Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.


The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier

Chapter 27: Trapped

Lucemon was on Ophanimon before they had a chance to even start running. The two riposted and parried each others attacks with such speed that it was impossible to keep up with it. Just as it seemed Lucemon had worn Ophanimon down, he threw another punch and Ophanimon caught his fist in her hand. "Is that all you've got?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be able to block my next attack," Lucemon said with a smile. He snapped his fingers and created a massive explosion that threw Ophanimon backwards into the ground in front of them. Ophanimon pushed herself back up, gesturing to the digidestined to keep running.

"GO!" she shouted, pushing herself back up to meet Lucemon. The two digimon collided in the air, generating a shockwave that sent the digidestined flying through the air. Zephyrmon corrected herself in the air, and searched for the others through the dust cloud. She could see KendoGarurumon and BurningGreymon digging their claws into the ground to catch themselves. MetalKabuterimon was the only one who wasn't sent flying, instead only being knocked onto his because of his massive weight. Then there was Korikakumon, who tumbled along the ground until he was caught by BurningGreymon.

"Don't worry! I've got you!" BurningGreymon said.

"There's no way she's gonna stand a chance on her own!" Korikakumon said, turning his gaze back up towards Lucemon and Ophanimon continuing to fight each other high above them. The two angels separated from each other, circling around the air and colliding several more times. Each time they made another powerful shockwave that kicked up a dust cloud and blew away the fog around them briefly.

Finally, the two angels separated from each other - putting distance between them before taking another shot at each other. Ophanimon raised her golden spear over her head and it began radiating a warm golden light. Meanwhile, Lucemon created ten spheres of light arranged in a cruciform. And at the same time, both angel digimon threw their attacks at each other.

"Eden's Javelin!"

"Grand Cross!"

Light flashed as the two attacks collided, shattering the ground around them and sending them flying again along the ground. Watching these two powerful digimon so casually shaking the Digital World after only trading a few blows made Zephyrmon shake nervously. That digimon was the one out to get them? The one that so casually defeated Cherubimon when they could barely lay a finger on her.

"Keep moving!" BurningGreymon shouted at them, finally snapping the rest of them out of their stupor. "Use the dust for cover!"

"Shouldn't we help!?" KendoGarurumon asked.

"With how strong those two are, we'll just slow Ophanimon down! Keep moving!" BurningGreymon said more urgently, pushing KendoGarurumon and the others to keep them going.

"I can hear you. I can see what you're thinking," Lucemon's voice echoed in their heads. "Run as far as you'd like! I can find you!"

"Ignore him!" BurningGreymon said loudly. But how could they? He was right! As long as Lucemon was in their heads, wouldn't he know exactly where to find them if they tried to flee? What was the point of even running? If anything it would've been better to fight. At least then, they could die with some dignity. Right? Besides, could they even outrun someone who could move so fast?

"Listen to me!" BurningGreymon shouted, pulling on Zephyrmon and MetalKabuterimon's shoulders so that he could spin them around to face him. "Lucemon is in your head. Whatever you're thinking, whatever you're planning, he'll know it before you do it. Which means he'll react to it - block it, dodge it, riposte it, whatever! The only thing you can do is run and get away before things get worse than they already are!"

"But won't he know where we're going?" KendoGarurumon asked.

"Not if you don't know where you're going!" BurningGreymon said. "Just follow me and stay close!"

"But Ophanimo-" Korikakumon began.

"-is leagues above us right now and the only one who stands a chance at a fight with Lucemon! Once we're safely away, she can get out of here herself and get to safety! Until then, she's buying us time! The longer she stays here, the worse her odds are! NOW CAN WE GO!?" BurningGreymon said a little more forcefully. As he said those words, the two digimon above them clashed with each other again high above the battlefield - and their blows created a thunderous boom that finally made their legs move.

Zephyrmon was torn - on the one hand she didn't like abandoning Ophanimon. On the other hand, BurningGreymon was absolutely right. They didn't stand a chance against Lucemon - a digimon who casually slew Cherubimon like it was nothing. The helplessness was tearing her up inside but at least this way they had a plan. She turned to him, "Where do we go?"

"Follow me!" BurningGreymon said, turning into the dust cloud and running ahead. Zephyrmon rushed along beside the others, trying their best to keep up with his silhouette as they ran through the fog and dust. With every step, they could hear Lucemon and Ophanimon fighting overhead, their clashes illuminating the world with bright flashes of golden and pink light. During those brief moments, Zephyrmon could see through the fog and see the silhouettes of mangled bodies and assorted digimon limbs.

"What is this place?" Korikakumon asked.

"Don't worry about it!" BurningGreymon shouted.

"How much further!?" MetalKabuterimon shouted over the roar of another clash.

"I can't tell you! Lucemon will know! Believe me, I'm trying to not even think about it so that he won't know!" BurningGreymon answered, leading them past what appeared to be a statue of a giant gargoyle. Eventually, they came across a large wooden door that BurningGreymon pushed open with all his might, ushering them in before slamming the door shut - trapping them in darkness. It was cold and a musty smell filled their noses.

Outside, they could still hear explosions and felt the ground shake from the clash. Then they heard a few taps and scratches before ceiling lights came to life, illuminating a crumbling grand hall made of stone and lines with pillars - leading towards a marble stair case that looked ready to collapse under its own weight.

A thin layer of cobwebs and dust rested over every inch of the room. And yet, Zoe got the feeling that this place was once a lot more regal than it appeared to be. Statues lined the walls of various robed figures and men in armor, all crumbling and faded from time. It had been a long time since this place received the level of care and affection it deserved.

"Where are we?" MetalKabuterimon asked.

"Inside the Hollow Bastion," BurningGreymon said, regressing back in a flash of light into Tamer. Zephyrmon's eyes widened as she took in the entrance hall. This was the Hollow Bastion? Where Tamer said there was a way for them to get home? Her heart raced as she considered the very real fact that they finally had a way home. A way back to their world and away from all this. Except if they left, it was only a matter of time until Lucemon came for their world.

Tamer massaged his forehead and slid with his back against the wall. Zephyrmon figured the headache finally drained him and he could no longer hold his digimon form. But that didn't stop Tamer from going on, "We'll be safe in here for now. Well, for a while at least."

"I thought you couldn't tell us or else Lucemon would know," Zephyrmon said, gesturing towards the door. "I mean, that's made of wood! What stops him from just breaking it down?"

"Guardian technology," Tamer replied, tapping on the wooden door with his knuckle. Light rippled from where he knocked the door, shimmering and distorting the door behind him. In fact, now that they looked closely, they could see that shimmering light all along the walls, floor, and ceiling. "That door and the rest of this building are virtually impenetrable to anything Lucemon can throw at it. The assembled armies of the Digital World couldn't get through these walls and believe me, they tried. We're safe as long as we're in here. You hear that, Lucemon? You're locked out! You're not gettin in! So you can give up!"

"But doesn't that mean we're also locked in?" MetalKabuterimon asked, pointing out the obvious flaw in Tamer's plan. Tamer nodded grimly and Zephyrmon swore she could hear Lucemon's voice cackling in the back of her mind. She tried to tune it out though, especially as it was giving her a headache. But was hiding in here really any better than being out there fighting? The ground shaking beneath her feet with every impact from the battle outside wasn't helping.

"So now what do we do?" Korikakumon asked. "We can't just stay here forever! What about Ophanimon and saving the Digital World?"

"I don't know. This is so far removed from what is supposed to be happening," Tamer replied, massaging his temples and closing his eyes. "You guys can transform back by the way. We're safe in here. Lucemon can't get in."

Zephyrmon didn't feel safe. Lucemon may not have been physically here, but he was still in each of their heads. With the Guardian Spirits. And he could hear everything that was being said. But could they hear what he was thinking? What he was saying? She concentrated as hard as she could but heard nothing but Lucemon's continued laughter. Still, the rumbling continued outside to remind them all that two all powerful digimon were still trading blows with each other outside.

"Really, it's safe," Tamer said again.

On Tamer's insistence, Zephyrmon and Korikakumon finally changed back. It was MetalKabuterimon and KendoGarurumon who hesitated, looking at Zoe for some kind of approval. And just by the look of their eyes, she could see they were just as scared and angry as she was. It was hard to not be when they were trapped like this. Which made it all the more important that they weren't in their digimon forms then. She nodded at them nervously and they turned back into JP and Koji.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, taking a moment to collect themselves and relax after everything they went through. From randomly falling through cracks in the Digital World to battling with a powerful digimon over a misunderstanding, not to mention their encounter with Lucemon. They each sank to the floor, barely moving as they rested from their long day.

"So…what exactly was supposed to happen?" Koji asked Tamer, breaking the silence.

"What?" Tamer opened one eye, keeping the other closed while continuing to massage his temple.

"What exactly were we supposed to do. What got screwed up?" Koji asked Tamer.

"You mean besides running into Lucemon?" Tamer asked back.

"Come on. It's not like we're going anywhere any time soon. And it's not like there's any way we can make this better. You have time to tell us. What exactly was supposed to happen? Because I'm going to assume it didn't involve us getting stuck inside this place," Koji stated bluntly.

Tamer grimaced but nodded his head. "Yeah, I suppose it doesn't matter now. We're so far off track that it doesn't matter if you know or not. To start - after we gathered the spirits of the Legendary Warriors, we were supposed to fight the other warriors: Grumblemon, Ranamon, Arbormon, Mercurymon…those guys. After that, we battle Cherubimon…and then Lucemon shows up…destroys the Digital World…we get stuck on the moon. All of that was supposed to happen. But I suppose Lucemon didn't care for any of that. He decided to just go and show up! And we've still got the other warriors running around. Not to mention the civil war."

"Okay, I'm still stuck on 'we were supposed to be on the moon'. Elaborate? Because that's a weird thing to just…say," JP said, scratching his head.

Tamer blinked, staring at him in confusion, "What else is there to say? The Digital World gets destroyed, so we get stuck on the moon because it's the only place to go."

He said those words as he pointed straight up. But that just raised more questions. How exactly did they just end up on the moon after the Digital World got destroyed. Did they all just get on a rocket while Lucemon blew up the Digital World? Then again, Tamer had the power to open up portals to wherever he wanted with his digivice so maybe that was how he was going to do it. Or how he would've done it since there was no chance of that happening now.

"So what do we do now?" Zoe asked him.

"Honestly? I'm not sure. I've never been in a situation where someone will know every plan I can come up with as soon as I think it. Well, there was that one time but I don't think that really counts," Tamer said quietly, sounding resigned and defeated. Then again, it could also have been that he had a pounding headache from 'destiny' not going how it was supposed to be. She stared at him quietly. "So we're just going to sit here then?"

"For now? That's my plan. I've got a splitting headache and it hurts to think," Tamer replied quietly, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Is the headache that bad?" Zoe asked.

"Imagine trying to go through your day while looking through a kaleidoscope - everything's jumbled and doesn't look right and the world won't stop spinning," Tamer said quietly. She had no idea how that was even supposed to look like but got the gist.

She looked to the others for a clue on what they should do now and noticed Tomoki was absent from the room. "Where's Tommy?"

"He's right…here," JP trailed off as he gestured toward an empty spot. He cursed upon noticing Tomoki's absence and spun around. "How'd that little guy sneak off so quietly?"

Koji pocketed his hands and started up the stairs with a grunt.

"Where are you going?" Zoe asked.

"Looking for Tomoki. It's not like we've got anything better to do. Besides, this place can't be that big and there's no way a kid that small could've gotten far with his legs. Let's just find him," Koji said, continuing to climb the stairs without even looking back to acknowledge them.

"Hey! Don't just wander off!" Zoe shouted after him.

"It'll be fine! Tamer said it himself. No one else is getting in here while we just wait it out. So let's go find this guy," Koji pointed out as he disappeared at the top of the steps and further into the building. Zoe didn't like the idea of splitting up like this. Especially when they didn't know this place at all. But there was no way she was going to convince him this was a bad idea. Which meant…

"Koji! Meet back here in an hour! Okay!? Hey! KOJI!" she shouted after him. But there was no answer, at least not one she could hear. Zoe sighed, putting her hands on her hips and cursing. "Merda."

"What do we do about him?" JP thumbed at Tamer still laying on the ground.

"I'll be fine after a minute to close my eyes," Tamer said groggily, closing his eyes firmly and adjusting to get comfortable on the floor. "You guys just go find Tomoki. I'm going to just…rest here."

"Are you sure?" Zoe asked.

Tamer nodded, "I'll be fine. But be careful. This place was made by Guardians for Guardians. It doesn't necessarily obey the laws of physics the way you know it. If you run into any trouble…come back here…immediately."

She wanted to ask more about what he meant but he was already beginning to snore, so that was out of the question. Zoe wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave him sleeping on the floor - but also didn't want to be the one who tried to bring that up with him. She turned to JP who now had a wide grin on his face. He gave a performative bow and said, "M'lady! Shall we go search for Tomoki together?"

"Why are you talking funny?" she asked him. Obviously, she knew why - he was trying to impress her by turning on whatever he considered to be charm.

"What? Who's talking funny? I'm not talking funny," JP said quickly, straightening himself out and attempting to play the whole thing off. Zoe grimaced and proceeded onwards with JP following along behind whistling. Unlike Koji who'd gone up the stairs, they proceeded towards one of the doors which opened out into a long stone hallway that appeared to twist into a spiral shape the further down it went.

Zoe blinked on seeing the strange sight and turned to JP, "Are you seeing that?"

"I…am? I think I am," JP half asked as he tilted his head with the spiral. "Do you think if I throw my shoe at it, it'll get stuck on the floor that twists up? Or I guess that would be the ceiling, wouldn't it."

"Come on, now's not the time to joke, JP," Zoe said seriously, despite the fact that JP had already taken his shoe off and chucked it as hard as he could down the hall. Zoe expected it to fall in a downward arch. But as it proceeded down the hall, it began to fall with the spiral of the floor until it landed on the ceiling.

"No way, that's actually kinda cool. I wonder how they did that?" JP said bemusedly.

"Are you serious?" Zoe raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I love a good magic trick," JP said, hopping along the floor on one foot to get his shoe back. As he went, he moved with the twisting floor until he was standing upside down on the ceiling and picking up his shoe.

"How are you doing that!?" Zoe gasped, pointing at him in confusion. That should not have been possible - by any means.

"Doing what?" JP slipped his shoe back on and turned back around to stare back at Zoe. "HOW DID YOU GET UP THERE!?"

"I haven't moved! You're the one who's up on the ceiling!" Zoe said back at him. JP looked up, or rather down towards the floor and scratched his head. Then he started walking back towards Zoe, moving with the twist of the hallway until he was standing perpendicular to her on what would've been the wall. And watching it was dizzying. "Stop that! It's weird!"

"I'm just walking! I'm not the one making this place spin!" JP protested, continuing back towards her. "This must be that Guardian stuff Tamer was talking about. Man, did these guys have to be so involved in everything they do?"

"What're you guys arguing about?" Tomoki asked, appearing at the end of the hallway just in front of them. He scratched his head as he stared at JP. "Whoa! That's cool! How are you doing that?"

"I have no idea," JP answered. "More importantly, what're you doing down there? When I walked that way, I ended up on the ceiling? But I guess it's the floor. The point is it's weird."

Zoe and JP stared back at him, confused at how he was standing upright on the floor, or rather the upside down ceiling. Tomoki shrugged and continued towards them, "I don't know. How'd you guys even get ahead of me? I should be further into this place now!"

"What do you mean? We came down this hallway looking for you!" Zoe said, watching as Tomoki's path started to twist along with the hallway until he was standing directly above her on the ceiling. The two of them stared at each other, Tomoki rubbing his eyes and blinking in disbelief. Even Zoe was taken aback as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Tomoki was standing on the ceiling directly above her, while he looked back.

"NOW HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT!?" Zoe blurted out in confusion.

"I don't know! I walked in a straight line!" Tomoki said. "And you never told me how you got ahead of me!"

"We're not ahead of you! You're coming back towards the entrance where we came in!" JP explained to him, hurrying back to join Zoe in staring up at Tomoki. He reached his hand up and leapt up towards the ceiling. "Hup! Damn…I barely made it."

"This is getting weird and I don't like it. Why don't you guys get down here?" Tomoki said, sounding both annoyed and confused.

"How? We don't even know how you got up there!?" JP replied.

"But you guys are the ones on the ceiling! You can tell by the lights!" Tomoki said, pointing out the bright bulbs that were on the floor beside JP and Zoe. How either of them managed to miss the light bulbs left them dumb founded. But there was no denying that they were certainly the ones on the ceiling.

"Oh yeah, I guess we are on the ceiling," JP said. Zoe had to agree now that she could see all the lights. But that did raise the question of how they had gotten on the ceiling when they had entered the hallway right side up. Before she could even begin to make sense of that, both JP and Zoe found themselves falling up towards Tomoki so that they slammed into the ground on the poor boy.

"GETOFFME!" Tomoki shrieked from beneath JP and Zoe's weight, trying to crawl out from under them.

Zoe rolled off the two boys and bumped directly into another light bulb. She examined it in confusion, trying to figure out why it was on the ground beside her when they had just fallen onto the floor. In fact, as she looked, she noticed light bulbs running all along the floor they'd just landed on.

"Are you okay Zoe?" JP asked, offering a hand to help her up on to her feet.

"Oh sure, ask if she's okay," Tomoki protested.

"Hey guys. If we're back on the ground, why are there light bulbs here?" Zoe pointed them out.

"What do you…oh…wait, so are we on the ceiling?" JP said quietly.

"Uh oh," Tomoki said, just as Zoe felt another sudden pull back into the air. All three of them yelled this time as they fell upwards…or rather down onto the floor. This time it was JP's turn to be at the bottom of the pile, with Zoe landing on his back and Tomoki landing onto her lap.

"WHY!?" JP groaned from underneath them. Zoe lifted Tomoki off of her, before stepping off JP.

"Are you okay?" It was Zoe's turned to ask JP as he slowly pushed himself off the ground.

"No. I don't care about how this magic trick works any more, I want to get out of here," JP grumbled, dusting himself off and marching back down the way they came. In that sentiment, they were all in agreement. They hurried back down the hall way, hoping to avoid falling upwards again. Or downwards.

"Is this a good idea? Shouldn't we go back towards the entrance?" Tomoki asked.

"This is the way to the entrance. At least, it was how we got to you," JP replied.

"But I came the other way," Tomoki said, pointing behind them.

"Well, we came from this way, isn't that right Zoe?" JP asked her. She hadn't given much thought to their bickering because her attention was still on Tomoki.

"It doesn't matter. I'm just glad we found you Tomoki. Why'd you just wander off like that?" Zoe asked the little boy.

"I thought I saw something run down a hallway and went to follow it. The hallway was a straight run though. I'm still not sure how you guys ended up in front of me," Tomoki answered sincerely, gesturing ahead of them.

"And going after it by yourself seemed like a good idea?" JP half asked him.

"We can all turn into powerful digimon. If there's anything here, it should be more afraid of us than we should be of it," Tomoki replied with more than just the usual amount of confidence.

"I wouldn't get too cocky. I mean, we did find out the Guardian Spirit's voices were all just Lucemon messing with us! What do you suppose that means for our powers? Would they even work if Lucemon didn't want them to?" JP reminded him. Zoe had almost forgotten about that with everything goin on and wished she hadn't been reminded of it. "Besides, I'd hate to imagine anything that could live in a place where the ceiling and the floor randomly switch places."

"Sure, because this place wasn't creepy enough without you bringing this kind of stuff up," Zoe complained in a huff, trying not to think about the fact that Lucemon was listening in on them at this very moment. They continued back down the hallway for another ten minutes, feeling like they weren't making any progress back towards the entrance. And the fact that the only other thing accompanying them was the ever growing silence finally made Zoe snap. "Okay! We did not walk this far to find Tomoki!"

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed! I feel like we haven't gotten anywhere!" JP said in exasperation, looking back down the hallway they came. "I swear, it's like we've been walking in a circle!"

"But the hallway's a straight run," Tomoki pointed out to him.

"Yeah, and you were on the ceiling a minute ago!" JP countered, kicking the wall in a fit of anger. "I swear! We haven't been getting anywhere!"

"What are you screaming about?" Koji said from behind them. All three jumped in surprise, alarmed at how quietly Koji was able to sneak up on them. Tomoki was the only who also followed up his surprise with a fist, one that Koji was able to easily catch in an open hand. "Hey! What gives?"

"Don't scare us like that!" Tomoki said, pulling his hand back and massaging his wrist.

Koji pocketed his hands again and examined all three of them. "What are you guys even doing here?"

"We were on our way back to the entrance after we found Tomoki. Where did you come from?" JP asked back. His question was met with a confused look from Koji who raised an eyebrow at them.

"You were on your way back to the entrance. Even though I just came from there and you were going in the wrong direction?" Koji half asked, half pointed out. That couldn't have been right. They were definitely going back the way they came. Yet Koji had just appeared behind them and said they were going the wrong way. And there was no way he could've gone around them since they didn't pass a single branching corridor in this entire time.

"That can't be right! This hallway is a straight run and we literally turned around after we found Tomoki!" Zoe explained to Koji. Yet again, he raised an eyebrow at them in confusion.

"And yet, I'm the one coming from the entrance," Koji said.

"Hang on a second. Didn't you go upstairs?" JP asked with a pointed finger.

"I did. Then I hit a dead end and went back to the entrance. I found Tamer napping by the door and he said you guys went down this hallway. So I came here to find you," Koji answered. Now it was their time to give him a confused look, which annoyed Koji more than anything else and he eventually raised an eyebrow at them. "Are you guys okay? You're all acting weird."

"Look, let's just try going the way you came from," Zoe reasoned. "If he's right, then we're back at the entrance. Besides, it's not like walking this way has gotten us anywhere."

Even though she proposed the idea, she didn't like the fact that they'd walked ten minutes in one direction just to turn around. But there was no harm in going back the way they came, was there? Besides, it was better than being stuck here. They proceeded in the direction Koji came from, walking for what felt like another thirty minutes before JP finally snapped. "Can we stop!? I'm tired! I feel like we've been walking forever!"

"Yeah, it feels like we're going nowhere fast," Tomoki complained.

"Strange," Koji said, putting a hand to his chin. "This is definitely the way I came."

"Oh yeah? If it is, why haven't we reached the entrance yet?" JP asked, sinking to the floor. Tomoki joined him and both boys sat on the floor. Koji placed his hand on the wall and ran his hand along it, contemplating the wall carefully as he looked up and down the hallway.

"Wait here," he said as he started walking down the hall.

"Where are you going!?" JP asked.

"Testing an idea," Koji replied, continuing down the hall. He proceeded further into the hallway until he disappeared into the darkness. They waited silently for a few moments, staring at each other in confusion until they heard steps coming from behind them. They spun around to see Koji approaching them with his hand still on the wall. He stopped as soon as he saw them and grimaced. "Well, that's not good."

"How did you get back there?" Zoe asked.

"Great! The Guardian stuff gets more confusing! These guys must've annoying!" JP grumbled.

"I think we're trapped. Hang on," Koji said, turning around and walking with his hand still on the wall. As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared back into the darkness - only appearing once they heard footsteps coming from the direction he'd first gone. Zoe cursed when she finally understood what was happening while Tomoki and JP scratched their heads in confusion.

"How do you keep doing that?" Tomoki asked the older boy who just put a hand to his chin.

"I'm not. I think this place trapped us without us realizing," Koji said, taking off one of his shoes and throwing it as hard as he could back the way he came.

"What is with you guys and throwing your shoes?" Zoe asked, looking at JP for an explanation. His mouth fell open in stupor as he tried to protest, but Koji's shoe ended up hitting him in the back of the head before he could answer. JP grunted and massaged the back the of his head, annoyedly throwing the shoe back the way it came. If he expected to hit Koji, he failed because the boy caught it in his hand and slipped it back on.

"Do you have to be cool at everything you do?" JP's voice betrayed his jealousy.

"So…we're trapped. But how? Is this some kind of loop? How do we get out?" Zoe pondered, scratching her head.

"We could spirit evolve and just punch our way out," Tomoki produced his digivice and raised it over his head. Before he could even try to spirit evolve though, the floor suddenly disappeared from beneath them and they found themselves falling downwards into a dark abyss. Zoe hated the sensation of falling and shrieked at the top of her lungs, though it was more out of annoyance than fear. At this point, surprise falls really weren't terrifying. She just wished it would stop happening. Thankfully, it didn't last long as they landed onto a stone floor before a large dark room.

"WHEN WILL THAT STOP!?" Zoe roared at nothing in particularly, slamming a fist against the stone and immediately regretting her decision.

"Okay, where did we end up this time?" JP asked, sitting himself up and taking in the darkened room. There really wasn't much to this room that they could tell beyond the large wooden door in front of them and a stone pedestal behind them. If there was anything else, it was simply too dark for them to see.

"Right where I want you," came Zephyrmon's voice inside Zoe's head.

Before she could even process what that meant, the large wooden door behind them cracked open, illuminating the room in a bright white light. Wind howled as the door tried sucking them in. During that brief moment before the light became too blinding, Zoe could see the silhouette of Mercurymon standing beside the pedestal. But the light reflected off the mirrors on his body and blinded them.

"What's happening?" Tomoki shouted over the roar of the winds. Zoe could feel herself starting to slide along the ground, no longer able to stand against the pull of the door. And there was nothing for her to grab onto as she and the others found themselves pulled through the door.

"I'm giving you what you want. I'm sending you home. Forget this world and live your lives," Lucemon's voice echoed inside their heads one last time as they fell into the light.


Author's Notes: The digidestined have been sucked through a door, but where will it take them? Are they finally going home? And what about the Digimon Tamer? Will he be fine on his own? And how much longer can Ophanimon fend off Lucemon? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Taker v3.0 - Bold New Frontier due out in nine weeks on Friday, February 10th at 8 PM CDT. I'll be taking a small break through December to celebrate the holidays! Until then, leave a review to let me know what you think! And don't forget to follow the story to keep up with all the latest updates and to favorite to show support! That's all for now, until next time this is leonardo1123581321 signing out. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year everyone!