Digital Phantom

by ZAFT Convoy

DP Rebooted: Twins Danny and Andy have their lives torn upside down when Danny gets into an accident with the Fenton Ghost Portal. Takuya Kanbara just wanted to have a normal high school life until he found an odd figurine. The three boys have to navigate high school, ghosts, and Plasmius's plans while trying to master their unique powers.

70. Remembering One's Humanity

DarkFoxKit: Alright, here's another chapter. Bet most of you were surprised by Patamon's ghost form, huh?

ZAFT: Kinda cute, isn't he? XD

DarkFoxKit: The reason why we made a ghost form for Patamon is because the last time we wrote for Digital Phantom and gave Danny a Digimon partner, we had no idea what to do with them. Danny really didn't need a partner because of his ghostly form. But the idea of the Digimon partner having a ghost form themselves came to mind. We're hoping by doing so, they can fight alongside Danny a lot easier.

ZAFT: Now, on to the next chapter! Many of you have probably been waiting for this one for a long time~ XD

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Chapter 70: Remember One's Humanity

"Okay, everything checks out. You're good to go," Lillymon said to Agunimon. "You both got lucky, they did some damage, but they didn't hurt your Digi-Core at all."

Agunimon sighed as he sat up. "I guess we did. It still wasn't fun though. That's not the first time I've faced down a Beast Spirit, but it was one of the more brutal ones."

"Gigasmon definitely didn't make it easy for me either," Kumamon sighed as well.

"A Human Spirit just can't compete with a Beast Spirit," Koji sighed.

Agunimon and Kumamon were surrounded with fractal codes, turning them back to their human forms.

"Not in terms of raw strength anyways," Zoe added.

"I had Grumblemon, but when he turned into Gigasmon, I was taken by surprise," Tommy said, though he didn't want to admit that Grumblemon also said some words that hit Tommy's insecurities pretty badly.

Takuya frowned. "And Ranamon was certainly not a good matchup for me in terms of elemental matches." He grumbled. "And her Beast Form was even worse."

"Her Beast Form was really ugly," JP grumbled.

"Now, now, let's just judge someone based on appearance," Zoe said.

"But I noticed something when you called her ugly," Tommy said. "You distracted her."

"Yeah, I guess, but it didn't really help us much," JP said.

"I think it'll come in handy, so just something to keep in mind for the future," Tommy remarked.

"In any case, we have a problem," Koichi said. "Grumblemon and Ranamon managed to take our D-Tectors when we were foraging for food. They can hide in the ground and in the water, so it's difficult to detect them when they're nearby."

"Especially when we aren't in our Digimon form," Koji added.

"By taking your D-Tectors, they took your Spirits as well," Sorcermon grimly stated. "We need to get them back as soon as possible."

"But what can we do to find Grumblemon and Ranamon?" Takuya asked. "We don't know where they went."

"We know their base may be close to the Rose Morning Star, since that was Cherubimon's territory before the players got it," Koichi stated. "Although I don't know if they would stay there knowing the players could find them."

"There might be a way to find them," Sorcermon said. "You are able to communicate with each other through your D-Tectors, isn't that right?"

Takuya blinked. "Huh? I didn't know that."

Koji grunted. "Of course you wouldn't. You weren't with us the first time we saved this world."

"No need to keep reminding us of that," Takuya huffed.

"We are able to communicate through our D-Tectors," JP explained. "Though we haven't told you two about that because we kinda forgot to."

"Jee, thanks…" Tommy grumbled.

"But what are you getting at, Sorcermon?" Zoe asked.

"Well, since your D-Tectors are able to communicate with each other, it stands to reason that the D-Tectors we have left should be able to pinpoint the stolen D-Tectors' location," Sorcermon explained.

Takuya blinked before grinning. "That sounds like a good plan to me!" He said before he took out his D-Tector and began to push a few buttons, trying to bring up the D-Tector's tracker function. "Aw man… I know I was able to bring it up once!"

"Your D-Tector holds your Spirit. Try to give your desire on finding the stolen Spirits," Sorcermon said.

Tommy looked at his own D-Tector, he never really messed with it other than to turn into Kumamon. But he knew Kumamon was able to respond to his desire because it was due to that that Tommy was saved from being taken by Kwan and Veggiemon. Tommy pushed a button on the D-Tector and a map of the region showed up on the screen.

"Hey, I think I got the map of the Digital World," Tommy spoke up.

Takuya blinked as he looked at Tommy's D-Tector before he grinned. "Nice work, Tommy!" He praised.

Everyone looked over Tommy's shoulder. Tommy tapped another button, zooming in on the region. They saw 4 lights blinking on the map and appeared to be moving. The lights had different colors. One light was pink, another light was yellow, another light was light blue, and the last light was black.

"Do you think those lights might be your D-Tectors?" Tommy asked the others.

"Those definitely are our D-Tectors." Koichi replied. "Mine's the black one, Koji is the light blue one, Zoe is the pink one, and JP is the yellow one. The lights correspond to our elements."

Takuya blinked. "Huh. That makes sense." He agreed. "But where are the lights headed?"

"I don't know. But that looks like the direction of the Autumn Leaf Fair." Koji noted.

"Why are they heading there?" JP asked.

"Weren't we told that there was potentially another Spirit there?" Zoe asked.

"You think they might be after that Spirit too?" Koichi frowned.

"It's possible. We should head there then, not only to get your D-Tectors back, but to see if this Spirit is really there," Takuya suggested.

The others nodded in agreement.

"I think that's a good idea. We can accomplish both things at once." JP noted.

"Are you sure you all should go? You can't turn into Digimon right now, and the Digital World is dangerous for humans without Digimon," Tommy pointed out.

"There's no way we're just leaving this up to you two." Koji grumbled. "You're both less experienced than the rest of us."

"It's not like we'd mess up!" Takuya retorted grumpily.

"You probably would." Koji grumbled back.

"No we wouldn't!" Takuya shot back. "At least Tommy and I still have our D-Tectors!"

"Oh, sure! Rub it in, why don't you?" Koji snarked back.

"Koji! Takuya! That's enough arguing!" Koichi spoke up. "We need to work together right now, more than ever. We don't have time to point fingers at each other!"

"Besides, we need to rely on Takuya and Tommy to do most of the heavy lifting until we can get our D-Tectors back," JP added.

"I've gotten so used to having my Spirits around that I feel like a part of me is missing when they're not here…" Zoe solemnly said.

"It's okay, Zoe. We'll get our Spirits back." JP said reassuringly.

"Even if we have to rely on these two to help us." Koji grumbled, obviously not happy with the fact that the two least experienced Warriors had to be the ones to get their D-Tectors back.

"We can't do our jobs as guardians either without our Spirits," Koichi added. "So we need to go as soon as possible."

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on things. You've done a good job at deterring most players, so I doubt a lot of them will try to come here now," Sorcermon reassured. "Just focus on getting your D-Tectors back."

The group nodded at Sorcermon's words.

"Okay, let's go, you guys!" Takuya exclaimed. "We have some D-Tectors to get back!"

"Here," Sorcermon said as he waved his wand, and 6 train tickets appeared in front of each person. "These are Trailmon tickets. The Trailmon are starting to run again, though only a few stations are open right now. The Digimon are being cautious about opening all the stations again right away. There should be a private Trailmon station at the back of this castle. It's supposed to be used for emergencies, but it's one of the few that's running right now, and as far as I'm concerned, this is an emergency."

"Thanks, Sorcermon." Takuya said as he grabbed his ticket. The others did the same with their tickets. "We'll be back with those D-Tectors soon."

"Follow us, we know where this Trailmon is," Zoe suggested to Takuya and Tommy.

"Good luck, Legendary Warriors," Sorcermon said as the group began heading to the back.

"Sorcermon…"

Sorcermon turned, seeing a Renamon appearing behind him. "What is it, Renamon? Shouldn't you be at Ophanimon's castle?"

"Yes, but I was sent here to deliver a concerning message," Renamon answered.

"What is it?" Sorcermon asked.

"There have been sightings of a mysterious fog appearing in the Digital World again," Renamon answered. "However, this fog is unlike the previous fog that made Digimon disappear."

Sorcermon's eyes widened. "What? How is this fog different?"

"This fog appears to be a cyan blue, with purple mixed in instead of green," Renamon explained. "And whenever a Digimon touched it, they seemed to have… become frozen. I don't mean they were frozen in ice, they just… stopped moving, as if they were frozen in time. Some places that had been affected appeared to have become frozen in time as well. The dew on the leaves are frozen in midair, the natural Digimon that live there are frozen in time, the rivers are standing still, there is no wind or breeze, there's no movement and no sound. It's like it's just… a picture."

Sorcermon's eyes became slightly smaller as this realization hit him. "Oh no… And just when we already have one crisis to deal with…"

"Should I inform the Legendary Warriors about this?" Renamon asked.

"The Legendary Warriors are dealing with their own crisis right now, and I'm afraid until they resolve this crisis, they can't do much to help," Sorcermon grimly answered. "We don't want to worry them about this while they're trying to resolve their crisis… we will inform them once they come back."

"Understood," Renamon said, bowing her head.

But how is this fog going to affect the time flow of our world and the real world? Sorcermon thought in concern.

Meanwhile, Takuya and Tommy were finally seeing a Trailmon for the first time.

This particular Trailmon was yellow all over the body with blue eyes and an orange section on the front, just below the eyes. There was a red 'hat' on top of it, and it had light gray pipes in its middle, going to the back of the cab.

"Whoa… That's a Trailmon?" Takuya asked. "I've never seen one until now."

"This is the Trailmon Kettle, one of many variants of Trailmon." Koichi explained.

"Wow… it really looks like a train," Tommy commented in awe.

"I may be a train, but I'm alive just like you guys," The Trailmon chuckled.

"It can talk too!" Takuya yelped.

"Yeah, Trailmon is a Digimon, like every other Digimon. They're just mainly used for transportation and packaging," JP chuckled.

"Is it… okay to go… inside it?" Tommy hesitantly asked.

"Don't worry so much, the carts are made to be ridden in," Trailmon replied in an amused tone. "We were made to transport anything in these carts. Our main bodies are the only things you can't ride in, that's what the carts are for."

Takuya grimaced at the idea of riding in a Trailmon's main body. "Ah… Yeah, I can see why…"

"Let's go. We need to reach the Autumn Leaf Fair before the thieves do." Koji said as he ran to one of the train cars to get in. The rest of the group followed Koji.

"Autumn Leaf Fair… that's pretty far. Do you kids at least have your tickets? Trailmon don't just run on will and determination after all," The Trailmon asked.

"Oh, yeah, we have our tickets," Koichi said before he looked at Takuya and Tommy. "Hold out your tickets."

Takuya and Tommy dug out their tickets to show the Trailmon, with Takuya's ticket looking a bit wrinkly from being in his pocket. Tommy's ticket looked to be in much better shape.

"Alright, prepare for take off!" Trailmon said as the tickets in their hands suddenly turned into fractal code, and the code went to the main body of the train.

"Whoa!" Takuya and Tommy yelped before the Trailmon took off down the trail in an underground tunnel.

"It's always the roughest the first time," Zoe chuckled.

"You should've seen how unstable we were when we rode on our first Trailmon coming into the Digital World," JP chuckled.

"I'd hate to be on that kind of a ride." Takuya said with a small grimace.

"Oh yeah. JP and I were thrown around all over the place when we first came here." Zoe grinned. "But that was because we were going up a track vertically."

"My ride was a bit smoother," Koji remarked. "Probably because the Trailmon I took went a lot slower than the Trailmon you took. Despite leaving at the same time, it took me a while to get to the station you guys were already at."

"It does depend on the Trailmon themselves too," Koichi chuckled. "And I get the feeling most Trailmon are just excited to be running again."

"I would be too if I was a Trailmon." JP chuckled.

"Hey, at least we can now travel around the Digital World faster." Takuya grinned. "This shouldn't take us too long at the rate we are traveling."

"Going from here to the Autumn Leaf Fair should take us about an hour or two," Trailmon responded.

"So we have an hour or two to talk about what we're going to do. I suggest we use it wisely," Koji firmly stated.

"Doing nothing but talking about a battle plan for two hours is not good for your mind, you know. By the time you get there, you'll be too exhausted to pull anything off," Zoe pointed out.

Koji grumbled.

"But we can't just ignore it either." Takuya pointed out. "We have to figure out a plan to get your D-Tectors back."

"We don't know the situation until we get there," Koichi said. "We only know we'll be dealing with Ranamon and Grumblemon, as well as their Beast Spirits. But would they use that in such a crowded place? They'd be hurting more Digimon if they did that, which would be against their nature."

"I don't know." Takuya sighed. "I'd like to say no, but when it comes to fighting us , I don't think they would hold back. I think it's more likely they will go all out against us."

"Is that really true?" Tommy asked. "Have you experienced one of them willing to put the other Digimon in danger just to get to you?"

Takuya frowned as he thought back to Gigasmon, and how he left them when Floramon told him that his help wasn't needed at their village.

"Okay, maybe not." Takuya admitted. "But we can't just assume they will refuse to use their Beast Spirits either. I mean, it's unlikely, but not impossible, that the extra power may be used."

"We're not saying it's impossible, just unlikely they'll ambush us while we're in the town," Koichi explained. "They're more likely to chase us out of town first before attacking. Knowing that, we know there's at least a safe zone."

Takuya nodded in agreement. "Then we should be careful if they do see us. We don't know why they would be heading to the Autumn Leaf Fair with your D-Tectors either."

"We'll likely find out soon enough," Koji grumbled.

Tommy gave a bit of a nervous look. He and Takuya were still new to their Spirits, so he wasn't sure how well they would be able to fight against Ranamon or Grumblemon if it came down to it. They didn't do so well before. Gigasmon and Calmaramon were too strong for either of them. They only got out with their lives because Sorcermon and Lillymon came as back-up, but… they may not be so lucky next time. Takuya maye have to use his Beast Spirit, and that… would be really bad, considering how little control Takuya had over it. Tommy himself didn't have a Beast Spirit, and even if he did… wouldn't he be just like Takuya then? Tommy didn't see a lot of good options for them, but he couldn't just say that because it would be terrible for their morale. He could only hope for the best.

Back at Fenton Works, Andy frowned as he and Lopmon checked Takuya's room. He headed back upstairs to his and Danny's room.

"It's already evening and still no signs of Takuya," Andy said. "It shouldn't be taking him this long to train and come back home. Did something happen?"

"I'm sure he's fine, maybe he just lost track of time," Lopmon suggested.

"Hey, bro," Danny called. "So I've been… waiting to tell you this, but Patamon and I… wanted to ask you about something."

"What is it?" Andy asked. "Are you still worried about Paulina seeing your ghost half?"

"Well yeah, but that's not it," Danny answered.

"Then… what?" Andy questioned.

"Um… I think it's best if we show you." Danny admitted. "It's related to my ghost half, but not because of Paulina."

Patamon hopped down to Danny's side.

Danny triggered the transformation, summoning the rings of light on his torso, changing him into Phantom. However, smaller rings appeared on Patamon as well, changing him. It wasn't quite like digivolution, because he wasn't wrapped in fractal code, instead, he just changed like Danny did. Patamon himself didn't look that different, he still had his normal physique, but his color definitely changed. His color matched Danny Phantom's colors, being black and white, and his eyes glowing green. He also had that ghostly aura on him.

"Whoa! Patamon! Did you just… turn into a ghost!?" Lopmon yelped in shock.

Patamon, without using his ears to fly, flew over to Lopmon and clamped himself on Lopmon's face. "Shhhh! Don't go shouting it all over the place!" He hissed to Lopmon.

Danny gave a sheepish look to Andy. "Um… Yeah… as you can see, bro… Patamon had a… bit of a make-over… of the ghostly kind…"

Lopmon pushed Patamon off of him. "You're really cold!"

Andy blinked a few times as he tried to process what he just witnessed. "Okay… um… okay… uh… Patamon… you… uh… do you have ghostly abilities like that? Like… can you go invisible? Intangible?"

"He can shoot out ecto-bubbles from what I saw earlier," Danny said.

"Okay, but what about invisibility and intangibility?" Andy asked.

"I don't… really know how to use those," Patamon admitted. "I've never been… well… a ghost before. There are ghost Digimon, but they're a bit… different from what I am."

" What even are you now?" Lopmon asked, intrigued. "Maybe we should call you Phantomon?"

"No, there's already a Digimon with that name," Patamon pointed out.

"Then maybe… Danmon? You know, because Danny?" Lopmon suggested.

"We're not changing my name!" Patamon grumbled.

"I'd say you're probably more like a… Patamon ghost style if anything," Andy said before rubbing his head. "But… wait, how did this happen? This didn't happen before, did it?"

"No, it didn't happen before." Danny admitted. "I… kinda transformed while wearing my backpack and… well… this is what happened…"

"It's strange… I feel about as strong as I did when I was Angemon," Patamon said as he looked down at himself. "But I'm not sure how or why. I don't think I'm a Champion level Digimon, but I definitely don't feel like a Rookie level either."

"Partners…" Andy said, pointing at Danny and Patamon. "You two… haven't really been official partners until you both accepted each other fully and truly. From what I've learned about Digimon partners, the partners are linked with each other. The human molds and shapes their Digimon partners and how they will appear and evolve. In Danny's case, he's… a lot more unique than anyone else, not counting Vlad."

"So Patamon… pretty much became a half ghost, half Digimon himself due to his link with Danny?" Lopmon blinked. "Does… does that mean… Patamon half died?"

"Please do not speak like that," Patamon grumbled.

"Death for Digimon is different though, isn't it?" Danny asked. "I mean… like Patamon said, there are ghost Digimon, but they were born or evolved like that, they didn't have to die to become ghosts. And when a Digimon dies, they get reborn as a new Digimon, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't say Patamon half died. I think…" Andy began as he studied Patamon's new form for a moment. "... Maybe when he accepted to be your partner, some of your… uh… natural ectoplasm mixed into his fractal code, and kinda… changed him. Like… this could potentially be a new type of evolution for Digimon who has a ghost for a partner. Considering how Digimon and ghosts don't like each other, and they've rarely, if at all, interacted, there may not have been a time where a Digimon and a ghost formed a bond and became partners until now."

"Ooh… and since Danny is so much stronger as a ghost than a human, when you turn into… uh… Patamon Ghost, you also get stronger, so now you have more powers like Angemon without actually needing to digivolve into Angemon," Lopmon guessed.

"That sounds like a very interesting theory." Patamon noted. "But I don't know if this is a good thing or not. This has never happened in the entire history of the Digital World."

"Well maybe that could be a good thing. I mean other than Vlad, there hasn't been anything like a half ghost before, right?" Lopmon said. "And look at all the good Danny's done since then."

"But-"

"We're ignoring the prophecy! We don't even know if that prophecy is talking about Danny," Lopmon quickly said.

"I was going to say that ectoplasm is dangerous to data, so what if this is… you know, slowly dissolving me or something?" Patamon asked.

"Ectoplasm is dangerous to humans too," Andy pointed out. "By all means, Danny would've been dissolved from ectoplasm by now, or he would show signs of being dissolved, if that were the case, since the accident happened months ago. But you don't look like you're in any pain whatsoever, are you, Danny?"

Danny shook his head. "No, I'm not. In fact, I feel pretty good when I'm in my ghost form." He admitted.

Lopmon beamed. "So that means I have a half ghost brother now~"

"We never talked about being brothers," Patamon huffed.

"Hey, you're Danny's partner, which means you're my brother now~" Lopmon grinned.

"And if you are capable of using ghostly powers…" Andy began before he looked at Danny. "Maybe you should teach him how to use invisibility and intangibility. If he's able to do that, he'll be able to follow you whenever you have to fight ghosts. This way, you'll have a companion to help you out and follow you, where the rest of us are unable to keep up."

Danny looked down in thought. "That… actually would be pretty handy, um… if Patamon can use ghostly powers."

"Well, no time like the present to try it out!" Lopmon grinned.

Andy walked over to his desk, taking out a notepad and a pen. He began to write something down. Digimon are very mysterious. It's rather amazing how much they can change and evolve depending on the situation. Partner Digimon even more so. I wonder what else we can learn from them… and how much stronger they could be if they came together and co-existed with ghosts… How much stronger could a ghost be with a Digimon?

"Make sure you two don't stay up too late, we have school tomorrow, and we need to deal with the 'Paulina knows' problem," Andy said.

Danny groaned. "Don't remind me… I feel both excited that she knows, but also worried out of my mind!"

"Shouldn't we… do something about that?" Lopmon asked.

"What can we do about it?" Danny asked.

"We could try to act like what she saw wasn't real," Patamon suggested.

"I doubt that's gonna work, and if we tried that, Paulina will just push to see Danny transform again, and be more likely to shout about it to other people," Andy warned.

Danny grimaced. "I don't like the sound, or idea, of that happening… If that happens, who knows what could come from it? Someone could claim I'm a ghost, while I'm human, for all we know!"

"Maybe you can mind wipe her with Fenton technology?" Lopmon suggested.

"Mom and Dad don't know how to make something to wipe people's memories of a certain event," Andy sighed. "And even if they did, they'd sooner make a device to make a ghost forget things instead of one for humans."

"Uh… how would that work on a half ghost?" Danny nervously asked.

Andy looked at Danny. "... Let's not worry about that until Mom and Dad actually make a memory wipe device."

Danny grimaced again. "I don't want to get hit with that if they do."

Patamon grumbled. "That would be one invention to stay away from."

"Okay, then how about we knock Paulina out, take her to a dark place where we isolate her from the outside world, we wear white coats, pretend to be mad scientists, and-" Lopmon went on before Patamon interrupted him by bonking Lopmon on the head, avoiding the horns of course.

"We are not doing any of that," Patamon grumbled.

"Do you want to fix the problem or not?" Lopmon grumbled, rubbing his head.

"How about we just see what Paulina does first? Maybe she'll keep the secret, she did seem happy to do that," Danny optimistically pointed out.

"And if she doesn't?" Lopmon asked.

"Well…" Danny frowned. "Maybe I could… overshadow her and see if I could… do some mind tweaking?"

"You can do that when you overshadow people?" Andy blinked.

"I mean… I don't know? At least I don't know to what extent. And I think when I overshadowed Dash before, I made a comment about how he scrubbed his mom's foot to Paulina to make him look bad in front of her, and Dash made a comment about how he suddenly wanted to scrub his mom's feet after I left his body," Danny explained. "So… there might be some kind of mind manipulation going on there. Though I don't like the idea of doing that, it's why I don't use the overshadow ability much after I… um… you know, used it a few times."

Lopmon grinned. "That's such an awesome power!"

"No, it's not!" Danny countered. "I feel so… vile when I use that particular ability…"

"I have to agree, using people as meat puppets is considered a bad thing," Patamon pointed out.

"You guys are no fun," Lopmon grumbled.

"We'll just use the overshadowing ability if it becomes necessary," Andy sighed.

"Maybe I could… overshadow you to hide out for a bit, bro?" Danny suggested.

"You are not using my body as a hideout, bro," Andy grumbled.

Danny pouted. "You're no fun."

"Yeah, Danny using your body as a hideout would be kinda-" Lopmon was cut off by Patamon latching onto his face again.

"We don't need any comments from you!" Patamon scolded. "You're not helping!"

"... Are we sure we didn't get the opposite partners?" Lopmon huffed after pushing Patamon off.

It was getting late, but as school let out and the other kids were going home, Tomoki's parents were working late today. His big brother was supposed to pick him up.

Tomoki was sitting on a swing in the playground as the sun was starting to set. But it seemed he wasn't the only kid still there. There were a few others still hanging around.

Tomoki felt a bit lonely. He didn't really have any friends in school, though he couldn't say why. Nobody really wanted to talk to him, or hang out with him. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe he scared some of the other children off with his nerdy talk about video games. But that couldn't be it, because a lot of the other kids liked video games too.

Their teacher had them watch a movie today, the movie was about a superhero saving the world from monsters. The hero was popular with many of the children. Tomoki wondered if people would like him if he was more like a superhero instead of a scared child who couldn't even talk to other kids his own age. Even Yutaka, his brother, would sometimes be mean to him. Maybe Tomoki did rely on his parents too much, but he was only a kid, it wasn't like he could just go out and become a big superhero, could he?

"Quite it guys! Stop!"

Tomoki heard another kid crying out and whimpering. Looking up from his swing, Tomoki saw a kid who looked about Tomoki's age… or maybe younger, was being bullied by some older kids.

The bullies grabbed the younger kid's backpack and dropped it to the ground.

"Aww, did the baby drop his books?" One of the bullies taunted.

Tomoki stood up from his swing as he watched this unfold. He felt like he should do something, but these kids were so much bigger than he was, and they certainly looked stronger too.

"Next thing you know, the baby's going to fall down!"

The younger kid was shoved to the ground and started crying. The bullies all laughed at the poor kid.

"You're a wimp, kid!" The bullies laughed.

Tomoki frowned, feeling bad for the kid, but he didn't know what he could've done to help. But still… maybe there was something he could've done had he been braver and more confident in himself… maybe if he had powers, or… was just half of a hero any superheroes were. They had to sacrifice so much to do the right thing and save people, they didn't let fear hold them back, and yet… Tomoki was just standing there, feeling sorry for himself.

"Hey look, there's another baby!" One of the bullies pointed at Tomoki.

"Let's get him!" Another bully shouted.

Tomoki, realizing he was now the bullies' new target, quickly turned around and ran away. He couldn't help it, he wasn't strong, he wasn't brave, he was no hero. He was just a coward who ran away from the bullies.

As he was running, the bullies that were running after him changed into two people. One of them was Theodore on his hoverboard, and the other was Sir Michael.

"You can keep running, Tommy, but I'll catch you eventually!" Sir Michael called out as Tomoki ran further and further away. "You belong to me!"

"I will make you mine yet!" Theodore exclaimed as he began to chase after Tomoki. "You will be the crown of my Digimon collection, little bear~!"

Tomoki didn't know what he was supposed to be. He was supposed to be brave, he was supposed to be a Legendary Warrior, and yet he was also a coward, and a slave to another. He was supposed to confront his bullies, but instead, he turned tail and ran. Maybe he hadn't changed as much as he thought after all, maybe Yutaka was right about him.

"Tommy… hey, Tommy, wake up, we're almost there."

A familiar voice spoke up, and nudged Tommy. Tommy blinked open his eyes, finding himself back on the Trailmon. He had apparently fallen asleep some time during their trip.

"Ah… sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep like that," Tommy apologized, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Don't be. It's normal to fall asleep." Takuya said before frowning a bit. "You looked like you were having quite the nightmare though. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tommy quickly answered. "I was just a little… tired, that's all."

"Hopefully you got some rest then, because we're about to reach the station for the Autumn Leaf Fair," Koji said.

Indeed, the Trailmon was starting to slow down.

"It feels good to not have to walk or fly everywhere again," JP smiled. "You wouldn't think so until you actually do it, but flying everywhere takes a lot out of you."

Takuya chuckled. "I don't doubt it." He said, remembering that Danny could fly in his ghost form. I wonder if Danny gets tired from flying around.

The Trailmon slowed to a stop, having arrived at the station. "We're here! The Autumn Leaf Fair!"

"Alright, better get ready, we have a lot of ground to cover," Koichi warned.

"How big is this Autumn Leaf Fair?" Takuya asked as the doors opened up.

"Come take a look for yourself." Zoe smiled. "It's actually a nice place."

Takuya and Tommy took a step outside, and were in awe at what they were seeing. There was snow surrounding the landscape, but the Autumn Leaf Fair itself was a town built near what appeared to be a giant heater that was melting the snow in this specific area. It gave the place an isolated, yet beautiful feel, with nothing but snow in the surrounding area. It was like an oasis in a cold place. There were a lot of Digimon, and a lot of stores.

"The Autumn Leaf Fair, a place where most tourists go to shop. Many merchant Digimon love to set up shop here from all around the Digital World. You can pay in cash, or you can trade for the items you want," JP explained.

"Ever since the Trailmon started to come back online, more Digimon are able to travel back here." Zoe smiled. "Before, this place was more of a ghost town."

"Yeah? You'd never know it, judging by how many Digimon are here." Takuya noted, seeing many Digimon he had never seen before all milling around buying and selling goods, as well as trading for new items. "This is pretty cool! Reminds me of the Amity Park swap meet, but much bigger, and for Digimon no less!"

"There might be some cool things you could find here." JP smiled.

"We're not here for shopping, we're here to look for our D-Tectors," Koji huffed. "We need to start asking around if anyone has seen Grumblemon or Ranamon, or if they've seen our D-Tectors."

"Still, it is curious that they would come here of all places. Do you think they would still be here?" Koichi asked.

Tommy looked at his D-Tector for a moment. "The lights from before are in this area, so either they haven't left yet, or they gave the D-Tectors to someone else."

"Why would they do that?" Zoe asked.

"It doesn't matter 'why', it's 'where' what we need to answer," Koji said.

"This place is pretty big, where do we even start?" Tommy asked.

"Does your radar show where the lights could be?" Koichi asked.

Tommy frowned as he shook his head. "It only shows they're in this area, but not where exactly."

"Then let's split up," Koji suggested.

"Are you sure? What if one of you guys finds them and they attack you?" Takuya asked.

"I doubt they'll attack us in such a crowded place, but we do need to exercise caution in case they do try something," Koji replied. "We're not going to engage with them if one of us does find them. Instead, call the rest of us with your back-up phones and let us know your location as quickly as possible."

The group nodded before they split up, going in random directions. Takuya went down a path at random, trying to see if he could find the annoying gnome that was Grumblemon, or the blue form of Ranamon.

"Geez… It may be a bit hard to find Grumblemon or Ranamon in this place, there are so many Digimon…" Takuya muttered, not sure if he could see either of the rogue Warriors in the crowd.

Takuya decided to check out all the shops and ask the Digimon running the shop. The shops had some pretty cool stuff, some looked weird, others looked gross. But there was something for everyone, which Takuya could respect. However, the Digimon didn't seem to know what a D-Tector was, so Takuya had to show them what his D-Tector looked like, but they had never seen one before. Nor had they seen Grumblemon or Ranamon.

The same thing was going on with JP, Zoe, Koji, and Koichi. They too were looking at a shop and asking the Digimon there about the D-Tectors, as well as Grumblemon and Ranamon. The Digimon may have seen Grumblemon and Ranamon, but they have no idea where they went, which was not very helpful.

Koichi decided that talking to others wasn't really his thing, so he climbed up a tree and began looking from a bird's eye view.

Tommy was asking an Otamamon about the D-Tectors, Grumblemon, and Ranamon. "They look like this."

Tommy held his D-Tector for Otamamon to look at.

"I haven't seen anything like that, I'm sorry." The Otamamon replied apologetically. "I wish I could help more."

"It's okay, thanks anyways," Tommy said before the Otamamon hopped away. At this rate we might not find them before they leave…

Tommy sighed to himself, and was about to walk off before something caught his eye. Behind an alleyway, he saw another trading post. This trading post looks a little out of the way from the others… I guess it can't hurt to look.

Tommy walked over to the building, and opened the door. "Hello?"

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows, he didn't see anyone here, but the door was clearly open. "Is anyone here?"

Movement could be heard inside the shop though, which told Tommy someone was there. The boy decided to follow the sound of the movement, hoping that he wasn't trespassing. He walked a little further inside, and was surprised when he finally found someone. It was a Digimon, at least Tommy thought it was, it may just be a robot for all he knew. The machine Digimon in question appeared to be doing something on something that was beeping a lot. Tommy couldn't quite see what the Digimon was doing.

"Uh… excuse me?" Tommy spoke up to the maybe-Digimon or maybe-service robot. "Does anyone work here?"

"Why yes, I work here." The maybe-Digimon replied, turning around to face Tommy. "My name is Datamon. What can I help you with?"

The Digimon just confirmed it was indeed a Digimon.

"I was wondering if you have any information on… something important," Tommy said.

"Information?" Datamon repeated before he heard an 8-bit explosion and turned back to the screen. "Aw no! I lost again!"

"Lost again? What are you doing?" Tommy asked before he looked at the screen.

Apparently Datamon was playing on an arcade machine, and he was playing what looked like a space shooter game, only the spaceship was an Airdramon firing out air attacks, and the enemy ships were various flying Digimon.

"You're playing a video game while you're open?" Tommy blinked, he was always told to never play video games while he was at school, so he thought it was weird that a shop owner would be playing a video game when he was supposed to be working.

"Forgive me. Very few shoppers come by here, so I need something to do to pass the time." Datamon said as he moved away from the arcade game. "Although it's more than just a video game. I'm trying to unlock a very important artifact that's locked away in the game. Although no matter how many modes I try, I can't seem to get any closer to winning."

"What? Really? That's not just a sales pitch?" Tommy asked.

"Oh no, it's very real." Datamon replied. "Others have seen this artifact, but only fleetingly sadly."

"How do you get this artifact out?" Tommy questioned.

"You have to have a certain high score to unlock it," Datamon answered.

"Seems a bit… arbitrary…" Tommy deadpanned.

"I don't make the rules, kid," Datamon shrugged. "So what's this information you wanted?"

"Ah… I wanted to know if any Digimon came here holding something like this…" Tommy took out his D-Tector to show Datamon. "Only they come in different colors."

Datamon looked at the D-Tector Tommy was holding, but he kept his face neutral. "Hmmm… well, you know that even information is considered trading, right? Do you have something for me to give you such information?"

"I… didn't bring any money with me." Tommy frowned.

"Okay, tell you what, you play this game," Datamon said as he gestured to the arcade. "And if you're able to get the high score, then I'll tell you what you want to know, free of charge."

"Really?" Tommy perked up.

"Definitely." Datamon confirmed. "It would be worth seeing if someone can actually beat the game."

"Okay, I'll give it a shot." Tommy smiled. When it comes to video games, I have full confidence.

Tommy looked at the controls, there was a joystick, and two buttons. Tommy took a moment to test what the controls did before he got into the game. He noticed there were different modes to the game, there was one where he could play as a Togemon if he wanted to. But he decided to go with the Airdramon. "Okay, here we go!"

Datamon decided to watch to see if this kid could actually do it. Tommy took control of the Airdramon character and he was soon in the zone. Tommy was able to dodge the enemy attacks with surprising ease, it was like his hands moved on their own. Datamon had never seen anyone move so naturally with the game, including himself, and he had been playing this game for years.

Before long, Tommy made it to the final boss of the game. All Tommy could see was a giant white ball. The white ball shot out large ice at the Airdramon, and was able to create avalanches and axes to throw at the Airdramon.

That's the final boss, nobody's ever gotten that far before! Datamon thought to himself in shock.

Tommy grinned as he got Airdramon away from the axes. The white ball's HP was getting low. "Time to finish it off! Fatal Tornado!"

Tommy used Airdramon's ultimate attack, making him create a large tornado that smashed into the white ball, shattering it. With that, Tommy got the highest score in the game.

"Yeah! I did it!" Tommy cheered, pumping his fist up into the air.

Datamon stared in disbelief. "No one has beaten the game before…" He murmured, as if in shock. "Incredible!"

Tommy looked back at the screen, seeing the white ball he just battled with coming up to the screen. The words 'congratulations!' were written at the bottom of it.

"Is that the artifact you were trying to get?" Tommy asked.

Datamon chuckled. "Yes, it is." He confirmed. "But I could never get past that final boss."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to help." Tommy grinned. "So… about the D-Tectors…"

"Ah, before that…" Datamon said. "I need to figure something out myself. In order to truly answer your question, I need to see yours, so I know if these gadgets are the same things you're looking for."

Tommy blinked, the last time he gave a Digimon his D-Tector, he was trying to manipulate him. "I don't know… I kind of need it."

"It won't be for long, I promise I'll give it right back," Datamon said. "I only want to examine it."

Tommy frowned, but… Datamon hadn't been trying to manipulate Tommy into working for him like WaruMonzeamon did. And something just told Tommy he could trust this Digimon. It may be a foolish mistake, especially if Datamon turned out to be working for the rogue Legendary Warriors, but Datamon seemed to genuinely want to help.

"Alright… but please be careful with it," Tommy finally said after contemplating.

"You have my word," Datamon said before Tommy, still a little hesitantly, handed his D-Tector over to Datamon.

Datamon took the D-Tector from Tommy and moved over to his work station. "This is quite an interesting device." He noted to Tommy. "I've seen quite a bit of technology in my current lifetime, and yet I've never seen something like this before."

"I don't know much about it. It used to be my cell phone, but it… sort of got transformed when I arrived in the Digital World," Tommy admitted.

"I see. The Digital World may have done something to change the technology," Datamon said. "But for what purpose, I wonder…"

Datamon began tapping on the button of the D-Tector and saw the symbol for the Warrior of Ice appearing on the screen.

"Well now…" Datamon muttered to himself. This is interesting. It seems the boy has the Spirit of a Legendary Warrior. And it's showing itself to me. … There's no way the Spirit would be trapped if it is showing itself to me. It's trying to tell me it wants to be back by the boy's side.

Datamon then smiled to himself. Yes, I think I know what to do with this D-Tector. The other Spirit in the game has been waiting for the one to wield its power, and that is this boy.

Datamon took the D-Tector to a table with tools.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Tommy asked.

"I'm going to add something to this D-Tector of yours, it looks like it's missing something," Datamon said before the palm of his hand turned into a screwdriver.

"W-wait! You might break it!" Tommy yelled worriedly.

"I've dealt with countless pieces of technology that could break easily. Do not worry." Datamon assured. "I will be careful. I just need to do this to give you what you deserve."

There was a snapping noise, and the case of the D-Tector came off. It showed a bright glow of wires inside. Tommy had never seen the inside of a D-Tector before, so it surprised him, but he was also horrified as he was scared that now his D-Tector was unusable.

"What did you do!?" Tommy shouted.

"I only opened up your D-Tector." Datamon replied. "I can't exactly transfer the missing object to it when it has the case on."

" What's missing?" Tommy frowned. I was able to spirit evolve no problem, what could be missing from my D-Tector? "You said you've never seen a D-Tector before, how do you know something's missing from it?"

Before Datamon could answer, Tommy felt something in his pocket vibrating. He took his spare cell phone from his pocket. The Legendary Warriors all agreed they needed to have a spare cell phone to call each other in case something happened to their D-Tectors, and to also use in their everyday life as they couldn't exactly show off their D-Tectors in the real world.

"Hello?" Tommy asked.

"Tommy? I tried calling your D-Tector, but you weren't answering. Is everything okay?" Takuya's voice asked.

"Ah…" Tommy looked back at Datamon, who was still doing… something to his D-Tector. "My… D-Tector has been… compromised…"

"What? What does that mean?" Takuya asked.

"Did you find something, Takuya?" Tommy asked, hoping to change the subject and find out why Takuya was calling him.

"It's… that Theodore kid." Takuya replied.

"What about him? He's just an annoyance, isn't he?" Tommy asked.

"It's… not that." Takuya gulped. "Theodore had Koji under his control at one point with a slave collar… and he's… done it again… this time to… one of the rogue Warriors. I think he called this one 'Petaldramon'."

"What!?" Tommy shouted.

Tommy heard a loud roar from the phone, and he felt the area shaking a bit. Oh… crap baskets… why does this have to happen now ?

"I'm going to have to step in! Hurry over here as Kumamon!" Takuya quickly said.

"But I-" Tommy began to say, only for Takuya to hang up.

Tommy looked back at Datamon. "Can you fix it? I need my D-Tector back right now!"

"It's going to take a little more time, I'm afraid. I can't rush it or I risk damaging something," Datamon answered.

ARGH! This is not the best time! Tommy inwardly yelled. "I have to go out, my friends need me! Just… please don't… sell my D-Tector to anyone."

"I promise I won't. It should take me about 5 more minutes," Datamon said.

Tommy hoped that was true, he needed to get his D-Tector back as soon as possible. Although, when in a battle, 5 minutes could be an eternity. Tommy didn't know if he could do anything without Kumamon, but he couldn't just stay here while chaos was happening outside. Tommy hurried out of the trading post.

Datamon took the game cartridge out of the arcade machine, and put it on the table. He got some wires out, and stuck them into the cartridge, then he plugged the wires into the D-Tector. "I know it's been a long time, but we finally found the one you were waiting for."

Tommy was running outside, but it didn't take him long to see the large plant lizard going on a rampage in the town, scaring away innocent Digimon.

"Stop this! You're wrecking the place, you crazy kid!" Tommy heard Agunimon shouting.

Tommy saw that Theodore kid riding on top of the giant lizard's head, sitting on some kind of seat that was stuck to the Digimon's head.

"Hahaha! Now why would I do that~?" Theodore chuckled sinisterly. He clearly was feeling like a king on his new 'mount'.

Agunimon growled as he stood his ground. He didn't like the situation he found himself in, and on top of it, he couldn't use his own Beast Spirit because he still had no control over it.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked as he caught up to Koichi, who was the only other person nearby, he didn't see Koji, Zoe, or JP.

"Theodore announced he'll take over the Autumn Leaf Fair and make it his own by using his Legendary Warrior," Koichi explained. "Koji and the others are doing what they can to help, but they're going to get hurt."

Tommy's eyes went wide when he saw Koji, Zoe, and JP running into the battlefield, holding onto sticks and metal pipes to try to hit the giant lizard.

"What is that Digimon?" Tommy frowned.

"That's Petaldramon, the Warrior of Wood, he's the Beast Form of the Warrior of Wood, so he's really strong," Koichi answered.

Tommy saw a red collar around Petaldramon's neck, that must be what Theodore was using to control him.

"Tommy, you need to go in there as Kumamon and help them!" Koichi frantically said, and noticed Tommy's troubled expression. "... What's wrong?"

"I… can't spirit evolve…" Tommy frowned.

"W-why not?" Koichi asked worriedly.

"A Digimon kind of… tore open my D-Tector…" Tommy hesitantly answered.

Koichi stared at Tommy. "Are you kidding me?" He deadpanned. "Of all the times… How the heck did that happen?"

Tommy would rather not answer that, he felt foolish trusting another Digimon with something as important as his D-Tector that held his Legendary Warrior's Spirit .

"Isn't there something we can do though?" Tommy asked, hoping to focus on the situation at hand rather than answering uncomfortable questions.

"Our best bet is to get rid of the collar, but it's going to take a lot of power to break it," Koichi replied.

Agunimon was jumping at Petaldramon, hoping that since Petaldramon was clearly plant-based, he would be weak to fire.

This had better work! Agunimon thought as he slammed his fists together, causing fire to cover his hands. "Pyro Punch!" He launched the fireballs at Petaldramon's side.

Petaldramon let out an anger-filled roar before he used his tails to slap Agunimon away. Zoe and JP ran to Petaldramon's feet, trying to wrack him with their sticks, while Koji was moving quickly to Petaldramon's chest. He tried to hit Petaldramon's chest with his metal rod, but he soon realized it was like hitting a thick tree. It didn't seem to have any effect.

"You idiots can't hold a candle to a Legendary Warrior without any Digimon of your own!" Theodore laughed. "Just one puny Legendary Warrior who can't even turn into a beast is no match for my powerful Legendary Warrior."

"Thorn Jab!" Petaldramon shouted before he pierced the ground with his tails, and vines came up from the ground, grabbing several Digimon, as well as Zoe, JP, and Koji.

"Look out!" Koichi yelled as he pushed Tommy away from one of the vines that came up from the ground, only to get caught by one himself.

"Koichi!" Tommy yelled.

"Run, Tommy!" Koichi quickly said before more vines started coming up.

Agunimon grunted as he managed to sit up, only to feel his Digi-Core's pulsations increasing in panic. "GUYS!" He cried as he got to his feet.

Tommy ran over to Agunimon. "T- Agunimon, are you okay!?"

Agunimon looked down at Tommy and nodded. "Yeah, I've been worse." He replied before looking back at Theodore and his newest slave Digimon.

Agunimon clenched his fists as he gritted his teeth in frustration. "Let them go, Theodore!" He exclaimed.

"I'll let them go, once I've finished conquering this piece of land in the name of Theodore Minerals!" Theodore announced.

Agunimon growled. "We need to take him down somehow… Tommy, you should spirit evolve, maybe Kumamon's ice can slow Petaldramon down."

Tommy frowned. "I… can't spirit evolve. My D-Tector was… taken apart."

Agunimon blinked before he groaned, putting a hand on his face. "I can't believe I'm the only one who can take this guy on right now…"

"I'm sorry…" Tommy apologized. I really screwed up… I'm not fit to be a Legendary Warrior….

The shadow towered over Agunimon and Tommy. With Tommy being unable to spirit evolve, Agunimon had to protect Tommy now as well.

"Aww, is the poor little baby crying? Don't worry, you'll soon be enjoying the Minerals Fair once I'm done with this place!" Theodore grinned. "But first, I need to add the Legendary Warrior of Flame to my arsenal!"

Petaldramon stood up on his hind legs, making himself much taller. "Leaf Cyclone!"

Sharp, red leaves started to surround Agunimon and Tommy.

"Plasma Sphere!" Agunimon cried, causing the reddish orange sphere to come into existence around him and Tommy.

Agunimon was feeling the intensity of the Leaf Cyclone attack, as it was forcing him to put more energy into his defensive move. "Damn it… This can't get any worse…"

The Leaf Cyclone ended, but now Petaldramon was trying to tackle the Plasma Sphere with his whole body.

"You know that tiny sphere won't last forever!" Theodore chuckled.

"Tommy, when I let down the sphere, you need to run and hide," Agunimon instructed, straining to keep the Plasma Sphere up. "Do you understand?"

Tommy frowned. "But what about you? You know you can't take on a Beast Spirit on your own!"

"I'll think of something." Agunimon reassured Tommy. "Just run when I drop the shield."

As Petaldramon was getting ready to charge at the Plasma Sphere again, Agunimon waited until the time was just right. Just before Petaldramon could make contact, Agunimon dropped the shield, making Petaldramon miss it. "Run, Tommy!" Agunimon instructed.

Tommy quickly ran as instructed.

"Nevermind that baby, focus on the real prize here!" Theodore ordered Petaldramon, who now turned his sight on Agunimon.

This is just like before… I'm only running away… Tommy angrily thought to himself as he stopped running.

Tommy saw a metal pipe on the ground from one of the destroyed buildings.

Agunimon fell into a fighting stance, getting ready to attack. But Petaldramon was the first to attack. His thorny tail came through the ground, catching Agunimon off guard. He tried to dodge, but the thorny tail wrapped itself around him, trapping him in its grasp.

Agunimon was squirming, trying to get free. Damn it! I can't fight like this! But if… if I use it… I'll lose control! He thought in a panic.

Agunimon then noticed someone crawling up Petaldramon's body. Since Petaldramon was being controlled, he didn't react to it, and Theodore couldn't see them, so he didn't make a command to shake off the person. Much to Agunimon's shock, and horror, he saw the person was Tommy. Tommy was trying to get to either the collar or Theodore himself, holding a metal pipe in his hand.

Agunimon wanted to tell Tommy to back off, but he was aware that if he did that, it would alert Theodore that someone was on his precious Warrior's back. All Agunimon could do was hope Tommy knew what he was doing.

"And now, I've got my special collar just for you Legendary Warriors right here~" Theodore grinned as he pulled out a red collar from a box he was holding. "Now hold still, this won't take lon-"

Theodore was interrupted as Tommy smacked him on the back of his head with the metal pipe, pushing the chubby boy off of his seat.

"You're not putting that collar on anyone!" Tommy challenged.

Theodore turned around, seeing Tommy behind him. "You dare to mess with me?" He challenged back. "I will make sure you know who you are messing with, kid!" Then Theodore smirked. "In fact… Petaldramon, would you be so kind as to help me out with this interloper?"

Theodore yelped as Petaldramon began to move, nearly throwing him off as he wasn't safely on his chair. Tommy dropped the metal pipe he was holding and held on tight to Petaldramon's head.

"If he tries to get me from up here, he could hurt you too!" Tommy shouted at Theodore. "Call him off!"

"You underestimate me, and my loyal subject!" Theodore grinned.

Tommy started to crawl to the collar on Petaldramon's neck, hoping maybe he could find a way to get it off. However, Petaldramon stood up, making Tommy and Theodore lose their drip.

"Thorn Jab!"

Petaldramon dug his tails into the ground and lashed out vines. The vines grabbed onto Tommy, and also onto Theodore. Though unlike Tommy, Theodore was taken back to the chair on Petaldramon's head.

"Tommy!" Agunimon shouted. "Let him go! He's just a kid!"

"A kid who tried to knock me off of my Legendary Warrior! I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted Petaldramon to himself!" Theodore hissed. "I think it would do him good to learn his place by deleting his account."

Agunimon's eyes went wide. "No! You'll kill him!"

"He's not real, he's just a body made of data, he just won't be able to log in anymore," Theodore sneered. "Petaldramon, finish off this annoying brat."

The vine that had Tommy began to squeeze him. Tommy cried out in pain.

"TOMMY!" Agunimon cried out. He didn't want to see Tommy get hurt, let alone killed! This… Agunimon gritted his teeth in anger. There was no choice, it seemed. He looked back up at Theodore in anger. "You've just pushed me too far…" He hissed before he tapped into the slumbering Spirit that he had refused to use until now. "Slide Evolution!"

Fractal code surrounded Agunimon before something caused Petaldramon's vines to snap away from the cocoon. The fractal code dissipated, just as the draconic form of BurningGreymon flared his orange wings and let out a roar in challenge to Theodore.

Now as BurningGreymon, the Warrior of Flame knew the clock to him losing control was on the countdown now. He had to finish this fight fast.

BurningGreymon's eyes flashed once as he drew back his claws and aimed at the vine holding Tommy. "You let him go!"

Theodore was too much in shock to command Petaldramon to do anything in that moment, he didn't know the Warrior of Flame was capable of using his Beast Form. BurningGreymon sliced through the vine that was holding Tommy. Tommy fell from the height, and BurningGreymon caught him.

"Agunimon?" Tommy looked up in surprise, seeing BurningGreymon was holding him.

BurningGreymon quickly, but gently, put Tommy down. He knew he had to be quick before he lost control. He was still angry that Theodore nearly killed Tommy, and that anger was starting to take over his mind.

"You need to run, Tommy! I don't know how long I can stay in control, just get to safety!" BurningGreymon begged the boy.

Tommy frowned, but he started to run. He knew better than to stand in front of someone that big and that powerful who was trying to hold back from losing control. Unfortunately, Tommy wasn't the only one Petaldramon caught. Koji, Koichi, JP, Zoe, and some innocent Digimon and possibly other players were caught up in Petaldramon's vines. They would be in line of BurningGreymon's rage, and he could potentially burn all of them if he was truly lost in his rage.

BurningGreymon's eyes set on Petaldramon and Theodore. His eyes already started to glow red as his anger for these two nearly killing someone important to him began to build.

BurningGreymon was trying to keep his mind grounded, but the anger was getting stronger. I can't just rush in, but these two need to pay for what they did to Tommy! The others I have to free, but Theodore and Petaldramon are more important to take down!

The Beast Warrior of Flame roared as his wings spread and he launched off the ground at Petaldramon in a charge, intent on making a head-on collision. The collar is the main reason Petaldramon is attacking, but Theodore is the one who put it on him! That brat needs to pay!

"Petaldramon! Show this dragon that you're the stronger Legendary Warrior!" Theodore demanded.

Petaldramon charged at BurningGreymon. BurningGreymon held out his claws and grabbed onto Petaldramon as he was charging, stopping the Beast Warrior of Wood in his tracks while also gripping him.

"D-do something!" Theodore shouted, starting to panic at being this close to BurningGreymon.

"Leaf Cyclone!" Petaldramon created sharp leaves that began to cut through BurningGreymon's armor.

BurningGreymon felt the leaves cutting into his armor. He could feel his rage growing, but if he lost total control, the others would be hurt! Thinking fast, and acting more on instinct, BurningGreymon swung his tail as hard as he could at Petaldramon's face.

The appendage smacked Petaldramon hard in the face, causing the Rogue Warrior to cry out in pain and stop the attack, even if briefly. That brief moment of no attacking gave BurningGreymon the chance he needed to jump back and get some distance between them.

"Is that BurningGreymon!?" Koji shouted, seeing the battle from the vines.

"I think it is!" Zoe frowned.

"Oh great, he's gonna burn us all alive, roasting us like meat!" JP cried as he struggled against the vines.

"We have to believe that he'll be able to maintain control, because he's all we've got right now!" Koichi called out to the others.

"And if he doesn't?" Koji asked.

"Let's not think about that!" Zoe called. "I'm sure Ta- BurningGreymon won't lose control!"

BurningGreymon was not getting anywhere, because if he tried to use his flames, he would hurt the others. But that only served to make his anger rise. A low growl came from the back of his throat, as he got ready to charge again.

Petaldramon attempted to use Thorn Jab on BurningGreymon, the vines came up and all began to wrap around BurningGreymon. The vines began to squeeze the dragon tightly, causing BurningGreymon to cry out in pain.

"Great job, slave! Just keep him still while I get the collar on him!" Theodore grinned, he was practically salivating at having such a powerful Legendary Warrior as part of his collection.

BurningGreymon was disgusted by the idea of being under this spoiled, rotten, murderous, good for nothing, hunk of meat pest 's control. He still remembered Tommy's cry of pain from earlier that was caused by these very vines. His anger had come to a boiling point, BurningGreymon was only seeing red. Whatever reasoning he had left had been consumed by his fiery rage.

BurningGreymon roared as loudly as he could as fire began to flicker from his body. In his attempt to escape, BurningGreymon surrounded his entire body in fire. The flames burned at the vines, causing them to retreat from around the fiery Digimon.

"What are you doing!? Hold him still again!" Theodore demanded.

Petaldramon attempted to grab BurningGreymon again with another Thorn Jab, this time using more vines. However, BurningGreymon easily burned all of those vines as well. No longer holding back, BurningGreymon let out a loud roar as his body began to be engulfed by flames.

Without thinking about it, BurningGreymon charged at Petaldramon as flames concentrated on his pointed cannons located on his lower arms, which turned to face directly ahead of him.

BurningGreymon crashed into Petaldramon, his cannons stabbing into Petaldramon's leafy body.

"I don't think BurningGreymon is in control anymore!" JP yelled, seeing how brutal BurningGreymon was being to Petaldramon now.

"He's also starting to use fire more recklessly!" Koji hissed. "Damn it! If only I had my D-Tector!"

Sparks of flames began to catch some of the vines, causing them to burn. JP looked down and started screaming.

"We better hope the vines burn before we do!" JP screamed.

More and more of the fire began to spread. The other Digimon began to panic as they saw the vines that were holding them were now starting to burn.

Tommy was seeing this happen from a bit of a distance. His eyes were wide, horrified. He knew this would happen if Takuya lost control, but to see it happening before his eyes was…traumatizing. It was like witnessing one's worst nightmares come to life before them. It was more likely the Digimon, and the others, would burn before the vines would burn enough to release them.

If I had Kumamon right now, I could freeze the vines, put the flames out, and get the others out. But I don't… Tommy frowned.

Tommy heard BurningGreymon roaring again, sounding less human and more like a beast. It was hard to imagine that rampaging dragon was Takuya now.

Theodore, knowing that he was in danger if he stayed on Petaldramon any longer, pushed a button on the side of his chair. The chair suddenly took off from Petaldramon's head, detaching from it, and transformed into Theodore's hoverboard.

"You know what? I'll watch this from a safe distance! You just knock out that fiery beast!" Theodore called out to Petaldramon before flying away from the battlefield.

Koji growled at Theodore running away. "What a coward!"

BurningGreymon saw Theodore flying away, but his attention was more on Petaldramon at this point. BurningGreymon roared again as he slammed his large wings against Petaldramon's body, the flames on his wings starting to ignite more of the leafy dragon's body.

Petaldramon let out a roar of pain, and BurningGreymon launched his claws at Petaldramon's neck. In his rage, he forgot about the collar, he just wanted to kill the other beast before him. The claws dug into the collar, breaking it apart. Petaldramon let out another yell, this time of surprise, before he jumped back from BurningGreymon.

"W-what the hell is this!?" Petaldramon shouted, confused and angry.

BurningGreymon didn't care that Petaldramon was free. He wanted to finish off the Digimon before him. He roared again, sounding more animalistic than any Digimon heard before.

"Yeah, no, I'm not dealing with this crap!" Petaldramon hissed before he dug underground almost as fast as Grumblemon.

The vines that were holding the others suddenly crumbled down before the flames could fully consume them. Though that didn't put the innocent Digimon and players in any less danger. Now they were directly in the flames.

"Hurry! Get everyone out now!" Koichi called out to the others.

The others didn't hesitate to start helping the players and Digimon get out of the area.

BurningGreymon, when he saw Petaldramon fleeing, roared in anger and slammed his tail into the ground in his rage.

"Bad news, guys, I don't think BurningGreymon is finished!" Zoe warned.

Tommy frowned. If someone doesn't stop this soon, Takuya's going to do something he can't take back. But what can I do? I couldn't stand up to those bullies, and BurningGreymon is way bigger and stronger than all of them combined! I don't have Kumamon anymore either…

BurningGreymon suddenly flew up into the air and landed near the outskirts of the town, looking around, probably trying to find the Digimon that ran away. He let out another roar, his thirst for data not yet quenched.

Tommy knew it was foolish, knew he would very easily die if he did this, knew that Takuya would never forgive himself if he hurt Tommy. But, for whatever reason, Tommy pushed down his fear as his desire to help Takuya was stronger. Tommy began running towards BurningGreymon.

BurningGreymon sensed someone coming up from behind him and turned, the flames still on his body burning brighter.

Tommy stopped when BurningGreymon turned around. "Takuya! Please, you have to stop this! You don't need to keep fighting!"

BurningGreymon growled lowly in the back of his throat, seeing a new threat instead. He crouched down, his wings flaring and making him look larger than he already was.

Tommy didn't back down. "You've got to fight it, Takuya! I know you don't want to hurt anyone! Please, you have to remember who you really are!"

"Huh? Is that Tommy over there!?" Koji yelled when he noticed BurningGreymon hadn't attacked in a while, but was growling, he had heard someone shouting and was shocked to see Tommy was standing in front of the large beast as a human.

"Is the kid crazy!? He's going to get killed!" JP shouted.

BurningGreymon felt something niggling in his mind; something about this new prey seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.

"We have to get Tommy out of there!" Zoe frantically said, and was about to rush in with Koichi held out his arm.

"Wait a minute! Let's see how this plays out first," Koichi suggested.

"Are you crazy?! You know Takuya has no control over his Beast Spirit right now!" Zoe frowned.

"And yet he hasn't attacked Tommy yet," Koichi pointed out. "If we all go over there screaming, Takuya is sure to attack. Let's see what happens before we do something we regret."

BurningGreymon got down lower to Tommy's level as he approached, looking at the boy with hostility, but also curiosity, like an animal would inspect a human.

"Takuya, you remember me, don't you?" Tommy asked.

BurningGreymon squinted his red eyes at the boy. For a moment, he wondered what this creature wanted. But as Tommy stepped closer, BurningGreymon hissed and grabbed onto the boy with one of his claws, lifting him up in the air.

"Tommy!" The others yelled.

"Wait!" Koichi spoke up. "Not yet!"

BurningGreymon didn't squeeze his prey, he was still curious, but holding the creature up gave him a sense of security seeing how his prey couldn't move.

"Takuya! Listen to me!" Tommy called out, trying not to let his fear that BurningGreymon could easily kill him now take over. "I know how you feel! The feeling of being scared, like nobody is on your side… Do you remember what happened back at the TV Forest? I was scared that all of you hated me, and so… I attacked. Do you remember that, Takuya?"

Something came rushing to BurningGreymon's mind. It was a memory. Yes… he did remember that! BurningGreymon growled lowly, but it was more of a curious growl now. Wasn't the one who attacked them a white bear Digimon? One that could use ice. He remembered that… he remembered feeling scared and guilty about that happening. He didn't want to kill the white bear for attacking them, far from it, he remembered wanting to save the white bear. Wanting to put his own life in danger to show the white bear he was sorry, and that he meant no harm.

"I only stopped attacking, because…" Tommy continued in a more quiet tone, though BurningGreymon could hear him clearly. "... you reminded me of who I was, and what I didn't want to become."

BurningGreymon hesitated. That sounded very familiar to him, but he didn't know why. But more memories started to come forward as well, memories he knew he had deep down, but didn't think of before until now. A small part of him was starting to regain control, a part that felt familiar and more… grounded.

"Please remember, Takuya… remember who you were. I know you're not just a beast, you're not just your rage, you're you… you're a Legendary Warrior, and my best friend," Tommy continued. "I couldn't have come as far as I did without you helping me. So please, let me help you…"

"Please, let me help you."

BurningGreymon remembered saying those words to the white bear too.

BurningGreymon's eyes began to glow a calm blue color. Those words… I… I remember them… I said them to Kumamon…

BurningGreymon remembered clearly now, how Kumamon was facing them. Even though he knew Kumamon was under the influence of something unnatural, he still saw all the hurt, sadness, loneliness, and anxiety in Kumamon's eyes as he looked at BurningGreymon and pointed his gun at him. BurningGreymon remembered trying to make himself small and unthreatening to Kumamon, wanting to help him, and have him realize that Kumamon wasn't a bad Digimon. BurningGreymon had hurt him before, and now…

Wait… Tommy? BurningGreymon blinked as he realized the 'creature' he had been holding was indeed Tommy.

BurningGreymon's eyes finally returned to their blue color instead of that intimidating red. What was I… I know I was fighting Petaldramon but then…

Gently, BurningGreymon set Tommy down, making sure he hadn't hurt the boy in any way.

"Takuya?" Tommy asked, a little unsure, but he wanted to believe the fact that BurningGreymon's eyes weren't glowing red, and the fact he put Tommy down gently, was a good thing.

"Are you okay?" BurningGreymon asked cautiously, not wanting to scare Tommy anymore than he probably already was.

Tommy smiled, seeing that BurningGreymon was speaking to him again. "I'm fine! I'm just glad that you're in control again."

"Unbelievable… did… What just happened?" Koji asked, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground.

"I think Tommy may have helped Takuya find a way to control his Beast Spirit." Koichi smiled.

"No way… are you sure? What if he goes on a rampage again?" JP asked.

"Does it look like he's about to go on another rampage?" Zoe asked.

BurningGreymon wasn't sure if he would go on another rampage, he had been in control of his Beast Spirit for a limited time before, but… this felt different. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but he didn't feel like his mind was about to be clouded by an unexplained rage or the desire to fight and burn everything. For the first time since he was in his Beast Form, Takuya felt his head was as clear as crystal. However, not wanting to risk it, Takuya called forth the fractal code, turning him back to his human form. Luckily for him, everyone other than the original group were left in the town, except for maybe a few who were still in their buildings that were left untouched by the battle.

"Thanks, Tommy…" Takuya said, rubbing the back of his head. "I… I knew I would possibly lose control but.. I had no choice. I couldn't let that Theodore kid hurt you."

Tommy blushed a little. "It was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing," Takuya spoke up, frowning. "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen. You could've died if I hadn't regained control."

"I know… but I owed you one anyway," Tommy replied. "And… I couldn't just run away, even though I didn't have Kumamon… I still felt like I had to do something . You needed me."

Takuya blinked at hearing Tommy saying that. Not that long ago, Takuya found Tommy alone in the Digital World, being chased by a player, and was malnourished. And now Tommy was the one coming to his rescue.

Takuya chuckled. "You've come a long way since I first found you. I thought for sure you would be running, but nope. You came back and had to save me this time."

"Maybe I've been hanging around you too much," Tommy chuckled back.

Takuya chuckled again before he looked at Koji and the others, and then at the places he burned. The flames had gone out rather quickly when Takuya regained control, he wondered if BurningGreymon was able to control his own flames. But even so, Takuya couldn't help but feel guilty at the amount of damage he did.

"Hey… good to have you back, pyro head," Koji said as he and the others walked over to them.

"Yeah… Sorry about that." Takuya apologized. "I just… I didn't know what else to do when Tommy was in trouble." Geez… I really made a mess of this place…

"I'd probably do the same thing if it was Koji, even knowing I wouldn't have control over my Beast Spirit," Koichi admitted.

"Hey, buildings can be fixed," JP spoke up. "At least you didn't actually kill anyone. And you got rid of that Theodore kid, and freed Petaldramon from his control."

"Petaldramon! Where'd he go?" Takuya gasped as he just remembered he had been fighting that Digimon.

"He ran away when you freed him," Zoe answered. "He sounded very confused, and probably scared of you, that's why he fled."

"Anyone would be scared of a big, burning dragon." JP grinned.

"Wait… Where's Theodore?" Takuya asked, remembering the chubby boy as well.

"Last we saw, he fled from the battlefield when you began tearing into Petaldramon," Koji answered. "He was too much of a coward to see the battle through when things started to not go his way."

"And Petaldramon couldn't possibly fight you while under that little menace's control, he didn't have a mind to think for himself without Theodore's commands," Koichi added.

"Unlike Tommy, I've never seen a kid just going straight up to an out of control dragon like you did," JP said to Tommy.

Tommy blushed more. "I only did it to try to save Takuya… I wouldn't just go running up to any angry fire dragon."

Takuya put a hand on Tommy's head, messing up his hair. "Well, you're the first one to do so, so don't be ashamed of it!"

Tommy laughed as Takuya messed up his hair.

"There you are!"

Everyone turned to see who spoke up, and Tommy was surprised to see Datamon, holding his very much in-tact D-Tector.

"Oh, it's you!" Tommy realized.

"Wait, Tommy, was this the Digimon who took apart your D-Tector?" Koichi asked.

"What?" Koji, Zoe, and JP blinked as that was news to them.

"Yeah, he said he was adding something that was missing," Tommy replied sheepishly.

"Sorry that took so long, but I finally finished," Datamon said. "And look, your D-Tector is as good as new, see?"

Datamon held the D-Tector to Tommy. Tommy reached out and picked up his D-Tector, relieved to see that it wasn't broken. He saw Kumamon's familiar symbol appearing on the screen.

"Why did you give Datamon your D-Tector in the first place? He could've easily made off with it," Koji questioned.

"I was asking him if he knew where the other D-Tectors were, and he wanted to check it out," Tommy answered.

"That was still reckless." Koji grumbled.

Datamon chuckled. "Well, I meant the device no harm. And the Spirit inside seems happy to be back with its chosen holder. I will admit, I did want to examine the D-Tector to know if the Spirits truly wanted to be with you or not."

"Huh? You act like you knew about the Spirits in the D-Tectors, but I never told you about that," Tommy pointed out.

"There's a reason for that," Datamon chuckled. "Why don't you all come to my shop? I believe I may have what you're looking for."

The six kids followed Datamon back to his shop.

"Sorry about the mess. I rarely get shoppers coming by here." Datamon apologized as the group entered.

"It would probably help to not have your shop hidden in an alleyway," Koji bluntly stated.

"Koji! Don't be rude!" Zoe hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.

"What? It's the truth," Koji grumbled.

Koichi gave a nervous chuckle. "You'll have to forgive my brother… He's not the type to say something politely."

"Hey!" Koji snapped back. "I can be polite if I want to!"

"Then don't be so rude." Koichi scolded his brother.

Koji folded his arms in a huff, looking away from his twin brother.

"I understand what he means. Making a shop in a back alley isn't the best way to get foot traffic," Datamon chuckled. "Although I had my reasons."

"What were those reasons?" Zoe asked as Datamon moved to the back of his counter.

"You see, I used to be a researcher of history in the Digital World," Datamon answered. "In fact, I found an artifact that was sealed away in an arcade. I had been trying for years to break the seal, but I was never able to, until recently. You can thank your young friend for that."

"You mean Tommy?" JP blinked.

"I only had to beat the final boss in the game to get the top score," Tommy blushed. "It wasn't that hard…"

"It's a bigger deal than you think, kid," Datamon chuckled as he opened a safe on the wall. "Not just anyone could beat the game after all. And anyways… I believe these belong to you?"

Datamon put 4 colorful, and familiar, items on the counter for all to see.

"Hey! Our D-Tectors!" JP exclaimed. "You had them?!"

"Grumblemon and Ranamon came in here and dumped these on my counter," Datamon began.

"I've had just about enough of these annoying things!" Ranamon growled angrily as she slammed the 4 colorful devices on Datamon's counter. "You! We heard you're the best mechanic in this town, is that true?"

"Why yes I am, how can I help the Legendary Warriors of Water and Earth?" Datamon politely asked.

"These little human devices are keeping our fellow Legendary Warriors trapped in here, ya hear? The humans made these wretched devices to keep our poor fellow Legendary Warriors trapped, so they can harness their powers. How unforgivable!" Ranamon grumbled before she gave Datamon a friendly smile. "You understand how dangerous it is for humans to use the powers of Legendary Warriors, don't ya? Grumblemon and I, try as we might, just can't break these things no matter how hard we try. So we were hoping you could use your expertise to take these accursed things apart and free the spirits of the Legendary Warriors."

Datamon looked at the 4 devices. "You say these little things are keeping 4 Spirits of the Legendary Warriors trapped?"

"Yes." Grumblemon replied. "We need Spirits freed. Spirits contained inside and in trouble. We want you free Spirits trapped. Ranamon and me try, but no use."

Datamon frowned. "I see." He said, looking one of the devices over. The device in question was the white and dark blue one. Datamon poked it, only for a symbol to appear on the screen, the symbol for Light.

"Hmm… And you're sure the Spirits want to be free from these devices?" Datamon asked.

"Of course! Why wouldn't they?" Ranamon asked. " I'd be horrified, and disgusted, if I was being used by a human player for their own selfish purposes."

"You know how dangerous players are, Datamon, and how they enslave Digimon. Why this should be any different?" Grumblemon questioned.

Datamon looked at the screen with the symbol for a moment. "Tell you what, why don't the two of you head back to your homes and relax for a bit? It's going to take me some time to figure out how to get these Spirits out of these devices safely. After all, if I try to rush it, I could really hurt the Spirits, and none of us want that, right?"

"Very well." Ranamon grumbled. "It's not like we have anything better to do."

"Me not like, what if those kids find the devices here?" Grumblemon asked.

"Please, how would those kids find us all the way out here without their precious devices?" Ranamon asked. "Besides, we're far, far away from them, there's no way they'll find the devices now."

"Me still not like… but agree with Ranamon." Grumblemon muttered.

"C;mon, rock for brains." Ranamon said, waving for Grumblemon to follow her.

As the two Warriors left, Datamon turned his attention back to the devices on his counter. "Now what to do with you?"

The four devices seemed to have symbols appear on their screens in response to Datamon's question.

"These Legendary Warriors are showing themselves to me… I get the distinct feeling they aren't happy about this situation," Datamon mumbled to himself. "But their voices are weak… like they're too far away. Perhaps I should put them away for now until I can decide whether or not I should free them from their devices…"

"So Grumblemon and Ranamon gave our D-Tectors to you so you could free the Spirits inside them?" Zoe asked after hearing Datamon's story.

"Yes," Datamon answered. "But I knew something wasn't quite right when the Spirits began to show themselves on the screens. So I decided to wait."

"What about Grumblemon and Ranamon? Wouldn't you get in trouble when they come back for the Spirits?" Takuya asked in concern.

"It'll be alright. They come back and see the town like this, they'll come to the conclusion that the town was attacked by players, and stole those D-Tectors away," Datamon replied. "I get the feeling they're not very intelligent."

Koichi gave a chuckle. "Sounds about right."

Takuya grinned. "That Grumblemon is definitely slow on the uptake for things."

"But that aside, I believe these are yours." Datamon said as he gestured for them to take the D-Tectors.

"Thank you, we really appreciate you keeping these safe for us." Zoe smiled.

"It feels good to have our Spirits back," JP grinned, looking at his D-Tector.

"Is that why you wanted to check mine?" Tommy asked Datamon. "To make sure I was telling the truth?"

"Yeah, that's part of the reason," Datamon answered. "The other Spirits couldn't tell me much because the ones they've bonded with were too far away. But with you right there, it was easy for the Spirit of Ice to let me know the situation. I'm glad I trusted my intuition and didn't go through with trying to get the Spirits out of the D-Tectors."

"Just to be sure… the Spirits that are in our D-Tectors, they aren't actually trapped, are they?" Tommy questioned in concern.

Datamon chuckled. "No, they're not. They've chosen to go into the D-Tectors by their own will. The Spirits must've seen something in each of you that made them decide to give you their powers and essence. If they didn't, they never would have willingly gone into your D-Tectors in the first place."

"I'm just glad to have my Spirits back." Zoe said. "Now I feel complete again!"

"Same here." Koichi said with relief.

Datamon looked at Tommy. "It seems the Spirit of Kumamon was right to choose you as its holder. I mean, you actually faced down a fiery dragon without your Spirit. If that doesn't say anything, I don't know what will."

"Y-you saw that?" Tommy blushed.

"Of course. It was pretty hard not to see what was going on out there," Datamon chuckled. "I wanted to give you back your D-Tector so you could use it for battle, but it looks like you were able to handle it on your own."

"Yeah, I mean who else would've willingly run up to an angry fire breathing dragon like you did?" JP teased.

Tommy wished he had his hat right now to hide his face a bit. Takuya himself felt pretty embarrassed because he was the dragon. He supposed, however, now he knew how Danny and Andy felt after they went on their draconic rampage with the dragon amulet.

"Guys, can you please stop teasing Tommy?" Zoe frowned. "Yes, what he did was impressive, but I think the poor boy's heard enough about it."

"What can I say?" Koji grinned. "He tamed the dragon~"

Takuya blushed beet red now. "H-hey! That's not funny!"

"I think it is." Koji teased back.

"Koji, need I remind you of the 'big bad wolf' incident when you got your Beast Spirit?" Zoe pointed out.

"You promised you would never use that name for it ever again!" Koji hissed.

"Wish I could've seen that," Koichi grinned.

"This I have got to hear when we have time." Takuya chuckled.

"Oh, it's pretty good." JP grinned back.

"Don't you dare!" Koji snapped.

"Hey guys? We should probably get back to Seraphimon's castle now that we've got our D-Tectors back," Zoe spoke up before another argument could commence. "We also don't want to be here in case Ranamon and Grumblemon decide to come back."

"Yeah, we should. We need to see if Takuya's truly able to use his Beast Spirit without losing it now," Koichi added.

"The Trailmon should still be there, so we can take him back to the castle," Koji said.

"What about the town? Shouldn't we help fix it?" Takuya asked, feeling a bit guilty about leaving the town like this.

"It's no big deal," Datamon reassured. "Fights break out all the time in the Autumn Leaf Fair. It's nothing we can't fix."

Takuya sighed. "I guess that makes sense…" He conceded.

"Let's go, guys." Koichi said. "Besides, I think we all need a break after this adventure."

Koji, Koichi, Zoe, JP, and Takuya began leaving the trading post. Tommy started walking too, but stopped for a moment and turned to Datamon.

"Hey, Datamon?" Tommy spoke up. "That artifact in the arcade… what did you do with it?"

Datamon chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about that. Let's just say it's right where it belongs now."

Tommy blinked.

"Hey Tommy! Are you coming?" Takuya called at the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Tommy called back before he looked at Datamon again. "Well, I'm glad that the artifact is where it belongs then, wherever that is. And thanks again for giving our D-Tectors back."

Datamon smiled. "No problem."

"Tommy! Let's go!" Takuya called back.

Tommy gave a wave to Datamon before he hurried over to the others, walking out of the building.

"I think that artifact will come in handy for you someday down the road," Datamon whispered to himself as the children left.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: That was kinda a big thing coming for a while. XD

Son Sandy: DarkFoxKit: Thanks, it's just been difficult to tell how are people enjoying the story if they never say anything.

We decided Maddie and Jack should have their own Digimon companions as well, though admittedly their Digimon's backstory was a lot deeper than we intended it being, especially Wormmon's.

Patamon finally realizes that he has a bond with Danny, and can't break it easily. Hopefully the two of them can find a way to stop this prophecy. Though he doesn't tell Danny about being a Celestial Digimon because he doesn't want Danny to freak out about that, that would put a lot of pressure on the child's shoulders.

Andy has been growing a lot, hasn't he? At least this time he and Danny got along after Danny's accident instead of Danny holding off on telling Andy, and making Andy go crazy.

ZAFT: Andy and Valerie are cute together, aren't they~ XD And as for embarrassing Danny, yeah, the boi is too easy to make blush at times. XD

pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: You will see who sent the shadow soon enough. And I think you meant 'Danny', not 'Jenny'... ^^' And true, that was changed. But poor Danny still has an embarrassing ghost name for now. XD

Glad you noticed Patamon's ghostly form! We were hoping someone would notice it and comment! XD And as for what happens with Johnny, you will see~ X3

DarkFoxKit: 'Daddy'? … You meant 'Danny', right? Unless you're calling 'Danny' your 'Daddy'. And anyways, Danny is still attracted to Paulina. And yeah, a lot of things are happening with Takuya's side of things as well. And… I don't have any plans for DNA digivolutions. I find that whole thing convoluted. Well, except for maybe one or two.

ZAFT: As a quick tip, please proofread your reviews too next time, okay? We like having them, but they need to make more sense… ^^'