Steven Fuse-iverse, Journey into the Digital World

by mrtacomam

When the Crystal Gems use a warp pad to enter the Digital World, they find new friends, new foes, a new adventure, and a new kind of fusion. a SU/Digimon Fusion x-over. Redemption au. Takes place a Digital World year after Fusion but before Hunters. This is a collab between me and a friend from Deviantart. Rated T just in case.

2. Chapter 2

CH 2

A thick tension filled the air as the two groups observed each other. While the small boy with the star shirt and the goggle-headed boy had reached an understanding, the ceasefire did not dismiss the animosity that the two sides were feeling.

The Crystal Gems observed the new arrivals with wary looks. The humans were a bit older than Steven and Connie. And how did they manage to get to this strange world without a warp pad, let alone access one? The new creatures also gave some worry, from the knight, to the drill-wolf, to the three massive creatures with the older blonde boy, they didn't do much to ease their worries. They were already having trouble against just two of them, and now they have reinforcements. Despite Steven calling for a truce, they still had their weapons out as a precautionary measure. While Garnet and Jasper were still itching for a fight, Pearl and Amethyst were a bit reluctant to restart a fight in which they were outmatched.

The generals and digimon also observed the new group after the small rabbit creature had healed the red dragon. Some of them looked fairly normal, if not for the rather strange outfits. And some of them could be mistaken for ordinary human. The only ones who seemed to stand out more were the small green and purple ones, the giant orange one, who was still tensed up for a fight, and the blue one that had descended from her hiding spot in the trees with the small girl, Wisemon following right behind them. The digimon were still sour about these newcomers stealing the Fusion Loaders and kidnapping their friends, but they still showed some caution as they could sense a strange power within them that seemed to be different from any digimon that they knew of, even the small human child seemed to radiate this power, but at a much lesser degree. The only other one that seemed to stand out was the little girl that they had with them, who not only had none of the power in her that the rest of them had, but was wielding a large pink sword. Wisemon had returned to the Fusion Fighters and stood back, silently praying that the situation wouldn't escalate any further. The recently released members of the Fusion Fighters and Blue Flare observed the opposing side, ready to fight if the situation called for it. But at the moment, they would listen to Mikey and see how negotiations would play out.

Steven finally decided to break the tension and spoke up, "So, uh, maybe we should start with introducing ourselves. I'm Steven and these," the boy gestured to the group of humanoids beside him, "are the Crystal Gems!" They said nothing, despite Steven gesturing to them multiple times. Slowly, the hybrid lowered his arms, and rubbed the back of his neck. The two groups stood there, staring at each other awkwardly.

Shoutmon was the next to break the silence, "Well, this is awkward. However, it looks like we have some things to discuss. My castle isn't far from here; we can go there and talk comfortably. Maybe we can figure out what's going-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Jasper interrupted him, stepping forward. "That castle in the distance is YOURS? Does that mean that you're…"

"Verily!" The knight stepped forward, arm raised enthusiastically, "The Digimon before you is none other than the good ruler of the Digital World, King Shoutmon!" He gestured to the small dragon.

"At your service." the now identified, King Shoutmon said with a small cocky smile and hands on his hips. The rest of the crystal gems were baffled at the fact that this tiny thing was the ruler of all these creatures and this whole new world that they had entered. Steven and Connie looked in wonder at actually being in the presence of a king. Garnet was surprised that she was actually about to punch royalty, but was still a bit angry at the kids, if not more so since now it seems like they had forced this world's king under their control. Peridot, Lapis, Pearl and Amethyst were honestly not impressed with him. Meanwhile Jasper, who had gone silent, had all of a sudden burst into laughter.

"BAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA That's the funniest thing I've heard in centuries! That little runt, the ruler of creatures like those? You've gotta be kidding me! Seriously, who's in charge? My bet's on the guy in the robe." Wisemon tilted his head at this.

"Oh no, you are mistaken; Shoutmon is indeed the ruler of the Digital World. Quite a good one I might add. If it wasn't for him, this world would still be under the rule of a cruel tyrant." The orange gem's laughter only increased at this while the other gems started at her in annoyance.

"Oh please stop HA HA! I can't talk! HA HA HA!" at this point the quartz had fallen on her back with a loud THUD, kicking up some dust in the process, all the while still laughing her butt off. Shoutmon puffed out his cheeks, frustrated at this reaction. The mechanical beetle stepped forward, placing a hand on the small dragon's shoulder.

"Don't worry, buddy, we all know what you can do." Shoutmon looked up at the mech, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, Ballistamon," the king said. The mech gave a small pat on Shoutmon's back, before turning to Jasper.

"And you, miss Whoever-you-are," Ballistamon began, "I don't know who you think you are, but it's not nice to insult people you just met. Especially when they're the ruler of the world you're in AND offering you an invitation into their home."

Hearing this statement, Jasper had finally calmed down enough to stand back up and walk over to Ballistamon. The orange gem then wrapped her hand around the beetle's horn, and lifted him up to eye level. Suddenly, all the other Digimon and the humans with them turned deathly pale. The small rabbit-like creature hid behind the wolf, and the older human girl audibly gasped. The four massive creatures with the older blonde boy even took a step back with wide eyes (for those who have eyes). Jasper gave a slight smirk to the creature she held in her hand.

"Listen Hornhead, I know that things work a little differently here, but in every world I've ever been to, a shrimp like THAT isn't the ruler of anything." the quartz taunted to the digimon. "I've seen true power, and THAT is not it. So if you think you know what true power is, why don't you show me?" Jasper waited for the creature to give a response, and the one she got sent a chill down her spine.

"Did you just grab my horn?" the mechanical beetle said with a tone that was much deeper than before, and contained an edge that could cut through steel. Jasper was surprised at the beetle's change in tone but put it off a him being all talk. But then, Ballistamon's body became a darker tint as he placed his hands on the ridge of the speaker on his chest, causing it to expand.

"ULTIMATE SPEAKER!" a massive burst of sound washed over Jasper, encapsulating her entire form. The orange gem yelled as she felt excruciating pain over her whole body as the vibrations rattled her gem, bringing it to the brink of cracking. She quickly released her captive as her hands shot to her face to grasp the now fractured gem on her face, body flickering. Ballistamon landed with a thud as his body reverted to its earlier color scheme and he pointed to the orange gem. "Never…...Touch….the horn." Jasper glared at the mechanical beetle, now down on one knee as she held her broken gem-nose, her form flickering like a TV with bad reception. Once again, Steven ran forward, hand wet with his healing spit at the ready.

"Did you really have to go that far Ballistamon?" Shoutmon asked. Seeing Jasper's flickering form made him think that Ballistamon had attacked her to near deletion. The mechanical beetle turned towards the small dragon.

"Yeah, I guess I did go a bit overboard." he replied twiddling his fingers. Ballistamon knew he could get a bit aggressive when his horn was carelessly touched. He just hoped he didn't do something he'll regret later. They turned their attention back to the large orange lady to see the boy checking on her.

"You really need to stop picking fights Jasper. You're not going to make many friends like that." Steven said with a worried smile on his face. Jasper simply groaned angrily as she moved her hands away from her face to give the boy access to her gem. He applied the saliva to her gem and the gem instantly reformed in a soft glow, good as new and her form stabilized.

The red-headed girl stepped up to the boy, still wary of the large beefy orange woman next to him, "Hey, how did you do that?" she asked the small boy. Steven turned towards the girl with a smile as Jasper stood up and backed off from the two kids, but still keeping a watchful eye on the Digimon, especially the mechanical beetle.

"Oh, I have healing spit. Cool right?" Steven said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. The redhead, as well as the other humans in the digimon's group were intrigued. Especially the pink rabbit creature that had healed Shoutmon.

"Okay one, that's kind of gross, and two, how can you do that?" The red-haired girl said. Steven pulled up his shirt, revealing the Rose Quartz gem.

"I'm magic, well half magic, on my mom's side." Steven replied. Connie, who was standing with Lapis and Peridot back by the tree, had a brief bit of deja vu as she remembered when she first met Steven.

"What, so you're a wizard or something?" The boy in the green shirt asked.

"Not really," Steven replied as he put his shirt down, obscuring his gem from view. "My mom was a Crystal Gem, and I got her powers. But I'm still learning." his smile turned to a more humble expression at this statement.

"Huh, could've fooled me with how you blocked Deckerdramon's missiles" the older blonde boy said. The younger blonde boy stepped forward with the white and yellow creature right next to him.

"Wait, Crystal Gems? Is that some kind of Digimon?" he asked. Wisemon floated forward.

"On the contrary Ewan," the hooded digimon said. "They are a new species entirely, with bodies composed of light, and based on my analysis of their battle with Tsuwamon and Deckerdramon have the ability to summon weapons from the gemstones on their bodies." The humans and digimon stared at Wisemon with surprise about how much he knew, while Garnet was a bit worried that a potential enemy had learned so much about them.

"Wisemon, how do you know all of that?" Mikey asked.

"The tall, pale one with the gem on her forehead told me. I believe she said her name was Pearl." Wisemon pointed to the gem in question. Pearl was a bit nervous as all eyes fell on her. "She seems to be more open to communication and wishes to learn as much about us as we to them."

"Why don't we take them back to the castle then?" Mikey said, "You can show them some of your research about Digimon while we discuss this possible Bagra resurgence." He turned towards the Crystal Gems. "Okay, come on guys. I'm pretty sure you're dying for some answers."

"Okay." Steven said with a smile, but before he could take a step he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on a second Steven." Garnet said, she turned towards the Digimon and humans, "Could you give us a minute?" she asked. The humans simply looked at each other before giving her a unanimous nod. With that, Garnet turned towards the rest of her team, "Gems, huddle." All of the other gems, and Connie, came together with Peridot still a bit nervous and Jasper a bit aggravated from Ballistamon's auditory assault. "What do you think? Should we trust them?"

"I'm not too sure, you said those humans forced them to fuse and fight but they don't seem evil, but then again this could be a ploy." Lapis said, still apprehensive on the matter, and not too trusting of these digimon and their human friends.

"I say we go just so I can get another shot at those two." said Jasper pointing her thumb at Damemon and Deckerdramon.

"Why? So you can get your butt kicked a third time." Amethyst said jokingly. Jasper glared at the smaller quartz.

"We don't need them," Garnet said, "After all, people who use fusion like that can't be good. Besides, they destroyed the warp pad."

"Actually, they didn't," Peridot said, pointing over her shoulder. The others looked to see the crystal warp pad, standing on a spindly tower of earth, but otherwise intact. "Judging by the blast rings, they intentionally missed."

"My point still stands," the fusion said.

"Guys, they're nice I'm sure of it. Just give them a chance." Steven said with pleading eyes. "Maybe what Garnet saw was just a big misunderstanding like the king said." Jasper snickered a bit, but shut up as the rest of the gems glared at her.

"I say we go with them. Maybe we can learn something from them that we can't do on our own." Pearl stated. Amethyst Decided to speak up again.

"You just say that so you can get your nerd on with that hooded guy." Pearl narrowed her eyes at the purple gem. "Okaaay…...shutting up now."

"Garnet maybe you should listen to Steven." Connie said to the fusion "King Shoutmon did seem like he was telling the truth." Garnet sighed in response to the human girl.

"He's not the one I'm worried about," she sighed, "but I'll play along for now. Break!" The group disbanded, and Garnet faced the Digimon. "Alright, we'll go with you, but no funny business. Gems, stand down." At their leader's request the rest of the gems put their weapons back inside their gems.

"Coming from the person who started this in the first place," Christopher mumbled to low for the gems to not hear. Shoutmon, however, heard clearly, sighing and rubbing an old scar near the base of his crest; it'd become a habit of his, a constant reminder to always try to be calm. As a king, he had to refrain from acting brashly. And with the possibility of the Bagra Army returning AND these new guys who clearly held hostile thoughts towards them, he prayed that he would be able to maintain a clear head throughout this ordeal.

"Great," the king said "We can head back and call the others to discuss this possible resurfacing of the Bagra Empire. Every one of our allies should be aware and alert."

"Wait, Bagra Empire? What's that?" Lapis asked. The tone he said it in made the blue gem think that they were a pretty big deal.

"That's a story too long to tell here." Shoutmon replied, walking with the other Fusion Fighters to Deckerdramon. "You guys wanna lift? The castle is a fair ways away." Steven got stars in his eyes, and Connie had a similar look of amazement on his face as the two ran over to the giant cyborg. They were closely followed by Pearl, who was admiring the cyborg behemoth, questions flying from her mouth so quickly they were barely understandable. Peridot made a small squeak and hid behind Jasper's massive leg. The orange gem picked up the small green gem by the scruff of her neck and walked over to the larger group, Amethyst clinging to her hair like a koala.

"Can you please get a grip already." The larger of the two muttered, tossing her smaller counterpart up to Steven, who was resting behind Christoper at the crocodile's head, before jumping up herself. "Garnet, Lapis, you coming or what?"

"I'll walk," Garnet said, still not entirely trusting the Fusion Fighters. Lapis, meanwhile, extended her wings and took to the sky.

"And I prefer flying, thanks." As she said this, a shadow loomed behind her. Lapis turned to see the giant metal bird and the smaller yellow jet-like creature.

"Nice to see a like minded flyer." MailBirdramon said, Sparrowmon hovering slightly lower in the air. "But I doubt you'll get there as quickly. After all, Sparrowmon and I are the fastest fliers in the Digital World."

"I've even broken the sound barrier a few times!" The smaller yellow Digimon said enthusiastically. The blue gem only gave her a curious look.

"Is that so?" she said. The yellow mecha bird gave a simple smirk.

"Oh yeah, Check this out." Sparrowmon faced in the direction of the castle and launched forward, causing a sonic boom in the process.

"Sparrowmon, don't be too reckless!" yelled the girl with the pigtails. Lapis looked after the jet-like digimon and smirked, following suit shortly after at almost similar speeds.

Mailbirdramon audibly sighed at both of the high speed fliers, revving his boosters.

"Amateurs." With a sound like a thunderclap, MailBirdramon caught up to the smaller flyers in a matter of seconds. Steven stared at the fliers with wide-starry eyes, while Christopher scoffed.

"He's not even trying. If he really put his all in it, he'd already be there." The blonde said to no one in particular. Steven gave the older boy a confused look as he patted Deckerdramon between the eyes once the other humans joined him atop the creature's head, causing the mech to get down onto his treads. With a lurch, the group began to move forward, Garnet keeping pace with the battle machine's speed. The other creatures following right beside them, but keeping a mindful distance from Garnet.

The rest of the journey went off very smoothly. Steven babbled on about how cool everything was, annoying Christopher and entertaining the others. Occasionally he and Connie would sing little songs, which Shoutmon quickly joined in on. Pearl and Wisemon sat in awkward silence, hoping for things to get less tense before they ask one another more about their different species. Jasper sat in back, once in a while glaring at the other large creatures walking beside the mechanical croc, sizing them up to see if they would be easier to beat down than the cyborg she was currently riding. Meanwhile Peridot, who was sitting next to Jasper, was absorbing herself into her tablet, trying not to panic at all the beasts around her. Garnet looked on, still on edge as she glared at the humans from behind her shades. The image of them fusing these creatures still burned into her mind. But she had to admit, their behavior didn't show any signs of abuse or slavery. So she decided to play along and see what info she could get out of them.

When they finally neared the castle, the new humans and gems looked up in awe as they walked down the pathway leading to the castle's massive front doors. The castle, which was slightly raised, looked like it was composed of chess pieces. On top of a White Castle were several towers resembling pawns and horses, cast in an electric blue color. In the center was a massive bishop-shaped tower and was a cross, on which perched MailBirdramon, who was keeping watch over the land. A few smaller cone topped towers on the outer wall, each bearing crimson tops. Many red and blue banners decorated the exterior, all bearing two symbols. One looked similar to Shoutmon's face while the other was a kite shaped symbol with a dragon on it.

"Wow," Connie said as the large mech they were riding climbed up to the castle door. "I've never seen a real castle before."

"And it's really pretty!" Steven shouted, climbing onto one of Deckerdramon's turrets in order to get a better view. "I really like the blue. But why are the towers the only blue thing?"

"Because Blue Flare wouldn't shut up about getting something blue on the castle." The drill-wolf muttered, having stirred after falling asleep. 'Something about getting some credit for helping us or something like that." Christopher glared at the beast, while Jasper chuckled lightly, having overheard and then decided to speak up.

"Wait, who's Blue Flare?" Dracomon stepped up to the large gem.

"Blue Flare is the elite unit of the king's royal guard made of the strongest digimon in his army. We used to be a separate faction, but now we are the most reliable soldiers under his rule." Deckerdramon chuckled a bit.

"Indeed." the cyborg croc said. "While we used to be part of a rival group, we eventually joined forces and lent our power to Shoutmon's cause. Now we willingly serve him, and help spread joy and peace throughout the digital world. Although some of us are still a bit touchy when reminded that Shoutmon is in charge." Deckerdramon looked at Greymon who just growled at him.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Yeah he's a shrimp and I could eat him in one bite if I wanted, but you gotta admit he's got guts." the dinosaur-like digimon said. The spear wielding dragon beside him growled a bit. "Oh don't you start too Cyberdramon." The stoic dragon didn't say a word, but shook his head at his counterpart. Jasper wasn't surprised that the three largest creatures would be the best of the best of the king's army, that would just make the moment when she beats them all the sweeter and she grinned with anticipation. Although she questioned why the smaller dragon was in this "elite unit". The two dragons stopped at as they reached the castle door, Deckerdramon following. As the group began dismounting, a voice rang out from above them.

"What took you guys so long?" Sparrowmon asked, descending with Lapis shortly following. The blue gem floated to Steven's side before dispersing her water wings and landing softly beside the human-gem hybrid who greeted her with a smile.

"Not all of us can move at Mach one you know." Ballistamon stated. He walked over to the massive door to the palace and he held his hand up to the door. In response a circle of light appeared on the door. Ballistamon placed his palm on the circle and then it seemed to phase through it, the circle seemed to be scanning his hand before verifying with a light glow and a soft click was heard. Ballistamon moved out of the way as the massive doors swung opened. The other side of the door showed quite a sight for the gems and humans as they walked in.

The massive doors revealed an equally massive foyer. It was adorned with red and blue, a massive chandelier bearing a music note theme hanging from the ceiling. As the group entered the castle they notice the place was in a complete panic. Digimon were running all over like chickens who had their heads cut off. There seemed to be digimon that looked like they were made of building blocks, panda like digimon, and more of the small white armored creatures that accompanied the Knight-creature with them.

"What in the world is going on here?" the red-headed girl asked in confusion as she watched the chaos unfold before her.

"I'm guessing having the castle attacked and then having the king disappear must've put everyone into a state of panic." Dorulumon said as he glanced at Garnet. Whether or not the fusion saw this was unknown, as she just adjusted her glasses in silence. Shoutmon groaned and stepped forward, bringing out his mic.

"YOOOOOOOOO!" the dragon roared as loud as he could. The entire group had to cover their ears due to how loud he screamed. All the digimon in the foyer stopped their panicked frenzy to turn towards the source of the voice. "We're back, so you can stop freaking out!" All the digimon rushed towards their king and started to bombard him with questions.

"Your majesty, what happened? Are you okay?" one of the building-block creatures asked.

"We heard fighting and when we got there everyone was gone." a panda digimon said.

"Were you kidnapped? Did you fight them off?" a white armored creature asked.

Garnet started to feel a bit guilty at this. In her rush to "free" the digimon she didn't consider that others would be worried for them.

Shoutmon held his hands up to try and calm down his servants. "Hey, calm down everyone. We're all fine. We kicked butt and there was a bit of a misunderstanding but it's all good now." the King told them. "I hope." he added as he looked at the gems with a worried expression. One of the Digimon, a panda looking creature, walked forward.

"I see you brought some new human women, my liege," the panda said, "I didn't know humans came in so many colors."

"They don't," The dragon replied before thinking for a second and turning to Mikey, "Right?" Mikey shook his head. "Yeah, they don't. Look, it's a long story." Suddenly one of the block creatures spoke up.

"Lady Lillymon must be worried about them." Suddenly, the king turned white as a sheet, grabbing the panda in front of him.

"Pandamon, I need you to be completely straight with me; Does Lillymon know what happened?" Pandamon opened his mouth to respond, but the response came from another source.

"SHOUTMON!" an angry, yet feminine voice called through the group of Digimon scattered, and Shoutmon released the servant in his grasp. The gems and new humans watched in confusion.

"You better save yourself; I'll take the brunt." Shoutmon sighed, rubbing his crest knick. Suddenly a humanoid figure stormed in.

From a distance, they could have sworn a pink, ticked off fairy just entered. But upon closer inspection, she displayed qualities more like a plant. Her green hair, hidden under a large pink bud, was vines, periodically dotted with thorns. Her pink dress appeared to be made of flower petals, and her green wings resembled leaves. Her shoes looked like rain boots, and she wore arm warmers ending in flower petals. Her face looked like it would be pretty, but at the moment she were a deep frown as she walked over the the king of the Digital World. The dragon had a nervous smile as he waved at the flower-lady.

"He-hey Lillymon, h-how's it goin?" he nervously asked. The crystal gems looked on in confusion.

"Any of you guys know what's goin' on" Amethyst whispered to her group. They all shrugged their shoulders.

"No clue." Connie stated. They turned their attention back to the plant woman who had approached the king.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Lillymon asked the still shaking dragon. "First, I hear you get attacked by someone, THEN I hear you just disappeared. THEN I see a massive explosion in the distance! We all thought that you… that you… ARGH!" She put her hand to her face, trying to calm down. "You seriously love to cause trouble don't you."" the flower creature sighed in annoyance "You never change Shoutmon, even after all these years." she then took notice of the generals, and of the crystal gems. "Oh, Mikey. I didn't see you there. Sorry that I couldn't join you earlier, I was busy tending to the garden." The goggle-headed boy held up his hand in a "no worries" gesture.

"Don't worry about it Lillymon." The boy said, walking over to Shoutmon. "There was just a little mix up, nothing to get upset over." Lillymon put her hands on her hips and looked at the boy with a skeptical expression.

"What kind of mix up are we talking about here?" the plant Digimon then noticed the group of mysterious woman. "And who are they?"

"They're…" Shoutmon began. "well, they're part of the mix-up. I'd love to explain it now, but I have a lot to do right now; something big might be coming, and we need to be a united front. Would you mind making sure no one is still panicking while I take our guests to the dining hall?"

"Yeah, sure, but Shoutmon?" Lillymon got down on one knee, pulling the dragon into a light hug. "Be careful. We've finally had peace. I don't want to lose it, or you." Shoutmon said nothing, but hugged her back. When they separated, the taller of the two fluttered her wings and went down another hallway.

Peridot stepped forward "Your consort seems rather temperamental." Shoutmon sighed again, rubbing his scars.

"Yeah," he responded, "she gets like that when I'm gone for a long time." Amethyst walked forward, a sly smile on her face.

"Yeah, I bet she does." the purple gem said teasingly, putting an elbow on Shoutmon's shoulder. "So tell me red man, how long's THAT been going on?" The digimon king looked to the gem.

"The panicking and yelling? Well, she's been like that for as long as I can remember. You get used to it after a few years." the dragon told her. Amethyst cocked her eyebrow at this.

"Not really what I mean. I mean, sort of, but I was asking about how long you and her have been, y'know, together." The little gem wiggled her eyebrows at the oblivious dragon.

"Well, she and I have been together since we were young. What about it?" the dragon asked, still not getting it. At this time Mikey decided to tap the dragon on the shoulder, getting his attention. He leaned down and whispered a few words into his ear. When he was finished, the king's eyes widened as his face turned even more red (if that was possible).

"I, uh, uh," Shoutmon shook his head, getting his bearings, "Gross! Lillymon's like my sister! We're just friends." He yelled at the purple gem, who was currently laughing her head off.

"Chill out man, I was just playing with ya." she said as she playfully punched his shoulder. "Now, I remember the word dining being mentioned. TO THE GRUB!" The purple gem started to walk before stopping and turning to the king. "Uh, which way is the dining room again?" Shoutmon was still flushed, so Ballistamon walked forward.

"I think you broke him." the mechanical beetle said. He picked up his smaller friend and hoisted him onto his back. "If you guys will follow me, I'll take you to the dining hall. We can explain everything there." He started to walk down the hall. The Blue Flare Digimon stepped up.

'We'll go help Lillymon calm down the rest of the castle." The small blue dragon said. "It'll go quicker with more people, so we'll meet you there in a few minutes". The four dragon-like creatures set off in different directions.

"So, you guys coming or what?" called Mikey from a few feet away where the other creatures and humans were waiting. The gems showed a bit of hesitation to following these unknown creatures deeper into their base. Mikey noticed this and stepped forward.

"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot. But we're trying to make things right here. The least you could do is accept our hospitality." the google headed boy said. "This is all probably a big misunderstanding. So let's clear things up and maybe we can be friends." The older gems still looked skeptical, but Steven walked forward.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the gems are sorry for attacking your friends." the half human told him.

'speak for yourself' Garnet (and maybe Jasper) thought, still tense with impatience. The Fusion was still on edge about the humans. But they seemed to be getting more results with the peaceful approach. And with her future vision on the fritz and the fact that these creatures seemed very powerful, she wasn't going to take any chances. The thought of those two fusions still played back in her mind. Maybe after introductions she might be able to get some answers.

The group followed the mechanical beetle down the halls of the castle and admired the decor. A red carpet with blue patterns trailed down the stone floor of the castle. The white walls were lit with what appeared to be torches, only in place of the flames were glowing yellow crystals. A few plants were placed against the walls, a few feet of space between each one. And red and blue banners decorated the walls, all bearing the same two symbols (the face and the dragon) as the ones on the outside. Pillars were placed regularly spaced along the walls.

When they finally reached the dining hall Steven and Connie stared in awe at the massive room. The massive room seemed to be the size of a football field, with a large long table covered in a red and blue table cloth with gold trimming stretching nearly the entire length. Near the ceiling, massive windows were placed along the walls, allowing natural lighting to flood into the room. The same two-symboled banners hanging in between each one. Across the table was a large cube of red containers that Garnet recognized from the picnic she witnessed earlier.

Is that the only kind of food they have? The fusion thought. Amethyst, spotting the food, immediately lunged for the table. The stack burst upon, raining boxes and small yellow-white food bits on the group. Jasper picked one off her shoulder and tossed it into her mouth.

"Eh, I've had worse." The tall gem said, turning to Ballistamon. "Hey beetle guy, these boxes all the grub you got?"

"Digi-Bites are the main food in the Digital World, but we have been able to acquire food from the human world if you're interested." Ballistamon then turned and walked to the door.

"Hey, wait," Connie yelled out, causing Ballistamon to stop. "Aren't you going to stay and… eat." Connie hesitated. "Wait… Sorry, forgot you were a robot."

"I already ate, so I'm good," he responded, "and besides, I've got to get Shoutmon Shoutmon to the conference room; we have a lot to discuss with the regional leaders. We should be back in about an hour. By the way, the name's Ballistamon." With that, he, Shoutmon, and the others departed, leaving the gems alone and slightly confused.

"He's a machine," Peridot said, "but he said he ate. How does he even-" Her sentence was cut off by a loud scream. The team sprung into action, leaping over the block of food containers to the source of the scream. Suffice to say, Even Lapis and Garnet showed looks of confusion at what they saw.

In front of them was Amethyst, surrounded in half-eaten red containers and crumbs. She was currently chewing on what resembled a drum with drumsticks attached to each side, and a face carved into one side. However, it didn't take long to realise that the face was real, and the source of the screaming. Little feet kicked from under the drum as it tried to free itself from the purple gems maw. Around her was a group of small reptiles that looked like a blue dinosaur head, with a little tail coming out of the back and little legs coming from the sides of its head. Two of these reptiles were tugging at Amethyst's hair, trying to open her mouth, while about a dozen more were stuffing whatever food remained in their giant maws. Arranged in a semi-circle around the group was another dozen of the small white knights Garnet saw with the larger knight. One of them stepped forward, and spoke in a shaky voice. "M-m-ma'am," he began, "I must ask you to release Dondokomon at once…..please."

The purple gem looked at the little knight lazily, causing it to step back, before spitting the little drum creature out. The drum, named Dondokomon, hurried to the group and hid behind Mikey's leg.

"I don't wanna be eaten Mikey!" the drum creature said shaking in fear. The google-headed boy leant down to the digimon and patted its head to comfort it.

"Don't worry Dondokomon, they're new friends. They won't hurt you." Mikey said trying to comfort the drum. "At least not on purpose." Steven and Connie walked up to Dondokomon.

"Yeah, we're all friends. Amethyst just likes to eat a lot." Steven said, trying to help the drum calm down. "I'm sure she'd sorry about trying to eat you."

"Don't be scared little guy. We won't hurt you." Connie said, placing her sword down as she knelt down on one knee. The small drum creature looked at the new humans curiously.

"...Really?" he asked, still a bit nervous. Steven smiled at the little drum.

"Really, really." the hybrid told the digimon. "My name is Steven and this is my friend Connie." Connie waved to the drum.

"Hi." the human greeted the digimon. "What's your name?" Feeling a bit better, the digimon walked up to the two humans. Now bearing a large smile.

"My name is Dondokomon." the drum digimon said as he began to repeatedly bang on his drum head with his drumstick arms, creating a rapid drum beat.

"Don...dooku...mon?" the hybrid child tried to pronounce the name.

"I think he said Dondokomon." Connie told Steven before realizing something. "Oh right, we never got to introduce ourselves." She turned to the others in the group, "I'm Connie Maheswaran, but you can just call me Connie."

"And I'm Steven!" Steven yelled. "And these are my friends, the Crystal Gems! This is Amethyst" he gestured to the purple gem, who just swallowed a digi-bite container whole.

" 'Sup." Amethyst said, lazily waving at the drum. "Sorry about trying to eat you. If it means anything, you're one of better tasting drums I've tried eating." Dondokomon shivered at this, shifting to hide behind Connie's leg. Amethyst chuckled, earning a glare from Pearl, who walked over to the drum.

"Sorry about her… Dondokomon, correct?" the drum nodded (which was essentially a bow for the Digimon) "Excellent. Anyways, I am Pearl, Crystal Gem and visitor to your unique world. Tell me, are you a machine, or some kind of enchanted object?" Dondokomon stepped warily out from behind Connie, warily looking at the gluttonous gem nearby.

"Neither, Ms. Pearl," he responded, "I'm just a regular old Digimon, like everybody else in the room. At least, before you guys came in."

"How are you guys the same thing?" the small group looked over to Jasper, who was holding one of the reptiles by its tail while it was flailing its legs wildly in a panic trying to escape the quartz's grasp. "I mean, I don't fully get the whole 'species' thing, but you're a drum, and these are… what are these!?" She shook the creature for emphasis, causing it to grumble from motion sickness. "Name's Jasper, by the way, since it looks like we're sharing our identities."

"Well, the Gaossmon are Reptile Digimon, and I'm a Musical Instrument Digimon." Dondokomon started, before Pearl stopped him, starry-eyed.

"Wait, are you saying that Digimon have their own species system? How many different categories are there, what decides their categorization, how many documented Digimon are there, who-" Suddenly, a green hand clamped over Pearl's hand, interrupting her stream of questions.

"Apologies, drum man." Peridot said in her usual monotone. "Pearl can go a bit... overboard, with new knowledge. I am Peridot; you can think of me as her calmer intellectual equal. While I am just as intrigued about this 'classification system', we have bigger things to discuss." Peridot removed her hand from Pearl's mouth, before pointing over to Garnet and Lapis, who were talking at the end of the table. "Over there is our leader, Garnet, and our fellow gem, Lapis Lazuli. They don't trust your leaders much, so I doubt that they'll introduce themselves."

"Now Peridot," Pearl said once her mouth was uncovered, "Just because Garnet isn't the most trusting at the moment and Lapis is a bit more… antisocial, doesn't mean that they won't come to say hello."

"Well I don't see them trying to be sociable." The green gem retorted. "In fact, Garnet seems to be glaring at the boy in the red and blue shirt." Pearl turned towards her leader, who seemed to be radiating an angry heat. Mikey, noticing the gem's anger, chuckled nervously.

(With Shoutmon)

Meanwhile, Ballistamon had arrived in a room on the other side of the castle. He put his hand on a scanner, which gave a soft glow. A moment passed, and the door opened. Ballistamon walked in, taking a look at his surroundings.

The room the mechanical beetle stepped into was a windowless chamber in a circular shape. The lighting was scarce, coming from a single bulb in the center of the ceiling. The light illuminated a ring on the center of the floor, which had lines reaching towards one semi-circle of wall. Ballistamon put the still stunned Shoutmon down in the center and shook him a bit.

"Come on buddy, you need to wake up; the other leaders need to know about what's going on." the red dragon shook his head to get himself together before taking deep breath.

"I'm up, I'm up." he muttered, standing up, "the nerve, saying me and Lillymon…" Shoutmon shivered a bit, remembering earlier. However, he noticed the room he was in, and a serious look crossed his face.

"Well, I guess now is better than later." Shoutmon walked to the ring in the center, slamming his microphone into its middle. The ring glowed red, the light filling the lines stretching towards the wall. Upon reaching it, the wall erupted into a rainbow of colors. And in those colors, silhouettes appeared. "This is King Shoutmon requesting audience with the regional leaders with an urgent message. Please respond."

(With the others)

Mikey decided to change topics before things got too awkward. "Well, I guess it's our turn for introductions." the goggle-headed boy said. "My name's Mikey, and these are my friends, Angie and Jeremy." He gestured to the red-headed girl and the boy in the green shirt. The girl, Angie, waved, while the boy, Jeremy, just stood there, shaking with a nervous look on his face.

"What's wrong with twitchy there?" Jasper asked, pointing at the human in question. Jeremy jumped in fear and ran behind the girl, shaking like a leaf all the while. Everyone looked at Jasper with questioning looks. "What? What'd I do?" the massive gem questioned. "I didn't even touch the kid."

"No, no, it's not you" Angie said, "Jeremy's just a coward when the stakes are low." Jeremy suddenly walked out from behind her, a hurt look on his face.

"Hey!" he yelled, "That's not true and you know it!"

"Oh, please," the girl retorted, "Just today you were shaking like crazy when we were attacked by Callismon."

"Because I was unarmed against a giant mutant bear! If I had the Star Sword, I would've been able to take him no sweat." The boy retorted against the girl. Jasper glared at Garnet.

"Giant mutant bear eh?" she said "So there WAS something that needed my attention!" she added as she cracked her knuckles. The crack echoed throughout the dining hall causing Jeremy to jump again, earning an eye roll from the orange quartz.

"Will you please man up already." the older blonde boy said with an annoyed tone, "After everything we've seen and been through you'd think you'd have gotten used to stuff like this."

"B-but I wasn't there half of the time; I was in the human world-" before the boy can continue the blonde interrupted him.

"For less than ten minutes!" the boy yelled. At this point, a full blown argument sprouted between Jeremy and the blonde boy. The crystal gems looked on in confusion while the digimon and other humans watched in annoyance.

(With Shoutmon)

The first screen to respond to Shoutmon's request was active, revealing a tall, machine man, covered in black metal, with a blue shoulderpad on his right shoulder and a red one on his left. His joints were covered in an elastic red material, which flexed as though it were an accordion as it brought a metallic claw to its head. It readjusted a set of shades on its face as it spoke in a deep, metallic voice.

"HiAndromon of Cyber City reporting my liege" he spoke, "What is the situation you have contacted me to discuss?"

"Always right to the point, ain't ye, matey?" another voice called out. The two looked to the right as another figure became visible.

The other figure was a viking looking creature with Golden armor, treasure chest shaped shoulder pads, a metallic lower jaw, and a set of large horns stretching from his back to his shoulders. He had massive golden barrels for arms, capped by massive black hands. He wore a fur loincloth, which had two metallic legs stemming from it. His orange torso had a gold chestpiece covering his pectorals. Two bandoliers stretched across his torso, a golden rectangular lock connecting them where they intersect. Long, spiky red hair jutted from under a golden viking helmet, which was just above his silver eyes. Overall, the viking had an appearance that could inspire terror into the hearts of true men, but he wore a warming smile on his face.

"Nice to see ye, HiAndromon, but ye gotta learn to make small talk," the viking said, chuckling lightly. "Captain Olegmon of the Golden Fleet reporting my king. Great to see ye again." Shoutmon smiled at the viking. Olegmon then turned towards Ballistamon, who was standing idly behind Shoutmon. "And the feeling extends to you as well Ballistamon."

"Long time no see Olegmon." replied the mechanical beetle. After the battle with the Bagra army, Olegmon wished to become actual friends with Ballistamon as a sort of apology for the whole DarkVolumon fiasco when he was a Death General. The mechanical beetle was more than happy to give the viking a second chance, seeing as two of his fellow teammates were already Bagra defectors, adding another one onto the friend list didn't seem like a bad idea.

"Great to see you too, Olegmon." Shoutmon replied. "Are you and HiAndromon the only two to respond?" just as the dragon finished his sentence, another screen flickered to life, revealing a tall Pharaoh-looking creature.

"Pharaohmon reporting" he spoke. He too, was bipedal, resembling an Egyptian mummy. He was wrapped in gold, with purple jewelry on his wrists and shins. His wore an elaborate collar, with multicolored gems around the rim. Around his waist was a red belt, a long white piece of fabric going down its front. Similar white fabric was stretched around his shoulders and down his back. In his right hand was a sarcophagus, with elaborate carvings resembling his own head dress. Sprouting from the gap was a symbol resembling the number 8, made from a snake. "While I am glad to see you all as well," he began, "I agree with HiAndromon; our next meeting isn't for another three weeks. For what reason do you summon us your majesty?"

"Well, I don't know 'bout you," a feminine voice said, "But any reason is a good reason to get us all together." The group looked to see another humanoid to the left.

This figure was female, unlike the other three figures. Her body was covered in a tight purple leotard, which revealed her taught stomach and generous bust, and striped darker purple leggings. Her arms were covered in frilly white sleeves, causing her light purple skin to pop out more. She had similar frilly material flowing from her waist, which was wrapped in a green, thorny cord. The top of her head resembled a flower, with a purple center and yellow petals. She held two staffs that she idly twirled. The one in her right hand was silver, with a multicolored orchid on the top, while the one in her left was a caduceus, with black in white snakes twirled around the shaft.

Shoutmon grinned at her. "Feelings mutual, Lotosmon." he said. "How're Lilamon and Stingmon doin'?"

The female chief pouted. "Still not makin' me some grankids." she huffed, halting her staffs' twirling. "An Ah've done just about everything 'cept lock them in a room togeth-ooh, that's a good idea."

"Discussing your futile attempts at making your spawn copulate is illogical." HiAndromon chimed in. "Clearly some crisis has emerged otherwise the king wouldn't have contacted us, and we must discuss it."

"I agree my fellow intellectual." The person who spoke was the most human looking of the group. He had lighter skin, most of which was covered in red fabric. Over the robe was light silver armor, with golden trimming around the edges. He wore a long purple cape, which was connected to his elaborate chest and shoulder plates. On his head was a cloth cap of the same purple color, imbedded into a silver ring. Straw colored hair poked from the bottom of the hat, framing his lighter skin. On his hip was an elaborate sword, and he was gazing into a crystal ball.

"Mistymon of the Sacred Study reporting in, and I agree that we must get to whatever the point of this meeting is." the sorcerer stated.

"Why don'tcha use that crystal ball ah yers to see what the problem is?" Lotosmon pointed out, leading Mistymon to shrug.

"That's the problem; my crystal ball isn't picking up any future events. Something appears to be blocking my power of foresight." the wizard stated, the slightest tone of worry could be heard in his voice.

"Maybe it's outta batteries" another voice chimed in, revealing a wooden puppet looking creature. He wore blue overalls over his gangly frame, revealing a small set of gears on his chest. A large wooden X was fixed to his back, leading red string to his hands and feet. His hands were covered in white gloves, and his joints were reinforced with thin metal. His head was round, with metal plating around his eyes and a long red hat on top. His nose was metal, and seemed to be segmented. He was rather relaxed, resting his weight on a large hammer, which had a head resembling a six-bullet chamber. "Here in the Scrapyard just about everything can be fixed with duct tape and batteries."

"Thank you for that *ahem* advice, Puppetmon." Mistymon said, "but this is highly advanced magic. I doubt batteries could fix it."

"I concur." HiAndromon stated. "You're attempt at solving our comrade's troubles is highly illogical and provides no solution to his dilemma."

Puppetmon simply shrugged his shoulders "Meh, just tryin' to help." He then turned back to Shoutmon. "So, boss 'mon, what do we got? Meeting time already?" the red dragon shook his head.

"No, something more urgent has come up. However, we should probably wait until everyone else gets here before we discuss it."

"Never fear my friends, and worry not, because one more has joined the pot." A voice called out in sing-song. The figure looked like an ancient statue. Its body was primarily silver, with gold peppering it. Its shoulders were large orbs, with red gems on the front. Cylindrical arms sprouted from the bottom of them, adorned with golden bracelets, and tipped with golden claws. Attached to its waist was a massive silver skirt, with gold on its sides and a symbol resembling the sun on its front. Its legs were large ovals, tipped with golden corks and wrapped in studded golden bands. Its head was also an oval, with two handles on the sides resembling ears. His eyes were large and squinted, surrounded by red rings. Atop his head was a gold plate, which was topped with a cylindrical hat, a cross resting on top of it. a pair of massive wings were outstretched on his back. "Shakkoumon of Sky City reporting my king."

"Nice to see you Shakkoumon." Shoutmon told his friend and ally. Shoutmon looked to Shakkoumon's left, where another figure began to appear. "It seems our next member has arrived." Shoutmon bowed his head in respect to this new figure. "I'm glad you could make it, Elder Monitamon."

The next screen that activated revealed a shorter figure than the rest. He was a small brown colored figure with a ninja like garb and a TV monitor for a head. A bushy mustache coming out of the screen, and a TV antenna in his right hand. "The pleasure's all mine your majesty."

As he finished another screen came up, revealing a figure clad in gold and red armor with a blue mantle upon his back, two swords sheathed on his waist.

"I apologize for my tardiness everyone." he began. "I just finished my advanced class. My students are really moving up. Anyway, this is Grademon of Whetstone reporting in. What have I missed?"

"Not much really." Puppetmon said "Just waitin' on the rest of the gang before we get this show on the road".

Just as the puppet finished, another screen immediately activated revealing another female figure, this one bearing an appearance similar to a wedding cake. From the waist down was a dress resembling a wedding cake, with elaborate frosting and strawberries near the top. It had long black boots which went up to mid-thigh, although most of them were obscured by the cake-like dress. The top of her dress was a light turquoise color with shoulder puffs of the same color. Her sleeves went down to just under her wrists and had large frilly cuffs. attached to the bottom of the torso piece were two massive yellow swirls that looked like swirls of frosting. She wore a large hat which appeared to have a cup on top. A visor extending from the hat hid her eyes and her blonde hair came out the hat in short, tube like curls. A layer of soot and ash seemed to cover her form as she appeared. "*cough* Bloody 'ell *cough* Weddinmon of Sweetsville *cough*, reportin' in."

"Oh, hey, Weddinmon!" Lotosmon called, "how's that weddin' cake comin' along?" The flowery digimon had been bugging her fellow regional leader about a Wedding cake for Stingmon and Lilamon for quite some time, much to the dessert digimon's irritation.

"Lotosmon, We've been over this," Weddinmon huffed as she tried to dust the soot off. "I'm not makin' a cake unless an actual wedding is gonna 'appen."

"Jeez, Weddinmon, what happen to you?" Shoutmon said, "You look you just exploded."

"I did," the pastry-Digimon said, "One of the new chefs, bloody newbs, threw a roll o' tin foil in the oven. Burst inta flames and covered me whole kitchen. Anyways, wot's this all about?"The rest of the group called out in agreement.

"Almost time, guys," the red dragon said, calming them, "We just need to wait for Ju-" A crack of lightning and a boom of thunder cut the king off as the final screen illuminated.

The figure that was revealed was entirely covered in golden armor. He had a thing waist, and his chest had a spike jutting from it. His legs were armored, and each of his feet had a set of white, feathered wings. His shoulders were cylindrical, with five holes in the front arranged in a dice formation. His arms were incredibly muscled, with golden gloves with smaller wings near the ends. In each of his hands was a golden barbel, each one emitting electricity, which crackled in all directions. He wore a golden helm, which covered his face with a red, Y-shaped visor. A pair of white wings sprouted like eyebrows from the helm. Flowing from his back was a feathery cape,and floating above his head were three pink halos, which got smaller as they got farther from his head.

"MY KING." he said in a booming voice. "IT IS I, JUPITERMON, HERE TO AID YOU WHATEVER WAY I CAN IN YOUR-"

"Jupitermon," Shoutmon yelled, cutting him off, "I appreciate the sentiment, but we've all been waiting for you, and I'd like to get started." Jupitermon looked around, realizing he was the last to arrive, and settled, the lightning from his barbels dispersed as he lowered his arms beside him. As he settled, the other leaders were recoiling from the booming voice.

"FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD JUPITERMON, YER GOING TO OBLITERATE ME HEARIN' ONE OF THESE DAYS!" yelled Olegmon covering his ears from the auditory onslaught.

Puppetmon simply sighed in annoyance, "Always good to have you around Jupitermon." he said as his nose extended a few inches, but paid it no mind.

"Error. Error." HiAndromon said, claws at the sides of his head. "Auditory receptors malfunctioning." his voice having some static to it as he spoke.

Jupitermon spoke up again "My apologies everyone," he said, voice still booming, but softer, "but there has been unrest in the ROM, and I've been working around the clock to ease it."

"Actually, this might have something to do with that," the dragon said, facing the collected group, "Now that everyone's here, I've got some news to tell you."

(With the others)

Steven sighed, sitting down one of the many chairs littered throughout the room while the two older boys continued arguing. The girl with the pigtails noticed his distress and decided to go over and introduce herself to lighten the mood a little.

"Don't worry." she said, "Christopher can be very…..difficult sometimes. But he means well." she offered her hand to the boy. "My name is Nene Amano, it's nice to meet you." Steven smiled and happily took hold of her hand and giving a friendly handshake.

"Nice to meet you too Nene." Steven replied "And don't worry, Jasper can be kind of the same sometimes." The girl giggled a bit at this statement.

"Sounds like those two have a bit in common." Nene stated. The younger blonde boy decided to come over at this time.

"Sis, I think the last thing we need is two Christophers." the young blonde boy said.

"Oh come one, he isn't that bad." Nene replied, she turned toward Steven, "Steven, this is my younger brother Ewan." The blonde boy waved at the human-gem hybrid.

"Hi there, sorry we couldn't have met under better circumstances." he said to Steven. The curly haired boy simply waved it off.

"It's no biggy. Stuff like that happens all the time for me." he told the two siblings.

"Well with friends like those I can see that your life must be pretty interesting." Nene replied. Before another word could be spoken, the yellow plane like creature hovered over to them.

"Yeah, I bet you go flying a lot with Lapis right?" the creature asked. "By the way, I'm Sparrowmon." Steven smiled at the digimon.

"You bet, Lapis is my Beach Summer Fun Buddy." he happily told her. "We do all sorts of stuff; like collect seashells, going swimming, at about a million other fun stuff."

"Oh, wow!" a high voice said from behind the hybrid. Steven turned, seeing the pink rabbit creature from earlier, who looked quite adorable with its hands clasped together, mouth open with wonder. "Do you live near a beach?"

"I live ON a beach, actually," the boy answered, turning to face the Digimon. "Like I was saying, I'm Steven; What's your name?"

"I'm Cutemon!" the rabbit said, jumping up into Steven's arms. The boy had a little grin on his face.

"You're well named, then." he said, rubbing the Digimon on his head. "You're such a cute little guy." Connie came closer, gawking at Cutemon.

"I know," she agreed, hands on her cheeks, "He's soooooooo adorable!"

"Please," A much gruffer voice said, "Don't encourage him." The group turned again to see the orange and white wolf from earlier, drill on the tip of his tail twirling. "You'll only get him even more full of himself" the wolf added. Steven jumped off the chair and ran to the creature, wide-eyed with wonder.

"Woah! Drill Wolf! Sooooo coooool!" the boy said, examining the drills that adorned the wolf's body, "Do these drills actually work?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Steven," Pearl pointed out,"An organic body like his isn't capable of producing the muscles and tendons that would allow all of those drills to individ-" The tall gem was interrupted by a loud whirring, as the drills across the four-legged being's body began to spin at a rapid speed. The pale gem stared in disbelief "Wh-what the?"

"Weren't you listening earlier? With Digimon, nothing's as it seems." The wolf ceased his showcase, as Cutemon hopped out of Steven's arms and onto his back. He turned to face the entire group. He bowed, saying, "Allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Dorulumon, one of Shoutmon's royal advisors."

"Wait, you're an advisor?" Jasper asked dropping the reptile-like creature to point at the wolf, "Of what, getting the mail?" She chuckled at her own joke, not noticing the glare from Pearl.

"Actually, I'm primarily Shoutmon's military advisor," Dorulumon responded, "Also, the Digital World doesn't have a mail system like Earth does." Jasper stopped talking for a moment, an interested look on her face, before speaking up again.

"You're military? But, you're a dog." She finally said.

"And Deckerdramon's a crocodile, but that doesn't stop him from being one of our chief officers." Dorulumon said. Jasper glared at the wolf-digimon, who simply stared back with an equally menacing, but not as angry, expression.

"So Deckerdramon's the big robot crocodile, huh?" the orange gem said, cracking her knuckles. "Got a bone to pick with him."

"By all means, Jasper," An older voice said, the group turned to reveal the cyborg goliath's presence within the room, "pick away."

(With Shoutmon)

"WHAT!?"

The group recoiled again as Jupitermon yelled out once more with his thunderous voice and strikes of lightning once more coming from his weapons. "THE BAGRA ARMY DARES TO REAR ITS HIDEOUS HEAD ONCE MORE! WE MUST ACT IMMEDIATELY! THOSE WRETCHED FIENDS MUST BE….." before the electrical digimon could continue he was once more interrupted.

"JUPITERMON FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY PLEASE SHUT UP BEFORE I GO DEAF!" Puppetmon yelled, hands on the side of his head as he was getting annoyed at his comrade's "enthusiasm".

"As rude as Puppetmon's statement is, he is right Jupitermon." Mistymon said, having deployed a noise nullification spell on himself so his hearing wasn't too badly damaged. "We understand your frustration, but you should really lower your tone of voice, not everyone can handle you're, well…... "

"You're very loud." Ballistamon added in bluntly.

"WHAT DID HE PLOW!?" The Monitamon Elder shouted, his screen covered in static. Jupitermon ceased his electrical showcase once more as he calmed down from his second outburst of the day.

"Terribly sorry my friends." the thundering titan spoke to his fellow commanders.

Shoutmon sighed at his friend's enthusiasm, "It's no problem Jupitermon," he told his friend. Although he was internally grateful for Wisemon adding some noise cancelling capabilities to his headphones. Not enough to cancel all noise, but enough so he would not go deaf from Jupitermon's yelling. "But we must discuss the probability of the Bagra Army's return."

"*sigh* great, just great," Puppetmon said with an annoyed scowl on his wooden face, "just when we think we're done with the Bagra Army, THIS happens." His hands shaking and gripping his hammer tightly.

"Are we even sure that the Bagra Army has returned?" Mistymon questioned "You did say it was just Callismon who attacked you, right?" Shoutmon nodded. "So how do we know that he wasn't just a leftover supporter?"

"Mistymon's argument is logical." HiAndromon said once his systems restored. "A single Digimon, emblem or not, does not automatically mean the entire Bagra Army has returned."

"It'll be a bloody inconvenience if they do come back." huffed Weddinmon. "If they so much as near my town, why I'm gonna.." before the pastry digimon could continue, she took notice of Lotosmon's shaking form and worried expression. "Umm, Lotosmon." she asked, trying to get a response, but the flower digimon did not reply.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Puppetmon asked, he does not enjoy dealing with female emotions. He actually prefered Mistymon and HiAndromon's nerd rambles to this.

"WHOSE GONG!?" the Monitamon-elder shouted, his hearing still damaged from Jupitermon's yelling.

"Oh, it's just, the idea of my precious babies bein' dragged inta this mess, after we thought we were finished in all…"

"None of us like the thought of having to fight again Lotosmon, especially after we worked so hard to end the fighting.' The red dragon turned his head to two of the leaders, who had remained silent until now.

"Olegmon, Grademon, you two were part of the Bagra army before, I understand your reluctance to get involved with them again, especially after trying to abandon your pasts of evil. But, I need to ask; do you guys think there's any way for Bagra to make an encore performance?" The two didn't speak for some time, Grademon clutching his sword handles tightly and Olegmon wearing a much more solemn expression than his usual cheerful grin.

Finally, Grademon spoke. "Bagra was a resourceful Digimon; if he could survive being absorbed by DarkKnightmon and know of his treachery in order to act accordingly, then he could find a way to continue his evil plans even after his defeat."

"I was afraid of that." The king sighed, rubbing his crest knick, "It looks like we're gonna need to put all the regions on high alert for a while." Ballistamon sighed at this.

"Great, between those Crystal Gems and this, life's gonna get a lot more difficult."Shoutmon paled at his friend's statement as the other leaders grew curious.

"Crystal Gems?" Mistymon questioned, curiosity evident in his voice. "What is he talking about my liege?" Shoutmon grew flustered as he tried to explain.

"Well, you see, after we defeated Callismon, we kind of… well… oh, jeez, how do I make this not sound awful… we kind of-"

"We got kidnapped." Ballistamon interrupted bluntly. Shoutmon wizzed his head around with a panicked expression, not too happy with his friends revelation about what had transpired earlier.

And then the uproar really began.

"WHAT!?" all the regional commanders shouted at once, Jupitermon's intensity not helping and the Monitamon Elder's hearing was still damaged. Shoutmon and Ballistamon reeled back at his comrades' outbursts.

"Hoo boy." Shoutmon said, not liking where this conversation was going.

Amethyst finally stopped eating, looking up at Deckerdramon."Dude," the purple gem began, "how'd you get in here?" Deckerdramon released a deep chuckle at Amethyst's question.

"King Shoutmon wanted to make sure that every one of his allies could dine together," the elder explained, "So he designed the castle to allow for specified Digimon to warp into the larger rooms of the castle." His large head turned back to Jasper, steam hissing from his ports. "Now, Jasper, what problem do you have with me? It's not about the battle earlier, since you're heart doesn't hold a grudge of combat."

"That's what I have a problem with!" The buff gem exclaimed, causing the nearby Digimon to jump, and Garnet to turn her head. Jasper continued, "You kept talking about our hearts, like you knew who we were. What gives you that right?" Deckerdramon sighed, his eyes becoming distant, as if remembering something sad. A moment passed in silence, before the goliath spoke again.

"I apologize if you didn't like my words, but it is what I truly saw," he said, "I have been both blessed and cursed with the ability to read the hearts of others. It is part of being a guardian of love."

Jasper snickered at this statement. "You're a guardian of love?" she said mockingly "Riiiight, because nothing says 'love' like a giant metal crocodile with missile launchers, right Garnet?" the quartz turned towards the fusion waiting for her to agree with her, while said fusion still silently standing idly by observing the events taking place.

"Hmmmm, I'll admit you have a point there Jasper." The fusion replied to the Quartz "A giant mechanical beast that looks like a product of war doesn't exactly scream 'love'." Garnet said in response to her larger comrade before looking at Deckerdramon. "A war machine like you being guardian of love is kind of ridiculous."

"Ridiculous is it?" he retorted, "because from what I can see in your heart Garnet, your enemies think of you as a war machine as well, only to be used for battle, and yet, you know love well yourself. How is it that you can be both a war machine and a warrior of love and I can not?" The mechanical goliath chuckled a bit "Kind of hypocritical wouldn't you say?"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH" Everyone jumped as a few dozen Gaossmon appeared on Deckerdramon's back, hyping his retort. Even Amethyst joined in with the Gaossmon. The gems glared at the purple quartz as the digimon finished their cheers and she noticed their stares.

"What?" Amethyst asked with a grin and shrugged shoulders, "A good burn is a good burn."

"I am not aware of any damage to Garnet," Peridot retorted "or any increase in temperature, so how can she be burnt?" Amethyst looked at the smaller gem, before face-palming. Garnet paid no mind to the smaller gems as she was having another internal conflict over what Deckerdramon had said. 'Has he been reading my mind this whole time?' Garnet thought 'How much does he know?'

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the group heard massive footsteps, and the large dinosaur rushed forward into the room."I heard hype-mon, who's fighting?!" The beast exclaimed, causing the gems to draw out their weapons, while Steven created a shield large enough to protect him, Connie, Peridot (who was nearly panicking at the beat's abrupt entrance), and the other humans. The dinosaur looked about, seemingly oblivious to the small army standing around him.

After another moment, Steven, focusing on protecting the humans, felt something brush by the shield. The hybrid looked to his right, revealing Christopher walking up to the beast."Chris, wait!" Steven yelled, but the boy held up his hand to stop the boy from saying any more.

"I know what I'm doing," he said, before adding in, "and don't call me Chris!" With that, the blonde approached the beast. "Greymon! Stand down!" The dinosaur, Greymon, looked down, and, after calming, shifted to look the human in the eye.

"General Christopher," Greymon said with its deep voice, "I'm sorry, it's just that Callismon was our first real fight in a long time. It's been too long since I've seen action, so I got a bit excited at the prospect of another."

"Whatever, it's fine." Christopher scoffed. "Is the rest of the castle calmed down? And where are the others?"

"Well, the rest of the castle is still wondering what happened, but they're at least not running around screaming." the Dino began, "As for the others, MailBirdramon is still on his perch; with the possible threat he decided to keep extra watch. And Dracomon was right behind me. Where could he-"

"*huff* over *huff* here!" The group looked to see the small dragon from earlier run over. Upon reaching them he collapsed onto a nearby chair, catching his breath. "I would've been here sooner, but this room is really big, it takes forever to get here." Christopher gave the smallest of smiles, before turning back to Greymon.

"Alright, but where's Cyberdramon?" The boy asked.

"… What do you mean, general?" The Digimon said after a moment, pointing to behind the group. "Cyberdramon's been in the corner over there since we arrived." Jasper scoffed at this.

"Look buddy, I don't know what you take us for, but I'm pretty sure we'd notice if there were someone…" the rest of the group turned to the corner once the buff gem grew silent. Sure enough, the massive, dark blue, cybernetic dragon was standing like a sentinel in the corner. Its tattered wings folded against its body, and it was clutching its double ended spear in its right claw. "What the...how did he get there? And did that lizard guy call you general? Isn't that the dog's job?"

"Cyberdramon is usually very quiet, so despite his size he usually enters a room without anyone noticing." Dracmon stated. The group looked back at the cyborg dragon and he simply growled in response, his form slightly shrouded in shadows only made him seem even creepier.

"And I specifically said I'm one of Shoutmon's royal advisors" Dorulumon told the large gem. "Christopher is Blue Flare's general, while Mikey is the general for the king's main army, the Fusion Fighters." Jasper chuckled a bit.

"Okay, the tiny lizard as the king was one thing, but these human children as generals? Now I know you guys are just pulling my leg." The orange gem stated. Christopher glared at the large gem in annoyance.

"What, you think I'm not up to it or something?" The blonde human stated, clearly aggravated and insulted by Jasper's jab at his pride as Blue Flare's general.

Pearl decided to pitch in "As rude as Jasper's statement is, I'd have to agree." she began. "You're just children. I doubt you possibly have the military expertise and battle experience needed to command an army." Christopher walked up to the pale gem, a glare plastered upon his face.

"Listen lady, I'll have you know that if it wasn't for us, the Digital World would be as good as gone." The blonde haired boy declared to the gem. Mikey came up and put his hand on Christopher's shoulder.

"Hey there, don't let her get to ya." Mikey said, trying to calm down his friend. Christopher was about to call out again, but a deeper voice beat him to it.

"I shall not allow such slander to be slung towards one of our generals and saviors." Pearl looked over to see the knight from earlier stepping forth, a group of PawnChessmon at both of his sides.

"Oh, you're a knight, correct?" Pearl asked, stepping forward. "I haven't seen one in quite some time. You agree with me right? These children can't possibly-" the gem stopped talking as the knight passed her without another word. Upon reaching Mikey and Christopher, he knelt down, pounding his fist on the floor.

" General Mikey! General Christopher!" the knight said, "I apologize for not being here to defend your honor as generals!" Pearl was baffled at the action unfolding.

"W-what?" she stammered out, "You can't be serious." the knight rose to face her.

"I jest not, strange maiden." Knightmon said to her. "In fact if not for general Mikey here, my life would've been forfeited." Before Pearl could question the knight, Steven and Connie came forward with eyes full of wonder and amazement at the armored digimon.

"Woah! Are you really a Knight?" Steven asked as he observed the tall armored digimon in awe. Knightmon chuckled at the child's curiosity.

"Indeed, young man." He told Steven, "I am Knightmon, head of the PawnChessmon unit and loyal knight to his royal majesty, King Shoutmon." he said as he gestured towards the small squadron of white armored figures by his side, which the gems guessed were the PawnChessmon that he was referring to.

Connie was amazed at an actual Knight being in front of her eyes. He even looked like the knights she'd seen in some of the stories she read. "This is so cool!" she said excitedly, "You know, Pearl's actually been training me to be a knight too." The armored figure looked the girl over, noting her heavily calloused hands and developing arm muscles the knight recognized from sword fighting. He knelt down on one knee to have a closer look at the young child.

"Is that so?" he asked, Connie replied with a nod. "Well, that's quite ambitious for a child. But I can tell by the look in your eyes you are truly a knight-in-training." Connie's smile widened at his statement. It was, at least to her, an honor to have an actual knight's approval of her sword training.

"Thank you sir," she tried to say politely, but she was still very excited. "Pearl has been a very good teacher to me, and I've really come a very long way since she started training me." Connie walked over to pick up her large pink sword, which she had put on the floor earlier, and placed it back on the sheath on her back.

Knightmon chuckled softly at the girl's enthusiasm. "With a blade that impressive, you must be coming along quite well." Connie grinned at the praise, but before she could respond, Pearl stepped between the two.

"True, Connie has come along quite well, but as nice as this little moment is," Pearl said, confusion and annoyance prevalent in her voice, "My question hasn't been fully answered." Knightmon rose, his superior height more prominent as he towered over her.

"Miss Pearl, I assure you your question was answered." Knightmon said, fist clenched tightly. "Our generals may be human, but they have accomplished much here in the Digital World."

"Oh, the fact that they're human isn't my problem," Pearl began, "My problem is the fact that they're, well, children!" Knightmon clenched his fist harder as the gem continued. "The battlefield isn't a place for humans so young." the hand of Knightmon's gauntlet began to crack from the pressure of his tightening grip when Steven spoke up.

"But Pearl," the half-gem brought up, "me and Connie go on missions all the time, how is that any different?"

"Yeah! How's that any different!?" Jeremy yelled, pointing to Pearl while smiling in a "take that" sort of gesture, but he was immediately silenced by a menacing glare from Jasper. This resulted in him running behind Mikey and Christopher out of fear. The two generals rolled their eyes at their friends easily failed attempt at being tough.

Pearl, ignoring the human, turned towards the young hybrid "Steven, those were just simple missions. They're talking about a full scale war! Against creatures like that!" she said gesturing towards Deckerdramon, one of the two digimon who easily took on Jasper and Garnet. "Who in their right mind would let a child lead them into battle of such a scale?"

"I can see you still have doubts about our capabilities." The pale gem turned to see Nene stepping forward. "I think I know a way to change your mind." When she finished speaking, three smaller digimon appeared in front of her. Garnet recognized them as the green monitor-headed creatures.

Pearl was confused. "And how are they supposed to prove you actually participated in a war?" Nene simply smirked.

"The Monitamons' appearance isn't just for show." Nene told the gem. "Their information gathering skills have helped us in times of great need. I believe the information that they hold will be enough to convince you." As she finished speaking, the Monitamons' screens began to activate.

As the group gathered around, the little creatures heads began to display various clips displaying the digimon in combat. The Crystal Gems observed the screens as they displayed various scenes of combat and trial, in which each of the humans were front and center, coming up with plans and standing with their Digimon, most of which the gems didn't recognize. A few of these battles depicted the humans and creatures battling beings of enormous stature, and the group were shocked to see them defeat armies a hundred times their greater. Jasper in particular was shocked by the sight of some of the smaller Digimon defeating adversaries twice their size.

"I can't believe it." Pearl said in disbelief, still not fully processing what she was seeing.

Amethyst, who had just climbed down from her throne of eaten food, decided to be the first to speak up "Welp, there ya go P." she began, still in awe at the footage "They got it on tape, so it's gotta be true." The pale gem simply huffed in annoyance at the purple gem's statement.

The rest of the gems continued to stare at the screens. Steven and Connie watched with stars in their eyes, in awe at the digimon and their feats against the forces of evil. But Garnet, while she was too impressed by these human children leading the digimon, was still very on edge. Especially when she saw the familiar fusions of the giant titan and the mechanical dragon she saw earlier.

The generals observed the gems as they watch their previous adventures with amusement. Now hopefully the gems would give them a bit more respect.

"Now do you believe us?" Christopher asked the gems with a slight smirk on his face. He was clearly enjoying seeing the gems eat their words.

Nene glared disapprovingly at the blue general "Now Christopher, don't be rude." she told her blonde friend. While the other generals might be a bit insulted at the gems doubting their skill just due to their age, they were less ill-mannered about it than Christopher.

The gems finally broke their gaze from the small digimons' screens to look at the generals. They just could not believe that these children had participated in, and helped win, a war. Steven and Connie however, had a different thought on the matter.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Steven yelled, eyes growing the size of stars as he looked at the group of humans and creatures. "The way you guys took down all of those big monsters was so cool!"

"And you beat an army with only one warrior!" Connie continued. "You guys are so strong!" Shoutmon and the others began to grin at the praise showered upon them as the gems continued to look shocked. Pearl, Garnet, and Jasper still didn't entirely believe the group of human children were capable of such feats, but they couldn't really argue with the video proof that they were shown. Amethyst and Peridot were both impressed by the battles that the screens finished showing them, with the purple gem feeling good about seeing a group of smaller creatures defeating such stronger looking foes, and the green gem feeling more justified in her cowering.

However, before any of them could properly respond, a high pitched voice called out. "You guys really don't know anything, nope, nope!" The group looked down to see the small ice cream looking being hopping forward on small black and yellow feet. He swung his yellow arms as he jumped up and landed on top of Jasper's head. The orange gem looked up at the small digimon in annoyance. "You thought our commanders were just normal children, but you were the ones being beaten like chumps earlier."

Jasper growled in annoyance at the small digimon "Chump!? Why I oughta.." the large gem quickly reached up to grab the small digimon but he quickly evaded her grasp as she accidentally smacked herself from missing her grab.

Damemon landed on the ground a few feet in front of Jasper and turned around, his mocking smirk still on his face. "What's wrong? I'm just stating facts."

Jasper glared at the tiny digimon, firsts clenched tightly as she summoned her crash helmet. "Keep talkin and I'll squash you ya little pest!"

Damemon grinned at Jasper with a cocky smile before jumping in the air "DIGI NINJA ART: WARRIOR TRANSFORMATION!" as he yelled out this familiar phrase, his body seemed to expand in size, then seemed to split down the middle, revealing the yellow and white ninja that they had fought before. He pulled out his sickles before getting into a ready position. "If you're looking for a rematch, I'd be happy to oblige." the ninja spoke, clearly confident as he remembered how much trouble she was having against him before. Ewan sighed at his partner's lack of concern for other's feelings when it comes to his criticisms.

Jasper took a few steps back to evaluate the newly transformed digimon, "Okay, who and what are you?" she asked as she eyed him up and down in confusion.

The yellow ninja chuckled slightly "The form you saw me in before was known as Damemon, but now I am Tsuwamon. Member of the King's special stealth and espionage unit Twilight Talon, and second stealthiest member of the King's Court." he announced proudly.

The gems, specifically Pearl, Amethyst and Jasper, were a bit unnerved that the digimon that beat them single handedly was also the annoying little digimon that was just mocking them, and felt a huge wound on their pride. Steven and Connie although looked at the new figure in awe. He said he was a member of a stealth team, so they thought he must be some kind of super ninja, which only furthered their interest on him.

Jasper then noticed something about the ninja's introduction, "Wait, second stealthiest." She said "Then who's the first?"

"That would be me." a new voice said from right behind Jasper. Her warrior instincts kicking in, she quickly tried to punch the figure that had somehow snuck up behind her. But her fist was only met with thin air, and the only thing she saw was a single dark blue feather floating down to the ground having appeared out of nowhere.

Mikey smirked at this, he knew who had just shown up to crash the party.

"Now is that anyway to greet someone?" the same voice spoke again. The gems looked around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice, until their eyes found a tall figure leaning on a pillar on the other side of the dining hall. He was about a head taller than jasper with a blue mask on his face, three deep crimson eyes observing all of them. Short, spikey blonde hair came out the back of the mask as the entire front of his face was kept covered by it. His body was covered in silver armor, but his entire right arm seemed to be replaced with a massive cannon. Sprouting from his back was a pair of massive dark blue wings, both having two rings each pierced into them near where they meet his torso. "Honestly, you have no matters." he spoke with a slight smile.

'when did he get here?' the crystal gems wondered. Jasper was not amused that this chump had managed to sneak up on her. She was a QUARTZ SOLDIER for crying out loud. While the other gems looked slightly intimidated by this dark figure, Garnet was surprised that this new figure had snuck up on all of them,she should've been able to sense him with her future….

'Oh right' thought Garnet as she remembered that for some reason, her future vision was on the fritz in this new dimension. Hopefully she'd get answers for that soon, but for now she'd focus on the current situation.

"Nice of you to join us Beelzemon." Mikey called out to the winged figure, who replied with a nod. "When did you get here?"

Beelzemon chuckled softly, "Oh I've been here for a while, you just never noticed."

"Wait, if you've been here for a while, then how much did you hear?" asked Angie, curious to see if their winged ally had overheard their introductions with the Crystal Gems.

"Oh, WE heard everything. From when the purple one, Amethyst I believe, was trying to eat Dondokomon to when you showed proof of your accomplishments to a few non-believers." he said with an air of confidence as he glanced at Jasper and Pearl.

This time, the Crystal Gems and the generals were confused. "Wait, who's we?" Pearl asked Beelzemon.

"I believe he means us" a more feminine voice called out from their side of the hall. They all turned their heads to see what appeared to be a tall woman, about the same height as Beelzemon, dressed incredibly sparsely in what appeared to be an amazonian outfit. She had long turquoise hair which came down to her thighs in two braids, and covered her right eye. The only one being revealed was a bright yellow with a slit for a pupil, much like that of a snake. But what really drew their attention was that in the place of her entire left arm was a massive snake. "Long time no see huh guys?"

'okay this is just getting ridiculous' Jasper thought as another one had managed to evade her detection.

"Mervamon?" Nene questioned, revealing the new figure's name "How did you manage to sneak in here?" Mervamon was never really a stealthy warrior, so the general was confused as to how she managed to evade detection just as well as Beelzemon.

The Amazon smirked at the pigtailed general and shrugged her shoulders, "Meh, you learn a thing or two after hanging out with fly boy over there." she said gesturing to Beelzemon.

Sparrowmon chuckled a bit "He he, yeah, hanging out." she said with air quotes. The generals chuckled a bit at the jet-like digimon's joke. Even Jasper and Amethyst joined in, understanding the digimon's teasing joke.

Mervamon scowled at the yellow digimon's remark, but quickly recomposed herself. "Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind, but we brought a few guests." The group looked skeptical, scanning the room for other Digimon. Even the gems were on high alert, especially Jasper. She would not let another one of these guys evade her detection, stealthiest her behind.

"I don't see anyone else here." Jeremy stated. But then he felt a slight breeze right behind him.

"Hi there." a new voice had spoken right behind the human, resulting in him letting out a terrified shriek. He quickly turned around and backed up a bit, now taking notice of the figure. Who was strangely upside down.

The new arrival appeared to be another ninja-like figure. He wore a white ninja garb, two leaves acting as a sort of poncho on his shoulders. A silver headband with a teardrop shaped symbol on the front. Sticking from the back of his head was a pointy red ponytail sticking straight up. His face was covered by a veil with a rectangular hole was cut into it, revealing two bright yellow eyes. A massive shuriken was perched on his back. But his arms and legs seemed to be green springs that extended all the way up to the high ceiling, where four smaller shurikens were in his hands and hand-like feet, embedded into the ceiling.

"Ha ha!" he laughed "Sorry bout that kid. I was just hangin' around and I thought it'd be funny." the new figure said. He then detached himself from the ceiling and landed right side up after quickly contracting his legs to a smaller length, he now stood at about Beelzemon's height. He placed one of his shurikens down and stuck out his three fingered hand to Jeremy. "The name's Shurimon, Big B over there brought me here." A few of the Digimon looked a bit apprehensive, but the human boy accepted the handshake.

"Greetings, Shurimon," he responded, "I'm Jeremy. You'll have to forgive my reaction. We haven't had the best experience with Shurimon in the past." Shurimon flicked his wrist nonchalantly.

"It's all good." Shurimon said, "I know my brethren played a fair role in Bagra's Army, but that's all in the past." He picked up his other shuriken "Besides, my friend wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"Wait, friend?" Jeremy said confused. But before anyone could question the ninja, a gust of wind got everyone's attention. Before anyone could blink a shadow swooped across the hall.

When everyone took notice, the figure was revealed to be a large bird like creature, also in ninja garb. But this creature wore purple instead of the previous one's white. It had a body similar in shape to an ostrich, with a long neck and legs. its feathers were a light yellow ending in orange tips near the end of his wings, most of which was covered by its outfit. It had three toed feet, while it's legs were also covered in boots, seemingly made of the same material as his outfit. It wore a long yellow scarf, and had a very bushy tail for a bird. From the top of its head sprouted a somewhat messy mop of orange hair, held up by a purple headband.

The bird like creature landed gracefully a few meters away from the group and bowed politely, placing its wing over his chest and bending its long neck forward. "Greetings all. I am Peckmon." the creature introduced himself "I apologize for my comrade's lack of manners." Shurimon raised one of his arms to retort, but Peckmon quickly raised his other wing to cut him off. "Yes you were; don't deny it" He stated in a flat voice, as if he'd said this thousands of times.

Shurimon crossed his arms and looked to the side "You're just no fun you overgrown feather duster." he said quietly.

Ignoring his comrade's insult, Peckmon walked over to the group. "Forgive him, he believes his humor can make up for his rude behavior". He told them politely.

Mikey waved the bird digimon's apology off "Nah, don't worry about it." he said "He was just joking around, no harm no foul, er- problem, right?" he fixed his phrasing quickly, as to not accidentally offend him. The bird said nothing, but simply walked to stand behind Beelzemon. Shurimon then extended his long spring-like leg and, in a single step, shot right towards the winged digimon all the way from his previous spot. The ninja now standing with the bird and demonic digimon. Mervamon then effortlessly bounded across the hall, over the table, and landed gracefully beside the three other stealth masters

Tsuwamon then walked up to Shurimon,

"So, you two are friends with Beelzemon?" Nene asked the two ninja digimon.

"You could say that." Beelzemon told her, with an amused smirk on his face. As if he was remembering something funny.

Mervamon then spoke up, "We ran into these guys a while back on a mission. Now they're the newest recruits to the Twilight Talon Espionage Unit. There's strength in numbers you know."

Shurimon popped up beside the amazon "Yeah, when these guys saw how amazingly awesome we were, they just begged us to join." the ninja said with a cocky tone. Beelzemon and Mervamon gave Shurimon an exasperated look before Peckmon stepped forward.

"Actually," he interjected "You were the one begging them to let us in. I actually lost count of how many times you said please." the Bird said with wings crossed and an unamused look as he glared at his less dignified colleague. Steven nonetheless was impressed.

"Still, being a ninja must be so cool!" the boy exclaimed. "You guys should talk to Garnet; she's the closest thing to a ninja on our team." Amethyst and Pearl give each other a worried look.

"Uh, Ste-man, maybe that's not a good id-" but it was to late, as Steven had already turned to beckon Garnet over. The reddish gem looked over in their direction and tensed up as she saw the armored figure with a bazooka standing by Steven.

Pearl sighed as Garnet's gauntlets took form.

"Today's just getting better and better"

Well… this is something that I honestly didn't expect I'd be continuing. Will I be continuing on and starting to update this regularly?

That's… a complicated question.