkness, not into it. And since they are both outside of the Dark Ocean currently, they only way they have of getting in is getting pulled in by Daemon, and he wouldn't bother doing that if it could only harm his cause. I guess our only course of action is waiting until they open whatever gate they are talking about and hoping we can hold out against whatever it does."

Once again, Davis's optimism would not be contained. "Here's the thing- I don't think we'll have to go to the Dark Ocean to save Tai and Matt. Lilithmon said they were being used to draw out TK and Kari in order to shorten the timespan for their plan from a week to a few hours. Now that we've convinced them not to go running off on their own to get pulled in, Lilithmon will have to come get TK and Kari herself. That means Lilithmon, Tai, and Matt will have to come to us in the Digital World if they want to get TK and Kari, and they'll have to do it in the next week. Since Lilithmon was surprisingly honest with us about everything else, I think we can at least trust her on this too. So, we have to start working on getting ready to fight her as soon as we can, since she'll be coming for us sometime in this week. Since we have to hurry, we'll need to know as much as we can about Dark Digivolution so we can get right to work. Gennai, what do you know about it?"

"Well," Gennai responded, "on its own, there is nothing malicious about Dark Digivolution. Many Digimon naturally can follow multiple paths depending on what data they are exposed to- like Greymon becoming MetalGreymon or SkullGreymon. That's why there is a much greater variety of Champion levels than Baby levels, since each Baby form can Digivolve along a branched pathway to many different types. However, this becomes a problem when it happens to a Digimon with a human partner. Instead of slowly accumulating the data over the course of their life, and thus having time to get used to the new data that results in a new form, partner Digimon can Digivolve with a sudden infusion of energy from their partners. So, instead of slowly acclimating to a type of energy, they suddenly change and have to deal with that. In the case of Dark Digivolution, the sudden surge of negative energy that they aren't prepared to handle can easily overwhelm them, causing them to lose control of themselves. That's why they tend to go berserk whenever they are forced to Digivolve without being ready."

"Then why did Patamon still help us when he became Devimon?" TK asked. "I forced him to Dark Digivolve, but he still acted pretty much the same as he usually would. If we could get an answer to that, we might be able to make this whole Dark Digivolution plan work!"

"Well, to be honest, I am not the most familiar with how this all works," Gennai answered. "After all, there have only been four partner Digimon I am aware of that have undergone Dark Digivolution. Patamon just became Devimon yesterday, Willis's partner Lopmon Dark Digivolved into Wendingomon before you fought him, and Matt's Garurumon just became BlackGarurumon while under Lilithmon's control, even though that was more of a shift into a dark form than an actual Digivolution. Of course, the most experienced with Dark Digivolution would be Tai's Agumon, who became SkullGreymon once on his original adventure and multiple times under the influence of the Dark Ring, a viral MetalGreymon with a Dark Spiral, and then BlackGreymon under Lilithmon's control. Still, other than Devimon, nobody has managed to regain control of themselves in their dark forms. If I had to guess, I would say that Patamon himself also desperately wanted to Digivolve, and his desperation mirrored your own to the point where he was dealing with the negative emotions on his own, and thus didn't lose control when he used your negative energy to Digivolve. In theory, all of you should easily be able to reach the Champion level under the effects of Black Requiem, since it would be just like the first time you came here and you unlocked your usual Champion forms. If you are in great enough danger, your partners should be able to Digivolve. Of course, without Black Requiem in effect, they would just Digivolve to their regular Champion forms under the same circumstances, so we can't test this theory."

"But if we can't practice," Mimi asked, "how can we know if it will work? I mean, I know we will have to fight Tai and Matt in order to get them to come back to their senses, but I don't know if I could handle it if Palmon Dark Digivolved and we had to fight her as well. Patamon could probably handle TK's dark energy because, let's face it, TK in his darkest moments is still a really good person. I'm thinking some of Kari's light rubbed off on him in all the time they hang out together. But I know I have quite a bit worse of a dark side with how spoiled and shallow I can act. If I forced Palmon to lose who she was, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself."

At this, Sora decided to finally join the conversation. "Listen, I know this plan is risky, and I won't force any of you to go along with it. But, it is the only plan we have right now. I'm going to be right out there doing everything I can to get my boyfriend back. All I have to do is wait for Lilithmon to show up, and Biyomon and I will be Digivolving to get them back."

Seeing her resolve, all the DigiDestined began to make their decisions. Ken was the first to speak. "I'll be staying to help the people who are going to try to Dark Digivolve. Remember when Boltmon attacked on Valentine's Day right after we beat MaloMyotismon? Davis started going all evil on us, but I got the Digimental of Kindness and Wormmon Armor Digivolved into Bucchiemon and managed to expel the darkness with his Heart Beam attack. If we do the same thing now, we would be able to get rid of the darkness if it corrupts any of our partners and not have to fight them. The same technique might even work on Matt and Tai, though I'm not sure if our kindness is any match for the kind of power Lilithmon is exerting over them. If Bucchiemon isn't needed anymore, I'll just have to borrow someone else's Digimental for the battle. As useful as Bucchiemon is, he isn't exactly the best fighter."

"Yeah, you can just borrow my Digimentals, since I'll be using the Digimental of Miracles anyway," Davis supplied. "Since we're DNA partners and all, you shouldn't have too much trouble using them."

Mimi went next. "Okay, now that I don't have to worry about losing Palmon, I'll be right there next to Sora, Davis, Ken, and everyone else who wants to help. We'll teach Lilithmon exactly what happens when you mess with the DigiDestined!"

Izzy went next, though he was the first to not go along with the plan. "I'm really sorry, everyone, but I don't think I should join you. Something Lilithmon told me right after she took control of Matt and Tai keeps sticking with me. She said that even though I have the Crest of Knowledge, I wouldn't be able to know how to stop her, and that I would need to find Wisdom to know that. Seeing as how she was always one step ahead of us, I don't know if strength alone will be enough to win this. She told me to seek out the Goddess of Wisdom to find out exactly what she was up to and the nature of the gate they are trying to open. I know it could be a trap, but there is the slight chance that it might be the only way to find out how to get out of this mess. I think I'll try to solve this problem from that angle."

Davis merely nodded. "Not a problem. We know you're doing what you can to help Tai and Matt anyway. Getting more information on this situation will definitely help us out, and you're the best candidate to get that information. Do you have any idea on where you can find this Goddess of Wisdom?"

Before Izzy could respond, Gennai cut in. "The only being I know that goes by the title of Goddess of Wisdom is Minervamon. She is a member of a mysterious group of Mega level Digimon that goes by the name of the Olympos XII. They watch over the Digital World, but take a dedicated neutrality approach to any conflict. As long as the Digital World itself will not be destroyed, they will not interfere in the struggle between light and darkness, viewing times of darkness as a natural part of the cycle of the world. I am not exactly sure where they currently are, but I believe the information may be found in Centarumon's temple. It is an ancient place that holds much more than the legend of the DigiDestined. I shall inform him that you will be going to the temple so he may help guide you."

"Alright," Izzy replied, "that's settled then. As soon as this meeting is over, I'll head over and see if Centarumon can help find this Minervamon. I know I'm probably being stupid for following our enemy's advice, but I feel like this is something I have to do."

Seeing as Izzy was currently going off on his own, Joe decided to speak up next. "Izzy, if you don't mind, I'd like to go along with you. I feel like most of us are going to stay and follow along with this Dark Digivolution plan, so I won't be as needed here. However, if you're going to be going after this Goddess, it'll probably be a lot more difficult than just following a few signs. You could use the help, and you can rely on me to be there every step of the way. We'll get the information we need from Minervamon and be back before Lilithmon even notices we were gone."

TK went next. "Well, I think it goes without saying that I'll be staying. After all, it is my brother we're trying to rescue, and he'd never let me live it down if I just sat aside and let other people try to save him. Not that what Izzy and Joe are doing isn't important, but I don't know if a quest for Wisdom is my kind of thing. Plus, Patamon already mostly has control of his Devimon form, so it shouldn't be too hard for me to master that. After all, we all figured out how to go to Champion whenever we needed to after we did it the first time, so I guess it should be the same now. Though I have a question, Gennai. I can understand how Dark Digivolving to Champion works, but how about to higher levels? After all, we need to use our Crests normally, but I don't see how traits like Hope and Light will trigger a Dark Digivolution."

Gennai sighed. "I wish I could give you more answers, but I'm afraid I just don't know enough about this to be definitive. What I can say is when Tai first had Greymon Digivolve he did so using a negative interpretation of his Crest trait. After all, being reckless is still a form of courage, but it came with a lack of concern over the safety of himself or others. It wasn't until he truly realized what was at stake but risked his life anyway that he unlocked the Crest of Courage without the negative implications of that trait that he managed a non-Dark Digivolution."

TK thanked Gennai for his little hint, but quickly became lost in thought as he started trying to figure out how he would try to find a negative aspect of Hope he could use to Dark Digivolve to Ultimate after he fully mastered controlling Devimon. Seeing as he wouldn't be saying anything more, Kari decided to cast her vote on the situation.

"Like TK, I'll be staying and fighting to get my brother back. Besides, if they really are trying to capture the two of us, it makes more sense for us to stay together if we want to lure Lilithmon into a trap of our own. Luckily for me, Gatomon is already a Champion, so we won't have to worry about Dark Digivolving to get to that level. Of course, I'm also unlucky enough that I have to find a way to Dark Digivolve using the Crest of Light, so hopefully I'll figure something out before everyone else has their Mega forms ready."

Cody decided to announce his plans next. "If you don't mind, I think it would be best if I went with Izzy and Joe. We don't know exactly what we could encounter while trying to find Minervamon. If we end up in a situation that blocks Digivolution, they should have someone who can at least Armor Digivolve to help out. Besides, my grandfather always says wisdom is the most important thing to strive for, so I think I would enjoy the chance to speak with the Goddess of Wisdom."

Seeing nods from the rest of the group, Cody went over and sat next to Joe and Izzy. Seeing as she was the last to speak up, Yolei cleared her throat and immediately began speaking. "Listen, I know I'm probably being a horrible friend when I say this, but I'm really not comfortable with staying and fighting against our friends. I know there are times when we have to fight for the right thing, and this is one of those times, but I don't know if I can force Hawkmon to fight Agumon and Gabumon. So, do you mind if I help Izzy, Joe, and Cody look for Minervamon instead? I think this would be the best way to help without directly fighting."

Ken put his arm around Yolei. "That works just fine. We all know you want to help, and if you aren't comfortable fighting Tai and Matt, you can still help them by helping Joe, Izzy and Cody."

Seeing that everyone had decided what they were going to do, Davis saw it was time to wrap up the meeting. "Okay then, looks like we have our plan. Izzy, Joe, Cody, and Yolei will head for Centarumon's temple and try to meet Minervamon to find out exactly what we are dealing with and maybe start making a backup plan. The rest of us here will work on directly fighting Lilithmon, Tai, and Matt to get them back. I'll use the Digimental of Miracles, and TK, Kari, Sora, and Mimi will use Dark Digivolution. Ken will use the Digimental of Kindness in order to make sure we don't lose control of any of the dark Digimon, and if that isn't necessary, he'll borrow one of my Digimentals to actually fight. We may as well get started right away, since we don't know when Lilithmon will show her face."

With that, the DigiDestined split up to go on their separate paths, both hoping the end result would be saving their friends and the Digital World once again.

Kari sighed. Sure, trying to Dark Digivolve sounded like a great plan in order to save her brother from Lilithmon's clutches, but that didn't change the fact that she had no idea how. After all, she had the Crest of Light. How exactly was she supposed to use the power of light for dark purposes? She had only ever been able to activate her Crest by worrying about others and trying to be the best person possible. Now she had to figure out exactly how to cast being a good person in a negative light in order to Dark Digivolve. She somehow doubted she could ever figure that out on her own, so she decided to see how everyone else was doing. Davis and Ken were talking amongst themselves, while everyone else was having a quiet conversation with their partners. She guessed they were all trying to do the same thing she was in trying to figure out how to use their Crests in a darker way than they had before. After all, Gennai had said they should all be able to reach Champion as soon as the need to Digivolve under the effects of Black Requiem arose, so they didn't need to spend as much time worrying about the Champion level as they did Ultimate. Suddenly, TK stood up with Patamon and started walking towards Ken and Davis. Wondering what was going on, Kari decided to follow his lead and walked over to where he was.

"Hey TK, what's up?" Kari asked.

"Well," TK responded, "at first I was thinking about how I could Dark Digivolve to Ultimate, but I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out how I could ever turn Hope into a bad thing. I imagine you're having even more of a problem with that than I am though. After all, I don't have to turn Light into darkness like you do."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious there, TK. I figured I'd see how everyone else was doing since I was stuck too when I noticed you seemed to have a plan. So, are you going to tell me what it is, or will I need to bust out the puppy dog eyes?"

TK just rolled his eyes and smiled. "Oh come on Kari, you know that isn't fair. You know nobody can resist that. Seriously, even Gatomon can't help but give in, and she's a digital cat who shouldn't find puppy eyes adorable. I bet Lilithmon would even have a hard time resisting if you just asked her to give Matt and Tai back." Kari just punched him lightly on the arm after this, so TK decided to get a little bit more serious. "But anyway, I thought of a way I could actually do something to help out other than sitting around. After all, Patamon is the only one who's Dark Digivolved before, so I'm thinking we might be able to do it again before Lilithmon shows up. After all, after we unlock a level once, we've pretty much always been able to access it at will later. Still, I'm not sure if it would go well, so I was going to ask Ken to have Bucchiemon ready just in case Devimon loses control. After all, last time he just had to direct his power towards the Bakemon. Assuming the powers of darkness work like anger, it's a lot easier to direct it at a certain target than simply suppress it from going after anyone."

"Oh come on TK, I'm not going to lose control," Patamon protested. "After all, I can't really protect you if I'm hurting all of your friends, can I?"

"It's not exactly you I'm worried about, Patamon," TK replied. "I'm more worried about losing control of myself. After all, I'm the one who has to channel the negative energy in the first place. I know you can handle yourself, but I'm a little bit scared to find out if I'd be able too. I don't even know if I'll be able to generate those negative feelings at will, let alone control them. After all, last time it took Kari being kidnapped for me to be able to do it, and that's not exactly a situation any of us want to repeat, now is it?"

"Alright TK," Kari interrupted, "don't tell me you've already forgotten our earlier talk.

You can't keep getting down on yourself. I'm sure you'll be fine. Now, let's go get Ken's help and see if you can handle turning Patamon into a guardian devil instead of a guardian angel."

"Fine, let's go. Though I wouldn't joke around too much about guardian devils if I were you. After all, if Devimon is the dark form of Angemon, it sort of makes sense that LadyDevimon would be the dark form of Angewomon." He then laughed, and added, "And considering Gatomon's history, she might end up getting into a catfight with herself."

Gatomon had to whine at this. "Was that last pun really necessary? Just remember, I do have a bit of experience in the evil department, and I am currently a Champion. You'd best not tempt me into doing something I'd regret later."

However, Kari and Patamon's reactions were much more positive, as both had to suppress laughter. Finally, the group arrived to where Ken, Davis, Wormmon, and Veemon had all been arguing among themselves. Davis was the first to notice the new arrivals, and greeted them with a simple, "Hey guys, what's up?"

TK answered, "Well, I was just thinking that I should be able to Digivolve Patamon into Devimon at will now, since we've done it before, but I wanted to make sure of it. Just in case something goes wrong, I was going to ask Ken if he could have Bucchiemon standing by to do his whole evil-nullification thing. But what exactly were you two up to?"

This time, Ken answered. "Well, I was just pointing out some issues in Davis's latest plan. He claims to know how to get the Digimental of Miracles, but something just seems off. Last time, everyone used their D3s to send it to him, but now we don't have Cody or Yolei here to help. I thought it would have been better if we had given him the Digimental before we split up."

Davis then had to give his side of the argument. "Listen, you make a good point, but that strategy would never work. The Digimental of Miracles is a temporary thing. Veemon can't stay as Magnamon for very long because the Digimental itself disappears after a certain period of time. Rather than get the Digimental when we were all together and then have it disappear right when Magnamon starts to fight, I thought it would be better to get it right before a fight starts. As for missing some people, we might not have Yolei or Cody, but we do have you, Sora, and Mimi with us this time. Besides, there were some other Digimon Tamers absorbed by Parallelmon that helped me out, so you just need a Digivice to create the Digimental. You have to have a bit of faith if you ever hope to get a miracle, don't you?"

Ken sighed. "I still think we should have at least made sure our plan could work before we tried it, but I guess it is too late now. Let's just try to do the best we can and hope everything works out. Wormmon, are you ready to Armor Digivolve?" Wormmon nodded, and Ken then called out, "Digi-Armor Energize!"

Wormmon began glowing and announced, "Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Bucchiemon!" When the light cleared, the green caterpillar had grown into a red creature resembling a fairy. While Ken, TK, Kari, Gatomon, and Patamon all didn't really react to the change, knowing that Wormmon was a little self-conscious about his appearance in this form, Veemon couldn't help but comment. "Hey, what gives? You announced your name, but don't you have some sort of title? Like, Flamedramon is 'the Fire of Courage,' Raidramon is 'the Storm of Friendship,' Magnamon is 'the Radiance of Miracles,' and so on. Don't you have something similar for Kindness?"

"Well," Bucchiemon responded, "I guess I haven't thought of anything for it yet. I don't usually take this form, so I didn't really think of a good name for myself. I guess I'm just Bucchiemon for now. You have to remember, whenever I fight it's always as Stingmon, Paildramon, or Imperialdramon. I never had to Armor Digivolve to fight like you did."

Veemon couldn't help but mutter "Well, what fun is Armor Digivolving if you don't get to make a cool title for yourself?" before Davis interrupted him. "Veemon, let it go. If it really bothers you, you could help him figure something out after this whole crisis is over. Let's just let Bucchiemon do his job and give TK a chance to try to Dark Digivolve."

TK just nodded. "Okay, but before I try this, everyone might want to take a few steps back. I wouldn't want something to happen faster than Bucchiemon, Gatomon, or Veemon could react, so could you just try to give us some space?"

Everyone took a few steps back, leaving TK and Patamon standing in a bit of a clearing. TK closed his eyes and started concentrating while holding his D3, but it was a full minute before Patamon began to glow with a dark purple light. "Patamon, Dark Digivolve to…Devimon!" Once again, the black devil had replaced Patamon's usual appearance. With both TK and Devimon being eerily silent, Kari quickly asked, "TK, are you alright?" At the sound of his name, TK turned around, and Kari once again saw the darkness in his eyes that had been present in his apartment earlier. However, as soon as he met her eyes, his eyes brightened and he exclaimed, "Kari, you're alright!"

Kari just rolled her eyes. "Of course I am. I've just been standing here the whole time. It's not like I need to be defended from standing still, do I?"

TK just chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I was having a hard time getting this whole Dark Digivolution thing to work, so I just tried picturing the worst thing I could imagine to get the emotion right. So, I sort of imagined my life without you." Seeing that everyone was staring at him, he quickly added, "After all, without Mom, Dad, or any of the DigiDestined, my life would really suck, wouldn't it?" Davis looked like he was ready to call TK out on the obvious fact that he had singled Kari out and only added the rest as an afterthought, but Devimon quickly came to his partner's rescue.

"Wow, this body is really awkward. Seriously, why are my arms so long? I can practically touch my toes without even bending over!" The childlike enthusiasm in his sentence sharply contrasted with the deep, stereotypically evil voice with which he spoke. "Still, I guess the claws do come in handy, and at least the torn wings won't stop me from flying." With this, he flew up a few feet in the air before continuing to speak. "So, TK, do you think we'll be fighting soon? I'd hate to waste this transformation." He said this in a much colder, more serious tone, indicating that while most of his personality was identical to what it was as Patamon and Angemon, he still had some much darker traits. TK was about to answer, when the world suddenly went dark.

"Well, looks like the Child of Hope has already started dabbling in the dark powers. This ought to be fun to watch. I guess that does work his way around my Black Requiem, but I really have to wonder if he can handle it. After all, these boys had an awfully hard time when the darkness came after them!" Lilithmon had flickered into existence a short distance away, flanked on either side by BlackGreymon and BlackGarurumon, with Matt and Tai blankly standing behind their partners. Devimon could only smirk at the new challenge. "Well, looks like that human saying 'Speak of the devil' actually works. Let's see how this witch likes it when the darkness turns against her!" Lilithmon just giggled. "Well, look who thinks he's a big shot. You couldn't keep up with me in your wildest dreams. Why don't you just content yourself with my new toys?" With that, BlackGreymon and BlackGarurumon snarled and charged toward the DigiDestined.

Author's Note: I know I said I wouldn't update anything today, but I've got a half hour break before company gets here so I thought I'd start updating. While I have a bit of time, I'd like to thank WarBard for offering some criticism of my writing style. I apparently have been trying to tell too much through dialogue, and the pacing of the story has been suffering because of it. Just looking at this chapter alone, I can see they have a point- it's almost all dialogue, and all of that dialogue is pretty much exposition. Not really the best style to tell a believable story, but I'm sort of stuck with what I have. I don't think I could change the style quickly, so I'm just going to keep updating the chapters as they are written now. Since this is the first story in a planned trilogy, I will try incorporating all suggestions to make the story easier to read when I start writing story 2 shortly after I finish updating this one. Maybe when I finish the trilogy I'll come back to rewrite this in a better style. It will be a lot of work, but I'd rather know what I have to improve than assume my storytelling is great when it isn't. So, if anybody else would like to leave any comments they think could help me or any questions they have, feel free to do so either in a review or a PM. Next chapter, we get back to some more action!