Hey, gang. Welcome back. Been a while, but I am ready to kick things back into gear. Armed with a new typewriter that I got for my birthday last weekend, I'm ready to churn out chapters at a more consistent rate this time. So updates will be consistent once again. The next chapter is also halfway done. For now, enjoy as things progress more. You'll love what's coming.

Enjoy!

The sky stirred with the makings of another dark, dreary day. Master Gennai had lost count of how many days of darkness he had lived under since he first came into being. Ever since his previous life passed on and he was "born" so the human kids had told him, every day was full of unending darkness in the Digital World. This one would be no different.

He hated having to venture out into the world above from the safety of his house under the lake. He'd never know who was watching him or whether they were a spy for King Drasil. Ever since King Drasil took over, Digimon had disappeared left and right for questioning on his whereabouts. It was safer to stay hidden and live a life of unending exile. There was also the matter of King Drasil's mysterious assassin he had heard so much about. He'd never seen any trace of the assassin, but he knew it was out there looking for him.

Despite his reservations about going to the surface, it was an important step for the young humans that were in his care. It was time for them to construct their sabers. He was surprised at just how fast their progress had been after all the complaining and backtalk early on. Master Gennai was very pleased with them and himself. He hoped he'd proven to his previous lives that he could teach Destined Jedi well too.

While the kids were in the famous cave where the Force was the strongest in the Digital World constructing their lightsabers, Master Gennai spoke with his two previous iterations outside of the cave and voiced that very thought.

"I guess I'm better than you thought, eh, old man?" he boasted to the ghost form of Old Man Gennai. A cocky grin spread across his lips. "Go on. You can say it."

Old Man Gennai cleared his throat before speaking. "I must say, I've been pleasantly surprised at how you've taught them the basics," he said. "However, producing the next generation of strong Destined Jedi takes more than just teaching them the basics. There is still more to be desired from you in this department."

Master Gennai frowned. "Tell me what that means in plain terms."

"It means that the toughest challenge remains for both you and them," replied Young Gennai. "They're going to need someone that they can trust and rely on to help them through these dark times ahead."

"I'm doing that. You told me to be a reliable master to them and I've been doing that. Okay?" Master Gennai was certain this was about to turn into a lecture. He had to get out of this as soon as possible. "They're constructing their sabers and they're going to learn to fight together as a group."

Old Man Gennai folded his arms over his chest. "Tomorrow?"

Master Gennai nodded. "Yes. Tomorrow. The beasts have been prepared as you asked me to." He sucked in a slow breath through his nose and out his mouth. "Are you sure you trust them to survive this test? Those are some of the most ill-tempered Digimon I could find. How do you know they won't turn the kids into their lunch?"

"Do you trust in them?"

That question made Master Gennai stop and think. Though his young charges would think and say otherwise, he truly had their best interests at heart and cared about them. They were still oblivious to all the danger that surrounded them and they didn't have much time until King Drasil's month-long peace agreement expired. After that, it was open season on both him and them for King Drasil's infamous assassin and his other minions too. If they weren't truly ready, they would be slaughtered in no time flat. Then he would be too. His and the entire Digital World's survival depended on these kids.

After a few moments of silence, he spoke only two words.

"I do."

Both of his past iterations looked at each other and nodded with smiles.

"Then that's all they need to hear," said Young Gennai. "You've done well with them, my friend, but now is the time where they need a true master the most. Guide them, trust that they can pass the test tomorrow, and then send them off to fight for us with the tools to be successful. This is our last chance. If we fail, then that's the end of the Digital World as we know it."

Master Gennai nodded and bowed before them. That was more than enough pressure to deal with. The two spirits bowed back and slowly vanished before his eyes until they were completely gone. He stood and let their words simmer in his mind for a few moments before turning back to the cave. Based on the amount of chatter he now heard, it seemed like they were finished constructing their weapons.

Snap!

He turned as a hand went down to his lightsaber, ready to bring it out. What was that? One quick scan of the trees nearby yielded nothing, but Master Gennai wasn't entirely convinced. He shut his eyes and scanned the whole area through the Force, but again found nothing. A chill went down his back.

Something was watching.

His pace was a bit faster than normal as he made his way back into the cave. The cool darkness helped put him at ease as he stepped further into the darkness. Bright colors came up ahead followed by children's voices. Whatever had possibly been watching was far from Master Gennai's mind as he surveyed his young charges admiring their new weapons.

A mixture of blue and green light came from both sides of the cave walls, along with the sound of electric humming. To his left was the group of Shiro, Kenya, Ryuji, Miya, Naomi, Keiko, and Ichigo. Naomi, Kenya and Ryuji wielded royal blue blades while Shiro, Miya, Keiko, and Ichigo's faces lit up green from their sabers.

His eyes centered on Naomi as he still sensed the trouble within her. He would have to address that with her later. To his surprise, Miya had a different aura surrounding her compared to how she was when the training began. The three youngest boys seemed okay, which they seemed to usually be from his observations of them. Then there was the duo of Keiko and Ichigo. It was so obvious that the boy harbored something for the girl, but he was being held back for some reason. He just may have to teach him something about taking a step forward or else he himself would make a move on –

Whoa! He was glitching out again. Master Gennai smacked the side of his head to return to normal. Even though it happened randomly more often than not, there were times that he could feel a glitch kicking in and he'd snap himself back to normal. It was so damn annoying when that happened.

On the other side sat the older boys. Shun, Masato and Kazuma's sabers were also a bright shade of green while Yuki was the odd one out with a blue saber.

A shudder went down Master Gennai's spine. These were indeed the new Destined Jedi.

"At ease," he said.

The children relaxed as they sat seiza-style on the ground. They gripped their sabers at the hilt and held them just a few inches away from their chests.

"The lightsaber is the weapon of a Destined Jedi," he explained. "It is to be used in the pursuit of bringing peace, freedom, justice and balance back to the Digital World. You are literally carrying your life and the lives of every being in the Digital World in your hands. Use them well."

Master Gennai surveyed the group. None of them said a word in reply. He smiled to himself. That was a pretty good opening.

"You have learned the basics, and now you have constructed your weapons, but there are still many tasks that remain between you and becoming an official Destined Jedi. Your next task will take place tomorrow. Since there are only eleven of you, I will have to separate you into three groups of three and one group of two for this."

Ryuji timidly raised his hand.

"Yes, Ryuji?"

"Why do we have to do that?" the boy asked. "What's the test we have to pass?"

Master Gennai took a breath. There was no getting around it now.

"Now that you have a real lightsaber in your hands, you all must learn not only how to fight with them but also learn how to operate together as a group," he said. "The only way you can all survive and succeed in your mission is if you all operate as one part of a whole. When there is no unity as a group, you die. The way I have chosen to test this is by having your groups face a beast that I have captured."

A heavy silence fell over the group. One look at some of their faces gave Master Gennai all he needed to see they had not expected that.

"What?" he snapped. "Would you rather face the Dark Forest like your parents did instead? If that's what you want to do, I'd be more than happy to have you do tha–"

"NO!" cried the voices of Yuki, Shun, Kazuma, Ichigo and Keiko.

Master Gennai saw even the kids who didn't voice their displeasure were also uncomfortable with the prospect of the Dark Forest. He folded his arms over his chest. "Then you're doing this. Don't worry, you'll all be fine. I promise."

He heard a few of them grumble under their breath, but he was in a good enough mood right now that he was willing to look past their sour attitudes. It had to be done.

"Complain all you want. It's not going to make any difference. I'll announce your groups tomorrow morning. Now let's get back to the house. I don't want to stay up here a second longer."

The night air was still in the garden, almost with a feeling of dread and anticipation of what was to come the next day. The only source of sound coming from the garden was the sound of cicadas chirping into the night. Moonlight from the surface shined down onto the house.

Master Gennai was lost in his thoughts as he sat quietly in the garden. The children were all asleep when he checked on them a few minutes ago. Though he should have been in bed by now too, the digital being's mind was too troubled to even think about getting a wink of sleep. Not after what he knew he saw earlier that day.

It was just for a brief second, but he saw a dark figure hiding amongst the trees before disappearing. Its face still gave him shivers. He'd never seen a Digimon that looked like that before. Was that King Drasil's mysterious assassin? Now that he reflected on it, he felt a powerful, almost nauseating, surge of anger and hatred from where he looked earlier. Now came a most troubling thought – did it know where to find him and them? Was it biding its time until his and King Drasil's agreement expired? All sorts of troubling thoughts went through his mind as he grew more worried about the children's safety. Would they be ready?

He looked toward the bushes nearby. "I know you're there. You can come out now."

A bush shook for a second before something slowly emerged from it. A small creature with big, wide green eyes that shined with innocence. Its whole body was white, but with purple on the edges of what could be its ears. The creature's most prominent feature was a red triangle in the middle of a black downward triangle on its forehead. It waddled over to him like a duck. Once it got closer, its ears expanded, acting as wings that lifted the small creature up into the air so it could sit on the hardwood pathway beside him.

"Hi!" it said with the voice of a little kid. "Why do you not come around and play with me anymore? Is it because you've found those human children to play with instead?"

Master Gennai frowned. "Why do you make it sound like I'm cheating on you?" he asked the creature. "I didn't want them to be here and –" he paused. "Have you been watching us this whole time?"

The creature giggled. "That's a silly question. You know I'm always here, Master Gennai. So come on. Let's play. I want to play."

Master Gennai rolled his eyes. As much as this Digimon could be an annoying pest, he didn't have the heart to send it away. It filled a hole inside of him that only went away when the creature was nearby. He reached over and patted it on the head, earning a giggle from the Digimon. Its stubby limb reached up and grabbed his hand.

"I don't have time to play right now," the humanoid man replied. "Evil is practically on our doorstep. We only have a week and a half before the agreement runs out and King Drasil sends out the hordes to hunt me and the kids. I'm worried he may know where to find me."

The little Digimon's face fell with fear. "Scary," it whimpered as it covered its eyes. "Why can't King Drasil just leave us alone? He's really mean."

"I'm a threat to him. You're insignificant, so you will be fine." His eyes widened. He hadn't meant for it to sound like that. Master Gennai quickly stroked the Digimon's head. "You're not insignificant to me though. You're my only friend in this crazy, twisted, dark world."

The two sat in silence for what felt like a long time. The cicadas continued their song without a care in the world of what was going on. Master Gennai looked back toward a structure that was part of the complex. That was where the boys were sleeping, and just a few meters to the left was where the girls slept. Was he doing the right thing tomorrow? Yes. Since time was of the essence, he had to throw them in the deep end now. It was for their own good.

"Do you think that they'll be okay tomorrow?" asked his companion.

Master Gennai took a deep breath through his nose. "I don't know. But I trust them to do what they need to do."

The tension in the air was so palpable that Miya could probably cut it with her lightsaber. Master Gennai led them through a dark forest early the next morning. Not that Dark Forest thankfully, but it was still enough to give her the creeps. She held Ryuji's hand tightly as they strolled through the darkness. Part of her felt like they were being watched, but she saw nothing in the trees above them.

She wondered what this test would be. Knowing Master Gennai, she could never be too sure. Lately, he had seemed much nicer than when they first arrived, but something seemed off. She wasn't sure what it was, but perhaps she would find out.

Miya stayed quiet for most of the walk until the group of children and their master left the treeline. They emerged at a hillside that slipped down into a rock quarry. It was the plainest gray that Miya had ever seen in her life. It was something that would look like arriving on an alien planet in some of the movies she had watched with her parents when she was very young. Unlike most quarries, there were four gated holes in the side of the cliff opposite them. She had a bad feeling about those. Whatever was inside of them seemed angry. A shiver ran down her back.

"Welcome, children," said Master Gennai, "to the first real test you will face as a Destined Jedi in training." He took a breath. "Being a Destined Jedi is about more than just feeling the Force and using it for good. It also means putting your life on the line if necessary."

Miya squeezed her brother's hand. That didn't sound too good. Anxiety rose up in her chest.

"You will all take turns going down into the arena there and face a beast that I have captured. Don't worry, they're mostly bound by chains so they can't get too far," Master Gennai explained.

No one seemed to be reassured by that statement. Their master didn't seem to care as he continued on.

"Now, here are the groups you will be in…"

He went and paired off the children in groups. Naomi, Keiko and Shiro were paired together. Squad two consisted of Kazuma, Shun and Masato. And lastly, to Miya's excitement, Master Gennai added her to the group of Yuki, Ichigo and Kenya. That excitement was short-lived as she realized it meant that Ryuji was left all by himself.

"Master," she said, "why is my brother by himself? That doesn't seem right."

Master Gennai folded his arms over his chest. "He's too reliant on you," he replied. "He needs to learn to stand by himself. You won't always be there to protect him, so he had better learn now."

"But that's not fair!" Miya protested.

"She's right," Yuki chimed in.

"Sorry. Those are the groups. My decision is final."

Before Miya could say anything else, a loud, guttural scream sliced through the air. Miya raised her hands to cover her ears. She noticed some of the other kids do so as well. Miya instantly recognized the voice. Looking over at her brother, she saw he had sunk to his knees and pounded the ground with his fists. She was worried this would happen at some point.

"Please tell me he has a mute button!" Master Gennai cried, covering his ears as well. "Someone stop him, please! I can't take it anymore!"

Miya ran over and threw her arms around her brother. She stroked his dark hair lovingly while humming his favorite song and rocking him back and forth. That brought some initial success, so she kept on going with it. Miya then added shushing into the mix once she reached the end of the song. Slowly, Ryuji settled down until he finally became quiet. He had not had a meltdown like that for quite a while, or at least what felt like a while.

"It's okay," she said. "I'll partner with you, Ryu-Ryu."

Ryuji looked up at her hopefully. Tear tracks covered his cheeks. "Promise?"

Miya nodded and locked her pinky with his. "Promise."

That made Ryuji smile. As much as she wanted to pair with Yuki, her brother was more important right now. She looked over at Master Gennai, whose hands were now down at his side. One gestured outward as if to say, "whatever you want to do."

"Whatever it takes to keep that kid quiet," her master said.

She nodded in thanks.

"Then I'll join Miya and Ryuji's group," said Yuki.

"No! Mine!" Ryuji snarled, grabbing hold of Miya tightly. She was so surprised by the action, but also the tone that he spoke with. "You stay away."

Yuki frowned. "Ryuji, come on. Be reasonable," he replied. "I can protect you both."

"No! Mine! Mine, do you hear?"

Kenya then walked up and grabbed his brother's wrist. MIya could see in his eyes that he wasn't happy with that idea either.

"I'm not going out there without you, Yuki," he said. "I wouldn't feel safe without you. Please? Don't leave me."

The orange-haired boy looked down at his brother before turning his eyes to Miya. He was clearly conflicted. She smiled at him. Miya appreciated the gesture on his part, but she would be fine with Ryuji. She did not want to have to rely on him for this. She wanted to prove to herself that she could stand on her own as a Destined Jedi.

Yuki sighed, his crimson eyes looking down in defeat. "Okay. Then I trust you, Miya."

"If that's all taken care of now," said Master Gennai, sounding the most irritated he had been in a while, "let's get started. Naomi, Keiko, Shiro, you're up first. Go down there and stand in the middle. Your creature will step out momentarily."

"Creature?" the three children cried.

"You actually expect us to fight something right away?" Naomi shrieked. "Are you insane?"

Master Gennai folded his arms over his chest. Yep, the callous, aloof Master Gennai that they first met was back.

"What did you think it was going to be – a stroll through a field of flowers and singing happy tunes the whole way?" he snapped. "I asked if you all would have preferred facing the Dark Forest and you said no. This was the alternative. As I said yesterday, you all must learn to work together as a team and this is the best way to test that."

"We could all be killed!" Shiro said.

Master Gennai cocked an eyebrow. "All the more reason for you to work and cooperate with each other then." He pointed down to the quarry.

Miya watched as her three friends hunched over in exasperation and walked toward the path that led down to the informal arena. She could hear them grumbling under their breath as they walked past her. It wasn't loud enough to make sense, but Miya knew they were cursing their master. She was not crazy about the idea either, but if it had to be done, it had to be done. Besides, he would not start them off with a difficult Digimon to face, would he? Would he? Somehow, she was not sure the answer would be good.

The three Destined Jedi made their way down to the rock pit and stood in the middle of it as their master asked them to. Miya and the others gathered around the edge to watch what happened. The gate on the far left slowly lifted up. The bars creaked so loud that it could be heard all the way up to them. Ryuji covered his ears. It seemed that the gate had not been used in many years. Miya waited to see what came out.

"There's just one other thing I forgot to mention," said Master Gennai, raising his voice so he could be heard clearly. Miya looked and saw a wry smile on his face. That did not seem good. "I haven't fed any of these creatures in three days so they might be more than a little cranky."

He laughed like it was the funniest joke ever told. Miya didn't think it was very funny. The three Destined Jedi down in the arena had to be livid with that piece of news as well.

"You are so dead when we get back up there!" she heard Naomi shout.

Master Gennai settled down, keeping the smile on his face. He was calm as ever. "I think that should be an 'if', Naomi," he said. "Better get ready because here he comes."

Miya watched in anticipation, wondering what Digimon the three of them would face. A few seconds turned into almost a minute and nothing appeared. The suspense was killing her. Then, a rumbling stirred beneath the ground. It felt like a small earthquake. Ryuji cried out in fear. He grabbed a tight hold of her waist. Miya rested an arm around him and held him close.

Down below, a large plot of earth erupted into the air. After the cloud settled, a large Digimon stood before Naomi, Shiro and Keiko. Its body was armored like a tank and yellow in color. Its nose looked like a drill. Then Miya realized – it was a drill! The creature's belly was purple. There were also purple markings on its forelimbs, back, and the top of its head. Rather than fingers, the Digimon had drills acting as fingers. It also had wings like flies. It was such an interesting creature. Miya never saw this one be featured in Mr. Takaishi's manga.

"Yeah, Digmon likes to appear out of nowhere," said Master Gennai. "I'd stay on the lookout if I were all of you."

"Man, would you shut up?" said Masato. "That's not helping."

"Did you not listen to what I said? I was trying to help."

Miya watched anxiously as her friends struggled to locate the creature as it reappeared and disappeared beneath the ground over and over again. It was like Digmon was playing whack-a-mole with them and winning each and every time. The Digimon fought against the chain that was bound around its waist as it reached its length limit.

There was no way they were going to survive this.

Scratch that.

There was no way she was going to survive this.

Will Miya's unsettled prediction come true? Find out next time on Destined Jedi: Next Generations.

Hope you guys liked that. If you instantly guessed what Digimon was with Master Gennai, then you get a gold star. We saw three shades to him that whole chapter. Expect to see more of that going forward. The other Digimon that the group faces are going to be very familiar to all of you.

As always, leave a review and subscribe if you haven't yet. Things are starting to heat up and I'm excited to bring it to you all. See you guys real soon.

Tootles.