Peace. Even though it was cloudy with light rain it was peaceful. Quiet too. Only the sounds of waves crashing against their ship were the only noises they heard.

"Oh, we be pirates, we love to sail the seven seas.

Just a bunch of scallywags who are as free as free could be.

We swim through storms and waves all because you see.

Great treasure and adventure waiting just for me!"

"CHLOE! Get down from there and come inside, we're planning our next moves! And stop singing that song!" Catherine yelled at her sister, who was currently up in the crow's nest. It's been a few minutes since they departed from Candlelight City and Chloe has done nothing but sing that annoying song. It was cute the first time she sang it, but it quickly lost its charm.

"'Kay!" Chloe slowly made her way down to her sister.

"This girl," Catherine quietly muttered under her breath.

The twins joined up with the others who were in their kitchen area. TK and Ken were talking with each other, probably about their past adventures, while Willis was currently studying his Digivice. Surprisingly, Ryo was at the stove making them food, and unsurprisingly, the Digimon were trying to sneak in a few snacks before dinner.

"Now that everyone is here, what should we do next?" TK asked out loud when he saw the twins had arrived.

"I say we should circle around the island to see if we missed anything and after that, we should pick a random direction and hope for the best," Willis suggested. Though they hated the idea of randomly picking a direction, it was probably their best plan to go with.

"Yeah, though maybe our Digivices could pick up a signal so we're not traveling the Digital World completely blind," Ken agreed with Willis, with a little more optimism.

"That's a start, is there anything else we should go over?" TK asked.

"What are we going to do about night? How are our sleeping arrangements going to be and who's going to make sure we don't crash? I don't want to wake up at the bottom of the ocean," Ryo called out.

"Well, I don't know about you boys, but me and Chloe will be sleeping close to each other," Catherine stated and no one argued with her, they all assumed that the siblings would want to be close to each other.

"We set the hammocks up like bunk beds, so pick someone who you're comfortable with and decide what hammock you want," Willis said. "Now for steering the ship, I propose we do it in shifts. Since there are six of us, plus our partners, I think each of our shifts should last about an hour and twenty minutes so we can all get an equal amount of sleep."

"No problem here. So who's going to take the first shift?" Chloe asked and TK raised his hand.

"I'll do it. And after we finish circling the island, Angemon and I can fly around the island and use my Digivice to see if the crest is more inland," TK suggested and everyone nodded. Soon everyone started volunteering for when they'll stay up to watch the ship. Catherine volunteered to go last because she was used to getting up early back at home and Floramon added that she wanted to see the sunrise.

Soon Ryo came over to the table with a pot of stew and he started to pour the liquid into everyone's bowl. The Digimon instantly dug into their dinner while the kids took their time to eat.

"This is delicious, Ryo. When did you learn to cook?" Chloe asked and Ryo smiled.

"I taught myself! My parents usually work late so I have to fend for myself," Ryo said pridefully. "Willis also told me that since we don't know how long it will take until we're on land again, we can't waste any food."

The mood changed after Ryo said that. Maybe the high of buying a ship made them forget about how important food is going to be. There are thirteen of them in total and from what TK told them about Digimon stomachs basically being bottomless pits, then food is going to be pretty scarce. Plus, Digimon need a lot of energy to Digivolve, so they might even have to skip a few meals in favor of feeding their partners.

TK thought back to his first adventure and how they didn't have a lot of food. After their first day in the Digital World, they ate all of the food they had because the Digimon were too tired to hunt for themselves. After that day they ate every edible piece of food that they came across, whether it came from a forest or village they weren't going to pass up free food. Maybe that's the reason he always cleans his plate, no matter what was served.

"Let's not think about that now, and besides we can have Angemon forage for food when he's out looking for the crest," Ken said to cheer everyone up.

"You're right, and we still have a lot of food left," Ryo said.

Everyone started to feel a little better, but they knew that the food they have now won't last. But Ken was right, they can't worry about food right now, they should be happy they're a lot closer to finding the crests than they were a day ago.

"Hey, is it okay if we have seconds?" Patamon asked. He and the other Digimon held up their empty bowls. The Digidestined laughed, even if times get rough as long as they have their partners, they know everything will be alright.


Bitterness, that's all he felt. It was a nice, warm, sunny day and he hated it. Even though it was warm, Matt decided to wear a black sweatshirt to match what he was feeling in his heart. He didn't have a good day yesterday, he was late for his bass lesson, he missed dinner, and when things couldn't have gotten any worse, his mother called in the middle of the night saying that his brother is missing. But, he couldn't care less.

He didn't know why, any good big brother would care that their younger brother is missing, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. It's not like he sees him all the time, outside of their adventures in the Digital World and whenever they see their grandparents. Plus, he's in France, what did his mother expect him to do, fly to a different country to find someone who's probably with their friends? That would just be a waste of time and money if you asked him.

Besides, he has his own stuff to worry about. He and a group of guys from school are planning to form a band, with him as lead vocals. Also, he's almost done with his bass lessons and that's gonna help with the band. He almost wanted to play the guitar, his dad even bought him one but decided to go with the bass because he liked the sound better, and felt like it suited him more.

Matt was coming up to the school and he saw Sora waiting by the front steps. She was wearing all black, a black shirt, black pants, black shoes, and even a black hat that he didn't even know she had. She gave him an uninterested wave, but he didn't react.

"Pretty rude, don't ya think?" Sora said dryly after he reached the school.

"Didn't feel like it," Matt responded and Sora rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she sighed. "Heard about TK going missing."

"And?" Matt scoffed. He expected Sora to blow up in his face, lecturing him about how he should care about his younger brother, but she didn't seem to care. The only reaction that she gave was her eyes widening a little, and you wouldn't have even noticed it if you weren't paying attention.

"Just thought I'd show you my support and see how you were feeling," she said and Matt felt a little annoyed by this.

"I don't need your support, I'm not my brother's keeper! Whatever happened in France is out of my control!" Matt yelled at her. He didn't know why, she was just trying to be a good friend and he yelled at her for it. Too bad for him, because he made her angry.

"Well sorry for trying to be a good friend you jerk! I thought you of all people would understand!" She yelled back at him. Any remorse that Matt had for yelling at her earlier was long gone and was replaced with nothing but rage for the girl.

"I never asked for you to be a friend! I don't remember asking to be your friend in the first place, and if it wasn't for the Digital World we wouldn't even know each other!" Matt screamed. Time froze after those words left his mouth. He didn't mean any of them, yet something in his heart was glad that he said them.

Who did Matt think he was? She was trying to be nice and he blew up in her face for no reason. She hated that he yelled at her, hated everything he said, and she even started to hate him.

A cough broke them out of their trance, it was Tai. For some reason, he was wearing puffy clothes, but what really got their attention was that he was shaking with tears in his eyes. How long has he been standing there and how much did he hear? Matt didn't want to know, so he slowly walked up the stairs and into the school. Not before leaving one last comment for the girl, and to some extent, Tai.

"Just… Just leave me alone."

Now alone, Tai was worried about both of his friends. Matt seemed distant and Sora looked like she was ready to rip Matt apart. He didn't know what caused the argument, he knew how it ended, but he was scared that their friendship would end.

"Uh… Sora?" Tai meekly said.

"Not now Tai!" Sora snapped at him. He flinched but she didn't notice, she paid more thought to how she could get back at Matt. She ran after the blond boy, leaving Tai alone.

"Everything will be fine… I-It has to b-be," he told himself, but he didn't know how much he believed it.


TK huffed as he leaned back in his chair, if this was how his friends felt when they kept watch during their first adventure then he should thank them because he was bored out of his mind. It was pouring out, so he was relegated to using the windows in the kitchen area, which was a struggle in itself. The rain covered the windows, making it difficult to look out of, resulting in him needing to look through the door and getting a little wet. He's extremely grateful that the ship's steering mechanism was also in the kitchen so if he saw that there was something in the ship's way he could easily change direction.

"How much longer, TK?" Patamon asked with a yawn. TK looked at his Digivice and saw they had about 10 minutes left until they had to wake Ken and Wormmon for their shift. They actually set up their sleeping arrangements around their shift order, with him and Ken sharing a bunk, Willis and Ryo sharing a bunk, and obviously, Catherine and Chloe sharing a bunk.

"Not much longer, buddy," he told his winged companion. He got up from his seat to check through the front door to make sure there wasn't anything in their path. Thankfully there wasn't anything but he chose to keep looking out the door. Maybe he wanted to make sure there was nothing because it was really dark, or maybe he wanted some fresh air he wasn't exactly sure.

He must've kept the door open for too long because Patamon started to get worried.

"You gonna close the door soon? You're getting wet," Patamon said and TK broke out of his trance. He quickly closed the door and quickly returned to his seat. Patamon soon flew onto his lap, giving him a worried look. "Everything ok?"

"I was just thinking about something Ryo said earlier," TK told his partner, and Patamon cocked his head.

"Is it about the food? Because we can go foraging when we search for the crest," Patamon said, and YK just shook his head.

"It's not that, it's what he said about his parents. I didn't say anything because I was too caught up in being back in the Digital World and the others didn't seem to mind but, how do you think our parents reacted to us being transported to the Digital World?" During his first adventure, they got lucky because time in the Digital World moved faster than in the Real World so to everyone else they were gone for a few minutes. But after they defeated the Dark Masters and Apocalymon, the Real World and the Digital world synced up and each world's time moved at the same pace.

"We've been here for three days, going into our fourth! Back then it took us days to find the crests and weeks until we were able to go back home!" Even though it's a little selfish of him to think this, he can't spend weeks in the Digital World, he has a life in the Real World and so does the others. Plus, how does his mother feel after all of this?

His mother was worried when he had to go back to the Digital World after they defeated VenomMyotismon, and she forced him to move with her to France after the Diaboromon incident. She wasn't even home when he was summoned to the Digital World so for all she knows he was kidnapped on his way home. She must be freaking out right now.

"Then you have a great reason to find the crests quickly," Patamon said, making TK feel a little better. The sooner they find the crest, the sooner they save the Digital World and they could go home.

"You're right, Patamon," TK checked his Digivice and saw they had a minute left until their shift ended. "Hey, you can go to sleep now, we only have a minute left."

"No, I want to see this until the end with you TK," Patamon said, barely keeping his eyes open. TK smiled at his partner and rubbed his head.

"Thanks, buddy."


"What the heck Joe, where were you last night!? I had to do the whole project last night!" Joe's glasses-wearing classmate yelled at him.

Joe dreaded going to school all morning, not because of his classes or any failed tests, but because of his classmate. He abandoned him to do all their work and he didn't even know why he did it. He never left his work to be done by his classmates, even if he didn't know the subject.

"S-Sorry, I was just tired and I couldn't make it," Joe tried to explain himself. He knew it wasn't a good excuse, but it was the only one he had and it was the truth.

"So, I'm always tired after school! I'm extremely tired right now because I had to stay up late to do your work!" He screamed, obviously not liking Joe's excuse.

Joe flinched, he should've expected this was how his classmate would've reacted. He's in high school, so being tired isn't a good excuse because everyone is tired. He felt horrible that his classmate had to stay up late to do his work.

"I'm sorry, is there anything I could do to make it up to you?" Joe pleaded. He knows that he's not the smartest or most physically gifted student in their school, but people know they could always rely on him for help.

"I want you to do all of today's homework for me. I need a break after last night," his classmate said and Joe nodded. It's the least he could do, plus he needs to face some repercussions after what he did. It's going to be a lot, not only doing his classmate's homework but his own as well, he's most likely going to have to stay up late but if he wants to become a doctor then he's going to need to get used to pulling all nighters.

"Deal! I'll even change a few of my answers so you'll get a higher grade!" Joe promised, even though he wasn't asked to. His classmate just rolled his eyes.


A few minutes passed since TK and Angemon left to go search inland. Turns out the island they were originally on wasn't that big since they passed Candlelight City by morning. Since it was smaller than expected they almost decided not to search inland, but they went ahead with their original plan because it's better to be safe than sorry. Plus, TK said that he and Angemon would go out and look for food, which was a big part of why they chose to stick with the plan.

To the shock of no one, it was still raining which disappointed Floramon because she wanted to see the sunrise, but the rain wasn't coming down hard so the others could walk around the ship if they didn't mind getting a little wet.

Chloe was back in the Crowsnest humming the song she sang yesterday, while Catherine was warning her sister to be careful. Ken was cleaning the deck because he was worried mold would form from all the rain and Floramon decided to help him. Ryo, Wormmon, and Penguinmon were using the fishing net they got from the Divermon to fish for extra food for their journey. While the rest of their group stayed indoors because they didn't want to get wet.

"Are you sure this will work?" Wormmon asked Ryo who responded by chuckling while rubbing the back of his head.

"I've watched a lot of TV back home and this is how they caught fish," Ryo said. He wanted to use one of the fishing rods because he thought it would be easier, but he didn't have any bait and he didn't want to waste any of their food if he didn't catch anything. "Just throw the net in the water and we pull up the net after some time has passed, we'll have a bunch of fish."

Penguinmon's mouth watered at the prospect of a lot of fish, it was her favorite food, even though she never had it before. Ryo noticed the expression on Penguinmon's face and he chuckled.

"If we get a big haul I'll let you have a few fish," Ryo said and Penguinmon cheered.

Suddenly, the net started to rise out of the water, startling the boy and Digimon who were fishing. Ryo knew that no one was pulling up the net, so how was the net moving on its own? His question was soon answered because a huge white squid rose out of the water with the net on its head. Even though he hasn't been in the Digital World for a long time, he knew that this creature wasn't a fish.

Ryo couldn't move nor could he speak, he was terrified by the giant squid, and why wouldn't he be. It had no eyes, two giant tentacle arms with claws, and a huge mouth and sharp teeth. He should move and warn the others of this monster, he should try to fight this thing off and protect the others, but he can't. The only solace he can take in this situation is that the squid wasn't moving.

It didn't last long because the squid was bringing one of its huge tentacles down onto the ship. Ryo couldn't move, he was frozen in place. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for impact.

"Beat Knuckle!"

Ryo opened his eyes and saw Monodramon punch away the tentacle. He then felt someone pull on his shoulders.

"You need to move, Ryo!" Ken's voice rang through his ears. Ryo quickly shook his head and followed the boy to safety.

"What is that thing?!" Ryo shouted.

"That's Gesomon: It's known as the White Demon of the Depths, it only attacks creatures that end up in its territory!" Wormmon explained.

"Then why is it so close to the surface!?" Ken shouted and no one had an answer for him. The boys and Wormmon joined up with the rest of the group who were away from the action.

"What are we gonna do? We can't let that thing destroy the ship!" Catherine exclaimed.

"We have to fight it!" Willis answered and Catherine looked at him, eyes widened.

"You expect us to fight that thing!"

"We just need to hold it off until TK and Angemon get back!" Ken said.

As this was going on Ryo was lost in thought. He didn't know why he froze when he saw Gesomon, he wasn't scared when he saw other Digimon so why was Gesomon different. Was it because of the lack of eyes, sharp teeth, or giant tentacles Ryo didn't know? What he did know was that if it wasn't for Monodramon then he would have been… wait a second.

Ryo looked around, trying to find the Dragon Digimon but he was nowhere to be found. Wasn't he with him when Ken pulled him away from Gesomon? Ryo didn't remember, he was lost in his own head during that time. If Monodramon wasn't with him then that means…

Monodramon cried out in pain from being crushed by one of Gesomon's tentacles. Ryo felt his heart twinge with pain in guilt from hearing his partner's scream. While he was frozen in fear, Monodramon jumped in to protect him, and now it was time for him to return the favor. Without a second thought, Ryo charged at the giant squid, ignoring the others' cries, because he only had one thought on his mind.

"Let go of him you freak!" Ryo shouted at the monster. There was a bright light that covered both Ryo's Digivice and Monodramon.

"Monodramon Digivolve to…" Monodramon grew bigger as he gained metal plates on his hands, feet, ankles, shoulders, head, and the tip of his tail. Long orange hair peeked out from underneath his helmet and he gained a pair of green pants. "Strikedramon!"

"Whoah," Ryo said, shocked by the transformation of his partner.

"Who's that?" Ken asked.

"That's Strikedramon: Watch out for his Strike Fang attack because it'll leave with more than a serious burn," Penguinmon explained and Ryo grinned from ear to ear hearing this.

"Go get 'em, Strikedramon!" Ryo cheered on his partner.

Smoke started to form in Gesomon's tentacle when suddenly Strikedramon burst into flames. Gesomon cried out in pain and tried to throw the flaming Digimon, but Strikedramon held on tightly. He started to climb up the tentacle until he gained his footing and charged at the Squid Digimon's head.

"Strike Fang!"

Strikedramon made full contact with Gesomon's head, leaving behind a burn mark and making the giant squid cry out in pain. Not letting up its attacks, Strikedramon started to use its claws to viciously attack the burn mark. Not being able to withstand the attacks, Gesomon dove deep underwater to not only get Strikedramon off of it but to also escape.

The flames on Strikedramon were extinguished after he landed in the water before reverting back to Monodramon. Thinking quickly, Ryo used the net to pull his partner back onto the ship.

"You were amazing Monodramon!" Ryo hugged the Digimon in a big bear hug, slightly suffocating the creature.

"Thank you, but you're kinda choking me!" Monodramon said while trying to breathe. Ryo loosened his grip and gave him an awkward chuckle.

"Sorry, but you were really amazing! And thank you for saving me earlier," Ryo said and Monodramon blushed.

"I knew you would do the same if you were in my situation," Monodramon said bashfully before his stomach growled.

"Why don't I make you something to eat, as a reward for what you did," Ryo offered and Monodramon nodded as the two headed to the kitchen.

TK and Angemon soon landed back on the ship, carrying bags of food.

"We're back and- What happened?" TK asked when he noticed his friends were looking a little tired.

"We'll tell you later," Catherine groaned. TK and Angemon just gave each other confused looks as they took the food to the kitchen where they saw Monodramon devour whatever food was left on his plate.