Note: This chapter has been revised due to errors on my part. Seriously, the original was cut in half because of this. Sorry for this little mistake, its basically the same chapter with a few edits and a proper ending.

"Kye. This Virus data is starting to make me feel queasy." Scyth the Monodramon sighed as his partner was fiddling with a strange metallic device.

"Sorry, Scyth. If you want, you can go back into the D-Wrists." Kye said, not taking his eyes off of the device. The purple cuffs of his black jacket were stained with oil, which also covered his hands. "We can't leave now though. That Digimon evolved like Aoi and the others said, and now it's releasing all the Virus energy we'll ever need!"

"What does this stuff do again?" Scyth gaged. "You know, other than making me choke on my own tongue?"

"Not sure." Kye admitted. "Silver said it could be used as a power source."

Scyth sniffed. "I wonder if those other tamers will beat that thing. I mean, they got BlackGuilmon, right? Black Subspecies Digimon resist that virus."

"Yeah, but even then, a Dark Digimon tends to be stronger than the norm of their level." Kye pressed a few more buttons. "That much strength might even overwhelm an Ultimate."

"I guess that means SuperStarmon's in for a neat surprise." The purple Dragon Digimon wheezed. "Can we go now before I learn 'Puke up Lunch' as a new attack?"

"Okay, okay. The machine's done absorbing energy. Let's get out of here before the fighting gets heavy."

…

It was growing dark, the sun halfway below the horizon. The dark monster towering before Soul began drooling from its gaping maw. Its beady eyes glowed in the night, and its low growling reverberated around them. She sat there on the dock, dumbfounded. With Will under the bay and BlackGrowlmon incapacitated, she was completely defenseless.

"Lo...op…" Soul's voice was scratchy and hoarse.

"Why?" The monstrous Digimon raised a massive fist. Soul jerked away to flee, but the injuries she had sustained earlier. She grabbed her side, blood still oozing from the gash.

"Sealsdramon! Go!" A voice commanded. A strong-bodied Digimon cloaked in armor appeared from nowhere, and kicked the monster in the chest.

Viral appeared, scooping up Soul and leaping away from the two battling Digimon. "Sealsdramon! Get Blacky out of there, too!" The tamer yelled. His partner saluted and leaped to the dark dragon's aid.

Platinum and Spade met up with them an instant later with their Champion-Level partners. Sealsdramon followed with BlackGrowlmon on his shoulders. Despite the dark Dragon's size, the Cyborg seems to move him with little effort.

"Soul! Are you okay?" Spade shouted, noting the girl's injuries. She nodded weakly.

"Where's Will?" Platinum seemed unfazed. "Did you see where he went?"

Soul struggled to lift her arm and pointed to the bay. The three tamers nodded gravely when they realized her gesture.

"What do we do?" Viral asked as he pulled off his leather jacket and draped it over Soul.

"Isn't it obvious?" Platinum huffed. "Beat up SuperStarmon and that… What is that anyway?"

"L-Lopm…" Soul choked. Spade was the first to catch on.

"That thing is Lopmon?" He gasped. The group gasped Spade scanned the dark Digimon. "Wendigomon. A Virus Type Animal Digimon. It Dark Digivolves from Lopmon due to anger and hatred."

"Dark Digivolve?" Bakemon rumbled. "How could that happen?"

Soul looked away.

"Whatever the cause, we can't let Wendigomon destroy this place." Witchmon stated. "We have to stop her and defeat SuperStarmon, too."

"Um, I don't think that SuperStarmon will be a problem…"

Wendigomon roared as she turned her attention to SuperStarmon. Her arms began to stretch, cuffing the Ultimate with its thick limbs. SuperStarmon seemed to still be disoriented by the sudden appearance of the massive Digimon, and was defending himself poorly.

"You… You're only a Champion!" The Ultimate struggled as he blocked another blow from Wendigomon. "How are you so strong?"

"Koko Crash!" The beast's pale brown chest fur parted, revealing a row of small cannons. She blasted the Mutant Digimon, the left point in his star-shaped body breaking into data bits. Wendigomon then smacked SuperStarmon to the ground and jumped on top of him, bellowing fiercely in his face.

"Halley… Squall!" SuperStarmon lifted a gloved hand and summoned a meteor above the dark Digimon. It dropped down onto her head, exploding in a mass of dust in pebbles. A sharp groan escaping the Champion. "Hah!" SuperStarmon cried.

But as the small dust cloud dispersed, Wedigomon stood tall, her beady eyes boring into the weakened Digimon before her and she staggered backwards. "Annoyance…" She growled. She dug her claws into SuperStarmon's body and threw him into the air. "Destroyed Voice!" She screamed, releasing a shockwave from her mouth. The attack ravaged SuperStarmon, ripping through his body and clothing. He fell onto the wooden docks in a heap of disheveled data.

But Wendigomon wasn't done. The tamers watched in revulsion as Wedigomon picked SuperStarmon by his arms and ripped him in half, watching him disperse into data bits. The Champion's face twisted into a disturbed grin, and she began to shove the chucks of data into her drooling maw and grabbing floating bits from the air.

"Dear God…" Platinum whispered, horrified. "What has she become?"

"A real monster." Witchmon lowered her head.

"Hey, guys." Bakemon shuddered. "Does anyone feel that strange energy?"

Spade, Platinum, and Viral nodded. Since they had arrived, a strong, invisible force had been fluctuating around them. The Digimon began to falter.

"This pressure is making me feel ill…" Commandramon heaved. "I can't think straight…"

"I think it's coming from Wendigomon." Witchmon assumed.

"Just another fact to show that this kind of Digivolution is unnatural." Spade said with troubled golden eyes.

A roar from Wendigomon interrupted the group. The Beast Digimon was setting her sights on them. "Destroy!" It bellowed.

"Damn. What now?" Viral huffed. "Isn't their anything we can do?"

Yeah. Try to stay out of the way, sir." Sealsdramon hissed. Wendigomon began to advance. A trail of saliva followed her. Obviously, she was still hungry. Despite their condition, Sealsdramon, Witchmon, and Bakemon rushed to keep her at bay, firing their attacks to distract the beast.

"Don't." Soul coughed. "She…"

"I'm sorry, Soul." Platinum knelt to stroke her head. "I don't think there's a way to save her…"

"Nope. Nada. Zilch. Nothing." Platinum heard Soul's voice. "Probably going to have to put the big guy down."

"Soul?" The red-haired tamer asked, but Soul also looked confused. Spade and Viral looked around, yet no one was present.

"Dancing Sword!" Slashes of light ravaged the group of fighting Digimon. Wendigomon fell backwards onto the dock, while Sealsdramon and the others jumped back in surprise.

"What is it, Soul? Can't recognized my voice? That's surprising since it's the same one you use whenever you open that annoying yapper of yours."

Soul's eyes widened as she sat up, instantly seizing up in pain from her wound. "H…Hea…!"

Two women were walking on the dock towards them, seemingly oblivious to the disarray of the area. The shorter of the two looked almost exactly like Soul, with her long blonde hair and cerulean eyes. She wore a yellow rain jacket over an orange tube top. Her shorts were khaki colored, and she had yellow hiking boots. The newcomer did have a few facial differences to Soul, however, such as her piercings; one in her right nostril, and a Monroe piercing above her upper lip.

The taller woman was wearing a red headdress and gold armor on her chest, forearms, and legs. Her most unique features were the two pairs of wings on her back. A pair of scabbards hung from the belts that were wrapped around her stomach and waist.

"What the…" Viral stammered. "What, is it 'Appear out of Thin Air' day, or something?"

"Just more question… My heads killing me…" Spade sighed.

"Allow me to introduce myself." Soul's doppelganger sneered. "The name's Heart. Heart Belle. And yes, I'm Soul's sister. Her twin to be exact."

"And I am Darcmon." The winged Digimon next to Heart said. "Pleased to meet you."

Heart surveyed her surroundings. She prodded BlackGrowlmon with her boot, who whimpered in his sleep. "Not in the best of situations, are we?" She also noticed Thunderbirmon not far away, its wing pieced. Despite his injury, he stared intently at the scene, ready to spring into the fray anyway. "Well, at least moral isn't a problem."

"Are you here to help us?" Platinum tensed. She was sensing hostility from this newcomer. She locked eyes with Witchmon for a moment, silently giving her the command to attack immediately if the situation became sour.

"In a sense." Heart adjusted her raincoat. "Dark Digimon are dangerous. They expel Virus Data that is harmful to normal Digimon. Not to mention that this thing is also a killing machine, by the way."

"So are you strong enough to defeat it?" Viral stepped up. "If you aren't, you might as well get going. We don't need another annoying blonde around her."

Angered by the insult at her tamer, Darcmon glared daggers at the teen. Heart, ignoring Viral's comment, kneeled down and stared into Soul's eyes. "Must I always be cleaning up your messes, Soul? It's just like when we were kids, huh?"

"What do you mean by 'her mess?'" Spade blinked.

"Right. You guys got here late." Heart had a bored look on her face. "My silly sister, fearing her life would end, thought that using her partner as a shield to protect herself from that star Digimon's attack would end positively. I mean, how could it not?"

Everyone stood silent in shock. "She's just lying, right?" Spade gasped. "We don't know her, so there no proof that she's trustworthy…"

Viral looked to the injured blonde with his sharp scarlet eyes. "Soul. You're sister's just being a bitch, right? S-she's lying. I won't believe her."

Soul coughed softy and averted her gaze.

"Can't say that I'm surprised." Platinum scoffed. "Great to see that's how you treat your 'family.' I knew you and trust just didn't go together."

"Yep. Just like old times. I may have been the problem child, but you were definitely weren't a saint yourself, Soul." Heart stroked her sister's head. "I always had to take the blame for you, dearie. Do you know how annoying that can get?" She pulled a strand of hair from her head and inspected it. "Also, why'd you think it was a good idea to grow your hair out? That's like, the only thing that tells us apart. Your hair's short, mine's long!"

A dark red hand sprang out and grabbed Heart suddenly before she could finish her rant. Wendigomon grimmaced as she reeled her arm in. "Betray!" She screamed.

"Balaluna Gale!" Witchmon said as she commanded the wind to slash at the beast. She deflected the attack with it free hand and roared.

"Dancing Sword!" Darcmon threw her staff behind her, and drew two long swords. She rushed Wendigomon and slashed at her wrist. Her grip loosened, and Heart leaped away.

"Okay, that's it. This thing dies!" Heart shouted.

"What do you think you can do?" Viral shouted. "Your Digimon's being affected by Wendigomon's virus just like ours!" He pointed to the Angel Digimon, who's breathing was rough.

Heart smiled and lifted her arms over her head. Two D-Wrists were attached to each wrist, glowing with a golden orange aura. The watch on her right wrist was turned so the face was below the palm of her hand.

"Two D-Wrists?" Bakemon wailed. "What is she going to do?"

"Upload! Gururumon!" Heart cried. A giant silver wolf Digimon appeared next to her, with a long messy fur with blue tips. Darcmon flew up to her other side.

"Now kiddies, let me show you something cool!" Heart clicked the faces of her D-Wrists together. "Jogress!"

"Darcmon..." The angel Digimon shouted, becoming a ray of scarlet energy.

"Gururumon..." The wolf did the same, becoming a white burst instead.

"...Jogress Digivolve to..." The two energies swirled together and formed a new being. It had a foxlike face, and wore large robes with long sleeves. Its fur was light blue, save for its feet, which were pale white. Along with a bushy fox tail and a black prayer cap on it head, this Digimon gave a sense of unexpected sorrow. "Doumon!"

The Digidestined were absolutely thunderstruck. "They fused…" Viral said. "Alright, I'll admit it. That's pretty cool."

"Doumon is a unique Subspecies!" Heart explained. "He can withstand the virus easily now. He can fight her."

"Don't… hurt her!" Soul sat up again, ignoring the fiery pain in her side. "Heart!"

"It's too late, sis." Heart's face was grave. "You caused this, and now there is only one way to fix it."

"You can't!" The Digimon cried. They knew what the newcomer meant. She was planning to kill Wendigomon.

Heart grabbed her head with both hands. "Soul. This is getting tiring! Just like always, you end up doing something stupid or selfish, and you can't handle the consequences! It's really freaking annoying, you know?" She ruffled her hair, and her eyes flashed red for a moment.

"Stop!" Viral yowled. Sealsdramon appeared before Doumon. He drew his knife, ready to prevent the Ultimate from passing.

Heart regained her composure. She wagged her finger at the tamer, chuckling. "You shouldn't do that… You're wasting time."

Once again, Wendigomon let out a battle cry and rushed the group. A gigantic paintbrush slid out of Doumon's sleeve, and he used it to smack Sealsdramon out of the way.

"Destroyed Voice!" The rival Champion launched waves of energy from her mouth. Doumon crossed his arms to defend.

"Nope, not today." Heart tapped her D-Wrists together. "Partition!" Doumon glowed and split into two streams of energy that zipped behind Wendigomon. Darcmon and Gururumon appeared again.

"Chaos Fire!" Gururumon's throat erupted in silver fire. Darcmon attacked as well with her Dancing Sword skill. Wendigomon yelped in pain.

"Stop it!" Soul forced out. She got to her feet and sprinted to her Digimon's aid. "Stop hurting my Lopmon!"

"La Pucelle!" Darcmon brought her swords down as Soul jumped into the way.

"Soul!" Spade and Bakemon cried as Soul fell to the ground, lying ominously still.

…

"Wake up! Wake up!" Will shuddered. Someone was shaking him. His eyes flickered open to see BlackGuilmon. The two were floating in bitter darkness. Cold seeped into Will's body, digging in like frozen claws.

"Blacky? Where are we?" Will scratched his dark grey hair.

"My subconscious!" Blacky grinned. "This is where I talk to Duke!"

Will was confused. He was about to ask who this 'Duke' person was, but was interrupted by an evil-sounding voice.

"So, your Link has really become this strong? It's enough for you both to share the same dream." The voice was distorted, almost reptilian in sound. "Good. That's good."

"You're Duke, I presume?" Will looked around him, but darkness was all he saw.

"Yes. And you are our tamer, Will." Duke chuckled. "You've led us well."

"Why are we here, Duke?" Blacky yapped.

"You now face a force that you are unable to defeat at your current level." A circle of light appeared before Will and Blacky. It flashed with images of the waking world. "SuperStarmon has been defeated by a new dangerous Digimon."

Will tensed when he saw Soul on the ground out cold before a large monster. The image was blurry, but he could make out smears of blood on her clothes.

"What do we do?" The tame gritted his teeth. "What do we do to save them?"

Duke seemed uninterested. "Do you know what Darkness represents?" He asked nonchalantly. Will and his Digimon shook their heads.

"In many ways, Darkness represents evil or death. But that is not completely true. Will and BlackGuilmon. Remember you were born from a womb and egg, respectively. A dark and warm place that protected you."

"I think I understand what you mean…" Blacky pondered. "So Darkness can represent safety and peace? Comfort and all that?"

Will steadied his breathing. "There's nothing I'd love more than a bit of peace and comfort right now. For me and my friends."

"Yes… Use that. The longing for peace. Use it to your advantage!" Duke raised his voice. "Let those who want to threaten your peace feel your strength!" Will looked at his right hand. A grey crescent shape appeared. The Crest of Darkness.

"But what makes it possible for us to activate this power?" Will pondered. "What makes this different than any other time before?"

Duke laughed heartily, making shivers run down the partners' spines. "Because you both almost died! What is more peaceful than death? I said Darkness didn't just represent death. I didn't say that it didn't at all!"

"Thank you, Duke!" Blacky barked his appreciations. "Let's wake up now, Will!"

His partner nodded. "Yeah. Let's show them."

"Oh, and try to be careful." Duke's voice began to vanish. "Darkness is a powerful tool. Never misuse it!"

…

Will shook his head, droplets of water dripping from his dark hair. He grabbed the ground for leverage, surprised to feel fur. He was on Ikkakumon, and they were floating in the bay, not far from the other tamers.

"You're awake." Ikkakumon sounded relieved. "Your friends are in deep trouble. I tried to go on land to help, but there's this invisible force that fills me with dread all around them.

"Yeah, I understand." Will patted the Aquatic Digimon's head. "I doubt you'd be much help by fighting. Just get me to BlackGrowlmon!"

Ikkakumon gulped and sped to the battle. Will could see a mysterious Digimon roaring and smashing everything it could see. He checked his D-Wrist to learn its name: Wendigomon.

Will took in a large breath. "Blacky! Everyone!" He shouted. "Don't worry! I'm coming!"

…

"Shoot!" Heart cried. "Jogress!" Doumon formed and used his paintbrush to block a blow from Wendigomon, who was aiming at the blonde girl below them.

Soul was lying on the ground. She was rendered unconscious from the shock, with no injuries save for the one from SuperStarmon. But strands of silvery-golden hair were scattered around her. Her hair was hacked short by Darcmon's sword, cut just at her shoulders.

Doumon pushed Wendigomon backwards, causing her to stumble. He carefully picked up Soul and leaped back to his tamer.

"See? Why can't you just understand that you are a screw-up?" Heart grumbled. "Whatever, you looked better with your hair short anyway."

"Death Charm!" Bakemon blew fire at the other Champion, but the simply bounced of her thick fur. "Shoot! How are we supposed to defeat her?"

"I don't know, Bakemon…" Spade glowered. "I wish Will was here… He makes up great strategies for fighting Digimon."

A deafening roar rang throughout the bay. BlackGrowlmon had awaken. He stomped to the front of the group, letting out another intimidating roar.

"Blacky! Quit it!" Platinum yelled. "That thing defeated SuperStarmon!"

"So what?" Will's voice yelled. He and Ikkakumon leaped from the water and onto the bay.

"Will!" Platinum screamed happily and wrapped her arms around the boy's neck. "We thought you didn't make it!"

Will blushed, "Um, of course not! Why would you ever think that? You should have more trust in me!"

"Will!" Blacky growled. "Let's defeat that thing!" His partner nodded as he pried himself from Platinum's grasp.

The Crest on Will's hand glowed with a bright light. "Go!" Will's D-Wrist transformed, becoming a gauntlet-like device. A circular screen overlapped the back of his hand, and the main body had several buttons on the side. The gauntlet was a stately silver, gleaming in the dissipating sunset.

"A DX-Wrist! Like the Dark DigiDestined!" Blacky said. "Use it!"

"By cashing in all the data we've received… And now that the power of the Crest is unlocked…" Will scrolled through the Digivolution Page of his Digivice.

"You unlocked the Crest's power?" Viral was astonished. "Wait, Will! You do know that-"

"Now! It's time!" Will didn't hear Viral's warning. Blood roared in his ears as he held his arm high. "Blacky! Digivolve!" A massive bright light engulfed BlackGrowlmon, transforming him.

"BlackGrowlmon Super-Digivolve to…" The Dragon Digimon's body grew to a tremendous size and the markings on his face, legs, and tail turned a pale yellow color. His upper body became metalized in silver, and a red hazard symbol was adorned on the center of his chest. Blacky's arms morphed into massive blades with clawed hands. A pair of vernier and a long metal cable protruded from his back. His transformation ended as a metal bit attached to his jaw. "BlackWarGrowlmon!"

The Ulitmate picked up Will and placed him on his harness. "Wow, Blacky! This is awesome! Now let's teach that Digimon a lesson!" BlackWarGrowlmon roared and powered up, lifting itself into the air and charging at Wendigomon.

"Destroyed Voice!" The Beast Digimon roared. But Blacky flew up high dodging the destructive waves. He dropped down in front of Wendigomon, startling it.

"Double Edge!" The Android Digimon extended his arms. He slashed at the rival Virus Type, who responded by deflecting with its palms. A stray attack smashed into Wendigomon's head, cracking the skull hat it wore.

"Jugonsatsu!" Red prayer slips wrapped around Wendigomon's waist. Doumon appeared next to Blacky with Heart on her shoulders. The Data Type Ultimate raised his hand, and the slips detonated.

"Thought you could use a hand, buddy." Heart winked.

Will blinked with confusion. "You… Are you related to Soul or something?"

"Name's Heart." The blonde said as she nodded. "Now let's take this guy down."

"Club Arm!" Wendigomon's stretchy arms grappled Doumon and pulled him to her. Blacky pummeled the Champion with the blunt of his arms. The monster stood firm.

The metal cable on Blacky's back floated above his head. "Hammer Edge!" The sharp cable stabbed at the monster, distracting her.

Heart huffed, thankful for the diversion. "Partition!" She jumped from Wendigomon's grasp and onto the newly separated Gururumon. "Jogress!" She said again to form Doumon.

"Cool and easily abused!" Will cried. Heart nodded and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thousand Spells!" Now free, Doumon used his paintbrush to paint runes in the air. The mysterious letters latched onto Wendigomon and exploded. "Kimon Tonkou!" Runes sprouted from below the monster's feet, tethering her to the dock. She struggled and rampaged, but the runes were strong enough to hold her, at least for the time being.

"With two Ultimate Level Digimon, this guy won't stand a chance!" Will patted his partner. "Now! BlackWarGrowlmon! Finish this!"

"Okay!" Two gunports on Blacky's chest began to charge energy.

"Stop, Will!" Platinum and Witchmon hovered to Will. "Stop! The monster! It's Lopmon!"

The dark-haired tamer didn't seem to understand. He was about to ask what she meant, but he was drowned out by Blacky's roar. "Atomic Blaster!" The Ultimate's chest exploded with twin beams of red-hot plasma. The attack pierced through Wendigomon's chest, causing a deafening scream from the dark Champion.

Will's heart swelled with pride as BlackWarGrowlmon set him down onto the docks. He held out his DX-Wrist. "Now to collect the data…"

As Wendigomon dispersed into bits, not a single one was absorbed by the gauntlet. "Huh? What gives?" Will tapped his Digivice.

"It's because that Digimon is tamed." Platinum and Witchmon landed before Will. The redhead's voice was barely a whisper. "That was Lopmon."

Will fell silent. BlackWarGrowlmon shrunk into his In-Training form. They stared in disbelief as Wendigomon burst into data and swirled around into an egg and floated down onto the dock. It was brown with pink stripes.

"You mean…" Will's pride instantly disappeared, leaving disgust and sorrow in its place. "We killed Lopmon?"

Platinum nodded sadly.

Heart walked up to the two and picked up the egg. Her separated Digimon followed behind her. "Huh. Well, that's it then. Thanks for the assist, whatever your name is."

"You… You didn't tell us we were attacking Lopmon!" Gigimon squeaked angrily. "You tricked us!"

The blonde shook her head. "How was I supposed to know you didn't know that? Besides, you looked so pumped, I didn't want to rain on your parade."

Will was beside himself. He was about to tell off the girl when a drop of water fell on his face. He looked up and noticed the darkened sky. The sun had gone down, and it was now raining as well.

"Hah! Knew it would rain!" Heart zipped up her rain jacket. "Never hurts to be prepared!"

"What happens now?" Witchmon asked. "To Lopmon, I mean?"

"She'll hatch eventually." Darcmon pointed out. "She'll be good as new after that."

Gururumon snarled, "But she'll be reborn anew. She most likely won't remember who she was before she died."

Near silence fell over the group, the only sound being the falling rain. Heart shrugged and handed the egg to Will. She then motioned to her Digimon, who disappeared into her D-Wrists. The woman strolled off into the rain, but stopped when Will called her.

"Where are you going? You have Digimon! That means you're like us! You can help us!"

The blonde turned and stared with cold blue eyes. "I want to live without rules and responsibility. I want a world where I am not needed, and I can do whatever I want. I helped you this time because that Wendigomon was dangerous to have running around. I'm not like you, and I will not be helping you with your big Digimon war!" She continued to walk away, dissolving into the darkness.

Will's hair was flattened and stuck to his face. He looked down to his partner. Gigimon nuzzled his leg to comfort him, but they both knew it was a wasted effort. It would be a long time before they would ever feel comfort in their hearts again. All that was there was repugnance, uncertainty, and confusion. They still had many questions to find answers to. Why did Heart want a world with no responsibility? What were Milleniummon and the Dark Digidestined planning? And the question that disturbed him the most; Would Soul be alright after this disaster?

Will clutched Lopmon's egg to his chest. "I'm so sorry. I… I just didn't know…"