Chapter Four

Ruins and Reunions

The Protocol Forest, a dusty, dour, darkened area beyond the Wire Forest. Amongst the black trees, dark green vines interspersed with thorns coiled tightly around the branches, reaching down to the ground as if trying to entangle those passing by.

And judging by how many there were, getting pricked at least once or twice was an inevitability, but that was far from the biggest concern of traveling through the mire.

Every few feet were a giant collection of webs, the only bit of white that could be seen in the blackness; a telltale sign of a Digimon that most others would not want to trifle with.

"Impmon…" Guilmon's sights shifted back and forth between the webbed trees. "Are you sure it's okay for us to be coming through here?"

"It's the fastest way to base, Red," Impmon groused, gritting his teeth when his arm brushed against another set of thorns. "Just stop thinkin' about it. Ever since the Paladin showed up, every single Dokugumon was wiped out around here."

Impmon grimaced when he thought about that. Sure Dokugumon were dangerous and ornery at the best of times, but to have every single one wiped out on their home turf? Not a pleasant thought.

"Are you sure?" Guilmon quailed.

Impmon growled and turned to face him. "Yes!" He spat. "Every single one is gone! There is no chance of us running into a Dokugumon!"

BAM!

Right when Impmon had finished his sentence, a great weight fell behind him, sending a great tremor beneath his feet.

"FOOD!" The shrill voice of the one who had just landed screeched. "AT LONG LAST!"

Impmon was lucky he had Guilmon to grab him and run away from the terrifying spider Digimon, already rapidly scuttling after its prey.

"I don't wanna hear any 'I told you so's', ya got it, Red!" Impmon screamed as they weaved through the trees and vines.

"I'll just be happy if I get to see another bread roll again before I'm sent back to Primary Village!" Guilmon cried.

Together, the two Digimon sprinted away from the yellow, black, and red Dokugumon, spitting webs at them that they barely avoided with some last second leaps in opposite directions.

"YOU WILL NOT BE GETTING AWAY!" Dokugumon roared, spitting another wad of webbing out.

A wad that though missed the two Digimon, did succeed in blocking the path directly in front of them.

"Crap!" Impmon cried, coming to a sliding stop.

Guilmon stopped besides Impmon, dropping the crate of food in front of him and immediately arching his back into a defensive position. "We're gonna have to fight, Impmon!" He snarled, his pupils shrinking.

Impmon scowled and dropped his own crate. "Ugh, yeah, looks like we do…" He begrudgingly agreed with cocked fists.

The Dokugumon skittered up to them. "Ah," It hummed, its hands gripping the bright red hair that framed its face harder as it reared up. "It looks like you brought appetizers to complement yourselves. What considerate prey you are."

Impmon bared his teeth and held up a single finger that sparked with a pinkish-red fireball. "Gonna have to work for this meal, ugly."

Dokugumon said nothing more. It just roared and leapt forward just as Impmon prepared to sling the fireball.

SWITH!

Before he could throw it however, a line of light sliced the Dokugumon right down the middle, and with nary a cry of surprise, the Dokugumon burst in a mist of particles, utterly destroyed.

"What the—?" Impmon pulled his fireball tipped finger back, blinking a few times as if to check to see if what had just happened truly happened.

"Who did that?" Guilmon asked, looking around.

Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping cracked through the deafened air, prompting Impmon and Guilmon into turning around.

What they saw made it startingly apparent that they were far from out of danger.

In the darkness of the shadows, a silhouette of another appeared, lit up by only a single mote of searing light.

A halo.

"Guilmon, run!" Impmon cried, grabbing Guilmon by the claw and dashing into the trees.

"But the food!" Guilmon objected.

"Forget the food!" Impmon ordered, pulling Guilmon through a bough between trees just as a swipe from the haloed Digimon's sword sent several branches and vines through the air. "It still won't get there if we're dead!"

Wood and thorns flew through the air, but Impmon and Guilmon kept running into the darkness in their desperate attempt to flee the glow of the haloed Digimon.

The passage through the Digi-port proved no less disorienting the third time Kari and Davis traveled through it. Colors and light swirled around them as they were thrown about like leaves in a hurricane, stomachs leaping back and forth in a blender of motion that would have most undoubtedly inflicted some sort of nausea upon them had the transport not ended two seconds before said nausea manifested.

"OOF!" The light pulled away and the Digidestined with Digimon in tow fell upon the dusty dirt ground of their destination.

"Ugh…" Davis pressed his palm to his face, using his other hand to shakily push himself up. "Kari…You okay?"

"I'm okay, Davis," Kari replied, sitting up and rubbing her eyes with her fists. She really hadn't been expecting Demiveemon to open the portal so suddenly. "Is everyone else okay?"

"I'm okay all things considered," Tai said, shaking a few leaves out of his hair. "Thanks for caring about us, Davis…"

Davis didn't acknowledge Tai, instead standing up to help the squirming blue legs he found in the bushes. "Oh, Demiveemon!" He grabbed one of the feet, pulling his partner out of the greenery with a grunt of effort. "Or should I say, Veemon?" He said when he saw that his partner had returned to the form he had met him in.

Veemon's eyes spun dazedly as Davis set him down, "T-Thanks, D-Davish."

"Interesting." Izzy went over to Davis and Veemon, "For some reason, returning back to the Digital World enabled him to return to his Rookie form all on its own. Why would that be?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Davis chuckled, reaching out to still Veemon's dazed lolling.

"W-Where are we?"

Suddenly, the group remembered the presence of their two surprise comrades.

Kari quickly went over to Yolei and Cody, picking up Gatomon from the ground as she did so. "This is the Digital world," She explained, kneeling down by the two of them. "The world of the Digimon."

"D-Digimon?" Yolei's sights swerved left and right as she squeezed Cody tighter against herself.

"So you were telling the truth," Cody said in a hush.

"Well duh!" Gatomon suddenly spoke up. "Kari wouldn't lie about something as important as that!"

Yolei yelped and leapt to her feet, carrying a curious Cody in tow. "Augh! Another talking plushie!"

Gatomon's bright blue eyes narrowed impetuously, "I am not a plushie! I'm a Digimon!"

"Go easy on them, Gatomon," Kari said, scratching her partner behind the ear to quell her anger. "This is a lot for them to take in." She looked back at Cody and Yolei. "I know this can all be quite shocking, but if you'll come with us, I promise we can all help make this a little easier to absorb."

Yolei shook her head, "What? No way! Isn't the first rule of being lost in the woods staying in one spot?"

"That's only if you don't know where you are," Gatomon said with a click of her tongue. "I know exactly where we are, and if you follow me, I can take you someplace much safer than out here in the open."

Cody tilted his head up to Yolei, tapping his finger on the arm she was holding him in. "Maybe we should listen to her, Yolei," He suggested. "Afterall, they were telling the truth about the existence of this place. Wouldn't it be in our best interest to listen to them?"

Yolei bit her lip, "I—I suppose…"

"Great!" Davis went up to the three of them with Veemon on his back. "Let's get moving then!"

Yolei's expression hardened. "Not until your little lizard thingy apologizes to us for pulling us in here!" She growled, casting an accusatory finger at Veemon.

"Huh?" Davis looked back at Veemon, still groggily leaning against his shoulder. "Oh, he's not really in the shape to do that right now, but I'll do it for him." He gave Yolei and Cody a little bow, "I'm really sorry for what he did. He was probably trying to lend us a hand in convincing you two this place was real. He really is a pretty awesome guy. Please don't hold it against him."

Though I do get the feeling what you did could count as kidnapping, Veemon, He thought with a slight frown.

"Yolei, I'm willing to forgive and forget, what about you?" Cody asked.

Yolei sighed and finally lowered Cody back to the ground, "Yeah, so am I…"

Kari smiled, "Good! Glad to hear we're all on good terms!" She placed Gatomon back on the ground. "Shall we follow Gatomon then?"

"Actually, shouldn't we introduce ourselves first?" Cody interjected. "My Grandpa always says introductions are one of the most important parts of meeting someone."

Kari jolted, "Oh, yeah! Good point." She brushed off any dirt that covered her front and then stuck a hand out towards Cody. "My name's Kari, Kari Kamiya."

Cody took her hand, shaking it firmly despite his smaller grip, "Nice to meetcha, Kari. My name's Cody, Cody Hida."

A minute or so passed by with them just doing their introductions. Once that was through, Gatomon began to lead the way, helping the group weave through the trees in a way that kept them hidden within the greenery.

"Sorry for the inconvenient path, everyone," Gatomon said after she accidentally thwacked Davis with a branch. "Believe it or not, this is the quickest path for us to take. Well, quickest besides—"

She turned to look into a section of the forest where the shadows seemed to drape over the trees like curtains, "—Besides the Protocol Forest, but you'd have to be a total moron to take that path."

As they continued on, Yolei kept a wary eye on their surroundings, the hairs on the back of her neck still standing despite the newfound familiarity she had with the rest of the group.

I just don't believe it, She thought, staring through the speckled rays of sunlight creeping through the leaves above them. Another world? It's like something straight out of an anime. But…

She traced her fingers over the bark of a tree while they passed by it. But this is real, it's all real, She thought when the bark of the tree tickled her fingertips.

She looked up at the leaves of the trees again, And it's beautiful!

Looking upon the splendor of the Digital world, Yolei suddenly thought of her friend back in her own world; the same friend she had seen exhausted day after day.

Maybe she could show him this place sometime. It might be good for him.

Provided she was able to pull him away from whatever he was always busy with.

"Wormmon, have you heard from our envoys sent to the mountains?" Ken asked as he scribbled away on his clipboard, his feet deftly dodging the many roots that ran through the tunnel hallways.

Wormmon crawled over a particularly thick root, scuttling a little faster to keep up with Ken, "I'm afraid they were sent back this morning. The Digimon of that region just don't seem to want anything to do with us, Ken."

Ken grimaced and let the clipboard fall at his side, "More like that pesky so called 'King' wants nothing to do with us." He took a quick breath and made a turn into another tunnel with Wormmon, "What about Musyamon? Has he finished that next set of armor we ordered?"

"Oh yes!" Wormmon boomed, happy to give Ken some good news. "Three whole crates worth! And he swears that they can block just about anything, even an attack from an Ultimate!"

Ken actually felt a shred of excitement light up within him, especially so when they walked into a room with the aforementioned crates. "Finally, some good news," He sighed, going over to one of the crates. He reached in, rifling through the various armors with a bit of a confused pout crossing his face. "Though he's most definitely chosen some…eccentric design choices."

"I like them," Wormmon said when Ken pulled out a strange orange helmet with a leather interior. "Colorful, yet effective. You could always use more color, Ken."

Ken chuckled and lowered the helmet back into the box, "For the last time, this outfit does not make me look like a Tim Burton character."

"It's quite a lot of black, Ken," Wormmon gently argued.

Ken groaned lightheartedly in response and walked over to a large screen laid into the opposite wall, "What about our food supplies? Have all our bases been replenished?" He typed into the dirt-laded keyboard, pulling up a grid that represented all of the Digital World.

"Every base has restocked their supplies," Wormmon reported. "Every base except this one, that is."

Ken bit his lip, "You mean Impmon and Guilmon aren't back yet?"

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Wormmon interjected, already seeing the worry lines crease his partner's forehead. "I bet Guilmon just stopped to roll in some grass. You know how excitable he is."

Despite Wormmon's reassurance, Ken couldn't help but frown as the worry seed in his stomach sprouted. "Still…" He said, typing away to bring a phone icon up onto the screen. "I'd feel better if we at least checked on them. They have to deal with Digitamamon, one of our more duplicitous allies."

Ken put in several numbers, keying into the device he made sure to send with all his agents. When the complete number was put in, he brought his finger to the enter key and—

BZZZT!

Just before he could hit the enter key, a strong buzzing sound reverberated through the room, followed shortly by another window popping up.

"Hey, we're here!" On the window, the bright blue iris of Gatomon blinked into the camera. "Let us in!"

Ken groaned. He had been looking forward to seeing the other Digidestined again, but he wished Gatomon would just follow protocol. "Password, Gatomon," He urged.

Gatomon's eye rolled, "Oh for the love of—Spiking Strike!"

Ken brought the cursor over the little key icon. "Thank you," He said, clicking on the icon. "Be sure to tell everyone to watch their step and I'll be sure to greet you out in the main hall."

"Hop to it!" Gatomon ordered before the window disappeared.

Ken sighed once the communication went off and leaned down to pick up Wormmon, "Sometimes I wonder who the leader of this resistance is, me or her?"

"She does have a way of keeping things in line when you're not around," Wormmon said, letting Ken take him into his arms.

Ken huffed and began carrying Wormmon out of the room with him, "Well, at the very least, we can take solace in the fact that we have other allies to lend us a hand now."

"Absolutely!" Wormmon agreed with an emphatic nod.

"URF!" Davis let out a pained grunt when he landed on his stomach for the second time in less than an hour. "Are all your underground places entered through slides?" He groaned, pushing himself up by his arms.

"Not all Digimon have an easy time using ladders," Gatomon explained from her place where she had landed perfectly on her feet. "We figured slides would work as a good equalizer."

Davis would have agreed with her, had Tai and Izzy not come crashing into him two seconds later.

"What's so equal about getting crushed into the dirt?" He moaned.

"Wow, it's a real underground tunnel!" Cody stepped past Davis, going to the tunnel wall to run a hand along it. "Wait, is this—" His ears perked when he brushed a bit of dirt away, revealing a few beeping lights and some strange symbols, "Machinery? And what are these etchings?"

"Oh, I would be careful with those, Cody!" Izzy rolled off the pile and went over to the wall. "Those symbols may be part of this tunnel's structure." He brushed a little more dirt away, revealing more symbols and beeping lights, "You see in this world, digicode is used as a means of harnessing the forces of the Digital world. I remember myself using this to digivolve my partner Tentomon for the very first time a few years back."

Cody's brow rose and he looked up at Izzy, "Tentomon? Digivolve?"

Izzy's shoulders bunched up sheepishly, "Sorry. I guess that does sound a little alien to you. Maybe I can go into more detail on such matters later?"

Cody nodded, "I'd like that."

"In the meantime, we really need to get going!" Gatomon's authoritative tone bounced off the circular passageway, echoing like a bullhorn into the ears of everyone within.

Tai lowered his hands from his ears after they stopped ringing. "I agree with Gatomon!" He said, his voice louder than he realized. "The sooner we meet up with this guy you've been telling us about, the sooner we can meet up with our partners!"

Kari bit her cheek, silently hoping that her brother's hearing would return to normal shortly, "Right…" She looked down at her partner, "Lead the way, Gatomon."

So the group went, deeper into the darkness.

Despite said darkness though, Cody found a thought worming its way into his mind.

Partners?

"PETRA-FIRE!'

"Crap! DUCK!" Impmon dove down with Guilmon, just barely dodging the twin beams of bright green energy that had been aimed towards the two of them.

The tree they had been in front of wasn't so lucky, as three seconds into being struck, it transformed into stone.

"LIZARD DANCE!" Unfortunately, Impmon and Guilmon still weren't out of danger, as the next second found them rolling away from several sword slashes, scoring the ground they had been laying on just milliseconds earlier.

Just their luck, as if the first assailant being a Dinohumon wasn't bad enough, some force of fate deigned it necessary to have them run into a haloed Kokatorimon less than two minutes later. Now they were running for their lives from two of the Paladin's flunkies!

Impmon scoured their surroundings as they sprinted through the forest, paying little mind to the thorny vines that lashed against them as he desperately sought out a means of escape before the two of them found themselves in a basket in Primary Village.

That's when he saw it. A throng of webs stretched tightly between two trees, just small enough for them to escape.

An admittedly grody means of escape but when one finds death nipping at their heels one does not find themselves to be particularly picky.

"Red! Torch that web!" Impmon cried, pointing at the spot between the tress.

Guilmon's pupils shrank and from within his maw, the glow of summoned fire began to show. "PYRO SPHERE!" With the cry of his attack, a sizeable ball of flame, much bigger than the one Impmon had summoned earlier flew from Guilmon's jaws.

The web stood no chance against the fiery onslaught, disintegrating into nothing but cindery wisps long before the two of them caught up to it.

"Let's move, Red!" Impmon cried, going into a sliding kick through the crevice, not caring one bit for the darkness within.

"Right behind you!" Guilmon said, opting for more of a nosedive as he followed after his friend.

The two Digimon only saw the last flash of the haloed Digimon's attacks before they were submerged completely in darkness.

"OOF! AUGH! JEEZ!"

"OUCH! ECK! AH!"

The two of them bounced both against the walls and each other several times as they fell, eventually tumbling into what was undoubtedly stone ground and coming to a great THUD of a stop.

"Impmon…Are you okay?" Guilmon asked in a mumble.

"I will be…Once you get your knee outta my gut!" Impmon pushed Guilmon's knee away from himself before rolling away from him, unfortunately bonking the back of his head on another wall. "Augh! Son of a Kiwimon!" He hissed, bringing his hand to rub at his head.

He blearily stared through the darkness, trying to find a source of light to orient himself on. "You see anything, Red?" He asked Guilmon, "Besides stars that is?"

"No, nothing but stars," Guilmon replied. "They sure are pretty though! One purple, one red."

"One purple, one red? What are you talkin—" Impmon's question dropped when he caught it out of the corner of his eye, prompting him to look upward with Guilmon.

There actually were two stars above them, far above them, the same colors that Guilmon had described.

"What the—?" Impmon brought his fists to his eyes, rubbing them to confirm what he saw. When he lowered them, the lights were still there. "What's that all about?" He asked out loud.

"Can you make one of your fireballs, Impmon?" Guilmon suggested. "That way we can see?"

Impmon jolted. "R-Right!" He said, flicking his finger and summoning the requested flame. "I was totally gonna do that!"

Once the glow of the pinkish flame was present, the two Digimon found that they were in a small circular area with cracked stone floors of gray speckled ground. A fine layer of dust contributed to the overall grayness and when the two looked over to their far left, they saw a stone staircase spiraling upwards towards the lights.

"I guess the only way out is up," Guilmon surmised.

"Well we certainly ain't crawling back up the way we came," Impmon agreed, standing to his feet.

The two of them crept towards the stairs, as if afraid their weight would cause the cracks in the stone to widen and swallow them up. Their anxious trepidation continued when they got on the stairs proper and they discovered just how small the steps themselves were and how unpleasant it was without railings the higher they went.

"Jeez, I'm really starting to miss the slides back at base," Impmon panted as he and Guilmon sidled up what felt like the thousandth step. The floor they had landed on way down below was now only a pit of pitch blackness, ready to swallow them up should they fumble and act as a metaphorical portal from one life to the next.

Digimon may have had the ability to reincarnate, but that didn't make death any less frightening.

"D'ya think Kenmon will be mad we lost the food?" Guilmon asked when the light of Impmon's flame became less needed near the presence of the other lights.

Impmon scoffed, "He should be praying we don't give him a little badda-boom for sending us alone on this crazy trip. I swear, from now on we ain't going anywhere without backup. In fact, he should start escorting us from now on."

He held the flame a little higher when they ascended past the final step, skittering away from the great pit that they had climbed out of.

"Whaddya think those lights are?" Guilmon asked when they finally stood before them, still indiscernible in their magnificent brightness.

"We won't know without getting closer," Impmon said, doing just that.

"But what if its dangerous?" Guilmon said.

"Compared to what we've dealt with today?" Impmon snarked. "I think I'll risk it."

Impmon sauntered towards the lights, dismissing his flame when it no longer compared to their radiance. The closer he got, the more his fur started to tingle, like every inch of him was being run through by an electrified comb.

That energy… His shoulders tensed with the increasing push of the force being exuded from the lights. It feels…really strong…but…really warm, too.

He brought his gloved hand over his eyes, trying with all his might to peer at what the objects of such iridescence were.

Through the glare of the light, he finally made them out.

An amber colored object with a dark purple symbol composed of a pair of circles with another circle within one, and a silver object that appeared to have wings with the symbol of a heart on its center.

These things… Impmon's thoughts felt sluggish in the presence of their great warmth. Are these…The Digimentals?

"Partner?"

"Partner, is that you?"

Two voices suddenly ebbed through Impmon's mind, hopeful in tone.

"Partner, please lift up the digimental! I wanna meet you!"

"Yes, dear partner! It's been so long!"

The voices lacked any sort of maliciousness to them, and Impmon found himself wanting to help them, but…

But something told him he wasn't the one with the ability to help them.

"Wait, you're not them?" A debonair sounding voice coming from the silver digimental said. "But we can feel them. Wherever could they be?"

"Maybe if we call out to them a little louder?" A drawling voice coming from the amber digimental suggested. "That always gets my attention!"

"Better than doing nothing I suppose."

"Impmon?" Guilmon tensed when he saw little bolts of static begin to arc off the lights. When they brightened and lit up the great domed room they were in, instinct took over and he charged for his friend.

"Impmon, get away!" He cried, looping a clawed arm around him and sprinting in the opposite direction.

Good thing too, because just as Guilmon got them a fair distance away, a great wave of purple and red light shot out from the digimentals, sending them flying, but thankfully only causing them to tumble across the floor.

"Impmon, you okay?" Guilmon asked, looking at his friend when they were in some modicum of safety.

Impmon shook his head vigorously, shaking off the daze he had been under. "Y-Yeah," He said, lightly pushing him away. He elevated himself by his palms to look at the Digimentals again. "But I think…"

"PARTNERS! PLEASE COME FIND US!"

Impmon winced, and reached into his bandana to pull out a gray brick with a dull screen on the front. "But I think we need to get Ken over here."

BIP-BIP-BIP-BIP!

Yolei and Cody nearly leapt out of their skins when their Digivices suddenly started beeping like fire alarms catching a single mote of smoke.

"Jeez!" Yolei screeched, her Digivice flopping through the air as she tried to catch it several times.

"Your Digivices are responding to something?" Izzy queried, crouching down to Cody's level to garner a look with him.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Cody admitted, tilting the Digivice to watch the little yellow arrow that appeared on screen. Whichever way he moved, the arrow reoriented itself, pointing in the same direction off to the side of the group.

"It looks like it's pointing to something," Cody surmised.

"But to what?" Yolei asked.

Davis stood a little straighter, "Wait, Kari, didn't our Digivices do the same thing a little bit before we found Veemon?"

Kari perked up, "You're right, they did. Maybe Yolei and Cody's Digivices are pointing to another place like the one where we found Veemon."

"Should we maybe follow it?" Yolei queried.

"We should meet up with the rest of the resistance first," Gatomon said, pointing her paw further down the tunnel. "They're still expecting us."

"I agree," Tai said, taking a few paces forward. "I wanna make sure Agumon is okay, myself."

"Plus, judging by the direction these arrows are pointing and our current location, there's really no way for us to follow them," Izzy said. "Not unless one of you is hiding a shovel in your back pocket."

"I have a spork in my pocket from lunch," Davis said.

Kari brought a hand over her mouth to cover the snicker that came about in response, "I think our time would be better spent just continuing forward."

But as they continued on, a thought came into existence within Yolei's mind.

They found that Veemon thing in a place like where this arrow is pointing? Yolei glanced at Veemon, still happily riding on Davis' back, then down at the screen of the little trinket now known to her as a Digivice. She stared at the little red arrow pointing what appeared to be northwest of where they were, doggedly blinking to keep her attention upon it.

Does that mean a creature like him is waiting for me, too?

"Easy there, Agumon," Ken helped the bandaged little dinosaur Digimon down the slope to the great circular room that functioned as a sort of foyer into the base. "Don't push yourself too much, you're still recovering from yesterday."

"I'm fine, Ken!" Agumon insisted, forcing himself to move forward despite the limp in his step. "I have to be here! Tai's here!"

Ken's brow rose, "How do you know? I only saw Gatomon's giant eye in the transmission from outside."

"It's a Digimon thing, Ken," Wormmon explained. "I myself can feel you coming from a mile away."

"That's reassuring," Ken smirked, stopping with Agumon and Wormmon in front of a pair of dark stone double doors.

BWA-BA-BA-BWAA!

Ken rolled his eyes at the sound of a horn blaring an announcement theme from beyond the doors. The Pawnchessmon sure loved to stick to their pomp and circumstance.

"Announcing!" A Pawnchessmon called as the doors began to crack open, "The Digidesti—"

"TAI!"

"AGUMON!"

The prodigal partners ran towards each other, closing the distance between them with all the vigor of a pair of best friends who truly hadn't seen each other in years. All those who bore witness to it felt the chilly mustiness of the underground caverns give away to the pure heartwarming nature of the reunion.

"You're okay!" Tai proclaimed, picking Agumon up in a swinging hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried about you!"

Agumon laughed and lifted his big square nose to nuzzle Tai, "What are you saying, Tai? Did you think I'd go and kick the bucket before seeing you again?"

Tai laughed as well and squeezed Agumon close, "Course not! I was just worried about you missing me too much!"

"Well that part came true," Agumon admitted.

A sniffle escaped from Tai and he hugged Agumon tighter, "Well we don't need to worry about that now, do we?"

Ken smiled and exchanged a look with Wormmon as they looked upon the touching scene. Now that, He thought, that is what makes having a Digimon partner so great.

"It's good to see you again, Ken." His attention was pulled up and he found Kari walking up to him, Gatomon in tow.

Ken nodded, "It's good to see you as well, Kari. Welcome to our home base."

"And me?" Davis said, popping up from behind Kari with Veemon on his back.

Ken rolled his eyes, "Welcome to you as well, Daisuke."

"Hey, it's Davis! Da-vis!" Davis argued. "I don't even let my mom call me Daisuke!"

"I heard her call you that just last week," Kari said tonelessly.

"Personally, I like both names," Veemon said, giving Davis a little pat on the head. "Then again, I like you no matter what, Davis."

"Aw, thanks pal," Davis grinned, bouncing Veemon on his back.

Well at least those two seem to getting along well, Ken thought, biting his cheek. Maybe they'll be decent allies after all. Now if only we could find the other new Digidestined.

"Ken?"

That was when Ken heard a voice come from the threshold of the two double doors, a voice that was so familiar that it made his heart leap straight into his throat.

Praying that the voice didn't belong to who he thought it did, Ken looked past Davis and Kari…

And found not only one of his dearest friends, but the other as well.

Meanwhile, in a castle of dullest white, a large computer screen that shone above a throne brightened, glowing with a blinding light that preceded the arrival of the one who came to sit upon it.

The pristine white cape that adorned the Digital Paladin fluttered as he landed upon the throne, settling over the back of it and bringing a genuine glimmer into the stark paleness that made up the aesthetic of the throne room.

"My Lord, welcome back!" A few Digimon clamored over in front of the Paladin, taking a knee and bowing their heads.

"Is there anything we can get you!?"

"Some snacks maybe?"

"We could brew some tea!"

The Paladin paid them no mind, only getting up to walk right past them. He made his way out of the throne room, sauntering down the hall to another room filled with a veritable wall of screens.

"Status report," He demanded of the Toyagumon and Solarmon that occupied the computer room.

"My Lord!" One of the Solarmon squeaked. "You've arrived just in time! There's been reports of a disturbance in the Protocol Forest of the North Sector!"

"What kind of disturbance?" The Paladin queried further.

A Toyagumon at the foremost front screen brought up a map of the aforementioned area, showcasing the violent rippling effect emanating from a single flashing dot on the screen. "There's a great influx of power coming from the area known as the Protocol Ruins. Upon further analysis, we've found that it closely matches that of the energy signature that was reported yesterday."

"Do you mean the energy signature that we discovered was triggered by the resistance?" The Paladin asked coldly

"Y-Yes, sir!" The Toyagumon shuddered, his plastic limbs hunching along their joints. "Shall we call upon one of your Generals, or would you like us to dispatch a squad to deal with it?"

The Paladin didn't respond at first. Instead, he continued to stare at the screen, focusing intently on the blinking dot.

He had seen another just like it the day before, and before that, he had seen another a few months prior. On both those occasions, a new opponent had unveiled itself, first the leader of the resistance and his foul Wormmon partner, and the second time…

The Digidestined of Light, Kari Kamiya.

The Paladin had never thought she would show up, but when she did, he felt a myriad of feelings that he couldn't quite describe. Anger, fear, concern, even a little happiness somehow crawled its way into his heart, informing him of one singular thing.

He had to see her again.

"I will look into it myself," He informed the Digimon in his presence.

The Solarmon next to him jolted, the gears that made up his body stopping for a split second before they started rotating again. "My Lord, are you quite sure?"

"You doubt me?" The Paladin challenged.

"No, sir!" The Solarmon gasped, somehow spouting sweat from his metal body. "We know you are the epitome of strength! Doubt has no place in our hearts when it comes to you!"

The Paladin scowled and turned away, making all the Digimon in the room wince with the swish of his cape that went into the air as he walked away.

"Prepare my transport," He ordered as he disappeared around the corner back into the stark white hallways. "I wish to be on my way immediately."

And all the Digimon in his wake scrambled about to do as he asked, because halo or no halo, no one could deny the utter terror the Digital Paladin exuded.

Especially when he had his mind set on something as fiercely as he did on meeting Kari Kamiya in person.

AN: Double points to those who know the Wire Forest and Protocol Forest and Ruins are from Digimon World 3! As one of my favorite Digimon games you can expect to see a few of its locations referenced here and there along with canon ones.

Things are ramping up as the Digidestined meet up at last and the two other Digimentals have been discovered. Will the Digimon within be able to find their partners? What of Impmon and Guilmon? Most frightening of all, what does the Paladin have planned for Kari. Keep in touch, dear readers because it'll get answered in the next chapter of the Digital Paladin!

And as always, reviews and feedback are always greatly appreciated! Doubly so for the more in-depth ones!

Manegie, Staying Digital!