Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me. If it did, there would be a Digimon called Entimon so all fanfic writers could scramble the name to create the phrase "not mine".

"You really don't need to walk me home, TK. I'm back to normal now, and it's not like I'm going to call up the powers of darkness again between now and when I get home. I'll be fine. Honestly."

TK just smiled and shook his head. "I know you'll be okay, Kari, but for once I'm sticking with you because someone's worried about me being on my own. Mom would flip out if she found out I was just going back to my apartment alone with everything that's going on. She got called away to work on an important story that could really make or break her career, and she almost turned it down to stay with me. Between Dad working his long hours and Matt being kidnapped, she wanted to be sure I would be safe with someone she could trust. It was all I could do to convince her not to ruin her career to babysit me, but she made me promise to stay in a house that actually had adults present. It was the best way to compromise so she would still let me help save the world. At least Dad was a bit more understanding that I had to do something, but even he told me how worried he was, so you know how bad it is. Not that he doesn't ever worry, but he never really talks about that stuff. Anyway, you better get used to having me around."

Kari chuckled. "Right, so Tai gets sent to the Dark Ocean and I still get stuck with a guy crashing on my couch at random times. But I guess it will help calm down my parents. They both went crazy when I told them Tai was gone after I was hospitalized. Mom thought the best way to help would be to constantly offer me some of her 'specialty cooking,' but that would probably be more useful in defeating Lilithmon by making her eat it than it will in helping me recover."

TK could only shudder at this. "Great, I forgot about that lovely benefit of staying with you. Any chance that she'll be willing to lay off on the cooking since you'll have a guest and everything?"

"Nope, sorry. I don't think my mom will ever view you as a guest. She's constantly joking about including you in all of the family pictures. I'm afraid you're stuck with the usual family meal plan as long as you're sleeping under our roof."

"Well, guess I'll just have to adjust my will then, won't I?"

With this, TK and Kari both started laughing, only for Kari to suddenly stop walking and freeze in the middle of the sidewalk. TK took a couple more steps before noticing she wasn't walking right next to him anymore, and turned around, a worried look instantly on his face. "Are you okay?"

Kari sighed before answering. "I just don't know, TK. The Digital World will be doomed unless we save it in the next week, our brothers have been kidnapped, and we're here joking about my mom's cooking. Are we really such bad people that we can joke around at a time like this?"

TK placed his hand on her shoulder before answering. "Kari, never think you're a horrible person. I think we can afford to joke around because I know we can win this. Call me an optimist, but I know we'll get Matt and Tai back in time to save everything. We've been in bad situations before, and we've always pulled through. Besides, if you were really a horrible person, would you have been willing to put and keep yourself in so much pain just to help others? How exactly did you manage to do that, anyway, with the whole 'light into darkness' problem?"

"Well, I always had viewed expressing the trait of light as being a generally good person- you know, caring about others more than yourself, always doing the right thing, and so on. Since that's pretty much what my Crest resonated with back when we were eight, I figured that was the closest thing I could come up with to embody those traits. So, I just needed to find a selfish way to care about others and do the right thing. Obviously, the right thing this time was save everyone by having Gatomon Digivolve, but I needed to find a way to make that seem selfish. I guess I ended up settling on doing it in order to impress—"

Kari immediately blushed as she realized exactly who she was talking to. Seeking to cover the pause, she quickly added, "Wait, I just realized something. Could you keep the whole 'hurting myself by calling on the powers of darkness' thing a secret from my parents? They already don't like the fact that I have to go off and put myself in danger to save the world, but they at least understand that I have to do it. If they found out I was the direct cause of that danger, though, I'm pretty sure they'd lock me in my room and run over my D3 just to make sure I'd never go back to the Digital World. They'd let me keep Gatomon, of course, but other than that I'd be completely cut off."

"Wow, and I thought my mom was strict. Sure, I'll gladly keep it a secret if you promise not to get so upset at yourself over your whole Dark Digivolving issue. If I had to guess, I'd say it puts you in pain because you just struggle against any form of darkness, including your own. When you fight yourself, you end up hurting yourself. So, if you can stop figuratively beating yourself up about your inner darkness, maybe it'll stop actually beating you up. And talking with you, I think I might have figured out a way to get to the Ultimate level myself. So, what do you say we hurry up and get to your place before Salamon and Patamon wake up so we can actually get the most edible food to ourselves?"

With this, TK grabbed Kari's hand and started running towards her apartment, almost dragging her for the first couple of steps until she started running alongside of him. She couldn't help but smile at the childlike innocence he still managed to portray as a high school student. He could go from a knight in shining armor one moment to an overexcited kid the next. Getting lost in this train of thought, she almost didn't notice the scenery flying by until she was suddenly standing in front of the door to her apartment. She began reaching for her keys, only to notice she was still holding TK's hand. How she had failed to notice that development over the past several blocks was beyond her, but she couldn't help but feel a bit of happiness well up inside of her. However, the moment ended all too soon when TK suddenly let go of her hand, and she looked up to see a massive blush on his face as if he too had suddenly realized what had happened. Feeling a mixture of disappointment and excitement over this, Kari opened the door, only to see a thick wall of black smoke. Rolling her eyes at her mother's latest failed cooking attempt, Kari held the door open and with a quick "After you" followed TK inside.

The next morning found Sora, Mimi, TK, Kari, Davis, and Ken all gathered together in the Digital World. While TK and Kari projected an air of optimism about succeeding in their attempts, they were met by negative emotions from the rest of the group. Mimi and Palmon were worried that they would continue to be useless in the upcoming battles, Sora and Biyomon were afraid of losing control of themselves and thus hindering the effort, and Ken was feeling particularly useless, as he wouldn't be able to get to a higher level than an armor form when Lilithmon made her next appearance. Davis's worries were on a much broader scale- while he was happy with the progress the team had shown in the last battle, there was still the simple fact that they were completely outmatched. The strongest fighter they could call on after Lilithmon's Black Requiem was Magnamon, but even he wasn't a match for the Demon Lord, who had beat him without ever fighting seriously. The sad fact was, with the current makeup of the team, Magnamon was the second strongest fighter they could call on in any situation, only surpassed by Imperialdramon. However, since there was no guarantee on the timing of Lilithmon's next attack, they couldn't just have Imperialdramon wait for her to appear, as he could run out of energy right before she decided to show up. The worst aspect of this problem was the fact that Lilithmon's forces would only get stronger over time, seeing as she already had Tai and Matt tapping into the power of their Crests. If Tai and Matt managed to unlock their Mega forms again, the DigiDestined would be facing three Mega level Digimon without any Megas of their own. They would have to find a way to even the odds somehow, but how?

Seeing the general negativity hanging over the group, TK and Kari decided to push past their own uncertainty about Dark Digivolution and try to cheer up the others. Kari decided to channel a little bit of her brother's leadership spirit and started giving orders.

"Guys, don't get so worked up over this. I know it looks tough, but we've managed to pull through difficult situations like this before. So, what do you say we start trying to perfect getting to the Ultimate level? I don't know about you, but I'd rather not wait to master this until Lilithmon shows up again. Though I do think we need to be a bit smarter about this then we usually are. Judging by what happened with Karatenmon and LadyDevimon, it will be hard to predict exactly how we are going to react to the darkness, so we should probably have our Digimon ready for a fight just in case. Between Bucchiemon's Heart Beam purifying the humans and Lillymon and Angewomon restraining the Digimon with their Flower Wreath and Heaven's Charge attacks, we should be good, but maybe we should have everyone else standing by at their highest level to fill in whenever somebody new needs to try Digivolving. Since I've already managed to do this once, I'll go first. You ready Gatomon?"

Gatomon nodded, and so the DigiDestined all prepared for the upcoming test of their ability. The other Digimon all Digivolved to Ultimate with the exception of Veemon and Wormmon who became ExVeemon and Bucchiemon. Seeing everyone else ready, Kari took a deep breath and thought back on yesterday's experience. After around twenty seconds of concentration, her D3 and Crest both started turning black, and Gatomon became enveloped in a purple glow before becoming LadyDevimon once again. This time, Kari didn't feel anything beyond a slight discomfort at the change, which was a much-needed improvement over the pain she had suffered last time. However, she still needed to make sure she could fully handle LadyDevimon in a fight, since she didn't want LadyDevimon to be limited in her attacks should Lilithmon arrive. Seeing TK giving her a worried look, Kari immediately smiled and addressed him.

"Before you ask, TK, I'm just fine. It feels a little weird seeing Gatomon look like that, but other than that there isn't any pain this time around. Still, that doesn't mean I've got this down yet. Last time, I got hurt whenever LadyDevimon launched an attack, so we should probably practice those before we call this a success."

LadyDevimon nodded before adding her opinion in. "Don't take this as a sign that I've gone evil and out of control or anything, but I think it would be best if I tried sparring with most of you at once. That way, I'll be forced to act like this is a real battle and get more practice in. So, what do you think?"

Lillymon, Garudamon, and MagnaAngemon all volunteered to spar with her, while ExVeemon and Bucchiemon stayed with the humans in case of wayward attacks. As the three fighters flew into the air, LadyDevimon started off the skirmish by transforming her arm into a spear and launching her Black Wing attack directly at MagnaAngemon, forcing him to counter with his Excalibur attack. However, as he was busy fending off her spear, LadyDevimon hit him directly in the face with her Binta attack, which wasn't particularly damaging but still succeeded in knocking the surprised angel out of the sky. LadyDevimon then turned and unleashed her Evil Wing attack towards Lillymon and Garudamon, but Garudamon countered with her Wing Blade attack, which proved as effective against the wave of bats as it had against Myotismon's Grisly Wing the first time he had attacked the DigiDestined. While LadyDevimon tried to push through the flaming bird with even more bats, Lillymon flew in and trapped her in a Flower Wreath attack before attempting to hit her with a Vicious Vine. However, LadyDevimon managed to break through her bonds and unleash a Darkness Wave directly at Lillymon, turning the fairy's own power into a deadly weapon against her. Luckily, before Lillymon experienced too much damage, MagnaAngemon healed her with his Magna Antidote. The Archangel Digimon flew back into the fight before calling off his allies, choosing to engage LadyDevimon in one on one combat. LadyDevimon tried to blast him with another Darkness Wave, but the attack dissipated on his beam shield before he countered with a Soul Banisher, hitting her with a blast of white light. When the light cleared, LadyDevimon had shifted back to Angewomon, who looked extremely confused.

"Wait," she asked, "did you just purify me? How the heck did you do that, and why haven't you done that before?" MagnaAngemon just chuckled before responding. "What, are you surprised that I have a few more tricks in my arsenal? I wouldn't be much of a fighter if all I had were a sword and the Gate of Destiny, would I? So, when I Digivolve from Angemon, I switch from my Hand of Fate attack designed to destroy evil to my Soul Banisher which banishes evil. As for why I haven't used it before, I haven't been able to use this form in most of our fights. If Lilithmon didn't have her Black Requiem, I would have been able to end this situation the first time around."

Angewomon just sighed. "Since you can't tell, I'm rolling my eyes at you. It doesn't matter what you say, I think you just like to keep things dramatic so you can show up at the last moment and get the big rescue. Anyway, your brilliant move just ended any chance of continuing this practice fight, so think about the situation before you use that attack next time." With this, a sheepish look crossed MagnaAngemon's face (at least the parts of it that were visible), and the Ultimates all flew down next to their partners. With LadyDevimon shifted back Angewomon, Kari's crest and D3 returned to their usual states, but even taking into account the fact that she was no longer being influenced by darkness, she seemed in much better shape than last time. Once everybody was gathered around her, Kari gave her report.

"Well, that went a lot better than I expected. I didn't feel any different than usual for the entire time. I could tell whenever LadyDevimon used her Darkness Wave attack, but it was more of a slight irritation than actual pain this time. TK, your advice really panned out on the whole 'not fighting myself' thing. So, I guess Gatomon and I have the Ultimate level down. Who wants to go next?"

While most of the group was excited at Kari's success in mastering the Ultimate level and were looking forward to trying to do the same themselves, Ken slowly walked away from the group. Davis quickly noticed his friend leaving and ran over to him.

"Hey, what's up Ken?"

"I just feel so useless. I don't have my Crest, so I can't go to Ultimate like those four, and I don't have the Digimental of Miracles to make Wormmon strong enough to fight either. I thought I could still be useful by having Bucchiemon help purify anyone who goes out of control, but MagnaAngemon can do a better job of it than I can. I just feel like Kindness is a useless trait right now, and I'm not sure if there's anything I can contribute to help."

Suddenly, Davis's face split into a huge grin, and he practically yelled, "That's it! You're a genius, Ken!" Confused as to what the fuss was about, everyone gathered around, only for Davis to immediately jump into his explanation. "Guys, this is perfect! Earlier, I was thinking about how we would really need some help fighting Lilithmon if she ever got Tai and Matt to unlock their Mega forms, and Ken just gave me the perfect idea. He mentioned he was missing his Crest, but why couldn't we just go and get it back? Sure, it will take a long time to find, given the fact that it was in the base before Paildramon blew it up, but if we manage to find it, Wormmon will be able to go to Ultimate just like all of you can. With 5 Ultimates and Magnamon, we should be able to handle two Megas at once since it took three Ultimates to equal BlackWarGreymon. Then, we beat whatever dark Mega form Agumon and Gabumon take and gang up on Lilithmon, and we should be able to win this!"

Ken just shook his head and started to protest. "Davis, I know you're trying to make me feel useful, but we don't even know if my Crest survived after my base exploded. Even if it did, do you really expect to find it by just combing the desert? It would take way too long, and we can't afford to remove Magnamon from the equation by forcing Imperialdramon to carry me a few miles on a pointless search."

However, Davis would not be deterred from his plan. "Listen, Ken, I know you think it's a pointless search, but we might very well need your Crest by the time this whole thing is over. Besides, with how fast Imperialdramon is, we'd be able to get back into the action fairly quickly. After all, the D-Terminals still work, so if Kari, TK, Sora, and Mimi need us they can just send us a quick message. And we managed to track down the Digimentals with our D3s, so why wouldn't the Crest be just as easy to find? Besides, maybe having Imperialdramon away from the fight is the best case scenario. He's stronger than Magnamon, and Black Requiem only stops us from Digivolving instead of reversing it. I'd like to see the look on Lilithmon's face when Paladin Mode comes swooping in and utterly destroys her. About the only negatives in this scenario are having less people around here for the practice sessions, but I'm sure these four can manage without us."

Finally seeing the logic in Davis's argument, Ken agreed to go along with the search for his Crest. After wishing everyone else luck on their practice, Wormmon and ExVeemon went through all the required steps until Imperialdramon was ready and then flew off in the direction of the desert that had once held Ken's base, hoping to find the Crest of Kindness and increase their chances of overcoming the upcoming struggle.

Izzy, Joe, Yolei, and Cody were starting to get fed up with all the tests the Olympos XII were forcing them to go through just for a chat. They could understand if there was some form of hidden meaning behind the tests to judge their character, but other than the test with Pegasusmon, all the tests had basically amounted to the same simple process: find Ultimate or Mega level opponent, get outmatched in power, come up with a strategy, and then beat the test just to repeat the process. The latest two to fall in line were Panimon and Hermmon, both Mega level Digimon. Izzy and Cody had fought the goat-like Panimon in a forest clearing that, according to Pegasusmon, was the Wind Area. While the Mephistomon look-alike was significantly more powerful than MegaKabuterimon, he ended up losing the fight due to his own arrogance- Panimon dodged most of MegaKabuterimon's attacks, but ignored Armadillomon, which allowed him to Armor Digivolve to Digmon and hit him with a Gold Rush. While the drills did no damage, they did serve as a lightning rod of sorts for MegaKabuterimon's electrical attacks, finally defeating the monster. Meanwhile, Joe and Yolei engaged in a much quicker battle against the wizard-like Hermmon. Fighting in a rocky plain amidst a perpetual thunderstorm, their opponent spent the entire fight attacking with lightning and fire while continually dodging attacks with his ability to move so quickly it appeared he could teleport. While Zudomon managed to avoid most damage due to his ability to dissipate electrical attacks with his horn, Aquilamon was not as lucky, and was reverted to Hawkmon. However, Hermmon decided this would be a good time to start gloating about his inevitable victory, and Zudomon's next attack missed him, but caused the rock spire behind him to begin falling. Hermmon failed to notice this, and was crushed by the falling rock, ending the fight. This caused both Izzy's group and Joe's group to finish their tests at approximately the same time, allowing for the current meeting in the Light Area.

Izzy was the first to voice his discomfort at the current situation. "Do you ever notice how the rulers of the Digital World always seem to make us pointlessly run around for a while before they do anything to help? When we first came here, they made us wander across Server to find the Crests that they hid instead of just telling us where they were, then they make us give up our power in a futile attempt to save themselves, and now we have to run through this lovely gauntlet of Greco-Roman mythology, probably for the sole purpose of allowing the Olympos XII to say 'Look, we're based on the Olympians!' Why can't the people who keep calling on us to save the world ever try to make it easier for us?"

While Joe and Yolei agreed with his sentiment, Cody tried placating Izzy. "Listen, this might be because I wasn't with you on your first adventure here, but I'm not so sure having to go through all of these problems is a bad thing. You needed to be in difficult situations to unlock the power of your Crests the first time, and Azulongmon helped us as soon as we freed him. Besides, if these Olympos XII really have the answer to just about any question, aren't you glad that most people can't get to them? It could really cause problems if someone like Myotismon or Daemon had access to that kind of power."

Izzy just sighed. "I guess I see your point, but I just get sick of getting yanked around all the time. Still, only three more opponents to go, so I guess we just carry on. Though I'll be sure to ask exactly what was the point of fighting these opponents, especially since they were created specifically for the purpose of being beaten. Then again, it would probably be best if that waited until after we find out exactly what Lilithmon is up to- saving the world does come before curiosity. So, how about Cody and I take the left portal, and then Joe and Yolei take the right one?" After everyone nodded, the two groups split off for the last time in order to take the last two tests between them and the Darkness Area.

Joe and Yolei emerged into a very peaceful looking meadow with a large lake in the center. Taking this to be a vast improvement over the usual desolate settings, they had a glimmer of hope that this opponent would be significantly easier than the last few Megas they had faced. No sooner had they both thought that, however, than a group of vines suddenly came to life and grabbed the two humans and the two Digimon, completely immobilizing them. Suddenly, a larger mass of vines began rising out of the ground in front of the shocked group, eventually revealing a vaguely humanoid creature with pale skin and plant material growing out of his shoulders. The strange appearance of this new monster was capped off by some form of purple armor with four eyespots. This new enemy started laughing maniacally before finally talking to his captives.

"So, even in this perfect setting, the virus of humanity seeks to destroy the serenity of nature? Still, I suppose I should be thankful that I get the chance to at least expunge this pitiful weed from existence. You have done nothing but inflict pain on your home planet and the digital world, and now you shall experience that pain tenfold. Prepare to face the wrath of Argomon!"

However, his villainous monologue proved to be the exact thing the DigiDestined needed to compose themselves and grab their Digivices. As soon as they had them, the managed to get Hawkmon and Gomamon to Digivolve, breaking free of the restraints as they suddenly grew to a much larger size. Shocked at the sudden escape of his prey, Argomon quickly had his vines release a large number of spores that rendered both humans unconscious immediately after Ikkakumon Digivolved again. A cocoon of vines then surrounded both humans and dragged them underground, completely separating the two Digimon from their partners. Before they could do anything more than gasp in shock, Argomon once again addressed them.

"Insolent wretches, why couldn't they just sit still and face their punishment? Still, perhaps this works out for the best. Now, I'll be able to slowly break them down for nourishment, just as they have slowly broken down their planet. All that remains is exterminating you two! Imprisonment!" With this, more vines suddenly shot out of the ground towards Zudomon and Aquilamon, forcing Aquilamon to fly out of the way while Zudomon attempted to repel the vines by smashing them with his hammer. However, there were too many vines, resulting in Zudomon being immobilized until Aquilamon flew in with his Grand Horn attack and severed all the vines holding the walrus hostage.

"Thanks for the save, Aquilamon. Still, I'm getting a bit sick of these vines. So, I suggest you get out of the way, because we're about to have a cold snap. Ice Lord Bump!" As Aquilamon briefly flew off of the ground, the entire area within twenty yards of Zudomon became covered in ice, forcing the vines to wither. However, Argomon's main body managed to avoid the blast, and he quickly growled out "Elimination Line", sending beams of light from the eye-shaped patterns on his armor. These beam slammed into the icy patch, deleting all of the ice and creating an explosion that sent Zudomon and Aquilamon flying. When they regained their footing, they launched a counterattack, with Zudomon launching a Vulcan's Hammer and Aquilamon going for a close-range Grand Horn. While Argomon managed to twist his body to avoid direct hits, he still lost a large cluster of vines anchoring him to the ground and one of his arms. He screamed in pain for half a second before breaking out into laughter, regenerating his arm and growing more vines out from his central body.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to harm me? You are in my element now. So long as there is plant life, I can regenerate any wound. I AM INVINCIBLE!" With this boast, he once again blasted an Elimination Line towards Zudomon, who barely managed to avoid it. Seeing his friend in danger, Aquilamon used his Blast Rings attack to blow a hole through Argomon's body and used the hole as a tunnel to quickly get back to Zudomon's side. Turning around, he unleashed his Stealth Quarrel attack, using hundreds of razor-sharp feathers to cut Argomon in multiple places. While it wouldn't keep the regenerator down forever, it should at least keep him busy and buy enough time for Aquilamon and Zudomon to come up with a strategy to beat him.

"So, Zudomon," Aquilamon asked, "do you have any idea on how to beat him? Normally I'd just Armor Digivolve to Shurimon and mow him down until he couldn't regenerate anymore, but since we'll need to beat him to get Yolei back, that isn't an option."

Zudomon just grinned before responding. "Actually, I was hoping you would have a plan. My usual battle style is to just hit things with my hammer until the problem goes away. Joe's more of the strategist than I am. It looks like my Ice Lord Bump is really effective, but with all his vines I'll never get close enough to completely hit him with it. I do have a longer range ice attack, but it's on a much smaller scale. If I want to hit him, I'm stuck throwing things and blasting him with lightning."

Aquilamon grew thoughtful. "Wait, that's it! He can regenerate any wounds we give him, but what if we fry him all at once? If we can knock him into that lake and fry him with your lightning, he shouldn't be able to recover in time to stop himself from being destroyed."

Zudomon chuckled. "So, we blast him until he falls into the lake and then blast him again? Sounds like my kind of plan. Now, what do you say we put it into action before he pulls himself together and blasts us?"

With the relatively simple plan in place, the two Digimon turned to face the regenerating Mutant Digimon. Zudomon started the barrage of attacks by flinging an icicle towards his foe in his Glacier Spear attack. The icicle exploded on impact, freezing a small handful of vines and sufficiently distracting Argomon so Aquilamon could get in close to him. Unleashing his Wave Laser attack, he succeeded in cutting Argomon's body from the mass of vines the Mutant Digimon was currently using as legs. Instead trying to inflict more damage, Aquilamon then used his Grand Horn attack to push Argomon towards the lake. However, before the Giant Bird Digimon could cover half the distance, Argomon retaliated by using the two clawed vines sprouting from his back to slash at his captor. This began a heated aerial fight, with Argomon using his claws and Aquilamon using his beak and talons to repeatedly slash at each other. Neither side was able to launch any special attack due to the proximity, so bodily attacks were the only option. Unfortunately for Argomon, this played right into Aquilamon's plan, as he finally succeeded in pushing his foe out over the water. He quickly plunged towards the surface, only releasing Argomon immediately before contact and then flying away from the lake. As soon as Argomon entered the water, Zudomon charged his hammer with electricity and slammed it into the water, resulting in a giant electrical surge throughout the entire lake. As the attack subsided, a cloud of steam rose from the surface of the lake, and Aquilamon and Zudomon finally relaxed.

"Well," Zudomon said, "that was fun. I'd like to see him regenerate when he's nothing but a pile of waterlogged ash!" However, Aquilamon suddenly grew suspicious. "Wait, if we just beat him, why haven't we returned to the Light Area? For that matter, why haven't Yolei and Joe been released? Something isn't right here."

Just as Aquilamon finished expressing his doubts, an earthquake shook the entire area, knocking Zudomon off of his feet. A shadow appeared beneath the surface of the lake, slowly rising up to reveal that Argomon had indeed survived. However, his appearance had changed- he had gained more armor, was much larger, and appeared much more muscular, with even more vines poking out of the joints of his arms and neck. The various eyes on his armor were now glowing bright yellow, and before Zudomon and Aquilamon could recover, he shouted out "Judecca Cannon!" and unleashed a massive explosion that Zudomon and Aquilamon were powerless to avoid.

Author's Note: Just want to clarify something a few sharp-eyed readers might have noticed in this section that doesn't really fit with canon. In Digimon Adventure 02, there is a scene that lasts about ten seconds that shows Ken still has his Crest right before the Daemon Corps invades. However, by the time I had re-watched that scene, I was too far along in my story with Ken not having his Crest that I couldn't change to match this one easily forgettable scene. So, we've reached one of the few times I won't be trying to keep my story in line with the canon material. It's a small change, but just imagine Ken lost his Crest back when Paildramon blew up the base. The Crest survived the explosion, but it was buried in the rubble. That's hopefully the only contradiction present for this story. Also, special bonus points to whoever can identify the inspiration for Argomon's behavior and abilities. Like always, feel free to leave any comments/questions!