Sonic, Takumi and Rapidmon approached Arata who was watching Knuckles who faced a bunch of Koco with hardhats. "Hey Arata." Sonic waved. "How's it going man?"

"Fine." Arata quickly replied. "We're just…trying to sort this out."

Sonic looked at the Koco gathered around Knuckles and aproached the Echidna. "What's up?"

Knuckles turned around to look at him. "These Koco are supposed to link up with another unit, but an enemy has them pinned down here."

"We were busting our heads trying to figure out what to do with them." Arata said. "But I think with your help we can get them to safety."

Sonic squinted. "Aren't you two supposed to be helping find the Emeralds?"

"We can do both. Hurry up if you want in on the fight!" Knuckles said.

The Koco looked up and scattered. "What's gotten into them?" Takumi asked.

Rapidmon looked up. "I think I can guess." Multiple Towers descended around them.

"Oh, great." Sonic groaned. "I guess that's the enemy."

"We need to get those Koco to their allies STAT!" Knuckles said. "Arata, you go on ahead and check to see if the rout to the main force is safe!"

"On it." Arata nodded before running on ahead.

"Sonic, grab those Koco! Terriemron-I mean Gargomon- I mean-

"Rapidmon." Takumi said.

"Right, Rapidmon, you trash those robots! Takumi, you and I will hold this spot as a rallying point for the soldiers!"

"Whatever you say, boss man." Sonic ran ahead as Rapidmon flew towards the Towers.

"I should help them." Takumi said.

Just as he was about to step forward Knuckles held his hand out in front of them. "They'll be fine. More importantly, you and I need to talk."

"Now? About what?"

"About what that last vision showed regarding Arata."

Takumi felt himself freeze. "Oh, right…you saw that too."

"I did." Knuckles replied. "Ever since then I've been trying to question Arata about it, and he refuses to say anything. What was that? Why did he merge with that Eater?! He even absorbed that Gallantmon guy!"

"Hey, too be fair, Gallantmon kinda attacked him first." Takumi replied glancing to the side.

"That is so not the point! Why did Arata do all that?! And why did he become so obsessed with power!?"

Takumi turned away. "That's personal business."

"Look Takumi, I want to trust that you and Arata are the good guys in this mess even if only because it's clear we share enemies, but I'm not as trusting as Sonic! Arata's actions back then reminded me all too much of my ancestors who would trample over the lives of others for power! Can't you at least tell me his reason for doing all that?!"

Takumi sighed. "…That's a pretty deep scar to pick at."

"Any deeper then telling you about my clan's dark history?"

Takumi looked at Knuckles. "Well, when you put it that way…" He gathered his thoughts. "…I'd rather not talk about it if the visions we've been having are just going to show it anyway. So how about this: if you don't see for yourself what happened that day by the time we get that last Emerald, I'll tell you. That sound fair?"

Knuckles looked at him in the eye for a bit. "…Fair enough. But I'm holding you too that."

"I know."

"Coming through!" Sonic grunted lifting a giant stack of all the Koco. Behind him Rapidmon shot the last Towers to pieces. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?" He dropped the Koco off in front of them.

"No, nothing." Knuckles replied as Rapidmon flew to them. "Good, all of the Koco are safe and sound." Two of them rolled up to him and made sounds. "Hmm?" Knuckles looked at him. "You found something out there? What is it?"

The two Koco spun around, and the green Chaos Emerald floated above one. A Digi-Orb around another. "That's another orb and the third Chaos Emerald!" Takumi exclaimed as he collected the Digi-Orb.

The gem floated over to Sonic. "Oh yeah!" He grabbed it and did his little victory dance with two Koco spinning around him.

Knuckles smiled at the Koco. "Nice work soldiers! Now let's link up with the main force!"

"Yeah, you make a great supervisor, Knux. Maybe try fighting next time, though?" Sonic chuckled. Knuckles growled at him.

The floating girl watched from above. "He is aware of what the Koco are, isn't he? Why does he try to help them when their fate is already decided?"

Arata ran up to them. "The route's secure boss. No enemies in sight between here and the rendezvous point."

"Excellent." Knuckles said.

Arata looked around. "Still…aside from the Koco, this island seems deserted. Was it the same for the island you guys found Nokia on?"

"Yeah. We've seen a lot of the Ancient's buildings on both islands, but nobody's home." Sonic replied.

Takumi put a hand on his chin. "Judging by how much they decayed and how much nature has taken over them, I'd say they've been gone for a very, VERY long time."

"Yeah." Knuckles nodded. "Longer than any civilization we know of."

"What do you think happened to them?" Rapidmon asked.

"Who knows…" Arata looked into the distance of the island. "I'd like to think they just moved on from these tiny islands and found somewhere else to settle rather then them just being…you know."

"Me too…" Takumi replied.

Knuckles looked around him. "Some of the active technology seems to be built for storing and protecting the Chaos Emeralds. Comparing that to what's on Angel Island… I feel like I was drawn here for a reason."

"Maybe."

Arata noticed the Koco bouncing around and aproached. "Alright, that's enough horsing around." They all assembled. "Okay, we're heading to the rendezvous point men. There are no enemies stationed nearby, but let's not let our guard down. And remember, stick together! Nobody's getting left behind! Got it?!" The Koco nodded. "Good. Let's move out!"

Sonic smiled as the Koco marched and walked up to Arata. "You got some good leading skills Arata."

"Well, he was the leader of Jude." Knuckles replied.

Arata looked down. "…Huh. And to think I told myself never again…"

"Arata…" Takumi looked at him.

The boy sighed. "Forget it. Come on, let's get moving."

They followed the Koco for a while. Soon they came across a damaged wall. "This is the place." Knuckles said.

Rapidmon paused. "Wait."

Everyone stopped to look at him. "What's wrong?" Takumi asked.

"I'm sensing something…"

"An enemy?" Everyone looked up when a red screen appeared in the sky above them and blinded them in light. When it died down, everything was reddish. Sonic, Takumi and Rapidmon looked at Knuckles and Arata who looked at themselves as they were solid once more.

"What's going on?" Arata asked.

Rapidmon looked ahead. "Look!" In place of the Koco were now a bunch of Ancients marching towards their commander. To their right were a series of stone columns. The Ancient in front of them swung his arm and massive walls rose up between the columns. The Ancients cheered as they marvelled at the massive walls defending them.

"Sonic and I experienced something like this on the last island!" Takumi said.

Sonic nodded. "We're somehow seeing a battle form the past."

"Those defences are impressive!" Knuckles smiled in awe. "Maybe I should get some notes for my island?"

"Yeah, I'd hate to be whoever has to try to get around a wall like that." Arata grinned.

Then the ground shook. The Ancients nearly toppled over. Massive red lasers rained down from the sky making huge explosions. The soldiers started to panic. "What is that?!" Takumi asked. The Ancients looked up at the sky and a red beam blew across the walls before making a massive explosion. After a red flash, Knuckles and Arata were holographic again. But more alarmingly, the wall they saw had a huge hole. A white pattern was in the sky.

Knuckles and Arata ran over to the Koco. Takumi and Sonic walked up to them as they kneeled in front of the motionless stones half buried in the sand. "You've gotta be kidding me…" Arata sighed.

"I guess the defences didn't hold after all." Knuckles said.

Sonic looked around and then closed his eyes. Rapidmon exhaled. Takumi's gaze was on the hole in the wall. "What was that thing? Come to think of it, the last time we saw this it looked like the last island was attacked by something too. Who or what were the Ancients fighting?"

In Cyber Space, Eggman was laughing while seated in his vehicle. The girl was floating just above the road the masked man stood on as she continued her story. "Then the robot hit him again!" Eggman laughed harder.

The masked man chuckled then walked towards her. "Okay, I think we should leave it at that for now."

The girl looked at him. "Why?"

"I think the good doctor is enjoying this report a bit too much. He laughs any harder than this he might pull a muscle."

Eggman claimed down. "You know what? Fair point. As much as I'm enjoying this, I've done that before." He smiled at the girl. "Besides, I'll have all the time in the world to enjoy your battle reports once we're home."

The girl tilted her head. "Home?"

"I'll integrate you into my system. Give you control of the whole EggNet! I'll have you network all my robots." He folded his arms and turned his vehicle slightly to the side. "You'll be a refreshing change of pace from Orbot and Cubot."

The girl looked at her hand. "They are your creations, like me." The girl said looking at her hand. "That would make them like… my brothers?"

Eggman faced her. "Hmm. I suppose so."

The girl held her hand at her chest and smiled. "I look forward to that."

The masked man looked at them and put his hands in his coat pockets. "Heh."

Sonic was running with Takumi flying on Rapidmon next to him. As they aproached a small pond, they saw a gate. "There!" Sonic dashed up to it and put a gear inside activating it. He, Takumi and Rapidmon used it to access Cyber Space once more.

Takumi and Rapidmon stood in a city with alarms going off and fire everywhere. "This is…Odaiba."

"Yeah…" Rapidmon said. "So, our next opponent is…Examon."

Takumi cringed. "Wonderful. And not only are you doing it alone, but you're also not even in Mega form."

"Well, then again, those cores and all our experiences after I became a Mega Level Digimon have made me far stronger than I ever was in this form before. Plus, don't forget, Examon was weakened by Eaters."

"True." Takumi folded his arms. "And if this is from after Kyoko's plan to weaken him further…"

"Well, like it or not, we have no choice but to try now." Rapidmon said.

"Wait…" Takumi thought for a moment. "We're not far from the Rainbow Bridge…and all of this is just a copy anyway…I think I got and idea."

"I'm all ears."

Sonic had spent most of this run through Cyber Space on rails. Very long rails. He grinded on one last large one that curved and led him to a slanted land with dash pads. He jumped up and zoomed over to the portal.

Takumi climbed up a large building with Rapidmon at his side. As they reached the helipad, they saw a giant red and white dragon with massive wings wielding a gigantic black lance. "Wonderful." Rapidmon sighed. "It IS Examon."

"But look." Takumi pointed at it. Its body had holes with white and black coming from them and it's breathing was labored. "Judging from the state he's in…this is when we weakened him. It'll be tough without the Arata and our other partners…but if we play this carefully and my plan works, we just might be able to pull this off."

"Let's hope you're right."

Examon flapped his wings and got some distance. "Here we go Rapidmon!"

"Alright!" Rapidmon took flight and soared towards Examon. The dragon tried to bite him, but he flew back and escaped being the dragon's lunch and shot him with missiles. "Rapid Fire!"

The monster staggered a bit before turning back at Rapidmon. "PENDRADON'S GLORY!" It reeled back its gigantic lance.

"Watch out!" Takumi yelled.

"Yipe!" Rapidmon flew up narrowly evading the attack. But then Examon's other hand came down and smacked him back onto the rooftop. "Agh! Weakened twice and this thing still hits like fifty trucks!"

"Remember, you just have to aggravate it!"

Rapidmon got back on his feet. "Well let's see…what's aggravating. Wait, I know. Homing Blast!" He fired missiles from his back, and they hit the dragon right in the eyes. It howled in pain. "There ya go! Aggravated as planned!"

Once the beast moved its hands from its eyes it snarled at Rapidmon and Takumi. "…If anything, I think that worked a little TOO well." Takumi murmured.

Examon flew high into the air and in a circle. "DRAGONIC IMPACT!"

"Say…from that angle…" Rapidmon said. "…Aw, nuts." The dragon charged at them burning red and Rapidmon grabbed Takumi and flew up as Examon slammed into the building shattering it. Rapidmon and Takumi looked at the remains. "Yup, I think we made him a little too mad."

Takumi climbed onto his shoulder. "Well, at least we made him mad. Alright, as we planned!"

"Got it!" Rapidmon flew off. Examon roared before following. Rapidmon stayed low flying between building. Examon just plowed through them. "Man, REALLY glad this is all fake and not the real city or we'd have a lot of people ticked off with us for this!"

"Yeah, that's why I didn't think of this last time. Here we don't need to worry about collateral damage."

"Am I going the right way?"

"Yeah, the bridge is just ahead. But for this to work we need to get him into the water."

"Uh, Takumi, can you breathe underwater?"

"I'll hold my breath, just stick to the plan!" Rapidmon soon reached an ocean. He descended to dodged Exemon as he flew past them with his lance out.

Rapidmon then scanned ahead of him in the distance. A large bridge was stationed ahead. "That's the one, right?"

"The Rainbow Bridge." Takumi nodded. "You'll only have one shot at this. Make it count."

"Don't worry, you know I don't miss." They heard a roar and looked behind them as Examon turned around and started coming towards them again. "I just hope you can hold your breath long enough!" Takumi put on his goggles as Rapidmon moved forward again and started to descend while moving ahead. Just before they touched the water Takumi took a deep breath and held on tight to Rapidmon as they submerged. Examon dived after them. Rapidmon kept going as fast as he could. Examon wasn't slowing down. Rapidmon calculated carefully before aiming his arm cannons forward diagonally and fired a Rapid Fire to the upper left and right. In doing so, they slowed down and Examon started to close the gap. But just as it reached out to grab them, an entire bridge came down and slammed onto his head. The shock of the impact made him sink as water started pouring into his mouth fast. Rapidmon barley got away from the sinking wreckage then noticed Takumi couldn't hold his breath any longer and went straight up. As soon as they surfaced Takumi gasped for fresh air. "You okay?" the Digimon asked.

Takumi panted and nodded before lifting his goggles from his eyes. He looked down to where the bridge the missiles hit was before they sent it sinking onto Examon. "I'm SO glad that wasn't the real Rainbow Bridge, the authorities would want us dead for that."

"Even if it was to stop a rampaging Examon?" Rapidmon asked. "I'm just glad that worked. Good plan, bro."

Takumi stared at the water a bit longer. Then he saw a shadow growing from within. "Oh, come on!"

Examon roared as he rose his upper body out of the ocean. He collapsed against the land breathing hard. "Are you serious?!" Rapidmon yelled. "What does it take?!"

"Well, that clearly weakened him further. We might have a chance!"

Examon looked up at the two. It couldn't get itself up or fly, but there was one thing it could do. It opened its mouth and it glowed red. "Uh, oh." Rapidmon and Takumi murmured. A humongous fireball came at them, and they barley evaded it. One after another more fireballs came at them, and they dodged them all the best they could.

Takumi had a thought as Examon opened his mouth and gathered fire again. "Rapidmon, the next time he starts charging fire in its mouth with everything you got!"

"Okay!" Rapidmon dodged the next fireball and aimed at Examon as he opened his mouth again. "Rapid Fire! Homing Blast!" A barrage of missiles into its mouth. When they exploded, Examon screeched in pain as smoke rose out from his mouth. "TRI-BEAM!" Rapidmon gathered energy and shot a green blast into Examon's mouth that pushed him back into the water. Rapidmon panted as he and Takumi watched it sink quietly back into the ocean. "Please tell me it's over."

Takumi stared at the water worried that Examon would come out again. But then he saw a flash and looked up. A Digi-Orb dropped down into his hands. "I think that did it."

"Phew!" Rapidmon deflated. "If I never see Examon again I will be a very happy Digimon."

"I hear you." Takumi groaned. They then saw a portal above them. "Looks like we're done here."

"Cool! Let's get outta here!" Rapidmon flew them straight into it.

The first thing the vision showed was Keisuke and Arata defeating Arcadiamon. Ryuji dropped to his knees, but his rage had not subsided. He demanded answers from Arata for abandoning Jude. Arata then gave him the answer he had long forgotten. "The truth is, when I was a kid, I failed to protect my friend."

Both Keisuke and Ryuji were in shock. "What?" Arata then explained how while he didn't remember those events, what happened to Jude brought back the feeling. And that he had to leave to protect those in Jude. He then told Ryuji that he in fact could have led the team in his place. Hudie's success was proof of that. And then Ryuji finally said what he could never bring himself too before. "Jude is long gone."

"That's right." Arata turned around. "I'm going to retake the place where I belong. Goodbye Ryuji." He walked away but stopped briefly next to Keisuke. "I've done my part. Now do what you want."

The scene then changed to Arata contacting Takumi to meet him alone. Takumi returned to the building where Examon was. Now the dragon was exhausted. And Takumi appeared in time to watch Arata absorb an Eater. "Arata!"

The boy grinned. "Ah, here you are. I've been waiting. I'll take care of that big thing first." Takumi was far more concerned over Arata rather then Examon. Arata telling him how he could now devour anything didn't really help. Or that it sounded like he couldn't stop himself. "The strange thing is, it's not as bad as I might've thought. For whatever that's worth."

Takumi gritted his teeth. "That really doesn't help."

"Does that repulse you? I suppose it would have to." After a fierce battle, Examon was left to lean against the building. "Haha… This one's way too big for me! I'm never going to be able to eat it all!" Arata laughed.

Takumi just stared at him. "…Arata…"

"What's that? Something you want to say?" Takumi couldn't find the words. Arata looked down. "I know what you want to say anyway. I mean it's been on my mind too. The thought that Suedou could be using me." The more Takumi heard from Arata the more unnerved he became. "I've disappointed you, haven't I? We got along so well, up until now. But look… I'm changing."

As his friend turned round to leave, Takumi reached out to him. "Arata, wait!"

"I'm no longer the person I once was." Arata jumped off the building.

Takumi watched where he left for a bit longer. "Arata…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before putting on a determined face. "I'm not giving up on you that easily."

The next thing the vision showed was the most disturbing one. It was the five kids back in the Digital World. Now facing an Eater that had a young Yuugo cornered. The other four kids watched in horror as it slammed on top of the boy with his arm sticking out. The young Arata was in shock. "Yuu… go?"

"We… We gotta help him…" Nokia sniffled. "We… gotta help him, fast…"

"Help… him?" Arata stared at Yuugo's arm. "Ack! There's nothing we can do! There's no time!"

"No!" Takumi was running towards the Eater but Arata blocked him.

"We have to give up! There's no way! Otherwise, we'll be… We'll be next!"

"We can't leave him behind!"

"Shut up!" Arata pushed him back. "We need to go! We need to get outta here! Running's all we can do!" After forcing his friends back into the portal, they came from he looked back at the trapped Yuugo. When he saw his arm move, he ran into the hole screaming.

Back in EDEN the four children stared where the hole was as Arata mumbled to himself. "This is… cyberspace. It's not reality. Which means that Yuugo—the real Yuugo—must be safe." He covered his teary eyes with his hand. "I watched out for all of you. It was all I could do… All I could do…"

As the vision ended Sonic, Takumi and Rapidmon came back. Sonic collected the keys. "That Examon was quite the beast to topple." Sonic said. "Even after you weakened it."

"Yeah." Takumi replied. He spotted Arata and Knuckles nearby. "I take it you two saw all that as well?"

"Unfortunately." Arata replied.

Knuckles sighed. "Takumi…forget what you promised me. I think I've seen enough. And Arata…I owe you an apology. I should have suspected whatever drove you to that wasn't pleasant."

"It's okay, I get it. How could you not be uneasy after seeing what I did? I thought I was finally working to correct my mistake back then…but all I did was create new ones…"

"Arata…" Takumi looked at him sadly. "…If it weren't for you, I would have rushed off to save Yuugo only to share his fate."

"At least you weren't the first to chicken out."

"At least you weren't the one who brought that monster into existence." Takumi looked away.

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked.

"Don't listen to him, he's just looking for an excuse to take the blame for everything." Arata replied.

"But it was my fault." Takumi said ashamed. "Sometimes I wounder if you guys were better off not meeting me when we were kids…" Takumi felt something on his shoulder and turned around as Rapidmon whacked him in the face with his arm. Takumi collapsed onto the ground and winced. "Ow! Rapidmon, what'd you do that for!?"

"Someone had to do it, and Arata's a ghost right now." Rapidmon replied. "Takumi, what will it take for you to accept you were just a victim of circumstance?! You didn't want any of that to happen, it was out of your hands!"

"But I-

"But nothing!" Rapidmon stomped his foot in front of him. "Think Takumi! If you didn't open the way to the Digital World, we never would have met! Before we meet you, Palmon, Hagurumon and I were nothing special! Just a bunch of weak kids with no purpose in life who got picked on by everyone bigger than us! But when you saved us from that Kurusarimon that day, you showed us how to be strong! How to be brave! You made us special. I wouldn't give that or you away for anything!"

"Rapidmon…"

"I'm glad you came to the Digital World. I'm glad I got to meet my big brother. I don't care what bad we had to go through because I had you with me for all of it." Rapidmon offered his hand to Takumi. "And I want to stay by your side."

Takumi stared at him a bit longer before he smiled and took his hand. Rapidmon pulled him up. "Thanks, little brother."

"So, we good now?" Sonic grinned before pointing to a glowing yellow light in the sky. "Because it looks like we got another Emerald to grab."

"Yeah." Takumi smiled. "Let's go."

Rapidmon froze. "I feel something…stirring in me…"

Takumi put on his goggles. He smiled at his Digimon and made an input closing his eyes. "Here we go."

The Digi-Orbs circled around Rapidmon as he ascended and glowed green. "Rapidmon Digivolve to…" His arms disintegrated and new giant metal arms with massive green hand came out of his body. Two halves of giant dark barrels clamped down around both his forearms. Then his legs shattered and he green new ones with green bear feet. Green cylinders slammed onto his shins. His torso transformed to be much larger with green armor. Yellow faces popped out of the giant cylinders on his shoulders. Then his head disappeared and a new one rose up. It was similar to a bear, and it had a green helmet with fins and blue eyes. Takumi opened his eyes and looked up with Sonic, Knuckles and Arata as they took in this incredible new form. Takumi's Digimon spun and kicked into the air. Electricity flew behind him before he slammed onto the ground. "MegaGargomon!"

"Whoa! Talk about heavy metal!" Knuckles said.

"Yeah, that is some heavy firepower." Sonic grinned. "Omega would be jealous."

Takumi smiled. "Ready to go, pall?"

MegaGargomon reached his hand down to Takumi. "Ready." Talkumi climbed on and MegaGargomon put him on his shoulder before flying towards the light. Sonic ran ahead.

Knuckles smiled at them. "They truly are a family, those two."

Arata grinned. "Yeah. The bond Takumi has with Digimon is something special."

The floating girl and masked man were back in Cyber Space with Eggman. "I have confirmed Sonic along with Takumi Aiba and his Digimon have made multiple breaches into Cyber Space and escaped."

The masked man groaned with a hand at his forehead. "Which is driving me up a wall. Again, for Takumi it makes some sort of sense given his experience with that Connect Jump ability. Maybe it means his Mental Data is more adjusted to traveling through unique systems? And Digimon are digital beings to begin with so no surprise his Digimon's pulling this off. But I haven't a clue how that blue hedgehog in shoes is able to get in and out of Cyber Space freely while Arata, Nokia and you are all stuck! How's he doing this?!"

Eggman folded his arms. "Through raw talent and no shortage of tenacity, I'm sure. Impressive."

The two looked at the doctor in surprise. "You speak of him with respect as often as you curse him." the girl said. "I do not understand."

"Yeah." the masked man replied. "Don't take this the wrong way but…are we sure you hate him?"

"Oh, I hate that hedgehog." Eggman slammed his hands on his vehicle. "But that doesn't change the fact that he is a formidable adversary. I respect him, but I don't have to like him."

"Your genius. His skill." the girl whispered to herself. "If only you two could work together…" Eggman didn't hear her, but the masked man did.

Takumi, MegaGargomon, Knuckles, and Arata watched Sonic take the yellow Chaos Emerald. They were standing on a platform in the air. As Sonic put it away, he walked over and turned to Knuckles. "What do you think of these weird spires being used to contain the Emeralds?"

Arata looked at the vault. "I dunno…judging by the light of the Emeralds coming out of them and the structure of them I don't think they're meant for containment."

"Arata's right." Knuckles replied. "I think they're meant to protect them. Even harness their power."

"Harness…" Takumi murmured. "Would they work for a power source to live off of?"

"Totally. You've experienced yourself the limitless power of the Chaos Emeralds. Even if they didn't have them all, a couple would've provided more than enough energy to live comfortably."

"Enough to power the ruins, Cyber Space…" Sonic pondered.

Takumi looked at the empty shrine. "So, if the Ancients did rely on the Chaos Emeralds…say they somehow lost access to them, would that cause them to die out?"

"That seems possible." Arata replied. "If they relied on them too much and then lost them, that would make life difficult."

MegaGargomon turned around. "I'm picking up something on radar. Another large target."

"Okay, let's get it." Sonic said. "We could always use more Gears." MegaGargomon picked Takumi up as Sonic climbed onto him and they took off.

After a bit of flying MegaGargomon stopped. "It should be around here."

Takumi leaned over and put a hand above his eyes while staring at sand. "Where? I don't see anything."

Sonic jumped off and looked around. "Yeah, I'm not seeing anything either." He then noticed a red light pointing at him and dodged a blast from some stationary robot with a long point. He then charged into it and kicked it with a Grand Slam and it was destroyed. He looked back up at MegaGargomon. "That wasn't so tough. I think you got sand in your sensors there, big guy."

MegaGargomon checked his radar again. "That wasn't it." Then he found his target, under the ground Sonic stood on. "Sonic, move!"

Sonic felt the ground under him rumble and looked down. "Huh? Oh, man!" He moved away just as a giant metal shark rose out of the sand. The Guardian known as Shark flew high into the air then dove back into the sand. Sonic looked around and rolled away as the Shark came out again. He jumped and used a Homing Attack on the tail.

Just when MegaGargomon was about to shoot he stopped when he saw Sonic holding onto the tail. "What the heck are you doing?!" Takumi asked.

Sonic grinned. "Going for a ride." The Shark slammed into the ground and sawm through the sand with Sonic sliding behind it on his feet holding the tail. The Shark swerved back and forth, but whenever Sonic felt he was about to be shaken off he leaned to the sides and readjusted his grip.

"That guy's crazier than Rina!" Takumi groaned as he watched the Shark carry Sonic off. "Come on, we need to go after him!"

"I hear ya." MegaGargomon flew after them.

The Shark leapt into the air. "Woohoo!" Sonic laughed as they soared before landing. The Shark shot misses into the air that then landed into the sand. The Shark turned around and tried to lean its tail towards them to bump Sonic into them, but the hedgehog leaned away from them.

Rapidmon locked onto his target. The faces on his shoulders opened up into turrets and the chest plates opened up. "Don't risk hitting Sonic!" Takumi said. "Try to startle it!"

"Gotchya! Mega Barrage!" He fired missiles from all over his body. They soared towards. They exploded all around the Guardian and it shook back and forth as it slowed down. Sonic jumped and hit the body with a Homing Attack, and it was blasted into the sky before collapsing. Sonic jumped and used a Homing Shot, sending multiple blue spheres at it. "Outa the way hedgehog!" MegaGargomon yelled as he flew in towards them. Sonic jumped aside. "Power Pummel!" He slammed his fist into the Shark tearing it to pieces in an instant.

Sonic was blown back from the impact. "…Oh yeah. Omega, eat your heart out. I just hope you didn't break that gear."

Takumi jumped down and dug through the sand and rubble. "Ah ha!" He lifted the Gear out and brushed off the sand. "Still in one piece!"

"Heh, heh!" MegaGargomon grinned as he and Takumi bumped fists.

Takumi then heard his Digivice ring and put it on. "Arata?"

"Yo, Knuckles and I found more Koco, but it sounds like they're in a jam. You mind helping out? I'll send you our location."

After he hung up Takumi looked at the map. "What's up?" Sonic asked walking over.

"It sounds like Arata and Knuckles need our help with something regarding more Koco. Let's go check it out."

In front of some kind of temple, a bunch of Koco with more army hats whimpered. "I don't care if you're afraid!" Knuckles said. "Those are your people out there!"

"He's right, imagine how terrified they are right now!" Arata added.

Sonic stopped behind them. "Hey coach, what's with the pep talk?" Knuckles growled at him while MegaGargomon landed behind Sonic and let Takumi down.

"What's going on?" the Cyber Sleuth asked.

"With defences down the troops are supposed to fall back to a bunker nearby." Arata said. "But about most of the men are still unaccounted for."

"Then, the Cyber Sleuth and I will round-up the stragglers and you supervise with Geekta here commander." Sonic replied.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow temporarily. "That sounds… that sounds good."

The masked man was looking at a blue screen watching a simulation. Once it concluded he pushed it aside angerly. "This one's no good."

The girl floated next to him. "That is the last option we have considered. Is there…no way?"

"No, we've gotta be missing something." the man replied pulling up another monitor. "There has to be a way."

"How can you be certain?"

"Because I'm a hacker. I make my own options. If something's in my way, I'll get through it. That's what my brothers taught me."

"You're brothers? The data I have on you states you are an only child."

"I mean the brothers that taught me what I know."

The girl stared at him. "You spoke of something like this before. A family made of something other than genetics. The one you wanted to see again…is she also part of this "family"?"

The man stopped what he was doing. "She…she's the most important person to me."

"I see. Is that what gives you this drive? The factor that makes you a family?"

"I suppose it does."

The girl looked at her hand. "Then is that what is driving me to protect him…?"

Takumi, Arata, and MegaGargomon looked at the Koco they gathered. Knuckles stared up at the ruins near them giving him a flashback of his first meeting with Sonic and Tails. Sonic aproached him looking at the ruins. "Is this the place?" He got no response. "Yo, Knux?"

Takumi came over with Arata. "Something wrong?" Takumi asked.

"Sonic, this… this looks like the ruins from back home." Knuckles said. "What if the people of these islands survived and resettled on Angel Island?"

"You think that's possible?" MegaGargomon asked.

Takumi thought for a moment. "If you're right… That would explain how you found that Gear and gate back on Agnel Island."

"You know, something else occurred to me…" Sonic said. "You two remember how Knuckles and I brought up Chaos? The previous guardian of the Emeralds? The Ancients we saw in those flashbacks kinda looked like him."

"So maybe Chaos is a descendant of the Ancients then?" Arata asked. "That would back up your theory. That would also explain why he was guarding the Chaos Emeralds from way back then too. I bet the Ancients took them with them to your island."

"That'd make this pretty important." Sonic said as one of the marching Koco stopped and looked to his left. He jumped up and screamed. He and the rest of the Koco started to panic. "That's… not a GOOD sound." Sonic said as the Koco stared running away.

"What's going on?!" Arata asked.

MegaGargomon sensed something on his radar and looked to the left. "Incoming!" Four Towers came down in front of the ruins. "More approaching from behind them! Big ones!"

Takumi put his goggles on and zoomed in. A Shark, a Tank, a Strider and a Sumo were all coming towards them. "You're not kidding."

"They're going to assault the bunker!" Arata said.

Knuckles was about to spring into action but then he looked at himself realising he was in no state to act. He looked up at the ruins that reminded him of home. "I can't… I can't lose this…"

Arata looked at the terrified Koco then at the Guardians. Memories flowed into his head of the Knightmon attacking his friends in Under Zero and the Eater that got Yuugo. "No… Why is it happening again…?" He asked in a cracking voice. "Am I just going to have to watch everything fall apart again?!"

Sonic stepped forward. "We've got this guys."

Takumi nodded as he jumped onto MegaGargomon's hand who put him back on his shoulder. "We'll take care of the enemies. You two keep the Koco safe. Sonic, you take the pillars in front of us! MegaGargomon and I will take the other ones behind them! Let's go!"

"Right!" MegaGargomon ascended. "You chumps want this bunker?! You go through us!"

"Takumi… Sonic…" Arata watched MegaGargomon fly off as Sonic dashed.

Knuckles turned around to them. "Thank you."

Sonic started running towards the first Tower. It rose up and slammed into the ground in front of him black spikes rose up around it. Sonic jumped over them and started running up the Tower. Once he was on the top, he used a Homing Attack on it. The Shark was the first to approach MegaGargomon. It leapt up at the Mega Level Digimon. "Catch it before it can hide in the sand!" Takumi said.

MegaGargomon moved aside from the pounce then grabbed it by the tail. "Mega Twister!" He spun the Shark around before throwing it into the Sumo making both of them stumble to the ground. "Mega Barrage!" It let lose as salvo of missiles that all came in and blew both of them up. The Tank then whipped up a sandstorm and vanished into it.

Takumi grinned. "That won't work this time."

MegaGargomon's eyes turned red as his vision became a radar that soon spotted the enemy spinning towards them in flame. "Target Locked" appeared over a triangle that closed around it. MegaGargomon's thrusters activated, and he charged towards the Tank. "Saint Tackle!" He charged into the Tank knocking it out of the air and it slammed to the ground as the sandstorm died out. "Power Pummel!" MegaGargomon came down and brought his fist on top of it shattering it. Sharp rings were flung towards him, but he knocked them aside with his arm then turned to the Strider. "Gargo Missiles!" The two faces on his shoulders came out as two giant warheads that flew straight into the Strider's core and detonated it.

"Alright!" Takumi cheered. As the smoke cleared, he caught a glimpse of something shining in the sand where the Strider was. "Huh?"

Sonic climbed up the last Tower and stomped it, making it crumble apart. "That's the end of that." He looked up to see MegaGargomon returning. "Yo, guys! You sure made short work of those things!"

"Yeah, and guess what one of them had!" Takumi tossed the turquoise Chaos Emerald down to Sonic.

"Yes!" Sonic danced and held it up. "Two more to go!"

Two more chapters and we're done with Ares Island. Next week we wrap up with Cyber Space here.