Keisuke left school the next day and headed home to change out of his school uniform. Back in his comfortable Hudie jacket he made his way towards the address Arata sent him this morning. "I wonder what it is Takumi wanted to tell me about the incident." He muttered walking down the street. "He mentioned something about how the Eaters came into existence…"

"Hey! I'm talking to you squirt!"

Keisuke snapped out of his thoughts. Just up ahead was a young boy around the age of 10 if he had to guess. He had blue shorts, a red shirt and brown hair that spiked upward. Two much taller boys around Keisuke's age were there too. And Keisuke recognized them. Shortly after joining Hudie before the world transformed, he saw them harassing Yu. "What's a kid like you doing out here alone?"

The boy didn't answer.

"What's with the silent treatment brat?" the other guy asked. "Did mommy abandon you out here?" the two laughed.

"…Shut up."

One of them grabbed him by the collar. "I'm sorry, what was that you little punk?"

"Hey!" Keisuke ran over. "Leave the kid alone!"

The two of them looked at him. "Huh? Who the hell are you?"

"Mind your own business and beat it!"

"You're one to talk." Keisuke glared. "What'd he ever do to you?"

"You wanna fight about it?" The guy not grabbing the kid strode towards Keisuke. Then the guy harassing the boy felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his left and got a fist in his face making him let the child's shirt go as he yelled and stumbled back. A knee to the gut made him hunch over and a roundhouse kick to the head sent him flying. Keisuke and the other guy looked over to see a teenager with black pants and coat under a white undershirt with long brown shoulder length hair. "You want some too punk?!" The second guy turned his back on Keisuke and ran to throw a punch at the mysterious young man, but he easily deflected it and sent his fist into his opponent's jaw before throwing more punches into his torso and finished it with a kick that sent him stumbling back into the other guy as he tried to get up.

It was clear this stranger was a martial artist. Both of the punks on the ground trembled as he gave them a sharp glare. "Get lost." He scowled.

Both of them started whimpering and yelping as they picked themselves off the ground and ran past Keisuke. The young man then had his eyes on him. Keisuke didn't know if he thought he was with them or if he was going to attack. "Um…uh…" The cold look in this guy's eyes was enough to make him tremble.

The brown-haired teen stared at Keisuke in silence for a bit making him even more uneasy. "…Sorry you had to get involved in that." He picked up a shopping bag he left on the ground before plumbing the little boy's harassers and walked over to him. He lowered himself to the boy's height. "Are you okay?" he asked in a much gentler tone. The child didn't answer. "I'm sorry, I should have taken you into the store with me. I got the parts you wanted."

Keisuke then shifted his attention to the boy. He was staring at the floor with a sad, empty look in his eyes. Did those two do something to him? He looked upset. Tormented even. "Um…is he okay?"

The teenager glanced at him over his shoulder. "He'll be fine. Don't worry about it." He then looked at the kid. "Come on, let's go home."

"Okay." the child muttered before taking his hand. The two of them walked away.

Keisuke watched them leave. "Poor kid. Something was definitely bothering him."

His Digivice rang and he put it on. "Nevermind him!" PileVolcamon said. "We should get going to Takumi's place or we're gonna be late!"

"Right." Keisuke slid off his visor and hurried down the street.

Inside his apartment Takumi was just chopping vegetables when there was a knock on the door. He dropped what he was doing and went over. He opened the door and saw Yuuko and Yuugo. "Hey guys. You got here fast."

"We thought it'd be best to hurry straight over." Yuuko replied.

Takumi looked at her attire. "That explains why you're still in your school uniform." While different from Ami's it was about what he'd expect a school uniform to be. A white blouse and red tie under a black blazer with the school emblem, a black skirt, knee high white socks and plain black shoes with very low heels. It was interesting to see her outside her normal clothes. "Uh, anyway come on in." Takumi snapped out of his trance and stepped aside so they could walk into his apartment. Yuugo's uniform was similar with black pants and heavier shoes.

As Yuuko and Yuugo stepped inside they got a look at Takumi's apartment. It was neat and organized. The main area had a living room with a coffee table, three small couches and a TV while the kitchen had the essentials and a table nearby with a few seats. It was pretty much how they expected Takumi and Ami to live. Yuuko noticed Takumi had a pot on the stove and a cutting board and knife out. "Takumi, you can cook?"

"Oh, yeah." Takumi went back over to the cutting board as Yuuko and Yuugo took their shoes off. "Since mom is usually out, Ami and I learned how to cook for ourselves."

Yuugo nodded. "I see. That's a good skill to have."

"Since we're probably going to be here a while, I thought I'd make a stew for everyone."

"Thank you so much!" Yuuko smiled.

Yuugo faintly chuckled. Yuuko was always excited over food. He then heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it." He walked over and opened it.

"Hi guys!" Nokia cheered. She let herself in. She was also in her casual attire.

"Hey Nokia." Takumi waved.

The girl looked around. "So, this is where you and Ami live huh? Not too shabby."

Just when Yuugo was about to close the door he saw Arata approaching from down the hall. "Hey Arata. Good timing, Nokia just came in."

"Trust me I know. She's like a typhoon, you can hear her coming."

Takumi was stirring the pot as he noticed Arata come in. "Hi Arata. Now we just need to wait for Keisuke, and we can start the meeting."

"Maybe we should have gone home to get changed first." Yuuko muttered looking at everyone else in their casual attire. "I feel like we stand out too much."

Takumi smiled at her. "Don't worry about it, you look great in your school uniform."

"Um…thank you…?" Yuuko slightly blushed at the compliment. Nokia quietly snickered.

"Your mom's not going to come in, is she?" Arata asked. "Might complicate things if she overhears us."

"She's going to be out for a while. I told her we were going to be studying together tonight. We should be fine." Takumi replied.

Nokia took a seat on one of the couches. "I hope Keisuke shows up soon. I'm so revved up about today's meeting I couldn't stay focused in class!"

Arata squinted at her. "Somehow I get the feeling that today's meeting had nothing to do with that."

Keisuke looked at the address one last time as he walked through the condos. He lowered his Digivice and looked at the numbers on the doors until he found the one Arata sent him. "Here it is."

He knocked on the door and was greeted by Arata when it opened. "There you are."

"Sorry I'm late." Keisuke scratched the back of his head. "I kind of got sidetracked with something then got a little lost."

Keisuke stepped in and saw Takumi handing Yuugo a bowl. Yuuko and Nokia were already sitting at the couch eating. "Finally!" Nokia said. "I was getting angsty waiting!"

"Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it." Takumi replied. "I just finished making the stew for everyone. I'll grab you a bowl."

Keisuke smiled. "Thanks."

The apartment was small enough so that the group could talk easily even though Takumi, Yuuko and Keisuke were eating at the kitchen table while Arata Yuugo and Nokia ate at the couches. "This is very good." Yuuko said.

"Yeah, you're pretty handy in the kitchen Takumi." Arata added.

"Thanks. It's one of my mom's favorites." Takumi smiled.

"Well, now that we're here we might as well get started." Yuugo said. Everyone took out their Digivices and their Digimon projected from them so everyone could see all of them.

"I cannot thank guys enough for agreeing to aid us in our time of need." Rapidmon Armor said.

"We promised you guys we would." Takumi said. "And now that Ami's life is on the line, we're definitely not backing out now."

"So, what can you tell us about this Next Order?" Arata asked.

"Before we get to that, I believe Takumi wanted us to tell Keisuke what we know." BlackWarGreymon said.

Takumi nodded. "Right." He turned his seat to look at Keisuke. "Keisuke, we're going to tell you everything about our side of the story. I'm also curious about your involvement in the events regarding Tokyo and Digimon as well."

"Okay." Keisuke nodded. "You guys start. I'll join in to add what happened on my end around the same time."

"Okay." Takumi looked down. "It all started eight years ago. During a EDEN demo event. Ami and I were invited to partake along with Yuuko, Yuugo, Nokia, and Arata. While we were playing in the park in EDEN…"

Somewhere in a space known as the Digital World was a happy city floating in the sky. And before it was a peaceful place. Digimon living happily together. But right now, it was a mess. Smoke rose into the air from damaged buildings. Inside a house at the center of this city a Jijimon and a Taomon were with a small handful of humans. "I still can't believe this happened…" a girl with purple hair sighed.

"At least nobody was badly hurt." A brown-haired teen replied.

"True." The Jijimon stroked his beard. "That's the important thing. We can rebuild what was damaged in the attack."

"Veemon is gathering volunteers in the city to help with construction." A teenager dressed in black said. "And Hagurumon and Zudomon are out getting materials."

A small blond girl sniffled. "But the bad guys…they took her…"

In the center of the room a young man with a white coat over a red shirt growled and clenched his fist. A slightly older man with a black beanie hat put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her. I promise."

The boy nodded. "Yeah…" He looked up from the floor. "That punk is gonna to pay for this!"

As the story went on, Takumi's group took turns with Keisuke telling them events from their perspective. Once Takumi explained how he and Ami lost their bodies due to an encounter with an Eater, Keisuke decided to tell him about how he ended up joining Hudie. From there they alternated.

"…and then the Digital Shift vanished." Arata said.

"I was wondering what happened to it after Erika and I left." Keisuke said.

Both sides learning new things.

"…and then we saw you and Ami finish Mephisto off and leave."

"Riiight!" Takumi said. "I thought I saw that coat you're wearing somewhere before! I guess we were in so much of a rush we didn't notice it was you."

Some of which answered questions they had on what they saw.

"So that's what Rei was…" Keisuke muttered. "A Royal Knight possessing her body…"

Some of which unveiled mysteries of the Digital World.

"Arcadiamon…!" Omegamon gasped. "So, the merging of worlds damaged his seal…!"

"Omegamon?" Nokia asked. "Do you know what this Digimon is?"

"I do. Long ago a DigiEgg was constructed in the Digital World using data from various powerful specimens of Digimon. The plan was to create the ultimate lifeform in our world. That egg hatched into Arcadiamon. But it went on a rampage slaying any Digimon that crossed its path and absorbed their data to become even more powerful. Only when we Royal Knights defeated him was his frenzy quelled."

"How did it end up with Ryuji then?" Takumi asked.

"Like all Digimon, Arcadiamon became a DigiEgg upon death. We knew it was only a matter of time before he was reborn and resumed terrorizing the Digital World. That's when Leopardmon came up with the idea of sealing the egg away in a cyberspace separate from the Digital World."

"EDEN…" Yuuko muttered.

Omegamon looked down in shame. "Gallantmon, UlforceVeedramon and I tried to oppose this hasty decision, not believing it to be just to put something so dangerous in harm's way of humans even if they are responsible for the Eaters. Gankomon also objecting viewing this scheme cowardly and dishonorable. But…we were outvoted by the other knights. In the end, one of our strongest soldiers was sent with the DigiEgg and given two orders. One was to seal it in the deepest and most secure part of EDEN. The other was to strike down anyone who tried to approach it."

"And that soldier was a Knightmon who took him to Under Zero, right?" Arata asked.

Takumi turned to him. "Wait…you mean the same one who…?"

Omegamon sighed. "You have my deepest apologies Arata… If only I didn't lose my memory upon coming to EDEN. I would have told Nokia and had her stay away from Under Zero and you wouldn't have had to relive that horrible experience with your team."

Arata looked away. "Well…I definitely can't say Knightmon didn't have a damn good reason for chasing us out now, can I?"

"He wouldn't have needed to if I could have managed to persuade more of the knights."

"Omegamon stop that!" Nokia scolded. "This isn't your fault!"

"She's right." Takumi nodded. "Come on man, you were arguing with the likes of Leopardmon and Crusadermon who both lost their moral compass a while back. Besides, you sided with us even against your old comrades and when we were at our lowest. We're grateful to you."

Omegamon took a deep breath. "…You're too kind as always Cyber Sleuth. It's people like you, your sister and Nokia who make me feel certain that I made the right choice."

Some of which were relevant to their current situation.

"You're joking!" Takumi gasped. "K was…Yu?!"

"Yeah…" Keisuke muttered, glancing away.

"Your own closest friend…" Yuugo said. "That's awful."

Samudramon spoke up. "White mask with black circles around and eye, a red and black coat…your description of this "K" perfectly fits Lilithmon and Leviamon's tamer. Do you think this is the same man behind the mask?"

"I doubt it." Keisuke said. "Yu works for Hudie now."

"Yeah, plus I saw Yu with Keisuke just the day after K escaped with Craniamon into the Digital World." Takumi added.

"Besides, this wasn't his fault. He was also being manipulated."

"By who?" Yuuko asked.

"A Digimon inside that damn mask he found in Kawloon. Matadormon."

Painful topics were brought up.

"I see…" Keisuke said. "Remembering that incident after all that time must have been a shock to you."

"It was." Takumi looked down sadly. "I finally understood why Leapoardmon and Crusadermon hatted us much. So much suffering caused by us…by me."

Keisuke shook his head. "Be that as it may, I don't think it's right to blame you for that. Let alone the whole human race. So, what if you and Ami opened that hole to the Digital World or if the two of you had thoughts that attracted that Eater? You two were just kids, you had no idea what was going to happen."

"I agree." TyrantKabuterimon nodded. "That wasn't your intentions. It was just… a tragic accident."

Takumi looked up. "Well regardless, I knew I had to make things right."

Keisuke turned to Yuuko. "By the way Yuuko…thanks."

She looked at him. "For what?"

"You kept your promise to take down Rei."

Yuuko looked away. "I can't say I'm too proud of it. To be honest…When I asked you to let me handle her…I was being selfish. I could only think of avenging my father. I didn't want anyone to get in the way of that. I even pushed away friends who were trying to help me and acted like an ungrateful jerk."

Takumi looked at her. "Yuuko…"

"And to make matters worse I led us straight into her trap. And because of me Takumi and Ami were trapped with Crusadermon all alone and tortured by her until we found them. I'll never forget how hurt they were…Physically and emotionally."

"Yuuko, that's enough." Yuugo said sternly. "There's plenty of blame to go around on all sides. Don't try to pin it on yourself."

"Yuugo's right." Takumi said. "Besides, that was for the best. If it wasn't for Crusadermon's trap, we wouldn't have regained our memories. Didn't we all agree that it was better that we remembered evreything?"

"Maybe." Yuuko said. "I just wish it didn't require you going through so much pain."

"With memories that bitter, pain was inevitable." Arata said.

"That's right." Takumi said. "In the end you can either let pain shackle you down or push past it to become stronger. The former has no benefit." He looked at the bowl in his hands. "Kyoko told me that it's easy to dwell in a dark corner and ignore the world around you. The only way to get out of it and return to the light is to look ahead."

Keisuke smiled. "Kyoko's a strong person."

Takumi smiled back. "Yeah. Both her and Alphamon."

Some led to shocking revelations.

"That's what Suedou was planning all along?" Keisuke gasped. "That's crazy…"

"I'll admit." Takumi said. "A world without sadness that he wanted to create might have benefited some people. But that wasn't going to be worth sacrificing all of the Eater victims. Besides pain and sadness is an essential to humanity. Pushing past hardships makes us stronger, helps connect us." He had a determined look in his eyes. "That was what my father believed. And I wasn't about to throw that away for anything."

And it soon came to a close.

"As I watched it all happen, I made a promise to myself. That I will never forget. As Erika would put it…I'll never let go of the memories of our struggle, all the things we fought so hard to achieve. Erika's choice, Erika's new form…Her last smile…I'll remember them all. Forever. Forever." Everyone looked at Keisuke as he finished his story.

By the time the story ended Yuuko finished her last helping of stew. "I see…" Yuuko said.

Nokia was wiping tears from her eyes. "That's so sad!"

"Parting was sad, yes. But it was also a happy occasion." Keisuke faintly smiled. "It was the beginning of a new adventure. Erika's adventure. The hardest part was keeping all this bottled up. Thinking that I was the only one who remembered these events. After a while I…I started wondering if I was just insane. So, when I found out somebody else remembered Digimon I…I couldn't retain my excitement and joy." He smiled at everyone. "Thanks guys. Getting this off my chest…it's great."

Everyone smiled at him. "Welcome to the club." Arata grinned.

"To think so much happened without me and Ami realizing." Takumi said. "I'm glad we got your side of the story Keisuke. And I'm glad we can add you to our circle."

"Indeed." Dorugoramon nodded. "Now that we've all gone over the past together perhaps now, we should now discuss the future?"

"Right." Keisuke said. "So, what's the deal with this Next Order?"

"As I stated before, Leopardmon overthrew King Drasil and formed a regime of his own. His plan is clearly to conquer the entire Digital World." Omegamon said. "The Royal Knights you went up against before, Crusadermon, Dynasmon, Exemon and as you saw Craniamon have also sided with him."

"That's not all." Rapidmon Armor said. "His has command of about 70% of the Digital Worlds warriors already. He's amassed an army of powerful Digimon."

"Even Lilithmon and Leviamon." Takumi glared. "Any chance they recruited the other five Deadly Digimon?"

"It's possible." Dorugoramon said. "I was as shocked as you were when those two showed up. Just as when that K human showed up."

"You said it was a Digimon inside K's mask who was controlling Yu." Yuuko said.

"Right." Keisuke nodded. "But this K defiantly isn't Yu. Like Takumi said he's still here but K went to the Digital World."

"Right. Not to mention this K has some sort of vendetta against Takumi. Regardless, whoever it is behind that mask…"

"…Is probably being controlled by Matadormon as well." Samudramon said. Yuuko nodded.

"I looked into EDEN's logs and reviewed that battle." Yuugo said. "I got an image of him when he took off his mask and sent it to the police. But they haven't been able to ID him yet."

"Our problems don't just end with K or the Deadly Digimon either." Omegamon said.

Takumi turned to him. "About that…you (well I guess half of you) said something that caught my attention while we were fighting K."

"He's just like the other one…" WarGreymon growled.

Takumi looked at him. "Other one?"

"What did you mean by "other one"?"

"Other what now?" Keisuke asked, tilting his head.

Omegamon folded his arms. "We encountered another human in the Digital World."

Everyone did a take. "You're joking!" Arata gapped. "Besides K?!"

"Yes. I'm sure you remember Gankoomon and Jesmon."

"The Royal Knight and his disciple who helped you guys?" Keisuke asked.

"That's right. The two of them were on a mission to liberate an area known as Left Eye's Tower. One of two towers that are part of a vital hub for the Digital World. They were attacked by a masked human and forced to retreat."

"Gankoomon and Jesmon?" Takumi asked. "This guy was enough to chase them both out?"

"Yes. Let me show you. Through Gankoomon's memories." The projection from Nokia's Digivice transformed. It soon showed a large red tower.

Watching from the perspective of Gankoomon they saw the knight slowly approach. "There it is." A voice to his left said. "If we can just take one of the towers Leopardmon won't have the full network at his disposal."

"Don't let your guard down." Gankoomon's head turned as they saw a white Digimon with a red cape as he spoke to him. "He knows that as well as we do."

"Who's that?" Keisuke asked.

"That's Jesmon." Takumi replied.

"Master Gankoomon is right." Gankoomon's head turned behind him and they saw two huminoid Digimon. Two little girls in white dresses with animal hoods. One blue one pink. The one in blue with two pistols spoke. "No doubt it's well guarded." The one next to her had a trident.

"Who are the kids?" Arata asked.

"Hey Keisuke, it's those two from before!" Nokia said.

"Yeah. The ones who asked me to help train you."

"Sistermon Blanc and Sistermon Ceil." Omegamon said. "They trained under Gankoomon with Jesmon when he was Hackmon."

Gankoomon looked forward at the tower. "True." Jesmon replied. "But we cannot miss this chance."

Gankoomon nodded. "Agreed." He turned to the Sistermon. "Is the strike team ready?"

Both Sistermon saluted. "Yes sir!"

"Very good! As we planned then. Jesmon and I will attack the front and gather the enemy's attention. The rest of you infiltrate the tower." He then started marching towards the tower alongside Jesmon. Nokia and everyone watched as they got closer and closer to the entrance. Suddenly the door opened.

"That was fast." Jesmon said. "It's like they were expecting us."

"Be on your guard!" Gankoomon said.

From the dark doorway came footsteps. And out came a lone person. He wore a heavy red coat with a hood over his head, and black gloves with red palms. He had black boots and red pants. Over his face was a black mask with what looked like a red scar over the right eye. He strode towards the knights. "Is that him?" Yuugo asked.

"Just one?" Jesmon asked. "Wait…is that…a human?!"

The masked man stopped in front of the tower and the double doors closed behind him. "This area is property of the Next Order. You're trespassing. Turn back." His voice was filtered. Likely by the mask.

"A human allies himself with the Next Order?" Gankoomon asked. "Who are you?"

"Leave this place." The man said taking a device from his coat pocket. "Before I burry you six feet under it."

"As I believe you humans say…" Jesmon readied his weapons. Three red fireballs with lances orbited around him. "You and what army?"

The screen on the man's gadget glowed. In a flash two Digimon appeared. One was clad in red armor and flew with silver hair, two cannons on his shoulders and gatling guns for hands. The other was a wolf like Digimon in golden armor with a giant spear. "I've never seen Digimon like that before." Takumi said.

"You've been warned." The man said. "Are you prepared to face judgment?" He snapped his fingers, pointing at the knights. The gold one charged at Jesmon and the red one flew towards Gankoomon.

"Heaven's Thunder!" The red Digimon fired lightning and Gankoomon rolled away before jumping towards him. "Elec Guard!" He summoned a yellow wall blocking the knight's punch before he flipped backwards.

He turned his attention to his apprentice whose sword swings were deflected easily by his opponent's spear. He backed up them charged. "Mach Rush!"

The Digimon spun in place. "Beast Cyclone!" He became a golden blade that knocked Jesmon to the ground.

"Focus Jesmon!" Gankoomon said. "These are no ordinary foes! Attack Charge Field!" He and Jesmon glowed red. Gankoomon charged at his opponent who set up another Elec Guard, but in a flash, he got behind him. "Wolkenapalm!" He punched the red Digimon to the ground from behind. He then dug his hands into the ground. "Table Flip!" He flipped at huge chunk of the ground towards him.

His opponent got on his back and the cannons on his back aimed at the giant rock. "Burst Flame!" They fired a red blast destroying it. He got back up and flew out of the way as Gankoomon rushed at him. He jumped up and fired golden pellets from his arm cannons, but Gankomon deflected them with his fists.

"Man this guys' awesome!" Nokia said. "Look at him go!"

"Gankoomon is one of the best warriors the Royal Knights have to offer." Omegamon replied. "However…"

Gankoomon jumped up at the Digimon and grabbed his leg before throwing him to the ground. He landed in front of it. "Acceleration Boost!" His fists glowed with fire as the red Digimon got up. "HAAAAAA!" He threw a series of furious punches at its midsection. "Quake! Blast! Fire!" He reeled both fists back as the flames grew bigger. "FATHER!" The threw dual punches into the Digimon's chest knocking him to the ground. "Hmph. You fight well. But your drive is not strong enough!" He was about to approach the downed Digimon when the masked man appeared in between the two in a flash. "What?!"

The humans watching through his perspective gasped. "How did he…?" Yuuko muttered.

The man turned his head to him. "Impressive. You are indeed worthy of the title Royal Knight. Shame I have to put you down, but I have my orders." He made inputs into his Digivice and his Digimon was immediately healed.

He stood up. "Thanks."

"We can handle this partner. You have my new power at your disposal after all."

Gankoomon got into a fighting stance. "Interesting. You humans indeed possess a powerful will. Show it to me!"

"If you insist." The man held a hand towards Gankoomon. "Freeze Frame." He snapped his fingers.

And the rest happened all too fast. It was as if the moment he spoke the red Digimon was in front of Gankoomon. The stunned Royal Knight looked down to see one of his gatling guns pressed against his torso. "Plasma Stake!"

It spun rapidly and fired golden volts into Gankoomon who yelled in pain as they blew through him. Everyone gasped. "NO!" Takumi shouted.

Gankoomon was flung onto his back. "MASTER!" He weakly looked to his left. Jesmon pushed back his opponent and rushed towards the red Digimon and his tamer. "Damn you!"

The human pointed his hand to the gold Digimon. "Skip frame." He snapped his fingers again. Instantly the gold Digimon was in between Jesmon and the red one. He blocked Jesmon's attack with his spear then knocked him off balance. He trusted it at Jesmon repeatedly who tried his best to block all the attacks but was getting overwhelmed.

"Weltgeist!" The At, Rene, and Pol fireballs started parrying attack with him.

Gankoomon looked up from where he laid on the ground and saw the red Digimon turn to him. "Jesmon…look out!"

The Red Digimon zoomed in and threw punches alongside the golden Digimon's lance thrusts. The masked man made inputs in his Digivice and his Digimon became faster. Soon Jesmon was taking hits despite his guard and was pushed back. They then kicked him into the air. The red Digimon aimed his shoulder cannons at Jesmon. "Thunder Vernier!" They fired two powerful golden rays. Jesmon tried to shield himself with At, Rene, and Pol, but his guard was blown away.

The golden one jumped after him. "Fury: Ice Moon Fang!" Ice coated his spear making the blade longer. He roared and swung overhead. Jesmon tried to block with his swords but was knocked to the ground.

"Jesmon!" Takumi shouted.

The masked man put his hands back into his pockets. "Seems like even the Royal Knights are helpless to the forbidden programs."

Jesmon grunted as he slowly got back up. He heard a beep and a monitor showing Sistermon Ciel appeared. "Jesmon! This tower is still swarming with powerful Digimon! What's going on?!"

"Human…too strong…"

"A human?" Ciel looked behind her after hearing an explosion. She cringed before turning back to him. "Jesmon we have to retreat! You and master Gankoomon need to leave!"

"But-

"We already lost half of the strike team! All we're doing here is increasing our losses! Get out of there now!" The monitor closed.

"Ngh…!" Jesmon looked at the two Digimon as they approached him. The masked man walked towards him while in between them.

Gankoomon grunted as he summoned fire in his hand. He held it towards the red Digimon. The human heard crackling and looked at him before yelling at his Digimon. "Look out!"

The red Digimon turned just as the fireball came at him. He blocked it with his hands. Jesmon saw his chance and zoomed over and grabbed Ganoomon and took off. "Master, hold on!" Gankoomon's vision became blurry before blacking out.

The monitor switched back to Omegamon. "As you can see the mission was a failure…"

"That was brutal…" Yuugo said.

"That guys hacking skills…" Arata said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"What happened to Gankoomon?" Takumi asked. "Did he…?"

"He survived." Rapidmon Armor said. "Barely. He's still recovering." He sighed. "I knew I should have gone with him. But someone had to take command of our team while he was away."

"Team?" Keisuke asked.

"We divided our resistance into separate teams." BlackWarGreymon explained. "The Next Order believes we are divided and therefore less efficient. Also, this runs less risk of information being leaked to our enemies. But in the end, all of us operate for the sake of freedom."

"Sounds like the good old hacker teams." Arata said.

"Funny you should mention that." Diaboromon grinned. "We decided on naming our teams in honor of you humans. The team I run is called Jude's Flare."

"The team I work with is Zaxon's Pride." Samudramon said.

"The one I lead is called Rebel's Heart." Omegamon said.

Nokia grinned. "I like it!"

"Rosemon and I formed the last one." Rapidmon Armor said. "Sleuth's Will. But we both agreed that Gankoomon was more qualified to lead and asked him to take charge."

"But you guys are in a real bind now with Gankoomon seriously injured." Diaboromon said.

"Indeed…"

"So, four teams make the whole resistance?" Nokia asked.

"Yes, or so we thought." Dorugoramon said. "But it sounds like there's one more we didn't even know about." Everyone looked at Keisuke's Digimon.

"That's because we're making our secrecy our top priority." TyrantKabuterimon said. "After all, the Next Order can't fight something they don't know about."

"You guys have your own team then?" Keisuke asked. "What's its name?"

"Hudie's Dream." PileVolcamon said. "And taking the helm is Hudiemon herself."

"Erika…"

"She's the one who tapped into your communications and found out about your plan to return to this world." MetalSeadramon said to the other Digimon. "So, she had us follow so we could recruit Keisuke too."

Arata grinned. "Heh. Leave it to Ryuji's little sister to come up with something that sneaky."

"Well, I'm glad she did." Yuugo said. "Because it sounds like we'll need every advantage we can secure if we're going to stand a chance against the Next Order."

"Speaking of, what exactly are we going to do when we get to the Digital World?" Takumi asked. "Do we have a plan here?"

"Well since we opened our gate in Connect Jungle, we're probably going to end up there when we get back."

"Connect Jungle?" Keisuke asked.

"It's the place where these guys came to the Digital World when they were kids. And where they appeared again during our final battle." Rapidmon Armor replied.

"If K and Craniamon followed you guys, the Next Order will probably be lying in wait for us." Yuugo said.

"It would be best if we could get somewhere safe as soon as possible." Yuuko said. "Do the resistance teams have hideouts or outposts? Which one is closest?"

"The Rebels Heart base is nearby." Omegamon said. "It's well hidden and the one I left in charge is a competent Digimon. We'll be safe there."

"Really?" Nokia asked. "Who is it?"

"A Digimon you and your friends know. You met her eight years ago. In the Digital World."

Takumi, Nokia, Arata, Yuuko, and Yuugo looked at each other strangely. "Um…Kind of need a few more details buddy." Takumi said.

"You don't remember?" Rapidmon Armor asked. "I suppose this was a long time ago. Try to think back Takumi. Right before you met me and Rosemon. After you kids Agumon and Gabumon we played in Connect Jungle. Then you were attacked by a Ogremon. A certain Digimon saved us."

Takumi stayed deep in thought. Then it slowly came back to him.

Little Nokia was sniffling as they were petrified with fear. Arata was shivering and Takumi and Yuugo were trying to hide their sisters behind them. Agumon, and Gabumon, were beaten as a green ogre Digimon stomped towards them. Agumon grunted and got up. "Leave my friends alone!" He jumped at the Ogermon but it whacked him with his club.

"No! Agumon!" the young Nokia cried.

"T-Takumi, look out!" Arata shouted.

The Ogermon sprinted at the Aiba twins and jumped. Ami screamed as Takumi turned his back at the monster and held his sister close. There was a clang, but Takumi and Ami weren't hit. Instead Ogremon was knocked to the ground. Takumi looked up at someone's back. Someone with four gold wings a staff in one hand and a sword in the other. The Ogermon growled and charged at them, but they blocked with their sword and trusted their staff into it's face knocking it back. Their sword then cut the club in half, and they pointed their weapon at it. "Begone." The Ogermon yelped and got up before running away.

"Wow…" Yuugo was in awe.

The figure turned around and walked over to the kids. Takumi looked at them nervously as they approached. A Digimon in the form of a woman stood before them. She had blond hair, a gold mask, breastplate, boots and fingerless gloves as well as a red turban, and black belts around her hips with a loincloth draping from the front. She sheathed her blade and kneeled down and gently patted Ami's head who was still crying. "There, there. You're safe now." She looked at the humans with a gentle caring smile. "Are any of you hurt?"

"N-no…" Yuuko murmured.

"Good."

"W-who are you?" Arata stuttered.

The Digimon smiled and put a hand on her chest. "My name is…"

Takumi gasped. "Darcmon?"

So, now that we have more insight of what's happening in the Digital World currently, next chapter we get to see what happened there in the past!