Hello. Was going to post this last night but the login area was down, typical XD Anyway this chapter is not as action packed as others so I apologise if any find it a little boring. The action will return in the next chapter, enjoy! :)

Keyblade King 12:Aww thank you :)
Aldamonburst:MetalPhantomon was just a carrier of the X Antibody so he wasn't exactly an x Digimon if that makes sense XD
Sync The Dragon Tempest:Thanks :) Yeah, I had to have something to happen so Agumon wasn't with Dawn when MetalPhantomon appeared.
Wolfgirl:You're welcome. You should get an account on here :)
Loboaguilamon22:You know what you got that absolutely right ^^ That's the crest I choose for him.
Skittymon:Sorry I've already picked out Veemon's digivolutions and Dan's crest.
Phillip Clark:Thanks! Never thought I'd get 300 reviews XD Actually I never thought about him being the Phantomon from 01, he was just a Digimon that got over looked when the Undead King was choosing his army. Good idea though :) and don't worry, Leomon won't be dying in this season lol
WhiteWolfPrincess95:Thanks ^^ Sometimes I end up giving Dawn too many lines, so I know what you mean XD If I type something that Dawn says, and she's already said a few lines already I always make myself change it if that makes sense. Sorry I don't know how to really explain it XD
Marril96:I've got about 54 chapters planned at the moment.
Alicelouise'x:Thank you :) Yeah there will be more manga coming up. I've uploaded pages 3 and 4 and hopefully the next two will be up soon.
Digimon2.5'sbiggestfan:You only got Dan, James, Fernanda and Katie's crests wrong XD They'll soon be revealed.
Tamermary5:Thanks. Swanmon here is completely different to the Swanmon in frontier. I know Dawn might seem annoying right now but she's only learning at being a leader, so she's got a way to go.
Shara Raizel:Thanks for reviewing each chapter. I'm glad you're enjoying it :)
ApoclamonX:Thanks, and sure I'll take a look at your story.
G.R. Davis: Aww thank you ^^ and yeah I'll check your story out.
FFnetfanHANNAH:Thanks! The others were there but they moved on before Dawn, Margaret and Stacey bumped into SaberLeomon.
Hikari Kamiya: Thank you. Dawn will mature later on in the story. She's still learning about being a leader etc. Also Margaret and MJ are very close friends, even before their parents got together. So they know they'd never replace the parent they lost.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! I really appreciate each one I get :)

Digimon Season 2.5 "Digimon Adventure 03"

Episode 27: "The Eight Digital Emeralds"

.:Wastelands, File Island, Digital World:.

"How much longer is it? We've been walking for hours. Can't we take a break? My feet hurt… not to mention I'm tired."

Dan who was at the front of the group rolled his eyes at Tricia's constant whining from the back. Since about ten minutes ago she had been complaining non-stop about little things and it was starting to get on the goggle boy's nerves. "Stop exaggerating Tricia we've only been walking for half an hour." He muttered loud enough for her to hear.

Tricia pouted angrily and stomped her feet a little louder as they continued to walk. "Well it feels like hours. We haven't come close to anything yet and we could be going around in circles for all we know."

Jonathon was walking just behind Dan and had his laptop open as they went. "We've only walked one mile so far so we have another five to go. It will probably take us most of the night to reach the portal."

"But I'm not supposed to be out after dark." Tricia spoke up once more.

"Jonathon's contacted his father and told him what has happened." Tentomon explained. "So no doubt he'll inform the others as to where we are."

James stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets as a slight chill blew across. "Dawn's certainly not going to get away with this one."

Dan stopped and turned and glared at the blue haired boy. "I told you. Dawn wouldn't do something like this."

"Then why is her signal back in Odaiba when she sent us a message claiming she was in danger along with Margaret and Stacey?" Wormmon asked questionably.

"I don't know…. Maybe there's a glitch or something… but I know she wouldn't trick us like this." The goggle boy replied.

"You're just upset because she pulled the prank on you as well as the rest of us." Jonathon said.

Dan clenched his fists and looked around the group. He couldn't think of anything to say that would support his argument. "Urgh… let's just keep moving." He muttered before he continued walking.

The others glanced at each other briefly before they followed the Motomiya boy who had gathered up a bit of pace.

Veemon scurried to catch up with his human partner. "Are you starting to think she actually did this?"

Dan snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? No of course not." He said quietly. "I just couldn't think of anything to say that would convince them." He then signed and took out his D-Terminal and checked the screens. Still no message from Dawn. "Come on Dawn, why won't you answer my messages?"

.:Infinity Mountain, File Island, Digital World:.

SaberLeomon reached the top of Infinity Mountain and slowly came to a stop before crouching down to allow the DigiDestined to climb off. Stacey was the first to jump off, followed by Gabumon, SnowAgumon and Dawn and finally Margaret who carefully climbed down. But as Margaret climbed down, she failed to notice her crest glowing slightly underneath her jumper.

Once they were all off his back, SaberLeomon de-digivolved back to his champion form Leomon.

Stacey wandered over to the mountain's edge and gazed across the vast land of File Island that was shadowed in the night sky. In the distance she could just make out Dino Canyon, knowing even further from there was the Undead King's base.

"So… why have you brought us all the way up here?" Dawn asked, looking up at Leomon and breaking the silence.

"I live up here." the lion Digimon replied as he walked over to Stacey and stood beside her. The others followed him. "For years I have been watching over File Island under the instructions of Gennai. After his unfortunate death I vowed to carry on my work and keep the island a safe place. Although that task has been a lot harder since the Undead King's attacks became more frequent."

"Do you know anything about him?" Margaret asked.

"Very little." Leomon said. "When he first appeared nothing was known about him but Gennai suspected something. He kept a close eye on his base although the Undead King seemed to keep himself locked away. I believe Gennai was close to identifying his true identity but he was killed before he had the chance."

"Yeah, well the Undead King is the one who killed Gennai." Dawn said through gritted teeth and cast a glance over at Stacey who hung her head.

Leomon looked down at the girls. "To be honest, I had my suspicions. No one else in the Digital World would have the motive to kill Gennai." He sighed and looked back out at File Island. "My search for the base would be so much easier if Gennai had told me where it was. He was the only one who knew its location."

Dawn folded her arms across her chest and shot a look at the blonde haired girl next to her. "There is someone else who knows where his base is" she commented.

If it was possible, Stacey hung her head even more.

Leomon looked down at Dawn before glancing at Stacey. "Huh? You know where his base is?"

Stacey nodded slowly still staring down at the ground beneath her feet.

"But she won't tell us where it is." Dawn added.

"Dawn, don't be so mean." Margaret interrupted. "We can't force her to tell us if she doesn't want to."

"Are you protecting this beast?" Leomon demanded turning to fully face the Ishida girl.

"No! Of course not!" Stacey exclaimed looking up. "It's just…. It's complicated. I've just escaped this guy and I don't exactly want to go straight back to that place."

Leomon sighed. "Come to think of it I don't know what I was thinking by going to search for his base. He is obviously strong and going to be well protected. So attacking him there would be pointless. He will be more vulnerable away from his base."

"But wouldn't it be better to go to that base and destroy it? Then he has nowhere to hide." Dawn suggested.

Leomon shook his head. "He has just transformed two Trailmon full of Digimon into X Digimon. His base will be almost impossible to destroy right now. Whatever army he had before has now tripled in size."

SnowAgumon sighed. "It's beginning to sound like there's no way to get rid of this guy."

"He has no physical form either. So that just makes it even harder." Margaret added.

There was a short silence before Leomon sighed. "Look, there is something I need to explain to you. It's the reason I brought you up here. It is very important." He turned and walked away from the DigiDestined. They turned and watched as he walked over to a small boulder. He knelt down on one knee and with one hand he carefully moved the boulder to the right.

Dawn tried to catch a peek at what he was doing as something was simmering in the ground. She leaned to the left and right and even jumped up on the spot to try and get a glimpse. "What's that?"

Leomon removed whatever it was that was underneath the boulder and stood up. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about." He turned around and held out his right hand. In his palm was what looked like a large pink jewel that was shimmering in the moonlight.

"Wow, is that an emerald?" Margaret asked amazed.

Dawn crossed her arms raising an eyebrow. "You brought us all the way up here to look at jewellery? I hate all that girly stuff."

"It is an emerald. But not the sort of emeralds you have on earth. This is a Digital Emerald." Leomon replied as the kids and Digimon gathered round to get a closer look.

Dawn looked at it a bit puzzled. "What's the difference?" she asked looking up at the lion Digimon.

"These emeralds may have a physical form but they are packed with digital data and energy. There are seven more just like this, but in different colours. Each emerald has amazing powers and together they protect the Digital World. These are a very powerful source of energy and also extremely dangerous if it should fall into the wrong hands."

Margaret gulped. "Like the Undead King?"

Leomon nodded. "Years ago your parents gave up their crests and gave back their power to the Digital World. As well as the crests, there were also Destiny Stones. But almost all of those stones were destroyed 25 years ago. Shortly after the defeat of MaloMyotismon Gennai began working on combining the power from your parents crests and the power from the Destiny Stones to create these, the Digital Emeralds." Leomon explained. "Each emerald is hidden away in a secret location across the Digital World. Only Gennai knew where the emeralds are hidden. Some are even on the Continent of Server and the Folder Continent but no one knows how many."

"Gennai stuffed all that power in to that tiny thing?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. The Destiny Stones were too easy to find due to their size. This way Gennai believed these emeralds would be almost impossible to find for anyone who wanted to get their hands on them." the lion Digimon replied.

Gabumon looked at the pink emerald in Leomon's paw. "How did you find that one?" he asked.

"I found it right here on top of the mountain." Leomon replied. "It was actually by luck. I had just found out about Gennai's death and out of a fit of rage I slammed my fist into the ground and it cracked open revealing the Digital Emerald."

"That was lucky." SnowAgumon simply commented.

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling us all this?" she asked.

"Because you need to find all these emeralds before the Undead King does." Leomon stated. "Rumour has it that he has also found out about them and is preparing an army to begin searching the entire Digital World. If the Undead King gets his hands on even one of the emeralds and uses its power for evil then catastrophic things will begin to happen. Not only in the Digital World but maybe on earth as well."

"Why does he want these stupid emeralds? It could take him forever to find them all." SnowAgumon commented.

"These emeralds are not stupid. They are keeping the Digital World and earth in balance with each other. Each emerald possesses immense power. Once he gets his hands on those emeralds he can use that power for his own gain. He could make himself stronger, boost the strength of his army or corrupt the Digital World's data to create anything he wants. The consequences will be even worse if he collects all eight of them." Leomon paused for a second. "If he collects all eight then he will be certainly impossible to defeat."

"Well that's not gonna happen because we already have one." Dawn boasted, grinning.

"Wait a minute." Stacey spoke up folding her arms across her chest. "If they are impossible to find then how do you expect us to find them? We haven't exactly got the time to search the entire Digital World."

"Not to mention our group is tiny compared to what his army might be." SnowAgumon added.

"There is a reason why Gennai merged the power from your parents' crests into these eight emeralds. The crests that you have inherited from your parents will react whenever you are near a Digital Emerald. They have a certain connection to them." Leomon explained. He walked towards Margaret and her crest began to glow.

Margaret gasped and pulled her crest out from underneath her jumper. It was glowing on and off like a beacon, but shining brightly.

"Here." Leomon handed the emerald to the Kimura girl who hesitated a little before taking it. "Take good care of it."

Margaret looked up a little surprised. "H-huh? Me?"

"Is it safe to take them back to our world?" Stacey questioned. "I mean if these emeralds are protecting the Digital World won't removing them cause more harm than good?"

"Not at all. The emeralds keep both the Digital World and earth balanced out so taking them to your world is completely fine. Wherever they are they will continue to release their energy across the barrier between both worlds. Gennai did not want to hide any emeralds on earth in case any humans found them. He did not want to risk anyone tampering with the data inside. Can you imagine the fuss humans would make if they discovered an emerald like this?"

Gabumon looked up from the emerald. "So is the Undead King after these just for their power?" he asked.

Leomon nodded. "He must know how much power they possess and what it would do to the Digital World if he stole that power. For him these are the perfect weapons in his bid to take over the Digital World."

Stacey took the emerald from Margaret and studied it. "It reminds me a little of the Port Stone. Only a lot smaller."

"Hold it." Dawn swiped the emerald from the blonde haired girl's grasp. "Should we trust you with these emeralds? How do we know you won't go running back to the Undead King when we find them?"

Stacey rolled her eyes folding her arms across her chest. "Are you still believing that stupid theory of yours?" she shot back. "If I was still on his side I would have left you two suffering with MetalPhantomon instead of saving your lives, which I never got a thank you for."

Dawn growled and was about to respond when Leomon stepped in between them.

"Okay that's enough from you two. It's getting late and you three need your rest. There is more I needed to explain about the emeralds but that'll have to wait until morning."

Dawn shot Stacey a suspicious look, which earned her one in return before she handed the pink emerald back to Margaret. "But it's only seven o'clock." She protested to the lion Digimon.

"Best to get an early night so you're refreshed and ready for tomorrow bright and early. You have seven more emeralds to find." Leomon replied. "Now, you can sleep up here with me. It's a warm night and you'll be perfectly safe."

SnowAgumon stretched and yawned loudly. "I am pretty sleepy. That fight took a lot outta me." He said before making his way over to where Leomon was preparing some make-shift pillows out of leaves. "Good night."

"And don't let MetalPhantomon bite." Stacey joked with a snigger at the Kamiya girl.

Dawn glared at her and clenched her fists as Stacey walked away from her to join SnowAgumon and Gabumon.

.:Kamiya Apartment, Odaiba, Tokyo:.

"And now the sports; In J. League Division 2 F.C Tokyo beat Yokohama F.C 2-1 to move four points ahead at the top of the table. With only two games left of the season F.C Tokyo will secure promotion to the J. League Division 1 if they beat Kyoto Sanga F.C at home next Saturday."

Tai averted his gaze from the television when the sound of rain pattering against the glass of the balcony doors caught his attention. Storm clouds had blocked the setting sun and now it looked like the rain was in for the night.

Sora stepped out of the kitchen and leaned against the wall. "I hope Dawn is on her way home. I don't think she took a jacket when she stormed out of here earlier."

"Well if she's any longer she's gonna miss dinner." Her husband replied. Just then the telephone began to ring. Tai stretched forward and picked up the cordless phone that was on the coffee table. "Hello?"

"Hey Tai." Izzy's voice on the other end greeted but not in a cheery tone.

"Oh hey Iz' what's up?"

"I just received an email from Jonathon. The kids are in the Digital World after getting a hoax message from Dawn saying her; Margaret and Stacey were in trouble and needed their help."

Tai sat up straight. "What?"

"Jonathon preformed a search on their signals and found Dawn and Margaret's to be back here. Now the kids are stuck searching for a portal to get home and the nearest one is six miles away. It's going to take them all night to get back home."

"Izzy are you su-"

"Does Dawn not understand the dangers of the Digital World? Especially at night. She can't go pulling pranks like this for a bit of 'fun' you know. Someone could get hurt."

Tai stood up from the sofa. "Just hold on a second Izzy. Are you sure Jonathon has this right?"

"He sent me a copy of the message Dawn sent from her D-Terminal. They've sent numerous replies back but haven't heard anything. Is she there now?"

At this point Agumon had returned from his search on the beach, holding Dawn's digivice.

"Well… no she isn't. She went out a couple of hours ago." Tai replied.

Izzy was heard sighing on the other end. "Tai, I really suggest you sit your daughter down and explain to her the importance and the dangers of the Digital World. It's not an amusement park or a computer game like you first thought it was."

"I think she understands how dangerous it is after she was almost killed by Datamon. You think she wouldn't have been able to defeat him if she thought all this was a game? My daughter isn't stupid Iz-" Tai stopped in mid-sentence when he felt something tug at his jeans. He looked down to see his daughter's Digimon holding her D-Power.

"I didn't mean to sound rude Tai. It's just the Digital World is not a place to play games. The kids can't go making unnecessary trips there now we know a bit more about what the Undead King is capable of."

Izzy continued to ramble on as Tai lowered the phone from his ear as he bent down and took Dawn's digivice from Agumon.

"I found it at the beach but Dawn wasn't there." The little rookie said quietly.

Tai stood back up and held the phone back up to his ear.

"Tai are you listening to me?" Izzy demanded. "Tai?"

"Uhhhh… Iz'… that message from Dawn might not be a hoax."

.:Thunder Mountain, File Island, Digital World:.

The Undead King slowly strode across his courtyard at the back of his base. In front of him were three small groups of Digimon he had selected especially. The three groups were split into flying, sea and other Digimon and were a mix of rookie and champion forms.

"I want all the Digital Emeralds brought to me." He spoke up as he came to a stop and faced the army of Digimon. "As you know these are a great importance to me and my plans to take over this sorry looking world so don't let me down."

He acknowledged the group of sea Digimon first, which consisted of Tylomon X, Mantaraymon X, Gesomon X, three Swimmon X and Dolphmon X. "Search the oceans. Don't leave any underwater cave or shipwreck uncovered. I want you looking from the beaches of File Island to the depths of Net Ocean."

Secondly he turned to the flying Digimon that were Puteranomon X, Kuwagamon X, Buraimon X, three Flymon X and four Mothmon X. "You will be searching the Continent of Server and the Folder Continent as well as the small islands off the coasts."

Finally he turned to the miscellaneous group of Digimon. In this group were Thundermon X, Rhinomon X, three Betamon X, two Gazimon X and two Dobermon X. "You will search the lands and underground of File Island."

The huge gates at the back of the base slowly creaked open, revealing miles of wastelands ahead and the three groups of Digimon turned and began to exit the courtyard.

"Go." The Undead King demanded pointing to the gates. "Find me those emeralds and not one of you is to return until you have found them all."

As the last of the Digimon left his base, his top henchman Dobermon X walked up to him. "What about the DigiDestined sir? What if they find the Digital Emeralds before you do." He commented.

The Undead King continued to watch the army leave until the gates slowly closed again blocking his view. He turned around to face the champion X Digimon. "I highly doubt those brats have heard about the Digital Emeralds. Only Gennai knew about them and he's now dead."

.:Infinity Mountain, File Island, Digital World:.

It was now nightfall and Margaret was sat on a small rock at the edge of the mountain gazing out at the vast land of File Island that was shrouded in the night sky. She sighed and looked down at the emerald that she held in both hands. It sparkled in the moonlight. Margaret had lost track of how long she had been sat there. It was definitely more than half an hour.

"You should be resting."

Margaret jumped a little and turned around to see Leomon walking up to her. "I couldn't sleep." She replied before looking back down at the emerald.

Leomon walked up and stood beside her. He noticed the young girl staring at the emerald. "Don't worry yourself too much."

"I'm just…. I'm just a little scared." Margaret said quietly. "This is the only emerald we have safe and I'm instructed to make sure it stays that way? I'm not the bravest member of the team."

"Being brave has nothing to do with it. As long as you keep it hidden it will be safe. The emeralds stay strong and secure when linked with the right crest. That is why I suggested each of you keep the emerald that matches your crest."

"But what if the Undead King comes after me? If I'm alone I don't feel as half as strong as when I am with my cousin or any of the others, even with Gatomon by my side." The Kimura girl admitted.

"As far as I know the Undead King has no tracking device that can locate the emeralds. As long as you keep them out of his sight he should have no idea that you have them." Leomon replied.

Margaret sighed and lowered her head. "He's going to have his suspicions at some point. When he doesn't find any he's going to think we have them."

"It's natural to feel nervous. I know it's a big ask for you children but it will save both worlds." Leomon said. "Now try and get some rest. You'll feel better once you get some sleep." He turned and began to walk away.

"Wait… I do have one more question… I'm not sure if you can answer it though…" Margaret spoke as she stood up from the rock.

"What is it?" Leomon asked, turning back to face her.

Margaret fumbled with her crest that hung around her neck. "It's the Digital Rings. Since they first appeared I've always wondered what they are. I know they help our Digimon digivolve but our parents never had anything like this. I know they had their crests and stuff but even at the rookie stage their Digimon seemed to just digivolve on their own with just the power of their digivices."

"Did your parents tell you the stories of the control spires?" Leomon asked. After Margaret nodded in response he continued. "Well as you know the control spires stopped your parents Digimon from digivolving, well with the excepting of the Digi Eggs, which managed to by-pass the control spires and allow some of them to digivolve."

"Yeah…"

"The rings are an ancient prophecy that Gennai stumbled upon and developed into what they are now. He wanted to create a way for your Digimon partners to digivolve that no black gear, dark ring, control spire or anything of that sort could stop. The Digital Rings have a huge source of power that can over-ride anything that tries to corrupt them. So no dark ring or control spire could ever stop your partners from digivolving."

"Wow…" Margaret murmured amazed. "Gennai really did a lot for this world huh?"

Leomon nodded. "Yes. He would do anything to protect this world, even sacrifice his own life. I believe there are still some projects unfinished that he was working on shortly before he died."

"Projects?" Margaret asked, tilting her head a little curiously.

"Yes, although they were kept secret by Gennai. Me and Centarumon were the only ones he would inform once he finished a project. That's why we know about the Digital Rings and emeralds but we know nothing about these unfinished projects."

"Is that why the Undead King killed him? To get access to all his projects?" Margaret wondered.

"Maybe. Maybe that's how he found out about the emeralds. Luckily Gennai did not store the locations of the emeralds in his computer." Leomon replied.

Margaret suddenly yawned, her eyes becoming a little droopy.

"You're getting tired now. You best try and get some sleep. You three have a big day tomorrow." Leomon said.

.:Izzy's laboratory, Minato, Tokyo:.

Tai and his daughter's Agumon were stood outside Izzy's laboratory, which was sandwiched between two governments' buildings. Leaning against his blue Mazda 6 the bearer of courage glanced at his watch. "Where is he? Izzy should have been here by now."

Just then, a pair of car headlights appeared around the corner and a black Toyota RAV4 pulled into the parking space on the opposite side of the main doors of the building to where Tai was parked.

The lights and engine was switched off and Izzy stepped out from the driver's side. "Sorry I'm late. I phoned round everyone to explain the situation."

"Couldn't we have done this at your place?" Tai asked, standing up straight and walking over to Izzy.

Izzy shut the car door and locked it. "I don't have the specific programmes I need at home to analyse the data." He replied before walking over to the main doors. "Besides, you didn't have to come." He added. He got his security card and swiped it unlocking the door. He opened it and allowed Tai and Agumon in before closing it again.

They walked down the long corridor towards Izzy's small laboratory. The bearer of Knowledge flicked the lights switch as he walked into the room.

"I'm certain no Digimon entered Tokyo this evening, otherwise I would have been alerted to it." He commented as Tai and Agumon followed him over to the main computer. He switched it on and waited for it to load up.

"Are you sure Izzy? I can't see Dawn losing her digivice that easily." Tai replied.

Izzy slouched back in his computer chair. "Once I analyse the data from today then we'll know for sure." He said. After the computer had fully loaded he sat up straight. "Okay…" he began typing away on the keyboard.

Tai and Agumon both watched with blank looks on their faces as numbers, graphs and other pieces of information flashed on the screen.

After a few moments Izzy stopped typing and leaned back in his chair once more. He sighed. "Well according to this the last Digimon to appear in Tokyo was Seadramon X six days ago."

"Huh? But that doesn't make any sense." Agumon said peering over the top of the desk. "Something's happened to Dawn, I feel it."

"Sora said something about hearing her digivice bleeping but before she got to it, it had stopped." Tai commented. "Is it possible a Digimon appeared and then disappeared just as fast?"

"The only way that could happen is if the Digimon travelled here through a Digital Split and then immediately travelled through another one once they entered Tokyo. Either way my DDS would have picked it up the second it crossed the barrier. But, as you can see according to the stats no Digimon data has appeared in Tokyo."

"Then where's Dawn?" Agumon half whined growing a little impatient.

"I wish I could tell you Agumon but I can't." Izzy sighed. "I don't know where she is. Are you sure she didn't just wander off somewhere and lost her digivice on the way?"

"Izzy don't you find it strange that the message Jonathon received said Dawn, Margaret and Stacey were in danger and now all three are missing? I called Kari and she said Margaret hasn't returned home from the beach and Matt said Stacey left with Gabumon and SnowAgumon and hasn't heard from them either." Tai said. "It doesn't sound like a hoax to me. Matt's panicking thinking Stacey's ran away again."

"I doubt she has." Izzy rubbed his temples. "I just don't understand how they could travel to the Digital World if Dawn and Margaret's digivices are back here. The chances of them travelling through the same portal are very slim and surely they'd have enough sense not to travel through one in the first place as they could end up anywhere." He began to ramble on.

"Izzy." Tai interrupted. "Can't you check the Digital World for any human data? Like you did when you tracked down Stacey for us."

"I could." Izzy replied before he began to type away again. A map of File Island appeared on the screen. In the bottom half of the map they were different coloured dots clustered together that were slowly moving down the screen. "Well, there's the children." He zoomed in closer on the map. "They're still quite a few miles away from the portal. Hmmm.. maybe it would be best if they get some rest and come home tomorrow morning."

"You sure they're going to be safe there? That area looks pretty open to me." Tai commented.

"They should be as long as they take turns keeping watch." Izzy replied as he began his search for Dawn, Margaret and Stacey. His fingers moved quickly as he typed different codes into the system. "I've tested a few prototypes since the last time I preformed this search. Now I can get an exact location." He finished typing and pressed the enter button and a radar signal began moving up, down left and right scanning for any human data. It suddenly came to a stop and beeped twice as three green dots appeared.

Agumon scrambled up onto the chair next to Izzy and leaned over the desk. "Is that them? Where are they?"

Izzy clicked on one of the dots and a small tab popped up. "Infinity Mountain."

"Infinity Mountain? What're they doing up there?" Tai wondered. "Huh? Hey, who's that with them?" he asked pointing to a black dot that had appeared next to them. As Izzy clicked on it, an image of Leomon flashed up. "Leomon?"

Agumon cocked his head to the side puzzled.

"Well they're safe if they're with Leomon." Izzy commented. "I guess the big question is still how did they get there without their digivices? On the research and figures we have you can't travel to the Digital World without a digivice or travelling through a Digital Split."

Agumon jumped down from the chair. "At least they're safe. I was getting worried."

"Well now we know they're all safe, let's go home. It's getting late." Tai said as he turned to leave.

"You two go ahead. I'm going to send an e-mail to Jonathon explaining what we've found out." The bearer of Knowledge replied not taking his eyes off the screen.

Tai turned back to face him and raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to spend all night trying to figure out how they got there are you?" he asked.

Izzy shook his head slowly. "No… although it is tempting. Don't you realise the children might have stumbled upon a new way to enter the Digital World without digivices? If this is true then in theory anyone could travel there. We've been lucky with the Digital Splits only transporting Digimon and DigiDestined to the Digital World as they connect with the data from the Digimon and the digital data stored in our digivices. If the splits weren't that smart and transported anyone there then hundreds of humans would be stuck over there and the Digital World would be exposed for sure."

Tai sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow Izzy okay? C'mon Agumon." He motioned to his daughter's Digimon before they headed for the door.

"Yeah… see you tomorrow." he replied before he opened up a blank e-mail box and began to type.

.:Wastelands, File Island, Digital World:.

Jonathon came to a halt as he read the message his father had just sent him. "It can't be…" he thought to himself. "Dad can't have this right… if Dawn and Margaret's digivices are back home then how did they enter the Digital World?"

"What's wrong Jonathon?"

The sound of his Digimon partner's voice broke him from his thoughts. He looked up to see he had now trailed to the back of the group and everyone had stopped and was looking at him.

"Uhhhh…. I… Ummm." He stuttered and quickly read the message once more. "My father just sent me an e-mail. He doesn't think the e-mail Dawn sent is a hoax."

"What?" everyone gasped.

Dan smiled. "I knew it. I told you guys she wouldn't do something like that."

"Wait a second if the e-mail isn't a hoax then that means Dawn, Stacey and Margaret really are in danger." Veemon added.

Dan's face fell as he soon realised. "Oh yeah… We've gotta go back!"

"Back where?" Armadillomon questioned. "They weren't where the e-mail said they were and without their digivices there is no way of tracking them down."

"We could end up getting more lost than we already are." Fernanda added.

"But if they're in danger we can't just go back home like nothing's ever happened. We've already wasted time walking away from that damn spot and now-"

"Hold on, don't get your goggles in a twist." MJ spoke up with a giggle. She was looking over Jonathon's shoulder and reading the rest of the email. "Mr Izumi says they're safe on top of Infinity Mountain with an old friend of theirs."

"Is he sure?" the goggle boy asked.

Jonathon nodded. "Yes. He managed to track down their human data. My father also suggests that we camp here for the night and continue on to the portal first thing tomorrow."

"Camp out? Are you kidding me? We're in the middle of no-where here." Dan commented. "If we press on to the portal tonight we'll be home a lot sooner than if we sleep here."

Jonathon shook his head. "My father says we're still a long way from the portal. We're all tired and need rest." He motioned to Tricia and Palmon X who had both just yawned.

"I second that." James added. "Besides, who made you the leader?" he asked.

"Hey, I'm the vice-leader." Dan protested pointing with his thumb at his chest. "When Dawn's not here I take lead of the group."

MJ sat herself down on the ground and yawned. "My feet are starting to ache. It won't hurt to rest for a few hours. We don't have to sleep through the entire night." She suggested.

Tricia looked down at the dirt around her feet. A small beetle scuttled in front of her left foot. She jumped back a little. "I'm not sleeping out here. There are bugs everywhere."

Veemon looked up at his human partner. "Even with Tricia you're still out-voted Dan."

Dan sighed crossing his arms. "Fine. But I still think it's a bad idea. This area is too open."

"Not really." Patamon spoke up flapping his wings. "Take a look over there."

Everyone turned around and look ahead into the distance where there were large rocks and mounds in the ground that made the surface un-even and bumpy looking. Some were really big and some were small.

"I'm sure they'll be a place over there where we can rest and keep out of view from wild Digimon." Patamon added.

"Patamon's right." Tentomon piped up as he hovered beside the mammal Digimon. "We'll be less exposed over there and we can each take turns keeping watch."

Jonathon closed his D-Terminal and placed it back in the pocket in his laptop case. "I suggest me, James and Dan share the night-watch. The girls can rest."

"Fine with me." James shrugged, as well as Dan nodding in agreement.

"You sure?" Fernanda asked timidly.

Veemon nodded. "Yeah, we'll keep you girls safe all night. You'll have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah and we'll make sure no bugs get near Little Miss Muffet here." Dan added, gesturing to Tricia who just huffed unimpressed.

As the children and Digimon began to make their way towards the mounds of earth, they didn't notice the ten dark silhouettes that passed over them almost silently high in the night sky.

The army of flying Digimon also failed to spot the DigiDestined below on the ground as they flew overhead, travelling to their first destination which was the five small islands off the coast of File Island.

To be continued….