Yes, I know, I took forever to update this but reading over my old plans for this, I decided I wanted to work on it again. I miss these characters and the story I wanted to tell, so here we are.


8. Get the Gang Back Together

Even though the group was surrounding him, Matt had never felt more alone in his life than he did in this moment. Omnimon's words – his tone – a part of him was beginning to believe it. Maybe things would never be the same again. He forced himself to focus on the ongoing conversation at hand, but his thoughts kept pulling him back to the look he had seen in his friend's eyes. It was like they had never shared anything together – he could not see the semblance of the friend he had played his harmonica too, the one he had come through out of the Cave of Darkness with. If Gumdramon hadn't digivolved when he had to protect Dai, Omnimon might have…his friend might have crushed them all.

"Everyone," Izzy said gathering their attention. "I know what has transpired in the last few hours is definitely alarming. Daichi, Yukine and Misa meeting up with the digimon gaining digivices is indicative of them being new DigiDestined. I'm sure all of you," He rested his gaze on the children as he said this. "Are curious to know about what is happening as well as what a DigiDestined is."

"Course we are!" Dai said, clenching a fist, albeit kept his voice low since Doyomon was still sleeping beside him. The younger children such as Nao, Nobu and Shiro didn't really understand what was going on, so Noriko kept an eye on them while the rest of them talked.

"Mom and Dad said we'd find out more once we were all together," Yuki added in. "All of this is really confusing. I mean, from what we've seen, the digital world doesn't seem like a very nice place but that's because we've only seen the bad, right?"

"It definitely isn't anymore," DemiDevimon said frowning. "I mean, at least other digimon will help others like Mikemon or Gumdramon, but they'd rather throw me under the bus just because…" He trailed off but it was obvious to anyone what he was trying to say.

Matt had his doubts about trusting the digimon but from T.K. had said, this digimon was much different to the one they knew and not to mention, his niece was quite protective of him as well. Still, he wasn't sure where they could even start explaining.

"Why don't you start explaining from the beginning then?" MJ asked softly. "Dad has explained to me that his books weren't just fictional completely other than the names, of course."

Izzy nodded, glancing at Tai who was holding Mimi's hand in a loose grip. "Alright, well I'll try to make this as quick as possible as I'm also attempting to get a hold of Gennai if I can while I do this. Many years ago, when we were children, not much older than you, Tai, Matt, Joe, Mimi, Sora, T.K. and me were transported to the digital world from a summer camp we were all attending. Once there we met our digimon partners, similar to what DemiDevimon, Mikemon and Gumdramon are to Misa, Yukine and Daichi respectively. We didn't really understand what was happening at first, but we soon discovered that there was a prophecy about human children who would pair up with Digimon to save both the human and digital world. Kari joined us later as she had been sick at the time – but we soon learnt that the Digital World finds a way to bring their Chosen Ones to complete the task they are destined for. We ended up saving both the worlds somehow, but we had to say goodbye to our digimon then." He stopped for a moment, as if unsure of how to continue from there, face becoming visibly uncomfortable as he shifted in his seat.

"So, this Omnimon is the partner of my Dad and Tai?" Kaito said, forehead crinkled into a frown. Was he annoyed that this had been kept from them? Well, he was but he also knew how to prioritise. This was really not the time.

"Tai's digimon partner was Agumon, who warp-digivolved to Wargreymon," Izzy explained, relaxing slightly as he explained this. "Matt's digimon partner was Gabumon, who warp-digivolved to MetalGarurumon. They were our strongest fighters in the first adventure, and we managed to win most of our battles with them leading. However, one year after our final battle, a digimon appeared on the Internet, created from multiple viral bugs and while we were able to get Tai and Matt to both digivolve their digimon to Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon, our enemy was too strong for them. Tai and Matt's bond with each other and with their partners was so strong that it led to something called DNA Digivolution. Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon combined to form Omnimon."

There was silence after this and Kaito felt his mind whirling. No wonder his father was so upset by all this – that digimon – or at least one part of it was his best friend. Granted, he didn't understand that sort of bond not having a digimon partner of his own but seeing as how even his cousin had warmed up to the digimon in her arms, it must be something special. Something that could not be explained by logic. He wasn't too surprised about Dai and Yuki, the two were usually quick to make friends with pretty much anyone, after all. But MJ was different.

"That explains why M.J. is a DigiDestined, because Uncle TK was as well," Yuki began softly. "But my Dad, he's a DigiDestined too, right?"

Davis grinned. "Of course, I am, kiddo. Our story starts like two years after the battle with that digimon on the internet. There was trouble in the digital world again and that was when me, Yolei and Cody were chosen and met our own partners as well. T.K. and Kari joined us to because their digimon had the ability to armour-digivolve and due to some reasons, digimon couldn't digivolve the normal way at the time either."

"Daddy, weren't you a hero too?" Nao asked, grabbing his Dad's sleeve shyly, not understanding too much about what was going on. The kid was smart though – Matt had to hand it to him, given that even though he didn't understand the details, he did understand the fact that his mother was some sort of hero.

"I joined your Mom and the others a little bit later, like Kari did," Ken said, picking his son up in his arms and holding him close, tousling his hair.

"We can talk more about the why and how of that later," Izzy said, speaking up again. "Right now, we need to not only know the current position of the digital world, but we also need to know what to do to bring Omnimon back and how he became corrupted in the first place. So Mikemon, DemiDevimon, I think it's your turn since Doyomon is resting."

DemiDevimon had never liked words and didn't even know where to start, but normally being on the outside, he did witness things that Mikemon probably hadn't. "Everything was peaceful for a long time, but darkness overtook the digital world suddenly. No one knows who Daemon works for or who that human child by his side is, only that something in them spread darkness all over the digital world. Digimon began dying, falling into coma's, some digimon would even get corrupted and begin fighting each other. Daemon didn't seem to know why but there were certain digimon that weren't affected, myself included in that. The darkness was exhausting and made me feel tired, but it didn't make me ill or corrupted, nor did I end up getting deleted from it. From what Mikemon's told me in the information she got from Gennai though was that those digimon who can armour-digivolve are safe from the effects of this darkness."

"Armour-digivolution is something that can only happen with certain type of digimon," Izzy mused to himself. "So, it does make sense that those digimon would have something special about them. I've been researching artificial intelligence and the digital world for years and while I've come up with a lot when it comes to the process of evolution as well as the bond between DigiDestined and their digimon partner, Armour evolution is still a mystery. Even the way Gumdramon digivolved earlier was not a normal digivolution, so it would also explain why DemiDevimon, Mikemon and Gumdramon were not affected by the darkness either."

"What does this have to do with Omnimon though?" Matt said, a bit of impatience seeping into his tone. "I know he can't armourdigivolve so was his data corrupted?"

"How did he even become Omnimon without the two of us?" Tai asked. "I mean, I know from what we've seen enemies can make our digimon digivolve by force, but shouldn't it be harder to make them DNA Digivolve, Izzy?"

"I'm not sure," Izzy admitted honestly. "DemiDevimon, Mikemon, do either of you know how Daemon was able to get a hold of Omnimon?"

"Agumon and Gabumon were captured individually," DemiDevimon said honestly. "I'm not sure how they became Omnimon but from what the rumours say, the experimentation done on the digimon can force digivolution. So, it is possible that Daemon probably found a way to force Agumon and Gabumon into becoming Omnimon. I don't know much about the experimentation or what is done to a digimon when they are brought into the care of Daemon and Sam Ichijouji, the human working with him, but most digimon who go into their care don't come out quite the same. It's not the same as how the darkness corrupts those digimon but there's nothing similar about them to what they were before they went into that care."

"S-Sam…Sam Ichijouji?" Mirei said, eyes widening. The oldest daughter of Ken and Yolei Ichijouji had been silent up until now, her purple eyes flickering at the name that was said. "Did you say Sam Ichijouji?"

"Are you saying Sam is alive?" Ken asked, own face pale as well as he stared at the smaller digimon. "And that…that Daemon raised him?"