Ami took her time explaining everything to Shiki. Not just what happened in EDEN leading to her abduction, but her whole story starting from her first time in the Digital World eight years ago. Shiki just sat quietly and listened from start to finish.

"Then while we were all questing who the heck K was, the Algomon we thought we defeated blindsided me and tied me up in its creepy tentacles again and I was dragged into the hole K and Craniamon escaped in. I passed out when I went through it, and now here I am." Ami sighed as she finally finished.

Shiki blinked. "Wow…that was quite a bombshell."

"Yeah."

Shiki looked down. "I'm sorry about what you went through as a kid. That had to have been rough."

"Don't be." Ami looked down. "It was a hell of my own making."

"Hey, come on Ami, you were just a kid. There's no way you could have know…So now the Royal Knights that wanted humanity dead have gone rouge and are taking over this Digital World…"

"Seems that way. I still don't know why they would go out of their way to kidnap you from a parallel world though."

Shiki thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, it sounded like K knew me and Takuto."

"Really?"

"Well knew of us anyway. He said something about someone telling him how good we are."

"So, someone in the Next Order knows you two?" Ami asked.

"I guess? I can't imagine who though."

Suddenly the pad activated. Vademon came in with two Knightmon. "Oh great, here comes the pervert." Ami muttered.

"Improved your attitude?" Vademon asked. "I have more experiments to conduct with you two. Don't worry, no measuring this time. I know humans seem to hate that."

"The measuring was one thing; I could go without a jerk commenting on my body!" Shiki glared.

"Same." Ami added.

Vademon activated the pad and the magnetic force pulled Shiki and Ami to their feet by the contraptions on their hands and made them stand in the middle of the room with their hands up again. As the Knightmon approached they noticed they were carrying black collars with a red dot on each. They didn't like where this was going but couldn't do anything as they were fastened around their necks. The dots glowed bright red as they were put in place. "Good." Vademon said. "I am going to begin some tests on you two. Some of which will require your cooperation."

"And why should we cooperate?" Ami scowled.

"Quite simple really." Vademon pressed a button. The red lights on the collars glowed brighter and gave Ami and Shiki a shock prompting them to scream. "As long as you two wear those collars you have no choice but to obey me." When the shocking stopped Ami and Shiki held their heads low. "Interesting. It seems you are both capable of feeling pain. And as I witnessed earlier you can feel emotions."

Ami glared at him. "No kidding. Wanna know how much rage I'm feeling right now?"

"Yes, yes, good for you. Now then." Vademon pressed another button and two treadmills appeared under Shiki and Ami's feet and their ankle shackles vanished. The metal bindings on their hands were attached to the handles. "Next we shall test to see if you feel fatigue."

"I don't, she does." Shiki said. "So can we just skip this?"

"I'm afraid not. I cannot trust that what you say without proof. And the only way I'll get it, is through these experiments."

"Oh, come on!" Ami shouted. The treadmills started to move, and Ami and Shiki had not choice but to start walking. They were grateful it wasn't going very fast.

"After every minute I will be increasing the speed." Vademon said. "Let's see what happens after one hour of this."

"One what?!" Ami yelled.

"Oh, don't give me that, givin how much of what my research says is fat on your chest and backside is on you compared to the other girl, I'd say you could use the exercise."

"First of all, it's not fat you jerk! Secondly my chest and butt aren't that big you pervert!" Ami hissed blushing.

"W-wait how fast is this going to get?!" Shiki asked. "I might not feel fatigue, but my legs can only go so fast!"

"Interesting." Vademon said taking notes. "I will use this exercise to determine that as well."

"I seriously hate you." Ami scowled.

Takumi and his friends explained to Mameo and Shoma everything from the incident regarding Eaters and the Royal Knights to the attack on EDEN leading to Ami's kidnapping. "And shortly after Keisuke left to go find Erkia, Magnamon noticed signs of another Digital Gate." Yuuko said. "Arata then patched us into one of the enemy's communications and we found you two humans were chased to Drive Canyon."

"So, Nokia, Darcmon, Magnamon and I led a team there and we found you." Takumi said. "You know the rest."

Mameo nodded. "I see. So, this Digital World is currently at war. That explains all the unrest."

"Speaking of the team you guys led, where are the others you left with?" Leomon asked.

"They didn't come back yet?" Magnadramon asked. "They were forced to retreat when BanchoStingmon showed up. Even if they were injured, they should have gotten back by now."

"Do you think something happened to them?" Rapidmon Armor asked.

"I hope not…" Takumi said. "We should retrace our steps. Make sure they get back okay."

"I agree." Omegamon nodded.

"Hey!" A Cutemon ran over. "Darcmon is awake, and we finished healing Lilamon!"

"That's good news." Takumi smiled. "Let's go check on her."

Everyone went into the medical bay. Lilamon was already up and about. Darcmon was sitting up on her bed. She groaned and rubbed her head. "Darcmon, are you alright?" Yuuko asked.

"I'll be fine." She smiled warmly at her friends. "Sorry for making you worry."

"I was worried when that spider had you in its webs and then its fangs." Nokia said. "But that fire thing you did was out of this world!"

"Seriously though Darcmon, what the hell was that?" Takumi asked. "Does it involve that Digicore that guy wanted from you?"

Darcmon looked down. "Yes…you see sometime before you all came here, Magnamon and I went on a mission to hunt down a rare Digicore that was said to have been lost. The Next Order wanted it for their plans, and we were hoping to beat them to it."

"Just what kind of Digicore was it?" Shoma asked.

"One of four that were said to have vanished from this world a long, long time ago." Magnamon replied. "We succeeded in finding it in some old ruins. But while extracting it, we were ambushed by Crusadermon and her legion."

"They were about to run us down and destroy the troops we brought with us." Darcmon replied. "So, in an act of desperation…I absorbed the Digicore into my body. Ever since then I developed these incredible powers. I think I'm slowly getting the hang of controlling them. I know determination is the key."

"This core must have been an incredible Digimon." Takumi said.

"It is said that it and three others once ruled over the Digital World." Magnamon replied. "But after they did battle against a destructive monster, they were all reverted into Digicores due to using all of their power."

"A destructive monster?" Nokia asked. "Was it the Arcademon, Keisuke fought?"

"It's Arcadiamon." Omegamon quickly corrected. "But no, it was another extremely dangerous Digimon."

"In any case, I'm glad you were able to keep it away from the Next Order." Takumi said.

"So am I." Darcmon replied. "But it sounds like they intend to target me to retrieve it. Not that it would do any good. When I absorbed the Digicore I made it so that it would self destruct if anyone tries to remove it by force. Also destroying me will destroy the core as well."

"Whoa, whoa, that sounds incredibly dangerous." Arata said.

"Don't worry. I know not what Leopardmon wishes to do with the core, but he clearly needs it. He won't do anything to risk its destruction."

"I wounder…" Takumi murmured. "You said there were three other Digimon like the one you have the Digicore for, right?"

"That is correct." Darcmon nodded.

"And all four of them became Digicores. So maybe Leopardmon is currently going after the other three."

"We thought the same thing." Magnamon nodded. "But nobody knows where they are."

"Leopardmon is probably more focused on locating them right now rather then taking the one Darcmon has."

"I see." Mameo said. "It would complicate his plans further if the resistance beat him to the others and absorbed them like Darcmon did. So, it would make sense that he would prioritize the others."

Darcmon smiled. "Very insightful Takumi. You've matured quite a bit since your last time here."

"It's thanks to Kyoko and Alphamon."

"We better share this with the other resistance teams." Rapidmon Armor said. "As well as Mameo and Shoma's story."

"I'll send messengers at once." Magnamon said before taking his leave.

"Keisuke and Hudie will need to know about this too." Yuuko added. "If only we could contact them…"

"In the meantime, we should go check on the team that went with us." Dorugoramon said.

"Oh shoot, I almost forgot!" Nokia shouted.

"Did something happen?" Darcmon asked.

"The others that set off with us haven't returned yet." BlackWarGreymon said. "We're going to conduct a search."

"Okay." Darcmon set her legs over the bed and prepared to stand, but Lilamon pushed her back down.

"Oh no you don't! You're still weak from that poison! You're staying here!"

"But I-

"Lilamon's right." Yuugo said. "You mustn't overexert yourself, the Rebel's Heart needs you."

"Don't worry, I'm on the case." Takumi said. "I remember the route we took to Drive Canyon too. I'll retrace our steps and be back with the others in no time."

"I'm going with you." Arata said. "You can search by air, Diaboromon and I will be on the ground."

Darcmon sighed. "I wish we didn't have to keep putting you children in harms way…but if you feel that strongly about it…"

"Alright, Arata and I are heading out." Takumi said.

"Wait!" Shoma stepped forward. "I'll accompany you."

"Shoma?"

"Those Digimon are in danger because you all came to assist me and Mr. Mameo. We owe it to help them. Besides…I was thinking it would be best if we fought alongside the resistance."

Mameo smiled and nodded. "I was thinking the same thing myself. It sounds like Shiki's kidnapper and the one who kidnapped Ami are one and the same. If so, we're all after the same guy. It would be in our best interest to work together."

"You guys…" Takumi smiled. "Thank you. Is that alright with everyone?"

"I don't see any problems." Darcmon said. "And Shoma and Mameo are clearly capable. We could use strength like that."

"I'll stay here for now." Mameo said. "Once I tell Darcmon here what we explained earlier I'll see what I can do to help out around the base. Who knows? Maybe someone here has seen Shiki or one of our friends we got separated from. Shoma, would you mind helping Takumi and Arata on their job?"

"Of course." Shoma nodded. "Leave it to me and Noir."

"Let us begin our search immediately." His Digimon added.

"Okay, let's go." Takumi said. "The sooner we find our friends the better." He Arata and Shoma took off.

Mameo smiled. "Takumi sure is keen on helping people."

"It can lead to him being reckless at times." Yuuko sighed before she smiled. "Still, that's part of why we all respect him."

Mameo chuckled. "Oh, I know the type, trust me."

Keisuke took a very deep breath. "So long story short, there was a incident in my world where Digimon came to the real world and started making a mess because we accidently created a race of monsters called Eaters that were ravishing the Digital World so Leopardmon and half of the Royal Knights tired to destroy our world, six Tamers stopped them then reverted the world to a state where Eaters never came to exist, but now Leopardmon and his friends overthrew the king of the Digital World and now they're trying to take over it, so my Digimon and those of the six people I mentioned managed to come to my world to ask us to help stop them." Keisuke paused to take another very deep breath. "Then K showed up in EDEN, apparently, he and a army sent by Leopardmon to try to stop us from helping and followed our Digimon there, I delt with some of them while the six fought K who then retreated back to the Digital World but before leaving he took one of the six, Ami prisoner, my Digimon told me Hudiemon sent them and asked me to meet up with the six since they and I are the only ones who remember what happened with Eaters and Digimon in our world, we left for the Digital World together and after a while I set out to find Hudiemon who is a friend of mine turned Digimon and on the way I got attacked and Takuto and his friends helped me fight some Digimon, Justimon and Shakkoumon showed to bail us out and now here we are in Hudie's HQ wondering what the Next Order is up to and what we should do about it." He then exhaled and deflated. "Phew. That was exhausting."

Hudiemon stared at him. "You never were one for explanations."

"Still, that's pretty much it." MetalSeadramon asked.

"Uhh…." Luche said. "Can you repeat that?"

Keisuke sighed. "I'd really rather not."

"Soooo, from what I caught from that absurd mouthful…" Kouta said. "Basically, Leopardmon staged a rebellion, overthrew the King of the Digital World, and established this Next Order. And K is working for him."

"Yeah. In a nutshell." Keisuke replied.

"So is K from your world then?" Himari asked.

Keisuke glanced to the side. "Let's just say I've had my share of run ins with him."

Hudiemon looked at Keisuke. "Is it the same person behind the mask?"

Keisuke shook his head. "No. I saw Yu back home multiple times after K left for the Digital World. This is a new one."

Hudiemon curled a finger at her chin. "I see…for all we know he could have come from another Parallel World."

"I doubt it. It sounds like K has a grudge against one of the chosen ones. He had to be from around our neck of the woods."

"But if that's the case, what could have compelled him to go after Flotia?" Justimon asked.

"Come to think of it…" Takuto said. "It sounded like K heard of me from someone."

"Really?" Rikka asked. "Who?"

"He didn't say." Nova replied.

"But it sounded like they were aware of Takuto and Shiki's skill as Digimon Tamers." Storm added.

"Well, whatever the case, one of your friends was kidnapped by K too." Takuto said. "Meaning you're also going after the Next Order."

"That's the plan." Keisuke nodded.

"In that case, mind if we tag along?"

"Huh?"

"Not a bad idea." Kouta said. "We're all going after the same guy, we might as well stick together. Strength in numbers after all."

"Yeah! I know we'll find Shiki if we work together!" Luche said. "We also need to find Shoma and Mameo too!"

"Sounds good to me!" Himari said. "Besides, it sounds like you guys can use the extra hands. So how about it?"

Keisuke looked at them. "Well, I don't think it's my choice to make. I'm not in charge here."

Everyone looked at Hudiemon. "Well…I can't pretend this doesn't concern you between your world being attacked and your friend's kidnapping. But you should know the Next Order has control of nearly the entire Digital World. They have an army greater than anything you could imagine. And then there's the matter of Leoprdmon himself. We still don't know just how stronger he's gotten."

"Agreed." TyrantKabuterimon said. "Not to mention with Lilithmon and Leviamon working with K, we need to consider the possibility of the other Deadly Digimon working with the Next Order as well."

"No biggie!" Luche grinned. "Takuto and Shiki have beaten up Royal Knights and Deadly Digimon before!"

"They are the saviors of our Digital World after all." Yukimura said. "And Kouta and I have been training so we can help them if something like this happened again."

"Rikka and I too!" Himari grinned.

Hudiemon nodded. "Very well. We could definitely benefit from having strong Digimon Tamers on our side." She turned to Keisuke. "I especially feel more confident with you backing us."

"Heh. Thanks. So, what's the plan?"

Hudiemon folded her arms. "I'm sure TyrantKabuterimon and the others already told you this, but Hudie's Dream is a resistance team that operates in the shadows."

"Yeah, the others didn't even know there was a fifth team."

"Wait, what's this about teams?" Takuto asked.

"The resistance opposing the Next Order is divided into multiple teams." Justimon said. "Both to spread their influence in the Digital World and to make the Next Order think they're disorganized. Rebel's Heart, Jude's Flare, Zaxon's Pride, and Sleuth's Will."

"AND THEN THERE IS US." Shakkoumon said. "HUDIE'S DREAM."

"But it's becoming more and more clear that the Next Order isn't buying the rouse." Hudiemon said. "Not to mention the disappearance of Sleuth's Will worries me. Splitting into smaller groups just makes it easy for the Next Order to pick them off, one by one. Which is why I think it's time for Hudie to step out of the shadows and bring the resistance all together."

"You want to unite them all under one flag?" Kouta said. "How will you do that?"

"Well for starters, we need a larger base than this tiny underground bunker. So, I prepose we take over Cache City."

"This entire City?" Himari asked. "It's swarming with Digimon!"

"Exactly. Because it's a key location to the Next Order. After all it's smack in the middle of this Digital World, and is being used to block out any resistance communications among other activities. I also heard rumors of a big Next Order experiment being done here."

"So that's why you made your current base right under the city." Keisuke said. "You were planning to strike them hard by surprise where it hurts." He smiled at her. "That's the Erika I remember! Always thinking!"

Hudiemon grinned. "One of us has to. It's not going to be easy but with you backing us, we have a chance."

"Say, Keisuke?" Luche asked. "I thought Digimon don't do nicknames here. So why do you call this one Erika?"

"Huh? Oh, well…It's complicated."

"There was once a girl in Keisuke's world named Erika Mishima." Hudiemon explained. "She was assimilated by an Eater, but her consciousness merged with her Digimon, Wormmon. And together they became the miracle Keisuke and Hudie made, standing before you right now. Hudiemon."

"Wait so you're…" Kouta looked at her in surprise. "…basically, a human and Digimon combined?"

"Roughly speaking, yes."

"Wow…that's amazing." Himari said.

"Huh…" Luche looked at her. "Not entirely Digimon or human…she's kind of like me."

Hudiemon looked at her. "I thought there was something…unusual about your data. Just what are you?"

"That's…also complicated." Himari said,

"She used to be a Digimon belonging to a friend of ours." Takuto explained. "But because her data was modified, she didn't properly revert to a DigiEgg. Instead, she was lost in the Singular Zone before emerging in the Digital World in her current form."

"According to Mirei, she's still 98.1% Digimon. She still feels fatigue and hunger and all that in the Digital World."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Keisuke asked. "I'm human, and I feel tired and hungry here."

"Wait, you do?" Takuto asked. "Is it different in this Digital World? Well, no, I still don't get hungry or tired…"

"It must be because EDEN avatars were designed to feel hunger and exhaustion." Hudiemon replied.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Keisuke put on his Digivice and opened his menu. He then brought a piece of Digimeat into his hand. "Here."

"Is that Flourish Digimeat?" Justimon asked in surprise.

"Yup. I was told that this can grow a lot of meat. Now you guys should be good for food."

"Thank you." Hudiemon said taking it before handing it to Shakkoumon. "Give this to Digmon. Have him plant it right away."

"ROGER." Shakkoumon left the room.

"The Next Order must have made it hard for you to claim that." Justimon said. "We appreciate it."

"Thank Darcmon and the others at Rebel's Heart." Keisuke said. "Before I left Arata and the gang I helped them on a mission to gather that meat for their resistance. Anyway, what's our first step to taking over the city?"

Hudiemon went to her keypad and pulled up a map of Cache City on her monitors. "Cache City is too large for us to take head on. We don't even know how many troops are in here. First, we need to disable all security measures inside." She zoomed in on the largest tower. "Which brings us to the Central Tower. This controls all of the security throughout the city." By her keyboard Hudiemon had a flash drive she picked up. "I made a backdoor program that will let me hack into the entire system. If we can just get to the central computer to upload it. The thing is, if possible, I'd prefer if we can do so without the Next Order knowing. If they catch on to our plan, they might install countermeasures. So first, I want you guys to attack the tower and try to force your way into the lab in the center. We'll make them think you're trying to stop this project of theirs. While you have their attention, Justimon will sneak into their central computer and upload the program. Then all of you will retreat and we can start planning our attack to take over the city."

"Sounds good to me." Takuto said.

"Your main objective to just to distract them." Justimon said as Hudiemon gave him her program. "But, if you can, it would be ideal if you can discover what that project is and if possible, put an end to it. It may cause them to lose interest in this city."

"Sure. We'll throw that on our to do list." Kouta said.

"Luche, you should stay here." Takuto said.

"No! I wanna help!"

"If that's the case Luche, we could really use your help here." Hudiemon said. "There are plenty of things that need to be done in preparation for moving out to the city. Also, there are refugees we've rescued that are scared and weak. They need someone to assure them they will be safe."

"And you want me to do it?"

"Why not? You're part Digimon yourself. They'd listen to you. If fact you're more qualified for the task then Takuto and the others. So, will you please cheer them up? For me? For the Resistance?"

"Okay. If you think it'll help, I'll do it!"

Takuto smiled. "Thanks Luche. So, when do we start?"

"Very soon." Hudiemon turned to Justimon. "Gather the troops. We need to announce Keisuke's arrival and our plan."

"At once."

"Hudiemon." A new Digimon entered the room. A blue armored dragon with a golden v on his chest. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?"

"Ah, UlforceVeedramon. I suppose I should introduce you. This is Keisuke, the human I mentioned."

"UlforceVeedramon…" Keisuke muttered. "Wait, he's one of the Royal Knights, isn't he?"

"That's right." Hudiemon nodded. "When Crusadermon opened the gate to the human world he was the last to attempt to follow."

"I was in the middle of a battle against the Eaters ravaging our world." the knight explained. "By the time I noticed the gateway it was starting to close. I tried to rush after my fellow knights, but it closed before I fully passed through."

"That's right." Keisuke said. "Craniamon tried to save you but…"

"While adrift between worlds I saw you and, Craniamon and Alphamon trying to save me." UlforceVeedramon bowed. "I thank you for stopping my comrade. Though I appreciate how willing he was to aid me, I would not forgive myself if he shared my fate because of me."

"It was more Alphamon then me to be honest. So how did you get out?"

"Remember how Suedou opened a gate so the Chosen Ones could go to the Digital World?" Hudiemon said. "When he did UlforceVeedramon was able to escape back to his world."

"To be honest…I was against the idea of destroying humanity for our own survival." UlforceVeedramon said. "The reason I went after the others was so I could help Omegamon protect all of you from them. I must admit, it's rather embarrassing that they ended up helping me when I wished to aid them. But that is why I want to help humans in any way I could. Such as Hudiemon here who is part human. Furthermore, I cannot abide someone who's judgment is as folly as Leopardmon controlling our world. So, I joined Hudiemon's secret faction of the Resistance."

Keisuke smiled. "I gotta say it's reassuring having more Royal Knights on our side."

"I look forward to working with you." The knight said. He looked at Takuto and the others. "And you must be the Chosen Ones who saved our world." He then noticed Kouta's partner. "Wait…Gallantmon? What are you doing here? I thought you were with another Resistance team."

The knight shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not the Gallantmon you know."

"What?"

"I'll explain later." Justimon said. "First let's gather the others. Hudiemon has an announcement to make."

"As you wish."

As UlforceVeedramon and Justimon left Hudiemon looked to Keisuke. "By the way Keisuke, I have something I'd like to give you."

Keisuke turned around to face her. "Really? What is it?"

"I was planning on giving it to you when you got here. And since Takuto and his friends are Digimon Tamers, I might as well share it with all of you."

Ami laid down on her bed exhausted. Shiki did the same but was more annoyed then tired. After an hour of running Vademon preformed other "experiments" on them. Such as changing the temperature of the room to see if they felt heat or cold. Then he strapped their feet to circle panels on the floor that spun them around to see if they felt dizzy.

"Are you okay Ami?" Shiki asked.

"Yeah, just tired." the sleuth mumbled. "I hope Takumi and the others find us soon, I don't know how much of this I can take."

Shiki sighed. "You and me both." Just then they heard the warp pad activate. "Oh wonderful, what's he want now?"

Ami groaned and sat up. "Come on, can't I get a bit of rest first?"

But it was not Vademon who came out. Rather a Datamon. Following him was a Agumon with a square academic cap and a white coat with a badge. Behind them a Terriermon with a white coat trotted behind. "Greetings." The Datamon said.

"Huh? Where's that Vademon?" Ami asked.

"He's off reporting his "findings" as he calls it." the Agumon replied.

"Agumon?"

"Correction. Agumon Expert. I am a researcher from a special academy. Please to make your acquaintance. And this is my hard-working assistant. Terriemron Assistant."

"H-hello." the Terriemron nervously stood behind him.

"And I'm Datamon. Everyone calls me Doctor Datamon." the Datamon said. "The three of us have been asked to help out with this facility. Though to be quite honest, we haven't had as much of a chance to contribute as we'd like. That insufferable Vademon hasn't given us the chance to do anything. We've been wanting to visit you humans sooner, but he insisted on taking all of your time for himself."

"So, what are you three going to do to us?" Ami asked. "Throw us in water to see if we can drown? Maybe cut us open to see if we bleed?"

"Goodness no! What made you even- Agumon Expert then noticed the collars on their necks. "Wait, what are those on your necks?"

"These stupid shock collars?" Shiki asked. "A little gift from your boss."

"You mean he shocked you two?!" Terriermon Assistant asked. "That's horrible!"

"Believe it or not, that wasn't the worst thing he did either."

"That Vademon truly is a horrid being." Datamon sighed. "I don't know why the Next Order relies on him! Well, I promise you two we won't do anything so horrid."

Agumon Expert nodded. "Likewise. We do wish to learn about humans, but we won't use such forceful methods." The Agumon held up a checklist. "We will simply ask you two some simple questions."

Ami raised an eyebrow. "That's all your going to do?"

"That's all we're going to do." Datamon replied. "After all, it's a much faster means of collecting info on humans."

"Y-you don't mind questions, right?" Terriemron Assistant asked.

"Not…really. I mean it depends, kinda."

"Well, if we ask something you are uncomfortable with, please speak up and we can skip over it." Agumon Expert said. "Now to start, I am told you both come from different parallel worlds. May I ask for your names?"

"…Ami."

"Shiki."

"I see. Er, how do you spell that?"

"A-M-I."

"S-H-I-K-I."

Agumon Expert started writing them down. "Mm-hm. And can I ask for your age?"

"I'm 17." Ami said.

"Same." Shiki nodded.

"I see. That's 17 human years, yes?"

"Right." Ami nodded. She watched the three Digimom. She knew of Doctor Datamon, but it seemed like he didn't remember her. Agumon Expert seemed to be good natured and curious. And Terriermon Assistant…something was familiar about him.

"Next question…"

In the center of the base, everyone in Hudie's Dream gathered. Hudiemon stood before them. "Thank you everyone. I have gathered you all here to make some announcements. To start with as some of you may already know…" She signaled Keisuke to approach. "My friend Keisuke has come from the human world to help us fight against the Next Order."

To Keisuke's surprise most of the crowd was cheering. PileVolcamon chucked. "How's it feel to get the hero's welcome?" he whispered. "Now do you believe Takumi and the others?"

Keisuke scratched his cheek. "Maybe a little."

"And there's more." Hudiemon signaled for Takuto and his friends to step over. "Everyone, this is Takuto, Kouta, Himari, and Luche. They also come form another world that was attacked by the Next Order. During said attack Takuto's sister Shiki was captured. As we have a common enemy, they have agreed to join forces with us."

The Digimon broke into murmurs. "Wow. We sure got their attention." Himari said. "It's kinda embarrassing really…"

"I guess it shows how much faith they put in us." Kouta replied.

"Even though we're strangers?" Takuto asked. "Nah. If anything I think they all have faith in Hudiemon."

"That sounds about right." Yukimura nodded. "She's a talented leader, that one."

Hudiemon clapped to get everyone's attention. "Now then. I would like to discuss our objective. I know we have been making small missions against the Next Order. But it's time we did some real damage to them. And we start today. We shall begin making steps to chase the Next Order out of this city. Our first step is to disable security. So, to that end, I will assign multiple teams to attack the city in multiple sectors. Once the enemy begins to retaliate, Keisuke and his fellow humans will sneak into the center building and attack the lab. The enemy will think the attacks are a diversion for them to stop their project within, but in fact they too will be a decoy for Justimon who will make his way to the computer room and upload a special program. As soon as he fulfils that mission everyone is to fall back."

A Lillymon raised her hand. "How many teams will be attacking as a diversion?"

"Five. And they won't be very large. Not everyone is going to take part of this mission. Some of you will stay behind with me and Luche and help make other preparations for when it is time to take the city. Shakkoumon and UlforceVeedramon will assign all those taking part shortly. But I want all of you to prepare for battle in the meantime. Hudie will no longer be acting in the dark, meaning we will have to be prepared for the possibility of being attacked. Today marks a new chapter for Hudie."

Ami and Shiki had spent the next few minutes answering Doctor Datamon, Agumon Expert, and Terriermon Assistant's questions. But soon they found themselves having whole conversations.

"This EDEN sounds fascinating." Datamon said.

"It really is." Ami replied. "It allows people to stay connected no matter how far apart they are."

"Wow…" The Terriermon looked in awe.

"I wounder if I could go to a place like that someday." Agumon Expert said. "The experience would be phenomenal. And it would be a much better means to learn about humans. I was against the idea of kidnapping them to learn more…"

Ami looked up. "A friend of mine…the daughter of the owner who runs EDEN once told me…she wanted to make EDEN a place where humans can connect with humans, Digimon can connect with Digimon and humans can connect with Digimon."

"Really?" Terriermon Assistant asked. "Do you think something like that would happen one day?"

Ami smiled. "I really hope so."

Agumon Expert laughed. "You sound intrigued with the idea Terriermon. And to think you were the most afraid to come meet these two!"

"You were afraid?" Shiki asked. "Of us?"

Terriermon looked down. "Well, it's just…Everyone in the Next Order is always talking about how dangerous humans are. They say once upon a time Digimon fell into the human world. And some were used like slaves so humans can do bad things."

"Well…I can't deny that." Ami said. "There are plenty of bad people in our world. But no all of us are like that."

"I guess. I mean you two…you both don't seem bad. You're actually really nice. In fact, you're nicer then most Digimon I've ever met."

"Aww!" Shiki smiled. "I'm happy you think so."

"Yeah. Vademon said you two were super feisty and scary, but he was dead wrong."

"Pfft. That's because Vademon ticked us off." Ami replied.

"At this point who hasn't he ticked off?" Datamon asked rolling his eyes. "Oh! Look at the time! We should go."

"Okay." Agumon Expert nodded. "Ami, Shiki, thank you both for your time. I do hope we can do this again."

The three turned around to leave. "…Um!" They all stopped and looked at Ami.

"Is something wrong?" Doctor Datamon asked.

"I was wondering…if you could do something for me…"

"If it's about letting you two go, I would like to give you two the mercy of freedom. But we can only promise to talk to Vademon. Though I don't see him relinquishing you any time soon."

"Yeah, I figured." Ami said. "But from what Vademon said, my partners are also here. Can you find out what's happening to them?"

"Can you look for mine too?" Shiki asked.

"Oh, well that shouldn't be too hard." Agumon Expert replied. "What do these partners look like?"

"Mine are a Ophanimon, a Kazuhamon and a Rosemon." Ami said.

Shiki looked at her. "Huh. I have a Rosemon too, fancy that. My other partner is a Phoenixmon."

"Two Rosemon, a Ophanimon, a Kazuhamon and a Pheonixmon." Agumon Expert noted. "I see. We'll look into this."

"We can trust you on this, right?" Ami asked.

Terriermon Assistant walked over. "You we nice to us, so we'll be nice to you! I'd make a pinkie promise on it, but…uh…my hands are kinda small. Also, yours are kinda trapped in those restraints."

Shiki chuckled nervously looking at the metal cups over her hands. "Right…well, I guess we'll have to just take your word for it."

"Thanks!" Terriermon smiled. "Welp, gotta go! See you later!" He and Agumon Expert and Datamon left. As they exited through the warped Terriemron thought of something. "Uh oh. Won't the Next Order be mad if they find out we're helping them?"

"I figured Vademon would object to what we were doing so I disabled the audio for the hidden camera in their room." Datamon said. "Don't worry, he won't know anything of what we discussed. Now, how are we going to convince him to tell us about their partners…"

Back in their cell Ami laid back down on her bed. "A pinkie promise…that Terriemron…is he…?"

More characters to introduce. Some of which I'm sure some Cyber Sleuth fans recognize. Not much action this chapter, but next week see if Takumi, Arata and Shoma can rescue the Digimon of Rebel's Heart while Hudie makes their first move.