Digimon Adventure 04 Chapter 15: Wins and Loses

By Bluestar076

Hey guys! Bluestar here with a new chapter! This chapter took a little bit longer than the usual and I'm very sorry for letting you wait, but this situation of quarantine was very troubled for me and I also had some issues with studying for the school exams. But finally we are here with the long-waited chapter! We now have another chapter split in two parts now and we'll finally see some of the original Chosen Children get back in action! Also, I'm working on a new story that i'll write parallel to Digimon Adventure 04 which will be based on another franchise. So be sure to check it out and tell me what do you think of it! Your opinion is important!

But let's ban on chatter and enjoy!

Note: I do not own Digimon. All rights and characters belong to Bandai and Toei Animation. Plus, this is a fantasy story. All references to real people, groups, places, laws, names and marks are completely casual.


Chapter 15: Wins and Loses – Part I

That same night, Sion decided to invite all the members of the Chesire Cat Agency at his residence. The reason was because the police chef really appreciated some company in the night, and most of all, he really liked the members of the agency, all of them. Not only because he knew their parents, but also because, through the only year this agency was open, he had time to know each of these young boys better, and started to recognize them as their friends. Even if he was already 50 years old, Sion was a really an open and really friendly person. Plus, Norn supported the idea of his father, happy to know that she could spent more time with her new friend, Aisu.

The thirteen detectives were at the living room along with the founder of their agency and his daughter. The living room was really big. The floor had a clear brown floor, covered with a large and white (Brown at the edges) carpet, which had a square form. On the centre of the carpet there was a wooden table. There were two sofas and four armchairs. Near one of the armchairs there was a small table with a bajour lamp and a radio. On the walls there were some pictures of the family and paintings that Sion himself made when he was younger. In the end, near the two sofas there was a huge shelf that contained books, DVDs, VHS and a wide screen television. "I remember the last time i invited you at my house! There were only six of you! And now look, the agency counts thirteen members in total! You duplicated yourselves! …Am i right? Duplicated? The double of six was…math isn't actually my strenght….oh right! What a donkey! It's twelve! You have increased the number above the double of the number you were when i invited you last time! By 1!" Sion said, making the number one with his index finger.

The young Chosen Children and their Digimon were looking at him with a nervous smile and a drop of sweat fell from their head. Maybe because they didn't know what was actually going on. "I don't think i made a complete idea of his behavior…" Coredramon thought.

"Aaaaaaaaaanyways! I'm very happy that you have accepted my offer to come here! My recent visits aren't exciting at all…they are all lawyers, members of companies or the mayor." Sion then continued with a resigned tone.

"And how are they?" Kyoko asked. "Boring!" Sion replied with a long face. "They always talk about business of stuff about the city or even other countries! They can never think of something normal! Every time i have to listen to them, making a serious face while in reality i wish to be on another place! But fortunately there are people like you, my wife and my precious daughter Norn…" He added, hugging Norn from behind.

"Don't worry dad, i love you…" Norn said with a smile and making one of her 'facial cuddles'.

"I love you too, my sweetie. But it's better for us to not be sad!" Sion said immediately after that.

"He seems to have mood swings…like someone i know…" Rikka said with a grin. "You're not funny." Aria said, giving a glare at her.

"Now!" Sion said, turning on the radio. "Who wants to dance with me?" He then started to dance by moving his buttocks and his arms.

"…I don't know, this makes me uncomfortable…" Veedramon said. "Why that?" Kasai asked. "Maybe because you are seeing a 50 years old man dancing like a young guy inside a dance club?" Chikara suggested, giving his opinion about the view of Sion.

"I've heard you Chikara!" Sion said with his happy tone. "W-WHAT!?" Chikara exclaimed, afraid.

"Aaaah! Who cares! The best for me is the food!" Tsuna said with a happy tone as well, before going towards the foot that was placed in the table. It was a matter of seconds before he had his mouth full of small and salad food. Even his partner Coredramon was eating like there was no tomorrow.

"Like human, like Digimon. But i think he's right! Let's enjoy this moment!" Kyoko said before going to join Sion to her dance. The others simply looked at each other and decided to join the party.

Everyone had their ways to enjoy the night. There were someone who joined the frenzy of the dance, someone who decided to be sick the next day for all the food they eated and there was someone who simply wanted to talk.

"Hey Rina! I bet that you cannot touch your nose with your tongue!" Sasuke said with an air of challenge to his friend. "Don't act cocky! I'll show you!" Rina answered, before trying to do what the Sasuke just said. "I'm sure I'll make it first!" Sasuke exclaimed, doing the same. They were both doing a big effort with their tongue since it was known to be an hard task, unless someone had a very long tongue. Their partners, Gladimon and Kabuterimon looked at them as always. "They still are the same, arent'they?" Gladimon said. "Well, surely they have been attracted by the party, and everyone could do anything when it comes to it. They are just showing their way to get excited." Kabuterimon explained by using his usual philosopher's tone. "…Say…want to try as well?" He then asked to the other Digimon.

"You sure? …Ok!" Gladimon accepted and started to do it, even though nobody could say for sure, since both his nose and his mouth were covered by his helmet. Kabuterimon joined him, by trying to touch his highest nostril with his tongue. Both the two humans and the two Digimon kept doing this for some minutes, until…

"I DID IT!" Rina exclaimed. "That's not true!" Sasuke retorted. "Yes it is!" Rina answered. Kabuterimon and Gladimon in the meantime were still doing it, with Chikara who looked at them fully ashamed. "I can't believe they are actually doing it…" He said. "Uhm…hey! They are just getting fun!" Leomon tried to make him reason, until Rikka unexpectedly took Chikara by the hand. "Hey, Chikara! Want to dance with me?" She asked with a joking smile.

"W-WHAT!? Why the sudden question!?" Chikara exclaimed. "Come on! Moving your feet won't hurt you!" Rikka insisted, still holding his hands. Chikara looked at the girl with confusion and the cheeks lightly red. "Ok...if you insist." He ended. They both starting to move their feet at the rhythm of the music, while holding each other by the hands. Leppamon tried to dance as well and, even if he was standing on four legs, he showed to be pretty good at it. "How can you dance like that?" Leomon asked. "By just letting myself follow the rhythm of the music and by trying to do it with the best of style!"

"Cool!" Leomon said, liking him. "But hey…Rikka that offers Chikara to dance with her in that way it's kinda strange…why that? Maybe since you are her partner you can understand her better." Leomon then asked. Leppamon looked at the two Chosen Children dancing together, with Rikka doing good movements and Chikara doing goofy ones. He then understood it and made a stunned face. "OH! I think…I just understood the situation…" He said. "Really? What is it?" Leomon asked curious. "If you dig deeper with your adult mind you'll understand…" Leppamon simply replied.

Leomon simply looked at Rikka laughing while dancing with Chikara. He stood silent for some second and then…he understood it as well. "WHAT!?" He exclaimed, before fainting. "Leomon?" Leppamon asked.

Meanwhile Yatsura was sitting near the table, getting bored. She couldn't feel the flow of the music, so she was thinking of something.

"Are you ok, master?" ExVeemon asked. Yatsura nodded. "I just don't know what to do…I really hope I don't stay like this for the rest of the night…" She said, before sighing.

"Well, you could dance, or talk with someone!" ExVeemon told her two possibilities. "But I don't want to dance! And...i don't know who I can talk with…there are so many choices that I end up being undecided." Yatsura answered. "Hmmm…oh?" She then noticed that there was a glass bottle standing on the table. "What's this?" Yatsura wondered. "Maybe water?" She then took a glass of it, drank it and felt a strange but sweet taste on her mouth. "Hey, it's good!" She said before taking another glass…and then another one…and then another one…"I can't stop!"

ExVeemon at a certain point started to wonder what could possibly be. Unfortunately there was no label, so he had to drink it. When he did it, he realized what it was. "Wait a second…this is liquor! Uhm, master…you shouldn't drink it that much or you'll end up-" ExVeemon tried to advise his partner, but when he turned his face it was too late. Yatsura was dancing with the others doing strange movements. "Come ooon! Let's raise the volume! Daaamn it's sooooo hot…I could take off my clothes…"

"…Drunk." ExVeemon ended his line before facepalming. "S-H-I-T."

Yatsura was already approaching Tsuna unsteadily, a little to the right and a little to the left. Meanwhile, Daisuke's son was still eating all the food he could find, without getting sick. "You really are a bottomless pit, you know?" Coredramon said, frowning. "Aaaah who cares! It's a party after all! And if I see food, I eat it! Here! Eat this!" His partner answered, throwing at him a ball of rice. The dragon Digimon took it and smelled at it. Suddenly, a perfume of pleasure went on his nose and He ate it in one bite. "IT'S FREAKING DELICIOUS! I WANT MORE!" Coredramon exclaimed. And then, he started to devour all the food he could find as well. Like human, like Digimon. "See? I told you that you would like-" Tsuna was talking to his Digimon, but he stopped himself when he felt something on his back. But knowing what was it, after he turned around, made him feel uncomfortable. "YATSURA!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He asked.

"Hi Tsunaaaaaa…did I ever tell you that your body is soooooooo SOFT?" Yatsura said, with a sob in the middle. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!? Come on, you cannot be serious!" Tsuna retorted, but Yatsura insisted on doing that. She even started to rub her face on his chest, making Tsuna's face going all red. Now everyone's attention was on those two.

"Oh god…what are they doing?" Kouta said, facepalming. "It's incredible of how Mister Sion doesn't care about this…" BaoHackmon said, noticing that Sion was still dancing like nothing happened.

"You know, Yatsura, I really don't like to be seen by everyone!" He said. But he also thought this. "Even if I find this really likeable…"

The most ashamed one was of course ExVeemon. He knew that her partner had this type of reaction when it came to alcohol, but since there was so many people, he didn't like where this was going, so he tried to push her away from Tsuna. "Come on, Yatsura! You're obviously drunk! You need to snap out of it!" But his attempt was futile. And what she did next, silenced everyone and everything.

"Nnnnoooo! I want to stay with him! Here Tsuna!" She exclaimed. And then…she put Tsuna's face inside her breast.

Chikara shouted for the scene, Kasai looked incredulously while she broke the glass she was holding by squeezing it for the shock, Toriko had his mouth full open, and Starmon blinked. "Ooooh! What an interesting reaction…" Kyoko said with a grin on her face.

"HOW CAN YOU FIND IT INTERESTING!?" DORUgamon exclaimed.

"Life is beautiful because it varies, my friend! Plus…this state of thrill maybe made me discover a particular secret…" Kyoko answered, looking at Yatsura.

Tsuna, after some seconds of silence…exploded. He took his head off Yatsura's breast, with his nose losing tons of blood. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The moment put his brain in a complete arrest, making him first freak out and then pass out with his eyes wide open. Everyone could think of a bell ringing, like a funeral.

"Eheheheeh! You're so funny Tsuna..." Yatsura said, laughing and sobbing.

"Gosh! That was really a critical hit for Tsuna isn'it?" Rina commented. "I guess you could call it a one hit K.O." Sasuke added.

"Heeey! Why have you stopped moving? Come on! This is a party! Let's dance!" Yatsura said before making more weird and uncomfortable moves.

"Please, don't start to strip…" Kouta thinked, with his face full of sweat drops. It was an outrageous thought for him, but since she was drunk, he unfortunately knew it could happen.

"Aaaah, drunk teenagers…I have seen them so many times…since I was one of them!" Sion said with his happy tone.

"He's not angry for that happening IN HIS HOUSE!?" Aria thought, stunned even more than before.

"But don't worry! I know what to do in these occasions! After all I'm the boss of the police! I'm a professional in this compound! And I can also make delicious sandwich." Sion said, coming closer to Yatsura. The girl was still drunk, so she looked at him with a strange smile. But this only for a second, since immediately after that, she slammed on the ground, due to one of Sion's famous karate chops.

"There we go! She should wake up tomorrow!" Sion said with a smile and his hand still smoking. The other members of the agency looked at him with a shiver on their back, even Kasai.

"Thank you Mister Sion…I'm terribly sorry for what happened." ExVeemon said, putting Yatsura on his back with a nervous laugh. "Y-yes, I think we'll go as well…" Coredramon added, putting Tsuna on his back. The two dragon Digimon put their partners on their backs, saluted the others and left the house, still embarrassed for what happened.

Even the remaining members of the agency stayed in silence for what just happened, even if it was normal for them. But after a sigh, they returned to talk with each other.

Aisu was having a good time with her new friend Norn, just like some hour before. After seeing that embarrassing scene all that she could do was facepalming and sighing. "I felt that this could happen…" She said.

"Why that?" Norn asked. "Yatsura gets drunk very easily…when she touches even a small glass of alcohol she immediately drinks all of it and loses control. And you know what people can do if they are intoxicated…" Asiu replied.

"So she's addicted to alcohol?" Norn fairly asked, but her friend shaked her head. "It's just that when she sees an alcoholic drink, she never stops until she faints."

"Oh, I see. Well…I find that interesting…" Norn started. "What do you mean?" The young Chosen Children asked. "You see…some people reveal some aspects of their real persona only when they got drunk. They just feel more free and transform into a complete another person. That's the case of Yatsura. I wonder how she could behave in bed…" Norn explained, licking his lips after saying that one last thing. This made Aisu blush again. "N-NORN! COULD YOU PLEASE STOP!?"

In another part of the room, there were Kasai and Aria who were drinking a red orange juice and talking with each other. And of course, they had to discuss about what just happened. "Good grief. I've started to know Yatsura and now I find out that she can't resist to alcohol." Kasai said, adjusting her hat.

"Yeah, it was kinda weird to see someone like her in that state, even if it happens. One day I got drunk too! And due to that, I slept in the bathtub!" Aria answered, remembering a previous experience with alcoholics. "It's just that I like it…my favorite is champagne! As you would expect from a French girl like me! Ahaha!" She added.

"You like to talk very much I see…" Kasai commented with her usual tone. "I'm made this way." Aria replied with a smile. "You know, this is actually normal for me…being in a party I mean." She then started another discussion while looking at the others who were having a good time.

"Really?" Kasai asked. Her friend nodded and continued. "Yes! My family organizes lots of parties in the evening. After all, there are so many people in my houses that cannot be ignored. So my parents try to entertain them with games and other stuff."

"And do you enjoy those parties?" Kasai asked.

"Of course! Especially when I play pool with my cousins! I remember the night of my 16th birthday! My whole family and my friends were there! And I had such a good night, even if it ended with me falling on the swimming pool while looking at Derek…" Aria replied.

"Who's Derek?" Kasai demanded, intrigued by that name. "Oh he was only my teenage crush, nothing important!" Aria said with her cheeks red.

"You're not that old…" Kasai commented. "So you had a boy that you liked?" She then asked.

"That's right…when I was at school I was enchanted by him, just like a princess in a Disney movie. I even hanged out with him and knew him better, but then I realized that he wasn't my type…so I gave it up." The blonde girl answered.

"And you had that recent story…" Kasai said, remembering when Aria came to the agency for helping her stopping Kevin. The girl made a disgusted face. "Eugh, don't even make me remember that asshole. If I knew that he had a Digimon, I would have beaten his ass much earlier!" She said, before taking a deep breath. "But thanks to you I'm here now…and I won't think about getting in love for a while. And you? Did you ever had a crush?" Aria then asked.

"No." Kasai simply answered. "As I told you some time ago, many times boys try to impress me, but it's a thing that I just can't stand."

"My cousins are an example…" Aria said with a giggle.

"Exactly…the reason why I treat them so bad is that there are so many boys that act like this that I end up being always followed." Kasai continued. "Plus, the ones who try to catch me are not that kind…they're usually jerks…"

"I know, it's frustrating. But hey, it doesn't happen always! And here at the agency, you can be yourself!" Aria told her. "But you're not nice either…" She thought. "And tell me…is there someone here that you like?" She then asked, curious.

"No. Two of them are my cousins, and the others aren't just my type." Kasai replied. "But I can say that they are good friends." She added with a smile.

"I see…you know…I'm happy to be here…it's been a while since we have talked like this." Aria spoke with a smile as well.

"Well, you should thank Mister Sion for this." Kasai commented, and right in that moment, Sion appeared. "Whopedoo Whopedee! Dear Kasai wants me?" He asked.

"D-dear?" Kasai asked, disoriented. "It's an affective nickname! I always give one to all my friends! And I gave you since you are a dear girl!" The police leader answered.

"You think so?" Kasai said, surprised by that.

"Yes! Even if you are serious and silent, I can feel that you are a very affectionate and brave person! The perfect mix of your parents Taichi and Mimi! Along with your sister, of course!" Sion replied, making Kasai blush for once. "Well…thank you…"

"Oh, you're welcome! Plus, I wanted to spend some more time with the last two members of the agency!" Sion added.

"Speaking of that…how did you came up with the idea of the agency?" Kasai then asked, since she heard that he was the one who let Kyoko found the place where she was working

"Well, it all started a year ago actually. One day, Ken Ichijouji, someone you know, came to me and told me about your friend Kyoko. He said that she solved his case with an outstanding talent, even if she wasn't a detective. I have always been attracted by these particular people, so I've offered her a job as a police investigator. And I could see with my own eyes that what Ken said that day was true. Kyoko managed to solve any type of case with great strategy and intelligence! And I could also see that she was really having fun by doing it. And it was in that moment that I've wondered how she would have been if she worked inside an environment of her own. So, also to thank her for the service she gave to us, I gave her the permission to found the agency! And honestly, she didn't disappoint me yet!" Sion explained.

"I see…but…" Kasai then thought of another thing. "Why the name 'Chesire Cat'?"

"For that, you should ask for Kyoko. She is the one who came up with the idea." Sion answered. "Now, if you let me, I'll go to the kitchen and take some snack!" He then ended. "Enjoy the party!"

"He's strange for his age…" Aria commented. "Yes…but…he's also funny and kind…" Kasai said with a sincere smile.

"You think so? And what with the smile?" Aria then asked. "It's my opinion." Kasai simply replied.

"If you say so…" Aria said. And in that moment, the same Kyoko that Sion mentioned just in that moment, came towards the two girls. "Hey there! Enjoying the moment?" She asked while still dancing.

"Yes!" Aria answered in one way. "Yeah." Kasai answered in another one.

"Very nice! Mister Sion is always a great one when it comes to parties! But actually…I was wondering if you had seen Kumo…he's not here…"

Kasai looked around as well to confirm what Kyoko said, and it turned out to be true. Their friend wasn't in the room. "You're right…but I'm sure that he was with us when we entered." She said.

"So he must be around here." A voice from behind said. The three girls turned around and saw that it was Norn, accompanied by Aisu. "Maybe he's in the garden." Norn added.

"Then we shall go there!" Kyoko said, and in that moment Veedramon, DORUgamon, Growmon and Strikedramon exited from a door that was close to their human partners.

"Oh there you are. I was thinking about you too." Kasai said once he saw his partner. "You were missing for a while…where have you been?" Aisu then asked.

Veedramon made a smile. He seemed to be proud of answering that question. "Something that only true Digimon do! Something too cool!" He said.

"Which is?" Aria asked. And the dragon Digimon explained.

Some minutes earlier, Veedramon, DORUgamon, Strikedramon and Growmon closed themselves in another room to play a game that Digimon consider intense, funny and extremely competitive. So they were glared at each other with seriousness and provocation and then they played…

"Are you ready?" Veedramon asked. "I advise you, I'm pretty good at it." Strikedramon said. "I won't hold on as well!" Growmon replied. "Then we can start…ready? Go!" DORUgamon exclaimed, before they started the game which was…

"ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS!" The four Digimon shouted before they all made a scissor with their hands.

Their human partners looked at him with a drop of sweat falling from their heads. They surely forgot that Digimon are unpredictable and that something like that could be normal if it came from one of them.

"You never stop to amaze me…" Kasai ironically said while facepalming. "Shut up! You can't understand the magnificence that Rockmon, Papermon and Scissormon gave to us!" Veedramon retorted, crossing his arms.

"Rockmon…Papermon…and Scissormon?" Kyoko asked confused. "I never heard of Digimon named like that…" Aisu added. "Judging by the stupid names, they had to be invented by someone as a prank for April Fools." Kasai commented.

"SHUT UP! THEY'RE REAL!" Veedramon exclaimed. "I KNOW THAT!" He added, looking up with a tear on his face. At this point, Aisu could not understand what was going on anymore and thought that it was better if they had changed the subject. "Can we please just find Kumo?" She asked.

"I don't mind actually…" Norn said.

Meanwhile, in the garden outside the house, Kumo was looking around to be sure that no one was watching him. Once he got the confirmation, he rummaged in the pocket and took his pack of antidepressants. After opening it, he took one of them and put it on his mouth. "I hope no one discovers me. I don't want to make the others worry…" Kumo said before sighing until…

"Worry about what?" Aria asked him from behind. Hearing unexpectedly a voice from behind make the young boy gasp and quickly turn around, not before putting his antidepressants back on his pocket. "W-WHAT!?" He exclaimed after he saw Kasai, Aisu, Kyoko, Aria and Norn looking at him. "

"Is there something wrong?" Kyoko asked to his brother puzzled. But Kumo shaked his head and answered. "Nonono! There's nothing wrong! I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine as you can see…"

"You know, this reaction kinda shows the opposite…" Kasai noticed by giving him a serious stare. "Really! There's nothing to be worried of! I'm fine! I just wanted to stay alone!" Kumo insisted. But now everyone were looking at him with doubtful looks. Usually, these types of reaction don't stand that much.

"Kumo…if there's something that troubles you, you can tell us! We're your friends." Aisu said. Even Norn came closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I think you can talk even with me…are you ok?" She asked.

Kumo silenced at first. He knew that what he was doing in that moment was something serious and could not be told with simple words, so he hesitated to tell it. But the last encouragement was given from his partner Shoutmon, who came out from his Digivice and poked his leg. "They're right, Kumo. You can talk with them, don't you think?" He said.

The young Chosen Child looked at him and then sighed. After all he was right. If there was someone who could help him, they were the ones. "Yes…I suppose you are all right. I cannot tell you exactly what I was doing because it is something that I can't explain here on the spot. But I can still tell you why I am…not worried but…thoughtful."

The others looked at each other with confused stare, but if he said this, they had to respect his privacy after all. "Fine, I guess…so what is it?" Strikedramon asked.

Kumo first looked at the sky full of stars. A sky full of stars. There were so many stars in the sky like there were so many thoughts and doubts in his mind. "It's just that…i was thinking that we are at the 20th of February. This year just started, and so many things already happened…there were lots of changes, discoveries and battles. Just some time ago we were an agency like the others…but then, only for a pure coincidence…we ended up being targeted by someone who thinks that we are a threat. And not a simple person, but an important one! Plus…i had to deal with the loss of a dear friend…" Kumo started to explain.

The others didn't talked. They only wanted for him to express his feelings, and then Kumo made a particular question. "Guys…what do you think? Was it fate that we would have to fight against Saiba Rei because we are the offsprings of the Chosen Children? Or was it only a simple coincidence? And…do you think that…we can actually win against Saiba Rei?"

The other guys looked at him normally but then they all smiled at him. "As always you worry too much, Kumo. You just need to take all things less seriously and act cool, just like me!" Veedramon said.

"Yes, and i think that we made this discussion many times, Kumo…but if you are not convinced yet…then I'll make you happy this time! There is nothing to fear. As you can see, we are fighting as well, and we are seeing the results! Even you are doing your best! And it doesn't matter if we are Chosen Children or not, we fight because we want to!" Aria said, coming closer to him. "And you, my friend, are one of the best ones here!" She added.

This made Kumo blush. This time he didn't know what to say. "You really think so?" He asked.

"Come on! They are saying that you are good! Enjoy their flow, my buddy!" Shoutmon said with a laugh.

"And it's true. You are a resolute guy, Kumo. Besides, you have a wonderful leader like me! How could you ask for more?" Kyoko said with a chuckle.

"If you say so…" DORUgamon muttered, making his partner get annoyed. "HEY!"

"They seem to support you, Kumo. Now you're convinced?" Norn then asked. This time, Kumo was more sure of it. He still didn't want to tell them about the antidepressant, but he was happy to see that his friends were trusting him. So he scratched his head and answered. "Fine, fine. I won't make these scenes anymore. Thank you guys…I will defeat Saiba Rei, no matter what! I promised it to Aija after all…"

"That's the spirit! But…if you ever need to talk about something, we'll always be there for you, little brother!" Kyoko ended.

But in that exact moment…something was moving from inside the bushes. Everyone turned their eyes on them immediately. "Did you hear?" Growmon asked.

"Yes…It came from there…" Aisu replied. When they came closer, the bushes were moved again. It was clear that something was coming closer.

"It's coming…maybe it's another one of Saiba's mercenaries?" Kasai wondered. "It could be that…or it could be just a small animal…but whatever it is…be careful." Kyoko warned, making the others get in a cautious pose.

The noises was more strong, the bushes were moving even more…everyone only looked at the bush. They were both ready but even worried. What was that thing? They couldn't know. It could have been everything…and this was the reason why they had to be careful. And right then…an answer was given.

Two yellow glowing eyes were looking at them from the bushes, but it was still dark, so they couldn't figure out what was watching them.

The detectives, their Digimon and Norn didn't move. They simply stayed careful and they would have stay like this until they would get a confirm of whatever that thing was.

The figure silenced, and then…it came out from the bushes and was final exposed to the light. The answer made everyone get surprised, since they actually knew what was that figure.

A small white dragon with a red cape, standing on four legs, looked at them with a serious stare.

"An…Hackmon?" Kyoko said. "You mean…BaoHackmon's previous form?" Veedramon asked. Kasai nodded and kept on looking at him. "Yes…but…what is he doing here?" She wondered.

And then…the Digimon opened his mouth. "That's right. My name is Hackmon. We meet at last, Chosen Children." He said.

"You…you know us?" Aisu demanded. The little Digimon nodded and made clear his position. "Yes. I'm a messenger of Homeostasis."

This answer made everyone get stunned. "H-Homeostasis!?" Kumo exclaimed. "The entity that keeps balance and order in the Digital World?" Shoutmon asked.

"I see now…so you're the Digimon that Mister Taichi and the other Chosen Children have met in the past, during Meicoomon's attacks." Strikedramon said, recognizing who he was.

In 2005, after Gennai got corrupted by Yggdrasil, this little Digimon took his place as the new emissary of Homeostasis. During the events that involved Meicoomon, talking with Daigo and the Chosen Children. Due to his role, he also had to face Yggdrasil's servant several time and during the final battle, he helped Taichi and the others by making the human world's reboot stop and by freeing Tailmon from Ordinemon's grasp. After that, he simply stayed in the Digital World, following his master's orders. So…what did his sudden appearance meant?

Kasai wasn't shocked like the others and simply stared at him with a serious stare as well. "I see…then…why are you here?" She asked.

The dragon answered. "I came here for an inspection."

"An inspection?" DORUgamon asked confused. Hackmon didn't lose time and explained better. "Today, Homeostasis felt a strange, yet deep energy coming from the human world. Even if it lasted for a few seconds, it said that it was an energy with an outstanding power. Also, it said that light felt familiar…after that, Homeostasis searched for the source of this energy and found out that it was here. The fact that I met you is only a coincidence. But maybe…you know something about it."

The situation was strange. So they didn't answer immediately, since they didn't trust him at first.

"So what? Even if we know the answer, what gives us the confirm that you won't do something dangerous?" Aria said to him with an angry tone. "I agree. I've been told that you almost killed my father years ago, how could I trust you?" Aisu added with a much calmer tone, mentioning that time when Taichi fell into an abyss created by Hackmon evolved form's attack.

Still, Hackmon answered with the usual tone. "You have the right reason to doubt about me. But I'll assure you, in the name of Homeostasis, that I won't do anything to you or to your friends."

"You have some guts, uh?" Veedramon said, still doubtful. But then, Norn, once she understood that the little Digimon was talking about her, decided to raise an arm to tell the others to stop.

"Norn?" Aisu asked worried. The blonde girl turned on the others and gave them a smile. "It's alright. I want to trust him." She said.

"Are…are you sure?" Kumo asked. "Yes." Norn replied.

"…Ok then…" Aisu said. Since Norn trusted in her, now it was Aisu's turn to trust the girl. Kasai simply looked at the scene and said "Good grief."

Then Norn turned back at Hackmon with her usual apatic tone and answered. "That light came from me."

"I see…and tell me…do you have any idea of what happened?" Hackmon asked. The girl shaked her head. "No. It got triggered when I was in a deathly situation. Suddendly, all my body was surrounded in a clear blue light that burned that man's hand. But as you said, it was a one second thing. This was actually…the first time that this happened." She explained what happened to her just a few hours earlier.

"The first time…but tell me…do you had any kind of symptoms before?" Hackmon continued the interview.

"Well…just…not really…I just had a strange feeling sometimes…i felt it especially when I slept…it was…like there was something inside of me…like a presence…" Norn replied.

"It's similar to the aunt's situation with Homeostasis…" Kasai thought. "What did she meant by 'presence'? Maybe there is a spirit inside of her?" Kumo thought as well.

"It could be, Norn. Very well…thank you for your sincerity and your availability." Hackmon said, bowing his head. The Chosen Children and their Digimon could take a breath of relief. Even Hackmon was sincere.

"You're welcome. And sorry if we doubted you." Aria said.

"There's no need to. It was important to know about this story, since we are quite busy at the moment." Hackmon answered. This made everyone get serious. If Homeostasis had to think about a situation, then something serious was happening. "Busy? What's happening?" Shoutmon asked.

"…The Digital World is facing a bizarre situation." Hackmon answered, making everyone get even more serious.

Kasai raised his head and came closer to the Digimon. "Could you please be more specific?" She asked. "For two months now, at the Digital World, there are many cases in which many Digimon have disappeared or have been weakened. More areas of our world are empty and some Digimon can't even stand up. They have no energy left in their bodies. This is the work…of someone." Hackmon explained.

The Chosen Children and their Digimon already knew what he was talking about and were angry for this. "There's no doubt…" Growmon thought.

"…Saiba Rei…" Kumo thought as well, while clenching his fist and thinking about what he did to his friend. "So he started thinking big…" Even Veedramon thought.

"At the moment, we don't know who is the responsible of this, that is why me and Homeostasis are searching for everywhere." Hackmon said. At this point, the detectives could not be silent anymore. He and someone important as Homeostasis had to know. "We know who he is." Kyoko said.

"You do?" Hackmon asked. The young detectives nodded. "He's a figure that we once trusted…the one who made humans and Digimon live together." DORUgamon said.

Hackmon was surprised by this. "Are you talking about…?"

It was Kasai to give the answer. "Yes. It's Saiba Rei who is causing all of this." This made Norn get surprised as well, since she didn't knew it. "So the mercenary who attacked us was hired by him?" She asked. "Uhm yes…sorry if i didn't tell you yet…" Aisu said embarrassed while scratching her hair.

"Anyways, This man, Saiba, is planning to do something we don't know yet, but we recently discovered that he's kidnapping Digimon in order to take energy from them. He took over the government skyscraper of Somnus and thought that we could be a danger for him, so he also hired mercenaries from around the world in order to get rid of us." Kyoko continued to explain.

"I was the first one to discover this…and he told me that he plans to achieve a power like that of your master." Kumo added.

Hackmon silenced for some seconds. He now knew that this situation was more serious than expected. He could not simply stay there and do nothing. "I see…thank you for your information."

Then Veedramon thought of another thing. An issue that they discovered a few days earlier but that it could be important for their case. And since Hackmon was a servant of Homeostasis, maybe he could give a try. "Uhm…about that…since we helped you know all these things…would you mind if I ask you a question?"

Everyone turned on him. What he was talking about? "What do you mean?" His partner Kasai asked. "It's always about Saiba Rei. Recently, we have discovered that he's using a strange power of darkness for his purposes. It's a type of darkness that we have never seen. Do you know some type of Digimon that knows something about it?" Veedramon asked.

The small dragon closed his eyes and thought of it for a second. There were many Digimon that used the power of darkness in the past, and some of them have been defeated even by the Chosen Children. But Saiba's power seemed really great, so he had to think of a very powerful Digimon as well. "It's a complicated question…the last Digimon that could use the power of darkness so well was Vamdemon, who got defeated by your parents…so the possible answers are few…" But then…he remembered of one thing…something that he heard in the past. An old story that was almost forgotten…a tale…of an unheard, yet known Digimon. "..Maybe there is a possible answer to that…"

"And what is it?" Norn asked.

"It's an old myth…" Hackmon said while his eyes shined. "Myth?" Aria said confused.

"Yes…as you know, Yggdrasil and Homeostasis are the two entities known as 'Gods of the Digital World'. But among the thousands of Digimon that live the Digital World…there are some of them that are categorized as deities." Hackmon started to explain.

"Deities? You mean…the Four Holy Beasts?" Kyoko asked, but the little Digimon shaked his head. "No. Even if they were known as the supreme guardians of the Digital World, they still weren't gods." He said. "The Digimon that I'm talking about were particular creatures with amazing powers. Someone said that they came from another dimension, but they were known to have outstanding abilities like striking down titans, make natural disasters and create life. Among them…there was a Digimon much different from the others when it came to behavior and look. No one saw his true form because whenever he put his feet on the Digital World, he always looked surrounded in shadows." Hackmon continued.

"Just like that time in Somnus…" Shoutmon thought.

"Not many have seen him, but the few ones who did said that he was typical to roam the various areas of the Digital World…in search of Digimon." Hackmon said.

"And why that?" Growmon asked. "Because of his duty." The other Digimon simply replied. "His duty?" Growmon said. "Yes…this Digimon had the duty to punish all the villains and the criminals that were living in the Digital World."

Veedramon couldn't believe those words. They seemed unrealistic, so he felt that he had to protest. "What!? Are you serious!? If he really had to punish evil Digimon then why he didn't do nothing when Digimon like Devimon, Etemon, Vamdemon or the Dark Masters were around!?" He asked angry. But it was her partner to answer him. "Because he didn't need to." "Uh?" Veedramon asked.

"She's right. That Digimon didn't have to act, since there were our parents to take care of them." Aisu said.

"Exactly. But…he still travelled through the Digital World to search for villainous beings…and punish them. And just like you saw…he was able to use the power of darkness and even better than Vamdemon or other Digimon. But…even if he executed the wicked, he was still feared from the others. This was because of his ways of execution. It was said that when a Digimon was grabbed by him, his mouth would slowly open and the victim would have seen terrible images before his soul would have been devoured with violence by this brutal god." Hackmon continued, making everyone tremble.

"It must have been terrible…" Kyoko said with her eyes wide open, after he imagined the scene.

"This was only one of his methods. Other consisted in devouring the prey while he was alive or dragging him into the underworld directly though one his attacks-" Hackmon was describing other of the ways of this mysterious Digimon, but someone cried out.

"PLEASE! STOP!" Aisu shouted with tears on her eyes. Everyone looked at her. She was breathing heavily and shaking. "Please…can you just go on?" She asked to Hackmon.

"…Yes. Sorry about that." He replied. Aisu was feeling better and stopped to breath heavily. "Thank you." "I'm feeling bad forher…she's right…how could a Digimon so brutal exist?" Her partner Strikedramon thought.

"This was the reason why he was despised by his brothers. But he proclaimed that he was doing this in the name of justice and because he hated the mortals, considering them as the lowest beings in the Digital World. Due to his ideals, he fought against the other gods several times. As I said at the beginning, this is only a myth. But…there is someone who saw a figure covered in shadows wander in the Digital World…so…maybe the creature who is following Saiba Rei…" Hackmon ended the story.

"…It's that Digimon." Kasai ended Hackmon's line.

"If I remember, even Toriko said something like this when he returned form the Radiant Garden…" DORUgamon said, remembering what their friend had told some day earlier.

"Anyways, thank you Hackmon. You had been of a great help." Kyoko said with a smile. "I can say the same as you." The dragon answered remaining the same. But, DORUgamon stopped him yet again. "Wait…can I ask you something else before we go?" He asked.

Everyone was curious, even Hackmon, and that is why he stopped moving. "What is it?"

"Do I know you? Because now that I think of it, you look familiar…" The furred dragon asked to the smaller one. After some seconds of silence Hackmon answered. "I don't think so. But…you are familiar as well…" He said. Then, without saying goodbye, he opened a portal and jumped in.

The Chosen Children and Norn didn't care and stayed silence. "What a weird guy…" Veedramon commented.

The case was becoming even more complicated than before, as if wasn't complicated yet. Digimon that disappeared or were weak, a god that used the power of darkness, the wish to gain a terrible power. The questions were even more than the answers, and even if they got an answer, new questions came. The Chosen Children didn't know what to think at this point…what was Saiba Rei really planning?

But now they thought of another thing. They just told the whole situation at an emissary of Homeostasis, a greater entity in the Digital World. What would have changed now?

"…Did we really made the right choice?" Kumo asked. "What do you mean?" Kyoko asked.

"Telling this to someone like him…are we sure that we'll take some advantages from that?" Kumo explained better. "I mean…we didn't talk to our parents about it yet."

"Oh…right…" Kyoko said, looking up with a deep breath. "Now that you make me think of it...i told him the truth because of what he said. About the condition that the Digital World is having now. I just can't stand what Saiba has done so far…so I needed to talk to someone about it…even if I said that…"

Even Kasai sighed. "Well…you can't go back now Kyoko. You actually told someone. Now what are we going to do?" She asked.

The leader of the Chesire Cat Agency sat down and thought deeply. For a moment, she thought at the words that Chikara said weeks before. About the fact that she couldn't just think of her own for the sake of the agency. For the second time, those words hit her. Maybe Chikara was right that time. Maybe she really doesn't know what it means to be a leader. But…she also thought of all those Digimon that were suffering for what their enemy was doing. She was confused now. She thought that she did a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. But, whether it was a right or wrong action, it was too late. She made that action and now she could only face the consequences. So after a long reflection, she spoke. "I guess that we can do that much…the first time we'll have the occasion…we shall talk to our parents about that…"

"How do you think they will react?" Aisu asked to the others. "It's hard to answer that, since they already know that we have been targeted by someone." Strikedramon replied. "And yet, they still trusted us…why?" Shoutmon wondered.

Veedramon looked at everyone and yawned. "Bah, who knows what goes on inside their heads…but whatever is the reason…I don't think is because you are Chosen Children as well." He said.

"Are you sure?" DORUgamon asked. The blue dragon nodded. "Yes. I still remember the day when Kasai told her parents that she was going to work at the agency. They seemed happy..and I wondered…why that? Isn't it dangerous? But…I think to know the answer…that same day, Mistress Mimi said to her that she has to choose her way, and since Kasai decided to do this job, they seemed very happy of it. My partner made a choice that made both her and me happy, since it makes me very cool! But apart from this…maybe the reason is this. Because they wanted us to choose our direction just like they did and just like you did now Kyoko! You made a choice!"

"Yeah…a choice that I blew up…" Kyoko said, facepalming. "But…I guess you're right, Veedramon. After all, it was a choice that I made. And if I have to face the consequences, then I'll do it! After all…we could not hide it forever…ok! I feel better now!" She then said with her usual tone.

"You know, a speech like this is unusual from you, Veedramon! Congratulations!" DORUgamon said with a smile, making the blue Digimon frown. "What do you mean, fluffy?" He asked. "I told you to not call me fluffy in public…" DORUgamon muttered.

"Then it's a deal. We shall tell the truth even to our beloved ones. And I'm sure they will understand! My mother is really comprehensive!" Kyoko said to the others.

"Then why didn't we told them until now?" Aria fairly asked.

"Well…I didn't want them to be afraid…everyday I see how they trust us so much even after all the things they had to deal with when they were younger…and make them know that someone important is after us…i thought that after that…they would have been anxious…I didn't want to make them feel bad…" Kyoko answered. Hearing that made Norn grew a little smile. After that, she hugged her from behind, Making Kyoko blush. "After all you are a tender girl as well."

"N-Norn? You think so?" Kyoko asked. Even Kumo was feeling better. "Yes, you are, sister. And…thank you for cheering me up before." He said.

"Of course! A cute boy like you shouldn't be that sad!" Aria said out of nowhere. Everyone looked at her with the eyes wide open. The girl silenced for some seconds with the face red and then answered. "…It's just a compliment, ok?"

"…Thanks, I guess?" Kumo said confused. In the meantime, Aisu looked at them all with a smile. Seeing them find a way to be funny even in a situation like this, made her feel better, and then she tought of what Mimi, her mother, said to Kasai. "Choose your way…uh?" She said.

"You know…this reminds me of an old saying that I heard some time ago…it comes from the Digital World." Norn said, hearing Aisu's words.

"What does it say?" Aisu asked curious. Norn looked at the sky full of stars and said it. "…May your heart be your guiding key."

"It's familiar…" The other girl answered. Then, in that moment, when she put her hands in her pockets, she felt something on the right one. "Hm? What's in here?" When she took it, she was surprised to see a cellphone.

"Oh right! This is Mario's phone!" Aisu exclaimed. After she defeated the mercenary, in addition to the USB key, she also took his cellphone.

"Mario? You mean the hitman that attacked you today?" Kumo asked.

"Yes! Him!" Aisu replied. Kyoko looked at the phone with a delighted face and stars in her eyes. "UUUUUUUUUUUH! Very nice, Aisu-Chan! This is a big step forwards! If we see his contacts, we may be able to reach other mercenaries!" She said very quickly.

"Does she always sounds so excited?" Aria asked. "Trust me, it's normal." Kasai answered to her. She then looked at her sister and gave her a small smile. "Anyways, good job, Aisu. We have an important clue now."

"T-Thanks!" Aisu said with a smile embarrassed.

"Another piece of the puzzle…maybe we are getting closer to you Saiba…" This was Kasai's thought, while she also looked at the sky.

Meanwhile…Hackmon, who was travelling through the dimensions…thought about the myth he told to the young detectives before…and what they said to him. The two elements…were similar. "This…cannot be a coincidence…can it? If it's really him…then the Digital World would be in…there's no other way. I have to see Saiba Rei quickly!"


The next day…

Rikka was typing buttons on her laptop, which was connected to Mario's Phone. When the detectives headed to the agency, Kyoko immediately gave the phone to her friend, so that she could find something. After some research, she only found six numbers that were not saved with a name. This made the situation more interesting, so they saw them. But…she saw something in the end. "Bingo!" She exclaimed

"What is it?" Her partner Leppamon asked.

"The users of these numbers are all in the Digital World at this moment." Rikka replied. "Where to be precise?"

When Rikka searched for that, a map of the Digital World opened and six red dots appeared in different zones. "Let's see…one is at the Orphan Wolf canyon, another one is at The Village of beginners, two of them are near the Ice Temple, and two of them are reaching the Norfair Volcano." She said.

"Those are strange places…" Yatsura told her opinion. "And some of them are dangerous…" Chikara said.

"If they are Saiba's mercenaries, probably they are searching for other Digimon to catch." Kouta said a possible answer. "And we just have to reach them, right? Finally we have the chance to attack!" Tsuna said, clenching his fists.

"Don't already think of that. Maybe they are normal people." Kumo advised him. "But, to be fair…we will never know until we don't find out…"

"That's right! And it's because of this that only some of us will go there and investigate! So…who volunteers?" Kyoko asked to the others.

"Of course me! I'll go to Norfair! Are you ready to rock, Coredramon?" Tsuna asked to his partner. "Of course I am!" The dragon answered with grit.

"Norfair is a dangerous zone. Going alone would make things difficult. Plus, there's two of them. So I'll go with you." Kumo said.

"You two!? I know what you can do together! And it's not a good thing!" Chikara said.

"Thank you for the trust…" Kumo and Tsuna ironically said. "Maybe you have been too harsh?" Leomon said to his partner. "Fine! I'm sorry." Chikara said.

"Say Rina…it's been a long time since we went together on a mission, how about we go to the Ice Temple?" Sasuke proposed. "OK! We shall rock again!" Rina replied all happily.

"Ready to fight again?" Gladimon asked to Kabuterimon, who showed his muscles. "Ready as I'll ever be!"

"I'll go to the Village of Beginners." Kasai simply said. "Oh yeah! Some action!" Veedramon said, delighted.

"Then we need for someone to go to the canyon…Rikka, what about you?" Kyoko offered to the other girl.

"What? Me?" Rikka asked confused. "Yes! Why not? Since you always stay here…" Kyoko answered.

"I actually helped you with Haruka's case a week ago…but why not?" Rikka remembered, before getting up from the chair. "Ready for some fun, Rikka?" Leppamon asked to her.

The girl looked at her and striked a pose with a shout. "YES! I AM!"

"…What the?" Kouta thought, looking at her.

"Then it's settled! Good luck as always! And remember to think outside the box!" Kyoko reassured to her detectives.

"Gotcha!" They all replied. They then went to a computer to use their Digivice on it, so they could enter the Digital World.

"Whatever the result is…this case will change the situation we are in…" Kyoko said, thinking of all those collocations.

"This is surely a big battle…" Yatsura added. "But seriously Kyoko…did I really put Tsuna's face into my-" "Yes!" Kyoko answered her before she could even finish. This made Yatsura go red and hide her face with a pillow. "I'm a disaster…"

"Nah! It was quite funny!" Kyoko said with a smile. "NO IT'S NOT!" The other girl retorted.


The Orphan Wolf Canyon is a long area situated at the center of the Prince Server. After seeing it, many people called it also 'The return of the old west'.

Just like the name, this was an enormous mountain range, arid and desolate. Only some cactus and the inhabitants Digimon could be seen nearby. Even if it was a dry place, it could give one of the most beautiful sights in the Digital Worlds. See this beautiful wonders of the nature could give an unforgettable experience. But people had to be prepared if they wanted to come here, especially when it came to water. Because if someone ended his water, there was no place around there to get more. Between this canyon and the desert, it seemed that there was no difference.

However, Rikka and his partner Leppamon had to go there if they wanted to capture that mercenary. Every act, even the smallest, was important for this case. The Chosen Child was walking through the canyon with a white cape on his body and two water tanks on her back, while her Digimon was following her, sweating even too much. "D-dammit…it's so hot…" He said with his tongue out. Not only he was flushed by his fur, but also by his mask, which was furry as well. "No wonder why the others of my species prefer to live in forests or in the ice lands…why couldn't we take the ones on the Ice Temple?" He then asked.

"Well…it wasn't in my plans to take part on this big mission, but if I had taken an initiative, I would have taken the Ice Temple as well. But I don't mind hot zones at all! They can be good places to visit! Like this one! The sight from here is beautiful!" Rikka answered, looking back at the many rock mountains of the range.

"Anf…if you say so…" Leppamon said. "Anf…that's just great…now I can't even drink, because we have to spare the water, in case we'll have to spend much time here…" He commented.

"You can always take off your mask and your collar if you are so flushed." Rikka made the most fair suggestion, but that made her Digimon blush. Leppamon was kinda like Gabumon, he didn't want others to see his real face, so he immediately rejected the proposal. "What? Me? No way! Uhm…oh! Right!" He then looked back at his tail and started to move it fast, generating some air for himself. "Aaaah…much better…"

"Wimp…" Rikka said with a little smile. She then looked back at the surrounding environment. Just like she thought, there was nothing. Only rocks, rocks and cactus. "Now comes the hardest part…since this zone is so big, it will be very hard to find someone else." She said.

"Yeah…Plus…almost no one comes here, although it is a renowned place. I don't see anything even on the other mountains or above us…" Leppamon added.

"Just like you said before…this could take some time…" The young detective said, before noticing something. "Hm?"

She wasn't sure of it…but she thought she saw two silhouettes in the distance. The sight was blurred by heat and it could be possible to have mirages in that canyon, so Rikka had to be sure of what she saw.

"What is it?" Leppamon fairly asked. "Maybe I see something in the distance…" His human partner answered. "Really? Strange…a criminal should not be so exposed…" The Digimon said his opinion.

"Maybe he's wandering as well in this canyon…wait!" Rikka answered, before noticing something as well. "The two figures are going away!"

"Should we follow them?" Leppamon proposed. The girl didn't think twice and accepted. So she climbed on the back of Leppamon, who started to run and jump fast towards the two figures. Leppamon was a Digimon that used to move diagonally. But his jumps were effective and remembered those of a leopard.

"There! I'm starting to see their form!" Rikka said, once we were closer to them, but what she saw actually caught her unprepared. Since it was someone she would have never expected.

Far from them there was Yamato, one of the original Chosen Children who was on his partner Garurumon's back. They were running through that isolated canyon, making jump as big as the ones Leppamon was making. "Is that…Mister Yamato? Hey, Leppamon! Speed it up!" Rikka said, wanting to reach him soon. "Ok!" His Digimon accepted, going even more faster. This made the old Chosen Chosen children look back and notice them. "Wait…I know them. Is she Koushiro's daughter with Leppamon?" He wondered.

"Yes, there's no doubt." Garurumon confirmed. So they decided to stop running and meet them. Rikka and Leppamon did the same thing once they saw that Yamato and his Digimon stopped running as well.

"Rikka, it's a surprise to see you here." Yamato said with his usual cold tone. "You see, with a work like this, who knows where you could go in a day like this!" the girl answered with a friendly tone instead.

"Work, uh? So you're here for a case…by the way, how is it going?" The Chosen Child of friendship asked then.

"Oh don't worry, Mister Yamato! We are going straight like a thunder! Recently we have found another issue that could help us solving this case! And you? How is Mistress Sora doing?" Rikka took the chance to ask about Sora.

"My wife? Well, she's ok. Running her store with serenity as always. She has been like this for over 32 years by now." Yamato simply answered. "But, how's Kyoko and…" He was then going to ask about his children, but hesitated when he had to talk about his second one. It was a scar that he could not left. "Come on…" Garurumon encouraged him by pushing his back on Yamato's back. "…Kumo." The man finally managed to end the line.

Rikka sighed for that, but still answered. "Kyoko has been pretty busy recently, but she still has her happiness and her resolution! I know she will go deeper into this question one way or another! Plus, she has some talented detectives like us on her side, eheh! And Kumo...he's not passing a good period, but he's giving his best as well! We all do!" Rikka said, striking a pose.

"I seriously don't understand why they do this…" Yamato thought with a sweat drop falling from his head.

"What about you guys? Why were you here?" Leppamon then fairly asked. "Today is Yamato's day off. So I've asked him to go somewhere and had a free run just like the old times!" It was Garurumon the one who answered, and his reply made Leppamon quite confused. "In a place like this? Don't you feel extremely hot with a fur like that?" He asked.

"While I ran, I feel all the wind blowing in front of me. This lets me run at the maximum of his speed. But yes, in fact I get quite thirsty." The wolf answered.

"I see…well, an astronaut's life could be quite interesting! One day you must show me how those things work!" Rikka said, putting her hands on her hands on her hips.

"You think so? Well, if you want, you can come visit me someday." Yamato answered. "Now we're talking!" Rikka said, pleased, but that smirk soon changed into a mouth wide open, with blood on it. "GAH!"

This made everyone have their eyes wide open as they looked at the injured girl. "RIKKA!" They all exclaimed.

"Rikka! Are you ok!?" Leppamon asked panicked. Rikka couldn't believe it. What happened? There was nothing there…and yet, she got hurt by something. "W-what in the world…?!" When she looked down she noticed that there was a small hook on her shirt. "A hook!? Why is it-" But before she could continue to talk, she was dragged away by something. "WHAT!? AAAAAAAH!"

"RIKKA! Shinkū Kamaitachi!" Before Rikka could go any further, luckily Leppamon noticed that there was a wire behind her. Probably it was connected to the hook that attacked her partner. So promptly, he threw a blade of wind from his tail and cut the wire, making Rikka stop.

"Rikka!" Yamato said, running towards her. "Are you ok!?" Garurumon added. Rikka was having heavy breaths, but she could still move. "Don't worry…I won't die for that…"

"Rikka, don't move so quick." Leppamon advised her worried. This could not be normal, even for someone like Yamato, who saw lots of strange events during his life. "…Excuse me. I hope you understand." The former Chosen Child said before he raised up a little bit Rikka's shirt to see the damage. A small cut with blood going down, was present in Rikka's navel. "Oh…dammit…"

"The problem still remains…where did that come from?" Garurumon asked. Leppamon looked around making quick movements with the head, but he didn't see anything. "Dammit…we won't see anything here!"

"And that is the main problem…whoever did this, is using the vastness of the place to give us surprises attacks. The distance between one canyon to another is so big that is hard to see any sort of thing. Not to mention that the heat of the zone damages our sight…" Rikka explained while holding her navel.

"Unbelievable…who would have thought of something so clever!?" Yamato wondered. "Your enemies are completely different from my generations…it seems that Digimon evolved even with intelligence…" He said.

Even Garurumon looked around to see a trace of something. But for this time, his hear was more important than his eye, as he heard of a small noise coming closer to Yamato. When he turned around in time he saw that a small look connected to a wire was going to take his partner as well. But Garurumon wouldn't let it do this. "Fox Fire!" He quickly shoot a burst of blue flames, which destroyed the whire. Yamato turned around once he heard the flames behind him and something metallic falling on the ground. Yamato looked down on his feet and saw it. Another metallic hook. "Gosh…they tried with me as well…thanks Garurumon."

"It's ok…but now…how do we deal with them now?" The Adult-Level Digimon wondererd.

"That's the dilemma…" Leppamon said.

Meanwhile from the top of a canyon, two individuals were studying the situation as well. One of them was a little girl with pink hair, blue eyes, wearing a green sleeveless shirt with bare shoulders, white jeans and two brown sandals. She also wore glasses on her eyes. Her name was Sarah Suzuki, an American girl who recently joined Saiba Rei to eliminate the Chesire Cat Agency. This showed that the Chosen Children back in 1999 weren't the only kids who could give many surprises.

On her right, there was an Adult-Level Digimon that looked like a pirate with the face covered by a hat and a red scarf. He also had a hook on her left arm and a cannon on his right one. It was a Digimon known as Hookmon.

"Yikes! The detective and that old man defended themselves from my attack!" Sarah said.

"But we managed to put them in confusion. If we take advantage of this, we will be able to take them down. What if we attack them from different directions everytime and in a different way?" The Digimon proposed. It looked like among the two, he was the brain.

"That is brilliant! You know how to make me happy all the time! Then it's settled! They won't be able to escape from the grasp of Sarah Suzuki and her mighty partner Hookmon! Ahah!" She said, pointing up with a finger. "Now let's go!" She added before they ran away.

Meanwhile, Rikka was covering her wound with a bandage. "You really want to help me?" She asked to Yamato, who proposed to give his help to find and defeat the enemy. "Yes. This won't be an easy battle for you, judging by the brain of your enemy. So a help from someone who already had experience won't hurt." Yamato answered with a serious voice, while looking to another dimension, while the wind was moving his hair.

"Now he's too serious…" Leppamon thought. "Even if we don't fight from a long time, we still have the talent. We'll make sure that you'll go back to your agency alive." Garurumon promised.

"Why, thank you for the kindness! In fact, it will be interesting to see our ways of fighting. Ok, now I can move again." Rikka said, while she stood up. "As I said before…the main problem is the environment we are standing now…it will be hard to find another human or another Digimon in a place like this…and searching for this whole place could take too many hours…the first thing we have to do is to find a way that could make us look to big portions of the canyon in a short time…" She then explained of a possible plan.

"So…you mean like a radar?" Yamato asked. This made Rikka nod and answer. "Yes! A radar, thanks Mister Yamato. Now that I think of it…it would be useful if we could use my computer…" She then said.

This could not help but make Yamato chuckle. For him, it was like looking at a reflex of another life. It was incredible for him that this girl made him feel like he was on the Digital World of almost 40 years ago. "Eheh…the more I see you, the more I think of Koushiro." He said.

"You mean my father? Really?" Rikka asked.

"Yes. Just like you, he was super careful for the details and full of curiosity. Also, if I remember well, he was the only one among us who listened Gennai carefully every time. He was usual to think that much. But despise all of this, he was a good friend. Everyone were good friends…" Yamato explained, holding his chest, where the energy of the crest of Friendship layed.

"Guess you really are the Chosen Children of friendship, right?" Rikka said with a smile.

"You too, uh? To think that I didn't think that this was my symbol at first…but then…thanks to Gabumon, I was able to know the truth behind it." Yamato added, looking at Garurumon, who smiled. "But…you are different from Koushiro at the same time…you actually are more sure and active than him."

"You think so? Well, it's my nature…very well, now we can go back to-" Rikka was going to investigate but, from underground another hook came up, shocking everyone. "LOOK OUT!" Leppamon exclaimed.

Everyone made a jump back, when they saw it. "Shit! to think that they would have attacked that soon!" Rikka exclaimed. But the hook didn't finished, going towards Yamato. "Leppamon! Do something quick!" She advised her partner.

"Jūga Rangeki!" Before the hook could reach her, Leppamon made a jump and destroyed it with his sharp claws. "I made it!" He said. But unfortunately this was just what someone was expecting.

Sarah and Hookmon where looking at them from another rock of the same height. Sarah was holding Hookmon's original hook while the Digimon had more than one wire attached to his left hand. "Eheheh! They fell for it! Do it!" Sarah exclaimed, happy to see the result of her strategy.

In the same instant when Leppamon cut the wire, other five of them appeared from the ground, surrounding Leppamon. "WHAT!?" He exclaimed.

"No way! Don't tell me they were expecting someone to attack the wire for this trap!" Garurumon exclaimed as he saw the scene.

There was no time to think so quickly that Leppamon was caught in that infamous but still so clever trap and got dragged down the rocks. "GAAAAAH!"

"LEPPAMON!" Rikka said, extremely panicked to see her partner getting dragged down. "There's no time! Jump in!" Yamato told her, already on Garurumon's back. Rikka didn't hesitated and jumped in. Once they were both on his back, Garurumon ran as fast as he could. Luckily he knew where he had to go thanks to the noises he was hearing under his paws. Once again, his hearing helped him what to do.

Meanwhile, Leppamon was getting dragged at maximum speed underground. This made him get hurt from the rocks he clashed against. Some of them hit him in the face, making him split blood from his mouth. "This cannot be normal!" He exclaimed. Later, he was finally out from the underground, but when he looked down, he saw nothing, only an endless gulch. "DAMMIT!"

"We've got him!" Hookmon said, leaving him from his hooks's grasp. "Bye bye!" Sarah added.

Leppamon was left in the void, falling down to a great unknown, screaming for the panic. The yell made the others who were reaching him get even more worried, especially Rikka. "Leppamon…!?" She said.

"Grr..DAMMIT! If I didn't make you lose time with my chat!" Yamato said, feeling guilty, but Garurumon didn't want to listen that. "Yamato! There's no time for that! I see someone there!" He said.

This made the two humans raise their head and look at the same direction. "You're right!" Rikka said.

Meanwhile Leppamon was still falling. He had to think quickly. One mistake and he was done. But fortunately, he was a detective Digimon, so he knew how to act in a situation like this. So he moved his body while falling towards the closest rock and attached himself to it with the blade on his tail. Finally, the move was successful, even if the sword descended for a while for the impact. After that, the Adult-Level Digimon made a push upward to climb the rock. After the push, he attached to the rock with his clows. The risk of falling was still existent, so he gritted his teeth while doing that. After he got sure that he was still on the rock, he decided to climb it. He had to reach a more secure place, where the risk of falling was less present. So he ran as fast as he could towards the top.

"Did you do it?" Sarah asked to her partner. "After I left the grasp, I didn't listen other noises. So he's probably dead.

"So that leads to two humans with one Digimon, right?" Sarah hoped with a smile. But soon, she had to change her mind. "IN YOUR DREAMS!" A voice from below said.

When the two of them looked down, they got scared for seeing Leppamon jumping so suddenly. The Digimon finally landed on the earth and saw the face of the enemies. "AAAAAH! HE CAME UP!" Sarah exclaimed. "They're clever than I thought!" Hookmon added.

"To think that you would make me go to such an experience! I can't wait to knock both of you!" Leppamon exclaimed. But then he was surprised to see the face of his enemy. "Wait…a kid?" He said once he saw Sarah's identity.

"Leppamon!" Rikka called her from behind. The Digimon looked back to see Garurumon to jump towards them with his partner and Yamato on his back. "NONO! THEY'VE REACHED US!" Sarah shouted panicked.

"Fox Fire!" During the jump, the wolf Digimon attacked with a burst of his blue flames his enemy. But the other Digimon knew how to answer. "Captain Cannon!" Hookmon shoot a cannon ball from his right arm, which exploded once he touched the flames.

The little explosion damaged everyone, made them fall to the ground. But it was Sarah who got up first. The first thing she done was to take her Digimon and go away. "Come on, let's go!"

Rikka got up, coughing for the smoke of the explosion. When she opened her eyes, she unfortunately noticed that their enemies were already disappeared. "They're gone…" She said. But first, she had to see her Digimon. After a terrible scene she had to see before, she wanted to be sure that Leppamon was ok. "Hey, Leppamon! Are you ok?"

The feline Digimon groaned a little, but he was able to get up. "Yes…I'm fine-" He answered, but got stopped from Rikka's sudden hug. "Oh, thank god…I was really scared…sorry for letting my guard down…" She said.

"H-hey…it's ok…it's not your fault…" Leppamon said, caught unprepared. "How cute they are!" Garurumon commented.

"Ok, don't exaggerate now…" Leppamon said, looking at him. "You know, it's been a while since you cuddled me!" Garurumon then said to his partner.

"Since when you need to get cuddled!?" Yamato explained.

"Now we can think back about our target now!" Rikka said with her happy tone back. Once she knew that her partner was safe, she could go back to her normal behaviour.

"Did you saw her, right?" Leppamon asked. "Yes…" Rikka confirmed. "She was around 9 years old…to think that…" For a moment, she was going to say the name of their main enemy, but she then remembered that Yamato was behind her. She had in mind Kyoko's decision last night, but it was wise for her to not telling him the truth in this particular moment. He would have been probably more agitated or frustrated, and the risk of getting inured or killed could grow for him. So she had to be generic to avoid the growth of an already high tension. "…He could search even for kids to achieve his plans." She ended her line.

"You're talking about the one who is after you?" Yamato asked. The girl nodded. "I knew it…it kinda reminded me of Oikawa…he too, used kids for his experiments. But…this guy is even more cruel. He's teaching small kids to kill! Who could ever do that!?" He exclaimed, clenching his fists.

Rikka could see that, even if he had passed through many experiences with nefarious beings, he could still get angry for someone even that day. It was certain that she, and the other new Chosen Children had to pass through the same things he did. Maybe…with even more diabolical creatures. "Don't worry, Mister Yamato. We'll discover what is behind all of this. And then, you and the others will be proud of what we had done!" She said, putting her hands on Yamato's shoulders.

"Eheh…I'm sure of it, Rikka." Yamato answered.

"Now…let's talk about her Digimon…" Koushiro's daughter returned to their main subject at the moment.

"I think I know him. If I'm not wrong…it's called Hookmon." Leppamon answered.

"Hookmon?" Rikka said. She then took her Digivice to search for a Digimon like that. After some research, she found it. "Oh! There it is! Hookmon, a mutant Adult-Level Digimon. A brave Digimon that travels through the Net Ocean. It has a hook on his left arm and a cannon on his right arm. Its attacks are Captain Cannon and Liquid Bullet." She read the description of that Digimon.

"Man, that Digivice it's actually quite useful. To think that it's the first type ever made…" Yamato said, surprised of what her item could do.

"Yeah, sometimes I wonder why that Gennai guy discarded it." Rikka said. In fact, the Digivice Virtual pet was the first type of Digivice ever made. It was build to be a prototype of the one the Chosen Children were about to use. "By the way, do you know what happened to him?" She then asked curious.

But Yamato shaked his head. "No. After Meicoomon's death, he seemed to be completely disappeared. I heard that he appeared to Taichi during the battle with Eosmon, but other than that…nothing." He said.

"Do you think he's planning something else?" Garurumon asked. "I don't know. It's kinda hard to think of it after 32 years." Yamato replied.

"Now that I think of it…they said that he became evil…what if he comes back? " Rikka thought. "…Never mind. This is not the time to think about it."

"They've escaped, but I think they're still here." Leppamon said looking around.

"But how do we know where they could be in a place like this? It's like we are back at the start point!" Garurumon fairly observed.

"True…but let's not forget that there is still a way to find him. Remember that nothing is impossible!" Rikka said with a resolute tone.

"Such determination…is happy to see that even to the present day, the young ones are so full of hope…" Yamato thought, looking at Rikka with a smile.

After that little break, they moved from they were in that moment and went on an area like the other ones. After all, this canyon all looked the same.

"So…as we said before…the problem with our enemy is the place that surround us. So what I suggest, is to find a strategy to use when we see them

"What do you mean?" Garurumon asked.

"As we saw, after they attacked, they immediately run away to change their position, then they attack and the circle repats. So, what we have to do, is to find a way to attack them on the right moment we can see them." The girl answered.

"Do you have any ideas?" Leppamon asked.

"Well…judging from what we saw, That Hookmon can use two types of attack: He can throw hooks at us or it shoots cannons. We should think of using these two attacks at our own advantage…"

"So what do we do?" Leppamon asked.

"Good que-" Rikka said, looking up, but interrupted herself when she looked a bigger hook under the sun. "EVERYONE! LOOK OUT!" She exclaimed, making the others alarm, so they did what she said.

With a jump they all went away from where they were standing before. But that didn't change anything, since the hook planted itself on the ground and started to rotate around them, digging a circle on the rocked ground.

"What in the world is doing?" Yamato asked confused. "It's coming closer to us by rotating, creating a spiral! It's like it's playing with us!" Rikka tried to gave a reasonable reason.

"That is right!" A voice said. Everyone turned on their right and saw Sarah and Hookmon in the distance. Also, Hookmon seemed to have a long wire instead of his left arm.

"It's them! But wait…is it me or Hookmon doesn't have an arm?" Garurumon observed.

"You're right, wolf. Unfortunately, I don't dispose of arms or hands. I only have these two weapons on my side. And this little girl here Sarah found a way to make the left one work perfectly." The pirate Digimon explained.

"Yup! I've put many long wires around Hookmon's left shoulder, so that he could throw hooks of every dimensions and length apart from his original one!" Sarah added.

"Wait, how is that possible?" Rikka asked.

"Simple! I roll up the wire on Hookmon's shoulder till the hook, so when he throws it, it unrolls! But I made these wires with my own hands so there's no trouble, apart from when the wire is cut!" Sarah explained happily.

Rikka was amazed by the brain of someone so little. "Incredible! Such an invention coming from someone like you…You're…amazing!" She said with an adorable face, even if she was her enemy.

"Really? Awwww! Thank you! If that so! Then I'll continue!" Sarah said happier, making Rikka and the others alarm. "NONONONONONO! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" She exclaimed. "RIKKA WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Leppamon said angry to her.

The wire with the hook was going to surround them closer and closer. "Ok! If we calm down and think of something before the wire gets us, maybe we can-" Rikka was going to say something to Yamato and his Digimon, but in that moment, the Hook caught them like a rope.

"…Sometimes I hate you when you lose yourself in talking…" Leppamon said, looking at her. "I'm not the only one who does it…" Rikka retorted.

"Captain Cannon!" Hookmon then took the chance and shoot a giant cannonball against them. Unfortunately, the attack got them and made them slam to the ground with another explosion.

"Ahahaahahahaahah! Now you know how far the strategy of the great Sarah Suzuki can go!" She said, beating the heel on the ground. This, somehow, made her be surrounded by a light.

"Ngh…I've never thought of facing someone like her…and I have encountered strange people in my life!" Yamato commented the situation.

"She surely is a strange girl…she kinda reminds me of Small Usagi from Sailor Moon…but she also cannot be underestimated, since she has such an intelligence…" Rikka added. "Surely Saiba Rei choosed well his mercenaries…but how could a small girl like her be one of them?" She then thought.

"Rikka! She disappeared again!" Leppamon advised her. "What!?" Rikka exclaimed, seeing that her partner was right. "No way! Are they really that fast?" She wondered. But a big noise from behind made her turn around and saw that another giant cannonball was going towards them. "Dammit!"

"Quick! Run!" Garurumon advised them. Both him and Leppamon grabbed their partners and ran away from the ball, which crushed on the ground making it crumble and crack.

"Jump! NOW!" Garurumon and Leppamon had to jump before they could have been reduced into a flat silhouette. They were known for making high jumps, so with their great strength they managed to reach the mountain where Sarah and Hookmon where standing, but from the other side.

"This doesn't mean that we cannot hit you!" Sarah said still convinced. "Captain Cannon!" Hookmon then shoot three cannonballs in a row.

"This time we cannot let them escape!" Rikka said. "But if only we could reach them faster…" Yamato added. But then he had an idea. "Wait! Maybe I know what to do! Garurumon!"

"I got it!" The wolf replied. Yamato then grabbed his Digivice and used it to make Garurumon evolve into a superior level. "GARURUMON! SUPER EVOLUTION!"

Garurumon's form changed a little bit. He put himself in an upright position, some pants appeared on his legs and some accessories on his punches.

"WEREGARURUMON!"

Once he evolved, the were wolf Digimon ran faster than before. "Amazing! Through evolution his stats like the speed are increased!" Rikka said with curiosity. "I really wonder if I'll be able to do the same when I'll evolve!" Leppamon added. "Ok! Back to it!" He then exclaimed, running towards their enemy.

Meanwhile WereGarurumon jumped against one of the cannonballs and made a hole through it with a powerful kick. "Garuru Kick!" The attack also made the bomb explode in the sky after he passed through it. Then, once he was out of danger he aimed at Hookmon. "Now for you! Attack him!" Yamato exclaimed.

"Yikes!" Sarah said, worried. "Kaiser Nail!" WereGarurumon then threw some red swipes against the enemy. The attack successfully reached Hookmon and made him fly away and slam to the ground. "GAH!" He yelled of pain.

"Hookmon!" Sarah exclaimed.

And now it was Leppamon's turn. He ran as fast as he could towards the other two bombs, knowing the perfect attack to destroy them. "Shinkū Kamaitachi!" Leppamon threw a blade of wind from his tail that went like a boomerang and cut through the two bombs that exploded in the air.

"D-Dammit!" Hookmon exclaimed, standing up after the attack from before. But immediately after he was able to stand on his own two feet, he found Leppamon in front of him, ready to attack with his tail. Hookmon was stunned to see him already here but he blocked the attack in time with his own hook. In the end, both Leppamon's tail and Hookmon's normal hook clashed with each other like two swords on a duel. The two Digimon proceeded on attacking and blocking each other. "I'll make sure that I'll get my comeback for what you did to me before!" Leppamon exclaimed.

"Don't be so sure of that!" Hookmon said before doing a straight lunge which was avoided by Leppamon, who moved on the left. Then the feline Digimon gave him a hit on the chin by still using the tail. The hit made Hookmon fall yet again. Then Leppamon proceeded on attacking with a barrage of claws, even if Hookmon was able to block them with his hook.

"KYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAAAAAAAA!" Both Rikka and Leppamon released their battle cry while the Digimon continued to attack his enemy with growing strength. "Your force is impressive, but as you can see I'm still able to block all of your attacks!" Hookmon tried to provoke him. "Indeed! But it will be only natural that if you keep on defending yourself, then I'll just have to increase my speed! Take this!" Leppamon answered by going even more faster. This time, Hookmon was starting to surrender to his strength. "H-he's right!" He exclaimed.

"Kurukuru Rekkūzan!" Leppamon then rolled towards him and gave him a powerful hit with his tail.

"NGH!" Hookmon exclaimed as he was pushed away. But then he aimed with his cannon and shoot a bullet made of water from it. "Liquid Bullet!"

"That's the other attack!" Leppamon exclaimed, before getting hit by an explosion of water made by the bullet. "Agh!" After that, he stood up and shaked his body to dry his fur. "Right, since he's a pirate, he had to be somehow related to the water…uh?" Leppamon said before noticing that Hookmon was still aiming at him. "Crap!" He exclaimed. In that moment, Hookmon shoot other water bullets against him. Leppamon had to run away if he wanted to be safe, so he started to run around him to avoid the attacks.

"Stupid cat! You cannot run forever!" Sarah said, doing the bigmouth. "Yes! But remember that we are not alone!" Rikka said with a grin. "W-what do you mean?" She asked worried, but a voice let her know the answer.

"Now WereGarurumon!" Yamato exclaimed from behind. And in that moment, WereGarurumon punched Hookmon on his back. "Baldy Blow!"

This made Hookmon go down. "Good! Now we can-" WereGarurumon was about to give Hookmon the final strike, but the opponent quickly changed his hook with other ones much smaller. And in a matter of seconds, he surrounded WereGarurumon with wires. "What!?" The wolf Digimon exclaimed once he found himself blocked from every part of his body.

"I'm not done yet!" Hookmon exclaimed, as he lifted WereGarurumon from the ground and threw him against a wall. "GAH!" WereGarurumon had his back slammed against the wall while splitting some blood from his mouth.

"WereGarurumon!" Yamato exclaimed.

"Incredible…to think that after all those attacks, he still lands on his feet!" Rikka exclaimed, noticing the maximum effort of Hookmon.

"It's Sarah's happiness that helps me to stand up!" Hookmon spoke. "What?" Leppamon asked.

"Maybe you can understand…there is nothing than can give satisfaction to me more than every time I see Sarah being happy for one of her inventions. Seeing that little girl happy make me content as well. I can't let you to make her suffer! I have to be sure that there will be that happiness in her life!" Hookmon answered. This made Rikka surprised. She saw both Sarah and Hookmon. The passion that the little girl was putting in remembered her the times when she was excited after she managed to do something extraordinary in a good way. Just like her in the past, Sarah was after all a girl that wanted to be happy with her creations. "…So…you're like me…" She said.

"Huh?" Sarah asked. "You're just a girl that likes to work with items, right? If that's so…why are you doing this? You only want to show your cleverness, right? Then why are you following S-…the one who is after us!?" Rikka asked.

"No time for that! Let's finish this! Hookmon!" Sarah exclaimed, looking at her partner. "Understood!" The Digimon answered. He then aimed at Leppamon, ready to attack him in the head with the hook.

"Dammit…this fight won't end at this point…we need something that puts them in a corner…but that hook seems just unstoppable!" Rikka thought, gritting her teeth. "Wait…the hook…is connected to his body…" Finally, the right thought at the right time. Just like Kyoko said in the past, Rikka now had to think outside the box to find the key for the victory. "Yeah! That's true…why didn't I think of it before?" She thought. And then…she talked to her partner. "Leppamon! Grab the hook when it comes closer to you!" She exclaimed.

"What?" Leppamon asked. "Trust me!" Rikka insisted. The feline Digimon turned back on the enemy, with sweat coming down from his head. "Ok…you can do this." He thought. He just had to look at that hook…coming closer like a bullet. "Focus…focus…focus…NOW!" He exclaimed, before grabbing the hook with his teeth.

"WHAT!?" Both Sarah and Hookmon exclaimed. Leppamon then used all of his strength to push the Digimon away and make him slam against the ground.

"T-That's impossible! How could you do that!?" Sarah exclaimed. "You know, even I had some difficulties to find out. But then I remembered something that a dear friend of mine told me once…to think from another perspective and see things with more logic!" Rikka answered. "Now, it's time for your punishment, baby…" She added, striking a pose.

Sarah gritted her teeth, but she wasn't done yet. "I'm not afraid! Hookmon!" She said, calling for her partner, hoping of encouraging him. The Digimon answered the call and stood up. "Right! Take this!" He then used another hook in order to catch him. But Leppamon simply had to use the same technique. With his fangs, he grabbed the hook and started to make it spin, dragging Hookmon with it. "AAAAAH! I'm going to puke at this point!" He exclaimed.

"So long!" This time Leppamon threw him against a rock, successfully. "No, Hookmon! My strategy…failed!?" Sarah exclaimed. Rikka simply looked at the scene without saying anything.

Hookmon stood up and saw that Sarah was scared. This made him mad, as he looked at his opponent. "No one is allowed to scary her!" He shouted before he jumped towards Leppamon, aiming at him with the cannon. "Captain Cannon!" He shoot another giant ball, but Leppamon was known to be a fast Digimon, so all that he had to do was to jump above it and then after Hookmon. "What!?" He exclaimed.

"You're attacking full of rage, and that doesn't work on me! Kurukuru Rekkūzan!" Leppamon then started to attack him repeatedly with its tail, releasing along with Rikka his battle cry. "KYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYAA!"

Hookmon was left with thousands of cuts on his body, as he felt to the ground with his eyes wide open. "It's over." Rikka said.

"NO! HOOKMON!" Sarah said, running towards his Digimon and putting in front of Leppamon with her arms wide open. "PLEASE! DON'T HURT HIM ANYMORE! I SURRENDER!"

"Uh?" Leppamon said. Meanwhile, WereGarurumon reverted to Gabumon and reached them along with Yamato. "Look at that…"

Sarah was deeply hurt for what she saw. She was just a kid and she didn't want to lose him. She even started to cry. "Please….don't hurt him…he's my best friend! I don't know what would I do if he dies…he always accepts to text my new experiments and he's happy to do so…I know I've been a bad girl, but please! I give up! JUST SPARE HIM, PLEASE!" She said with her eyes full of tears.

Rikka, Yamato and their Digimon actually felt bad looking at the scene. They were Chosen Children as well, so they understood how painful it could be to see her Digimon die. But they weren't the type of people that would finish an enemy if they didn't need to. Rikka took a deep breath and looked at her. "Don't worry. We're not bad guys. If you don't have a reason to oppose anymore, we'll gladly stop. But you need to do what I'll ask you!" She said.

"I PROMISE!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Very well. First of all, who told you to kill us?" Rikka asked. "I-It was Saiba Rei! He told me to do so! One day I met him, showed my appreciation towards him, and then he said that I could help him by taking you out!" Sarah said. This made Yamato and Gabumon get stunned. "Saiba Rei!?" They both exclaimed. Rikka looked at them and sighed. "Great…now they know…" She thought. She then turned back to the little girl. "Second: Do you have an USB key with you?" She then asked.

"Y-yes…" Sarah answered, taking a red USB key from her pocket. "Give it to me." Rikka simply said. The little girl simply nodded. She didn't want things to get worst, so she simply gave it to her.

"Good…listen, you are a child and you don't seem evil, so we won't finish you or your partner." Rikka told her, making her happy. "Oh…thank you so mu-" Sarah was going to show her gratitude, but…"HOWEVER…" Rikka interrupted her. She then grabbed a pair of handcuffs and put them on her hands. "W-What?" Sarah asked confused. "You still made a crime! And so, you'll need to stay in a place where you need education!" Rikka said.

"…OH NO!" Sarah exclaimed, while Hookmon sighed. So they all went to search a TV that they could use to go back to the real world.

"Hey…Rikka…" Yamato then said. The girl turned on him. "Yes?" She asked.

"What did…she meant before? About Saiba Rei?" Yamato asked. Rikka looked down with a sad look and then she looked at her partner. "…It's time…" Leppamon said.

"Yes…you're right…once we're done with her, I'll tell you all the truth." She said. "The truth?" Gabumon asked. But Yamato was patient and nodded. "…Ok…"

So they continued their walk, but Rikka had now more doubts in her mind. "With this we have four USB keys…but now the situation is getting more critical…Saiba Rei not only hired professional mercenaries…but even normal people that have talents…he surely knows how to act…but to think that he was able to convince even a girl like her…just…what he's planning?" She thought.


The Village of Beginners is the place where every Digimon comes to the light after breaking the shell of the DigiTama. Here, they are surrounded by toys, other Digimon and most importantly, happiness and love. The places looks like a prairie with giant toys for kids, and of course…it was surrounded of DigiTama, all of them containing a Digimon who had to be born yet. A place of charm, cute Digimon, and happiness. After humans and Digimon recognized each other, many people came here to find the Digimon that was destined to be their Digimon partner. It was the perfect place that described the word 'peace'.

Kasai was looking around the place with a cigarette on her mouth, searching for another human besides her. The Baby-Level Digimon looked at her with curiosity, but she just ignored them and focused on her quest. She had to find this mercenary and defeat it. Veedramon was the one nervous, since many Baby Digimon jumped on him, wanting to play. If he could, he would have thrown them away immediately, but even if he was ferocious, he wasn't rude. So he let them do what they wanted. "UGH…how long are you still going to be there, Kasai? This is so annoying!" He exclaimed.

"As long as I need. Plus, you were like this when you were little." Kasai simply answered. "Really? Dammit…ok, you all, get off me!" Veedramon then said to the babies, who went away laughing. "Good grief…" Kasai said, adjusting her hat. "How can you see something by just standing there?" Veedramon asked.

The girl just snorted and moved. "Sometimes you can be quite annoying…" She said. "Finally…" Veedramon spoke with a low tone, following her. "Why would someone find energy in the Village of Beginners? There are only Baby-Level Digimon here…" He then said, looking around.

"Yes…but there are many Digimon that together could make a big amount of energy. Saiba Rei is a person that takes note of everything, remember it." Kasai answered.

"I know…but he's still mysterious…and I'm someone who wants to know all the answers already!" Veedramon said.

"I know. But you should still remember that we are detectives. A thing like this is our daily bread." Kasai replied. She then decided to stay in silence for a while and enjoy the peace of the zone. Even for a girl like her, this place could give a calm atmosphere and it was a shame that soon or later she had to fight right here. "This place is pretty big…it will not be surely as big as the zone Rikka have to inspect, but it will take certainly some time." She thought.

Meanwhile Veedramon looked at all the DigiTama and remembered something. "You said that I wasn't born here…right?" He asked.

"No." Kasai confirmed. "My mother said that she found your DigiTama in the middle of a forest."

"Yes, I remember…I wonder where I came from, then…meh, it's not a big deal though. I'm fine with the life I have." The dragon said. "Even these kids don't have a family and still they're going to be great Digimon. The way you come to the world is meaningless. It's what you do that makes you who you are."

Kasai was surprised to hear those words and turned around. "Since when you do these deep speeches?" She asked with a small smile.

"Hey! What do you mean? That I don't think?" Veedramon answered, a little bit offended. But their discussion was interrupted when they suddenly heard some voices in the distance.

"We're not alone." Kasai said, while Veedramon came closer to her. "Do you have any idea of who could that be?" He asked. "Maybe it's Elecmon…but I'll still check out." Kasai answered, grabbing something form her pocket. It was a small, but efficient monocle, the same that Tai used many times during his first journey on the Digital World. It was one of the gifts that her father gave her and that she decided to take with her when she changed house. The girl looked carefully and then saw them. But what she saw was unexpected.

Some metres far away from them there were Daisuke and Veemon, the main Chosen Child and Digimon of the second group of Chosen Children back in 2002. The two of them were talking with the guardian of the Village, a small furred Child-Level Digimon named Elecmon.

"What are you seeing?" Veedramon asked. "…Uncle Daisuke and Veemon are here…" Kasai simply answered. "What? That blue dragon is here?" Veedramon said.

Meanwhile Daisuke and his partner were having a normal discussion with the other Digimon. "So life isn't that easy, right?" Veemon asked to the Digimon. "Yes…taking care of so many Digimon is really an heavy task. And to think that I do this for I don't know how many years…" Elecmon answered.

"Then it's not that of a big deal! You can do it even forever!" Daisuke said with a smile.

"If you say so…uh? Hey, behind you!" Elecmon said, once he saw someone approaching them.

Daisuke and Veemon both turned around and recognized the figures. "Hey…are those…?" Daisuke asked.

And they were just like they thought: Kasai and Veedramon. "You know these guys?" Elecmon asked. The older Chosen Child nodded and answered. "Yes! They're my nephew and her partner!"

"Nephew? Does that mean she's Taichi's daughter?" Elecmon asked. "That's right!" Veemon answered with a thumb up.

"Hey, uncle Dasiuke." Kasai greeted the older Chosen Child like only her could do. "Kasai! It's been a while! How are you?" Daisuke asked with a smile. Kasai simply looked at him and nodded, with this she said that she was ok. "Hi, Veedramon! How's my big buddy?" Veemon asked as well to the Digimon. And Veedramon…

"Hey." He answered just like he does with Agumon, leaving Veemon stunned. "H-hey?" He asked.

"Why are you doing here?" Daisuke then asked. "I could ask the same thing to you." Kasai answered back.

Daisuke didn't know what to answer. If he learned one thing since when he saw his own children and the others of the new generation of Chosen Children was that they were all unpredictable. "Well, between one ramen and another, even someone like me deserves some rest after all, ahah!" He answered. But Kasai was looking at him like she was judging him. And in fact, it was true. "He really is Tsuna's father…" She thought.

"H-Hey! Don't look at me like that!" The man said. "How about you, Kasai? Why are you here?" Veemon asked.

"Job. Nothing more." Kasai simply answered. "We are searching for one of the mercenaries that were hired to kill us." Veedramon added.

"Oh, still that story, uh? Man, it's already been almost two months…did you at least find something that can help you?" Daisuke asked, worried about their situation.

"Yes. We found some things that made us closer to the point. I think we are at a pretty good point." The girl answered. "Even Tsuna and Sasuke are doing their best."

"I'm sure of it! They have always been productive!" Daisuke answered optimistic, but both Kasai and Veedramon knew the truth. "Not really…especially when it comes to Sasuke…" Veedramon thought.

"Anyways, remember! Whatever happens, do always your best!" Daisuke said. "That's right! Then you'll win!" Veemon added.

"Yes, we know that…now…back to find that mercenary…" Kasai said, turning around and looking at the horizon. But then…something unexpected happened.

"Hellooooooo?" A voice shouted from the distance, making everyone look in that direction. "Can you hear me, detectiveeeee?" It looked like a female, sweet and docile voice.

"D-Detective? Does she talks about us, Kasai?" Veedramon asked. Kasai was still silent. It was strange…how did someone know that there was a detective in that right place? And most importantly, who called them? Was the mercenary? But it didn't make sense. Why would a mercenary call their target, making their position so clear? The girl didn't know what was going on, but she was sure of one thing. "If we don't reach her, we'll never know. Come on, let's go." Kasai said, starting to go down the hill with Veedramon following her.

Daisuke and Veemon then looked at each other. "Should we follow them?" Veemon asked. "Yeah, it's a good idea. Maybe we'll find some answer!" Daisuke answered. Before they followed Kasai and Veedramon, the two of them looked back at Elecmon. "You stay here with the baby Digimon, ok?" Daisuke asked.

Elecmon nodded. "Don't worry, you go." He said.

And then, after a walk, they finally saw a figure. A quite bizarre one, since it looked like a young and cute girl with long blonde hair.

Nui Kishibe was looking at them, waving her hand. "Over here!" She said.

Kasai was actually surprised to see someone with that look. Maybe because she wasn't used that much to girls that were so lightly (Even if she knew Kyoko and Aria) "What the heck…?" She thought. "Does this thing comes from an anime?" Veedramon thought as well

"What an adorable girl…" Daisuke commented. But, he had to see over the appearance.

"Howdy! You're Kasai Yagami of the Chesire Cat Agency, right?" Nui asked.

Kasai already looked at her suspicious. It was certain: That girl was too suspicious. "…How did you know that?" She asked.

The other girl giggled a little and answered. "Well, how can we say it, you are recently searching for both Saiba Rei and his mercenaries, right?" Nui continued, making Daisuke and Veemon gasp.

"What did she say!?" Daisuke exclaimed. "Saiba Rei? How is he involved with that!?" Veemon exclaimed. Kasai turned around and saw their reactions. She didn't actually thought of telling them about this in that way. But sooner or later, they would have known that.

"Good grief…there goes our secret…" She thought before turning around and seeing the loli girl. "Who are you exactly?" She asked with a calm yet furious stare.

This made the other girl only happier. She always intended to provoke the enemy by telling truths that only she knew. "Ahahah! Don't need to be pissed off! You are trying to take down the mercenaries, right? Well…you got one right here!" She answered, striking a pose.

"What the!?" Daisuke exclaimed, not knowing what was going on. "One like you!?"

"…And why did you show yourself so easily?" Veedramon asked.

"Oh, I'm not like the other killers who think of a plan to kill in a stealth way! I want to be more direct with my new friends! Plus, there is absolutely nothing that can make me not lose to a battle!" Nui answered with a cute smile.

At this point Kasai was angry but interested at the same time. Even if she was a type of person she couldn't stand, she was still curious to text her strength, if the girl was so convinced. "You…what is your name?" Kasai then asked.

Nui answered making a little bow. "The name is Nui Kishibe, at your service." At this point, both Kasai and Veedramon looked at her carefully, since they've already heard that name before. "Oh…so you're the one who defeated Tsuna the other day." Kasai said.

"What did she say!?" Daisuke asked angry. "What did you do to my son!?"

"Oh, you mean the hero? Nothing important, I just defended my friend for being taken away! And he was the one who answered. If it wasn't for my friend…" Nui said before making an grin. "He would have been already dead." This made everyone annoyed. "But there's no need to be sad for it! Besides, I can play with you now!"

"Play? What do you mean by that?" Veemon asked.

"Only a little game…" the girl answered. Then she took her digivice and was surrounded by a pink aura, from which Hisyaryumon came from and made a deep cut on the grass, showing the ground and making everyone jump away. "THE FIRST ONE WHO GETS STRIKED DOWN LOSES!" She exclaimed, before making a psychotic laugh.

"This girl is crazy!" Veemon exclaimed. "It's surely nothing like we have faced years ago!" Daisuke added. But Kasai and Veedramon weren't surprised and made a step forwards. "K-Kasai? What are you doing?" Daisuke answered. "My mission." Kasai simply answered before looking at Nui straight in the eyes. Veedramon did the same thing to Hisyaryumon.

"So you said that you want to play, uh?" Veedramon said, pleased by the fight. "In that case, I have to warn you…" He continued before making a big stomp and striking a pose. "You've put yourselves against a band of sharks!"

Hisyaryumon wasn't worried and laughed just like her partner before. "Oh, shark-to-shark! This will be so funny! If you don't have to add something we can begin then!" He said.

"For me there is no problem…" Kasai answered. "Please Kasai, be careful…"

"Very well! Let the carousel move!" Nui exclaimed. The battle was started.

The two dragons both threw themselves towards each other and when they came closer, Veedramon already tried to give him several punches. "ORA! ORA! ORA!" But Hisyaryumon, thanks to his long body and to his agility, was able to dodge every one of them and then he gave him a cut on the face with his posterior paw, making the blue dragon step backwards. But he wasn't angry, but only pleased as he dried his face from the blood. "Come on! That's all you've got!? V-Breath Arrow!" He then shoot a V-shaped arrow against the enemy, who simply dodged by jumping up and surrounding him with his body. "What!?"

"Jūouguruma!" Hisyaryumon then proceeded by hurting him with his teeth and coils, making the other dragon roar in pain.

"Veedramon!" Veemon exclaimed, agitated. "That Digimon is too fast!" Daisuke added. But Kasai simply watched in silence, making Nui curious.

"Tell me, are you having fun?" Hisyaryumon asked. Veedramon was still gritting his teeth, but then made a smile. He thought of something, and that something was grabbing a part of his body and pull him away.

"What are you doing?" Hisyaryumon asked confused. "Am I having fun?" OH YES I AM!" Veedramon exclaimed with a smile that showed his razor sharp teeth, then he grabbed his body and started to make him spin around. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! STOP IT!" The other dragon exclaimed.

Veedramon was happy to hear that and replied. "As you wish!" He exclaimed, before throwing him away. Hisyaryumon ended up clashing against a giant dice.

"Outstanding!" Daisuke exclaimed. "That's my nephew's Digimon!"

Kasai made a smile and looked back at the other girl with a provocating one. "I think you have talked too soon." She said.

Nui wasn't still showing signs of rage or fear, and still had that innocent smile. "Oh but this is only the begin! Just wait until we get on the middle on the fight!" She told.

"Come on! My determination is not yet exhausted!" Veedramon exclaimed while standing on guard. After some seconds of silence, he could hear something. "Tenryū Suishoukyū!" From the point where Hisyaryumon was thrown away, two balls started to jump very high and very fast everywhere. "W-what are those!?" Veedramon exclaimed.

"Veedramon! Watch out!" Kasai exclaimed.

"What!?" The dragon said, before getting hit at full power by one of the balls. "Ahahaahahah! I'm liking this game a lot!" Nui said, pleased. "And this is only the begin! Make me laugh even more!"

Kasai looked at her angry, but she still thought Veedramon could make it. "Gh…What was that attack right now!?" The blue dragon asked. He could see that the balls were still jumping everywhere, making damages to the zone. One of them almost hit a Baby Digimon.

"Tch…dammit…if I won't be careful, he might could kill the babies…" Veedramon thought, looking at the situation. But he couldn't study it better because one of the ball hit him and made him fall to the ground. "Gah!"

"Ahahaha! You want to stop these balls? You can try as long as you want! It will be you who is going to stop them, or it will be them who are going to tear your flesh apart?" Hisyaryumon exclaimed.

"We'll see about that…" Veedramon murmured. He saw that a ball approached him and punched it. "ORA!" The punch was strong enough to make it go fly away, but it was still bouncing like before and even stronger. "Oh great! I made the situation even worse!"

"It looks like he wants to make Veedramon get hurt by himself, making the ball jump faster and stronger…" Kasai thought.

Meanwhile Daisuke and Veemon were looking at the scene stunned. They truly had never seen anything like that. Nui resulted to be both clammy and clever. "I cannot stay here to watch anymore! Veemon!" Daisuke exclaimed, grabbing his Digivice.

"You can count on me, Daisuke!" Veemon said. So the Chosen Child, like 35 years before, used his Digivice to make his partner evolve. "Digimental Up!"

"VEEMON! ARMOR EVOLUTION!" The small blue dragon evolved into a more adult one wearing a red armor that resembled fire.

"Flame of courage! FLADRAMON!"

The first thing Fladramon did was to jump towards one of the two balls that was going back to Veedramon and destroy it. "Fire Rocket!" He shoot three small balls of fire towards it, making it explode.

Veedramon heard the explosion and turned around. "Fladramon!" "This enemy is tough. I'm sure a little help won't do anything!" The other dragon said with a smile.

"How about that Kasai? Ready to see two old legends in action?" Daisuke asked with a smirk. Kasai looked at them with a neutral stare and looked back at the battle. "Good grief…then let's do it…"

"Oooooh!" With this, Nui became more curious. "So another dragon joined the fight! This game is becoming even more funny! Hisyaryumon! Feel free to exaggerate as you want with your two new friends!" She said.

"Thank you, my dear Nui!" The long dragon said.

Veedramon saw the other ball coming and destroyed it with two blades of air. "Cutter Shoot! Now the game becomes harder for you!" He exclaimed, a little bit annoyed from what he had done before.

"Ahaha! Poor fools! Don't you know? I CAN DO ANYTHING! Seiryūjin!" Hisyaryumon then flew high and transformed his body into a blade that flew against Veedramon and Flardramon. "What!?" They both exclaimed. Luckily the jumped away before he could take them but then the blade immediately stopped and started to rotate back to them. "Right back at ya!" Hisyaryumon said happy. He then directed himself towards Fladramon, who created a ball of fire as a shield. "Flame Shield!" The blade continued to rotate against the ball like a mad chainsaw without stopping. Fladramon was gritting his teet for the struggle. Hisyaryumon resulted to be more resistant and strong than he could expect.

"Unbelievable! How much stamina does that Digimon have!?" Daisuke asked, stunned. "This could be a problem…we now know that it is a Digimon that can take advantage of both strength and speed. Attacking normally won't do any effect on him…" Kasai added. But then unexpectedly, Nui was already behind her, massaging her back. "My, my! Good job finding out! You really are a detective, aren't you?" She asked with a smile.

"What!? Get off me!" Kasai exclaimed, getting out of her grasp. "You seem pretty aggressive, dear friend! My complete opposite…but yes! My Digimon partner can exceed in both power and speed, and that not only because he's a Perfect-Level and he's got a very long and thin body, but also because we have always been together for so long that we are now sure that nothing can stop us!" Nui explained.

"What do you mean by that?" Kasai asked. "It's a simple fact of bonding, Kasai. As you know, a Digimon can become even more stronger if it has a human partner that is ready to help him in every hard situation, and with that, their resolve can make them able to do every thing, achieving every goal, completing every mission! Even if it's about killing! It doesn't matter if we are moved by strong motives, we can do whatever we want! Don't you agree?" She said, coming face-to-face with Kasai.

"She has a strong bond with her Digimon…like us? She really talks like a Chosen Child…an evil one, though!" Daisuke thought, surprised by this strange girl. Kasai didn't talk, but her eyes were wide open now, and sweat started to fall from her head. Nui took a drop of that sweat and licked it, making Daisuke almost puke.

"Hmmm…your sweet is so salty…that means that I started to put you under pressure? Ihihihi! My bad! Didn't mean to! But that's how it is! I'm sure that you, who stand from the justice can understand what it means to fight for your own ideals!" Nui said.

The other girl continued to look at her for some other seconds. But then she decided to talk. "Oh really? You think that you can just do whatever you want by just having a strong ideal?" She asked. "Listen…I don't know what is that reason that makes you act like this…but if you are really that strong, then it must be strong. However! Your will to pursuit your target doesn't change the fact that you are following the orders of a criminal person!" She added, pointing at her.

"Oh? So you say that I'm evil? Who knows who is saying the truth…well, there's only one way to find out, right?" Nui asked, not scared.

"Correct. You know…I've always liked to see if someone Is evil or not by using my punches and Veedramon's. So be it, Nui Kishibe…" Kasai answered, adjusting her hat, which shined for a moment. "I'll be the one who will judge your actions!" She then exclaimed.

In that moment, Daisuke noticed something in Kasai. That strong and pure will that makes her go on. For a moment he saw himself in the past, in the old days when he was to one to fight. And he also noticed the bravery typical of Taichi. "Such determination…heh…she really is Taichi's daughter…she will do anything to achieve victory!" He said.

"Judging people? Ahahahahah! I like the way you act! Come on! I want more!" Nui asked, laughing.

Meanwhile, Hisyarumon managed to break Fladramon's shield and started to hit him directly like a chainsaw. "AAAAAGH!" Fladramon was feeling agonizing pain on his chest, but luckily there was a friend ready to save him. "Leave him alone! V-Breath Arrow!" He then shoot a V-shaped arrow towards the enemy who dodged in time and threw himself towards him. But this time Veedramon knew how to counter attack.

"Not this time…" Both Kasai and Veedramon said with a smirk. "What?" Nui and Hisyarumon asked.

"MAGNUM PUNCH!" As soon as Hisyaryumon was only a few millimeters away from him, the blue dragon started to attack him with a barrage of punches like he could only do, while he shouted his battle cry with his partner.

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORARORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAA!" The longer dragon was sent away with a powerful last punch and roared out of pain.

"W-what!? He hit him seriously!?" Nui asked, stunned. This was one of the rare times she had ever seem her Digimon getting hit in a way like that.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you were so confident of winning!" Daisuke said. "As you can see, you are not the only one who fight for a specific reason. And it will take more than that to take us down." Kasai added.

"Grr…" Nui mumbled, but Kasai striked a pose and said. "What's the matter? Bring it on!" She exclaimed.

Veedramon and Fladramon were both looking at the third dragon who slowly stood up. "Are you satisfied?" The blue dragon asked.

"Ahahah! Of course not! In fact…" Hisyaryumon said before making a smile that showed his teeth. "I WANT MORE!" He then rushed against them as he could and then he make them fly away with a powerful hit made by his tail. Fladramon was sent away in the air, but was able to regain balance and land on the ground safely, while Veedramon was pushed away but was able to stay on the ground. "Ngh! Hey! Did you see it?" He asked to Fladramon.

"Yes! His power seemed to have grown!" The other dragon answered.

"You know, I don't really like when someone attacks in such a brutal way like you, barbarian!" Hisyaryumon exclaimed.

"Barbarian? What? Did I offended you just because I'm not sophisticated like you, even if you aren't? Well, guess what! This is how we operate! If you're not fine with it, then you are totally not cool!" Veedramon retored with the intent to provoke him.

"Oh, well, in that case, feel free to do as you want, because I'll be as brutal as you intend to be!" The other dragon retored before using his Tenryū Suishoukyū attack once again. But this time the balls duplicated their speed and the two Digimon couldn't even see them. This ended with the two of them being hit again.

"H-hey! What attacked them!?" Daisuke asked. "Aahahahaah! Did you see? Now that you forced us to become serious, you shall face the consequences! No one dares to joke with us!" Nui countered with a smile.

"I see…their anger increases the Digimon's power…this can be quite helpful for them…but at the same time for them…" Kasai thought. It was a double faced situation. If they made their enemies angry, they could have made them more vulnerable, but at the same time, they could have been killed more easily. It was dangerous, but there was no other choice. This enemy was probably the strongest one she has ever seen since she joined at the agency, at least before she would have faced Saiba Rei. "Might as well try it…" She thought. "Hey, uncle Daisuke."

"Uh? What is it?" Her uncle asked. "Let's keep it up like this. Maybe this will help us find the key to this solution." The girl replied.

"Are you sure? Well, if that is what you want, then I'm fine with it!" Daisuke answered with a smirk. He was the guy to continue a battle like this, after all.

"Why aren't they scared? Why do they continue? No, I can't think that their purpose is bigger than mine! Come on! What can be so bigger than helping a friend!? I…I am in the right! Right…? YES! Definitely! I will help Yuuko, no matter what!" Nui thought, incredulous to see that Kasai and Daisuke still convinced to make it.

"Ok, it's hard, but it's doable! Just imagine to play dodgeball!" Veedramon said while looking at the ball bouncing around them.

"I-It's ok! I like dodgeball! You're saying to catch the right moment when I see something?" Fladramon asked. "Exactly! Kasai often says that speed is one of my specialties, and someone fast has to be precise too! So I decided to practice a little bit about this!" Veedramon answered.

"O-Ok! I want also to show you that I haven't softened, that's why I'll trust you!" Fladramon said. "I'm…kinda confused on that but don't worry! For me you'll always be a strong Digimon!" The other dragon said, while being prepared.

"Calm your senses, Fladramon…you can do it…" The armored dragon thought. He had to be calm…and silent…like all he could hear was just a drop of water falling from a leaf. All that he had to to was to see carefully with the eye of an hawk. Soon everything was more clear. At first he saw some lines going into any direction…but then he saw it. The ball was approaching him. "There! I see it! Knuckle Fire!" Fladramon covered his fist in flames and quickly attacked, reducing the ball into tiny pieces. He was still panting for the tension of the situation, but he was happy to see that he succeeded. "I-I did it!"

"Yes! Great job, Fladramon!" Daisuke said while making the victory sign with his fingers. "See? It wasn't that hard! Now is my turn…" Veedramon said, looking at the environment with a predator's eye. "Stay focused…stay focused…don't let anything distract you…go straight to victory and be the coolest!" He thought, in order to avoid the tension. Then, just like his friend, he saw the ball. "ORAAAA!" With enough speed, he was able to catch it and to break it. "Haha! I did it! Take that you-" He was going to provoke Hisyaryumon even more, but then he noticed that he was gone. "Wait a second! Where did he went!?" He asked with his eyes wide open in a stupid way.

"Jūouguruma!" Suddendly a familiar figure from behind was able to grab both of them and crush them like a boa who caught his prey in the right moment.

"Oh no!" Daisuke exclaimed.

"Ahahaah! Poor fools! I knew that you would lose time just to take care of my balls, so I took the chance to give you this little surprise! And now I have the occasion to chock two fishes at the same time!" Hisyaryumon said, sure of having the victory right in his hand.

"Ahah! No! I don't think so! Fire Rocket!" Fladramon was ready to prove him he was wrong by covering himself in flames and burning him. Hisyaryumon was forced to leave them, but before he could actually get away, Fladramon attacked him with a combo made with his claws. "Claw Express!"

Hisyaryumon fell again. "AGH!"

"Take that! Now you know what the great Daisuke Motomiya and his partner Fladramon can do!" Daisuke exclaimed with a big laugh, making Kasai facepalm. "Good grief…"

Nui was speechless. "They hit him again…fine….." She simply said, making Kasai and Daisuke curious. "You've done it…" She said.

"What?" Kasai asked. "I've tried to be innocent and cute with you guys…but i see now that you cannot be underestimated…so for the sake of my purpose, for making my friend happy…I'LL CRUSH YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Nui exclaimed.

"What!?" Daisuke asked. "Her…friend?" Kasai thought. Her friend? What did she meant by that? Was she actually doing it for the love and sake of a friend? Could it be that Saiba Rei took advantage of someone's weakness for his own ideal? Unfortunately she couldn't know the answer. Nui was out of control to answer now, and probably she wouldn't have talked about this.

"Yes…now I'll show you!" Hisyaryumon said, before getting surrounded by an energy directly coming from Nui's digivice. "MIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Kasai, Daisuke and their Digimon were stunned to see what was happening. "I-is he…!?" Veedramon said. "Evolving!?"

Soon, Hisiaryumon became a bigger Dragon Digimon that had mostly brown color on his body and two wings that almost looked like two axes. He was also holding two scimitars called Gairyū Sadaijin and Gairyū Udaijin. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"I-Impossible! An Ultimate-Level Digimon!?" Daisuke exclaimed. Kasai took her Digivice to analyze him. "Yes…He's called Ouryumon…the legendary dragon king." She said.

Ouryumon charged against Fladramon, investing him. "AAAAAAAAGH!" He was forced to regress into Veemon. "Veemon! Are you ok!?" Daisuke asked, grabbing his partner. "It was terrible…" His partner asked.

"Gh…great…this mean that I have to deal with THIS thing on my own!" Veedramon said. "This won't be an easy task…ok…we'll have to use the maximum of our power, Veedramon!" Kasai added, adjusting her hat.

"Right!" His Digimon answered. But in the instant he saw Ouryumon running towards him he ran away as well. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M TO SCARED!" He shouted.

"…Are you kidding me? Oh good grief…" Kasai said.

The Ultimate-Level Digimon continued to run towards him with saliva coming out from his mouth and his eyes glowing read. At this point, he was left with no sign of reason in his mind. "CRAWL…THROUGH THE HALL…I WILL LAUGH…AS YOU FAAAAAAL!" He sang.

"I DON'T THINK THIS IS A MOMENT FOR SINGING!" Veedramon countered while he was still running. "Eiseiryūoujin!" Then Ouryumon gave a straight attack by using his blades. Veedramon jumped away and if it wasn't for that, he would have been probably killed.

"YES! SUFFER NOW! JUST LIKE YOU DID TO US!" Nui exclaimed with a psychotic tone.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ouryumon was still rampaging, trying to get Veedramon and probably eat him alive. "This is actually creepy as fuck! How am I supposed to challenge something like this!? He's going berserk!" The blue dragon exclaimed.

But it was then that Kasai had the idea. "Berserk…right….in that case…Veedramon! Try to get on his head!" She suggested.

"What!? Do you want me to get killed!?" Veedramon asked. "Trust me!" The girl answered.

The blue dragon gulped. After all he was her partner, so she had to be faithful in her. He gulped and looked at the enemy that was coming more closer to him. For one second, he thought he had seen all his life passing through his eyes. Then, by closing his eyes he made the fateful jump and was able to stay on his back. This made Ouryumon even more nervous and furious, so he started to move all the body, attempting to shake off the so hated enemy. Veedramon tried his best to stay there, even if it was hard. "Ngh! I'm not the type to giving up!" He exclaimed while starting to climb on the bigger dragon's scales. Finally he was able to reach his head. "What now?" He asked.

"Hit him!" Kasai said. "Fine! I hope it will do something…ORA!" Veedramon then proceeded and gave Ouryumon a powerful punch right in the head. Suddendly, Ouryumon stopped for some seconds. "Did…did he just crashed?" Veedramon thought. But then the opponent made a big roar and fell to the ground, regressing into Hisyaryumon.

At this point, Nui was…traumatized. Her winning card turned out to have a weak point. "WHAT!? JUST. ONE. HIT!?" she exclaimed.

"How did that happen?" Daisuke asked, confused. Kasai, on the other hand was smiling, since her thinking was right. "Just as I thought. Seems like your Digimon reached only recently that form, and that means that he can't still control its destructive power." She said, making Nui gulp, since she knew that girl was right. "No way…" She thought.

"So I thought that since it's an instable form, all that we needed was just one attack. And I'm delighted to see that it worked." Kasai continued.

Meanwhile Hisyaryumon was laying on the ground, groaning with fatigue. The evolution consumed most of his energy. Nui looked at him and realized that now there was nothing else to do. "It can't be…I've got…defeated…?" She thought.

"Now, Nui Kishibe…as I said before…it is time for me to judge you! Go, Veedramon!" Kasai then exclaimed.

"You got it, pal!" Veedramon said with a smirk, before jumping towards Hisyaryumon and grabbing him from the tail. "WHAT!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Hisyaryumon asked.

"The same thing I did before! THIS!" Veedramon answered, starting to rotating him and then throwing him at his partner. "HEY! WAIT A-" Nui was going to protest, but her Digimon already clashed with her, making her get hurt. "Ngh…dammit…u-uh!?" Nui then noticed that Kasai and Veedramon were already in front of them. "So, in the end we were the ones in the just. I think it's time to finish this in the way we know." Kasai said. "I agree! The same way you described as barbaric! Magnum Punch!" Veedramon then started to attack both Hisyaryumon and Nui with a barrage of punches, while he and Kasai used their battle cry. "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAAAAA!"

Nui and her Digimon were sent against a giant dice and fell to the ground. The girl was bleeding (But not in a serious way) and raised slowly her head. "Y-you bitch…how could I lose…against someone like you?" She asked.

"Ahah! That's my nephew!" Daisuke exclaimed all happy.

"Now, it's time to investigate on you better…" Kasai said, coming closer, but Hisyaryumon still had some energy and used it. "I don't think so! Tenryū Suishoukyū!" He threw another ball in front of them which clashed and generated a big wave of smoke. "What the!?" Kasai exclaimed.

When the smoke came out, both Nui and Hisyaryumon disappeared. "Where…where did they go?" Veedramon asked while looking everywhere.

"Damm it! They've escaped!" Veemon said annoyed.

"…It doesn't matter. We'll probably see her again someday. I still have some questions to ask her." Kasai said, while looking at the sky.

Hisyaryumon was flying high in the sky with her partner on her back. He planned to fly away from the Village of Beginners and find the closest television to go back to the real world. "I'm sorry, Nui…" He said. Nui made a smile like before to comfort him. "Don't worry, you gave your best…but…I still don't understand…how could we lose…we…we are the good guys…we only want to help Yuuko, right?" She asked.

"Yes! That and nothing else!" Her Digimon answered. The girl looked back, full of thoughts. "After so long, someone was able to defeat me…but why did it happen? I'm helping a friend…i…really don't know…but I won't give up in that way, that is for sure! Be prepared, Kasai Yagami, because one day we'll have the second round!" She thought.

Meanwhile Kasai, Veedramon, Daisuke and Veemon were coming back to the safe zone of the village. But now Kasai didn't know what to think at this point. He thought that Saiba hired only people who were lusting for blood and money, but now she saw someone who is doing it for a friend. This of course, made her doubt of her actions. Who was…the rightful one? But then Daisuke called her back to reality. He wanted to know something.

"Hey, Kasai…" He said. The girl raised her head up and looked at him. "Earlier, that girl mentioned Saiba Rei. What did she mean?" Daisuke asked.

Veedramon looked at her partner with a sad face. But Kasai was ready. After all, this was what they had decided the night before. "Right…it's time we tell you the truth. All of it…"