Sistermon Blanc and Ceil Awake were firing at a swarm of Jazadrmon. Some of them slipped through and Jesmon slashed them to pieces. "They just keep coming!" the knight growled.

"Sonic Vulcan!" Some of the enemies fired machine guns at them.

"Protect Wave!" Sistermon Blanc Awake blocked the bullets with a barrier.

"Silent Bullet!" Ceil Awake shot the shooters down. "Hold the line! MarineAngemon needs more time to heal the wounded!"

Behind them MarineAngemon floated near Flamedramon, MetalEtamon, and many other injured Digimon. "It's going to be okay! Ocean's Love!"

Jesmon spotted a bunch of Devitamon coming at them. "Oh, great." He flew at them. "Judgment of The Blade!" He started hacking at them one by one. Once of them leapt over him and started storming towards the Sistermon.

"Fury Fire!"

"Devine Peirce!" Both shot at the Digimon but it dodged the shots and soon was in front of them ready to bite.

The Sistermon held up their arms ready to guard but then a cane flew into the Devitamon knocking it over. "Huh?" They looked to the left as Jesmon backed over to them. They saw another Digimon walk towards them. "Master Gankoomon?!" Blanc gapped.

The Royal Knight stepped past his pupils. "Stand back." The remaining Devitamon came charging at them. Gankoomon punched into the concrete in front of him and roared as he lifted it. "Table Flip!" He threw the large chunk of the floor at the enemies who gapped at the sight as the shadow hung over them and immediately turned around to run away only to get crushed.

Gankoomon smirked folding his arms ad Jesmon and the Sistermon ran up to him. "Master, that was amazing!" Ceil gleamed.

"Master… your wounds… they finally healed!" Jesmon exclaimed in joy.

"Indeed." Gankoomon smiled. "And it is high time I put this body of mine to use." More hostile Digimon aproached and he got into a fighting stance. "Jesmon! Blanc! Ceil! Let us show the Next Order the intensity of our fire!"

"Yes sir!" the trio nodded standing ready to fight.

Apollomon threw fireballs before backing away from Examon's tail. Examon then clawed at Noir. Hudiemon charged towards Examon then he roared at her. The force of it stopped her as she tried to hold on, but she was blown away screaming. MetalSeadramon flew up and Keisuke caught her. "Gotchya!"

"Thanks." Hudiemon said before flying off again.

HiAndromon and Yuugo activated Matrix Link before running up a building and leapt off of it. They grabbed onto Examon's tail. The beast noticed them and shook his tail with HiAndromon and Yuugo holding on for dear life. They took out one of their blades and stabbed the tail. Examon howled and slammed his tail into a building. HiAndromon and Yuugo screamed as it all came crashing down on top of them. "YUUGO!" Fei shouted as she and her Digimon flew towards the rubble. They started digging Yuugo and HiAndromon out. "Are you alright?!"

Yuugo groaned as Fei pulled him up. "I've had better days…"

"Avalon's Gate!" Examon thrusted his lance at Rosemon X who parried the strike with her whips.

"Rune Forrest!" She shot a green burst into Examon's face blinding him briefly before flying up to his face and doing a flipping kick to his chin.

He backed away then aimed at her. "Pendragon's Glory!" His weapon fired a powerful beam that Rosemon X who dodged it. Examon then felt something and turned around. Yukimura was glowing brightly channeling energy.

"Uh, oh." Takuto gulped. "Kouta, Yukimura, he's on to you! Watch out!"

Examon reeled his lance back ready for a thrust, when something tugged on his tail and looked over his shoulder. Ami activated Matrix Link and was helping Rosemon X pull the whips coiled around his tail. The two roared as they swung Examon around and flung him away. Examon snarled at them. Then he flapped his wings and ascended. "Dragonic Impact!" He spun in a circle and flew straight into Rosmeon X and Ami. They crossed their arms and tried to block it, but the knockback launched them far, far away from sight.

"Ami, no!" Nokia yelled.

"I'll save them!" Shiki said as she and Faye flew in the direction the detective and her Digimon were launched.

Examon turned towards Yukimura. TyrantKabuterimon, MetalSeadramon, and all of Fei's Digimon flew at him but they were batted aside. Dianamon and Apollomon flew at him, but he breathed fire on then blowing them away. "Kouta!" Takuto and Omni shouted as they flew in front of their friend. Examon swung his spear downward towards the knight with Omni and Takuto ready to try and catch it. To their surprise they succeeded in stopping it. But not on their own. Takuto looked over his shoulder. "Shoma!"

Noir was grabbing the spear with Omni. Shoma had his eyes closed holding his hands up as if grabbing something overhead just as his Digimon was. "Is this… did they figure out Matrix Link?!" Himari asked.

"Let's do this!" Shoma and Noir said.

Takuto grinned and closed his eyes. "Yeah!" He and Omni threw the spear upwards, and Omni and Noir flew at Examon. They both dodged his lance and flew right at his head. "Buster Dive!" Omni rammed into Examon's head with his shoulder.

"Hide and Seek!" Noir dashed into Examon's chest then flew over his back. "Shadow Fall!"

"Judgment!" Light and dark energy hit Examon knocking it off balance.

"Out of the way boys!" Shiki shouted as she and Ami rushed back on their Digimon using Matrix Link.

"Thorn Whip!" Rosemon X smacked Examon in the head with her whips knocking his head upward. "Shiki, the neck!"

"Right!" Shiki and Faye nodded. "Sprout Rush!" They slammed into Examon's neck making him choke.

Omegamon and Rikka flew by overhead dropping Diaboromon and HiAndromon onto Examon's back. "Virus Download!"

"Copy Paste!" They both stabbed into Examon's back. It shook both of them off. Dianamon and Apollomon caught them.

"Supreme…" Omni and Takuto aimed the Garuru Cannon.

"Transcendent…" Shoma and Noir took out the Grey Cannon next to them. "Cannon!" Together they fired a large blast into Examon's chest pushing it back. "Supreme…" Noir and Shoma drew the Garuru Sword.

"Transcendent…" Takuto and Omni pulled out the Grey Sword. "Sword!" They each dashed into a wing making Examon lose balance.

"Meteor Fall!" He shot a fiery blast toward them, but they all evaded it, and it exploded in the distance.

Arata noticed Examon's labored breathing. "Looks like he's approaching his limit! Just a little more!"

Examon roared as the flap of his wigs blew the party back before he soared into the sky. "Is he trying to escape?" Sayo asked.

Yuugo noticed the sky turning red as he circled into the air. "No… he's going to ram us!"

Ami gapped. "No… not us…" She looked below her. "He's going to try to take the entire city out!"

"Kouta! Yukimura!" Koh shouted.

Both Tamer and Knight snapped their eyes open. "We're ready." They swung Dynas and it glowed. They twirled it as they glowed white and stared at the dragon above them.

"Draconic Impact!" Examon started divebombing towards Cache City.

Hudiemon flew in front of his path. "Erika!" Keisuke shouted. "What are you-

"Infinity Dream!" Hudiemon's eyes glowed blue right when Examon was in front of her. The dragon stopped in his tracks screeching with a hand over his eyes. Hudiemon smirked and flew to the side as Yukimura rushed at him. Kouta roared thrusting his arms forward and Yukimura slammed Dynas into Examon's chest cracking into his skin. Kouta gritted his teeth as he and Yukimura kept pushing until the Dynas stabbed into Examon's body. They then backed away as Examon slowly crashed into the ground below the city.

"Yes!" Takuto cheered. "We did it!"

Yukimura and Kouta were panting. "You two alright?" Fei asked.

"Yeah…" Kouta smiled. "That was sure something, huh?"

"Yeah… but that was too close for comfort." Yuugo sighed.

"Let's make sure he's down for good." Dianamon said. "The last thing we need is him living to terrorize us another day."

HiAndromon and Diaboromon got a lift from Omegamon and TyrantKabuterimon as the Tamers descended on their Digimon to the ground. Examon was lying there exhausted. "He's way stronger than he was before…" Omegamon said. "How did he get so powerful?"

"I don't know…" Arata replied. "But we need to finish him off before he gets the chance to escape."

"Wait…" Shiki said. "Do we really need to pull the plug on him?"

"Shiki, what are you saying?!" Sayo asked. "Examon nearly destroyed Cache City and everyone in it! If we don't stop him now…"

"But still…he's already suffered so much." Takuto said. "I know we're at war, but we don't have to destroy every enemy we fight, do we?"

"I understand what you and your sister are trying to say." Omegamon said. "But Examon has been consumed by his rage. There is no reasoning with him at this point."

"Indeed." Crusadermon appeared and stood on the toppled dragon. "And I would say that rage is well justified."

"Crusadermon!" Hudiemon glared.

"Still… I'm surprised." Crusadermon stared down at Examon. "I did not think you would defeat Examon after we enhanced his power. Fortunately…" Crusadermon held up her hand and showed the golden orb she held. "He bought me enough time to get what we came for."

Everyone gasped at the sight. "Wait... is that Baihumon's DigiCore?!" Ami gapped.

"Impossible!" Koh shouted. "MirageGaogamon Burst Mode was guarding it!"

"He didn't make it easy." Crusadermon laughed. "Luckly, I had some help. Now all four of the Sovereign DigiCores belong to us."

"What are you planning to do with them?" Yuugo asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. Assuming you live that long. In any case, you can keep the city. We have no further need of it." Cursadermon ascended. "But Examon is vital for the Next Order's goals. I'm afraid I can't let him fall here. Until we meet again."

Hudiemon and TigerVespamon divebombed towards the two knights as they glowed but both missed their targets as they disappeared. "Damn it!" Hudiemon scowled.

"This is bad." Yuugo cringed. "They have everything they need to complete Project Nexus."

Everyone's Digivices rang and they picked up to hear Mirei. "Well done everyone. All of the Next Order forces have been defeated. The Royal Knights and Hudie's Dream are doing a sweep of the city to be sure. We suffered a number of casualties, and some of our troops are unaccounted for, but the worst has been avoided. However, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"If this is about Crusadermon taking off with Biahumon's Digicore, we already know." Sayo said.

"That... is indeed horrible to hear... but that's not what I was getting at." Back in the lab Mirei had one monitor showing the Tamers she was conversing with. She turned to the other that showed a panicked Rapidmon Armor, BlackWarGreymon, Dorugoramon, and Samudramon.

"Damn it!" Samudramon growled. "DAMN IT!" He slammed his fist into a tree, and it fell over. He and Takumi's Digimon stood in the spot where they last saw Takumi and Yuuko. After being teleported to the city without their partners they hurried straight back but by the time they got their neither teenager was anywhere to be found.

"Takumi... Yuuko..." Rapidmon Armor growled. "How could we let this happen?!"

Brother Sorrow and his Digimon stood in front of the three Puppetmon. "You fools just fled from them with your tails between your legs?!" Creepymon snarled.

"We don't have tails." one of the Puppetmon replied. He yelped duckling under a fireball.

"We had no choice!" another one replied. "Those Digimon with them were too strong! They destroyed every Digimon we sent at them!"

"And you cowards abandoned those Digimon who you lured over to them to die?" Brother Sorrow glared.

The three shrieked in fright. "W-we're sorry!"

"Hmph. Fine then. Take me to where you saw them! I will deal with them myself."

"They're both probably long gone by now." BlitzGreymon replied before his head perked up. "Hmm? Someone's coming."

"Yeek!" The Puppetmon shuddered as they heard noise from the trees. "They chased us all the way here?!"

The four Bakomon came out carrying a large rectangular cardboard box. "*huff* *pant* F-finally! We found you!" one of them breathed.

"You four... you're part of the supply unit." Brother Sorrow said. "What are you doing out here?"

"We have..." The Bakomon grunted trying to hold the box they carried though the forest best they could with their nearly depleted Rookie Level strength. "...a special delivery for you!" The four of them shouted as they tossed it and it toppled to the ground on its side in front of Brother Sorrow.

The masked man distinctly heard muffled screaming from it. "What the...?" He and his Digimon eyed it oddly. He then turned to CresGarurumon and pointed at it. His Digimon slashed the tape sealing the box with his spear and Yuuko and Takumi came rolling out of it still restrained in tape. "Well, well."

"Now this is my kind of present!" Creepymon grinned. His smile immediately faded. "Oh god, did I just quote Lilithmon?"

The Puppetmon laughed. "Well, lookie here! Don't you two look pathetic!"

"Yeah!" One of them kicked Takumi. "Not so tough now, are you!"

"Back off." The three of them looked at a glaring Brother Sorrow walking towards them. "Now." The Puppetmon shuddered as they backed away with the Bakomon as the man walked up to Yuuko and Takumi. The two of them paled as his terrifying presence made it clear how much trouble they were in. The man glared at them before looking at the Bakomon. "For the record, if this was any other circumstance, I would be very pissed off with you four for going against your orders."

"S-sorry..." one of them whispered as they shook.

"That being said, you did so because of an offer I extended to the whole army. And you four brought me what I wanted. Even captured one of the Next Order's greatest enemies along with Yuuko too. So, I'll let it slide this time. Congratulations. As promised, I will reward you with the bounty. Come see me at Extinguish Keep later."

"Yippie!" the four Bakomon cheered.

"As for you…" Brother Sorrow kneeled down to Yuuko. "How I've waited for this moment for a long time now." he said quietly. "Nobody will save you this time. Finally... you will suffer for your crimes against me. I did warn you back then Yuuko..." The girl stared at the masked man's gaze as he spoke. "Pray that one of those Digimon rampaging in Tokyo get to you first. Because it will be a far kinder end then what will await you should we ever meet again"."

Yuuko stared at the man. Something about his words was familiar. And then it came to her. Her eyes widened as she trembled. "No... can it be...?!"

Upon seeing her reaction Brother Sorrow chuckled and stood up. He heard a beep and took out his Digivice. "This is Crusadermon. Examon has been defeated, but I have the DigiCore. It's time to withdraw."

"Understood." Brother Sorrow replied. "I'll be at Extinguish Keep. Yuuko and Takumi Aiba have been captured."

"Really? Well done."

"I'll be tending to them personally. Please inform his majesty when you return."

"Of course. I'll leave you to it."

Yuuko's eyes were on his Digivice as he put it away. Seeing it up close, it looked like it was put together using a lot of random parts and then painted blue and black. "That Digivice… It really is him...!"

Brother Sorrow turned to his Digimon. "Pack them back up. We're taking them with us."

"You're the boss." Creepymon grinned. He went over and shoved Yuuko and Takumi back into the box with his foot and flung it over his shoulder. Brother Sorrow and the Digimon with him started to walk away.

Everyone had gathered in a plaza in the middle of Cache City. "Takumi and Yuuko were taken?!" Takuto gasped.

Mirei could only nod. "How did this happen?!" Arata asked looking at Takumi and Yuuko's Digimon.

"After we got out of the underground bunker, they tried to use a Home Gate to teleport us to safety." Rapidmon Armor explained. "Next thing we know the four of us were back here alone…"

"We went back to where they were as fast as we could…" BlackWarGreymon said. "But by the time we got there they were gone…"

"And now neither of them is answering our calls." Mirei said. "I lost their signal as well."

"Who took em?!" Fei asked. "Where did they take em?!"

"If we knew, we'd be on our way there right now." Dorugoramon replied.

"I got a better question." Himari said raising her hand. "What in the world were they doing down in the bunker in the first place? There hasn't been anything important down there since we moved Hudie's Dream out."

"Takumi was fetching some protocols from the computer downstairs I asked him to send." Mirei said. "He messaged me earlier saying Yuuko followed him underground."

"Why the hell didn't you tell the rest of us this?!" Kentaurosmon yelled. "We could have sent them back up if it was that important!"

"I had my reasons." Mirei replied.

"Right…" Mameo thought to himself. "Mainly the spy who's still at large and telling the Next Order our secrets. No doubt they're behind this whole mess too."

"Well, at least we got the city in the sky." UlforceVeedramon said. "Once Mirei finishes the camouflage function and we start moving it'll be impossible for the Next Order to pull something like this again."

"Too little too late." Kouta groaned. "Takumi and Yuuko were captured… Crusadermon ran off with the last Sovereign DigiCore… a lot of our allies were either destroyed or captured as well… at this point what more could they want?"

"Maybe I should have perused Crusadermon when she ran away…" Keisuke said.

"No Keisuke." Yuugo replied. "It was far more important you helped us stop Examon."

"I agree." MirageGaogamon Burst Mode hung his head in shame. "If anything, it's my fault… I failed my duty as Lord Baihumon's guardian… and I have failed all of you as well."

"Don't be so hard on yourself!" Luche said. "You were all on your own!"

"About that…" Pidemon looked at MirageGaogamon Burst Mode. "Why didn't anyone tell us this guy was guarding something so important? We could have added more guards."

"Oh…" Shiki nervously chuckled remembering that they were trying to keep the issue of the traitor from getting out. "Well… uh…"

"We didn't want the information to leak out to the mole." Everyone looked at Ami after she spoke.

"Wait… Mole?" a Starmon asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Recently a lot of our missions have been sabotaged and our enemies seem to know exactly what we're doing. We believe they have a spy here in the city."

The crowd broke into gasps and murmurs. "A spy?!" Lilamon gasped.

"So, one of us is a traitor." Loweemon said.

"That can't be!" BetelGamamon said. "Who would do such a thing?!"

"With this many Digimon here identifying them will be near impossible." Dorulumon muttered.

"Hey, uh, Ami?" Mameo stared at the Cyber Sleuth. "Wasn't the plan to *not* share that with everyone in the city to keep this from happening? Now everyone is going to start suspecting each other!" He gestured to MetalEtamon, a Wizzardmon, and a Angemon who were all pointing at each other and shouting.

"Takumi, Mirei and I had a talk while preparing for the attack." Ami said. "This invasion right when we were about to launch the city into the sky had to be the spy's doing. Even now that we're above ground we're not safe so long as they're in our group."

"And we believe we have made progress in narrowing down their identity." Mirei said.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to Mirei and Ami. "You two figured it out?" Nokia asked.

Mirei adjusted her glasses. "When the Cyber Sleuths approached me, Takumi pointed out when it seemed like the Next Order started learning about all our plans. Our troubles began when they followed us to the temple in Browser Forrest."

"Right. That's the mission we went on." Kouta said.

"Come to think of it, she's right." Arata said. "That was the first time since we got to this world when the Next Order started acting one step ahead of us."

"So, it was around that time…" Zero said. "Hmm… that was shortly after Hudeimon successfully gathered the whole Resistance into the city."

"Oh, that helps." A CatchMamemon sarcastically groaned. "We brought in so many Digimon at once that day! How do we know which one is the traitor?"

"That's not all guys." Rosemon Burst Mode said. "One other thing happened around that time."

Everyone in the group thought about what she might be getting at. Shoma gasped. "Wait! We also rescued Shiki and Ami from that lab around then!"

"What?" a Veedramon asked. "No way! Are you saying one of them is the traitor?!"

"No!" Luche shouted running in front of Shiki. "Shiki would never do that!"

"Neither would Ami!" Nokia added. "Those two are good eggs, they'd never sell us out!"

"I agree." Mirei said. "But it occurred to us you didn't just return to the city with Ami and Shiki. Certain Digimon were brought back with you."

Everyone turned to three Digimon. Agumon Expert, Doctor Datamon, and Terriemron Assistant. "What?" Doctor Datamon asked. "Surly you don't think…"

"You guys think the traitor is one of us?!" Terriemron Assistant shrieked.

"Come to think of it..." a Gomamon said. "Weren't these three with the Next Order before then?"

"We have put all that behind us!" Agumon Expert said.

"Have you now?" Arbormon folded his arms. "Can you three definitively prove you are with us and not them?"

"But I..." Doctor Datamon stuttered. "We..."

"Ami, do you really believe this?!" Terriermon Assistant asked in shock. "After everything we've been through together in that lab and in your world?!"

"I don't." Ami said. "But the facts are there, and my opinion alone is not enough. So, I ask the rest of you. What do you think?"

Everyone went quiet at first. "Well..." Kouta murmured.

"Hmmm..." Gallantmon mumbled.

"It does add up..." Justimon said.

"Guys those three helped us rescue Ami and Shiki!" Keisuke shouted. "This is absurd!"

"Is it?" Grizzlymon asked. "That could have just been to earn our trust."

"The timing does add up to when our troubles started, and they were formally working with the Next Order." Yuugo said. "But..."

"What about you Darcmon?" Ami asked. "What do you think?"

"I think you, your brother and Mirei did some solid detective work. Your logic is sound. I didn't want to say anything without proof, but truth be told I had suspicions myself."

"All we needed to hear." Mirei said.

"This is outrageous!" Doctor Datamon said. "What proof do you have?!"

"It's true we can't prove your guilt." Sayo said. "But we can't prove your innocence either. We shouldn't act on this now or rule them out."

"But if one of them is the spy it's dangerous to let them go free." Yukimura said. "Let's lock them up for now and-

"No need." Ami said stepping forward. "I already know who the spy is."

The group looked at her. "You serious?" Fei asked.

"I am. Rosemon?"

Rosemon Burst Mode walked forward facing Terriermon Assistant, Doctor Datamon, and Agumon Expert. "A-Ami...!" Terriermon Assistant shivered. Rosemon raised her whip into the air and the three closed their eyes.

Rosemon swung to her right and her whip flew in that direction coiling around Darcmon tying her up in it. The Digimon shrieked. "Ami?!" Arata looked at her in shock.

"The hell are you-

Ami ignored Fei and looked at her Digimon. "Ophanimon!"

Her Celestial Digimon ascended over Darcmon and glowed. "Holy Light!"

A golden shine came down on Darcmon who screamed as she dropped to her knees. "What are you doing?!" Magnamon shouted.

"Ami, what the hell!" Nokia screamed. "I thought you said-

Ami looked at the group. "Guys, even if Ophanimon is two levels above Darcmon, light-based attacks shouldn't be hurting her this much!"

"She is an archangel Digimon after all." Mirei added.

Magnamon blinked. "They... they're right..."

"What?" Takuto gapped. "So then..."

"This isn't Darcmon." Ami glared. "And what she said just now proves it! Someone as trusting and loving as her wouldn't suspect her own alias without proof like that!"

Omegamon drew his blade. "Revel yourself fiend!"

Darcmon growled as her eyes turned red. She roared disbursing a purple hurricane and blowing the whip off her. Everyone shielded themselves from a strong gust of wind and in Darcmon's place was a purple and green Digimon with fangs, wings, a tail and red wings. "Curse you Cyber Sleuth!"

"You!" MirageGaogamon Burst Mode summoned his weapon. "You're the one who was with Crusadermon!"

"Murmukusmon!" UlforceVeedramon growled. "A fallen angel Digimon with shape shifting abilities! So, he was posing as Darcmon!"

"That's right." the intruder smirked dusting himself off. "Not bad acting don't you think? It was rather exhausting playing chummy with you fools. I must admit, I am impressed human. Nobody has ever seen though my disguise before. What gave me away?"

Ami smirked. "Remember those "protocols" Takumi went to the underground bunker for? He contacted Mirei earlier saying the Next Order destroyed the computer specifically saying it was to stop him from getting them."

"And according to him, you were the only one he said a word of it to." Mirei said.

Murmukusmon glared. "…There were no protocols in the first place were there?"

"Of course not." Ami replied. "Do you think he would just happen to mutter something he was trying to keep secret while somebody was there? Takumi's not that careless."

"So, it was all just a trick to confirm my identity. Well played."

"Where's the real Darcmon you monster!?" Dinohumon yelled drawing his blade as the Resistance surrounded Murmukusmon.

"She's in the Next Order's custody as we speak." the fallen Digimon smiled. "Don't worry. They won't kill her so long as she has Zhuqiaomon's DigiCore inside of her."

"So, you've been pretending to be Darcmon so you could tell the Next Order everything we've been up to." Zero glared. "Well, your days of sabotaging us have come to an end."

Everyone stood ready to attack. "I would advise against futile efforts to resist." Noir warned. "All your buddies took off. You're all alone."

Murmukusmon closed his eyes. "Regrettably, it seems this is the end of the line for me. I know I am surrounded by superior Digimon. I have no hope of victory or escape." He slowly opened his eyes. "But in my dying breath…" He dashed towards Ami. "I will commit one final service to Lord Leopardmon!"

"Ami!" Nokia shouted.

Gankoomon slammed on top of Murmukusmon holding one of his arms against his back while pinning him to the ground. "Don't bother. It's over."

"You will not…" Murmukusmon growled. "Take me alive… I will take at least one of you worms with me!" His body glowed red.

"He's going to detonate!" Mirei yelled.

"Apollomon!" Koh shouted.

"Gankoomon, move!" Apollomon grabbed Murmukusmon and roared throwing him as high up as he could over the city and held his hands up towards him. "Solblaster!" He fired a golden ray straight up.

Murmukusmon was pushed further away from the city. "N-no…!" He screamed as he exploded in bright light. The humans and most of the Digimon below had to shield their eyes.

It slowly died down and they all looked up. Murmukusmon was gone. "Well… that happened." Sistermon Ceil said.

"So much for interrogating him for information." UlforceVeedramon said.

"Well… the threat of the spy is over now!" Nokia said. "Thanks to the superb detective work of the Cyber Sleuths!"

"Indeed. Cudos to you and your brother Ami." Mameo said. "What made you two suspect Darcmon?"

"A number of things. The first one being what Nokia said to me."

"Huh?" Nokia looked at her. "What did I say?"

"You told me that Darcmon was acting differently all the sudden. You said that the way she reacted to seeing me again after you guys rescued us was different from how she reacted to seeing the rest of you when you came to this world."

Yuugo's eyes widened. "Now that you mention it... before Darcmon looked really happy to see us, committing how we've grown. Back at the lab her reunion with Ami looked more... awkward to her. We should have noticed sooner."

"What also got my attention is that Magnamon seemed insistent that the Sovereign DigiCore in Darcmon couldn't be removed so easily yet she claimed the Next Order did that when he could no longer sense it. Yet she didn't give any details on how they did it."

Magnamon folded his arms. "Of course. The reason why I could no longer sense it was because this "Darcmon" never had it."

"And consider this." Ami said. "The lab Shiki and I were held at. K's plan was to lure Takumi and Takuto there using us as bait. Putting a big target over the facility. You would think they'd know better than to keep other prisoners as important as Darcmon in a place they wanted them to attack... Unless..."

"They wanted us to rescue her." Shoma said. "So that wasn't Darcmon we rescued back there. It was Murmukusmon."

"And the cherry on top?" Ami said. "All the plans that were met with Next Order interference were discussed in meetings Darcmon attended. Takumi and I talked it over. We didn't want to have everyone suspecting her until we were certain. So, we discussed a plan with Mirei on how to prove our theory."

Mirei nodded. "I had Takumi "accidently" blurt to Darcmon that he was going to the underground bunker to obtain something from the computer there and not let anyone else know. That way if he were intercepted by the Next Order, it would mean Darcmon told them."

"Just to make sure I wanted to test to see if Darcmon would try to shift blame onto someone else. That would be the last bit of proof I need that it wasn't really her." Ami looked at Doctor Datamon, Agumon Expert, and Terriermon Assistant. "Sorry if I made you three uncomfortable."

"Oh, it's fine." Agumon Expert said. "You did what you had to do."

"Well, good work Ami." Arata smiled. "Now that we got rid of the rat, we don't need to worry about our Intel being leaked."

"I just wish I exposed him sooner." Ami's eyes saddened. "Now the Next Order has all the cards... The Sovereign DigiCores... Takumi... Yuuko... Darcmon... I have no idea what to do now..."

"I'll tell you what we do." Fei said punching into her palm. "We're gonna track down where they took Yuuko and your brother, get them back along with Darcmon and her Sovereign DigiCore and beat those assholes into the dirt!"

"Sounds good to me!" Himari smiled.

"According to Murmukusmon they haven't figured out how to remove Zhuqiaomon's DigiCore from her." Zero said. "If we can rescue her first, we can stop the Next Order's Project Nexus from taking off."

"Okay, but how do we find out where they were all taken?" Sayo asked. "We have no idea where to look."

"Actually..." Fei put a hand at her chin. "My memories while in the Next Order are still fuzzy but I think I might have a clue where they might have been taken."

"Really?" Ami turned to her. "Where?"

Right when Fei was about to answer a loud noise brought their attention to something rising in smoke before it exploded in the air with a loud bang. "We're being attacked again!" Luche yelped.

"No..." Mercurymon stepped forward. "That looked more like a flare of some kind."

"A flare you say?" Omegamon asked. "Someone is trying to get our attention?"

"Someone should go investigate then." Mirei replied.

Jesmon descended to the ground. Sistermon Ceil, and Sistermon Blanc jumped down from his shoulders. "Ah, there y'all are."

Jesmon saw a red Digimon with a cowboy hat and a massive silver Digimon with him. "Who are you two? Remnants of the Next Order attack?"

"Jesmon, wait!" Ceil ran in front of him. "I know these guys!"

"Yeah, they're the ones that helped us liberate that prison camp!" Blanc said. "Um... MagnaKidmon and Gundramon, right?"

Gundramon nodded. "You got it. We hopped to lend a hand when we caught wind of the Next Order invading your base, but it looks like you handled it without us."

"So much for having you in our debt." MagnaKidmon adjusted his hat. "Guess it's time for plan B."

"And what would that be?" Jesmon asked.

A brief silence drew. Then Gundramon got on his hands and knees while MagnaKidmon took off his hat and bowed his head. "Please help us! We're beggin' ya, y'all are our only hope!"

"Huh?!" Jesmon and the Sistermon stared at them awkwardly.

Blanc then took another look at the group. "Wait a minute…aren't you guys missing someone?"

"Hey, you're right." Ceil replied. "Where's the pretty lady with the stylish handguns?"

MagnaKidmon sighed. "Well, ya see..."

Crusadermon held up Baihumon' DigiCore and it floated over to Leopardmon's hand. "Excellent." Leopardmon smiled. "Now we just need to extract Zhuqiaomon's DigiCore from Darcmon and we will have all of them."

"Any progress on that front?" Craniamon asked.

"Sadly not much to speak of." Crusadermon replied. "Vademon said it was rigged to destroy itself if forcefully removed. We can't risk that. He's doing what he can to work around it, but it will take time."

"I see." Leopardmon replied. "And you assigned him with handling Arcadiamon as well, yes? I suppose it can't be helped."

Dynasmon entered. "Sire. I lost Murmukusmon's signal. I'm afraid he has been terminated."

"So, he was finally found out." Crusadermon said. "Pity. He has done so well for the Next Order."

"He has played his part." Leopardmon said. "He died with honor. In any case, where's Brother Sorrow?"

"At Extinguish Keep." Crusadermon replied. "During our attack Yuuko and Takumi were captured."

"Really?" Dynasmon asked.

"Excellent." Leopardmon nodded. "That's two of the humans out of our way. Now that we have the Sovereign Digimon there's no point in interrogating them for information. Tell Brother Sorrow to execute them."

Crusadermon chuckled. "Oh, trust me, he'll be happy to oblige… but he did say he wanted to make sure Yuuko suffers before he ends her life."

"And of what relevance is that?" Craniamon asked. "Would it not be better to just eliminate them before their allies mount a rescue?"

"And how will they know where they are? Even if they do find the keep it won't be easily infiltrated. Besides…the reason why Brother Sorrow joined the Next Order was so he could exact his revenge on Yuuko. Given all he's done for us surely, we can give him what he deserves."

"Crusadermon." Leopardmon spoke up. "Be honest. Is this out of generosity towards Brother Sorrow… or is it out of spite towards that Kamishiro girl?"

The pink knight was quiet first. Then she let out an eerie chuckle. "…If it's that obvious, I won't deny it."

"Hmph. I suppose you two have earned it." Leopardmon said. "Very well. Do as you please. But do not take too long before ending their lives."

Cursadermon rose. "As you wish."

The attack is over and the mole is disposed of. But the trouble for the Resistance is not over yet. Next week expect to learn a lot of things. Like what became of the captive Takumi and Yuuko. What two of the Three Musketeers want with the Resistance. ...And who the man behind the mask is. So you soon.