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.

73. Consequences

ZAFT: Here is another chapter today!

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, another chapter. Hard to believe it's almost Valentine's Day too. The year is going by so quickly.

ZAFT: True. Anyway, we don't want to keep the readers waiting. Let's get into the chapter!

DarkFoxKit: But I do wanna say that I finally finished my first let's play series on Youtube. I feel quite happy about that. :D

---

Chapter 73: Consequences

"Are you okay?" Andy asked Danny when he saw Danny had come back home, and returned to his human form, and sat down on the couch next to Patamon, who hadn't said anything to Danny.

"I don't really feel okay, bro…" Danny admitted.

Andy frowned before he and Lopmon sat down on the couch beside Danny and Patamon.

"I'm sorry about… how I was acting when I was dating with Paulina, bro… and especially to you, Patamon…" Danny apologized. "I've been an idiot…"

"So you admit you were acting more blindly than you normally do?" Patamon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You didn't have to word it like that…" Danny pouted. "But… yes, I do. I wasn't listening to you when I should've… when you tried to tell me something was off about Paulina."

"I'll admit, I didn't push very hard to get your attention when I should've myself," Patamon gave a sigh of his own. "I knew you were in love with that girl. Despite my own misgivings, I couldn't bring myself to push you away from her."

"But… it wasn't her… was it?" Lopmon frowned.

Danny shook his head as he rubbed his hair. "No… it wasn't. The Paulina I fell in love with, the Paulina I had gotten to know over the week… to see her in a different light than just being the hot, popular girl in school who was snobby… wasn't real. Paulina has no memory of us dating, or getting to know me. I know I was being an idiot by ignoring my friends, but… my feelings for Paulina were real…"

"So it felt like a shot to the heart when you realize the Paulina you had been falling for over the week wasn't real," Andy stated.

"Yeah… especially when I realized, and it sunk into my head, that the Paulina… who was Kitty… was only using me as a tool to get back at Johnny," Danny sighed. "It… felt like that was all I was good for, being used as a tool…"

Lopmon felt bad for Danny, "Why does that sound unnaturally cruel?" He asked, his ears wrapping around his body slightly.

"Because it is cruel," Andy said, gently rubbing Lopmon's head while making sure to avoid the horns. "Kitty basically played with Danny's heart, making him fall for her more over the course of the week, and making sure to not leave him alone when she could help it. But she never felt the same towards him. It's like… spending all this time together, only to realize the other person you hung out with, and got to know, wasn't real. It hurts… believe me, I know the feeling…"

Lopmon frowned, his eyes showing his innocence. "I don't like it when others are cruel like that…"

"No one does." Danny admitted. "But the point is… I am sorry for the way I treated you guys, and I don't think I'll be able to see Paulina in the same light ever again."

"You shouldn't blame Paulina for this," Patamon said. "She's as much of a victim as you are. A week of her life was taken away from her. None of this was her own choice or her own doing."

"Do you think we should've scolded Kitty for what she did or something?" Lopmon asked. "After all, this was her fault."

"I get the feeling it isn't a big deal for ghosts. Perhaps overshadowing others for their own benefits and deceiving another is a regular thing with them," Patamon sighed softly. "Ghosts have different morals than Digimon and humans do, because they don't have to worry about their mortality as much. So they don't treasure the time or the emotions of the living."

"Well… that's just bull crap…" Andy said bitterly.

Danny looked down. He then remembered Andy had gone through something similar like this before, when he found out his friend, Phantom, wasn't… real. Kitty just did the same thing to Danny with Paulina. He felt guilty, and he wondered if Andy was still affected by that even after all this time.

Danny then gave a wry chuckle. "I guess… in a way, this is my karma for pulling something similar on Andy once."

"You did something like this to Andy?" Lopmon frowned.

"In truth, he sort of did that to me too, when I discovered his ghost half," Patamon said.

"But this is different," Andy said. "You did it because you were scared. You didn't want us to see you differently, bro. Kitty only did it to manipulate you, and hurt you without really caring about the consequences."

Danny sighed. "I know, but in a way, it's kinda fitting." He admitted. "I just… I just hate myself for being so blinded by my love for Paulina! I feel so stupid!"

"Danny," Andy spoke up, putting a hand on Danny's shoulder to calm him down. "Stop beating yourself up for this. It's normal to fall in love with someone you had a crush on, especially since you weren't used to dealing with that kind of love. I don't like that she broke your heart, but… that's just part of the course."

"The important thing is that you learn from it, and try not to let it happen again," Patamon added. "And I should learn to speak up more when I want to be heard."

Danny smiled. "You're right, both of you." He then sighed. "I guess… I just need some time to process what happened and… get past it, you know?"

"Yeah… I know I need time too…" Andy said softly. "How many times have I almost lost you, bro? I'm still… scared of that happening. In a way, I've been trying to run away from that, so I started distracting myself with plans, and ideas of training. Because… I hate feeling so powerless when bad things happen."

Danny frowned. "I… I knew you were upset about that but…" He trailed off before putting a hand on Andy's shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze to calm Andy down.

Andy looked over at Danny and gave him a small smile, putting a hand over Danny's hand. Lopmon got onto Andy's lap and hugged him.

"You know I'll always be there to help you," Lopmon said softly.

"And you're not as helpless as you think. You were the one who managed to get Danny and Takuya back from Freakshow," Patamon stated.

"We all played a part in that," Andy said. "And we will do it again to figure out the time differences in the Digital World too. Are you… still coming with me and Lopmon to the Digital World tomorrow morning, bro?"

Danny chuckled. "Actually, I'm looking forward to it. It will give me something else to focus on other than my heart-break right now."

"Let's just hope whatever's going on in the Digital World, it's nothing serious," Patamon said.

Jazz was watching the brothers talk things out from the kitchen. She decided to wait and see what would happen if she left them alone. She smiled, happy to see they were able to work things out. Though a part of her felt sad that they didn't need her as much anymore. She hoped that… maybe she can find a way to still be useful to them as they grow up and face more challenges ahead.

Jazz backed away and took out her cell phone, calling someone. "Hello? Dr. Carbon? I took your advice, and let the boys talk things out. It worked pretty well."

"Oh, that's good to hear!" Dr. Carbon's voice said in relief. "I'm glad it worked out for them. Sometimes you need to let issues be solved by the ones suffering from it. It helps their growing minds learn how to hear others out."

"Yeah, I suppose so…" Jazz sighed.

"You sound melancholic about it," Dr. Carbon noted.

"I guess I just feel like… they don't need me as much anymore," Jazz admitted.

"It's normal to feel like that. You've been their big sister their whole lives. It's never easy to see them branching out on their own. But you should let them be able to sink or swim on their own if you want them to learn," Dr. Carbon said. "Of course, that's not to say to never be there for them when they need you. Just know when to step in, and when not to."

"Yeah," Jazz agreed. "Thanks though. I might need your advice on Takuya."

"Considering his special ability, I can tell why. I'm sure Takuya will be going through some tough times, but… it'll work out in the end," Dr. Carbon replied.

Jazz chuckled. "No doubt. Okay. I'll keep that in mind. If I need your help again, I'll call you."

"Of course. I'll always be here to give you advice, Jazz," Dr. Carbon replied.

When Jazz hung up, Maxwell looked down at his phone before he gave a heavy sigh. He was sitting at home, and looked over at a mysterious machine that was hooked up to his computer.

"The world of psychology is difficult and complex… the human mind is like an endless maze. You're never sure if you're going in the right direction," Maxwell muttered to himself before removing his glasses and rubbing his forehead. "I wonder if Fredrich knew that before he took the prototype… and now it's gone."

---

I was running with Lopmon. We had to get out of here. Danny and Patamon were trying to get the others to safety. But I didn't know how long that safe place would last.

"This way, Lopmon!" I quickly said, leading Lopmon between a couple of buildings.

There was smoke and fire everywhere. Not only that, there was a blizzard covering half of the city in snow and ice. People were buried in all that snow. Thunder and lightning were striking down the taller buildings with precision. Heavy winds were blowing away everything, and were turning into tornadoes.

"We can't stay here, Andy, they're closing in fast!" Lopmon warned.

"I know… but we need a moment… I can't keep running…" I said, feeling exhausted, and looked at my right foot.

My shoe looked burnt, and my foot wasn't doing much better.

"Let me digivolve and fight them," Lopmon quickly said.

"You've already tried. They almost turned you into a Digi-Egg," I pointed out. "You're still weak from barely surviving their attack."

A jet of toxic green flames leapt by. The form looked tall and slender, with bits of green showing, but it was mostly obscured by the smoke. It had green eyes that were showing, but there was not much else to be shown. A long, shadowy arm reached out, bits of green dripping from its giant, bony-looking hand.

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon quickly shot out his icy wind at the bony-looking hand.

The bony-looking hand pulled back. Andy quickly grabbed Lopmon and hurried out of the buildings.

As Andy ran, he bumped into a familiar figure. "T-Takuya?"

"Andy!" Takuya exclaimed. "W-what are you doing here?! I… I don't know what's going on!"

I backed away from Takuya. "It's a trick… you're not Takuya."

"What do you mean?" 'Takuya' asked with a sinister grin forming on his face. "I am your cousin. I'm hurt you don't think so~"

"You've been plunged into the same mind control thing the others were!" I shouted. "Stay away from us!"

'Takuya' lunged at Andy. "Join us, Andy~ It will be liberating~" He said sinisterly, his voice now getting distorted. "We cOULD UsE yOUr HeLp, aNdY!"

Takuya held out his D-Tector, but it looked weird. The once calm red and black color now looked darker and sinister. Fractal code surrounded Takuya. I felt my heart beating hard against my chest. I backed away and began running.

"COme BAck HerE, aNDy! You'RE NoT ESCapING ME!" Takuya's voice shouted as the shadowy figure from before was shown lunging toward me again.

The shadowy figure was huge and long, nothing like any of Takuya's usual forms. I could see red glowing eyes coming after me. I suddenly felt something cold grabbing my foot, and me and Lopmon screamed as we were pulled under.

---

Andy gasped as he sat up in bed. What… was that a dream? That was… quite the nightmare…

"A-Andy…?" Lopmon asked groggily. "Are… you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine…" Andy said. "Sorry if I woke you. I just… had a rather nasty nightmare."

"It wasn't a vision of the future, was it?"

Andy was surprised to hear Patamon's voice. He looked over at his brother's bed, seeing Patamon was awake.

"No… I mean… it seemed a little too over the top to be a vision of the future…" Andy frowned.

"How was it over the top?" Lopmon asked, now more awake. "I mean, if it seemed over the top, then wasn't it just a dream?"

"You never know," Patamon said. "What was the dream about?"

Andy sighed. "Amity Park was… being destroyed, by fire, snow, wind, and lightning. And Takuya started acting all creepy and weird, almost demonic. And he turned into some kind of creature I've never seen before, chasing after me and Lopmon, before I was suddenly pulled underground."

"Hmmm… while that does sound over the top, I can't help but notice there were four elements that you mentioned, and four of those belong to the human Legendary Warriors." Patamon noted.

Andy began to pale as he remembered something he said in his dream. You've been plunged into the same mind control thing the others were!

"Mind control… I said to Takuya that he was plunged into the same mind control as the others were," Andy stated worriedly.

"What? Mind control? Like with Freakshow's staff? But didn't that thing break or something when Danny dropped it into the ravine?" Lopmon frowned.

"I believe it did." Patamon noted. "But that doesn't mean there couldn't be other ways to control the Legendary Warriors."

Lopmon shivered. "That sounds ominous…"

"Come on, we can't just assume every dream I have is a vision of the future," Andy grumbled.

"Nonetheless, we should be cautious," Patamon warned. "Besides, are we not going into the Digital World to see if the Legendary Warriors are alright?"

"You don't think they've been mind controlled while we were waiting, do you?" Lopmon frowned.

"They better not have…" Andy muttered. "What time is it?"

"5:52 AM," Patamon answered. "I woke up 10 minutes ago. I had an uneasy feeling, so it was difficult for me to sleep."

"I might as well get up then, we have 8 minutes before we gotta go," Andy sighed. I also don't think I can go back to sleep, not after that nightmare…

Lopmon grinned. "Breakfast time~" He sang.

"Patamon, wake Danny up, will you?" Andy requested as he got up out of bed.

Patamon looked over at the sleeping Danny. He walked over in front of Danny's face. "Ice bucket."

Danny grumbled. "What do you want?" He mumbled as he sat up.

"It's almost time to head into the Digital World," Patamon said. "You want to get ready and talk to your parents and sister before going out."

Danny yawned as he got out of bed. "Alright, I'm up… I'm up… Geez… it's so early…"

"Andy may have gotten another premonition," Patamon whispered. "I'm worried about it."

Danny felt his brain jerk into overdrive at hearing that. "W-what?! H-how bad was it?" He whispered back.

"The Legendary Warriors may have gotten mind controlled again, but far worse than when Freakshow controlled you and Agunimon," Patamon whispered. "The town was being destroyed… and Takuya turned into a Digimon Andy didn't recognize. That's a really bad sign."

"Patamon, please don't go sharing that nightmare to Danny, we don't even know if it was a vision!" Andy called from the door. "And I don't want Danny to worry about nothing."

"A bit too late for that," Patamon replied.

Andy groaned. "Look, Danny, it was just a nightmare, alright? Maybe I'm just worried about Takuya turning evil or something."

Danny frowned. "Andy, you know that's like… a very slim chance, right? I mean, the only way that could happen is if someone got a slave collar on Takuya while he is Spirit Evolved."

"We don't even know how it'll happen, or when, worrying about it is just going to exhaust you and drive you into paranoia, and it's too early in the morning for that," Andy grumbled.

"We'll check in on the Legendary Warriors when we get to the Digital World, will that make you and paranoia Patamon feel better?" Lopmon grumbled as well.

Patamon nodded as Danny groaned. "I'm beginning to dislike Andy's ability to have these premonitions…"

"It's no walk in the park for me either, bro," Andy huffed. "Because I don't want to deal with the fact I might be psychic or whatever."

---

Maddie, Jack, and Jazz were already in the kitchen. They looked like a mess.

"Did you guys even sleep?" Danny asked.

"We were waiting to hear from Veemon and the others," Jack explained.

"But they never came back," Maddie sighed. "Either something happened to them, or…"

"Or Andy and Lopmon were right about time being slower in the Digital World now," Jazz grumbled.

"Well, that's why we're going to the Digital World." Patamon grumbled. "To see if it's true or not."

"I'm kinda hoping it isn't slow in the Digital World time-wise…" Danny said sheepishly.

"But if it is…" Andy looked up at his parents and Jazz. "That's why we're letting you know we'll be going there. In case we don't come back for… longer than expected."

"Are you sure you can't just use your D-whatevers to transport us into the Digital World?" Jack asked.

"Someone has to stay behind… and you guys also have to protect the town from ghosts, don't you?" Andy pointed out. "And if we stayed, people will get suspicious, and think we're orphans."

Jack grimaced. He didn't like the idea of any child without a parent for any sort of reason. "Good point…"

"Mom, Dad, Danny and Andy will be fine." Jazz said, trying to reassure her parents. "They know what they're doing. And I'll keep an eye on them when you two have to handle the ghosts, and other things."

"What about Tucker? Wouldn't he be better for keeping an eye on things?" Maddie asked.

"Tucker said he'll be doing that," Andy answered. "But I get the feeling he wants to come too, despite what he said. There's only so much he can do from the outside after all."

"And you two can also help us by talking to your partner Digimon in case something happens," Danny suggested.

"I just… don't know how to feel about this," Maddie sighed. "I'm proud that you boys are helping others, but… we're sending you into potentially dangerous territory. What kind of parents would we be if we keep sending you boys on your own like that? And what if we won't see you again for weeks?"

"We'll find a way to determine the time difference." Danny reassured Maddie. "That's why Tucker's helping us. If anyone can figure out the time difference between the worlds now, it's him and Kokuwamon."

Maddie frowned, but she knew her boys were strong and had good Digimon partners to help them.

"Besides, the Legendary Warriors are there as well, so if any trouble comes up, we can count on them for help too." Danny added.

"Just… be careful, both of you," Jack said softly. "If you aren't back by next weekend, we'll be coming in after you. Is that fair?"

"Yes, that's fair," Andy agreed. I hope it doesn't take us that long…

"We'll take care of them too, you have my word," Patamon promised.

"We haven't let you down yet when it comes to protecting them." Lopmon smiled proudly.

Jack smiled. "I know you won't." He said to Lopmon. "And when you boys get back, there will be a feast awaiting you."

Lopmon smiled widely. "Yay! Food!"

"We'll be leaving soon. Sam, Valerie, and Dash should be getting ready to leave too," Andy said. "I can only hope they have a good excuse for their parents about this. Or, more likely, just leave quietly and hope their parents don't worry too much about them."

"We'll take care of their parents if they start panicking and calling other parents," Maddie promised.

"And I promise I'll make sure Mom and Dad don't use the 'ghost kidnapped the children' excuse either," Jazz added.

Jack pouted. "Awww…"

"Well, in this case, that's not really valid…" Maddie said with a sweatdrop.

Danny chuckled. "We'd best get ready and head to the Digital World soon. We'll need to get going and not waste any time."

Maddie walked around the table and over to her two boys. She gave both of them a hug. "Please… come back safely… both of you, and hopefully, with Takuya."

"We'll do our best, Mom…" Andy said softly.

---

Takuya was standing in the simulation room once again. After Trailmon brought the group back to Seraphimon's Castle, they decided to take a lunch break before coming back here to see if Takuya had truly learned to control his Beast Spirit.

Koji stood in the opposite direction of Takuya. "Alright, Takuya, let's see how well you can control your Beast Spirit now. You'll spar with me, beast to beast."

Takuya grinned. "This should be fun then!" He said as he took out his D-Tector. The red outline of his second Spirit roared and appeared on the screen of his D-Tector as he invoked a ball of fractal coding on his left hand. Takuya swiped the D-Tector over the coding and called out the phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!" He felt the primal power of his Beast Spirit flowing into him as his clothes ripped away and his body became surrounded by the coding. Takuya cried out as the power flooded into his body. His body grew in strength and power as well as size, with red, yellow, black, and white armor forming on his body. A tail extended out from the base of his spine as two large orange wings appeared on his body. His head became like a dragon's almost, but not exactly, and the top of his head was white. His eyes turned sky blue, but had a feral edge to them as well. He landed, crying out his name. "BurningGreymon!"

Now evolved, BurningGreymon looked as intimidating as ever, but he felt calmer, more in control this time. His mind wasn't clouded by rage, like he could think clearly while as a beast.

It's so strange. Whenever I became BurningGreymon before, I always felt like my head was about to be clouded by rage and instinct. But now… it's like when I'm using Agunimon. I have the instincts and the knowledge, but it's not taking over me. BurningGreymon noted to himself.

"So far, so good," Koji remarked. "Now let's see how you'll react to another beast standing before you!"

Fractal code surrounded Koji before it dissipated, showing KendoGarurumon before him.

BurningGreymon recognized the other Beast Spirit and tensed up a bit, but he didn't lash out. Rather, it seemed like he was more wary of the other Beast Spirit, mostly due to having a bad first encounter with the Beast Warrior of Light.

KendoGarurumon sized up BurningGreymon, but didn't go in for an attack right away. Both beasts were being cautious.

Koichi, Tommy, JP, and Zoe were watching from the outside of the simulation room. They were relieved to see BurningGreymon isn't going on a rampage, but the true test didn't begin until the battle started.

Deciding to make the first move, KendoGarurumon opened his maw. "Lupine Laser!"

KendoGarurumon fired out a beam of light from his maw, aimed at BurningGreymon.

BurningGreymon saw the laser incoming, but he flared his wings and crouched before jumping up, flapping his wings a few times to get airborne. The laser sped below him. Blue eyes flashed once as he aimed his cannons at the other beast. "Pyro Barrage!"

BurningGreymon fired out bullets of heat at KendoGarurumon from his arms. KendoGarurumon saw the attack coming, and used the wheels behind his paws to move him away from the attack quickly. KendoGarurumon was smaller than BurningGreymon, but he was fast. KendoGarurumon jumped at BurningGreymon, tackling him into the ground. The armor made KendoGarurumon weigh quite a lot.

Geez! How much does Koji's Beast Spirit form weigh?! BurningGreymon thought as he grunted, trying to push the smaller beast off of him. He's even heavier than Uncle Jack!

BurningGreymon was able to shove KendoGarurumon off of his body, with the other beast landing on his paws easily.

BurningGreymon noted he wasn't feeling angry, or even having uncontrollable rage now. It was… very relieving.

"Howling Star!" KendoGarurumon launched himself at BurningGreymon at full speed, folding out his wings, which looked more like golden blades, not likely to be used for flying, but for cutting.

BurningGreymon saw those sharp blades and remembered how dangerous they were. He growled a bit, but he didn't go out of control. Fire flickered from his armor as it began to coat his body. With a shout, BurningGreymon launched the fire at KendoGarurumon. "Wildfire Tsunami!"

KendoGarurumon and BurningGreymon clashed with each other. The blades cut through some of BurningGreymon's armor, at the same time, KendoGarurumon was definitely feeling the burn from the Wildfire Tsunami. Both of them pushed against each other in a battle of willpower for a moment.

So this is what a battle between two beast Legendary Warriors is like. Tommy noted as he watched the two going at it. It's quite brutal. The power of the beast is no laughing matter.

Finally, after a while, KendoGarurumono and BurningGreymon broke off, and jumped back from each other. BurningGreymon saw some cuts through his armor, feeling a stinging pain. While KendoGarurumon's armor looked burnt, but not alarmingly so. Both were just a little hurt from the attack.

KendoGarurumon looked up at BurningGreymon. "It looks like you're still in control."

"Yeah… It's… kinda weird, but… in a good way. It's like when I use Agunimon's Spirit now, just… more powerful." BurningGreymon admitted. "I think I could get used to using my Beast Spirit."

"That's good. You've finally managed to control your Beast Spirit, now you've opened up a lot more options for yourself in battle," KendoGarurumon replied.

BurningGreymon felt himself grinning at this. "I can't wait to tell Andy and Danny the good news!"

"Now that you've gained control of your Beast Spirit, you'll have to practice using it when you can. Your body isn't quite used to using the Beast Spirit right now, so it'll be difficult for you to use it for long," KendoGarurumon explained.

As if on cue, fractal code surrounded BurningGreymon, turning him back into Takuya. Takuya fell on his hands and knees, feeling exhausted.

"Before, when you lost control, the Beast Spirit took most of the energy. But now that it's no longer taking control of you, you'll have to learn to maintain your beast energy," KendoGarurumon explained, before he reverted back to Koji.

"Reminds me… of when I first turned into Agunimon." Takuya panted out. "Geez… that's tiring…"

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it before long," Koji chuckled as he walked over to Takuya and held out his hand.

Takuya took Koji's hand, and was pulled back to his feet. "Thanks."

The others all gave sighs of relief.

"The test was a success, Takuya has finally learned to control his beast form," Koichi announced.

"It's about time! Now we don't have to worry about him losing control anymore!" JP cheered.

"We should thank Tommy for that, he's the one who helped Takuya learn to control himself." Zoe smiled, making Tommy blush.

"All I did was remind him of who he was when he was out of control," Tommy timidly said.

Koichi grinned. "Well, either way, it worked. At least it was easier than how I learned to control my own Spirits."

"So we just have to help Tommy control his Beast Spirit once he finds it," Zoe remarked.

Tommy frowned. "Do you think… I'd be just as violent as BurningGreymon was?"

"I don't think so." JP explained. "It's different for each Beast Spirit. I know Zoe had no control issues, and Koji had a bout of rage and violent acting out, but he gained control after that. I had a bit of a violent rage, but I also gained control. No one is the same."

"What about you, Koichi?" Tommy asked.

"Uh… well, my situation was a bit more unique," Koichi chuckled sheepishly. "I didn't have problems controlling my current Beast Form."

'Current' Beast Form? Tommy blinked, catching onto the word Koichi used there. "Did you have a different Beast Form before?"

"Well… as I said, my situation was unique. You see, I-" Koichi began before he was interrupted by the simulation room door opening.

Koji and Takuya came out, the latter looking quite happy while the former was giving Koichi a warning look.

"Wow, Takuya, you look exhausted yet happy," Zoe chuckled.

"I'm just… glad to finally have control over the Beast Spirit, something that had been putting my friends and family in danger whenever I used it," Takuya replied in relief.

"Here, eat some of this to recover your strength," JP offered Takuya a bag of chips and a bar of chocolate.

Takuya took both food items eagerly and tore open the bag of chips before grabbing a handful and shoving them into his mouth. "Thanks! I'm starved!"

"Don't choke," Zoe sweatdropped.

"How long can you two stay by the way?" Koji asked Tommy and Takuya.

"Considering the time differences, I could probably stay for another day or two," Takuya said while munching on his chips.

"I might have to go back soon," Tommy sighed. "But I think I can stay for at least a night."

Takuya felt his D-Tector vibrating.

Looking down, Takuya took out his D-Tector from his pocket. "Huh? Why is my D-Tector vibrating?"

There wasn't a symbol on Takuya's D-Tector, but it was reacting like someone was trying to call him.

"Hello?" Takuya said as he pressed a few buttons on his D-Tector, trying to get the person on speaker.

There was static for a moment, then a familiar voice spoke through. "Takuya!?"

"Andy?!" Takuya exclaimed, surprised to hear his cousin's voice. "W-Wha… How did you get through to my D-Tector?!"

"Nevermind that now. Are you okay, Takuya?" Andy's voice sounded a little panicky and worried. "Where are you?"

"I'm… back at Seraphimon's castle, and I'm fine." Takuya replied. "Why?"

"Why? You never-" Andy started to say before static drowned out his voice.

Takuya panicked. "Andy?! Andy! Hey, come back! Andy!" The static showed on the D-Tector screen. "Aw man! I lost the signal!"

"I'm… surprised he was able to get into contact with you," Koichi said. "That's not an easy feat, especially without a D-Tector of his own, and you being in the Digital World while he's in the real world."

"What do you think he could've been calling you about? He sounded worried." Tommy frowned, getting an uneasy feeling.

Takuya frowned. "I don't know… It's… not unusual for Andy to worry about me, but… he sounded more worried than usual."

"Why didn't he come with you into the Digital World if he was worried?" JP asked.

Takuya remembered how Jazz practically forced Andy to take a vacation. And knowing Andy, he was probably getting paranoid about not being in the Digital World to fix things or being practical.

"Andy was… pretty much forced to have a vacation." Takuya admitted. "My cousin Jazz really can be quite… insistent when she wants to be…"

"So you think he was just being anxious that something was going wrong?" Koji asked.

"I guess so. He sounded more like he was worried about me than anything else," Takuya deduced.

"Well, maybe you can go back to him soon, we should continue our lesson while we're all here," Koji stated.

"Excuse me… I don't mean to interrupt, but…"

The group turned to see a yellow fox Digimon approaching them.

"Sorcermon needs to see all of you right away," The Digimon stated in a serious tone.

Takuya frowned. "That… doesn't sound good."

"When Sorcermon wants to see us, it's never good." JP sighed.

Koji grunted. "May as well. This has to be important if our training was interrupted."

"Don't be such a stuffy, Koji," Zoe huffed.

The group followed the fox Digimon out of the training room, and headed to the throne room, where it was more of an office than a throne room.

"I've brought the Legendary Warriors, Sorcermon," The fox Digimon announced.

"I appreciate it, Renamon," Sorcermon replied.

The fox Digimon, Renamon, nodded before disappearing in a flicker like a ninja would.

Takuya looked at Sorcermon. "Is something wrong?"

"I apologize for having to interrupt your training, especially after all the trouble you went through to get your Spirits back," Sorcermon apologized. "But I'm afraid this can't be held off any longer."

"What is it?" Koichi asked.

"Do you remember the mysterious fog that was encroaching the Digital World?" Sorcermon asked. "I'm afraid… it's returned."

The six Warriors all gasped.

"Wait, really?" JP groaned. "I thought we had seen the last of that fog!"

"Yeah, the last time we saw it, it transported Tommy to the real world." Zoe agreed. "After that, it was gone."

"This fog is different from the last fog, however," Sorcermon spoke up.

"Different how?" Takuya asked.

"Instead of green, it's cyan and purple," Sorcermon answered.

"So it's a different color, so what?" Koji questioned.

"It's not making Digimon disappear like the last fog, or… transported to another world. It's causing time to come to a complete stand still," Sorcermon explained. "Once a region is covered in that fog, everything stops moving. Water would be still in the river and sky, the wind doesn't blow, no Digimon, or even players, in the area are moving at all. It's like looking at a still image."

Takuya blinked. "Okay… that's definitely worrying."

Koji frowned. "Okay, so the fog is differently colored and has a different effect. Looks like we have a bigger issue on our hands."

"Do you think that fog might be coming from the same place as the last one did?" Tommy asked.

"We don't know," Sorcermon sighed. "Unlike before, I don't think it'll be as simple as diving into the fog like your friend did."

"As guardians of the Digital World while the Celestial Digimon are away, it's our duty to investigate and see if we can get rid of the fog as soon as possible," Koji stated before he turned to the group. "But I won't make you all come with me. Takuya, Tommy, maybe you should head home while the rest of us deal with this."

"No way!" Takuya exclaimed. "Not after what I've had to go through to get my Beast Spirit and control it! I want to help you guys! That's why I'm a Legendary Warrior, right? To help protect this world? I can't just leave now!"

"Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm here now, and I'm also a Legendary Warrior. I'm not going to run away, not again," Tommy stated firmly.

"It seems it's unanimous," Zoe chuckled. "We're going to check out that fog."

"This is probably a bad idea, we shouldn't get too close to the fog or we could freeze ourselves," JP pointed out.

"We won't get too close to the fog, we just need to get close enough to see what it's doing with our own eyes," Koichi explained.

"As long as we can do that, I think we'll be good." Takuya admitted. "Being safe is more important, but this fog we do have to check out as well."

"Fine then… but I'm going to grab something before we leave. It might help us with this," JP said.

"Go ahead, we'll meet with you outside the castle," Koichi replied.

JP hurried into one of the rooms in the castle, and he yelled when he saw Veemon messing with a small looking metallic beetle that looked like a tiny version of Beetlemon.

"What are you doing!?" JP yelled at Veemon.

"What? I was supposed to clean your room, but then I tripped over this thing," Veemon huffed. "You should watch where you put your toys, it's a walking safety hazard!"

"It's not supposed to walk on its own," JP grumbled as he snatched the small version of Beetlemon.

"What even is it? Did you make it?" Veemon asked.

"Yeah, I did," JP replied.

Veemon started laughing. "Come on, did you seriously make a toy version of yourself? Isn't that kinda silly?"

"It's not a toy!" JP blushed. "It's meant to be a drone, in case we need something that isn't human, or Digimon, to scout something dangerous!"

Veemon blinked before grinning. "You made a toy version of yourself that can scout?"

"That's it, get out of my room. Why were you even cleaning here anyways? I never asked for a maid," JP huffed.

Veemon pouted. "Hey, I'm just trying to be helpful. Geez… No need to be rude…" Veemon left JP's room, leaving JP alone.

JP gave a sigh. I need to put a lock on my room…

JP walked outside, seeing Takuya, Zoe, Koji, Koichi, and Tommy waiting for him.

"Hey guys, hope I didn't keep you all waiting," JP greeted.

"Nah, not at all." Takuya grinned. "Did you find what you're looking for?"

"Yeah… uh…" JP blushed a little. "Don't laugh, but I was working on a drone after the last fog incident. I was hoping it could help us scout without worrying about diving headfirst into the unknown."

"You made a drone?" Takuya blinked.

"Yeah… is that weird?" JP frowned.

"No way!" Takuya grinned. "I think it's awesome! I've never known anyone else to work on engineering stuff other than my aunt and uncle, so I think it's awesome you did something like that."

"JP does sometimes tinker with technology," Zoe chuckled. "He didn't used to, I guess he started getting into the hobby after getting Beetlemon."

"How does your drone work?" Tommy curiously asked.

JP took the small Beetlemon out of his pocket, and a small controller. "I push this button…"

The small Beetlemon's eyes started to glow yellow, then its wings came out and started flying. The group looked at the drone in awe, seeing how it was flying around. JP pushed another button on the controller, having it show a holographic screen.

"This will show us what the drone's eyes are seeing," JP explained.

"Wow!" Tommy exclaimed, his eyes lighting up in amazement. "You're so smart, JP!"

JP blushed a little. "I-it's still a working prototype."

"It's impressive you made a working drone," Koji complimented in his own way.

"Hey, can you use this drone to see where the nearest place has the fog right now?" Koichi suggested.

"Yes, we can actually." JP replied. "Let me put the drone on autopilot, and we can see where the fog is showing up."

JP flipped a switch on the controller, and the small Beetlemon began to fly off on its own, scanning the surrounding areas. The holographic screen showed the areas that the drone was seeing.

"Oh wow!" Takuya grinned as he looked at the screen. "It's like we're really in the area, but we're actually not!"

"Pretty impressive, huh?" JP grinned.

I think Tucker would like this guy. Takuya thought to himself.

The drone flew up high into the sky before it began looking down at the world below. There were several clouds of the fog, but it managed to locate one that was nearby.

"It found an area close by," JP noted.

"Have it go down there, see how bad it is," Koji suggested.

JP pushed the controls, having the drone descend to the area. When they were able to see what the place was, Takuya paled. He recognized the area, it was in a valley where the Digi-School was. The same place he, Andy, Lopmon, and Patamon went to learn more about the Digital World.

"Crap… That's where the Digi-School is…" Takuya murmured. "I went there with Andy, Lopmon, and Patamon to learn more about this world…"

"We actually went there too a few years ago," Zoe said. "I hope… there wasn't school today when this fog came in…"

JP frowned as well. "The fog is too thick here. I doubt we'd be able to get in close."

"You better move the drone away before it gets caught in the fog too," Koichi said.

"Let me see if I can find another area that isn't as bad," JP said as he had the mini Beetlemon fly back up into the sky.

After a minute or two, JP found another cloud of fog that wasn't too far away. It was a bit further than the other area though. He had the drone descend, coming into a rocky surface with a river. Tommy's eyes went wide.

"Hey… I know that place. That was where those Candlemon attacked me and… the group I was with before," Tommy pointed out. "It was also where I found Kumamon's Spirit."

"Is the fog there thick or is it viable for us to go and check out the area?" Koji asked.

JP had the drone move in closer. "It looks like the fog is thinner here. I can still see the village and the Candlemon are still moving around. This is probably the best we're going to get before the fog gets too thick."

"Then that's the area we need to check out." Takuya said. "We can't wait if we want to get there before the fog becomes too thick for us to even get close."

Tommy frowned, he didn't like the idea of going back to a place where this all began for him. He wasn't sure if the Candlemon would remember him, but he was worried about how they would react if they either remembered him, or saw him spirit evolve. They may not remember Tommy, but they would definitely remember Kumamon.

"Then we better get going," Koji said. "I doubt Trailmon will be heading into a place that has fog, so we're going to have to go there on foot."

"Or flying." Takuya suggested.

"Hold up," JP spoke up when he had his drone fly back up into the air. "Look at who's on screen."

Everyone looked at the screen, and saw that Theodore kid again. He was riding on a big, red bird Digimon, and he was throwing out slave collars at other flying Digimon. Theodore looked at the drone, making the kids flinch back a bit as Theodore threw the slave collar at the drone, likely thinking it was an actual Digimon. The drone sparked with electricity, and JP lost connection to it.

"That little brat! He broke my prototype drone!" JP snapped angrily. "When I get my hands on that brat, he's in for a world of spanking!"

Takuya growled. "Well, leave some room for me." He growled lowly. "I swear, that kid is the worst!"

"Guys!" Tommy spoke up. "We might need to go on foot after all, because if we fly right now, we might get caught up in Theodore's trigger happy collars." And I'm kind of not in a hurry to go back to that place…

Takuya and the others nodded, realizing Tommy was right.

"Okay." Takuya sighed. "We'll head off on foot. It may give us some time to plan what to do when we get there as well."

"Walking… when was the last time we had to walk to get somewhere?" JP groaned.

"Come on, JP, it'll be good for us to walk after 4 years of relying on our wings or Trailmon," Zoe replied.

JP sighed. "I guess… But walking and me never get along."

"We better get going, hopefully if we run into any players, they'll leave us be if they see a lack of Digimon partners on us," Koji sighed.

"How far away is this village?" Takuya asked.

"If we start walking now, and if nothing slows us down, besides breaks, we might get there either tonight or tomorrow morning," JP answered.

Takuya groaned. "Ugh… Well… at least it's better than walking for days."

"That will be the enjoyable part when we get to it." Koji said to Takuya with a smirk.

"Well, you have more experience here, so of course it's no problem for you!" Takuya retorted.

The group began walking as they were chatting. For Koji, Zoe, JP, and to a lesser extent, Koichi, it felt sort of nostalgic to be walking like this as a group again, without using their Spirits to fly around. Only now, they have two extra friends to walk with them. Takuya and Tommy had some experience with just walking everywhere, though either alone, or with a different group of friends.

The group walked past some player groups, they were either traveling with friends, or they were in a guild of their own. They would look at Takuya and the others, but when they didn't see any Digimon on them, they wrote them off as 'newbies', and how they weren't worth their time before moving on. While the insult was unnecessary, Takuya was beginning to see the benefits of not having a visible partner next to him at all times in the Digital World.

They saw other players fighting each other, either for competition, or for territorial battles. Tommy frowned as he watched these players using their Digimon to fight each other. He had a brief flashback to his days with Sir Michael's group, and how Sir Michael often used him to battle against other players to 'put them in their place'. Luckily, Sir Michael hadn't made Tommy really turn other player's Digimon into eggs, as he was mostly using Kumamon as a scare tactic to make the players surrender before it got that far. However, before the Lunamon incident, there were… a couple of people Sir Michael targeted.

"Tommy? Are you alright? You're lagging behind," Takuya asked, noticing Tommy was falling behind the group.

"Are you tired, Tommy? Maybe we've walked a little too long," Zoe said in concern.

"N-no, no, I'm fine," Tommy quickly reassured as he hurried to catch up to the group. "I can keep going."

"Okay… just don't lag behind again, otherwise we'll just keep going without you." Koji said, only to get a smack on the head from his twin brother. "Hey!"

"That's not nice, Koji!" Koichi scolded. "Tommy is the least experienced of us, so we are not leaving him behind!"

"Okay! It was just a joke, geez!" Koji grumbled.

"Well don't say it with such a straight face and a serious tone," Koichi hissed.

Koji grumbled, blushing slightly as he did so.

Takuya laughed. "That reminds me of Andy and Danny and how they react with each other."

"Maybe we should get to know them more, we hardly got the time to talk to them the last time they were here," Koji huffed. "Maybe one of them can tell me how to handle my older brother."

"I'm only trying to look out for you, considering how you often end up finding trouble even in the best of times," Koichi replied.

Takuya laughed again. "Oh man! You two definitely remind of Andy and Danny! Both of them find trouble, no matter what the circumstances!"

"We do not!" Both Koji and Koichi grumbled.

Tommy smiled a little from watching them. I wish Yutaka and I could get along that well… But I think Yutaka just sees me as a burden most of the time… and my parents think I'm too frail to take care of myself… I know I went missing for a while, but still… they should know I'm capable of taking care of myself.

"Please don't tell me you guys are gonna bicker for the entire walk," Zoe grumbled.

"I'll never understand brotherly bonds like that," JP sighed as well.

Koji grumbled. "We won't argue the whole time…"

"You'd better not." Koichi said firmly.

Takuya grinned. "It seems Koji is in trouble~"

"I am not!" Koji snapped back before Koichi smacked him and Takuya upside the head. "Ow!"

"Why'd you hit me too?" Takuya whined.

"Because you're both acting like children now," Koichi replied.

Tommy chuckled as he watched their antics.

---

After a long walk, the sun was going down. It was evening, and soon, the evening turned into nightfall.

"It's getting pretty dark. Should we keep going or camp out for the night?" JP asked.

"I rather we didn't get lost or ambushed because we can't see much. It might be best to turn in for the night," Koji said.

"The moons aren't very bright tonight, so yeah, I think turning in for tonight might be a good idea," Zoe agreed.

"It seems that may be our best bet." Takuya agreed. "I'd rather get to the village sooner rather than later, but with it getting so dark, I'd rather not take any chances."

Koichi nodded in agreement. "This way we can also be more refreshed in case it comes to combat."

Everyone decided to sit down at a clearing. They could see they were almost out of the forest, but they could also see with little trees to cover them, it would be dangerous to spend the night outside of the forest.

JP handed out snacks to everyone so they could recharge.

"Hopefully we won't have another Nightmare Syndrome incident out here," JP joked.

"I doubt it, there hasn't been any news or rumors about this place having Digimon or players attack each other for no reason," Koji remarked.

"I'd hate to be the victim of that." Koichi shivered. Once was enough, thank you very much.

"Be glad you weren't here the last time then." Zoe remarked. "We had to deal with Tommy attacking us, not that it was of his own volition."

"Let's not bring that up…" Tommy sighed.

"We should probably talk about what we're going to do about the fog," Takuya said.

"What can we do besides diving into it?" JP frowned.

"We don't know how that fog would affect us." Takuya pointed out. "But we do know we have to head into the village, which is surrounded by the fog, so we can't be too careless when we get there. I'm suggesting we decide if some of us head in, or if we all go in as a group."

"It might be a good idea to talk to the locals, if they're not already engulfed by the fog," Tommy suggested. "They might've noticed something about the fog that we haven't…"

Although Tommy wasn't fond of the idea of talking to the locals, in case one of them may recognize him, he also knew he couldn't just stay quiet when there was a chance they could solve this problem that was affecting the Digital World.

"That's a good idea." Koji mused. "Any information we can get would be helpful."

"But we can't just head in recklessly." Koichi noted.

"Well, we won't get anywhere if we don't take the initiative and stay back here," Zoe pointed out.

"We'll see how bad the fog is in the morning," JP suggested. "Then we'll see what we should do. For now, we should try to get some sleep, so we're not too tired to deal with whatever in the morning."

Takuya felt a yawn escaping him. "I think that's the best course of action we can take. I think I need some sleep anyway. I feel like I'm about to fall asleep sitting up…"

"Tommy, do you want us to set up a makeshift bed for you?" Zoe asked.

Tommy frowned at being signaled out, he supposed it was because he was the youngest in the group, but he didn't like being treated differently. It reminded him of his parents.

"No, I'm fine just sleeping on the ground as is," Tommy answered.

Zoe frowned, but nodded. "If you're sure…"

Takuya put a hand on Tommy's head. "Don't worry, Tommy. You can sleep wherever you want."

Tommy gave a small chuckle, sometimes he wished Takuya was his big brother instead of Yutaka.

"Well, have a good night then," Koji remarked as he leaned his back against a tree.

"I'll take the first watch," Koichi volunteered.

"Sounds good," JP yawned before laying down.

The others laid down as well. Tommy gathered up some leaves on the ground to make a small pillow for his head as he laid down. He remembered sleeping on the ground a lot when he was with Sir Michael.

---

"Are you sure about this, Sir Michael?" Kwan asked worriedly

I was waking up after sleeping on the ground. I looked up, hearing Kwan having some kind of discussion with Sir Michael.

"I mean those guys pushed those nerdy kids around, but is it really fair to go after them like that?" Susie frowned as well.

"Yes, it's entirely justified," Sir Michael growled.

I flinched a little when I heard Sir Michael's voice. He sounded angry, that was never a good thing.

Ryan chuckled. "Hey, anything to make those who do the kinds of things they did pay is alright in my book."

"But we're talking about getting rid of their Digimon partners, they'll have to start over with them," Drake pointed out.

"So what? If they're going to go around and cause trouble for others with their Digimon, then it's what they deserve," Sir Michael stated.

I stayed quiet. I didn't know what Sir Michael had planned, but I hoped he wouldn't involve me. My hopes were dashed quickly when Sir Michael turned his attention to me.

"Good, you're awake now," Sir Michael said. "Get something to eat. We've got a job to do, and I'm going to need you for this."

"What… what are we doing?" I nervously asked as I got up off of the floor.

"We're going to teach a few people picking on some nerds a lesson." Sir Michael replied seriously. His tone of voice left no room for argument.

"Yes, Sir Michael," I said obediently. Does he mean we're going to deal with bullies?

For once, I could get behind Sir Michael. I had to deal with bullies back home, and I could never really stand up to them. I was actually looking forward to dealing with bullies.

After we had breakfast, I followed Sir Michael and PawnChessmon. PawnChessmon rarely ever spoke, and his face was hidden behind that helmet, so I could never tell what he was thinking. I wondered if PawnChessmon was sad or angry that Sir Michael seemed to favor using me over him these days. But PawnChessmon never made a comment about it.

"Susie, anything to report?" Sir Michael asked.

"Numemon spotted those two just behind that building. It looked like they were taking another victim to pick on," Susie informed, pointing at the building Numemon had seen the two bullies go behind.

Sir Michael grinned. "Excellent. They won't be able to escape what they are due to receive." The grin on his face told of a severe punishment for the two bullies.

"So what's the plan, Sir Michael?" I asked. "Are we going to scare the bullies? Pull a prank on them? Rescue whoever they're picking on?"

"Patience, Tommy. You'll see once we get to them, just stay close," Sir Michael replied. "I want the rest of you to stay out of this, but watch. This is what happens to those who pick on others."

Kwan, Drake, Susie, and Ryan all nodded. They looked pretty intimidated by what Sir Michael had in store for these bullies. PawnChessmon and I followed Sir Michael behind the building, and-

---

"Wake up! We have a Digimon coming!" Koichi's voice shouted, waking Tommy up from his dream, as well as everyone else.

"Wazzat?" JP groggily grumbled.

"What's going on?" Zoe frowned, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Koji and Takuya got up quickly when they saw a large Digimon running towards them. It looked like a centaur of some kind, with the lower half being horse-like, but clad in black and gold armor. It had a more draconic upper half, with a blue body and white stomach. It had black shoulder guards, and red chest armor. The lower arms were covered in cylindrical armor that was red with a flame design at the bottom, and had red claws. The head was covered in black armor with a yellow lightning bolt-shaped horn and the lower jaw was exposed. The eyes were yellow beads, and the toe claws were white. In its left hand was a bow, and it had a quiver of arrows located on its left hip as well.

"Young children players!" The Digimons poke up when it arrived in front of them.

JP, Zoe, Koichi, and Tommy quickly stood up and were ready to pull out their D-Tectors.

"If you want to pass through here safely, I suggest you hand over all of your obsessions!" The Digimon stated.

"Huh?" The group responded in confusion.

"I am Sagittarimon," The Digimon, Sagittarimon, introduced. "I'm here to collect items from players to give back to the Digimon that your kind stole from. Now hand over your obsessions!"

"Obsessions? In that context… do you mean possessions?" Tommy questioned, trying to understand what it was that Sagittarimon wanted.

"Of course! I want your obsessions!" Sagittarimon replied.

"I think he means our possessions." Takuya replied with a sweatdrop, chuckling slightly.

Koichi sweatdropped as well.

"Well, he's not getting what he wants." Koji grumbled.

"Come on! You players don't even have Digimon with you, do you seriously want to stand up to me?" Sagittarimon questioned.

"Look, pal, we're not handing you over anything. I would suggest you turn around and leave before you get hurt," Koji grumbled.

"Besides, it's not like we have anything that would be worth giving to other Digimon," Zoe added. Besides our D-Tectors, but those need to stay with us.

"You must have something!" Sagittarimon exclaimed. "I want your obsessions!"

"It's 'possessions', pal…" JP grumbled. I can't believe we're being robbed by someone this dumb…

"That's what I said!" Sagittarimon snapped. "And if you don't hand them over, you're the ones who are going to be hurting!"

Before any of them could activate their D-Tectors and chase this Digimon away, someone called out. "STOP! You won't be robbing these players!"

"What now?" Sagittarimon grumbled.

Looking back, the six human Legendary Warriors saw a Digimon that could be mistaken for Angemon, but it had only one set of wings and had a pink ribbon going around its left arm and right leg. And behind that Angemon-look-alike, there were 4 human children. Three of them were boys, and the last one was a girl. They looked younger than Takuya, but older than Tommy.

"Are you the no good Digimon who's been stealing stuff from other players around here?" The tallest, and maybe, the oldest looking boy of the group demanded.

"So what if I am?" Sagittarimon questioned.

"Then you're gonna get it!" The boy next to the taller boy, wearing glasses, stated.

Tommy blinked when he saw the group, and his eyes went wide upon recognition. Those guys…

"From who?" Sagittarimon asked. "That feathery Digimon?"

"You shouldn't underestimate Piddomon," The taller boy stated.

JP blinked, remembering that a Piddomon had been the doctor who had been treating his injuries after a fight with a really strong player. But this Piddomon wasn't that one, he could tell.

Oh wow, that Digimon really looks like Angemon. Takuya noted in awe.

"Oh really?" Sagittarimon retorted. "I can beat that feathery weakling easily!"

Piddomon began flying towards Sagittarimon. Sagittarimon lifted up his bow and arrow at the incoming Piddomon.

"You asked for it! Judgement Arrow!" Sagittarimon shouted as he shot the arrow.

However, Piddomon easily deflected the arrow with his angel rod. Sagittarimon was surprised by that, and hesitated long enough for Piddomon to land directly in front of him. Sagittarimon tried to fire another arrow, but Piddomon quickly disarmed the Digimon with his rod, and pointed the rip of his rod at Sagittarimon's chest, where his Digi-Core was.

"If you don't want to be reverted back into an egg, I suggest you go," Piddomon warned.

Sagittarimon gulped, realizing he was outmatched. "Y-you will pay for this! I'll be back!" He said before turning and running off.

Koichi sweatdropped. "Not very brave either…"

"Way to go, Piddomon!" One of the boys cheered.

"You were great!" The girl smiled.

"Of course, I'm just glad you kids are okay," Piddomon replied.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" The tallest of the boys asked Takuya and the others.

The tallest boy and the boy with glasses started walking up to Takuya's group.

Tommy looked away from them, hoping they wouldn't come too close.

"Yeah, we're fine." Takuya replied. "But we could've gotten out of trouble if we had to."

"Sure, you and what Digimon?" The boy with the glasses asked.

"Wait a second…" The tallest boy stopped when his eyes landed on a familiar looking boy. "That's…"

"No way…" The boy with glasses gasped, backing away in fright. "It can't be! You should be with that Sir Michael guy!"

"If you're here, that means he can't be too far!" The taller boy hissed, quickly looking around in alarm.

"W-What?" Takuya blinked. "Who are you talking about?"

"Are you working with Sir Michael?" The taller boy demanded, now being on the defensive.

"You mean that black-armored guy?" Koji grumbled.

Takuya frowned. "No… We aren't. We ran across him, but… he wasn't exactly nice to us when some friends and I refused to join his group."

"Then why the hell do you have his strongest Digimon with you!?" The boy with glasses shouted, pointing at Tommy, who backed away a little.

Takuya looked back at Tommy, wondering what was going on. He frowned a little, but he was now beginning to get a bit of the big picture surrounding Tommy and Sir Michael. He then turned back to the four kids before them. "He's not a Digimon. He's a kid, a human kid."

"He's no human. Of course he's got you tricked, we thought he was human too, but he's not," The taller boy spat. "He's just a ruthless Digimon disguising himself as a human kid."

Tommy didn't know what to say, he couldn't blame them for their anger towards him. He looked down, guilt building up in his chest.

Zoe frowned. "Why is it that you say he's a bad Digimon? Tommy's just a kid! You're not giving him a chance!" She knew she had no room to really argue since she had assumed Tommy was a bad Digimon before, but she had learned better since then and had been working hard to try and show Tommy she was sorry.

Koji grumbled. "I think we should just leave. These kids aren't willing to listen to us." And to get Tommy away from here.

"It's you guys who don't know anything about this so-called kid!" The kid with glasses snapped.

"Why do you think he's a ruthless Digimon?" JP asked.

"Why? He killed our partners, that's why!" The taller kid shouted.

That got the others to go silent for a moment. They hadn't expected to hear them accuse Tommy of killing their partners. Tommy remained quiet.

"Alright… Katsuharu, Teppei, that's enough," Piddomon spoke up. "I don't sense any ill will coming from these children. There could be a misunderstanding. It might be best to talk before you accuse them of any wrongdoing without proof."

Koichi actually found Piddomon's suggestion to be worthwhile. "I hate to admit it, but I think Piddomon has the right idea. It may help explain some of the stuff that we're hearing."

The taller child, the one called Katsuharu, frowned. The kid with glasses, Teppei, didn't look very convinced.

"I suppose we may have made a hasty judgement," Katsuharu finally said. "If Piddomon says you're not going to hurt us, then we have no reason to doubt him. Tetsuo, Chiaki, come over here. We need to… straighten some things out with these players."

Tetsuo and Chiaki both walked over. Chiaki looked at Piddomon. "Thank you for diffusing the situation, Piddomon."

"I do not condone bickering," Piddomon replied.

Everyone sat down in their respective groups, facing the other. Tommy sat on the far left of the group, not feeling very comfortable right now.

"I suppose we should introduce ourselves first," Katsuharu stated. "My name is Katsuharu Hayasugi."

"I'm Chiaki Mizuno." Chiaki introduced.

"Teppei Kitanami." Teppei grumbled.

"And I'm Tetsuo Takashi." Tetsuo finished.

"I'm Takuya Kanbara," Takuya was the first of his group to introduce himself.

"Izumi Orimoto, or just Zoe," Zoe stated next.

"Junpei Shibayama, but call me JP," JP said.

"Koji Minamoto," Koji remarked.

"Koichi Minamoto," Koichi informed.

Tommy hesitated, but these kids wouldn't know his actual name. "Tomoki Himi…"

Takuya and the other human Legendary Warriors watched Katsuharu's group closely, not wanting to have them attack Tommy.

"Your name is 'Tomoki', not 'Tommy'?" Katsuharu asked.

"It has to be a lie, there's no way you're not him," Teppei hissed.

"Teppei, please, we don't want to start attacking them for no reason," Chiaki hissed at Teppei.

Teppie grumbled, but backed off of going after Tommy verbally.

Chiaki gave a nod of approval, showing she was perhaps the most reasonable of this group.

"We're sorry for accusing you of working with Sir Michael… he had… a Digimon who looked an awful lot like Tomoki," Katsuharu apologized.

"We've had a run-in with Sir Michael ourselves not too long ago," Tetsuo said. "Though we didn't see him using this Digimon that can look human like Katsuharu and Teppei did."

Takuya grumbled. "That Sir Michael really rubbed me the wrong way when I first met him."

Koji frowned. He had seen Tommy back during the Nightmare Syndrome incident before with Sir Michael's group. But he wasn't about to say that to this group. Tommy didn't need more attacks aimed at him, verbal or otherwise.

Tommy had informed them that he had been forced to work with Sir Michael before, but he never really went into detail of what he had to do. He made it clear he wasn't proud of what he did, and he implied he may have hurt a lot of Digimon. But they hadn't been sure how far that went. Hearing that Tommy may have killed at least two players' Digimon partner was… rather shocking to say the least. Especially after getting to know Tommy, and how Tommy had been helping them as well, it was hard to imagine the kid would be capable of such things.

Koichi gave Tommy a look of sympathy. He himself had done some things he was not proud of when under Cherubimon's influence before, so he had an idea of how Tommy felt.

"Don't worry about it, mistakes can happen," JP spoke up, wanting to try to move the subject off of Tommy.

"Isn't Tomoki going to say anything in his defense?" Tetsuo asked.

"He's… very shy around others," Zoe explained, hoping to help Tommy in any way she could.

"What are you guys doing here? Isn't it dangerous to be wandering the Digital World with only one Digimon?" Koji asked, taking the initiative to change the subject.

"We've been trying to get our Digimon partners stronger after they hatched again." Teppei replied. "Chiaki is the one who has the strongest Digimon right now, so we have to rely on her and Piddomon for protection until the rest of us can get our partner Digimon stronger."

"Where are your partners?" Koichi asked.

"We've left them at our base to rest, but we wanted to come out here when we heard a Digimon was stealing from rookie players who have weak Digimon or no Digimon partners yet," Katsuharu explained. "So we decided to see if we can catch this thief to stop him from hurting new players."

"That's pretty noble of you, wanting to protect new players," Zoe remarked.

"We sort of… learned our lesson when we… lost our partners before," Katsuharu replied somberly. "We know what it's like to be at the wrong end of a bully. It's not a nice feeling…"

JP frowned. "Was that Digimon the Sagittarimon we came across earlier?"

"Yeah, considering he just tried to rob you 6," Teppei pointed out. "Where are your Digimon? Maybe you're the ones who shouldn't be roaming out in the Digital World. At least we have Piddomon."

Takuya felt his D-Tector in his pocket. "We have ways of protecting ourselves if we had to." He admitted vaguely. Dang it… These kids are quite stubborn in not letting the subject drop.

"Well… even so, you shouldn't be sleeping out in the open like this without any Digimon," Chikai said before she gave them a smile. "Why don't you guys spend the night at our hideout? It'll be safer there until morning."

"Are you sure about this, Chiaki? How can we trust them?" Teppei asked.

"Look, they don't have any Digimon with them right now, and they need somewhere to sleep for the night. They could be lost in this forest for all we know," Chiaki explained. "What if Sagittarimon, or another Digimon, tries to attack them again?"

"Besides, you kinda owe them for accusing them of working with Sir Michael, and calling Tomoki a ruthless Digimon," Tetsuo added.

Teppie grumbled, knowing he and Katsuharu were outmatched.

"That's very kind of you, but we can get some sleep out here." Zoe said. "We don't want to intrude."

"No, please, we insist, at least spend the night with us. Our base isn't too far from here," Chiaki said.

"Chiaki's right, it's the least we can do after how we acted," Katsuharu agreed. "And we have better food than what you've probably been eating."

"... It might not hurt to check it out, right, guys?" JP asked, looking forward to seeing what kind of food they had.

Koji grumbled. "Fine… But if they start acting mean towards Tomoki again, we're leaving."

Takuya grinned. "You're acting like a big brother now~"

Koji blushed. "I just don't like how they were being accusatory without evidence!" He blurted out.

"I'm glad to see you're starting to know what it's like being a big brother, Koji~" Koichi grinned.

"Shut up, both of you," Koji huffed.

Tommy remained quiet. He still wasn't comfortable, but he didn't want to make things worse by saying something.

"Piddomon, would you mind checking around the area to make sure we're safe?" Chiaki requested.

Piddomon nodded. "I can. I won't take too long." He said before he took to the sky and began to look around the area as he flew around in his scouting mission.

Once Piddomon saw everything was clear, Katsuharu began leading everyone to their base. Surprisingly it wasn't in the forest. They were heading to a place that had steel-like buildings. It was a good thing it was dark, because Takuya got the feeling they would be blinded by how shiny everything would be if the sun was out right now.

"Not long after I ran into Sir Michael, I lost my Digimon to his KnightChessmon, and Chiaki and Piddomon got me out of there," Tetsuo stated as they were walking.

KnightChessmon? I guess that means Sir Michael's PawnChessmon finally digivolved. Tommy noted to himself.

"Then we ended up running into Katsuharu and Teppei, who were having trouble with other Digimon due to their Digimon being babies," Chiaki added. "We decided to form a group together, since that seems to be the best way to survive in the Digital World."

"Either that or join a guild, and potentially be rejected because your Digimon aren't strong enough to meet their standards," Katsuharu sighed. "There aren't many guild masters who are willing to take in new players, or players who have weak Digimon."

Takuya frowned a little as he heard this. "That sounds rough." He admitted. Although speaking of… Andy and Danny, not to mention the rest of Team Phantom, need to form a guild of our own.

"Yeah, though I'm guessing that's why you guys formed a group too," Chiaki said.

"It's just weird that none of you have any Digimon on you…" Teppei remarked, before looking at Tommy for a moment, making Tommy look down quickly. "... potentially…"

Koji grumbled. "Are you sure we can't just leave this group?" He whispered to the other Warriors.

"If they make a move against Tommy, we will." Takuya whispered back. "But for now, no."

They soon arrived inside one of the buildings.

"Here we are, make yourselves at home," Chiaki said politely.

"There aren't many Digimon living around here, so we've made this our base of operations," Katsuharu explained. "It's good for shelter too."

"Hey, there are our partners right now," Tetsuo pointed out.

The Warriors looked to see a Bukamon, Punimon, and Jyarimon. One was an In-Training, while the other two were Baby.

"Hey guys, did you miss us?" Katsuharu asked.

The Punimon hopped over to Teppei, the Jyarimon floated to Katusharu, and the Bukamon floated over to Tetsuo.

"Hey, I haven't seen any baby Digimon since going to the Digi-School!" Takuya exclaimed. "Wow… that feels like it was so long ago."

"Believe it or not, our Digimon used to be a lot bigger and stronger," Katsuharu remarked. "But we've been having trouble getting our small ones to digivolve lately. We think it might be because they've suffered a lot of trauma in their past life."

"Are you sure that's why?" Takuya asked. "A… friend of mine told me that partner Digimon's evolutions are affected by their partners."

"Are you saying it's our fault then?" Teppei frowned.

Takuya grimaced. "Um… Not really, but… it could play a factor… I-I mean… it… does make sense…" Aw crud… I need to keep my mouth shut…

"Let's try to be nice to each other," Piddomon spoke up. "I won't allow any in-fighting while we're here."

"Sorry if we're imposing on you," Zoe apologized.

"It's no problem. We want to try to help other players until they can stand on their own," Chiaki said. "Piddomon, you can rest now. You must be tired."

Piddomon nodded before fractal code surrounded him, turning him into a new Digimon that Takuya hadn't seen before. It was a weasel-like Digimon that was all white with some hints of yellow on its body, forming a circuit-like pattern on its back. It had a golden collar on its neck, and had golden eyes. On its left ear was a red earring. It had red claws on its front and rear paws, and on its tail was a golden cartridge of some kind.

"Guys, meet Kudamon, he's my partner Digimon," Chiaki introduced. "I found him stuck in a swampy land and pulled him out. We've been the best of friends ever since."

"Chiaki, please, don't mention I got stuck in the swamp…" Kudamon muttered, embarrassed.

Chiaki giggled. "Oh, c'mon! It's not that bad~"

Takuya snickered. "That is kinda embarrassing though, so I don't blame you for not wanting to mention it."

"I'm hungry, Katsu!" Jyarimon whined.

"But you just ate," Katsuharu sighed.

"Hungry! Hungry!" Punimon bounced.

"Guess we better get some food from the garden again," Teppei sighed. "These little guys can eat."

"You guys have a garden?" JP asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we've been growing the seeds we can find in the forest nearby, so we don't have to keep venturing out there to get food," Tetsuo explained. "Especially since our Digimon love to eat."

"Having food nearby is always a good thing~" Bukamon smiled as he floated up onto Tetsuo's shoulder.

"Alright, settle down," Chiaki chuckled as Kudamon climbed onto her shoulders, and wrapped himself around her neck like a scarf. "Kudamon and I will pick some fresh fruits, veggies, and meat cabbages and apples for you."

"Hey, if you don't mind, could I join in?" JP asked. "I've been wanting to study how certain food grows in the Digital World."

"I'd like to join too. I rather enjoy gardening myself. I used to have my own personal garden at my old home before my family moved into the city," Zoe volunteered.

Chiaki grinned. "That would be great! The more help, the better~"

"But isn't it kinda late to be picking food from a garden?" Koji asked.

"You guys can turn in if you want, don't let us stop you," Zoe replied.

Koji grumbled. "At least we can get some sleep without trouble here." He said before finding a comfortable spot to lay down on. "Maybe now we can get some actual rest without being disturbed."

"Is he always like that?" Tetsuo asked.

"He tends to be more on the practical side of things," Koichi sweatdropped. "Don't let his attitude get to you."

"He does know we have beds, right?" Katsuharu pointed out.

"Koji will sleep anywhere he finds comfortable." Koichi sighed. "We… are used to camping out so it's kinda hard for him to get out of the habit of sleeping on the ground."

Takuya sighed as well, but before noticing someone was missing. "Anybody seen Tomm- uh, Tomoki?"

---

Chiaki, Kudamon, JP, and Zoe were outside in the garden. JP and Zoe were impressed to see they were able to grow all sorts of food. There were bushes of berries, vines of grapes, small trees that grew out the meat apples, and cabbages growing from the ground.

"The soil here is really versatile at growing just about anything we plant, despite most of this place being made of metal," Chiaki remarked as they were harvesting some food.

"Wow… I never knew that." Zoe remarked. "We never tried to grow anything ourselves, but that's probably because we're um… looking for a base of our own."

"I need to start taking some seeds and growing them in the Digital World. Is it just the soil here, or can we grow these seeds anywhere in the Digital World?" JP wondered curiously.

"The Digital World works in mysterious ways," Chiaki chuckled. "It could be because most of it, if not all of it, is made of data. So it could be programmed to grow just about anything."

"We rarely had to make a garden of our own when the Digital World provides for us," Kudamon stated. "The bounty of nature is for all to enjoy. That is until more and more greedy players started taking more than they needed."

JP frowned. "Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem." He admitted. "It ruins the natural balance of things if nothing is cared for right."

"It really sucks that so many people are ruining nature because they think it's okay to loot everything they see," Zoe huffed in annoyance.

"Yeah… I guess most gamers are just used to gathering everything they can gather in a video game," Chiaki sighed. "But I don't think the Digital World is that kind of game, if it is a game. The Digimon feel too real to be just programs. Even if they were just advanced AI, it's clear they have feelings and wouldn't want their world to be treated like this. I couldn't forgive myself if something bad happened to Kudamon."

Zoe smiled a bit. "Well, that's a good attitude to have. Maybe one day people will see that as well."

"I hope so. I know Katsuharu and Teppei had to learn that the hard way," Chiaki said.

"What do you mean?" JP asked.

"They used to think this world was just a video game world like most other players. So they felt they could do what they wanted to here with no consequences. But when they angered the wrong guy, who I believe was Sir Michael, he made sure that they learned their lesson by using one of his Digimon to take out both of their partners," Chikai informed. "They realized how precious their partners were, and by losing them… well, not only did they have to start over, their partners won't even remember them."

JP and Zoe grimaced.

"I can't imagine how hard that would be…" JP admitted.

Zoe and JP wondered if that was how it felt like to lose part of themselves, like if something happened to their Spirits.

---

Tommy himself was looking through a window at the top floor of the building. He needed to get away from the group for a while.

Why did we have to run into those two again? Tommy frowned.

---

I followed Sir Michael and PawnChessmon to the alleyway. The rest of the group stayed behind, not wanting to interfere. I was nervous, because I had my own share of bullies back at school. But at the same time, I was looking forward to seeing what Sir Michael had in mind to deal with these bullies.

We stopped when we saw two kids pushing another kid into a wall. The kid was smaller than them, and he looked to be my age.

"Quit it! I don't have a lot of items on me!" The younger kid cried.

"Doesn't matter, you'll give those items if you want to keep your Digimon partner!" The other kid with glasses threatened.

I saw next to the taller boy, he had a tall red dinosaur looking Digimon. The name 'Guilmon' rang through my head. And next to the boy with glasses, was a Digimon wearing some kind of white animal pelt with blue stripes on the upper half of its body, and had a unicorn horn on its forehead. The lower half of the body was a bright purple-pink collar, and looked lizard-like. The name 'Psychemon' entered my head.

Psychemon was holding onto a whimpering Tanemon by its leaf, which was an In-Training Digimon. Too small and young to fight.

I noticed Sir Michael's hands balled into fists, he was definitely angry. I almost forgot that he once had a soft spot for me before I became Kumamon.

"You know what to do, Tommy." Sir Michael said, his tone of voice showing what he was feeling at the moment.

Normally I dreaded it when Sir Michael said those words to me, because I knew what they meant. But since these were bullies we were dealing with, I didn't hesitate to step forward.

"Huh? Who are you?" The taller kid, who I will later learn is Katsuharu, questioned.

"Is that another baby?" The kid with glasses, Teppei, chuckled. "Great, he can be next."

"You two have no idea who you're dealing with," Sir Michael spoke up from behind me. "Tommy here isn't going to just let you get away with this, and neither am I."

"Huh? You're sending a boy to deal with us?" Katsuharu raised an eyebrow. "You do know we have actual Digimon here, don't you?"

"You'll regret saying that." Sir Michael replied. "Tommy, it's time."

I took out my D-Tector, a device I had yet to learn the name of. Katsuharu, Teppei, and the other kid were looking at me in confusion. I held out my other hand as a ring of code appeared on it. I scanned the code with my D-Tector. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"

I was surrounded by fractal code. The other people were in such shock that they dropped the kid they were bullying, and his Tanemon partner.

"Kumamon." I announced after my evolution was complete.

"W-what the hell!? Did you just turn into a Digimon!?" Teppei shouted.

"My name is Kumamon, and you two are nothing but bullies!" I snapped.

Katsuharu and Teppei were unable to believe what happened.

"I… No way! There's no way!" Katsuharu blurted out.

"That's no kid… That's one of those rare Digimon that can look human!" Teppei exclaimed.

"Kumamon, you know what to do," Sir Michael said to me. "PawnChessmon, help the kid and his Tanemon get out of here."

"Yes, Sir Michael," PawnChessmon said before walking over to the victims.

I kept my eyes on the two bullies. "If you want to defend yourselves, I suggest getting your Digimon to fight."

"G-Guilmon! Stop that bear!" Katsuharu quickly said.

"Y-you too, Psychemon!" Teppei shouted.

Guilmon and Psychemon quickly got in front of the two.

"You won't hurt our partners! Pyrosphere!" Guilmon shouted as he shot out a fireball from his mouth at me.

I took out my gun and fired a single snowball at the fireball, canceling it out.

"Psyche Shot!" Psychemon shot out a small blast of energy from his mouth at me.

I only moved my head to the right, easily dodging the ball of energy.

"You see, you have no chance against my Kumamon here. He's been trained in many battles, even against Champion level Digimon. Your two Rookies are too weak to stand up to him," Sir Michael proudly stated.

"This kid is crazy!" Teppei hissed.

"Run for it!" Katsuharu shouted.

The two of them tried to turn around and run in the opposite direction.

"Stop them, Kumamon," Sir Michael ordered.

I jumped into the air, melting my body before turning it into a sharp icicle. I landed just in front of the two bullies, causing them to fall on their butts out of fear from almost being stabbed. I melted my body again, reforming to my original form. I stared them down. Guilmon and Psychemon turned around, seeing their partners were in trouble, and they ran quickly over to them.

"Pyrosphere!" Guilmon sent another fireball out of his mouth at me, intending on doing some real damage.

I responded by blowing out ice from my mouth, freezing the fireball quickly into an ice ball, and it fell to the ground, shattering it.

Psychemon came charging at me with his horn glowing. "Psyche Horn!"

I moved to dodge the attack, but I also lifted up my hand as Psychemon tried to stab me with his horn and grabbed onto his horn. Psychemon's eyes went wide in shock as I managed to grab him. I threw the Psychemon right into the Guilmon, causing both of them to hit a wall.

"No!" Katsuharu exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"Psychemon!" Teppei shouted. "Get up!"

"Stop playing around Kumamon, I want you to ice them both!" Sir Michael ordered.

I ran at Guilmon and Psychemon, who were trying to recover from the last attack. They both looked up at me in shock. I took a deep breath, expanding my stomach, before firing out a stronger icy wind from my mouth. Guilmon and Psychemon were both frozen in ice, unable to move.

"No! Guilmon, come on! You can melt that ice with your Pyrosphere!" Katsuharu yelled.

"Psychemon, you can break out with your horn, right?" Teppei begged.

I stood in front of the frozen Guilmon and Psychemon, and put one of my hands on their icy prison before looking at Katsuharu and Teppei, both of them stopped, looking quite terrified. It felt satisfying… but also… wrong.

"Stop right where you are, Kumamon," Sir Michael said, sounding quite pleased, before he confidently walked to the two bullies. "Oh my, looks like the tables have turned. Now instead of cornering a kid weaker than you, and holding their Digimon hostage, you're the ones who are cornered, and the fate of your Digimon are now in my hands."

"W-what do you want from us? Money? Items? Data?" Katsuharu demanded while Teppei was shaking in fear.

"You need to learn a lesson in how to treat others who are weaker than you." Sir Michael replied. "Something that bullies like you never seem to learn until you suffer it yourselves."

"We've learned our lesson! We'll never bully anyone again, just please, let our partners out of the ice!" Teppei cried, he was on his knees, begging.

I started to feel bad for these two now. I thought it would feel good to teach bullies a lesson, and give them a taste of their own medicine. But watching them break down like this was… not what I had in mind. I didn't feel happy or satisfied, I just felt sorry for them.

Sir Michael didn't seem to feel the same way as I did. "Somehow I doubt it. You don't sound sincere."

"We are on our knees, crying, and begging you to spare our partners. How much more sincere can we get?" Katsuharu frowned, tears falling from his eyes too. "Guilmon and I have been through a lot together, please don't take him away from me."

"We'll give you anything you want!" Teppei added in desperation.

I frowned before I looked up at Sir Michael. "Maybe we can let them go… it looks like they've learned their lesson, Sir Mi-"

"Hush, Kumamon, I didn't say you can give your opinion on the matter," Sir Michael stated to me strictly before he turned his attention back to Katsuharu and Teppei.

"You may be sincere now, but I doubt you will remain as such." Sir Michael said sternly. "In fact, you might as well start over, see how it feels to be surrounded by those stronger than you, who will pick on you for being weak."

"Wh-what? What are you going to do?" Katsuharu frowned.

Sir Michael turned to me, and I dreaded the next words he was going to say to me.

"Kumamon, finish this." Sir Michael said, gesturing at the frozen Digimon before me.

"No! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Teppei shouted, getting up to his feet to run at me.

PawnChessmon grabbed onto Teppei's arm, stopping him. He held out his spear in front of Katsuharu to keep him from doing the same.

"Please, please don't do this!" Katsuharu begged.

I hesitated. "S-Sir Michael, I… I don't know."

"You've taken out Digimon before, why should this be any different?" Sir Michael asked me.

"Those were wild Digimon," I pointed out. "But these guys are partner Digimon. Is that really okay?"

"It will be fine. Their partner Digimon can be reborn." Sir Michael replied. "But they will have to be trained back up, and it won't be so easy."

"No, no, you don't understand! We'll be losing more than just progress with our Digimon!" Katsuharu shouted.

"Finish it, now, Kumamon!" Sir Michael demanded. "You want to teach bullies a lesson they'll never forget? This is how you do it. Now… finish them off, Kumamon."

My hand shook for a moment. The Digimon will be reborn… they never really die. I know that for a fact… so why am I hesitating…?

"Kumamon… you're my friend, aren't you?" Sir Michael asked. "Do you trust me to make sure the bullying will stop? Then you need to do as I say, now."

Katsuharu and Teppei were both shouting, begging me not to do it. But I could barely hear them. All I could hear was Sir Michael telling me to do it.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered to the two Digimon in the ice.

I pulled out my gun and aimed at the two Digimon in ice. Without really noticing, I whispered the name of my next attack. "Blizzard Blaster."

Snowballs fired out of my gun, but the snowballs turned into sharp looking ice this time, and pierced through the ice and right into both Digimon's Digi-Core. The Guilmon and Psychemon let out cries as their icy prison shattered, and their bodies turned into data. Soon, the data formed into a couple of eggs.

Katsuharu and Teppei were screaming in horror now. They were also crying, but I only looked away, not wanting to see the results of my handiwork.

"Good luck starting over with your Digimon. Let this be a lesson to both of you," Sir Michael stated without any remorse as PawnChessmon let them go. "If we catch you bullying others again, we won't let you off so easy."

The two eggs, instead of flying away to Primary Village, floated over to Katsuharu and Teppei. The two boys quickly hugged their eggs, clutching to them like they were going to disappear. I didn't blame them.

"C'mon, Kumamon, we're out of here. Our work is done." Sir Michael said as he started to walk away. "We have other things to focus on."

I frowned as I looked at the two bullies… who had been reduced to broken, crying boys. I began to wonder… if what we just did was no better… or even worse, than what they were doing earlier. I followed after Sir Michael, fractal code surrounding me, changing me back to my human self. I could feel Katsuharu and Teppei's eyes on my back when I did, but I didn't dare to look back at them.

"Sir Michael… maybe that had been too far," I said softly as we were walking.

"No, it was not too far." Sir Michael said. "In fact, I think it was an appropriate punishment. Trust me, in order to get through to a bully, you must teach them a harsh lesson, one they won't soon forget."

Hearing that, I wondered if Sir Michael had been a victim to a lot of bullying in his life. Even though I had bullies, I didn't think going so far as to ki… take away their partners was necessary. PawnChessmon, of course, had nothing to say about this. I just looked down, pulling my hat over my eyes, hoping to forget about this incident as soon as possible, and that I wouldn't have to do the same to anyone else's partners any time soon. Because if I had to do it again… I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle it.

---

It almost felt like a lifetime ago, but… Tommy thought to himself as he remembered what he had done to Katsuharu and Teppei all too vividly. I didn't know Digimon would forget their past lives at the time… maybe if I did… I would've rebelled sooner and ran away before Sir Michael went too far with a little girl and her Lunamon…

Tommy heard footsteps approaching him. He quickly turned around and saw Teppei standing at the doorway, looking at Tommy.

"So, this is where you went." Teppei growled. "Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did to Psychemon!"

"W-what are you talking about?" Tommy asked nervously.

Teppei approached Tommy. "Do you think I'm that stupid? I recognize you all too well, Tommy, or should I say Kumamon? You can't trick me with a different name, and taking off your hat!"

If Tommy could think straight, he could say something to throw Teppei off, or even intimidate him if he wanted. But Tommy's guilt and fear made it difficult for him to think. He felt like he was a little kid back at the school playground while a bully bigger and stronger than him was coming towards him.

"N-no, I… I didn't want to…" Tommy stammered.

"Didn't want to?" Teppei hissed. "Do you think you not wanting to is going to fix the damage you caused!? Because of you, Psychemon doesn't remember anything that we went through together, he's like a completely different Digimon!"

Teppei grabbed Tommy's shirt and pulled him up.

"W-what do you want me to do?" Tommy asked, trying not to panic.

"I want you to go down to those 'new friends' of yours and show them your true self, then they'll see you are that ruthless Digimon Sir Michael loved to use to kill our partners, then we'll see how much they'll defend you!" Teppei stated harshly. "Do you understand?"

Teppei squeezed Tommy's shirt harder, and pulled Tommy closer, making it tough for Tommy to breathe.

More footsteps were heard and Katsuharu emerged from the sheltered base. "Teppei, put him down." The taller boy said sternly. "We don't need to antagonize him. I'd rather not get into a fight with him while our Digimon are still weak."

"But Katsuharu, he's the one responsible for killing our partners!" Teppei pointed out, still holding onto Tommy.

"Yes, and he can do the same to us if you keep antagonizing him," Katsuharu informed.

Teppei grumbled before putting Tommy down. Tommy coughed a bit, getting some air back into his lungs.

"But seriously, did you really think you could fool us with a fake name?" Katsuharu frowned as he looked at Tommy. "Your face has been burned into our memory since that day. Where's Sir Michael? Did he have you infiltrate a group of new players to see what they were capable of?"

"N-no, I'm not infiltrating their group, they really are my friends," Tommy answered.

"You might say that, but for all we know, it could be a lie you were told to say by Sir Michael." Katsuharu frowned.

Tommy frowned, realizing Sir Michael had hurt a lot of people, not just him. "When was the last time you saw Sir Michael? Or someone said he uses a Digimon that looks human?"

"What?" Katsuharu frowned at Tommy's sudden courage to speak up.

"I… can't take back what I did to your partners… but I'm not with Sir Michael anymore. I left him, and now he's hunting me down for it," Tommy explained. "And even without me, he's continuing hurting other people in his twisted version of justice."

"That's… true…" Katsuharu conceded. "But we're not taking our eyes off of you."

"If I wanted to hurt you guys, I would've done it a long time ago," Tommy stated. "Especially now, since the others aren't with us to see me do you harm."

Teppei realized Tommy was right, but he didn't drop his guard. He just shoved Tommy away from himself in disgust. "Why we have to have those players he is deceiving here, I don't know, but I'll be glad when they leave tomorrow."

"It might be in their best interest to at least let them know they're harboring a Digimon with them, a dangerous one," Katsuharu stated. "Even if you don't intend to harm them yourself, the fact of the matter is you're putting them in danger. If what you say is true, then Sir Michael won't rest until he has his favorite Digimon back, and knowing him, he won't show these friends of yours any mercy for keeping you hidden from him. If you have a conscience like a human would, I want you to at least think about that, Kumamon."

Tommy frowned at that. He looked down for a moment, considering Katsuharu's words. However… he knew his friends could handle themselves if Sir Michael were to find him with them. They had already proven themselves capable, and he… he was tired of being put down by others, especially by people who didn't even know him.

"Are you sure about that?" Tommy asked. "Maybe you guys are the ones who are in danger here."

"Was that a threat?" Teppei hissed.

Tommy didn't back down. "It's been a while since your partners were reborn, and yet they're still in their Baby form. You two are scared, too scared to make them strong, in fear that someone will take them away again. I was weak, I let Sir Michael manipulate me into fighting others I didn't want to fight, and to do things I didn't want to do. But not anymore. I had the courage to cut my ties with him and leave, but can you two do the same? Or are you going to stay stuck in the past?"

Teppei frowned, as did Katsuharu. Tommy had a point, they realized, but it wasn't as simple as that. They both had suffered greatly, and were not sure if they could bear the loss again.

"And unfortunately, you two aren't the only ones Sir Michael made suffer," Tommy said softly. "If you want me to be gone, then that's fine. I'll leave. You guys already know what I'm capable of anyways…"

Before Katsuharu and Teppei could say anything, there was a sudden shaking. The three of them looked out the window to see smoke coming up from somewhere.

"I knew it! You lead Sir Michael right to us!" Teppei accused Tommy.

"That's enough Teppei, we need to go out there and see what's going on!" Katsuharu quickly said.

The 3 boys rushed outside, seeing Takuya, Koji, Koichi, Zoe, JP, Tetsuo, and Chiaki were already standing outside.

"What's going on?" Katsuahru asked.

"Our 'friend' is back," Takuya answered.

"And he's not alone either." Koji grumbled. "He has more Digimon with him."

The boys stopped when they saw Sagittarimon was indeed here, and he had a bunch of other Digimon with him.

"That's right! You thought you guys could get away from me, but I followed you back here, and got my own friends, Centarumon!" Sagittarimon grinned.

"I'm sorry, I got careless," Kudamon apologized. "I should've looked harder to see if someone was following us."

"Oh great, and we have only one Digimon who can evolve." Teppei grumbled. "Maybe we should have Tommy fight these guys off instead!"

"Teppei, don't be stupid!" Chiaki snapped at him "Kudamon can handle these guys! Just watch!"

"Stand back, children!" Kudamon said before he jumped forward, fractal code surrounding his body.

"Kudamon digivolve to…" The fractal code soon dispersed, revealing the angel Digimon. "Piddomon!"

"You won't be getting the best of me this time! Charge!" Sagittarimon commanded.

The Centerumon all charged into battle.

"Judgement Arrow!" Sagittarimon fired his arrow at Piddomon again.

Just like before, Piddomon swung his angel rod at the arrow, deflecting it, then he went into the swarm. Despite Centarumon being Champion level Digimon, Piddomon was doing a rather good job at fighting them off.

"Yeah, go Piddomon!" Tetsuo cheered.

"You see how strong he is?" Chiaki smiled at Zoe and JP.

"Uh… yeah…" Zoe said nervously.

"Heh…" JP chuckled nervously.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Koji whispered to Takuya.

"We should." Takuya whispered back. "But only if Piddomon gets into trouble. I don't want to risk Spirit Evolving unless we have no choice."

"Tetsuo! You get the other Digimon to safety!" Katsuharu spoke up. "We can't risk them getting caught up in the battle!"

"Got it!" Tetsou called back before he ran back into the building.

So far, Piddomon was handling the Centarumon and Sagittarimon pretty well. Chiaki had trained him well.

However… Tommy heard galloping coming from behind them. He turned around, and his eyes went wide when he saw a herd of Centarumon was coming at them from the other side. "Look out! Behind us!"

Takuya and the others all turned.

"Oh, c'mon!" Koji grumbled.

"It was a trap!" Koichi noted grimly.

Takuya groaned. "It looks like we may have to do something after all."

"What are you doing? Run!" JP shouted at the 3 boys who were closest to the Centarumon that were coming at them.

Teppei, Katsuharu, and Tommy began running for it.

Piddomon looked back, seeing the children were in danger. "Oh, no!"

"Don't forget about little old me~" Sagittarimon grinned. "This is what happens to players who don't hand over their obsessions!"

"It's possessions, you dingbat!" Takuya shouted in annoyance, he was mostly annoyed they got outsmarted by someone this dumb.

"Don't think you can get away from us!" A Centarumon said as he held out an arm, turning it into a small cannon. "Solar Ray!"

The cannon arm shot out a blast of yellow energy. The energy hit the ground right behind Teppei, which caused him to fall onto the ground. Katsuharu gasped as he turned around, seeing Teppei on the ground.

"Teppei! You have to get up!" Katsuharu cried. "You have to run!"

"K-Katsuharu, h-help me!" Teppei gasped, holding out his hand.

Katsuharu wanted to help Teppei, but he was frozen in fear. This was the first time, since Sir Michael had Kumamon attack them, that he felt this helpless and scared. The Centarumon were closing in. The one in front fired another Solar Ray at Teppei.

"Teppei! Get out of there!" Katsuharu begged as he saw the energy coming at Teppei.

Tommy jumped at Teppei, grabbing him, and pushing him out of the way. Both boys rolled on the ground.

"Tommy!" Takuya shouted in concern as he saw this.

Tommy and Teppei came to a stop, with Teppei looking at Tommy. "You… saved me…?"

"Of course I did." Tommy said it like it was the most obvious thing to do. "Are you okay?"

"W-why did you save me?" Teppei asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Tommy asked. "Look… like I said before, I can't take back what I did to your partners. But I want to try my best to make up for it. And… while you may not think so… I am human. I just happen to have the ability to turn into a Digimon… And I think it's about time I use it."

Tommy stood up and looked back at the herd of Centarumon.

The light green digital form of his first Spirit appeared on the screen of his D-Tector and he formed the familiar ring of fractal coding around his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. He lost his hair and his body became white as snow. His fingers became like paws almost and he gained a more cub-like appearance to his body. Green chest armor formed on his body and his feet gained green and red boots. A headband that had the image of a bear on it formed on his head, and he gained a shoulder pad on each side, but one was red while the other was grey in color. He slid down and landed as a mushy pile before he reformed and grinned, calling out his name. "Kumamon!"

Takuya and the others saw Tommy Spirit Evolve, which made the human Warriors grin.

"Do you guys think we should join him?" Takuya asked. "I mean, he can't handle all of those Digimon by himself, right?"

"Right in front of these players?" Koji asked.

"I think we can trust them, don't you?" Zoe grinned.

Koji grumbled. "If this bites us in the rear later, don't say I didn't warn you guys."

"Let's just back Tommy up." Koichi said. "We can worry about the specifics later." He took out his D-Tector.

Chiaki had heard rumors about Digimon looking like humans roaming around, but this was her first time witnessing this. It was like something out of a fairy tale as she saw these kids shouting out "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" at the same time, scanning data on their hands, before fractal code surrounded them like her Digimon whenever he digivolved.

"Agunimon!"

"Lobomon!"

"Kazemon!"

"Beetlemon!"

"Lowemon!"

"You're all Digimon!?" Katsuharu gasped in shock.

Agunimon looked back at the four kids. "You can say that. We're the Legendary Warriors." He replied before turning his attention back to the herd of Centarumon. "And you'll see why we're known as such."

Kumamon was facing down the herd of Centarumon that was coming from behind them. "Okay, here we go. Crystal Breeze!"

Kumamon shot out a powerful ice blast from his mouth, freezing the ground under the incoming Centarumon. The Centarumon all yelled in shock as their hooves were unable to stay stable on the now very icy and slippery floor. Kumamon ran onto the ice, having his boots bring out the skis. He took out his gun as he skied into the middle of the herd. "Blizzard Blaster!"

Instead of shooting directly at the Centarumon, Kumamon fired into the sky, letting the snowballs fall towards the herd as they turned into sharp little icicles.

Agunimon decided to take more of a practical and close range approach. He slammed his fists together, fire igniting around his hands. Agunimon then ran at the closest Centarumon, a fire-coated fist pulled back. "Pyro Punch!"

The Centarumon all shouted as they were blown away by the Pyro Punch.

"Lobo Kendo!" Lobomon cut through more Centarumon with his lightsabers.

"Hurricane Wind!" Kazemon blew away more Centarumon with her winds.

The Centarumon were knocked back by the wind and the sword strikes, all crying out as they were thrown aside.

Lowemon and Beetlemon decided to try a combination attack on the group that they were facing.

"Shadow Meteor!" Lowemon shot out a yellow and black ball of energy at the herd of Centarumon.

"Thunder Fist!" Beetlemon sent lightning right at the yellow and black energy ball, coating it in electrical energy.

The combination attack hit the herd like a bowling ball would hit bowling pins, blowing the group of Centarumon apart as if they were bowling pins.

"Strike!" Beetlemon chuckled.

The other herd of Centarumon were being pelted by Kumamon's Blizzard Blasters. While they were trying to endure the mini icicles, Kumamon skied around them. Without calling out an attack, he held out his hands, trying to channel some of his Crystal Breeze without having to use his mouth for the attack. The frosty wind came out from his fingers, and began to freeze the Centarumon Kumamon was pointing at.

All the while, the other kids were watching in awe at this.

"I had no idea these humans could evolve into Digimon!" Sagittarimon frowned.

"Don't forget about little ol' me~" Piddomon grinned.

Piddomon's voice made Sagittarimon look back at him. "Oh no…"

"Get him, Piddomon!" Chiaki called out.

"Piddomon Speed!" Piddomon launched himself at Sagittarimon with his rod, and smacked Sagittarimon in the face so hard that he sent him flying. "And don't come back here!"

The Centarumon were lying on the floor, unable to keep fighting. The rest were frozen in ice. Kumamon retracted his skis and walked over to the rest of the Legendary Warriors.

"You guys have a lot of brawns, but no training for actual battle," Lobomon stated to the Centarumon.

"Yeah, even I could come up with a better plan than just charging in." Agunimon snickered.

"Ooooww…" A Centarumon groaned. "The-their power is… impressive…"

"Now, if you don't all want to turn into eggs, I suggest you leave here," Agunimon firmly stated.

"And you'll run fast," Beetlemon added.

"OKAY!" The Centarumon shouted in fear as they all turned around and galloped away.

"I'm not messing with the Legendary Warriors!" Another Centarumon shouted.

Kumamon snapped his fingers, thawing out the Centarumon that had been frozen. They didn't waste any time running away themselves. One little bear was all it took to bring down half of their group.

With Sagittarimon and the Centarumon gone, the Legendary Warriors turned their attention to the other kids. Tetsuo came out earlier, seeing the group transforming into these Digimon.

"We… uh…" Katsuharu hesitated.

"We would like an explanation," Chiaki said. "Are you guys Digimon? Why have you been roaming the Digital World as humans?"

Agunimon sighed. "That's because we are humans. We just have the ability to become Digimon. We are not like…" He trailed off, trying to find a way to describe what they were.

Agunimon felt a cold hand on his leg. He looked down, seeing Kumamon looking up at him. Agunimon realized that Kumamon wanted to handle this, so he gave the little bear a nod.

Kumamon walked forward to speak to the group. "I'm sorry for deceiving you. Yes, I am Tommy, and Kumamon. But I wasn't lying before, I really am human, just like you guys are. But I'm also a Digimon. I haven't been the greatest Digimon, however, when I let Sir Michael use and manipulate me to hurt others, including you two, Katsuharu and Teppei. And for what I did… I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. But I don't want you guys to be stuck in the past, being afraid of me, and of Sir Michael. He's also human, just like the rest of us. He's not invincible, neither am I. If you want to get stronger, for the right reasons… you have to allow yourself to grow past that fear. I've only become stronger because I've been trying to go past my fears, doubts, and guilt, and cut ties with someone who's been keeping me down. And I finally found people who are like me too, who are willing to help me instead of hurt me."

Katsuharu and Teppei were staring at Kumamon's words. It was clear Kumamon felt real regret at what he had done. Kumamon also had a valid point. They couldn't remain afraid if they wanted to get stronger.

Katsuharu sighed. "I guess… we should try to move past what happened." He admitted at last. "And… while we may not be able to truly forgive you for what you did, at least… I'll accept your apology… It's the least we could do after you saved our butts back there."

"And just you watch, we don't need to become Digimon to be strong. Our partners will digivolve one day, and they won't be afraid of anyone, including Sir Michael!" Teppei added.

"That's good to hear, keep that attitude," Lowemon said.

"Maybe you guys can start your own guild right here, and take in new players to help them learn that the Digital World isn't just a video game," Beetlemon suggested.

Tetsuo grinned. "Hey, that's a great idea!"

Chiaki giggled. "But what would we name our guild?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be something that will fit with what you're trying to do." Kazemon smiled. "I'm sure you can help people see that this world needs to be taken care of, not conquered or looted."

Chiaki looked up at Kazemon, and smiled. "We'll do the best we can… and, uh… Zoe? You look really pretty as a Digimon."

Kazemon blushed. "Um… thank you…"

Agunimon snuck a glance at Kazemon and a slight blush appeared on his own cheeks. She does look pretty…

"Well… if you guys want, you're still welcome to stay the night," Tetsuo suggested. "It's the least we can do after saving us."

"Just for the night, we've got business to take care of in the morning," Lobomon stated.

"Katsu! You're alright!"

Katsuharu blinked as he turned around, and was shocked to see not a Jyarimon coming, but a Gigimon running to him and hopping into his arms.

"Jyarimon? When did you digivolve?" Katsuharu asked in shock.

"Hey, Teppei! I was worried about you!" Instead of a Punimon, a Tsunomon hopped up to Teppei.

"Punimon? Is that you?" Teppei blinked.

"We felt your desire to move past your fears, and to get stronger," Gigimon explained.

"We were able to digivolve thanks to that." Tsunomon smiled.

Agunimon smiled. "If that isn't progress, then I don't know what is."

Kumamon smiled as he turned to Agunimon. "Yeah… I get the feeling they'll be just fine."

---

pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: It seems someone loved the last chapter! XD It's good to see such an enthusiastic review like this! We don't have plans for Kwan to join the group though.

DarkFoxKit: Well, it's not that we're trying to give everyone character development, we're just trying to show that they're human. Humans can grow and learn from their experience, unlike a lot of western cartoons where they're usually stuck in the same place due to the status quo. We wanted to have everyone be more realistic here. We're also already juggling a lot of characters as is, so we're not exactly planning to have more join the group, for our own sanity sake. ^^'

Also, yeah, for one, we didn't want Danny and Sam to start dating right now. But we also didn't want Sam to stubbornly keep quiet about her feelings. So we figured what Kitty did would've been the perfect reason why Danny wouldn't want to date anyone right now. The show never brought it up, but Kitty did trick and used Danny for her own selfish reasons. Everything Danny had done with 'Paulina' in the past however many days it was had been a lie. You don't just walk off something like that, you know? Danny being hurt from that was a lot more realistic than how they just kinda had him shrug it off in the show, or he just didn't seem to care and went like 'Paulina fell in love with the wrong me! Oh well.'

I don't really ship Danny and Sam either. If you wanna know who I ship Danny with, I'm personally on the Danny X Valerie boat. But I can respect the original intention of having Danny and Sam together, which is why we're trying to make it more natural than how it was in the show.

ZAFT: I could go with either ship to be honest. But taking a crack at making the Danny/Sam ship realistic and natural is a fun challenge so I'm happy to just write it out. XD

As for the King Tuck thing, we have a ways to go before we get to that… ^^' we have yet to decide how we're going to do that. But Tucker does need some love and to not be the… well… the character that gets dumped on the most.

DarkFoxKit: Although, I really don't like the King Tuck episode. I felt like they butchered Tucker's character in that one, and how everyone reacted to Tucker by suddenly ignoring him just rubbed me the wrong way. There's definitely going to be a lot of tweaks when we get to that episode, that's for sure.

As for Patamon's transformation, we figured it would be easier to distinguish what form Patamon is in if we gave it a name. It's too bad we couldn't go with Phantomon. As for if Patamon can digivolve in that form, well… for now, we don't have plans for him to. The form is meant to be its own thing, and it'd be troublesome to have to keep thinking of new digivolution forms for that. There might be one other form for that form in particular, but I don't want to go into detail because that's huge spoilers territory.

Lady Daybringer: ZAFT: Thanks for the re-read! And yeah, the whole thing with Kitty, no one can just walk it off. So it will take time before Danny and Sam are ready to date. :3

DarkFoxKit: I mentioned my feelings on the whole Danny walking it off with Kitty thing in an earlier review. So I rather not repeat myself here, but I will say that we figured it'd be more realistic that Danny would've been upset about that, he just doesn't try to show it or lash out at anyone for it. He just needs some time to heal.

Huh, I'm surprised more people are mentioning that over-exposure thing for Andy now. You guys really wanna see that, huh? Though I should warn you, if we take that direction, Andy may not have the same ghost form as Danny's. Because how Danny got his ghost form and how Andy will get his are very different circumstances.

ZAFT: That would be a good twist though. So we will see what happens with Andy. XD And as for the A-Listers' development, we want to show they are human too, so that's why they are growing as characters, learning from their mistakes.

DarkFoxKit: Just don't mistake their growth as people as characters we're gonna be using regularly. We do not plan to add Kwan and Star into the main character group, we have enough characters to juggle as is.

Akhemphi: ZAFT: I'm glad you want to see Andy get slow exposure giving him ghost powers. We were toying with that as a possible method to be honest.

DarkFoxKit: Well, the reason why I said rabbit earlier was due to his partner Lopmon, being a rabbit Digimon. I didn't just pull the rabbit out of my hat for no reason after all. If Andy gets his ghost form though, would you prefer him to be a beast instead of just an inverted coloration of himself? I mean I didn't plan on something like that, but I have to admit, I am intrigued by it. I don't know if the rest of our viewers would want to see Andy becoming a beast ghost, but it's definitely caught my interest.

One more thing I have to mention… I'm surprised you decided on kitsune being Andy's possible ghost form. Did you mean a humanoid kitsune? Like an anthropomorphic? Or an actual four-legged, feral beast kitsune? And the reason why I said it took me by surprise was because in another story I was writing, a story I never published, Andy actually has a feral kitsune form. It'd be kinda cool to use that form in this story, not gonna lie.

ZAFT: We have some stuff to consider then, and actual ideas we could use. But that will depend on how we want the story to go.

DarkFoxKit: We'd also like to hear from our viewers if that is something you guys want to see in the future. That'll also be something we'll be taking into consideration.