Author's Note:

Hey, guys! I know it's been a while. So last month I went on a vacation to Disney World and also I've been dealing with two horrible bouts of the cold back to back, so that took a lot out of me. It took me nearly a month to get rid of the nagging cough and now that I'm pretty much back to normal, I figured that it's high time that I got the ball rolling. So in this installment Rhonda and her team head out to Italy to track down one of the Dimensional Stones and they also meet some new friends and enemies. And we're also continuing the arc of Jeannie Theresa Donovan working as Maleficent's new apprentice as she soon becomes torn with having to carry out Maleficent's orders and wanting to reunite with her family.

Enjoy!

Team Legacy Original Saga Episode III: The Italian Job

Written by: MissPhoenixGirl92

Chapter 1

DECEMBER 2001

THE BUCHANAN RESIDENCE

CHELSEA, LONDON, ENGLAND

It has now been two months since Rhonda's last adventure and Rhonda had just recently celebrated her 10th birthday. For this very special occasion, Rhonda's parents had arranged for her to receive her very own Charmander with the assistance of Esther Shirvani and Professor Oak of the Kanto region. Rhonda was very ecstatic and thrilled upon receiving her long awaited gift and eagerly named her new companion Blaze. Since that very day, Rhonda and Blaze were practically inseparable.

It was still very early in the morning as Rhonda's alarm clock rang loudly and a young male announcer spoke up.

"Up next, we have Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go!"

Moments later, the song began to play in earnest as Rhonda quickly rolled out of bed and began to dance and prance around enthusiastically with an excited grin. Blaze also awoke from his sleep with bleary eyes and began to shake his tail to and fro while bobbing his head rhythmically to the beat of the music.

"Rhonda, hurry up! You're going to miss the school bus!" Abigail barked irascibly as she popped her head briefly into the doorway.

"I'll be right down, Abby!" Rhonda hollered as she hopped to the ground and headed over to the closet.

"No time to dilly-dally, Blaze; we better get ready for school," she ordered.

"Charmander," Blaze nodded as he also vaulted off the bed and trailed after Rhonda as she started rummaging into the closet to get some clothes to wear.

A little over an hour later, Rhonda and her friends arrived at their school while dressed and bundled up in warm winter clothes. Rhonda was wearing a dark blue coat with a pair of black trousers, a pair of dark blue gloves, a dark blue scarf, a pair of dark blue earmuffs, and a pair of dark black winter boots while Katie wore a dark green coat with a pair of black trousers, a pair of dark green gloves, a dark green scarf, a pair of dark green earmuffs, and a pair of dark black winter boots. Jasmine, Luthor, Shirley and Yuki also wore similar outfits, except that Luthor's was black, Jasmine's was purple; Shirley's was white and Yuki's was grey.

"Burr! It's really cold out!" Rhonda shivered with a grimace while folding her arms close to her chest. "I hate snowy days!"

"You said it, shorty! Meow!" Taokaka concurred as she was curled up comfortably on Rhonda's shoulders.

Blaze also shivered furiously as the ember on his tail began to fade a bit.

"Rhonda, maybe you should have Blaze rest in his Poke Ball for a little while? He must be freezing," Katie suggested gently.

"Yeah, you're right, Katie," Rhonda nodded in agreement as she dug into her pocket and took out a Poke Ball before aiming it at Blaze.

"Blaze, return," she commanded as a large flash of red light materialized out of the Poke Ball and enveloped Blaze as Blaze immediately disappeared back into the ball.

Then just as Rhonda slipped the Poke Ball back into her pocket, she heard a male voice addressing her.

"Hello there, gorgeous."

Rhonda and her friends then turned around to see a young Caucasian boy with pale white skin, short, thick and scruffy dark black hair, a tall, lanky and stocky build and dark blue-grey eyes. He also wore dark thick-rimmed glasses and was also dressed in a heavy black coat with a large black fur hat, a pair of black trousers and a pair of dark black winter boots.

"What the hell are you doing here, Xavier? Bugger off!" Rhonda snarled with narrowed eyes.

"Such harsh, vicious words coming from such a pretty little face," Xavier smirked as he sauntered over to Rhonda and leered at her, reaching over to caress her on the face.

"Get away from her, you ugly creep," Katie growled irascibly as Rhonda quickly recoiled away from Xavier with a disgusted and repulsed look on her face.

"I wasn't talking to you, you filthy Jew," Xavier retorted with a condescending sneer as he glared at her evilly.

Luthor then balled up his fist tightly with a scowl as he was about to lunge at Xavier but Shirley quickly stopped him with a shake of her head.

"It's not worth it, Luthor," she whispered softly.

"What on earth are you doing wasting your time with those losers, Xavier? Come on; we're going to be late for class!" Jen hollered loudly as she marched over to Xavier and shot a withering glare at the others. "Seriously; are you really going to spend the whole morning wasting your breath on them?"

"Why don't you kindly piss off, Jen? Just leave, why don't you?" Xavier snapped, glowering at Jen.

"She's way out of your league, Xavier! Why can't you see that?" Jen snarled at him. "I will never understand why you're so obsessed with her anyway! She's just a stupid, worthless little retard!"

"Get inside, everyone," Ms. Caldwell announced as she stepped out into the hallway with a stern expression. "Class is about to start."

She then turned around to shoot a withering, cold glare at Jen. "And I'm going to pretend that I did not hear that remark come out of your mouth, Miss Deson."

Jen then scoffed contemptuously with an eye roll as she and the other kids filed into the classroom and headed inside.

TLSTLSTLSTLS

Meanwhile, back at Hollow Bastion, Jeannie was in the forest standing at the edge of a lake while staring at it with a sullen and dour look on her face. She then picked up a small pebble and flung it into the water as she watched it skip across the surface, leaving ripples behind.

"Hey, you okay?" a male voice asked and Jeannie turned around to see Riku approaching her.

"Yeah," Jeannie shrugged as she turned her attention back to the lake. "I miss my family."

"I know," Riku replied sympathetically as he walked over to her and stood next to her, his expression indecipherable. "But you understand how important this is, right? By doing whatever Maleficent tells you to, you're keeping your family out of harm's way."

"Yeah," Jeannie sighed dejectedly, still staring at the lake. "Especially my brothers and sisters."

"Don't worry, Jeannie; when this is all over, you'll get to go back home and live out your normal life," Riku reassured her calmly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "It will be like none of this has ever happened."

"I sure hope so, Riku," Jeannie mumbled as she picked up another rock and threw it at the lake, watching it skid across the water before disappearing altogether.

Just then the two heard a sharp, piercing cry echoing in the sky as they both looked up to see Diablo circling the air frantically before heading back in the direction of the castle with another prompt cry.

"That's our cue; let's go," Riku urged her as Jeannie nodded and the two raced into the castle.

A short time later, Jeannie and Riku arrived back in Hollow Bastion as they soon came face to face with Maleficent and a young Japanese girl about their age with short and spiky red hair and bright, shimmering golden yellow eyes. She was also wearing an orange tank top with a pair of blue shorts and a pair of white sneakers.

"Riku, Jeannie; I'd like you to meet Akiho Saito. She will be joining us today as your fellow apprentice," Maleficent announced.

"Charmed," Akiho greeted them with a coy, demure smile as she glanced over at Maleficent. "I'm looking forward to working with them, Madame."

"Excellent, because today we are going on an exciting excursion to Italy to ascertain the whereabouts of one of the Dimensional Stones," Maleficent explained. "We will also be joined by a mutual contact of mine in town so if I were you, I'd be on my best behavior."

"Yes, ma'am," Riku bowed respectfully as did Jeannie and Akiho.

"So do you have any idea which one of the Dimensional Stones is in Italy?" Jeannie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We'll soon find out for ourselves, won't we, darling?" Maleficent smirked evilly while caressing her scepter gingerly as she soon glanced over to see Diablo alighting on her right shoulder.

"Time for us to go on yet another exciting adventure, my pet," she said as she led everyone out of the room.

TLSTLSTLSTLS

Meanwhile, in the IDA conference room, Rhonda and her friends were undergoing an important debriefing from Esther Shirvani.

"Earlier today we have gotten word of a possible sighting of one of the Dimensional Stones somewhere in one of the small coastal towns in Italy. The preliminary intel that we have received thus far seems to indicate that it may possibly be the Shadow Stone based on the satellite readings, but we can't possibly know for sure until we track down its whereabouts. I need you to fly over to Italy and retrieve the stone."

"Yes, ma'am," Yuki nodded.

"Now, as you already know, those wristwatch devices that you're wearing will send out an energy signal that will allow the portal network system to open up a portal that will lead you back home," Esther continued as she showed the kids one of the cyan wristwatch devices, which looked like a digital compass with a number pad on the bottom of the small rectangular digital screen. "All you have to do is put in the code and push the enter button on the number pad."

"Got it," Shirley replied with an affirmative nod.

"So this wristwatch thing is called a Wayfinder, right?" Rhonda inquired curiously while holding up the wristwatch device in her hand.

"Correct," Esther nodded. "Now I will also be tying up some loose ends before you kids head off on your mission. First off, I will be deciding which Digimon partner will be accompanying you for your entire journey. Rhonda, you will be accompanied by Agumon while Jasmine, you will be accompanied by Veemon."

"Luthor, you will be going with Gabumon, and Katie, you will also be going with Gatomon. Shirley, you will be heading off with Tentomon and Yuki, you will also be heading off with Biyomon. And before I forget… we will be having some more people joining us today."

She then turned around to see a group of children entering the room as they all filed together in a single line and approached her. Rhonda immediately recognized one of the boys as Jeannie's older brother Andrew, who was now about 15-years-old.

Besides Andrew, there were four girls and two boys, with one of them a little blonde girl with blue eyes while the other one was an older teen girl with dark black hair and bright blue eyes. The other two girls were identical twins with red hair and freckles, except that one of them had her hair tied in a ponytail.

One of the other boys had light Caucasian skin with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes while the other boy had dark brown skin with short, dark black hair and dark brown eyes.

"Everyone, meet your new teammates," Agent Forsythe announced as he walked over to the group and gestured over to the blonde girl.

"First off, we have Maxie Jones."

He then gestured over to the dark haired teenage girl and the redheaded twins. "And we also have Maxie's cousin B.J. Jones and the redheaded twins here are Mariah and Cassie Newman."

Agent Forsythe also beckoned over to the Caucasian brown-haired boy and the African American boy. "And this is also Lucas Jones and Tommy Hardy."

"What's up, yo?" Tommy Hardy grinned excitedly while making a peace sign.

"And this here is Andrew Donovan, Shane Donovan and Kimberly Brady's son," Agent Forsythe added, gesturing for Andrew to come join him as he waved to the group. "He has personally volunteered to accompany us in the search for his missing sister."

"Hey, Rhonda; long time no see," Andrew smiled at Rhonda.

"Do your parents even know that you're here, Andrew?" Rhonda gawked at him in astonishment and disbelief.

"Yeah; they couldn't exactly stop me from coming here. And I wasn't going to sit around and do nothing either," Andrew answered with a shrug as his face was set with pure determination and resolve. "I'm going to do everything that I possibly can to find Jeannie and bring her home."

"Well, in that case…" Agent Forsythe sighed as he then turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Andrew, you will be paired up with Guilmon. Tommy, you will be paired up with Armadillomon. Lucas, you will be paired up with Palmon. Mariah, you will be paired up with Terriermon and Cassie… you will also be paired up with Lopmon. And Maxie, you will also be paired up with Hawkmon and B.J., you will also be paired up with Patamon."

As he said this, Guilmon, Armadillomon, Palmon, Terriermon, Lopmon, Hawkmon and Patamon all showed up as they headed over to join their new respective human partners.

"All right then; now with everything settled, is everyone ready?" Esther Shirvani announced.

"Yes, ma'am," Agent Forsythe saluted at her.

"Agent Forsythe, I am placing you in charge of all the young ones here. I trust that you will do everything in your power to keep them safe," Esther Shirvani informed him crisply.

"I will, ma'am," Agent Forsythe nodded.

He then let out a loud whistle and beckoned for everyone to follow him.

"Onward march! Let's head into the portal in an orderly fashion, everyone!"

Just then there was a loud whirling sound as the portal started to rotate and spin wildly with a bright blue glow. Agent Forsythe then quickly rushed towards the portal and leaped into it as he was completely sucked in. Rhonda and the others then followed him as they also jumped into the portal one by one before disappearing inside.

It wasn't long before the heroes were flying through a long, winding tunnel of shimmering blue light as they felt the entire world spinning and moving all around them. Rhonda herself couldn't help but feel panicked and overwhelmed with fear and terror as she was rolling and tumbling uncontrollably in the air.

"I can't stop spinning!" she shrieked shrilly.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Yuki groaned.

"Hang on!" Luthor yelled.

"YEOW!" Taokaka shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"I don't like this!" Veemon wailed.

"I don't want to fall!" Katie wailed, flailing her arms wildly.

Everyone then let out a loud, deafening scream as they continued to fly and hurtle through the tunnel of light for several more minutes before they were hit with a sudden flash of a bright white light and everything went black.