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.

32. Hunt for a Digi-Ghost!

ZAFT: Wacky spring weather hit here. Snow today during my work day… ^^'

DarkFoxKit: Really? It's been really clear here.

Andy: Too clear. I'd like some snow.

Takuya: Why do you want snow again? It makes everything so inconvenient, not to mention it's cold!

Andy: We rarely get to see snow. And I like the cold, it's better than being hot and sweaty all the time.

Takuya: *Gasp* How could a fellow fire user say such things?

Andy: Hello? I can't use fire in this universe, and even if I was, why would I want to make things even hotter for myself if I was able to use fire?

ZAFT: *Shoves tape on Takuya's mouth* No spoilers! On to the chapter, peeps!

---

(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)

Digital Phantom!

(Shows several forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Takuya Kanbara, Andy Fenton and Lopmon, and Jazz Fenton)

Falling into destiny

(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky and cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)

Reaching across new boundaries

(Andy Fenton appears with Jazz beside him. Takuya Kanbara appears behind him as well, the form of Agunimon appearing behind Takuya himself)

Let our stories come together

(Andy is shown with the form of Phantom beside him, his twin brother Danny Fenton behind the ghost boy)

Growing stronger

(Andy looks on at Phantom fighting before running to help the ghost boy by taking out his Fenton Rod)

Our pasts intertwine

(Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)

Showing our future

(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire as Plasmius fires off ecto-rays at him, only for a glowing orange orb to appear around Agunimon and deflect the beams)

As we evolve

(The blasts speed past the screen as Tucker is shown with a Fenton Wrist ray being fired at a ghost, a shadowed form behind him)

Let's go… EVOLUTION

(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost, a shadowed form behind her)

As our worlds collide

(Jazz is shown beside Andy, the form of Lopmon behind Andy while a shadowed form is behind Jazz)

We stand as one

(Jack and Maddie Fenton are shown, with the Fenton Works logo behind them as it glows green)

Growing strong

(An armored draconic form is shown with blue eyes and wings before fire flares from it, covering the form's visage in flames)

As we move along

(Danny is shown walking down the street with those closest to him appearing one by one; Andy and Lopmon, Tucker, Sam, Takuya, and Jazz.)

CHOU… SHINKA!

(Fractal code is shown before it dissipates to reveal Agunimon lunging out of the dissipating data, fire around his left fist)

Let's go… EVOLUTION!

(The group is shown facing down Plasmius, who looms above them with hands outstretched as a dark form appears behind Plasmius himself.)

Nothing will stand in our way!

(Andy, Lopmon, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and Takuya all appear with ribbons of fractal code streaming out from behind them, a swirling green orb behind the ribbons of fractal code.)

Digital Phantom!

---

Chapter 32: The Hunt for a Digi-Ghost

Andy woke up, seeing there was a small bit of light on the horizon of the sky. It was dawn, and morning was approaching. Andy sat up, waking up Lopmon.

"Hmm?" Lopmon rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry, Lopmon, did I wake you?" Andy whispered, seeing that everyone else was asleep, except for Valerie and Salamon.

"No, it's… Okay, maybe yes…" Lopmon yawned. "What's gotten you up so early?"

"I'm not sure… just woke up… couldn't get back to sleep," Andy answered. "You can go back to sleep though, Lopmon."

Lopmon shook his head. "If you're awake, I'm awake."

"Okay, if that's what you want," Andy chuckled before he slowly got up. His foot didn't hurt as much as yesterday, but it still hurt a little.

Andy walked slowly over to Valerie and Salamon. Lopmon followed after Andy.

"Andy?" Valerie blinked when Andy sat down nearby. "You're up early. Can't sleep?"

"I guess you can say that," Andy chuckled.

"So, what's on your mind?" Valerie asked. "I mean, that could be the only reason you woke up, right?"

"A lot has happened yesterday," Andy sighed. "But… you never fully explained why you're here. You just said you met with Salamon, and met with someone who was a Legendary Warrior. But why would you come back? How did you get a D-Arc?"

"A D what?" Valerie blinked.

"That… device that Takuya saw you use to open a gate into the Digital World," Andy clarified.

"You've been calling it a D-Arc? Not even I know the name of it," Valerie remarked.

"Well… since Takuya had a D-Tector, we thought we'd call the device something with a 'D' in it since it seems similar," Andy shrugged. "But… are you going to answer the question?"

Valerie sighed. "There's not much to say. The dev- the D-Arc just kinda appeared in my room with a message asking for help, and to point it at my computer screen."

"I will admit, I was the one who sent the D-Arc to Valerie with the message," Salamon admitted. "I needed someone's help, and while Valerie was going through some rough times, the D-Arc appeared before me. I put the message in and sent it out in hopes of finding whoever the D-Arc belonged to."

"And that someone just happened to be me." Valerie finished. "Odd I know, but it happened that way."

Something similar happened with me. Kokomon found the D-Arc when I was worried about Takuya, and the D-Arc opened the portal from the otherside. Andy noted. I wonder what causes these D-Arcs to appear? Does it have to do with both sides wanting to see each other, or is there more to it than that?

"Other than opening the gates between this world and our world, and scanning data, I'm not sure what these D-Arcs are for," Valerie said. "They don't seem to hold any Legendary Warrior spirits like the D-Tectors do."

My D-Arc started to glow when Lopmon was digivolving. Maybe it has some sort of link between us and our partners? Andy wondered. But why doesn't Sam or Tucker have one themselves? Or any of the other players? Why just me and Valerie?

"And you've been coming back here since?" Andy asked.

"Salamon needed my help, I couldn't just ignore her," Valerie replied.

"But what about your life in our world? Your dad? And school? As well as your apparently ghost fighting career. How are you handling all of that?" Andy questioned.

Valerie looked down. "To be honest, I'm not sure, but… Aw geez… I've probably got a worse attendance record now that I've been coming here more lately…" She admitted at last. "I have a watch that beeps whenever it starts getting late in my world so my dad wouldn't worry. But… Well, since there's such a drastic time difference between here and our world, it's easy to lose track of time in my world. Before I knew it, the school day was already over when I thought I was just staying here for the morning before school starts."

"Why do you feel like you need to come here? I mean… why does Salamon need your help?" Andy asked.

"I apologize. I don't keep track of what Valerie does in her world," Salamon sighed. "But the reason why I call her is because she is my partner, and I need her to help me save the Digital World. The Legendary Warriors can only do so much on their own. The players will inadvertently throw the Digital World into chaos. They already did when they took out Cherubimon."

"I've been fighting alongside Salamon to push back the players that are trying to get into Ophanimon's castle, though I've never met this Ophanimon myself. They say she's currently in hiding right now," Valerie sighed. "Though I wish she would fight her own battles instead of sending others to battle for her."

Salamon winced a little.

"I'm sure she would if she could," Lopmon spoke up. "But according to the school, Cherubimon was the strongest warrior of the Celestial Digimon. The fact that he got taken down shows that Ophanimon and Seraphimon could get taken down shortly after. So I can't blame them for going into hiding."

Valerie sighed. "I guess that makes sense. After all, if the other two Celestial Digimon are in hiding, then finding them is much harder for the players."

"And it ensures the Digital World still has two of its leaders." Salamon added.

"But how could the Celestial Digimon hide themselves? Don't they have these really strong and commanding aura around them that the Digimon can sense or something?" Valerie asked.

"The Celestial Digimon likely had to find a way to get rid of that aura of power," Salamon said. "It may even have been something drastic for all we know."

Valerie sighed again. "Geez, these players really put the Celestial Digimon into a bad spot, didn't they?"

"It's kinda scary to be honest…" Lopmon admitted softly, feeling bad for the Celestial Digimon.

"Well, don't worry, that's another reason we're here," Andy said. "We want to try to help the Digital World, and get the players to realize this isn't just a video game world they're in. But we need to take care of Technus first, or there won't be much of a Digital World left to save."

Valerie nodded at Andy's words. "That's right. Defeating this Technus is our first priority. No ghost is going to ruin the Digital World if we can help it."

"Yeah, we'll have to move quickly once everyone wakes up. It shouldn't be too hard to find Technus if he's causing chaos. But if he's laying low, we're going to need another way to find him," Andy remarked.

"If he is laying low… what would we do?" Valerie asked.

"We'll have to find a way to lure him out of hiding," Andy answered.

"Wow, you two make a pretty good team," Lopmon noted.

Andy and Valerie both blushed at Lopmon's words.

"Um… Thanks?" Valerie said, not sure why she was blushing at the praise.

"Lopmon tends to be pretty blunt about things," Andy sighed.

"What? I just say it how I see it," Lopmon chuckled.

"A good team is what we need right now," Salamon agreed.

---

"Are you sure you want to stick around here, Shamanmon?" Flamemon asked as the group was getting ready to leave.

"Yes. In time, the town will be rebuilt, and will be better than ever," Shamanmon answered. "But someone has to start the process."

Flamemon nodded. "Okay, just… don't push yourself, okay?" He wasn't sure if this was a good idea, leaving Shamanmon alone when he was in such a bad state, but it couldn't be helped.

"Will you be okay on your own?" Valerie asked Shamanmon.

"Yes, Digimon heal faster than humans. Don't worry about me," Shamanmon assured.

"We better get going. The longer we stay here, the more chaos Technus could be causing to this world," Patamon spoke up.

"A helpful tip before you go," Shamanmon spoke up, pointing his club at the group. "Beware of your futures, but do not fear them. There is always a chance to change your future if you do not like them."

Shamanmon moved back his club. "I would suggest heading to Breezy Village, you may find an ally there."

Danny nodded. "Sounds good. We'll be back to check up on you if we get the chance as well. You were very helpful to us." He said, although he wasn't so sure how helpful his dark and grim future seemed to be.

"I wish you the best of luck," Shamanmonn chuckled.

"Hey, Andy, how's your foot? Are you able to walk?" Sam asked.

"Yeah… it still hurts a little, but I can walk on it," Andy answered. "Being made of data probably helps heal it faster."

"I'd say this would be a lot faster if I could use my hoverboard," Valerie said. "But my hoverboard can't fit all of you on it."

Valerie looked at Biyomon and Patamon. "Can't those two flying Digimon digivolve? They might be big enough to carry the rest of you."

Biyomon sighed. "Sadly, I only just digivolved yesterday, so no, I can't become my Champion form yet." She admitted.

"I can't reach my Champion form yet either." Patamon replied. It takes time to digivolve from Rookie to Champion… but it would be nice to be able to reach my next form soon.

"Normally it would take time for a Rookie Digimon to digivolve into their Champion forms," Salamon explained. "But a human partner can speed up the process."

"Really? So goth girl here can make her pink bird become a bigger bird any time she wanted?" Valerie asked.

"Hey, I have a name you know," Sam grumbled.

"I don't appreciate being called a 'pink bird'," Biyomon huffed.

"Yes, and no," Salamon answered Valerie. "What determines the digivolution process is up to the individual. It's not easy, and nobody truly knows how one can have their partner digivolve into the next level."

"What about Andy and Lopmon? Andy was able to get Lopmon to digivolve," Tucker pointed out.

"We were kinda fighting for our lives," Andy grumbled.

"I felt Andy's determination and strong desire to save Takuya from the Beast Spirit," Lopmon explained. "All of that suddenly flowed into me like power and energy that it made me digivolve."

Tucker looked down in thought. "Huh… It seems like maybe our feelings may have something to do with how our partner Digimon digivolve, if what Lopmon is saying is true."

Danny looked curious. "Really? That's… kinda cool but also weird…"

Andy gave a thoughtful look at that.

"Well, maybe hopefully this means my desire to make Kokuwamon stronger will pay off!" Tucker grinned.

"I am also hoping it will pay off in the future too," Kokuwamon agreed.

"But until then, we'll have to walk," Sam said.

"Fine, we'll walk," Valerie grumbled. "... Are you sure I shouldn't fly ahead?"

"It'll be best to stay in a group. Especially since I have yet to reach my Champion form," Salamon stated. "Megadramon will be far too powerful for either of us."

Valerie grumbled again, but stayed on the ground with the group, showing she accepted Salamon's advice.

"This had better not backfire on us…" Danny grumbled. "I mean, we have only 1 Digimon partner who can become a Champion level, while the rest of them are at Rookie level."

The group began walking, waving goodbye to Shamanmon.

"He said to go to Breezy Village, right? Does anyone know where that is?" Sam asked.

"I've heard about it. It's a good place for rest and relaxation," Biyomon said. "But I haven't been there myself. It's pretty obscure."

"I know that place," Valerie said. "Salamon and I have been to a lot of places in the Digital World. But I've only flown there, I've never had to walk there before."

"Well, then we won't get there by just yapping our mouths." Sam sighed. "We'd best figure out which direction to go in first."

"The Breezy Village is southwest from here," Patamon stated.

"Do you think we'll find Megadramon there?" Tucker asked.

"Shamanmon said to go there," Kokuwamon pointed out.

"But he said we'd find an ally, I doubt he meant Megadramon. Shouldn't we prioritize that big dragon first?" Biyomon frowned.

"We don't know where Megadramon is," Lopmon reminded. "Our best bet is to have a destination and go for it. We might be able to ask the locals if they've seen or heard anything out of the ordinary."

"Then I guess it's settled. We'll head to Breezy Village and see if we can find this ally of ours as well as information on where Megadramon is." Flamemon remarked.

"It's not like we have any better options now anyways," Valerie sighed.

---

Danny had never walked this much in his life. The most he ever walked was when his school decided to do a mile walk marathon. But they had surely been walking much further than a mile. It was at times like this he wished he could just use his ghost powers to fly to their destination. But he still had that feeling that he shouldn't go ghost in this world.

The group themselves looked pretty tired as well. It was clear none of them were used to walking for this long. Even Valerie was looking tired, then again, she did say she was used to flying around on her hoverboard. They were following train tracks they found.

"Are you sure we can't just… take a train?" Tucker groaned. "I think I… might pass out soon… if we keep walking…"

"The Trailmon aren't running due to the players." Flamemon grumbled. "So it's thanks to those idiots that we have to walk…"

"But we haven't seen any players in hours… it can't be that dangerous…" Tucker grumbled.

"The chances of players attacking a big group like us are less than 10%, unless the players are in a group themselves, or are feeling particularly bold and foolish," Kokuwamon stated.

"The game hasn't fully released yet… it's supposed to be released in about a week or two," Andy informed. "The players who are here now are beta testers. Those who got lucky enough to get the beta version of the game and the virtual helmet."

"So you're saying… our world will be flooded… with players in about a week or two from now?" Biyomon groaned.

"Well, not in this world, in our world," Andy corrected. "Tucker, how much… time would that give us… in the Digital World?"

"Assuming… we go back home… before the day ends… and come back… after school…" Tucker panted, being the least athletic of the group, pulled out his PDA to do a bit of calculating.

It was a few minutes before Tucker finally had the results. "If… a day here is equal to an hour there… I would say… 98 days here…"

"That gives us time… but is it enough time?" Valerie asked.

"I don't know…" Danny grumbled. "What would we even do, when the game releases?"

"To give ourselves a tactical advantage, we'd need to secure a home base for ourselves by the time the game releases," Andy stated. "And be able to digivolve all of our partners to their Champion forms at least."

"Wouldn't it be possible to… I don't know, cancel the release of the game?" Valerie asked.

"That would be very difficult to pull off safely," Kokuwamon replied. "In order for them to not release a game, the world itself would have to cease to exist, or be in such a glitchy state that nobody could really play it."

"Meaning if we left Megadramon alone long enough, and if his body doesn't deteriorate fast enough, that's probably what's going to happen," Patamon said grimly.

"So it's either face the flood of players, or risk having our world destroyed." Lopmon frowned.

"It's which one is the lesser of the two evils…" Flamemon frowned. "And I don't like the idea of players coming here, but if we leave Megadramon alone, this world will be destroyed…"

"Great, so we have to juggle school, this world, and the ghosts in our world… no pressure," Danny joked.

"We also have to figure out how Technus even got to this world in the first place. If he could get in here, that means the other ghosts could get in as well," Andy added.

"That would truly end the world if ghosts started coming here." Salamon frowned.

"I think that would be the least of our worries should the prophecy come true…" Patamon muttered.

Danny frowned at hearing that thanks to his ghostly hearing, but he didn't respond to it.

Lopmon also heard the comment, but unlike Danny, he had a better understanding about what Patamon was talking about. He frowned as well, wondering if Patamon truly had to go through with what he planned to do if he found the ghost boy.

"Maybe we should take a bit of a break, and eat something. If we exhaust ourselves to the ground, we won't be able to defend ourselves if someone or something attacks us," Lopmon suggested. "Digivolution takes a lot of energy too."

Tucker was more than eager to take a break. "Yes, let's! I don't think I can walk another step!" He exclaimed.

Everyone sat down. Biyomon handed out some canned food for the group to eat. She gave Sam a couple of meat apples Hawkmon had saved up for them. Flamemon used a bit of his fire power to make a quick campfire.

"Is there really no way to get the Trailmon up and running again?" Andy asked out of the blue.

"Why bring that up now?" Sam asked. "Is it because we're walking?"

"Well, yes, actually," Andy replied. "You can see how inconvenient it is to have to walk somewhere that's far away without any means of transportation. What did the players do to shut down all Trailmon?"

"They attacked the Flame Terminal," Salamon answered. "That's where the main station for Trailmon is located. Many players started in the Flame Terminal actually, and once they got their bearings, and their Digimon partners, the first thing they did was band together to destroy the station, and pilfer the Trailmon. Not only did they wreck the Flame Terminal, and steal from Trailmon, they violated a living being with no regards to the Trailmon themselves. The Celestial Digimon deemed the players too dangerous for Trailmon, so the other stations were shut down."

"That's sick!" Tucker spat out. "It not only inconveniences us, but also the Digimon who live here."

Sam grumbled. "It seems we're in agreement for a change, Tucker."

"It's been difficult to get from place to place to go shopping," Biyomon admitted. "My brother had to carry me just to get to the Fortuneteller Village, and with that in ruins right now, we don't have a close place to buy anything."

"It's not a big problem for Digimon that can fly or move quickly on their own," Kokuwamon remarked. "But it is a problem for those who aren't that mobile."

"But what can we do? The players already wrecked everything." Danny frowned.

"They did do some damage, but I don't think it's too late to bring the Trailmon back online," Andy said.

"But wouldn't that put the Trailmon in harm's way again?" Biyomon asked.

"The players attacked the main station, and pilfered the Trailmon there, right?" Andy pointed out. "And this was back when the players first appeared, I take it?"

"That's right," Salamon acknowledged.

"So the players probably long since realized how inconvenient it is to get around unless their partner Digimon can carry them and fly or move quickly through the world," Andy remarked. "They didn't know how the system worked back then. Since they were thinking about it in a video game logic, they thought they had to loot as much as possible to get the advantage in the game. But now, enough time should've passed for them to realize that isn't the case. The station, and the Trailmon, are needed to get around the world quickly and easily. Have any more players been showing up at the Flame Terminal since?"

"As far as I'm aware, not really." Salamon admitted. "There are a few who do show up there, but it's not like it was in the beginning. Although I haven't heard any players coming from the Flame Terminal at all recently."

"The Flame Terminal was the ideal place for the players to show up, until the Celestial Digimon realized how dangerous they were, and began working on spreading out the Digi-Portals in the Digital World to keep them from grouping up," Patamon explained.

"So where are you getting at, Andy?" Valerie asked.

"Well, the players must realize by now how important the train station was to this world. They've effectively disabled a 'quick travel feature' that was in the game. I'd say most of them are probably kicking themselves for doing that," Andy remarked. "If there's a chance we can fix the train station, we should be able to get the Trailmon running again."

"I see now!" Flamemon realized. "By bringing back the Trailmon, the players will think the devs 're-enabled' the 'feature' that had been 'disabled' before due to their looting!"

"But wouldn't the Trailmon still be in danger? And wouldn't that also help the players get around faster?" Sam asked.

"That is a risk, yes," Andy agreed. "However, it's a risk that's worth taking. Everyone needs the Trailmon to be able to get to places, whether it's us, the Digimon, or even the players."

"But if it was that easy, why didn't those players try to fix the station themselves?" Tucker asked.

"Do you think they'd want to do that? Or think they could even do that?" Andy asked. "The first players that came here are likely the same ones who are at the Rose Morning Star's castle, living it up right now. They don't have any reason to fix the station, they have all the power, comfort, and transportation they need. Besides, fixing the station would just help their competition."

"Wow, Andy, you've really thought this through," Valerie said, impressed.

"I'm just thinking like a gamer, and how most people who would see the world as a game would think," Andy said. "Knowing people's perspective will help us gain the advantage, and what our next move should be once we take care of the Technus problem."

"It's still impressive." Valerie said with a grin. "I think we can use your smart brain for future strategies if this is what you can think of."

"What? I'm not that smart," Andy sheepishly replied.

"But you were the one who thought to fix the Tailmon station to get the Trailmon going again, nobody else thought of doing that, we just kinda accepted it," Tucker pointed out.

"I agree, the chances of one of us thinking to do that is less than 12%," Kokuwamon stated.

"Well, none of it matters if the Digimon in charge still won't let the Trailmon run even after the station is fixed," Andy pointed out. "I'm just stating what we could possibly do."

"We'll just have to see what happens then." Flamemon sighed. "But if we can get the Trailmon running again, that would be a big help for us."

Sam groaned. "Anything would be better than just walking all over the place. I might like walking through nature, but I still get tired."

"But until then… we still have a long way to go, don't we?" Danny frowned.

"Don't get discouraged," Patamon said. "We'll get there in time."

"We may need to make a few stops if we can, to stock up on food," Lopmon suggested. "Our current supplies aren't going to last much longer."

"Well, we are a large group traveling together." Tucker chuckled sheepishly. "But yeah, stocking up on food would be a good idea, at least at the next town or so."

"Are we near any towns?" Sam asked.

"Hmm…" Salamon closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the breeze.

"It's hard to say, it looks like we're almost in the middle of a wasteland with how little greenery is here," Flamemon grumbled.

"We might be near Breezy Village," Salamon stated. "There's a breeze here that's unique to Breezy Village."

"Really?" Flamemon asked. "Then which way is Breezy Village? We could stock up on food there."

"We just have to keep following the tracks. The tracks will split in two, one of them should lead into a forest-like area, that's where Breezy Village should be," Salamon said.

The group stood up, putting out the campfire.

"Then let's get going!" Flamemon smiled.

---

The group walked on for another hour in the wasteland. The greenery had long since been gone, and it was almost a desert. The sun was beating down on them. Flamemon was fine, since he was used to the heat. But the others… not so much. Danny was looking worse for wear. Flamemon wasn't sure, but maybe being half ghost may have made his body less tolerable to heat.

"Are you okay, bro? You don't look so good, you're sweating more than Tucker," Andy asked Danny in concern, likely noticing the same thing.

"I don't know what's wrong. I just feel like the heat affects me the most for some reason." Danny grumbled, trying to wipe away sweat that was dripping down his bangs. "Normally I'd be able to handle the heat better, but… I guess I just don't do well in direct sunlight."

"We should probably get you out of the sunlight then," Patamon suggested.

"Are you concerned?~" Salamon grinned.

Patamon grumbled. "If he passes out from heat exhaustion, that's going to slow us down."

"But how will we get Danny out of the sunlight? There's not a tree for miles." Sam said, gesturing around. Indeed, there were no trees for as far as the eye could see.

"Couldn't Lopmon sit on Danny's head and use his ears to shield Danny from the sun?" Flamemon asked.

"I'm already doing that with Andy," Lopmon stated.

"I don't need it as much as Danny does," Andy remarked.

Patamon sighed. "Look, if it'll make us move faster…"

Patamon flew up to Danny's head, and stretched out his wings over Danny. "There, is that better?"

Danny smiled up at Patamon. "Yeah, it is. Thanks, Patamon."

Patamon just huffed. "I'm only doing this so we can keep moving." He stated.

Andy smiled. I think Patamon's starting to warm up to Danny, despite his misgivings about having a human partner.

The group continued moving on, until they came across the split train tracks.

"Look, there it is! Greenery, and trees! Oh, how I missed trees," Sam pointed out excitedly.

"Even I miss the trees!" Tucker smiled.

"Oh good, hopefully it'll be cooler there, and we can find some water. Where there's greenery, there's water." Biyomon smiled.

"What're we waiting for? Let's get into the forest!" Flamemon grinned.

Flamemon began running ahead of the group.

"Hey, don't run ahead!" Andy called out.

Suddenly, there was an earthquake under the ground. The ground began to crack, the group lost their footing and fell on their butts.

"W-what's going on!?" Tucker shouted.

"An earthquake?" Sam frowned.

"Oh man… this is so not good!" Danny yelped as he felt a rock tumble away from under his left foot. He inched back away from the edge of the newly forming crevice.

"Of all the… What now?!" Valerie grumbled.

Flamemon went rolling away from the group, as the ground he had been on had slanted downwards, sending him sliding down in another direction. "WAH!"

"Come on! Get up!" Andy yelled.

The group quickly began moving, trying to get away from the cracked earth.

Lopmon and Danny heard a voice shouting something from far away. "Tectonic Slam!"

The ground began to shake more violently, the cracks got bigger. The ground slanted more into the cracks, making it difficult for the group to climb out of. Biyomon flapped her wings and grabbed onto Sam's arm with her talons to pull her away from the shaking earth. Kokuwamon began to fly up as well, picking up Tucker, trying to get his partner out of harm's way. Danny, Valerie, and Andy weren't so lucky. Patamon was too small to carry Danny, and Salamon and Lopmon couldn't fly.

"Andy! Danny! Valerie!" Sam cried out as the other three fell away from her line of sight. "Guys!"

"Aw man! This can't get any worse!" Tucker groaned as he watched two of his best friends and Valerie fall away from view. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"Do what!? Biyomon can't carry anymore people!" Sam frowned.

Andy shut his eyes. "Lopmon!"

Lopmon felt power rush through him. Andy's D-Arc began to glow again. Fractal code surrounded him. "Lopmon, digivolve to…" Lopmon began to lose his own skin, on his face, and then his legs lost their skin as well. His ears also lost their skin before his skin began to come back, but on his legs and feet first. Lopmon's legs gained shoes and yellow pants with a belt and yellow top that matched, two blades appeared as his hands regained their skin and red gloves, grasping the blades in both hands. The skin on Lopmon's head and face came back, just as a blue bandanna appeared around his neck as well. "Turuiemon!"

As soon as Lopmon finished digivolving into Turuiemon, Turuiemon picked up Andy, and began hopping gracefully through the cracking earth. He grabbed onto Danny next, who still had Patamon on his head, and hopped away from the quaking ground. Valerie picked up Salamon and activated her hoverboard, quickly flying out herself.

"Whoa, thanks for the save there," Danny said gratefully to Turuiemon, who put them down after they got away from the shaking ground.

"Of course," Turuiemon said before he frowned. "I heard, and felt, it, Andy. That was no earthquake. It was caused by someone."

"Who would cause that? A player?" Andy asked.

"I don't know, but whoever it is, they are probably quite strong if they can cause the ground to separate us like that." Danny grumbled.

"But who?" Valerie asked as she came to a hover near Turuiemon, having followed the boys to the ground.

"Biyomon! Can you land us to where the group is?" Sam asked.

Biyomon frowned. "They're… a little far… but I'll-"

"Look out!" Kokuwamon warned.

A large twister came out of the cracked ground, catching Biyomon, Sam, Kokuwamon, and Tucker into it. They all yelled as they were thrown into the forest, away from the others.

"W-what was that!?" Valerie yelled.

"Whatever it was, it threw Tucker and Sam into the forest." Danny frowned. "I need to-"

"They'll be fine, Danny, they have Biyomon and Kokuwamon with them," Andy reminded. "We need to worry about ourselves, because that twister is heading for us!"

"What about Takuya? Where is he?" Valerie asked, realizing they were missing another member of the group.

"He'll be fine! We have to get out of the way of that twister!" Danny yelped, seeing the incoming twister.

The twister, however, slowed down to a stop as it revealed a big, tan-colored creature. The creature landed on the ground in front of them, leaving quite a bit of a tremor.

"Humans… players… are not welcomed here!"

"Um… is big and creepy talking about the players, or us?" Valerie asked warily.

"Gigasmon!" Salamon called out. "Stand down! These are not players! They're here to help us!"

The beast before them was a dark tan in color with lighter tan accents on the arms, legs, and hands. It had a large snout and brown eyes, with a light tan chest and stomach area. Matching claws were on the feet and hands, and small spikes littered its body on the knuckles, elbows, shoulders, knees, back, and head. The beast, Gigasmon, looked to Salamon at her calling out to him.

"You say they not players? They brainwash you, Salamon!" Gigasmon accused before he looked at Turuiemon. "And you! Can't believe the players got to you! That kidnapper will pay dearly for taking you away, Turuiemon! No worries, once Gigasmon cleanse you of these humans, you will be who you once were again!"

"What? Am I supposed to know you?" Turuiemon frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, all I know is that you attacked us, and we're going to defend ourselves."

"You under player influence, much worse than me thought!" Gigasmon said with a frown. "Me defeat kidnapping player and free Turuiemon!"

"Stop it, Gigasmon!" Salamon shouted.

"Execute! Slide Evolution!" Gigasmon was covered in fractal code, and changed.

A different looking Digimon stood before them. "Grumblemon!"

"Did he just digivolve?" Danny blinked, confused.

"No… he called it 'Slide Evolution'." Valerie noted. "But… what does that mean?"

This new Digimon looked like a gnome, with green eyes, a large nose, and tan skin. He had red symbols on his arms, nose, and under his eyes, fangs, and brown hair. He wore dark gray blue armor and a hat that was brown in color. The armor had points on the shoulders, knees, and toes, and a small spiked ball hung from the end of his hat. On his chest armor was a symbol that looked like the Japanese Kanji for Earth.

Andy looked at the symbol. "That symbol…"

Grumblemon dug into the ground and pulled up a large sledge hammer. "Seismic Sledge!"

The group yelped as they moved to avoid getting hit by the sledge hammer. Turuiemon jumped towards Grumblemon. "Gauntlet Claw!"

Turuiemon punched Grumblemon's armor with his gauntlet. Grumblemon slid back a few inches.

"Not bad, you hit hard. But you weak compared to who you were before!" Grumblemon shouted before he burrowed into the ground.

"Did he just go underground?" Valerie frowned.

"Be careful! He could pop out anywhere!" Salamon warned.

"Great… An opponent who can burrow… We're in over our heads…" Danny groaned.

"Who is this guy anyway?" Valerie grumbled. "Salamon, you know him?"

"He's-" Salamon began to say when Grumblemon popped out of the ground between the twins and swung his sledge hammer at Danny.

Patamon jumped off of Danny's head and got hit by the sledge hammer himself. "Gah!"

Patamon hit the ground hard.

"Patamon!" Danny cried out as he ran over to the smaller Digimon. "Are you okay?!" He picked up Patamon gently.

"That's it!" Turuiemon hissed as he charged at Grumblemon himself. "Ninja Fist!"

Turuiemon attacked swiftly, so much so Grumblemon didn't notice anything hitting him until a couple of seconds, then he felt the pain.

"Gah!" Grumblemon groaned before he went back into the ground.

"I'll… be fine…" Patamon groaned, too injured to try to struggle out of Danny's hold.

"You took a direct blow… I doubt that felt good." Danny said, trying to make a joke to cheer Patamon up, but also to alleviate his own worry about Patamon.

Grumblemon came up behind Danny.

"Danny! Behind you!" Andy shouted in warning.

Out of instinct, Danny turned himself and Patamon intangible as the sledge hammer came down, causing it to go through them and hit the ground instead. Danny quickly jumped away, returning them back to being tangible. It happened so fast that Grumblemon didn't notice they went intangible.

"How I miss that!?" Grumblemon growled.

"Talk about having the devil's luck. I don't know how Danny dodged that," Valerie remarked.

Patamon blinked. He had been a bit out of it, but he thought he saw something just happened to him and Danny.

Danny sighed with relief, seeing he and Patamon had made it out alright. "That was close." Aw geez… I hope no one saw me using my ghost powers…

"Turuiemon, aim at the ground, quickly!" Andy instructed.

Grumblemon went under the ground again.

"Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon punched the ground hard enough to cause it to shake.

Grumblemon came up from the ground, groaning.

"Puppy Howling!" Salamon shot out a high pitched screeching noise at Grumblemon, keeping him from being able to focus on his attacks.

Valerie took out one of her guns and aimed it before firing at Grumblemon. "Take this!" She hissed.

Grumblemon was hit by the yellow energy beam from Valerie's weapon, sending the gnome stumbling back as he tried to avoid getting hit by the next few beams.

"We're not going to let you get away with attacking us and hurting Patamon!" Turuiemon shouted.

"Me not hurt Patamon, me save Patamon, from the player brainwashing!" Grumblemon growled. "Me fight you seriously now!"

Fractal code surrounded the gnome again. "Slide evolution! Gigasmon!"

Grumblemon was back to being the larger Gigasmon. "Tectonic Slam!"

Gigasmon raised his huge hands and slammed them down into the ground, causing another violent quake. Valerie and Salamon were the only ones airborne. Valerie began firing the guns at Gigasmon to get him to stop. But much like with BurningGreymon before, most of the lasers were bouncing off of his armored hide.

"Geez! This guy's tough, probably as tough as BurningGreymon!" Valerie growled out. "It's like he's on the same level or something!"

"You're not wrong on that!" Salamon said. "Watch out!"

Gigasmon jumped up into the air. "Quagmire Twister!"

Gigasmon began spinning quickly, turning into a giant tornado.

Turuiemon jumped at Gigasmon, hoping to try to stop him.

"Oh no you don't!" Turuiemon said as he kicked Gigasmon in the back. "You're not separating us again!"

However, despite Turuiemon's efforts, Gigasmon didn't stop spinning, and Turuiemon was soon caught up in the twister.

"Turuiemon!" Andy called out.

Although Turuiemon did cause Gigasmon to stop early in the attack, Turuiemon fell to the ground. Fractal code surrounded Turuiemon, turning him back into Lopmon.

"Lopmon! Are you okay?" Andy asked as he ran over to Lopmon.

"S-sorry, Andy…" Lopmon replied weakly. "He's… too strong…"

"What can we do to beat him?!" Danny exclaimed. "It's like… he's… I don't know… the same as BurningGreymon! We had issues with defeating BurningGreymon, because he's a Legendary Warrior!"

"You beat Legendary Warrior? You must be bad! Me will end your evil deeds!" Gigasmon growled angrily.

"Danny! Why'd you antagonize him!?" Andy shouted.

"What?! I didn't think this Gigasmon would get mad over that!" Danny exclaimed. Me and my big mouth…

Valerie, seeing that the situation was about to go from bad to worse, began diving towards Gigasmon. She brought out her big bazooka, which she needed as her heavy hitter. She fired the bazooka at Gigasmon. Gigasmon flinched from the attack, and Salamon jumped off of the hoverboard.

"Petit Punch!" Salamon slammed both of her front paws into Gigasmon's back, causing him to lose his balance and start to fall over.

Seeing this, Patamon and Lopmon, despite being weakened from Gigasmon's attacks, jumped out of the boys' arms, and glided at Gigasmon.

"Boom Bubble!"

"Blazing Ice!"

Gigasmon was hit in the nose by the air bubble, and had his chest frozen.

"Start running!" Valerie quickly said to the brothers. "He's too strong, just run!"

Danny and Andy didn't hesitate to grab onto Patamon and Lopmon and started running into the forest while Valerie managed to get Salamon and began flying into the forest herself. Gigasmon gave a roar as he broke out of the ice. "You won't get far! Me will find you and free those three!"

"Crap! This isn't good! We're in over our heads!" Danny exclaimed as he was running for his life. "And I just made things worse with my comments about BurningGreymon!"

"Don't waste your breath talking, just keep running!" Andy quickly said.

Patamon and Lopmon hung onto Danny and Andy's chests as the boys held onto them, running through the forest.

Before long, it had gotten quiet. There wasn't an angry roar behind them, nor was the earth under them shaking or breaking apart.

Valerie landed near the brothers as they began to slow down, putting away her hoverboard.

"Is everyone okay?" Valerie asked. "I don't think that big guy is chasing us."

"If we lost him, then good." Danny sighed in relief. "I don't want to face him down again, that's for sure."

"You're not the only one…" Patamon grumbled.

"Who was that guy though?" Valerie asked. "He seemed pretty pissed when the fact we beat BurningGreymon was revealed."

"I apologize, there wasn't much time to tell you when he was attacking us, but Grumblemon is a Legendary Warrior as well, the Warrior of Earth," Salamon revealed.

"I knew that hard headed stone for brains wouldn't listen to us…" Patamon grumbled.

"Another Legendary Warrior attacked us?" Danny groaned. "How many times will we fight against these Legendary Warrior guys?! It's like we're a magnet for them or something!"

"Speak for yourself, you weren't the one who's had to face 3 of them," Andy grumbled.

"There are 10 Legendary Warriors in total," Salamon explained. "They were supposedly in deep slumber for a long time. However, in times of need, the Spirits would awaken. As far as I know, about 5 of the Legendary Warriors ended up with a group of children."

"So that Grumblemon, was that another child who attacked us?" Andy asked.

"No… the other 5 that didn't find a host for their Spirits, were awakened by Cherubimon, before he had fallen in battle. Although, I think one Spirit remained dormant," Salamon answered. "When Cherubimon began dying, he used the last of his powers to awaken the other 4 Legendary Warriors, giving them an order to protect the Digital World from the humans."

"So this Grumblemon was acting on Cherubimon's orders? Geez… I don't want to face down the other Warriors if they are all as strong as the ones we've faced." Danny groaned.

"Grumblemon had two forms…" Patamon said. "His human form, and his beast form…"

"Why does he have those two forms?" Valerie asked.

"It's like with Takuya… he has his human spirit form, Agunimon… and you saw his beast form, BurningGreymon…" Patamon continued. "The human form is often the more calm, logical one… they're more practical with… their powers, and… their roles. The beast form… is much more powerful… in terms of raw power… they're also more feral, and instinct driven… they're often used in wars due to their strength."

"That explains why when Grumblemon was using Gigasmon, we had such a hard time fighting him," Lopmon noted.

"Is there any way for them to distinguish the differences between players and non-players? Or at least players who do bad things, and players who don't?" Andy asked.

"You saw what happened… the moment Grumblemon saw us, he assumed the humans were evil, and that we were brainwashed," Salamon frowned. "Cherubimon hadn't been specific with his order. And he was angry and fearful of what the players would do once he was forced to be reborn in Primary Village."

"Does anyone know where Cherubimon is now? Could he order them to stop?" Lopmon asked.

Patamon and Salamon looked at Lopmon for a moment.

"What? It's a logical question, isn't it?" Lopmon pouted.

"I don't think they'll listen to him now, especially if they believe he's been brainwashed by humans," Salamon sighed.

"I guess that makes sense…" Lopmon conceded. "But… What else can we do? If you can't get Grumblemon to stand down, who else could?"

"Maybe we should save that for later," Andy said. "We need to find where our friends went and regroup. Then we can talk about what to do about the other Legendary Warriors that are out for our heads."

"Our best chance is to go to Breezy Village. We can rest and recover there, and hopefully the others will know to meet up with us there," Salamon suggested.

Valerie nodded. "Good idea. I don't think we're that far from Breezy Village. This part of the woods looks familiar."

"Then let's go. Lopmon and Patamon are in need of food and rest," Danny said, looking down at Patamon in concern. It looked like he got hit pretty hard by that sledge hammer. I hope he'll be okay.

Valerie and Salamon began leading Danny and Andy through the woods.

---

Flamemon groaned as he regained his senses, having fallen down somewhere else when the ground had cracked and separated. "Ugh… Wow… what caused that earthquake?" He muttered as he sat up.

Looking around, Flamemon could see he was alone, with no sign of Andy, Danny, or the others, or even the Digimon that had been with them. "Wait… where am I?" He wondered aloud before panic raced through him.

"Crap… Andy and Danny!" Flamemon exclaimed. "Where are they?!"

Realizing he couldn't just stand around, Flamemon decided to get moving, making his way back the way he had fallen, or he tried to at least. As soon as he began walking, Flamemon realized the way he had fallen down was completely impassable, so he would have to find another way back to the twins.

"Ugh… Great… I guess I have to take the long way back to where the others are…" Flamemon grumbled to himself.

Flamemon wasn't quite used to his body, but he knew he could move faster than his human body. And he had more endurance, since he hardly felt that tired even after walking all this way. So there were some advantages to looking like this.

Flamemon was running along the forest, trying to find a way around the raised earth, when he heard what sounded like Sam's voice not too far away.

"My skirt is stuck to this branch!"

"Do you want me to rip it?"

"No, it's my only skirt! I can't have it ripped, or I'd be walking around in my underwear!"

Flamemon felt heat rush to his face as he heard Sam's last comment. Oh… That… Wait! Get a grip on yourself! Don't get gutter-brained now! Stay focused! He reminded himself.

Flamemon made it to where Sam was, looking up to see Sam stuck in a tree with her skirt stuck on the branch she was sitting on. "Sam? Are you okay?" Flamemon called up to her.

"Takuya? Is that you?" Sam called out, looking down from the tree.

Flamemon saw Biyomon was next to Sam, her feathers had leaves and sticks all over it.

"Glad to see you're okay," Biyomon said.

"How'd you two get up there?" Flamemon asked.

"We got caught up in a big cyclone and got thrown out here. Biyomon managed to grab onto me, but the wind made it hard for her to steer, and we ended up crash landing on this tree," Sam explained. "My skirt got impaled by one of the branches. I want to get it out carefully without ripping it."

"O-oh…" Flamemon blushed a bit. "Ah… I… think I can help…" He said, feeling awkward. Oh man… this is gonna be so weird for both of us…

"I can get it out on my own," Sam grumbled. "Biyomon, could you scout out the area? With Flamemon here, he can keep me safe while you're looking."

"Are you sure?" Biyomon asked in concern.

"Yeah. We need to make sure the others are okay, we don't know what caused that earthquake or that cyclone," Sam replied.

"Alright," Biyomon said before she looked down at Flamemon. "I'm counting on you to keep her safe!"

Flamemon nodded. "Don't worry, I'll keep her safe."

Biyomon nodded before flapping her wings and taking off from the tree to scout out the area.

Now left with Sam, Flamemon looked around again. "I don't see Tucker around. Did he get separated from the others as well?"

"He probably did. Both he and I got caught up in the cyclone first because we were in the air directly above it," Sam answered. "I didn't see where he and Kokuwamon fell, the cyclone really got me and Biyomon dizzy, but I think they fell in the same forest."

"Geez… What could've created a cyclone after an earthquake? Talk about freaky weather." Flamemon joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't know, but as soon as I get my skirt free, we should look for Tucker and Kokuwamon as well as the others." Sam said as she began to wriggle the branch stuck in her skirt out.

Biyomon was flying across the sky, looking around. She noticed that the forest went on for miles, but what caught her attention was a giant tree that was bigger than the other trees. She blinked as she looked at the tree. There was a nice breeze around it that she didn't feel anywhere else. She descended from the sky when she noticed what looked like small houses. "What is this place?"

Biyomon blinked when she saw a stopping station for Trailmon if Trailmon were still running. There was a sign that said 'Welcome to Breezy Village'.

Sam finally got her skirt out from the branch. "Finally! That took a while!"

"Great!" Flamemon said with a smile before he frowned. "Do you need help getting down from that tree?"

"I've climbed many trees before, I can get down on my own!" Sam called back before she began to slowly climb down. "Although… I'm not used to climbing down from a digital tree…"

As Sam was climbing down, the tree seemed to be glitching out a little. This caused Sam to slip and began to fall. "CRAAAAAAAP!"

Flamemon ran forwards and jumped up, catching Sam in his arms. "Gotcha!"

He landed on the ground before setting Sam down on her feet. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah… yeah… thanks for catching me… trees don't usually… glitch out of existence for a split second in our world…" Sam replied, a little shaken up, but was no worse for wear.

"Then either that fog is coming back, or Megadramon is in the area." Flamemon realized.

Sam and Flamemon looked up at the tree, seeing it glitching out again. They began to look at the other trees in the forest, seeing the trees were beginning to look a little glitchy and blocky.

"I don't see a fog, but you might be right about Megadramon…" Sam frowned. "We better find the others quickly."

"Sam!" Biyomon called out as she was flying towards them in a hurry, like something was chasing her. "Flamemon!"

Sam and Flamemon looked back at Biyomon.

"Biyomon? What's wrong?" Sam asked as she saw how panicked her partner Digimon looked.

"I found Breezy Village," Biyomon quickly said. "But something's wrong. It's all glitched up, and the Digimon in there are acting really weird!"

"Crap…" Flamemon hissed. "We need to get to Breezy Village, and fast."

"But what about Tucker and Kokuwamon?" Sam asked in concern. "And the others?"

"We don't know where they are, but it's likely they'll try to meet us up at the village," Flamemon reasoned. "We can't just ignore this. For all we know, Megadramon is at the village."

Sam hesitated, not sure if just her, Biyomon, and Takuya would be enough to face down such a powerful opponent. But on the other hand, Flamemon was right, they couldn't just ignore this. At the very least, they needed to know if Megadramon was there, and where he intended to go next.

"O-okay, let's go. But if Megadramon is there, we shouldn't engage. Just keep an eye on him," Sam instructed in a serious tone.

Flamemon nodded, actually agreeing with Sam. "Yeah… Good idea. Neither of us are in a position to engage Megadramon in battle, but observing him should be a good way to gain information."

"Then let's get to Breezy Village!" Biyomon said, sounding anxious.

"Lead the way, Biyomon," Sam quickly said.

Biyomon flew in front of Sam and Flamemon, and they quickly followed behind.

The further into the forest they went, the glitchier the place became. Fractal code was starting to show more rather than the physical form they were supposed to be.

"It's like the matrix is falling apart…" Sam muttered.

Flamemon frowned, his being could sense the air was heavy with ectoplasm here. That was probably why the area was glitching out. He was seeing with his own eyes how badly ectoplasm could affect the Digital World. It was like a virus to this world.

"Here it is," Biyomon said when she landed in front of a Trailmon station and pointed towards the big tree.

They saw the large tree that looked like it was one big, dead tree. It was glitching out, showing some of its fractal code. The village itself looked to be breaking down into pieces. But what really creeped out the small group was these plant Digimon. Their bodies weren't glitching out like the environment around them, but they didn't look well either. Their eyes were glowing green, and they were growling. Some of them were moving on all fours when they appeared to be naturally bipedal.

"W-what are these things?" Sam asked.

"They're supposed to be Floramon, but it looks like they've been infected by something," Biyomon answered. "They don't normally act this way. They've usually very friendly and cheerful Digimon."

"I can sense it… The ectoplasm… It's very thick in the air." Flamemon noted with a frown. "But… if these Digimon are affected like this… Why am I still sane and not acting all feral? And what about Biyomon?"

"My guess is the glitching plus the ectoplasm is what's messing with their minds," Sam theorized. "They must've been inhaling the ectoplasm for a while, and the glitches could've been affecting them as well."

"So you're saying there might be a time limit to how long we can stay sane?" Biyomon gulped.

"Most likely." Sam replied grimly.

"Crap… This just got a lot harder all of the sudden." Flamemon growled out.

The Floramon began approaching them, looking like zombies ready to tear them apart.

"They're coming this way!" Biyomon warned.

"We should get away from here," Sam said.

They turned around and gasped, behind them was a group of mushroom Digimon, with glowing green eyes as well.

"Mushroomon! How did they get behind us so quickly?" Biyomon gasped.

"No idea, but we need to get out of here!" Flamemon growled out. "And we may have to fight our way past these guys. It doesn't look like they'll just let us go past them easily."

The Floramon began to spray out some kind of pollen at the small group. Biyomon flew up and shot out a green, flaming twister at the cloud of pollen. "Spiral Twister!"

The Mushroomon threw out little bombs that looked like small mushrooms.

Flamemon was quick to react. He knew he was a weaker form of Agunimon, so if that was the case, then surely he could still use fire attacks. He concentrated and, to his surprise and delight, caused a fireball to form in his hand. He then threw the fireball at the mushroom bombs. "Flame Toss!"

The two fire attacks canceled out the two attacks. But they were still surrounded.

"How are we going to get out of this one?" Sam frowned. "Can't you still become Agunimon?"

Flamemon frowned, he had yet to try.

"I… I think so, but I haven't tried yet." Flamemon admitted to Sam. "But there's no time like the present, I guess."

Flamemon knew he had to tap into his Spirit's power. He reached out mentally for the warm power that lay dormant in his chest, right where his heart would be. Please… let me become Agunimon again… I… I need the power… I need to protect Sam and Biyomon… Please, Spirit… Lend me your strength again…

The Spirit felt weak. Flamemon frowned as he tried to reach for it, but he found himself hesitating. It wasn't because of the familiar Spirit, but because of another Spirit that laid close by. It was dormant, but Flamemon could feel that raw power pulsing from it. If Flamemon woke it up, even by accident, it would consume him again.

There was an explosion that caused them to fall over. Some of the Mushroomon fired out more of their bombs. Biyomon had been busy trying to keep the cloud of pollen away to stop the bombs on her own.

"Flamemon, what's wrong?" Sam asked. "We could really use Agunimon right now!"

"My Human Spirit is still weak from Megadramon attacking me last time." Flamemon replied at last. "It… It may not be enough."

"Stay back!" Biyomon warned, trying to keep the Floramon and Mushroomon away as they got closer.

Flamemon knew he would have to try to fight back with what he had right now and hoped it would be enough. Since these appeared to be plant-based Digimon, and they were in the Rookie level, maybe there was a chance they could fight back enough to get away. They just needed to make that opportunity.

"Okay… Let's see what else I can do in this form." Flamemon muttered. He got down on all fours and began to run at the Mushroomon, fire coating his body. "Monkey Ball!" He fired off the flames from around his body at the Mushroomon directly ahead of him.

While Flamemon was taking care of the Mushroomon, Biyomon was focusing on the Floramon. "Okay flowers, take that!"

Biyomon was firing off multiple Spiral Twisters at the Floramon. Floramon ducked down, not liking the fire.

"I'll burn every one of you if I have to!" Biyomon shouted.

"How long can you keep this up?" Sam asked in concern, already seeing Biyomon starting to descend.

"As long as I need to!" Biyomon replied back before firing another Spiral Twister.

The Mushroomon began to try to dog pile on top of Flamemon to smother him and his flames.

"Oh no, you don't…" Flamemon hissed as more fire covered his body. "Noble Heart!" He punched upwards at the pile of Mushroomon, sending the Mushroomon flying away from him. The fiery punch gave Flamemon some breathing room. "Geez… Those guys like to push the limit…"

The Mushroomon landed together in separate piles.

"Have you had enough yet or do you want some more!?" Flamemon shouted.

The Mushroomon's bodies began to glitch out now, and a green aura began to surround them. Flamemon's eyes went wide when he suddenly saw the green fog rolling in, engulfing the Mushroomon. It was like it came out of nowhere. The Mushroomon piles began to change, getting bigger. There were about 5 piles, and those 5 piles turned into bigger Digimon. The Digimon appeared to be made of wood, but the body was glowing green.

"Crap… They just digivolved…" Flamemon gulped. Oh man… I might be strong, but I don't know if I can take on five Champion level Digimon… This is not good…

From what Flamemon could tell, these were called 'Woodmon', but he got a sense 'green' wasn't their natural color.

Biyomon fell to the ground, completely exhausted.

"Biyomon! You overdid it!" Sam said in worry as she picked up the exhausted bird.

"I… I can… keep… going…" Biyomon weakly said.

The Floramon were getting back up and started to approach them.

The 5 green Woodmon began to walk toward Flamemon. Flamemon was backing up. He and Sam were now back to back.

"Any more bright ideas?" Sam asked.

"If you could pull an Andy and get Biyomon to digivolve, we might be good," Flamemon replied.

"I don't think Biyomon will be digivolving any time soon." Sam frowned.

"Poison Ivy!"

Vines came out of seemingly nowhere, grabbed onto Sam and Flamemon's waists, and pulled them through the Floramon. The Floramon didn't have time to react as they were pulled away so quickly. Sam held onto Biyomon tightly so she wouldn't get left behind.

They were soon pulled into a tree, or rather, through a tree. Inside the tree, they found themselves standing in a small room. The vines let them go.

"What the heck just happened?" Sam frowned.

They looked up, seeing a Floramon looking at them.

Sam and Flamemon jumped.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's okay! I'm not like them, I'm on your side," Floramon quickly said.

"If you are on our side, how did you escape the ectoplasm corruption?" Flamemon asked, keeping his guard up for the time being.

"I wasn't in the village when that weird Digimon flew by and infected everyone," Floramon answered. "I was out getting ingredients for our special soup to feed to guests. But when I got back, I saw the village in this state. Luckily I knew about this secret hideout tree when I used to play hide-and-seek with my friends, nobody could ever find me. I've been trying to figure out what happened here when you 3 showed up. Nearly got yourselves eaten out there."

"Well… thanks…" Sam said, feeling a bit better now that they were out of danger for the time being. "That was too close for comfort."

"You're telling me…" Flamemon muttered.

"Thanks…" Biyomon murmured, feeling safer now. "Wait… did you say… a strange Digimon… flew here?"

"Yeah. I didn't get a good look since it was pretty far away from where I was. But it flew over the big tree and Breezy Village. I saw some kind of green fog covering the village after it passed by," Floramon explained. "After the fog went away, I came back to see what happened."

Floramon frowned. "You might want to take a rest. I'll get you some soup, it should help you with your exhaustion."

"That… would be great…" Biyomon said, feeling the exhaustion taking its toll on her.

"I could use a rest myself." Flamemon admitted, not sure how long it would take for his Human Spirit to recover from the attack Megadramon had used earlier.

"Maybe we can figure out why you couldn't become Agunimon as well." Sam stated.

"I told you, my Human Spirit is still affected by Megadramon's electrical attack." Flamemon grumbled.

"I don't know… something just tells me it was more than that," Sam said.

"Megadramon?" Floramon asked as she put 3 wooden bowls down on a small table.

"That's the name of a really bad Digimon we're looking for," Sam answered. "It might've been the same one you saw flying by earlier."

"Did you see which way he went?" Flamemon asked.

"It looked like he was heading west from here," Floramon answered. "In the direction of the Rose Morning Star, where Cherubimon used to rule before players took it over."

"Why would he be heading there?" Sam frowned.

Floramon picked up a fruit that Sam had never seen before, but it looked similar to a pear. "Good thing I kept the ingredients I got when I was away from the village."

Floramon's head leaves opened up, allowing her to put the fruit into her head before she covered her head with her leaves again. She began to dance around a bit. "We used to sing a song for our guests while we began turning the fruit into soup, but singing would lead the others here, so I'll just dance."

"You would sing?" Flamemon asked. "Huh… Well, whatever works for you." He grinned. "This may be just what we need."

"I'll say. Fighting that hard really made me hungry." Biyomon remarked.

Sam just chuckled. "It seems most Digimon would get hungry after a rough battle or something similar."

"It makes sense. Fighting makes us use a lot of energy, and food replenishes that energy," Floramon replied before she began pouring the fruit soup into the 3 bowls directly from her nose. "There you are, eat up~"

Sam and Flamemon looked thoroughly grossed out at what they just witnessed, but Biyomon didn't have any problems digging in. She began lapping up the soup with her beak from her own bowl.

"This is delicious!" Biyomon smiled.

Flamemon looked down at the soup again before his stomach growled and he knew he had to eat something, so he decided to bite the bullet and taste it himself. He picked up his bowl and began to drink the soup, only for his eyes to widen in surprise. "Wow…" He said before smiling as well. "This is good. Bit gross in how it is served up, but it tastes good once you actually try it."

"I guess…" Sam said. Well, she is a plant… creature… being… right? Plants usually make fruit and juices with their own bodies. So it makes sense this Floramon would make soup with her own head.

Sam picked up a wooden spoon that Floramon laid out for them, and used it to taste the soup. Sam was surprised at how good the soup was. It was sweet, but not too sweet, it didn't taste like fruit soup or fruit juice, it tasted like a tasty rabbit stew, but without the rabbit, which Sam was thankful for.

"This soup was popular with the guests, back when Trailmon used to run," Floramon explained. "We would have visitors come to see our famous tree, and enjoy the breeze our village was known for. It was also a known location for keeping Kazemon's Spirit, the Legendary Warrior of Wind, safe and hidden until it chose a human girl to wield it."

Flamemon perked up at hearing that. "Really? I've been told the Legendary Warriors' Spirits were hidden to keep them safe. Did anyone find Kazemon's Spirit?"

"Yes. Like I said just now, the Spirit was found by a human girl. Her name was Zoe, and she was very nice." Floramon explained. "She even helped us protect Breezy Village from a small group of players who came looking for Trailmon to loot, and wanted to raid our village for our resources."

Flamemon recognized the name. It couldn't be the same Zoe, could it?

"Where is she now? I think this village could really use her help," Sam remarked.

"She's probably at the Forest Terminal, protecting Seraphimon's castle from invading players. I don't think she even knows what happened here," Floramon answered.

Then Floramon frowned. "I sense new feet here, someone new just entered the village."

Flamemon growled. "Great… It better not be more of those creepy Floramon and Woodmon…"

"I hope it isn't. We don't need to be swarmed by zombie-like Digimon…"

"No, I said someone new entered the village, as in not the other Floramon and Woodmon," Floramon clarified. "I can sense new vibrations with my feet due to my familiarity with this village's roots. They could be in danger, like you were."

Floramon walked towards the walls.

"Just be careful." Flamemon warned. He could feel his Digi-Core racing with worry for the newcomers, as well as for Floramon, and himself, Sam, and Biyomon.

"Are you sure you should be going out alone?" Biyomon asked.

"I'll be fine. They can't tell that I haven't been infected as long as I don't stay with them for too long," Floramon answered. "You 3 stay here, I won't take long."

Floramon went through the wall.

"So it seems we're wrong. It's not the ectoplasm or the glitches themselves that drove these Digimon mad," Sam noted.

"It was the fog," Flamemon finished. "If that Digimon Floramon saw was Megadramon, then it's possible wherever he goes, he leaves behind that fog, corrupting the Digimon and the environment."

Biyomon frowned. "But it's still worrisome that Megadramon is spreading this fog. We need to find him before he gets to the Rose Morning Star. Other Digimon and players could be at risk if that happens."

"But at least we know where he's going," Sam said. "That gives us something to go off of. Only problem is we can't go alone, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"And… What would we do about Breezy Village?" Flamemon frowned. "We can't just leave it like this."

"What could we do to fix it?" Sam asked.

"I… I don't know…" Flamemon admitted. "I honestly have no idea… It's not like I can purify a whole village…"

"Are you sure about that?" Biyomon asked, catching Sam and Flamemon's attention.

"Do you know something that we don't?" Sam questioned.

"Well, I haven't seen it myself, but my parents told me and my brother about how the Legendary Warriors used this device to purify fractal codes. And they once restored the entire village of the Flame Terminal when some greedy Digimon was trying to consume it," Biyomon explained.

"So, you're saying I can purify the village?" Flamemon asked. "That's… kinda a tall order for me…"

"I'm saying it's possible, even if it might just be a myth," Biyomon answered. "My parents could've been exaggerating it."

"I guess… we won't know until you try," Sam said to Flamemon.

"I'm back!" Floramon announced as she came through the wall, dragging in something with her vines. "And I found these two."

Floramon brought in a Kokuwamon and…

"Tucker!" Sam and Flamemon said in relief, seeing that he was here and alive.

"Oh! Hey you two! Good to see some friendly faces after being attacked by flowers and tree stumps." Tucker grinned.

"While I would normally resent the 'attacked by flowers and tree stumps' comment, in this case, I'll let it slide." Sam groaned, but she was smiling, showing she was also glad to see Tucker.

"I'll say it's good to see you!" Flamemon said in relief as well. "I was wondering what happened to you and Kokuwamon."

"We got stuck in a tree," Tucker answered.

"So did we, though when I tried to climb down, the tree glitched out," Sam remarked.

"No… I mean, Kokuwamon refused to let go of the tree for a while, so we were stuck there until he was satisfied," Tucker sighed.

"I liked the tree," Kokuwamon explained. "I was also hungry, so I needed to eat some sort of electrical current, which the tree gave off in abundance."

"Kokuwamon can eat electricity?" Flamemon asked in surprise. "That's kinda cool actually…"

"Well, Kokuwamon is a machine-like bug Digimon…" Tucker chuckled sheepishly.

"Regardless, I'm just glad you got here and are safe." Sam said to Tucker.

"Yeah, me too. I don't think Kokuwamon would've been able to handle all those vegetables attacking us," Tucker chuckled before he looked at Floramon. "Speaking of which, isn't this thing one of them?"

"Actually, I'm the only normal one here," Floramon answered. "Everyone else seemed to have gotten infected by that Digimon's fog."

Tucker blinked, but realized there had to be a reason why this Floramon wasn't affected by the ectoplasmic fog. "Okay… But how did you escape being infected?"

"I was outside of the village collecting ingredients for our special soup when that Digimon flew by, covering the village in that weird fog," Floramon explained. "So I was the only one who didn't get taken in by that fog."

"Why don't you try this soup?" Biyomon suggested. "It might help you regain your strength. After that, we'll have to figure out what we're going to do next."

"Well, you can't fight on an empty stomach." Tucker said with a grin as he sat down and reached for a bowl of the soup.

Sam decided it would be wise not to tell Tucker how the soup was made.

"Would you mind if I sapped some of the tree's electricity?" Kokuwamon requested.

"Make sure you do it from the floor. If you tried to do it on the walls, you'll make the tree blink, and we could get caught by the others," Floramon warned.

"Thank you for the warning, I will keep that in mind," Kokuwamon replied.

Biyomon was looking much better now. She sat down next to Sam while the others were eating. Flamemon felt like he needed a little more to regain his strength, he also hoped Agunimon would recover soon.

"Biyomon…" Sam said.

"Hmm?" Biyomon blinked.

"Do you know why I don't like the color pink?" Sam asked.

"You never told me," Biyomon replied. "Why?"

"It's because it represents what my parents think I should be," Sam stated. "I didn't used to be like… this… goth girl, rebellious… I used to do whatever my parents wanted me to. They would often dress me up in these poofy, pink dresses, and take me to these boring, adult parties with them. I could never play with the other kids, I could only 'mingle' with them. No running or laughing allowed, only talk, and you had to talk about business practices or the stock market."

"Sounds like you didn't enjoy yourself," Biyomon noted.

"I hated every second of it," Sam confirmed. "One day, I begged my parents to take me to a public school. I was sick of these home tutors who felt like they were too good for anyone other than royalty. They would often look down on me. My grandmother took my side, and I could never thank her enough for it. I was able to go to public school, and that was when I met with Tucker and… Danny, and Andy."

"You mean the cute Danny?" Biyomon teased Sam jokingly.

Sam huffed, her face turning a bit red. "Shhh! You don't need to announce that."

"Why not? I mean… if you think he's cute, why not just be honest with him?" Biyomon asked.

Sam blushed a bit more. "It would be really awkward to admit I have a crush on one of my best friends." Sam admitted.

"I'm not sure if I get your logic. The fact that you're best friends with him in the first place, shouldn't that make it easier?" Biyomon questioned.

"We're not talking about that right now," Sam sighed.

"Alright, go on with what you want to say," Biyomon chuckled.

"The point is, my friends helped me see that my parents weren't always right. That it was okay for me to like something my parents didn't, that it was okay to be myself, and if anyone couldn't accept that, then they're not worth the trouble. Ever since then, I've been trying to fight back against my parents when they try to get me to do something I didn't like," Sam continued. "I needed to stand up for myself. No more of those bright, pink dresses, no more of those business parties, no more of their forced happy, cheerful morning rituals. I was my own person, not my parents' extension. And I wanted them to see me like that, my own person."

"... But… I take it they still don't?" Biyomon frowned.

"Pretty much." Sam confirmed. "It's difficult when my parents don't see me as their perfect little daughter for being myself. They seem to think I should be like them, and that Danny and Andy have 'ruined' me, made me into a 'bad person'. They call my best friends 'bad influences', but Andy and Danny have been nothing but good influences on me."

Sam sighed. "I can't believe my parents would blame my friends for my 'bad behavior'. I'm only fighting back this hard just so they could finally see me, and not the perfect doll they wanted. Sometimes I wonder if they're right though, if I really am becoming a bad person…"

"Sam…" Biyomon frowned. "I may not have known you for very long, but to me you're a special person. I can see myself in you from the moment we met. You're not a bad person at all. In fact, I respect that you're trying so hard to show you're your own person to your parents. You feel trapped because of them, when you just want them to acknowledge you and let you spread your wings and fly freely on your own."

Sam blinked before she smiled at Biyomon's words. "Yeah, that's true. I do want my parents to see me as my own person. And you're right, it's not a bad thing to be my own person. It just means I am growing up, and that I want to be independent."

"Then don't doubt yourself, Sam. Keep doing what you believe to be right, until one day, you can be free to spread your wings and fly," Biyomon said. "And I'll be there with you, supporting you the best I can. Maybe then you can see, not all pink has to be bad after all."

Sam smiled. "Thanks, Biyomon. I appreciate that, I really do. I guess I just need someone else to be in my corner when I'm down."

Sam knew her friends always had her back, but it felt personal to hear it coming from Biyomon. She wasn't sure why, it wasn't like she knew Biyomon for very long. But talking to Biyomon was almost like talking to herself in a weird way. Maybe Biyomon was right, maybe Sam can make an exception for pink after all, as long as it's Biyomon.

Floramon was giggling at something. She appeared to be standing on her own, looking at the wall. "S-stop that! Y-you know t-that tickles!"

"H-huh?" Sam looked over, seeing Floramon was giggling. "W-what's going on with Floramon?"

"Oh, my apologies," Floramon sheepishly replied. "A friend of mine… a human girl who I talk to from time to time was trying to cheer me up, and she started tickling me."

"You… have a human you talk with?" Sam asked, surprised.

Flamemon remembered the whole 'phantom human' thing at Primary Village. "I think it must be the girl Floramon got assigned. We might not be able to see the human, but Floramon can, especially if the human is using her computer."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," Sam realized. "So it's like with me and Biyomon before."

"And me with Kokuwamon," Tucker added.

"I wonder who her human is," Kokuwamon remarked in interest. "And if she would come here one day."

"Well… if she ends up like the other players, I don't know if that's a good idea." Tucker frowned.

"No way, she wouldn't be like those other players, she's the nicest human I know!" Floramon defended. "If she ever did come here, I know she'd want to do everything she can to help us."

"We'll just have to take Floramon's word for it." Flamemon sighed. "But, if we have another human who could help us, I'm not complaining."

"Do you know this human's name?" Sam asked. "If we're lucky, it could be someone we know."

"Her name is J-" Floramon began to say when the entire area began shaking.

"A-another earthquake!?" Tucker shouted in worry.

Floramon narrowed her eyes, trying to dig her feet into the ground to try to feel what's going on. "No, not an earthquake. A Digimon is causing this! They're right under the village!"

"What?! Aw man! Just when we seem to get a break, something else happens!" Flamemon groaned out.

"I hope it's not an attacking Digimon. We've had bad luck with those lately." Sam muttered.

Floramon's eyes widened in alarm. "Everybody out! It's coming right at us!"

"W-what about the zombies!?" Tucker gulped.

"Worry about those later! Move!" Biyomon shouted.

Everyone ran out of the tree just before a cyclone came up, taking out the hiding tree. Sam, Biyomon, Tucker, Kokuwamon, Flamemon, and Floramon looked up as the cyclone slowed down, showing the creature that was responsible for it. The Digimon landed in front of them.

"More humans! Me should have known you would be responsible for this big mess!" Gigasmon shouted angrily.

"Um… Why does this guy give off a very powerful air about him?" Sam asked, not sure if she liked the idea of fighting this Digimon.

"This guy is definitely strong…" Flamemon hissed, his fur standing on end, making him look like a puffed up cat.

"I believe he's the same Digimon that caused that earthquake outside of the forest," Kokuwamon warned.

Flamemon heard information on Gigasmon in his head. Not only that, but he felt some sort of strange kinship with Gigasmon.

Gigasmon looked at Flamemon. "You! You Legendary Warrior, are you not?"

Flamemon blinked, but nodded, realizing this could be a chance to avoid a fight. "Y-yes! I am!"

"Why you not take care of these humans!?" Gigasmon growled. "This world is a mess because of them!"

"These humans are not behind this with Breezy Village!" Flamemon said, standing his ground. "I should know, they're good humans, who care about this world and want to help it. I've worked with them before, so I know their intentions are good."

"Don't tell me. You a human using the Spirit of a Legendary Warrior too? Only humans would give humans a chance to mess everything up!" Gigasmon snapped. "If you won't destroy these invaders, then I will!"

"Yo, you have a problem with every human? That's racist! Or… specist!" Tucker shouted.

Gigasmon only roared angrily at Tucker.

"I don't think he's in a listening mood, Tucker!" Sam warned.

Kokuwamon and Biyomon stood in front of their partners to protect them.

"Traitors! Look around you! You keep humans safe, this is what the world will become!" Gigasmon shouted.

"I won't let you hurt them!" Flamemon growled out, his fur looking more puffed out than usual.

"We'll protect our partners as well!" Biyomon said in agreement.

"Protecting the humans is a priority right now." Kokuwamon agreed.

"How long you think you traitors will last?" Gigasmon grinned. "Let's see you try!"

Gigasmon jumped up high, lifting his big fists. "Tectonic Slam!"

Gigasmon slammed his fists into the ground, causing the ground to shake, and the rocks to pop out.

"Everyone, MOVE!" Flamemon shouted as he dodged rocks that were coming out of the ground.

Biyomon and Kokuwamon grabbed onto their humans and flew up quickly. They wanted to get their humans away from the ground since Gigasmon was using the earth against them.

Floramon ran to the side. Gigasmon wasn't aiming for her, but she had to get away from the crossfire.

"You have to listen! We weren't the ones who did this to the village!" Sam called from the air.

"Yeah! It was that half ghost, half Digimon Megadramon's fault!" Tucker added.

"You lie! There is no such thing as half ghost and half Digimon!" Gigasmon shouted. "Quagmire Twister!"

Gigasmon was creating another tornado to try to catch the humans and their treacherous partners again.

Flamemon growled, seeing this. Please, Agunimon! Lend me your power again! I need to save Sam and Tucker! PLEASE!

Flamemon felt the familiar heat of Agunimon awakening inside him. Flamemon smiled, feeling Agunimon was responding again.

"Flamemon, digivolve to…" Fractal code surrounded Flamemon before it dissipated, revealing the form of Agunimon once more. "Agunimon!"

Now back in his Human Spirit form, Agunimon jumped into the air and decided to counter Gigasmon's twister with one of his own. Fire flickered from his armor on his shoulders, knees, wrists, and ankles as he spun around, fire enveloping him completely. "Pyro Tornado!"

The two tornados clashed with each other. Gigasmon's twister was stronger, however, and was pushing Agunimon back.

"Hurry, Biyomon! Land!" Sam quickly said.

"You too, Kokuwamon!" Tucker instructed.

"Working on it!" Biyomon called.

Biyomon and Kokuwamon managed to land a little bit away from the two tornadoes. Agunimon was relieved he was able to stall Gigasmon long enough for the others to get to safety, but he was soon overwhelmed by Gigasmon's power. He lost his Pyro Tornado and was sucked into the cyclone and was smacked several feet away by Gigasmon's spinning fist. Agunimon grunted as he went through a few trees before hitting the ground.

"Ugh… That was a very stupid move…" Agunimon groaned out as he managed to sit up, but he definitely felt the impacts of hitting the trees.

Gigasmon landed near Agunimon. "You weak… you definitely reek of human… But you no match for my beast form! I rid you, but I must rid humans first!"

"No… I won't let you!" Agunimon exclaimed as he got back to his feet. He staggered a bit, but regained his footing. Damn… This guy is no joke. I'll have to be more careful of his attacks… Wait, did he say 'beast form'?

"Are you… a Legendary Warrior too?" Agunimon asked.

"Of course I am! Me, Gigasmon…" Gigasmon surrounded himself with fractal code, changing into the smaller gnome form. "And me, Grumblemon, am the Legendary Warrior of Earth! Sent by Master Cherubimon to rid humans from this world!"

"Ah… Agunimon, Warrior of Flame…" Agunimon said warily. "But… listen… please… Not all humans are bad, I mean it! Please, just don't hurt them! They truly want to help this world!"

"Quiet now! I see no proof that humans want to help!" Grumblemon growled.

"We may not be as safe as we'd like…" Kokuwamon warned.

"No way…" Tucker paled.

They were surrounded by Floramon and green Woodmon again.

"Man, they're fast…" Tucker frowned.

"Why are they focusing on us? Why not that twister boy back there? He's causing more of a ruckus than we are." Sam frowned.

"We'll have to figure that out later," Biyomon said. "Sam, do you trust me to protect you?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, I do." She confirmed. "I trust you to protect me."

"Come on, Kokuwamon! Knock them out!" Tucker encouraged.

"I will try my best, Tucker!" Kokuwamon responded.

"Power Surge!" Kokuwamon shot out electricity at the Floramon.

The Floramon yelled out in pain.

The Woodmon, however, kept moving forward.

"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon called out as she shot out green spiraling flames at the Woodmon.

Despite the attack being fire based, the Spiral Twister hit the Woodmon's chest, but only a small burn mark was left. They kept going, like they didn't even feel the attack.

"Great… This isn't working!" Tucker groaned. "When it seems like an idea may work, it backfires on us instead!"

"These Woodmon are at their Champion level," Kokuwamon explained. "But they seem even more formidable than normal. Woodmon are supposed to be brown, not green."

"They must've absorbed the ectoplasm in the fog." Biyomon frowned.

One of the Woodmon charged forward with its branch arms. Biyomon pushed Sam away before the branch grabbed onto her. Biyomon struggled to get out, but she felt her energy being drained quickly.

"Biyomon!" Sam called out in concern.

"No!" Tucker shouted. "Kokuwamon… should be able to do something, but… those Woodmon are so strong…"

Kokuwamon started running over to the Woodmon that had Biyomon, but another Woodmon was coming at him. In order to defend himself, Kokuwamon held out his arms and scissor hands. "Dis-Assembler!"

Kokuwamon was trying to hold back the other Woodmon. The Floramon were starting to get up again, and were moving closer to them.

Tucker and Sam found themselves helpless. Their partners were no match for these Digimon, Agunimon was busy with that stronger Digimon, and they had no idea where Danny, Andy, and Valerie were.

It's hopeless… maybe I should've just stayed home like a good girl after all… Sam thought in despair. Who was I trying to fool? I'm nobody special… just a scared little girl…

"S… Sam…"

Sam opened her eyes as Biyomon was thrown down in front of her, looking drained and hurt.

"B-Biyomon…?" Sam was worried for Biyomon. "I… I couldn't help you…" Sam was shaking now.

Biyomon coughed a little. "Sam… you… didn't you… want to… keep fighting?"

"How can we keep fighting? You're hurt! We can't beat them!" Sam shouted, feeling scared for herself, and for Biyomon. "We can't… we're not superheroes… we're just… just… ordinary."

"No… Sam… you…" Biyomon coughed again. "... don't believe… that… you fight… for your… identity… for your… true self… you didn't… give up… you want… to fly… freely… didn't you…?"

Sam then remembered what Biyomon had been telling her. "Y-yeah… I… I do… I do want to be able to fly… I do want to be my own person…" She clenched her fists. "And… facing down hardships is… a part of growing up, of becoming independent… But… we can't do it alone… We can only overcome what is before us together."

"That's… right… together…" Biyomon weakly agreed.

Suddenly, Biyomon's body began to glow brightly. "Ugh… gaaah!"

"Biyomon!? What's going on? Are you hurt?" Sam asked in concern.

"Sam… I can feel it… your heart's desire, your wish to break out of your parents' perception of you, and your will to keep fighting for what you believe in… it fills me with power!" Biyomon said, regaining her energy as her body glowed brighter. "We will fly freely, Sam! I know we will!"

Fractal code surrounded Biyomon. "Biyomon, digivolve to…" Her pink feathers were peeled away from her body as her body began to grow in size. Blazing orange feathers formed on her body, with her beak elongating and sharp teeth sticking out of it. Her eyes opened, revealing they were a blue color. The fractal code dissipated, revealing the new Digimon. "Birdramon!"

Sam gaped at the new Digimon. It was a giant orange bird covered in blazing orange feathers, and the beak had sharp teeth sticking out of it. It looked like a giant phoenix of some kind, but it was also more bird-like too. "Whoa… That is a cool evolution…"

"Oh… giant mama bacon in the sky, that's a big bird…" Tucker said in awe, having witnessed the evolution himself.

"You may wear dark colors, Sam, but inside you burns the brightest of flames," Birdramon stated in a deeper voice. "We will show the darkness inside these Digimon the flames of light!"

The Woodmon and Floramon began charging at them. Birdramon flew up, spreading out her flaming wings. Her wings glowed brightly.

Agunimon, Grumblemon, and the only non-infected Floramon looked up in the sky when they saw something brightly shining that wasn't the sun.

"W-what the heck?" Agunimon murmured, seeing the giant flaming bird. Why does that Digimon feel familiar despite looking so different?

"It's amazing… It's so pretty…" Floramon smiled.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called out as large flames came out of her wings and at the Woodmon and Floramon.

The infected Digimon let out screams of pain and agony as they were being burned alive. When the flames dispersed, they laid there, their fractal codes showing.

"Sam! Are you seeing this?" Tucker pointed out.

"Yeah, their fractal codes!" Sam nodded. "It's covered in ectoplasm!"

The ectoplasm was dripping from the fractal code.

"Agunimon!" Birdramon called out. "We need your assistance for purifying these poor Digimon!"

Agunimon knew what he had to do. "I'm on it!" He said as he ran forwards to the Digimon on the ground. Agunimon stopped in front of a poor Woodmon and held up his D-Tector. "I hope this thing can purify all these Digimon at once…" He muttered as he looked at the device before turning back to the Woodmon in front of him.

"Time to have the flames release you from this curse!" Agunimon exclaimed as he held up his D-Tector, pressing the button on the side. The screen lit up with the symbol of Flame as the scanner came to life. Agunimon swung his arm before running the scanner across the fractal code of the Woodmon. "Fractal Code… Digitize!"

As Agunimon scanned the Woodmon's fractal code, the fractal code of the other Digimon on the ground also began to run through the D-Tector's scanner, much to Agunimon's surprise and relief; it looked like he wouldn't be scanning the infected Digimon one at a time after all.

Finally, the last Digimon, a Floramon, had her fractal code scanned and purified. Agunimon then held his D-Tector to his chest, the scanner on top of the D-Tector going dark. "Purification, complete."

The Woodmon degenerated back into the Mushroomon they were before after the purification was over.

"What you just do?" Grumblemon shouted as he ran over to them.

"I think it's pretty obvious. I just helped these poor Digimon," Agunimon stated.

"But you still refuse to take on the humans!?" Grumblemon snapped.

"Do you feel like you can take us on now?" Sam asked.

"All of us?" Birdramon added, glaring at Grumblemon.

Agunimon looked up at Birdramon, a smile on his face. "Nice work, by the way."

Birdramon smiled at Agunimon in response to his comment.

Grumblemon looked unsure as he was facing down a Champion level Digimon and a fellow Legendary Warrior.

"Grumblemon."

Grumblemon turned to see who said his name, and was surprised to see that lone Floramon. "Huh? What you want?"

"These children just saved our village," Floramon stated. "On behalf of Breezy Village, I forbid you from hurting them while they remain under our protection. If you're a proper Legendary Warrior, you know what that means, don't you? If you attack them now, you'll be breaking a law."

"You can't be serious! These are humans! The same people who wrecked the station at Flame Terminal! Who raided your village! Why you let them go!?" Grumblemon demanded.

"I think you're mistaken, Grumblemon. They may be humans, but they are not the same people who destroyed the station at the Flame Terminal, nor were they the same ones who raided our village," Floramon stated firmly. "You may go now, Grumblemon, your services aren't needed here."

Agunimon watched this warily, not sure if Grumblemon would just leave. But, to his surprise, Grumblemon did back off.

"Fine… but me warn you, no trust humans. They may betray at any point." Grumblemon muttered, clearly not happy about being forced to leave, nor happy that the inhabitants of Breezy Village were willing to trust humans.

Grumblemon looked back at Agunimon and the others. "Don't think you off the hook so easily. We keep close eye on you!"

Grumblemon dug underground, disappearing.

"Hey!" Agunimon shouted.

"It's okay, he's already leaving," Floramon assured them.

"Good…" Birdramon said before fractal code surrounded her body, shrinking her back down to her Biyomon form. "Cause… I'm too tired… to fight anymore…"

Agunimon sighed, but he was glad Grumblemon was gone. "At least we saved Breezy Village…" He sighed before fractal code surrounded him as well, and he reverted back to his human form of Takuya. "Hey… I'm me again instead of that weird Digimon hybrid thing I was earlier!"

"Welcome back, dude!" Tucker grinned.

"So that's what you look like," Floramon noted with interest.

"Um… yeah, normally… I have no idea how I became that weird Digimon form I was in earlier though." Takuya admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

Sam looked around Breezy Village. "It may not be glitching out anymore, but this place still looks like a mess…"

"Yeah… but no worries, we'll be able to clean it up, and replant our garden and trees," Floramon reassured them.

Sam smiled. "You know, I do a bit of gardening myself. How about we help you fix this place up?"

"What? Sam, are you serious?" Tucker frowned. "What about Megadramon!"

"We can't go after him with how tired our Digimon are," Sam pointed out. "Besides, we still need to wait for Danny's group to get here. We might as well kill time by helping fix up Breezy Village. Besides, some gardening skills would do you some good, wouldn't you say?"

Tucker grumbled. "I guess it wouldn't hurt…"

"Hey, the girls may like a man who can garden~" Takuya snickered.

"In that case, I'm all over it!" Tucker smiled, suddenly full of energy.

"He went from being tired to full of energy… should I be worried?" Kokuwamon asked.

"No, that's normal for Tucker…" Sam sighed with a sweatdrop running down the side of her head. "He will do anything to get the attention of girls…"

"That does not compute…" Kokuwamon sighed.

"Heh… of course it doesn't… humans are weird like that…" Biyomon chuckled tiredly.

"Congratulations on your digivolution," Kokuwamon replied. "You really saved us back there."

"No… it was thanks to Sam… she was the reason… why I was able to digivolve in the first place…" Biyomon stated.

"I… I just listened to your advice…" Sam admitted sheepishly. "You did some of the hard work too…"

"I was just being honest with you, Sam." Biyomon chuckled.

"Ugh… what happened?" A Floramon asked as she began waking up.

"I feel like a tree fell on me…" A Mushroomon groaned.

The Floramon who had been with the others, rushed over to the waking up group. "Good morning, I'm glad to see you're finally free of your nightmares."

"Wh-wha… What happened? Last I remember, there was an oddly colored Digimon flying overhead and then everything went blank." Another Floramon muttered.

"I'll explain everything later, but first…" The friend Floramon smiled as she gestured to Takuya and the others. "Meet my new friends. They're going to help us rebuild Breezy Village."

The Floramon and Mushroomon looked at the group curiously.

"Hey, they don't look so bad now that they're not trying to kill us," Tucker whispered to Sam.

Sam rolled her eyes at Tucker. "So, how about we get started?"

---

Tucker and Kokuwamon were helping with the agriculture, though Takuya did most of the hard work since he was stronger than Tucker. Sam was in charge of planting the right seeds, along with some of the Floramon. The Mushroomon and Floramon spread their spores to give the plants good health, while also watering the new seeds.

After the agriculture, Takuya and Tucker started helping out with the houses, trying to rebuild them. Tucker needed Kokuwamon's help to saw the wood, while Takuya brought the wood over to the houses. After regaining her strength and energy, Sam had Biyomon fly up to the roof with the roof tiles. The Mushroomon brought more food from outside their village. They were talking to the Floramon about how they could make even better food for guests later.

Takuya wiped away some sweat from his face. "Whew… this is hard work…" He noted before grinning. "But the village is looking better than it was when we first got here."

"Tell me about it. I will be able to impress the ladies when I mention I helped to rebuild things." Tucker remarked with a grin of his own.

"Thank you, all of you. You saved us, and helped us rebuild our village." Their friend Floramon smiled. "Thanks to you, we were able to finally build that restaurant we've been meaning to build now."

"Yeah, but without the Trailmon running, we're not going to get a lot of costumers," Mushroomon pointed out.

"Don't worry, we plan to fix that too," Sam promised.

"Hey…"

Takuya blinked when he heard a familiar voice, and turned.

"We finally found you guys! And Breezy Village!" Danny smiled.

Danny was carrying Patamon in his arms. Andy was standing beside him with Lopmon on his head, and Valerie was behind Andy with Salamon beside her.

"So this is Breezy Village. It looks a lot better down here than it did up there," Valerie complemented.

"Well… we were helping to rebuild it…" Takuya admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, it was quite the mess when we got here." Tucker replied.

"Where've you guys been? You missed out on all the fun!" Sam chuckled before she ran up to Danny, hugging him. "But I was worried about you, you know."

"Aww, Sam hugged Danny, I guess you really missed him," Andy chuckled. "Just don't crush Patamon while you're at it."

Sam backed away quickly. "Whoops! Sorry!" She said, not even noticing Danny was blushing from the hug.

"I-it's okay, Sam, we were… um… worried about you too… err, all of you, we were worried about all of you," Danny stammered.

"What my brother means is… we're glad you're all safe and sound," Andy spoke up for his brother.

"Something smells good…" Lopmon licked his lips. "Could we eat here for a while?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Sure, the soup here is really good, so you'll like it."

"So Takuya, I see you're back to normal," Andy noted.

"How did that happen?" Valerie asked.

"I'll tell you about what happened later. How about we get some grub? Farming and rebuilding the houses really works up an appetite," Takuya chuckled.

"Food definitely sounds like an excellent idea, we just came out of a tough battle ourselves," Salamon agreed.

"Then come on, we just finished building a new restaurant here. We've got the VIP for it~" Biyomon winked.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: Yeah, the digivolutions are always the fun part. XD

pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: Thanks! And as for Valerie, yeah, it is a good thing she can talk to Team Phantom about the Warriors. And yep! Takuya is in his rookie form for a while here! XD This will not be the last time either~ XD And don't worry, he will overcome his fear, just not right away.

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, the whole prophecy thing sounded like a good hook for what's to come, and for our characters to stress out about it. Also, I had to confiscate a lot of those chocolates you sent to keep Andy from getting himself sick.

Andy: I would not eat myself sick!

DarkFoxKit: Continuing the review, we already have Biyomon's digivolution set. Valerie and Sam becoming friends? They might be on better terms with each other than in the show, but I wouldn't call them friends. If you don't think Danny and Patamon are going to be partners, what do you think they are then?

Guest: ZAFT: Thanks for the review! You will see what happens with Jazz as the story goes along. XD And don't worry, you will see what happens with Danny and Patamon… :3

Guest chapter 31 . Apr 16

Wow, this is a great chapter. Liked the fact that Yokomon and Kapurimon got to digivolve. Kinda hoping to see Jazz get a digimon at some point. Danny might want to tell Patamon and the rest soon otherwise it will blow up in his face if he doesn't.

Rising Moonlight: DarkFoxKit: Unfortunately for Takuya, he will not be getting over his fear of BurningGreymon any time soon.

Yokomon and Kapurimon haven't reached their Champion levels yet. They are at their Rookie stage.

ZAFT: As for the Digimon disliking ghosts, it's more of a 'you can hurt me, I can hurt you' kind of deal. Ectoplasm is vulnerable to data, and data is vulnerable to ectoplasm. So while Digimon can hurt ghosts and vice versa, they will be hurt just as badly by each other.

And as for the digivolution paths for Kapurimon and Yokomon, you will see what those are since we have that already planned out. :3