Okay, guys and gals, here's a brand new chapter for you to read in your spare time.

Disclaimer: Digimon is not my property. No funny jokes today. Sorry. (I had funny jokes?)

LAST TIME:
DAICHI: After a bit of experimenting with the Blue Card, we were finally heading out of the forest. But Pumpkinmon showed up for a final showdown. After a heated skirmish, I figured out that his strength comes from his confidence. After shaking that confidence, I used the Blue Card again to Twin Digivolve both Coredramons to their respective ultimate forms. With their combined powers, as well as JewelBeemon's, we were finally able to crush that pumpkin.

Chapter 19
Addition

It felt good to be able to sleep without the threat of a rogue Digimon searching for them; not that the threat didn't loom over them at all times, but with their latest enemy defeated, they slept easier. With night falling on them just short of their goal, the group decided to take it easy until morning; they had deserved it. Daichi woke up first and looked around. The group had stopped just at the edge of the forest; where the trees stopped, the clearing began. And in this clearing was a large multitude of flowers of varying types. Even though he admittedly didn't know much about botany in his own world, Daichi could tell that none of the flowers he saw existed there. But that did not make them any less beautiful.

"Probably one of the few peaceful spots in the entire Digital World," Dracomon said as he came up behind Daichi.

Daichi turned to his partner. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about something coming and ruining it."

"Especially since we took him down," Dracomon added. "I gotta hand it to that Gennai person; that Blue Card ended up being a life saver."

"I have this feeling that we just barely scratched the surface," Daichi said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the card. "In the show, it helped the characters achieve the ultimate level. Recently, it allowed you to become two Digimon. Something tells me that's not all it can do."

"Hey, you know what?" Dracomon said. "If there is something else, we'll figure it out eventually."

Daichi looked at Dracomon. "Seriously, Wormmon's wisdom is starting to rub off on you."

"I know," Dracomon replied. "I've been trying to get rid of it, too." Daichi tried to stifle a small laugh.

Their talking woke Isamu and Wormmon, but they both decided to relax for a while longer, since they were almost never able to recently.

"So what do you think is in the Fields?" Isamu asked.

"You mean aside from flowers?" Wormmon replied. Isamu chuckled.

"Looks as though Dracomon's not the only one getting rubbed-off habits."

"It'll go away eventually."

"That's what my history teacher said about computers." They both shared a slight chuckle.

"Seriously, though," Wormmon said, regarding Isamu's question, "I think it'll be something that will give us more power to defeat the Digi-Agents, or even their 'unifier.'"

"That does seem to be the trend, doesn't it?" Isamu said in response. "First it was the tags, then the crests, now it's… whatever Gennai wants us to find."

"We'll know it when we see it," Wormmon assured him.

After everyone was fully awake and finished with breakfast, they all began exploring the fields. Although they attempted to look for anything special, everyone was admittedly focused on the flowers for which the area was named. With so many varieties, it was hard not to focus on the beauty of the area, if not just the flowers themselves. Isamu even thought to himself, I'm starting to see why BlackWarGreymon seemed to obsess over that one small flower so much.

"Not to sound like a spoilsport, guys," Dracomon said, being the first one to realize what they were all focusing on, "but what exactly are we looking for?"

"Who knows?" Daichi answered. "Must be pretty important if Gennai wanted us to come here."

"You know," Isamu observed, "in a way, I think there's a good reason whatever we're looking for is here. It's the only place that doesn't look like it's been affected by Agent control."

"You have a point there," Daichi agreed. "If safety is your main concern, best to hide it here."

"Hey, what kind of flower is that?" Dracomon pointed to a pair of triangular objects in a group of white flowers. They were partly white, and where they curved inward, the color pink could also be made out. Both also had a small decorative crest of some kind that was colored purple. Nobody would make out these descriptions all at once, however, because they lowered themselves into the mass of flowers quickly as soon as Dracomon pointed them out.

"I'm not sure those were flowers," Wormmon said thoughtfully. "In fact, they almost looked like ears."

Isamu thought for a bit. "Ears, huh? I think I know what kind, as well." Soon, the so-called "ears" poked out of the flowers again very slowly. Eventually, more than just ears rose out of the petals, and new features included a head with a feline appearance, a small, white body, a long, purple-and-white striped tail with a golden ring, and gloves that were colored yellow with red lines and claws at the fingers.

"Gatomon!" both Daichi and Isamu cried out.

Gatomon leered at the group. "You know who I am?" she said in a small, but firm, voice that could be described as feline.

"Uh, well, not personally," Isamu said. It would have been difficult to explain that Gatomon, like Wormmon, was supposed to be a character in a fictional television series. He decided to change the subject. "Hey, we were sent here to look for something. Perhaps you could—?"

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon jumped toward the group and almost punched Isamu, who moved to the side at the last second.

"Whoa," Dracomon exclaimed at the suddenness of her attack, "bad kitty!"

Suddenly, another voice cried out, "Gatomon?" Everyone turned to find something that no one expected since first entering the Digital World: a human girl! She looked to be about the same age as the two boys and wore a pink jacket, blue shirt, pink skirt, and black stockings that reached up to her knees. She also wore a pack across her waist. "Gatomon, what's going on?"

Daichi turned to Isamu. "Do you think…?"

"What else?" Isamu said. "A human girl in the Digital World is the perfect reason to send us here."

"You were sent here?" the girl asked.

"They even know who we are, Kiyoko!" Gatomon shouted from the other side.

"What?" Daichi nearly shouted. "No, we only knew your—"

"Doesn't matter," the girl Kiyoko said as she reached into her pack. "I don't care if they do use humans, they won't take us without a fight." She pulled her hand out to reveal…

"A D-Power!" Daichi exclaimed. ("Why do I feel so lonely?" Isamu whispered.) Virtually the same as Daichi's in every way except color (pink to his teal), Kiyoko held it in front of her and revealed a card in her other hand. "Look out guys!"

"Digi-Modify!" Kiyoko yelled as she swiped her card across her own D-Power. "Gaomon Double Backhand, activate!" Everyone turned to Gatomon who held her gloved paw in front of her. "Double Backhand!" Gatomon jumped in between the Digi-Destined, spinning and holding her arms out. Although she missed again, they could feel the enhanced power as she passed.

Daichi quickly took out his own D-Power. "Daichi," Isamu said, "what are you doing?"

"There's no point in trying to reason with her now," Daichi answered. "If we can just weaken Gatomon, we might have a better chance to just talk with them. Digi-Modify! Power Charger, activate!" Dracomon flew into battle and opened his mouth just as Gatomon was making another attempt. "Dragon Breath!" "Double Backhand!" The flames touched Gatomon's spinning paws and split into two paths as she continued her course, resulting in making contact with Dracomon.

Dracomon landed in front of the others visibly beat up. "How did…?"

Isamu slapped himself on the forehead and groaned. "Man, I completely forgot, and I should only know this all too well. Gatomon's at the champion level. No wonder your attack didn't work."

"I think it worked well," Gatomon said with a mischievous tone. "Why don't you practice on bug boy?"

"Ha!" Dracomon laughed as he got up. "Like I'm going to attack my own buddy because you said so. Listen, kitty, just because I may have issues with him from time to time doesn't mean I'll—"

"Cat's Eyes!" Gatomon's eyes glowed and Dracomon accidentally met her stare. He slumped over and turned toward Wormmon.

"Uh, Dracomon?" Wormmon asked apprehensively. "What are you…?" Dracomon opened his mouth.

"Wormmon, run!" Isamu yelled. Wormmon moved as fast as he could to avoid a Dragon Breath attack aimed at him.

"Time to do something about that mouth of yours," Wormmon said. "Sticky Web!" He fired a small web at Dracomon and it landed on his mouth, preventing him from opening it. He then tackled him and knocked him down. "I only wish I could've done that just to shut you up."

"Wormmon, I have an idea," Isamu whispered. "Aim a line at Gatomon's tail." Wormmon complied and shot a Silk Thread at Gatomon. The cat Digimon turned so that the line connected with the ring on her tail.

Gatomon laughed tauntingly. "Your virus attacks won't do much good against a Digimon with a Holy Ring."

"Now, pull!" Isamu ordered. Wormmon tilted his head back, pulling the line with it. The ring, still stuck to the line, slipped off Gatomon's tail. Gatomon and Kiyoko gasped in shock.

On the other side of the battle field, Dracomon suddenly stood up straight again and started grunting and pointing to the web on his mouth. Daichi knelt down and ripped the web off him. After Dracomon screamed in pain, Daichi asked, "Come again?"

"I said, 'What'd I miss, and why is there a web stuck to me?'" Dracomon replied.

"Long story," Daichi said.

"Short version, though," Isamu said, "we just lowered Gatomon's power to that of a rookie." He held up the string that still held Gatomon's ring.

"I can work with that," Dracomon said. "Dragon Breath!" He shot his yellow flames at Gatomon. With her power reduced, she wasn't able to handle a charged attack like Dracomon's. The flames overtook her and she almost collapsed. Kiyoko ran to her aid.

"Sorry, Kiyoko," Gatomon said. "My power is dropping faster than I would have thought."

"Don't worry," Kiyoko said. "Don't forget, they've given us an edge." The boys looked at the two questioningly. Kiyoko reached into her pack and pulled out another card. The boys could just barely make out the image of the object it depicted: it was pink and looked almost like a flower. It had some sort of design on the petals, but the image was hard to see as it was. "Digi-Modify! Digi-Egg of Kindness, activate!" Both boys nearly cried out in surprise. A design appeared from the pink D-Power that Isamu recognized as the Crest of Kindness and flew to Gatomon. They touched and Gatomon began to glow as her form changed.

"Gatomon Armor Digivolve to…" Although her size was about the same, her body began to grow rounder. Her gloves looked less like a cat's paws and started to look like they covered regular hands. A small stocking cap appeared on her head and her right hand held a group of balloons that appeared out of nowhere. The balloons lifted her off the ground, leaving her still long tail dangling below her. The glow vanished and her color was revealed: gray fur; red hat, gloves, and boots; and balloons of several colors, most with mischievous faces printed on them. "Opossumon, Fun-Loving Kindness!"

The Digi-Destined stared in amazement. Finally, Isamu spoke. "Uh, what was that?"

Daichi pulled out his Analyzer. "That's Opossumon, an armor level beast Digimon, vaccine type. Her Balloon Blast attack is the equivalent of going to the circus and realizing you're afraid of clowns."

"Forget the name," Isamu said, "how were they able to do that? I thought Armor Digivolution was only possible with a D-3."

"Well, she had a card with a Digi-Egg on it," Wormmon pointed out.

"I didn't even consider this," Isamu said. "When Gatomon's ring is removed, her power decreases to a rookie's level, but she also gains another ability of some rookies."

"The ability to Armor Digivolve?" Wormmon guessed. "Well, it's not like we can't do that."

"Time to fight armor with armor," Isamu said.

"Don't you mean, 'fire with fire'?" Daichi asked correctively.

"Good idea," Isamu simply said.

Digi-Armor, energize! Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Shadramon, the Inferno of Courage!

Shadramon aimed both of his arms at Opossumon. The small Digimon flung her balloon-holding arm forward, letting go of one of the balloons. "Balloon Blast!" Despite being a balloon, it moved relatively quickly.

Shadramon wasted no time in countering. "Flare Buster!" He shot a fireball at the balloon and it popped. A strange, gaseous substance seemed to appear from the inside before dissolving into the air.

"Shadramon," Daichi called out, "whatever you do, don't let those balloons touch you. She may be a vaccine type, but they have a nasty computer virus in them. I'd hate to find out what they do to creatures made of data."

"You won't have to," Shadramon replied. "Flare Buster, Psychic Wave!" A salvo of fireballs shot out and combined into one single mass. The flames flew over Opossumon and lowered onto the balloons. The heat caused the balloons to pop and Opossumon fell to the ground. The fire continued its downward course until it surrounded her. When it lifted, Opossumon was badly hurt. Kiyoko rushed to her Digimon's aid.

"Now," Daichi started, "will you just—?"

"Stay back!" Kiyoko yelled. "Even without Gatomon, I'll still fight till the very end."

"Get a grip, lady," Dracomon said. Suddenly, the air started to feel warmer. Everyone looked to Shadramon, who held his hands up as if to say, "That's not me." A small, red-orange glow appeared between the two groups, and it became clear where the heat was coming from. The energy turned into fire and grew until it assumed the form of a body. Except for the fact that it was humanoid in appearance and was about as tall as the three humans combined, nobody could make out what it was. The fire lifted and everyone could see it clearly; its face looked like a lion's and it had a light orange mane that extended down to its back. Its body was mainly red in color and its arms seemed to expel fire from the top of its wrists to its shoulders. The top of its back sported what looked like a miniature shrine with a glowing orb between the sides.

"Who is that?" Isamu asked. Daichi reconfigured his Analyzer.

"Apollomon. A god man Digimon, vaccine type, mega level. He's supposed to be one of the Olympus Twelve, the guardians of the Digital World, and his Sol Blaster attack makes sunburn a better option."

Apollomon turned to the Digi-Destined. "I thank you, humans," he said. He motioned to Kiyoko. "This one has become a danger to the future of the Digital World. We've been trying to stop her, but thanks to you, she will no longer be a threat. You have our gratitude." He walked toward Kiyoko.

A danger to the future of the Digital World? Isamu thought to himself. "Daichi," he whispered, "I don't like this."

"He's an Olympian," Daichi said. "What could be wrong? I mean, if he says that this Kiyoko is bad news, maybe…"

"Something's just not right," Isamu interrupted. "Something about him makes me think that we shouldn't trust him."

Apollomon kept walking, paying no mind to the group behind him. "So, it all ends here for you. You destroyed my comrade, and you will pay."

"She destroyed an Olympian?" Daichi whispered in amazement.

"You won't take me," Kiyoko said with the same determination that she showed the others. "I don't care how strong you think you are; you Digi-Agents will never beat me!"

Everyone stared in mouth-gaping astonishment. "Apollomon's a Digi-Agent?" Daichi almost yelled.

"But how?" Shadramon asked. "The Olympus Twelve are our protectors."

Daichi looked back at his Analyzer. "It says Apollomon has an attitude that appears heartless and is very prideful."

"Whatever brought the Digi-Agents together in the first place," Isamu surmised, "must have taken advantage of those traits."

"Is no one incorruptible?" Dracomon said overdramatically, as if trying to ease the tension. All he got were blank stares from everyone else.

"Brave talk," Apollomon said as he continued to move in on Kiyoko. "But you have no one to help you. Your Digimon is down, thanks to the ones whom I'm sure will become great friends."

"Then let me be the first to initiate you into our friendship. Tail Smash!" Apollomon felt something hit him in the back. He turned to find Dracomon flying in front of him. "Arrow of Apollo!" He held his hands in front of him and shot out several streaks of fire from the supply from his arms. "Psychic Wave!" The fire stopped and flew to Shadramon. "Yeah," Dracomon said, "no one ever likes it when we do that. We're going to have to change these customs, guys."

"Noted," Daichi said, following Dracomon's quips. "Let's try this, then." He pulled out a Digivice card and his crest card.

Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate! Crest Digivolution, activate! Dracomon Digivolve to… Coredramon Blue! Coredramon Crest Digivolve to… Wingdramon!

Shadramon threw Apollomon's stolen fire back at him. Apollomon raised his arms and the attack was absorbed by the wrist-mounted flames. "Sonic Lance!" Wingdramon flew in and lowered his lance to strike Apollomon. Apollomon caught the lance and threw Wingdramon down.

"Fools!" he shouted. "You are challenging me? Not only a mega to your puny ultimate level, but a member of the mighty Olympus Twelve? One of the strongest members, if not the strongest. What makes you think you can beat me?"

"A willingness to never give up?" Daichi replied.

"Knowledge that stopping you will save the Digital World?" Isamu added.

"A new player?" This one, surprisingly, came from Kiyoko. She was standing, and Opossumon was floating once more using newly created balloons. "Seems like we've been fighting the wrong guys. Sorry about that. Oh, and big guy; rule number one of destroying your opponents."

"Never take your eye off the opponents," Opossumon finished. "Balloon Blast!" She threw one of the balloons at Apollomon.

"If these fools can beat you but not me," Apollomon sneered, "what can you do?" He brought his hand to the balloon and destroyed it with the fire. Daichi noticed that some of the virus chemical dropped onto Apollomon without his notice.

Daichi pulled out a card to distract him from finding out. "Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed, activate!" "Sonic Lance!" Wingdramon flew in again, this time much faster than Apollomon could stop. The lance struck the fallen Olympian, and while he did feel pain, Apollomon was laughing.

"Did you think a simple tactic would stop m—?" Suddenly, Apollomon stopped and hunched over, as if he was in pain.

"How about an unexpected one?" Kiyoko taunted. "Those were Opossumon balloons; you know, the kind with a virus in them?"

Apollomon growled. "This isn't over." He disappeared in a storm of flames, leaving only a burnt spot on the ground and the remains of whatever flowers where in that spot.

All the Digimon De-Digivolved and stood next to their respective partners. Daichi and Isamu stared at Kiyoko. She was surprised when she saw a golden gleam fly towards her. She caught it and looked at it: it was Gatomon's Holy Ring.

After a few seconds more of silence, Daichi finally stepped forward. "So, do you want to talk now?"

Who is this mysterious Kiyoko? And what will Apollomon try next? And perhaps more importantly, can the Digi-Destined stop him? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!

Be honest, how many of you believed I was going to add a new member of the group? It only makes sense, right? Sometime mid-season, a new character, a figurative "Sixth Ranger," will join the main cast. I mean, you've got Kari, Ken, half the Tamers, and so on. Of course, I don't see why I'm telling you all this: If you've watched the anime, you would already know this. But I guess there are some of you who haven't noticed for whatever reason.

This is CF, signing out.