Digital Phantom Frontier

by DarkFoxKit

Takuya Kanbara was just a normal 12 year old Japanese boy, when he suddenly got a call to the Digital World. There, he meets new friends who were also called to the Digital World. They meet with some Digimon who are willing to guide them. But these Digimon seem to be hiding something from them.

14. Chapter 14: The Darkness of Nightmares

DarkFoxKit: I think fanfiction is being filled with people who won't stop asking writers to commission them. I'm not looking to commission art, people. Stop filling my PMs with that crap! Maybe I should start looking elsewhere to post my fanfics. Nobody is really reading from fanfiction anymore.

ZAFT: AO3 is an option… '

DarkFoxKit: Maybe. With how frustrating fanfiction is being right now, I might have to start looking into AO3. But for now, let's try to finish this series.

ZAFT: Anyway, onto the chapter!

---

Chapter 14: The Darkness of Nightmares

The night started to grow later. A shadow was moving around quietly as the others slept. JP and Kokuwamon were the only ones awake right now, though JP was already half asleep, and Kokuwamon was in his own little world. Making it easy for the shadow to do what it needed to do.

"Nightmare Syndrome."

Purple mist went through each of the human children's ears, going into their minds. Not even JP nor Kokuwamon noticed the dark purple mist.

The shadow moved away from the group and onto one of the trees. "It is done, master. All that's left to do is to activate the Nightmare Syndrome inside each of them. What will you have me do?"

"Prepare the nightmares. We also need to reseal the memories. We can't have things going off target." The mysterious master replied.

"Of course. And what of the interlopers with the children?" The shadow asked.

"Let's see how the interlopers enjoy being the ones on the receiving end of the power of the Legendary Warriors." The master said. "This should teach them to not interfere."

"Even though they haven't broken any of the rules yet?" The shadow questioned.

"They have so far found loopholes, we need to cover our bases so they can't exploit any more loopholes." The master replied. "Besides, there's no rule in saying we can't have them face against the Legendary Warriors while they're still with them."

"Understood, master," The shadow said. "Activating the Nightmare Syndrome now."

---

I've always wanted to be seen as important and reliable. I've always wanted people to like me. It's why I always tried to do magic tricks and give our chocolates.

JP smiled as he saw the entire class had their attention on him as he was showing off a magic trick he had been practicing for. "You see? The coin is gone now."

"Oh, wow! That's so amazing!" One kid exclaimed excitedly. "Can you do another magic trick?"

"You're so cool, JP!" One pretty looking girl smiled.

JP grinned as well. "Sure, for my next trick… I'll make treats appear!"

JP used his trusty handkerchief to cover his hand, then after a second or two, he lifted the handkerchief to see several chocolate bars on his hand.

"Best of all, you guys get to eat this~" JP grinned.

The kids JP had been performing for all grabbed the chocolate bars eagerly, forcing JP to stagger back to not get swamped by eager, hungry mouths.

"Whoa, okay now, no need to push, there's plenty for everyone!" JP smiled. "So… who wants to be my friend?"

The kids all suddenly turned away from JP.

"Huh? Hey, what's going on?" JP asked.

JP saw what looked like 5 cute looking creatures standing in front of the classroom. He felt like he recognized those 5.

"H-hey! Lopmon? Guys? What are you doing here?" JP asked, confused now.

"Why do you think we're here, JP?" Lopmon asked.

"After all, we did save your life, don't you think you owe us?" Patamon said.

"We should be the stars of the class~" Labramon grinned.

"Yeah, that's right. Who cares about you anyways, JP? You're just some loser now that you're not a Legendary Warrior anymore," Biyomon sneered.

"Nobody likes a chubby, lonely, chocolate eating vermin like you anyways," Kokuwamon huffed. "You know, maybe we shouldn't have saved you. It'd be a lot better if we left you in the Digital World. That way we get all the girls and attention we want."

"W-what? K-Kokuwamon? G-Guys?" JP stammered out. "W-why are you being so cruel to me? W-weren't we friends?"

"Friends? With you? Hah! Why would we ever be friends with someone like you?" Kokuwamon laughed.

The other students in the classroom all turned and started laughing at JP.

"You're so useless!"

"You can't do anything other than eat chocolate!"

"Who would ever be friends with someone like you?"

"These cuties would be far better friends than you!"

All the voices were taunting him.

"N-No… Stop it!" JP cried out, feeling like everything was coming crashing down on him. "Stop it! Please!"

---

I wanted to stay true to who I am, while also making friends. But it seems like nobody ever really tries to understand me. They all just want me to 'fit in' with them…

Zoe was walking out in the woods. But she wasn't alone, she was with her class. They were on a school field trip. The teacher wanted each student to have a buddy, that way they wouldn't be alone if they got lost in the woods.

"You okay?" Zoe asked as she saw a girl sitting on a rock.

"Yeah, but my shoe is hurting my foot." The girl replied as she held up her shoe, showing her foot was a bit bloody along the toes.

Zoe leaned in and took a look. "That doesn't look too bad. But here." She placed a bandage on the toes. "That should help."

"That feels great." The girl replied with a smile.

"I'm glad." Zoe smiled back.

"Thank you." The girl said as she stood up.

Zoe began to trek down the path again. "Why don't we walk together for a little while? You know, just in case that bandage doesn't hold?"

"I didn't think you'd be so nice after what the other girls said." The girl commented.

Zoe stopped, feeling a bit hurt. The other girl seemed to realize her mistake. "Oh. Sorry, that didn't come out right."

"No, it's okay. I'm kinda used to it by now." Zoe sighed sadly. "Those girls have been mean to me ever since I came from Italy. But I'll totally understand if you want to go and catch up to them."

"Are you kidding? You're way nicer than all of those girls put together!" The girl replied.

Zoe smiled, feeling a bit better now. "Thanks."

"Hey, I got an idea! Why don't you join our group for dinner later?" The girl asked, making Zoe smile even more.

Later, when the groups got back and were making dinner, Zoe made to offer to help. "Can I help?"

"I doubt it." One girl scoffed.

"Yeah, since it's not pasta I doubt she will even eat it." A second girl snickered.

Zoe felt upset by these insults. It was the same every time.

"Zoe!" The girl who she had helped earlier called over, making Zoe glance over. "What are you doing just standing there?"

"Well…" Zoe began, not sure how to explain. "I…"

"Are you gonna join us for dinner or what?" The girl asked as she stood up.

"Yeah." Zoe agreed.

"Well, c'mon!" The girl exclaimed, waving Zoe over.

"You must be kidding." One of the nice girl's group members grumbled. "Her? She may be able to eat here, but I'm not either."

"Weirdo." A second girl huffed. "Go back to Italy, maybe someone will like you there!"

Zoe felt her heart breaking. Did everyone really think that about her? That she didn't belong? That she was only a foreigner?

The nice girl suddenly felt torn. "Um… maybe… you really should go back to your own group, Zoe. We're… already using all of our pots and pans and stuff…"

Zoe felt something inside her snap. Had she really just been betrayed? "Liar!" She snapped, not able to express her hurt any other way.

The girl who had been nice to her earlier turned and ran off, making Zoe feel bad about what she had just done. "Wait!" But it was too late, the damage had been done.

"My, my… look at what you've done, Zoe…" One of the other girls said as they stood up. "You were mean to our friend."

"Maybe we never should've tried to help you in the first place if you were going to act like that," The other girl said.

"W-what? Since when did you help me!?" Zoe snapped.

Suddenly, the girls in front of her unzipped their own faces. Underneath the skin, Zoe was shocked to see Biyomon and Kokuwamon stacked together, likely to make the height of the girl.

The other girls were Patamon on some stilts. And the 'nice girl' who ran off, was actually Lopmon on top of Labramon.

"Why did you have to be so mean to me?" Lopmon asked.

"I… I wasn't mean to you!" Zoe exclaimed. "At least… I don't think I was…"

"You were pretending to be nice. You were probably never nice to begin with." Patamon said sinisterly.

"But why were you guys being mean to me?" Zoe asked.

"We were testing you. To see if you truly did deserve our help and the Spirit of the Wind," Labramon said.

"But it looks like you're nothing but a whiny spoiled brat," Kokuwamon stated.

"To think I once trusted you enough to help you," Biyomon hissed. "You're no friend of mine. You deserve to be treated poorly, Outsider."

Zoe felt her heart breaking. "B-Biyomon?" She whimpered, feeling her eyes tearing over.

"I hate you, Zoe!" Biyomon screeched.

---

Ever since Dad married a new woman, I had been feeling alone. Maybe I should be alone. If I didn't get close to others, then I can't get hurt when they leave. But… still… even I want to have someone I can count on…

Koji was looking at his D-Tector. Koji was out in the woods, with only Labramon as his companion. But that was fine,Koji only needed Labramon anyway.

"We might find what we're looking for here," Koji said.

"Okay. Don't worry, I'm here to help you, Koji. Once we find what we're looking for, we can get you out of this trap." Labramon smiled.

"Thanks, Labramon" Koji said with a small smile of his own. "Anything is better than just wandering around in the woods."

Koji began walking forward. Labramon began leading the way.

"We should be getting close," Labramon said. "We never got your Beast Spirit, you know… meaning you're only at half strength. Do you think you can fight off anyone who tries to attack?"

"I think I can, yes." Koji replied. "It may be more difficult, but I think it can be handled."

Koji would rather give up half of his power than give up Labramon, that much he was sure of. Labramon gave Koji a smile. "Because we're in this together, right?"

"Of course." Koji replied. "We're a team. We work together, right?"

"Of course, we work together until the end," Labramon answered.

The two soon found an entrance to a cave. Labramon walked into the cave, seeing how she seemed confident, Koji followed after her. The two went further and further into the cave.

"There you are~"

Koji and Labramon looked over at the voice.

"Huh?" Koji blinked, trying to see in the darkness.

To Koji's surprise, he saw Kokuwamon clinging to the wall of the cave, before he flew over in front of them. Then Biyomon, Patamon, and Lopmon walked through the caves like they were ghosts, surrounding Koji and Labramon.

"So good of you to finally join us, Koji." Lopmon grinned. "The others had been waiting for you."

"The others?" Koji asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who would possibly be waiting for me?"

"Why the rest of your friends, take a look~" Patamon smiled as he gestured to the walls.

Koji's eyes went wide when he saw Takuya, Zoe, JP, and Tommy all unconsciously as their bodies were sealed into the walls.

"We're preserving their bodies," Biyomon stated. "Their data tasted wonderful~ I'm sure Cherubimon would love it."

"And their Spirits once we've extracted them from the others," Lopmon giggled. "I'd say the plan to gain your trust, and keep you from getting your Beast Spirits was a success~"

Koji gaped. "Y-You… were… You… How could you do this?!" He demanded, feeling betrayed. His heart was racing. He wasn't sure if he could trust anyone now. Could he even trust Labramon? "This… You planned this?!"

"But of course, why else do you think we'd follow you humans all this way?" Kokuwamon replied.

"L-Labramon… even you?" Koji asked as he looked down at Labramon.

Labramon didn't look at him for a moment. "I'm sorry, Koji…"

Labramon slowly turned to Koji before giving him a sinister smile. "But your data is just too tasty to resist!"

Koji backed up. "You… also…" He was sure he wouldn't be able to trust anyone else. He could only trust his fellow Legendary Warriors, and himself.

"There never was a mastermind to begin with," Patamon said.

"We wanted you to believe that so you'd want to keep us around, long enough for us to bring each of you to this secluded place." Lopmon stated.

"Where we will suck you dry, and take your Spirits for ourselves." Labramon grinned. "You are nothing but food to us!"

The 5 Digimon began closing in on Koji with those hungry, sinister looks in their eyes.

Koji realized he had to get out of there, but the Digimon had him surrounded. He glanced around for any way out. He knew he could just Spirit Evolve, but he wasn't sure if it was worth the risk. He had to get some distance first.

Running, Koji jumped over Lopmon, making sure to jump off of his head to get further away. Now free of the encirclement, Koji ran. He ran to find a hiding spot so he could Spirit Evolve. He had to save the others and protect himself!

He banged a fist on the wall, but when he did, the wall began to absorb his fist.

"Now you'll join your friends, become our next meal~" Labramon sneered from behind him. "Thank you for trusting in me, Koji~"

Koji gritted his teeth, he couldn't believe he was stupid enough to fall for such an innocent act from these monsters.

---

I have always been a bit worried about my family, mostly because my younger cousins live with my eccentric aunt and uncle. They mean well, but safety in the lab could be kind of lacking at times. But… My older cousin is a sensible one, and I feel I can trust her with the safety of my younger cousins…

Takuya watched as his younger cousins played around. The twins were always getting into mischief, even now.

"I swear, you two never cease to get up to no good." Takuya chuckled to them.

"Aww, that's not true, Takuya!" One of the twins whined.

"Yeah, we managed to give you lunch that one time!" The other one pointed out.

"You mean the same lunch that ended up on my face?" Takuya raised an eyebrow at them.

"... Well, you still got to eat it, didn't you?" The younger twin remarked. "And you even got to share it with my brother."

"It was gross!" The older twin grumbled. "I don't like asparagus!"

"Hey, asparagus is good! Don't say it's gross unless you actually eat it." Takuya replied.

"I did eat it, and it still tastes nasty…." The older twin grumbled.

"You kids just don't eat enough of your green vegetables. How would you ever get to be big and strong like me if you keep hating on every vegetable you see?" Takuya asked.

"You're only one year older than us!" The older twin huffed.

"And I've gotten bigger and stronger because I eat my asparagus," Takuya replied.

"Takuya… would you like a tomato?" The younger twin grinned, holding up the tomato.

"Get that thing away from me!" Takuya exclaimed.

The twins began laughing with each other.

"Works every time~" The younger twin giggled.

Takuya grumbled. I swear… while Jazz may be smart… I sometimes feel like Andy would become the mastermind behind everything. He's definitely got the potential…

After the twins had their fun laughing, they both sat down next to Takuya on the couch, looking more somber.

"Is it true that you, your Mom, and Shinya will be moving away to Japan next week?" The older twin asked.

"Danny, you need a little more tact before you ask that." Andy frowned.

"Hey, I just wanna know if it's really true." Danny grumbled.

Takuya looked down. "Yeah… it is." He replied. "Dad got a transfer out there and we can't remain here because he is a high-ranking official in the company and must be at the new building in a couple of weeks. The whole family has to move."

"But… we don't want you to go…" Danny whined.

"Are you sure you can't just stay with us?" Andy asked. "You can stay in our room."

"If I could stay, I would, but you know I can't." Takuya smiled sadly. "But if I could, I would definitely stay in your room."

"Aww…" The two twins frowned.

"Well… um… maybe before you have to leave… we should go into the basement and see if Mommy and Daddy are finished with the super cool ghost portal," Danny suggested. "I was hoping Takuya would get to see it before he had to leave…"

"Danny, you know Mommy and Daddy don't want us in the lab without their permission." Andy pointed out.

"Awww… Andy, don't be such a spoilsport." Danny grumbled. "This may be the last time we see Takuya for years! At least let us make his last few days here memorable!"

"I guess it would be kinda cool to see this Ghost Portal." Takuya said. "I mean, Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack have been working on it for a long time, so it may be worth seeing."

Andy gave a sigh. "Alright, but don't blame me if we get in trouble."

The three children quickly and quietly went into the kitchen. They looked around for any signs of Maddie or Jack, but the kitchen appeared to be empty. Takuya, Danny, and Andy hurried into the door that led downstairs. Downstairs looked like a laboratory, with how metallic the walls and floors were. There were counters with vials of unidentifiable liquids in them. There were shelves with different types of equipment. But the most noticeable thing was the big hole in the wall.

Takuya could see wires in the hole, and the walls looked to be glowing with some kind of dim blue light.

"Wow… look at that… it looks really cool," Danny said in awe.

"Yeah… I've never seen it before, but this is even cooler in person." Takuya agreed, slowly walking over to the open hole.

"Maybe we shouldn't be here," Andy said suddenly. "Something's making me feel uneasy."

"Come on, bro, why do you have to be like that?" Danny asked. "Don't be such a Jazz."

"I'm telling you, something isn't right." Andy frowned.

Danny rolled his eyes. "If you're so scared, then I'll go into the hole first."

"Wait!" Andy called out as Danny ran into the hole.

"See? Nothing bad happens!" Danny called out.

Andy was grumbling as he stormed over to Danny. "I don't need you making me scared by running headfirst into something that could be dangerous!"

"Aw, c'mon, bro! Don't be such a worrywart." Danny chuckled. "It's fine. This isn't going to hurt us."

Takuya was watching them from outside of the hole in the wall, and snickered as they were arguing. Then suddenly, he saw a shadow. The shadow pushed a button on the portal, and suddenly the emergency doors closed on the portal, trapping the brothers inside.

"Andy! Danny!" Takuya cried as he ran over to the doors. "Hey! Are you okay?!" He slammed on the heavy metal doors. "C'mon! Open up!" Takuya exclaimed as he tried to get the doors to open.

"Takuya! What happened!?" Andy's voice shouted from the other side of the door.

"Can't you open this door!?" Danny's voice yelled from the other side as well.

"You'll never be able to open the door, well, at least not without turning on the portal~"

Takuya turned, seeing a familiar face. "What…?"

Takuya wasn't sure how, but he knew this creature that stood before him. "P… Patamon?"

"How foolish, that the older cousin let the younger ones wander into such a dangerous place," Patamon remarked. "You're definitely not fit to be a hero."

"What do you mean? I never let them wander in!" Takuya exclaimed. "I would never do that!"

"How do you know?" Patamon asked sinisterly. "You always put them in danger. You were never a hero, not if they follow you everywhere, trying to help you!"

"And now that they're stuck inside… perhaps we should finish this little invention your uncle and aunt made," Kokuwamon said as he appeared on the control panel and began doing something to it.

"Such a shame, that these poor young children may experience the end of their life so soon," Biyomon remarked as she appeared next to the portal.

"But maybe it's for the better, so they won't have to have their innocence corrupted by this world," Labramon remarked as she walked next to Takuya.

Takuya backed away from Labramon.

"What's the matter, Takuya? Unable to get your cute little cousins out?" Lopmon smirked as he came up from behind Takuya.

"I… I can… I know I can…" Takuya rasped out. He wanted to open the portal, but it wasn't supposed to be able to be opened without power. "I just… need to find an emergency open button… right? There must be one around somewhere…"

"Of course… the button's right here~" Patamon grinned, pointing at an 'on' button hovering just over the portal's door.

"No! I can't! I can't press that!" Takuya exclaimed. "If I do… I would… I can't…" Takuya hesitated. "I can't press that… If I do… I will… I can't hurt them…"

"Oh? Then you will leave them to starve and dehydrate in that closed portal?" Lopmon asked. "Some cousin you are."

"How pitiful," Biyomon said.

"You're definitely pathetic," Labramon sighed.

"But that's okay, if you can't release them, I'm sure we'll be able to help, after they've died of dehydration and starvation. Let's not forget how their parents, and your parents will react," Kokuwamon said.

"But if you turn on the portal, there's a chance they can escape before the portal itself turns on." Patamon grinned. "Isn't that better than just leaving them to rot?"

"I…" Takuya hesitated. He didn't want to have his cousins die, but if he turned on the power, they would die anyway. Takuya closed his eyes tightly and gripped his head and fell to his knees. He didn't know what to do.

"Takuya? Takuya, what's wrong?" Takuya could hear Danny's voice asking. "I'm scared, Takuya… can't you do anything?"

"Please… we don't want to die in here…" Andy's voice said in worry.

"So… what will you do… hero?" Patamon asked.

"I… I need to find another way to open it… There has to be, not a power button…" Takuya muttered, feeling his pulse racing as he got back to his feet. "Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack would never build this without another way to open it, right?"

Takuya then saw a button that said 'open'. His eyes sparkled with hope when he saw it.

Running over, Takuya slammed a fist against the 'open' button. "Hang on! I'm opening the portal now!"

As soon as Takuya did, however, the portal's doors did open… but he also heard the whirring sound of it turning on.

"Oh, looks like I accidentally put the 'open' label over 'on' while you were having your indecisive crisis," Patamon said as he peeled the 'open' sticker off, revealing the 'on' label. "Silly me."

Takuya's eyes went wide with horror. He turned back to the portal in time to see Danny and Andy's scared faces before a bright green light engulfed them, and Takuya heard them both screaming.

"ANDY! DANNY!" Takuya screamed as he ran toward the open portal. He skidded to a stop in front of the portal, falling to his knees. "No…"

Slowly, from the portal, two spectral forms emerged.

"You… didn't save us… Takuya…" A black and white ghostly form of Danny said.

"You… killed us… Takuya…" A ghostly looking form of Andy said.

"I guess you're not a hero after all," Patamon remarked. "Look at what you've done."

"I… I didn't mean to… I just… I just wanted to save them…" Takuya murmured, feeling his hands shaking. He was staring at his hands, unable to believe what he had just done. "I only wanted to help…"

---

It was just supposed to be a game… I only wanted to have a friend… to have someone who could understand me. I didn't just want to be seen as the child who got in everyone's way… So… why… why did things happen this way?

"What's the matter, Tommy? You need to stop day dreaming, we have to keep going if we want to have a good time," A young man… a teenager maybe… with orange hair… wearing armor… and had a small, knight-like Digimon beside him, said.

"Huh…?" Tommy blinked a few times, looking at the armored teen. "Who… are you?"

"I'm your friend, Tommy." The armored teen replied. "Remember?"

"My… friend?" Tommy asked.

"Oh gosh, it sounds like he hit his head pretty hard in that last battle," A teenage girl said. "Maybe we should take him to a Digi-Hopistal or something?"

"Maybe we should." Another teenager replied. "He is one of our more important party members after all. We don't want anything to happen to him."

"Come on, Tommy, you should remember me," The teen in the armor said. "After all… I am the one who saved you. Took you under my wing when nobody else would. How could you forget about your friend? It's me… Sir Michael."

"Sir… M-Michael?" Tommy asked, his eyes starting to get wide. "You… you're…"

Memories of the other life began to come back to him.

"That's right. You're my friend… and as my friend, you're to help me take over the guild," Sir Michael informed.

Tommy suddenly found himself standing in front of a little girl, crying over her Digimon, who was lying on the ground in pain. Tommy saw he was in his Kumamon form, holding a gun to the small Digimon.

"Please stop! Don't kill her!" The girl cried out.

"W-why is this… happening?" Kumamon asked, disturbed and scared that he was even doing this for someone like Sir Michael.

"Because you're a monster…"

Kumemon turned around again, this time seeing Zoe looking at him. "Z-Zoe?"

"You hurt people. You're not one of us," Zoe said coldly.

"I… I didn't…" Kumamon tried to speak up, but he found he couldn't.

A cocoon of data wrapped themselves around Zoe, turning her into Kazemon.

"I'm sorry, Kumamon, but seeing how you're a danger to people… I have to get rid of you," Kazemon stated.

Kumamon looked freaked out. "B-But I'm not a monster! I'm not a danger to anyone!"

"You are. You've hurt others. You've been hurting others the whole time." Kazemon said seriously. "Hurricane Wave!"

Kumamon was quickly blown away. He let out a scream before he landed somewhere else. He gasped as Lobomon and Beetlemon began to chase him.

"Get out of here, you dirty scum!" Beetlemon shouted, trying to hit Kumamon with his Thunder Fist.

Kumamon yelped as he rolled away from the attack. Lobomon ran in with his swords.

"I didn't do anything!" Kumamon shouted as he ran away from Lobomon. "Why are you attacking me!?"

"You've gone and attacked others, innocent Digimon and humans." Lobomon retorted as he swung his swords at Kumamon. "That cannot go unpunished!"

Kumamon kept running until he fell into a river. He struggled to swim up, trying to get air. As soon as he managed to get up to the surface of the water, he pulled himself out, coughing. Then a shadow loomed over him. Kumamon quickly looked up, seeing Agunimon looking down on him.

"A-Agunimon… not you too…" Kumamon whimpered. "I-I'm not bad… I promise… why does everyone think I am?"

Agunimon seemed to be considering Kumamon's words at first. "Is that so?" He asked, as if accepting Kumamon's reasoning. "Then why did you attack and nearly eliminate an innocent Digimon?" He added, looking back up at Kumamon with an enraged look in his eyes.

"I-I didn't… I didn't do that!" Kumamon quickly said. "Please, believe me, I would never hurt an innocent Digion like that!"

"Oh, but you did~"

Kumamon froze when he saw Sir Michael walking out from Agunimon's shadow. "You did it all for the sake of your friend~ You would do everything I say. You even went as far as killing other people's Digimon under my orders."

"N-no… I… I…" Kumamon felt his own body growing cold, and it wasn't due to his ice element as he remembered two human boys, and killing their Digimon partners before. "I… that… that wasn't me! It… it couldn't have been!"

"Oh, but it was." Sir Michael replied with a small grin. "You did it eagerly for me too, I might add~"

"That's why I, and the rest of the Legendary Warriors, must eliminate you." Agunimon added as he glared at Kumamon, showing his sharp canine teeth in his anger.

"No! Stop it!" Kumamon shouted as he began running away.

"Tommy…"

Kumamon gasped before he turned around, seeing Lopmon standing there. He also saw Patamon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Labramon behind him.

"L-Lopmon! You have to help me… everyone is suddenly treating me like I'm some kind of killer!" Kumamon begged.

"Tommy…" Lopmon frowned. "You… you remember, don't you? That… actually happened."

"Those memories… we managed to get them back for you, but that's who you really are," Patamon grimly stated.

"We can't stick with you, not if you hurt others." Kokuwamon said seriously. "You are nothing but a monster, a cruel individual for hurting innocent Digimon without remorse."

"I loathe individuals who attack innocents." Biyomon hissed menacingly.

"If anything, we should let the others know you're here," Labramon growled.

Patamon, Kokuwamon, Biyomon, and Labramon all left, leaving just Lopmon with Kumamon.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this, Tommy," Lopmon said. "But I can't allow you to live knowing that you would be capable of hurting innocent Digimon."

Kumamon looked nervous. "B-But… We were friends, right? Why would you do this to me?!"

"Because I can't be friends with someone like you," Lopmon glared back. "I'm sorry it had to be this way. Maybe it would've been better had you never remembered at all."

"No… I can't… I don't want to be… I never did this on purpose…" Kumamon whimpered. "I can't be that cruel…"

---

Kokuwamon frowned, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wake JP up. JP was tossing and turning, and wasn't waking up. "JP, please wake up!"

But JP wouldn't wake up. He continued writhing on the ground, trapped in his nightmare. Kokuwamon looked at the other children, seeing they were groaning and moaning too. It looked like they were all experiencing some kind of nightmare.

"This can't be normal…" Kokuwamon frowned before he rushed to the other Digimon. "Hey! Wake up! Everyone! We have an emergency!"

Lopmon, Patamon, Labramon, and Biyomon all began waking up to Kokuwamon's yelling. When they did, they immediately noticed all the human children were struggling in their sleep.

"Zoe? What's the matter Zoe?" Biyomon asked as she tried to shake her awake. "Hey, wake up, it's only a bad dream."

"Koji? Can you hear me?" Labramon questioned as she tried to nudge the boy awake, but no avail.

"Takuya! Hey, hot head! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!" Patamon yelled, trying to shake Takuya awake.

"Tommy! Snap out of it!" Lopmon called, trying to wake the younger boy up. "Tommy! Please, wake up!"

"It's not working, none of them are waking up!" Kokuwamon spoke up. "JP's in the same situation!"

"What's going on?" Patamon wondered. "This shouldn't be happening."

"Were they struck by some kind of attack?" Biyomon frowned.

"What kind of attack would trap them in a nightmare?" Labramon asked.

Lopmon frowned before he began to pale. "Wait a minute… a nightmare? Guys… you know who is capable of using nightmares against people… right?"

"Oh no… You don't mean…" Biyomon gulped.

"Tapirmon…" Kokuwamon growled out. "But why would Tapirmon target the children?"

"Yeah… why not us? We were all easy targets," Labramon pointed out.

"Because… of the rules," Biyomon pointed out. "Remember… unless we break a rule, the mastermind isn't allowed to touch us. That includes using Tapirmon on us."

"But… that doesn't mean he can't indirectly stop us in some way… just as we use loopholes to not break the rules, he can use loopholes to try to make things harder for us," Lopmon pointed out.

"And one of those loopholes is to put these kids he's been trying to put on this path in some kind of nightmare?" Patamon frowned. "While that is bad and definitely hinders us, what good would that do for him if they can't follow the path he wants them to take?"

"I don't know, but I think there may be more to this than we think." Kokuwamon pointed out. "There has to be a reason why the Legendary Warriors were targeted now of all times."

"But what is the reason?" Patamon asked. "That's the unknown here."

Lopmon was looking at the human children for a moment. "Trapping the Legendary Warriors in a nightmare… Wait a minute… Patamon… do you remember what Takuya said back then? When… when they found out about Tommy?"

"I do." Patamon replied. "I think Takuya said he and the others were shocked, and Tommy wound up becoming Kumamon and attacking them."

"Wait… did you say he attacked them?" Labramon asked in shock.

"Because of Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome, Tommy thought they were all trying to kill him, so he attacked them," Lopmon explained.

"... Then… do you mean… that they'll… attack us?" Biyomon worriedly asked.

"It's… highly possible." Patamon replied grimly. "We can't assume otherwise."

"So if they'll attack us, and they have the intent to destroy us…" Kokuwamon began.

"Then we'll be done for. We don't have the strength to fight against Legendary Warriors for real!" Labramon quickly said nervously.

"Wh-what should we do? They could get up at any moment and-" Biyomon began to ask when someone yelled out.

"STOP IT!"

The Digimon all flinched as they saw Takuya, JP, Koji, Zoe, and Tommy stand up. Their eyes were glazed over.

"I won't forgive you…"

"How could you do this to me?"

"You are only here to hurt me…"

"Why did I ever trust you?"

"I won't let anyone hurt my family…"

"Oh no…" Patamon gulped. "This is bad news… This is similar to what Takuya explained…"

"Guys, quick, hide, scatter, don't let them catch you!" Lopmon quickly instructed. "They'll kill us if they use their powers on us!"

The five Digimon were quick to scatter, mostly to escape being found. Labramon found some bushes to hide in, Kokuwamon hid in a tree, Patamon hid in another tree, as did Biyomon, and Lopmon hid in another bush. The group had scattered around a large area, so as to be harder to find as well.

Carefully, Patamon peered out of his hiding place, peeking between branches and leaves while trying to stay hidden.

"I will not forgive any of them!" Tommy growled.

"Where are they? They need to pay for betraying me!" Koji shouted.

"They can't hide forever," JP hissed.

"They will pay for making me hurt my cousins!" Takuya growled out.

"I won't let others hurt me!" Zoe exclaimed angrily.

So far they haven't seen us… But that's only while they are human. Once they Spirit Evolve, then all of that goes out the window. A Digimon's senses are sharper than a human's, so they would be able to find us easily. Patamon thought to himself.

Biyomon was looking through the tree as well. If they do Spirit Evolve… we could try running away… but how far could we go before they catch us? They're much faster than us in their Legendary Warrior's forms.

What did Tapirmon make them see in their nightmare? Lopmon frowned as he was looking from the bushes. Well, whatever it was, he obviously wanted them to turn on us. That's why they're hunting for us right now. It looks like they don't see each other as the enemy, either that or they can't see each other… If they can't, then that makes it easier for us to get away. But if they can… we're done for. But which is it? Can they see each other or not?

"We need to look closer." Takuya grumbled. "They're smart… Hiding from us in these trees and bushes will make it harder to find them."

"But there are ways we can flush them out," Tommy spoke up, getting the others' attention.

Oh… crap… they can see each other. They can also still think and plan, and with Tommy… we don't stand a chance. Lopmon paled. No, hiding isn't going to be an option for much longer. Fighting them is suicide. Running won't get us very far. The best way we can end this is… We need to find Tapirmon.

Lopmon moved out of the bushes, trying not to make any noise, and started crawling under the shadows of the trees, trying to get to the closest other Digimon who was in hiding.

The one closest to Lopmon was Labramon. Labramon was watching the children nervously. Her sharper hearing picked up movement getting closer and closer. She nearly yelped if not for a familiar big ear clamping itself over her muzzle.

"Shhh…" Lopmon shushed her before releasing her muzzle. "Listen… we're not going to be able to hide for very long. It's only a matter of time before they Spirit Evolve and find us. They're out for our blood- err… fractal code."

"T-then… what should we do?" Labramon whispered nervously.

"The only way we'll be able to survive this… is if we can find Tapirmon and stop his Nightmare Syndrome," Lopmon answered quietly. "Do you think you could sniff him out?"

Labramon nodded. "I can try. It may be a bit difficult, but it's possible."

"Then can you get right on it?" Lopmon asked. "We need Tapirmon found as soon as possible."

Labramon nodded before putting her nose to the ground and beginning to sniff around, taking care to move as quietly and slowly as possible to avoid getting spotted.

"If it comes down to it… me and the others will try to fight them off to buy you as much time as possible to find Tapirmon and end this nightmare," Lopmon said.

"Let's… hope it doesn't come to that," Labramon replied.

Lopmon was counting down the seconds as Labramon was looking around, trying to pick up the scent of another Digimon that wasn't in their group. "Patamon and Biyomon are in those trees… Kokuwamon is hiding on that tree trunk there."

"Okay…" Lopmon said. At least I have an idea where everyone else is in case I need to get to them.

"The Digimon can't have gotten far," Tommy stated. "They're likely still here, hiding like cowards. We can get them out by having Kazemon blow them out. Or having Lobomon light up the area, finding them easily. I could freeze the area as well."

"That sounds like a good idea." Koji agreed. "What do you guys think?"

Takuya grinned sinisterly. "Let's do it then! This will be easier if we are in our Digimon forms."

They're going to be Spirit Evolving soon. It takes them about a second or two to transform. Lopmon realized. "Hurry Labramon, we're almost out of time."

Labramon was sniffing as quickly and quietly as she could, moving as slowly as she could while moving quickly.

"I can smell something nearby…" Labramon said. "But I can't tell if it's Tapirmon."

"Keep following it. I'll get the others ready while the children are Spirit Evolving," Lopmon instructed. That'll give me a few seconds to move around while they're busy Spirit Evolving.

Labramon nodded, still following the scent she had picked up. While Labramon was doing that, Lopmon waited for the children to start Spirit Evolving.

Each child took out their respective D-Tector and formed a ring of fractal code around their left hand.

"Execute! Spirit Evolution!"

While the children had the fractal codes surrounding them, Lopmon quickly made his move. He rushed through the area, hoping that the Spirit Evolution would make it so none of the children would be aware of their surroundings. Lopmon called up to the tree where Labramon had pointed that had Biyomon and Patamon in.

"Patamon! Biyomon! Get down here, quickly!" Lopmon called out before he looked back, seeing the cocoons were dissipating. He dived into the nearest bush before their Spirit Evolution was completed.

Patamon and Biyomon quickly flew down to where Lopmon was.

The fractal code cocoons dissipated, revealing all five Legendary Warriors, ready to fight.

"We need to split up." Agunimon said. "Those Digimon have split up as well, so they are probably hiding in this forest."

"Our enhanced senses should help us find them easily." Lobomon remarked.

"Anything to stop them from hurting us." Kazemon agreed.

"Who will look for whom?" Beetlemon asked.

"We should just start looking. Why does it matter who we look for?" Kumamon pointed out.

While the Warriors were moving around, Lopmon was looking at Patamon and Biyomon. They were trying to be as quiet as possible.

"What should we do?" Patamon whispered.

"Yeah… I've never seen them this ready to take out someone, not even the bad Digimon like Snimon." Biyomon frowned.

"The minute they see us, we're dead, and everything we did would be for nothing." Patamon frowned as well.

"Fighting them wouldn't be ideal," Lopmon agreed. "The only way we'll be able to end this nightmare is if we take out the source."

"But where is the source?" Patamon asked.

"We have Labramon searching, but we don't know where she is heading yet," Lopmon informed.

"Well, Labramon had better hurry." Biyomon grumbled. "We don't have time on our side here."

"I doubt Tapirmon is going to make himself easy to find," Patamon warned. "And we have 5 Legendary Warriors looking for us."

Lopmon heard footsteps coming closer to their hiding spot. He turned in time to see Lobomon had come close to their location. Looking around, Lobomon then paused as he heard something in the bush, only to grin sinisterly as he glanced down at the bush the three Digimon were hiding in. "Well, what do we have here?~"

Realizing they were caught, the 3 small Digimon knew they had to do something fast. Biyomon quickly fired out a Spiral Twister from her beak. It was a weaker one than her usual attack, but it was enough to push Lobomon back as the fire attack hit his face, and caused a small fire to burn the leaves in front of him.

"We can't take them all at once, we'll need to be smart about this," Lopmon quickly said as they ran out of the bush, running through the trees.

"Then the best we can do is to stall for time, right?" Patamon asked.

"Then we'll need Kokuwamon's help. Where is he?" Biyomon frowned.

"I'm here!" Kokuwamon said as he emerged from his hiding spot, despite being scared. "You need some help?"

"We need to stall the 5 Warriors until Labramon can find Tapirmon," Lopmon quickly explained. "Obviously a head-on battle against the Warriors is suicide. But they'll find and catch us if we try to stay hidden."

"Then I guess we'll be doing a guerilla style tactic," Kokuwamon said. "In some games, when you're put against an enemy that's much stronger than you, you have to resort to fighting dirty. Hit and run tactics, throwing stuff at them from the shadows, using trickery to the best of your abilities."

"Wow, who knew you were such a strategist?" Biyomon snickered.

"Hey, Playing video games can be helpful!" Kokuwamon pouted.

"Shhh!" Lopmon quickly shushed.

Nobody made a sound for a minute. It was silent… which was concerning. What were the Warriors doing-

"Pyro Tornado!"

A burst of flames suddenly grabbed the 4 Digimon, spinning them around. Patamon and Lopmon hit a tree trunk. Kokumon and Biyomon barely managed to fly out of the fiery twister.

The fiery attack ended, revealing Agunimon landing on his feet. A sinister smirk was on his face, revealing his sharp fangs with no remorse. "You were too easy to find, you talked too loud."

Lopmon knew they hadn't been whispering exactly when they were talking to Kokuwamon, but they thought they had a safe distance away from the Warriors. That was foolish, they should've kept their guards up regardless. Now they were in a precarious situation.

Lopmon fell from the tree trunk, and groaned as he pushed himself up, only to find himself standing face-to-face with Kumamon. Lopmon felt himself go pale when he saw the white bear standing before him, someone who was once a friend, and had promised to help them, now stood as an enemy.

"Time to remove the threat." Kumamon said in a cold tone as he aimed his gun at Lopmon. "I will never forgive you for what you've done."

Patamon shook his head as he got up as well, but Agunimon stood in front of him. Patamon looked up at the towering armored man.

Agunimon grinned down at Patamon, showing his fangs without any hesitation. "Now to get rid of the one who hurt my family." He said in an eager tone, which sent shivers down Patamon's spine.

Biyomon was flying down, trying to see if she could back Patamon or Lopmon up, only for her to get kicked from the back and hit the ground. Biyomon let out a yelp of pain before she looked up from the ground, seeing Kazemon flying above her.

"Now you will pay for betraying me." Kazemon snarled as she glared at Biyomon. While Kazemon's wings looked pretty in the moonlight normally, due to the thick leaves and trees blocking out the moonlight, Kazemon looked like a sinister form of her usual appearance, with only bits of light hitting her wings, making them look like they were full of holes.

Kokuwamon quickly moved into the trees, trying to find the best way to help his friends, when a large shadow approached from behind him. Kokuwamon immediately sensed danger, and quickly turned around, seeing Beetlemon floating right there.

"Hello there, 'friend'. Why so scared? Is it because you know the consequences for trying to screw me over?" Beetlemon hissed.

"Listen, whatever you're seeing isn't real! Do you really think we'd hurt you guys like that?" Patamon spoke up, hoping they would listen to reason.

"Don't waste your breath, Patamon. Tapirmon's got their minds too warped to listen to us. They probably can't even understand us right now," Lopmon warned as he kept his eyes on the icy bear.

"W-we can't fight them though. We lost in our sparring match, and that was when they were holding back!" Biyomon frowned.

"They're going to kill us!" Kokuwamon agreed.

"Yes, this is a fight we can't win," Lopmon said. "But we don't need to. Just stall for time, in other words, just try to survive for as long as you can." Where are Lobomon and Labramon?

While the others were dealing with the threat of the Rookie Digimon, Lobomon was looking for someone, someone who had betrayed him as well. One of the Rookie Digimon was missing, and it was up to him to find the missing threat before it was too late. His eyes narrowed as he ran, looking for Labramon, someone he thought he could count on once.

Labramon knew that the others were caught, she could hear the whole thing going down. And she knew Lobomon would be looking for her. She needed to stay one step ahead of him. Using her nose and sense of hearing, she could tell when Lobomon would get close to her. She had to stay hidden from him and keep looking for Tapirmon. That would be the only way to end this nightmare. She was the only one who could find Tapirmon, and she needed to hurry, she had no idea how long the others would last against 5 Legendary Warriors who were planning to kill them.

Patamon, Lopmon, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon were close to each other, but they were each facing against a Legendary Warrior. They knew better than to make the first move. The 4 of them waited for the Legendary Warrior to make the first move. They had to survive, no matter what.

Agunimon didn't hesitate to slam his fists together, his silver wrist armor igniting a spark that then became flames around his fists. "Good luck surviving this! You won't last much longer! Pyro Punch!" He launched the fireballs at Patamon directly.

Patamon stood there, waiting for Agunimon to get close. His blue eyes turned green all of a sudden as Agunimon came in close. At the very last second, Patamon jumped over Agunimon's fist, and spun in the air, slamming into Agunimon's face as his fiery fist hit the tree behind Patamon instead. This caused the trunk of the tree to snap off, falling down. After hitting Agunimon in the face, Patamon didn't hesitate to fly up, not wanting to stay too close to Agunimon.

Agunimin stumbled back, rubbing at his face. "Ugh… I should've expected that…" He grumbled, removing his hand from his face. "Where are you…?" He looked around, only to turn when he heard Patamon's wing beats above him.

At the same time, Kazemon flew at Biyomon, wind forming above her fingers. "Hurricane Wave!" Pink twisters were launched at Biyomon without missing a beat.

Biyomon, despite being a bird Digimon, decided to stay on the ground for this one. She knew trying to fight the Legendary Warrior of Wind while in the sky was foolish. She saw the Hurricane Wave coming to her, and she ran under Kazemon, moving quickly. Biyomon, surprisingly, was a fast runner. She dived under a bush, letting the branches and leaves take the brunt of the Hurricane Wave, and causing all the leaves to scatter around the battlefield.

Kazemon growled before flying down at Biyomon's hiding spot. She lashed out in a kick, aiming to destroy the bush Biyomon was hiding in.

"Phantom Hurricane!"

Biyomon flapped her wings as quickly as she could, creating a more ghostly blue looking twister to blow Kazemon back. Although the attack was far weaker than Kazemon's attack, it was enough to blow the Legendary Warrior back enough to give Biyomon some breathing room and to move quickly.

"You may be good at fleeing, but you won't last for long against me!" Kazemon hissed, her usually pretty features looking distorted and intimidating in the dimly lit forest.

"Thunder Fist!" Beetlemon destroyed the tree branch that Kokuwamon was on with his lightning fist.

Kokuwamon was flying back, avoiding the hit. His best attack was an electric attack, which probably wouldn't do much against the Warrior of Thunder. He was going to have to get creative here. Kokuwamon used his scissor-like hands to slash some of the branches of the tree down, and attempted to use the branch to smack Beetlemon away.

Beetlemon just caught the branch easily. "You really think that would work on me?" He growled, snapping the branch like it was a toothpick.

Kokuwamon gulped before flying away. It was clear that Beetlemon was far too strong to fight directly, and his strength was nothing to overlook either.

Beetlemon chased after Kokuwamon. While Beetlemon was big and strong, Kokuwamon had one advantage over him. He was smaller and faster. And, like Lopmon said, he didn't need to win in a fight, just survive. That was what Kokuwamon planned to do.

Lobomon was getting frustrated, he still couldn't find that dog, but he knew she was here somewhere. She wasn't going to go far from the rest of her gang.

But while the other 4 Legendary Warriors had their obvious strengths and weaknesses, Lopmon had his own work cut out for him. He was dealing with a Legendary Warrior who used his brains more than brawns, but even then, Kumamon did actually have the power to back up his brains as well, which made him very difficult to deal with. Lopmon would have to outwit Kumamon if he wanted to survive the night.

"You won't last against me." Kumamon said in an eerie tone of voice. "Everything you've done to me, everything you've put me through, it has only made me stronger, given me a reason to defeat you."

Lopmon frowned. Although he knew he didn't do anything wrong to Kumamon, the fact that Kumamon said that with such venom in his tone made him feel like he really hurt Kumamon somehow. No, that's probably what Tapirmon wants me to think. I have to stay focused.

"I'll release you from your nightmare, Kumamon," Lopmon promised.

"Release me?" Kumamon growled out. "You won't be releasing me from anything! I've already awakened to what you've done to me, and your words won't help you!" Taking a deep breath, Kumamon let out an icy breath at Lopmon. "Crystal Breeze!"

Lopmon tried to jump away from the incoming icy wind attack, however, Kumamon had taken out his gun as he was shooting out his Crystal Breeze. So when Lopmon jumped to avoid the attack, he was quickly pelted by Kumamon's rapid fire snowballs. Kumamon's ability to not shout out some of his attacks made it really troublesome to know when he was going to use an attack. Lopmon felt his body freezing, making it harder for him to move as he tried to shake off all the snow off of his body.

"You will never be able to defeat me." Kumamon hissed to Lopmon as he slowly approached Lopmon, his gun still out and aimed at the Rookie Digimon.

"Heh… w-w-wasn't p-planning o-on it…" Lopmon shivered as he spoke.

Kumamon narrowed his glazed filled eyes at Lopmon. Lopmon looked back at Kumamon.

"Your words won't help you." Kumamon replied angrily. "No one can help you now."

"Heh… are you sure about that?" Lopmon replied. "I suppose it's impossible to do much if I had to fight you alone… It's a good thing I'm not alone."

Patamon flew back a little as Agunimon was looking up at him.

"You won't get away from me." Agunimon said sinisterly. "I could set this place ablaze easily to wipe you out."

Patamon was looking at the battlefield. His green eyes glowed in the dark, allowing him to see easily in the darkness. He could see Kumamon giving Lopmon a hard time. Kumamon's ice were too powerful for a Rookie Digimon like Lopmon to take on, and trying to outsmart someone like Kumamon was near impossible without having an IQ equivalent to a battle savant genius. Likewise, Agunimon's fire was too powerful for Patamon to even hope to compete with.

But… Patamon noticed Lopmon looked up at him. At first, Patamon was worried Lopmon was giving up and was hoping Patamon would help him. But that wasn't the look Lopmon was giving him. Patamon could see Lopmon looked confident. It was like Lopmon was trusting Patamon with something, something Lopmon couldn't convey to Patamon out loud.

What is Lopmon thinking? Why is he looking at me? Patamon frowned. It's not like I have any fire power of my own to combat against Kumam- wait…

Patamon looked back over at Agunimon, who was near Kumamon. Fire and ice… two different elemental Legendary Warriors that counter each other's element. I see… if we can't win with our own power, then… why not use the Legendary Warrior's powers against each other? Good thinking, Lopmon!

With a plan in mind, Patamon flew closer at Agunimon and gave him a challenging grin. "What's the matter, Agunimon? Have you run out of steam already?"

Agunimon growled, showing his sharp canine teeth in his anger. "What was that?" He hissed in a sinister tone, clearly angered now.

"Come on, you say you'd want to burn down the forest just to get to me. Well, here I am. Why don't you hit me with your best shot, fire boy?" Patamon taunted.

Agunimon clearly didn't like being taunted so casually, so in response, he caused more fire to appear around his hands. "You'll pay for that!" He snarled before launching his Pyro Punch at Patamon again.

Patamon flew quickly over at Lopmon and Kumamon with Agunimon coming at him like a freight Trailmon. Lopmon saw Patamon coming towards him with an angry Agunimon, now was his chance. Good job, Patamon!

Lopmon positioned himself in Patamon's path, keeping his eyes on Kumamon. "Well, Kumamon, you may be intelligent, but your power is still lacking. Are you sure you can even freeze me with your lack of power?"

Lopmon knew this was difficult. It was easy to taunt someone as hot headed and hasty as Agunimon, but Kumamon was a different story. He needed to make sure his words would be enough to make Kumamon want to fire his strongest ice attack at him before Agunimon got here. But, Lopmon hoped, with Kumamon under Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome, it was possible Kumamon wouldn't be able to think straight. His anger from the nightmare was likely clouding his judgment.

"I can definitely freeze you over." Kumamon growled out sinisterly. "I am plenty strong."

"Oh really? Because your snowballs just felt like something my brother could throw at me on a snowy day," Lopmon replied. "Surely the Warrior of Ice has something better than just pelting me with snowballs."

Kumamon felt his anger ticking up. "You want me to come at you with my full power? Fine. I can do that easily!" He snarled, his cute facial features looking twisted and totally unlike the cuddly ice bear cub.

I was right, the anger and the Nightmare Syndrome is clouding Kumamon's judgment, he's listening to his emotions more than he usually does. Lopmon noted. And it seems they can understand our words, but likely only when Tapirmon lets them.

With the plan now set in motion, Lopmon glanced back at Patamon, seeing that he was coming in close. It looked like Lopmon's work was cutting in close here.

Kumamon jumped up, melting his body, and transforming it into a giant icicle spear. "Frozen Tundra!"

Patamon reached Lopmon and grabbed onto him. Both Digimon shut their eyes as their bodies suddenly became transparent. Agunimon ran in with his Pyro Punch, and Kumamon was falling towards Agunimon with his Frozen Tundra attack. Both of their eyes went wide in shock and surprise when their attacks went through the two Digimon, but they ended up colliding with each other. Agunimon's Pyro Punch hit Kumamon's body, while at the same time, Kumamon's body pierced through Agunimon's armor.

Agunimon fell to the ground, clutching at his side where he had been hit while Kumamon landed in a melted pile of mush that reformed into his normal body.

"Ow…" Agunimon groaned out, feeling the newly formed gash on his side oozing blood mixed with data. It hurt to move, and Kumamon was no better, being covered in burns from Agunimon's attack.

While this was going on, Kokuwamon and Biyomon saw what Patamon and Lopmon were doing, and they realized that would be the best way to go. The Legendary Warriors of Wind and Thunder also countered each other, just like fire and ice.

Biyomon let out a bird-like call over to Kokuwamon. She couldn't just call for Kokuwamon normally or she would alert Kazemon about what she was doing. Biyomon ran under Kazemon again, hoping that their hasty plan would work.

"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon fired green spiraling flames at Kazemon, keeping her attention on her.

Kazemon dodged the attack, living up to her title as the Warrior of Wind easily. "You won't be able to defeat me!" She exclaimed in anger. "You and your comrades will never defeat us!"

"You're right. We won't be able to defeat you," Biyomon agreed as she kept running with Kazemon flying after her.

Biyomon dodged Kazemon's kicks and wind attacks by jumping from side to side. Biyomon wondered if her species was built more for running rather than flying, considering how fast she was on the ground, yet she didn't move as fast in the air. Perhaps, Biyomon thought, her species was a combination with flightless birds like ostriches, capable of running quickly, and the more younger birds that were still learning how to fly, but are capable of flight. Maybe she should think about doing more ground attacks in battle from now on.

Kazemon kept flying after Biyomon, which was what Biyomon wanted.

At the same time, Kokuwamon was flying and weaving around trees, keeping an eye on Beetlemon. He was also using branches to smack at Beetlemon since electric attacks wouldn't work on the Warrior of Thunder.

"You little bug! Your attempts to attack me with branches are useless! I can easily crush you like I can crush one of these twigs!" Beetlemon exclaimed.

"Well if I'm a little bug, that must make you the big, fat bug that only knows how to smash things!" Kokuwamon taunted right back.

Beetlemon had electricity crackle over him in his anger. "You dare to insult me?!" He snarled angrily. "I will make you feel my wrath!"

Jeez, he sounds like a stereotypical villain like this. I can't wait to have the old, funny JP back. Kokuwamon grumbled.

Kokuwamon flew down towards Biyomon. Biyomon, seeing Kokuwamon coming in, and Beetlemon right behind him, knew it was time.

"You Legendary Warriors can defeat yourselves!" Biyomon shouted at Kazemon before she turned around. "Now come on, give me your best wind attack! Unless you think you can't defeat a child's attack. Phantom Hurricane!"

Biyomon flapped her wings rapidly, creating another ghostly small twister at Kazemon.

At the same time, Kokuwamon turned to face Beetlemon. "If you think you're so powerful, then try to defeat me with one attack. I'm electric too, I'm sure I'll eat that stuff right up!"

Beetlemon powered up his Thunder Fist attack. "You will regret those words! Thunder Fist!" Electricity flew at Kokuwamon.

Kazemon held up her hands and formed a wind above her fingers. "I can defeat your attack with ease! Hurricane Wave!" Pink twisters flew at Biyomon.

The Hurricane Wave easily consumed the Phantom Hurricane, which was fine with Biyomon. She and Kokuwamon looked back at each other before they both flew up as high as they could as quickly as they could. Not expecting that, Beetlemon was flying in at Kazemon with his Thunder Fist. Kazemon let out a yelp as Beetlemon was blown around by her Hurricane Wave, but he was too close to her when he got caught up in the wind attack. While his Thunder Fist didn't come into direct contact with her, his electricity went out of control in the wind, which ended up shocking Kazemon's body.

Both Legendary Warriors fell from the air and landed on the ground. Beetlemon was dizzy from the wind attack while Kazemon was pretty much paralyzed with electricity coursing over her body every so often.

"Ugh… I don't feel so good…" Beetlemon groaned out.

"I swear, electricity is my weakness…" Kazemon grumbled, feeling her limbs numbing over.

Biyomon and Kokuwamon landed, Patamon and Lopmon ran over to them.

"We managed to have them take each other down, but that won't last forever," Kokuwamon warned.

"Yeah, where's Labramon?" Biyomon asked.

"She's probably still looking for Tapirmon," Patamon replied.

"And… where is Lobomon?" Lopmon frowned.

They were all suddenly blinded by a bright light. Lobomon had enough of playing hide-n-seek, he was using his power of light to brighten up the place. He would make sure Labramon and the rest of her cohorts would not be able to hide from him.

Labramon was near a tree trunk when Lobomon suddenly brightened up the entire place. She hissed as she was having trouble seeing.

"Darn it…" Labramon hissed as Lobomon saw her and began to approach.

"You were very clever, hiding from me, but now this game is over." Lobomon growled out as he slowly walked closer, like a predator that had cornered its prey.

Labramon could hear Lobomon coming closer to her. She tried to move, but she ended up tripping over a root. It was hard to move without being able to see.

Lopmon let out a gasp, knowing Labramon was in danger.

"Ugh… who… turned on… the light…?" Lopmon heard Agunimon groaning.

"Huh?" Lopmon looked down at Agunimon.

"What's the big idea…? I was trying to sleep!" Agunimon grumbled. "This had better not be a prank…"

Strangely enough, Agunimon was acting… normal? Like he was complaining about someone turning on the light while he was sleeping.

"Wake up… it's time to wake up," Lopmon said.

"But… I don't wanna…" Agunimon groaned.

"Wake up… that's it!" Lopmon spoke up in realization. "We don't have to find Tapirmon! We just have to wake them up!"

"Wake them up? But how? They just slammed each other with their best moves, and that wasn't enough to wake them up!" Patamon pointed out.

"No… they don't need to be hit to wake up… they need… an alarm clock!" Lopmon said. "Hurry, stall Lobomon! I need to get to Labramon!"

Patamon got the gist of what Lopmon was up to. He may not have understood the whole plan, but he was aware it involved Labramon.

"I'll do my best." Patamon replied before flying off to harass Lobomon.

"We'll join you in that!" Biyomon quickly said as she ran towards the light.

"Kokuwamon, can you amplify sound?" Lopmon quickly asked as he and Kokuwamon were trying to find Labramon in this brightness.

"I can." Kokuwamon replied. "It may hurt my ears, but I can do it no problem."

"Then come with me," Lopmon said. "I'm going to need you for this."

"Okay. I don't know what you have planned, but I trust you on this," Kokuwamon said.

Labramon whimpered as she knew Lobomon was going to pierce her through her Digi-Core if she couldn't do something to defend herself soon. Lobomon held up his lightsabers, ready to take out the one who betrayed him.

"Hey Mr. Wolf Jedi, surprise! Boom Bubble!"

A large air bubble hit Lobomon from behind, knocking him off his balance.

"How dare you try to stab a poor dog! I'm going to make you pay for that!" Biyomon shouted as she landed on Lobomon's head and began pecking at his nose.

Lobomon cried out as he tried to smack Biyomon away from his face. He was able to do so, but Biyomon kept flying away from him when he tried to hit her, only to resume her pecking at his armored forearms as he shielded his face from her beak.

"Get off of me, you annoying bird!" Lobomon shouted.

This caused the light to dim enough for Lopmon and Kokuwamon to find Labramon. They hurried over to the shivering dog.

"Labramon, hey, Labramon," Lopmon spoke up. "It's alright, it's just us."

Labramon opened her eyes, seeing Lopmon and Kokuwamon standing over her.

"You guys… Thank you!" Labramon exclaimed in relief. "How did you do it?"

"Thank Biyomon and Patamon." Kokuwamon replied. "But we need your help right now."

"W-what? I haven't been able to find Tapirmon," Labramon replied worriedly. "Every time I get in close, I think he just flies away. I can't keep up with him."

"That's okay. It was probably too much to expect to have you find him alone while we're being attacked," Lopmon said. "But there's another way. We just have to wake them up."

"How are we going to do that?" Labramon asked.

"Kokuwamon, I need you to make it so your head will be able to amplify sound," Lopmon requested. "Can you do that?"

Kokuwamon nodded. "I can." He replied in a determined tone. "Anything to help wake up our friends."

"What does sound have to do with waking up the Legendary Warriors?" Labramon asked as she blinked.

"I'll explain later! Lobomon is about to attack!" Lopmon warned.

Lobomon managed to slam Biyomon with his lightsaber. Patamon tackled him to stop him from stabbing her, but he managed to hit Patamon with his other lightsaber as well. Both of them were down.

Kokuwamon lowered his head. "It's ready!"

"Labramon, use your Retriever Bark and yell through Kokuwamon's head as loud as you can!" Lopmon instructed. "Patamon! Biyomon! Cover your ears!"

Patamon and Biyomon quickly covered their ears as best they could. Lopmon wrapped his own ears around his body to try to shield them as much as possible.

Catching on, Labramon took a deep breath before letting out the loudest Retriever Bark she had ever unleashed. The soundwaves echoed throughout the forest, and Kokuwamon's head vibrated, acting as an amplifier for the attack.

The soundwaves also reached the other 4 Legendary Warriors. They all groaned from the sound noise. Lobomon fell to the floor after a few seconds.

Labramon finally stopped using her Retriever Bark, her throat hurting a bit from how much force she put into her voice.

Everyone looked up as the light from Lobomon had died down.

"Did… it work…?" Lopmon asked.

As if on cue, all 5 Legendary Warriors were covered in a cocoon of fractal code. They had all reverted back to their human selves. Not long after they did, they all woke up, yawning and rubbing their eyes groggily.

"Jeez… who turned on the alarm clock?" JP groaned.

"Ow… My ears hurt…" Takuya grumbled as he sat up.

"Why do I feel like my ears are ringing?" Koji huffed as he rubbed one ear with a finger.

"That's some alarm clock…" Zoe yawned.

"I think that alarm clock is broken…" Tommy groaned out.

Seeing that all the children had woken up and seemed to have returned to normal, Lopmon, Labramon, Kokuwamon, Biyomon, and Patamon all fell to the floor, exhausted and very relieved.

"You… uh… don't… want to kill us, do you?" Labramon asked Koji, who was the closest one to them.

Koji raised an eyebrow. "Why would we want to kill you?"

"Oh good, they are awake now… the nightmare is over…" Lopmon groaned from the floor.

"What happened? Did we get attacked while we were asleep?" Zoe asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Do you guys not remember anything?" Patamon asked.

"No." JP grumbled. "Unless you count us waking up to a loud noise."

"It feels like my brain is a mess." Takuya groaned as he rubbed at his head.

"Really? You guys don't remember trying to ki-" Kokuwamon began to say when Lopmon and Labramon put their paw and ear over his mouth.

"It was a nightmare, it'd make sense for them to not remember it," Biyomon remarked.

"Oh… did we all have a nightmare or something?" Tommy asked. "Did we wake you guys up?"

"Don't worry about it," Lopmon said. "You all seem to be okay now."

"Why wouldn't we be okay?" Zoe asked. "Have we been doing something or was something wrong?"

"Nah, everything's fine." Patamon replied, trying to stop the prodding for information. "We just had a bad nightmare ourselves."

"That sounds pretty bad," JP said.

Koji raised an eyebrow as he looked around. He couldn't help but notice some of the trees got toppled over, and there was some ice in some areas. Some parts of the forest looked to be scorched, though with it being dark it was hard to tell for sure. But it definitely looked like there had been a battle here. When he had woken up, he was standing in front of Labramon, Kokuwamon, and Lopmon. And he saw Biyomon and Patamon to the side. They all looked pretty exhausted and relieved.

"What happened here?" Tommy asked, likely noticing the same things Koji did. "Was there a battle that we somehow slept through?"

"You could say that." Labramon replied. "I guess we were all so tired we missed it."

"But everyone is fine, so it doesn't matter," Biyomon spoke up.

"Yeah, it might be better to just go back to sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow," Kokuwamon said.

"Yeah… I guess we should." Zoe agreed. "I don't want to be too tired for whatever we have to do tomorrow."

"Hmm? What do you mean 'whatever'?" Biyomon asked, surprised that Zoe was taking this a little too lightly.

"I'm kind of not sure what we're doing tomorrow," Zoe admitted. "Other than getting to the Forest Terminal like we have been."

"I think we needed to find our Beast Spirits or something," Takuya said. "Didn't we talk about that?"

"What? But I thought you guys agreed not to get your Beast Spirits," Patamon pointed out.

"Huh?" The five kids blinked.

"When did we agree to that?" JP asked.

"Yeah, we need to find our Beast Spirits." Tommy agreed.

The five Rookie Digimon found this odd, and didn't know what to think of it.

"I think you guys need some sleep, all this stress isn't good for your mind," Zoe suggested. "If you want, you could sleep closer to us if the nightmares are bothering you."

"Oh, that's alright, you guys go ahead and sleep. We'll keep watch just to be sure nothing else happens before we turn in for the night," Lopmon spoke up, wanting some time to discuss with his fellow Digimon about what just happened.

"Are you sure?" Takuya asked.

"Yeah, I doubt we'll be able to get to sleep right away," Kokuwamon answered.

Koji frowned. "Is everything alright, Labramon?"

"Y-yeah, of course," Labramon answered as she gave him a smile. "Just get some sleep, okay?"

The kids all nodded before they began to make their way back to their leafy beds and settled down to sleep again.

The Digimon stayed close to the children, but they also walked a little ways off so the kids, if some of them were still awake, wouldn't hear their conversation.

"They don't seem to remember what we talked about." Biyomon frowned.

"Maybe it's just because they woke up. We did sort of wake them up all of a sudden after all. I'd be disorientated if someone screamed their lungs out to wake me up," Patamon pointed out.

"I don't know… This seems… different…" Kokuwamon said nervously. "It's like… they don't remember it at all, and it's not in the 'waking up' sense."

"We don't know for sure… maybe the Nightmare Syndrome scrambled their memories a little?" Labramon suggested.

"I'm not sure…" Lopmon frowned. "But… Tapirmon was the one behind this, right? So…"

"Heh, looks like you already figured it out." A voice spoke from the trees.

The Digimon were immediately on guard as a figure came out of the trees and floated down to them.

"What the heck?" Kokuwamon hissed. "What do you want?"

"I merely wish to talk." Tapirmon replied. "But you should know better than to try to mess with the children's destiny."

"We're not the ones messing with them," Lopmon pointed out, glaring at Tapirmon. "So it was you who hit them with the Nightmare Syndrome. And you had them come after us, didn't you?"

"Of course I did," Tapirmon answered. "You know the rules, you're not to interfere with the children who inherited the Legendary Warrior's spirits. By telling them what you planned to do, you began interfering. That was when I had to step in. Of course, I used my Nightmare Syndrome to seal away their memories of that little conversation you had about them being 'in a trap', and how you 5 are here to 'save' them. I did allow them to keep some of the conversation that will help them, like the existence of their Beast Spirits. But of course, they will look for their other half now instead of choosing not to because you 5 wanted to be selfish. Be happy that was all I did. The master of this world could've done a lot worse to eject you all out of here."

Patamon felt his fur standing on end. "You're just trying to turn them into something worse than what they are meant to be."

"But that's from your own perspective. This is what they're meant to be," Tapirmon replied. "They are Legendary Warriors, it's about time they started acting like it."

"They're also humans, human children. They have the freedom to choose their destiny, regardless of being chosen by the Legendary Warriors or not!" Biyomon snapped.

"And you're essentially training them to become something they're not because you only see them as Legendary Warriors," Labramon added.

"But isn't that what they are? Human, Legendary Warrior, they are both, are they not?" Tapirmon replied. "It's time they stepped up to the role they have been given."

"They are not puppets!" Labramon growled out.

"I never said they were. I'm only saying they have a role to play, and they must play it before it's too late, for them and for us," Tapirmon answered back.

"But they were already trying to protect the Digital World, why go through all this trouble?" Lopmon questioned.

"They can never truly be the Legendary Warriors if they can't work together, and face hardships as one," Tapirmon replied. "Now, you 5… no, you 6 are still here because the master decided to give you some mercy. You chose to play this game, it'd be a shame to be kicked out so early. You got lucky, and survived the night. The Legendary Warriors could've easily ejected you from this world had you not figured out how to awaken them when you did. As a prize for surviving, you get another chance to continue this game. However, if you attempt to interfere and share the forbidden information with any of the Legendary Warriors, there will be no more mercy. You will be killed and ejected from this world. The seal on Tommy's memories were loosened, and you took advantage of that. But the seal has been reformed now. The only way you'll be able to give them information is to break the rules, and you are already on thin ice."

The five Rookie Digimon looked quite nervous now. They were effectively stuck now, and they couldn't alter anything to help the kids.

Then, Patamon remembered something else, something very important. "Wait. What about these… sabotagers? They look so different from Digimon, and they… are they after us?"

"In a sense. Since we can't do anything unless you break the rules, they volunteered to come in to try to get rid of you if they are able to catch you. But they are also under the same laws, but much stricter. Their presence alone could cause unwanted mental trauma in the children after all, or unlock memories we don't want them to unlock," Tapirmon explained.

"But that's not fair! Why would you send them after us? Isn't that cheating?" Kokuwamon pointed out.

"We never said we couldn't send others after you," Tapirmon answered. "Of course, what's a game without more obstacles and difficulty spikes?"

"You're sick…" Labramon growled out, but she didn't do anything else. It wasn't like she or the others could do much anymore anyways.

"I think they broke some of the rules," Lopmon said.

"What do you mean?" Tapirmon asked.

"You don't want to risk traumatizing the children with their presence, but what about if they use the Digimon in this world and transform them into something completely different with an 'unknown' property?" Lopmon pointed out. "After all, those Digimon attacked us and them a few times already. From what you're saying, it sounds like something you didn't want to happen. It exposes them to ectoplasm."

"Unfortunately, hiccups can occur." Tapirmon conceded. "But they are effective, and do their job well for the most part. You do raise a good point though. The master will have to have a talk with them about their actions."

"But will the master actually do anything to stop them from taking such actions again?" Patamon asked cautiously.

"Let's just say if they break the rules too many times, their punishment will be most severe, as will yours if you keep breaking the rules," Tapirmon warned. "Let this be a lesson to you, the master does not tolerate rule breakers. Your ability to remain at the Legendary Warrior's sides will be revoked once they all gain their Beast Spirits, and you are not to interfere with them finding their Beast Spirits."

The 5 Digimon were silent, looking down in despair that their one hope of helping the children and working with them was just destroyed and shattered before them.

Patamon felt his Digi-Core racing with anxiety. It was like everything they had been planning was falling apart. They were now bound to only help the children find their Beast Spirits, and once that was done, then the kids would become worse than the worst enemy yet fought.

"Fine then," Lopmon suddenly spoke up, surprising the other 4, and Tapirmon.

"Oh?" Tapirmon asked.

"We'll keep playing the game by the rules, and we will win," Lopmon stated firmly. "We already knew the risks when we chose to do this mission. While we thought we could make things easier for ourselves when we saw Tommy was starting to remember the truth, that only proved that we can't cut corners. So we'll just go back to our original plan and save them our way."

"Lopmon… Are you sure we can do that?" Biyomon asked, surprised. "I mean… we don't…"

Patamon knew if Lopmon said something with confidence though, there was either a way, or it was a bluff. Since it was Lopmon though, he decided to trust in his brother. Patamon looked back at Tapirmon. "Lopmon's right. We will save the children, whether you like it or not."

"There's always going to be doubt, no matter what we do," Lopmon stated. "But if we give up now, then we lose no matter what. Tapirmon, you're also trying to break us by taking away our glimmer of hope, that's why you chose to wait before striking. You wanted us to build up our hope to tear it down before our eyes. You know we're capable of saving them, so you're trying to make us lose hope. But this just proves that we can save them. It might take longer than we would've liked, and maybe it would be a lot harder too. But we can do it, the fact we're still here right now shows we're stronger than we realize."

"Oh? So you truly believe you can save them? Well, this should be interesting then." Tapirmon chuckled.

"You're right, Lopmon, we can't lose hope now," Kokuwamon said. "Just because it got hard doesn't mean that we can't do it."

"We've faced impossible obstacles before, this will be no different then," Biyomon agreed.

"I'll admit, I'm probably the least qualified to make that kind of judgment in this group," Labramon sighed before she looked up with determined eyes. "But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to try. I've wanted to change for the better, and this is my chance to truly work towards that."

Patamon smiled when he heard the words of his fellow Digimon. "We will save them, Tapirmon. You'll see. We will stop you and your master's plans."

Tapirmon looked at the 5 Digimon. "Hmph, very well then. As long as you don't break the rules, then you're free to try. Just remember, the clock will be ticking once the first child finds their Beast Spirit."

"We'll keep that in mind," Lopmon replied.

With those words said, Tapirmon flew off into the night sky, disappearing in a puff of cloud.

"It looks like we have our work cut out for us," Biyomon said.

"Yeah, but we can't quit now." Patamon replied. "I don't know if what Lopmon said is true, but I trust him, and who knows? We may find a way to save the children despite this setback."

"Of course I meant what I said," Lopmon stated. "Look at how far we managed to come before we even teamed up with the Legendary Warriors, and look at how we were able to handle ourselves when they were under Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome. Things may get a lot harder for us once we're no longer able to stay at their side and have their protection, but that doesn't mean it'll be impossible. I don't know how, or when… but I know we can survive this game, and save our friends."

Biyomon chuckled. "You're always thinking of the best outcomes, aren't you?" She noted with a grin. "And you're always planning something. No wonder Patamon has trust in you."

"Hey, Lopmon is my brother. Of course I'll have trust in him." Patamon grumbled.

"I'll admit, I'm not sure about the best outcomes," Lopmon said. "I just don't want us to lose hope before trying."

"I'll admit, I did lose hope for a moment there," Kokuwamon sighed. "After trying so hard, only to lose our only advantage is pretty… discouraging. But like you said, it's not impossible."

"And I also meant what I said," Labramon said. "I'm willing to work my hardest to save them, and to really show I want to change. If I can't do that, then I won't be able to change once this is all over."

Lopmon gave Labramon a small smile. "I appreciate that, Labramon."

"Yeah, me too. You're really trying hard," Patamon added. "Who knew you'd be the same Cerberumon who attacked us before?"

Labramon blushed. "I… I want to be a better Digimon, that's all!" She squeaked out.

"Well, regardless, we have to figure out what to do now. It's obvious the children will be going for the Beast Spirits, and then once that happens… we're racing against the clock. Once the last of them gets their Beast Spirit… we'll have to find a way to save them without their help." Kokuwamon said.

"But where do we even start? We've been trying to figure out how to save them in the first place," Biyomon pointed out.

"Let's just stick with the original plan," Lopmon said. "We talk to Seraphimon once we find him in the Forest Terminal. I… I don't think they'll all have their Beast Spirit by then, so we should be good. But after that…"

"... It'll be a lot harder, especially if we need all 3 Celestials for this to work…" Patamon frowned.

"Which is a major problem due to Cherubimon's current… state…" Labramon grumbled. "How could we convince a corrupted Celestial Digimon to help us? Especially if he wants to get rid of the children who are interfering with his grand plans?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Biyomon sighed. "For now, we need to focus on getting to Seraphimon first. Then we need to find Ophanimon."

"As for Cherubimon… we might still have a chance," Lopmon said. "After all… not all of us are here."

Patamon furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "That's true. Maybe… Maybe we can use this to our advantage…"

"Well, until then, we should get some rest," Kokuwamon suggested. "We don't want to be too tired tomorrow morning."

"Yeah. I don't think Tapirmon will use his Nightmare Syndrome on them again tonight, he already did what he set out to do," Lopmon said.

Labramon yawned. "After this night… I just want to conk out."

"Yeah… Some rest would do us good." Biyomon agreed.

"Oh, Labramon," Lopmon spoke up, looking at the canine Digimon. "If Koji does what I think he'll do tomorrow… I wish you the best of luck."

Labramon nodded somberly, knowing all too well what was to come down the road. "Thanks. I'll do my best to help Koji. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and not in just a good way for the children."

Everyone walked over to their respected human 'partners'. Kokuwamon laid on his side next to JP, Biyomon roosted next to Zoe, Patamon laid on his stomach next to Takuya, Lopmon curled up with his ears next to Tommy, and Labramon laid down next to Koji. The Digimon soon fell asleep, having been exhausted from trying to survive the night.

Tapirmon watched from his hiding spot in the clouds. "We'll see how far you get, interlopers. It all depends on what you do. Will you follow the rules? Or will you break them? How desperate are you to 'save' them from their destiny?"

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: You will see what happens~ XD

Lisa-Katagiri: DarkFoxKit: Oh really? You've read only chapter 1 and want to make a comic? Then tell me, what was it about? What part did you like? What were the characters like? If you want to make it into a comic, then go right ahead. But we are not commissioning anyone. If you have nothing to say about the story, then don't bother leaving a comment please.

ZAFT: No scammers are wanted! Buzz off and find a real job!