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.

17. Chapter 17: FortuneTeller Village

DarkFoxKit: Hello everyone! We have another new chapter for ya. It's the month of November, and that means Thanksgiving is on its way! … That is if you celebrate it.

ZAFT: And then it hits December, which means 2025 is just a couple of months away! O.O Time sure flies… '

DarkFoxKit: We try not to think about it too much. ' But hey, there are many things to look forward to in the new year.

ZAFT: Yep! I especially can't wait to start season 2 when we get to it! XD

DarkFoxKit: For now, let's get into the chapter!

---

Chapter 17: FortuneTeller Village

It was in the middle of the night. Grumblemon was scowling to himself. He had been so close, all of those inexperienced children were right there, their Spirits had been all but served up to him on a silver platter. But then that annoying Labramon distracted him, allowing one of the children to gain their Beast Spirit.

"Them stupid children think they can defeat me? Me more experienced! They get lucky with help from Digimon helpers, that all!" Grumblemon exclaimed angrily before smirking. "But me at least get one Spirit from them. And if can get one, me can get others too!"

"You know, you're very loud when you throw a tantrum, I can hear you breaking rocks from all the way at the hideout."

Grumblemon turned around, seeing BlackGatomon walking toward him.

"Me thought you were sick!" Grumblemon grumbled.

"I got better," BlackGatomon replied. "Duskmon shared some of his fractal code with me, and used a strange device to purify my fractal code from the slimy green stuff that entity was making to make the Gotsumon sick."

"Hmph. Duskmon oddly attached to you, but if it make him more effective, me can't complain," Grumblemon huffed. "But what you doing here? Hideout is far from here."

"Duskmon and I were sent out on another recon mission after I had gotten better," BlackGatomon answered. "Duskmon decided to go ahead since he can move around faster. I decided to take it easy for a bit, and heard your little temper tantrum. Sounds like the kids kicked your butt again."

"No butt kicking from kids! Just minor setback!" Grumblemon snapped. "Me still stole one Spirit from them. That better than what others have!"

"Oh? You managed to steal a Spirit from one of them?" BlackGatomon asked. "I'm surprised you didn't use it."

"Can't use Spirit willy nilly. Spirit rebel against me if me try to use its power," Grumblemon replied.

"Then why bother taking it? So you could show it off to our dear Lord Cherubimon?" BlackGatomon questioned.

"It be useful to use as bait too to lure in other kids to steal their Spirits." Grumblemon snickered. "Lord Cherubimon be pleased when me bring all Spirits to him."

"Getting quite greedy, are you?" BlackGatomon remarked. "You could gain Lord Cherubimon's favor by just taking that Spirit to him, but instead, you're choosing to wait until you get all of them? Or at least the ones the children have?"

"The ones the children have." Grumblemon grumbled. "Me not that stupid…"

"Oh? You didn't clarify it was the Spirits the children have you were after." BlackGatomon chuckled. "Then again, you didn't think before you spoke."

"Enough! Did you come here just to annoy me?" Grumblemon growled.

"Now, now, Grumblemon, I'm just here to offer you an outsider's perspective," BlackGatomon slyly replied. "You don't have to take what I said to heart, you know. But it sounds like one of the children may have their Beast Spirit?"

Grumblemon grumbled again. "Beast Spirit prevent me from stealing rest of Spirits from children. It much stronger than expected."

BlackGatomon frowned a little, seeming a little troubled about something. "But it's just one of them, right?"

"Yes. Child with Light Spirit found Beast Spirit." Grumblemon replied. "Why you ask?"

BlackGatomon scratched under her chin a little. "So it's finally begun…"

"What?" Grumblemon frowned. "You make no sense!"

"Hmm… well, if just one of them has a Beast Spirit, you may still have the upper hand. After all, Beast Spirits are quite difficult to control if I understand this right," BlackGatomon pointed out. "The kids may have some trouble trying to control such strong instincts. If you're able to keep the one who can turn into a beast unable to do anything, then you've pretty much won."

Grumblemon grinned. "You say me disable child with Beast Spirit somehow? That very sneaky and oddly fitting for one like you to suggest."

"But of course, despite enjoying giving you and Ranamon a hard time, I am still on your side." BlackGatmon grinned back. "You may want to bring some help though, I doubt the kids are going to make it easy for you, especially since you now have one of their friends' Spirits."

"Hmmm…" Grumblemon looked down. "Not bad idea. But who would help? Duskmon busy with mission, Mercurymon off doing who knows what, Arbormon eating burgers, and Ranamon off with Mercurymon."

"I would offer, but I'm supposed to stay with Duskmon," BlackGatomon remarked. "But you are the Legendary Warrior of Earth, correct? Couldn't you make something from the earth to assist you?"

Grumblemon grinned sinisterly as an idea crossed his mind. "Me think me have perfect idea~"

Grumblemon took something out from his armor, it was a small vial that had some kind of pink powder inside it. Grumblemon took the cork out of the vial and began dumping the powder onto the ground. The powder glittered as it spread on the rocky ground.

"By the power of dark spirit, who live beneath ground, me command big enemy sealed away to be released. My sword you be, my shield you be, me command you!" Grumblemon chanted as the powder began to glow, forming three circles within one another before light began to erupt from the ground. A metal mask floated up from the innermost circle as rocks began to float up as well, becoming the hard body of the creature forming.

Rocks lifted up and were pulled toward the creature. The creature's arms easily shattered the rocks as the rest of it finished forming. BlackGatomon looked up at the creature, and Grumblemon grinned.

"Good morning, Golemon, how was nap?" Grumblemon grinned.

"Master…" The creature that Grumblemon called 'Golemon' replied back.

Grumblemon looked back at BlackGatomon. "Let Duskmon know that those Spirits are mine!"

"Heh… well, if you believe you and this big rocky fellow are enough, then have at it," BlackGatomon replied.

Grumblemon hopped onto Golemon's head. "We track down those kids and steal their Spirit!"

Golemon roared before hopping off in the direction of Grumblemon's desires. Then they sank into the earth, disappearing completely.

BlackGatomon sighed, shaking her head before she looked up at the sky above. "The countdown has begun… And soon I won't be with Duskmon anymore… Have I done enough? I guess… we'll soon find out… But until then, good luck, everyone, you've got your work cut out for you."

---

The next morning, Takuya's group woke up after a nice, restful sleep in the forest. They had made some good progress after staying with the Gotsumon for a time, but they were still in a forest, and it felt like they hadn't gotten much closer to where they needed to be. Tommy was still missing his Spirit, so that didn't do much to help the group's morale. They were all taking a break right now.

"For once, I wish something would happen… it's been a bit too peaceful and quiet lately…" Takuya grumbled.

"You're probably just saying that because you want Grumblemon to show up," Koji noted.

"I can't say that I blame him. Until we can fight with Grumblemon again, we can't get Tommy's Spirit back," Patamon grimly said.

"I really messed up…" Lopmon frowned, remembering how it was his fault that Tommy lost his Spirit.

"It's not your fault, Lopmon, you were just trying to protect us," Tommy sighed. "If anything, it was my fault for being too weak… Zoe almost lost her Spirit because of me. If you hadn't interfered when you did, she would've lost her Spirit."

"It's no one's fault." Patamon retorted. "We all messed up in some way, but we can't dwell on it, or we won't move past it."

"So what should we do then?" Zoe asked.

"We could just wait until that gnome shows up, then we can get Tommy's Spirit back," JP spoke up. "Nobody takes a Spirit away from one of us and gets away with it!"

"I don't think it's wise to go in guns blazing against Grumblemon," Kokuwmon pointed out. "We got lucky when Koji got his Beast Spirit, but I doubt Grumblemon is going to get taken by surprise again."

"And the rest of you don't have Beast Spirits, so Grumblemon could still tear the rest of us to shreds if he wanted to," Biyomon added worriedly.

"We need to be smart about how we approach Grumblemon." Koji agreed. "I may have my Beast Spirit, but I don't know what I can do with it yet, and I have only just gained control over it."

"It would be too soon for you to fight Gigasmon head-to-head anyway…" Labramon remarked. "He has more experience after all."

"It seems we're at an impasse," Lopmon remarked. "At least when it comes to Grumblemon."

"There must be something we can do…" Tommy frowned.

Takuya gave it some thought. While he would like to punch Grumblemon in the face and get Tommy's Spirit back, he also had to think logically. It wouldn't do anyone any good if they tried to rush in after Grumblemon, especially with their lack of experience. Koji was the only one who had a chance to stand on equal footing against Gigasmon, and even then it was risky due to Koji's lack of experience as a beast. They could look for their other Beast Spirits as well, but they wouldn't know how to find them either, they could just be walking around the Digital World aimlessly trying to find them.

"It might be best to just continue on to the Forest Terminal," Takuya finally said.

"True, but we can't just leave Tommy's Spirit with Grumblemon." JP pointed out.

"Look, I know that, but we can't just walk around looking for Grumblemon, and even if we were to look for our Beast Spirits, we have no idea where they are." Takuya explained. "If we go to the Forest Terminal, we may get more of an idea of what to do next."

"But…" JP frowned.

"It's alright, JP…" Tommy sighed as he looked at his D-Tector.

It was strange, before Tommy found his Spirit, his D-Tector always had a blank screen. He had been unsure about using Kumamon when he found it. But now… now that he was back to the blank screen, he felt… empty. Like a part of him was missing.

"No, it's really not okay," JP said softly. "The Spirit of Ice was yours, you were destined to find it. Grumblemon had no right to take that away from you."

Lopmon looked up at JP before standing up. "JP is right, Tommy. The Spirit of Ice belongs to you and you alone."

"But don't we have more important things to do right now? We all agreed that we can't fight Grumblemon as we are now,"Tommy pointed out.

"Going to the Forest Terminal does seem to be the most logical thing to do. We might find Grumblemon on the way there anyways," Zoe pointed out.

"Come on, Zoe, it's not fair to Tommy if we just ignored this." JP frowned.

"But what else can we do?" Zoe asked.

"We don't have to do anything," Lopmon spoke up. "We have choices, we have options. We can continue our way to the Forest Terminal, we can look for Grumblemon, we can look for your Beast Spirits, or we can ask for help."

"I think we may need to ask for help." Zoe said at last. "I mean, we can't just fight Grumblemon the way we are now."

"I hate to admit it, but Zoe has a point." Koji agreed. "We can't risk our other Spirits by being reckless and going after Grumblemon. The Forest Terminal sounds like our best bet."

"That's not what I meant," Lopmon said. "The Forest Terminal is one option to get help, but going there means we risk running into Grumblemon again."

"So what did you mean?" Takuya asked.

"I believe we're near a town that might have someone who can help us," Lopmon said.

"A town?" Labramon questioned. "What town?"

"Wait… you don't mean…" Patamon said, realizing what kind of town Lopmon was referring to. "Lopmon, you… you don't have to… you know…"

Lopmon sighed as he looked at Patamon. "You know it has to be done. Nothing will progress if we stay here, arguing what the best course of action would be."

Patamon looked troubled.

"What's wrong, Patamon?" Takuya asked.

Tommy noticed Patamon and Lopmon both looked troubled.

"If something goes wrong, we could end up losing both…" Patamon hesitantly said.

"I know…" Lopmon sighed.

"Is this…?" Biyomon frowned.

"Yeah, I believe it is…" Kokuwamon grimly confirmed.

Patamon didn't want to go to the town in question, but it was necessary. "We have no choice… We just have to hope for the best in this case."

"What are you guys talking about? You look like you're about to march to your death or something." Koji frowned.

"Is there something you don't want to tell us?" Tommy asked.

Lopmon put his little claws together as he took a moment to take a deep breath. "There may be a solution to our problem. There's a place called FortuneTeller Town. It's a place where Digimon go when they're not sure what to do."

"Wait… Fortune telling? That's your big solution?" JP questioned in disbelief.

"Believe it or not, some Digimon are capable of seeing into the future," Patamon pointed out. "There's a Digimon called Shamamon that lives in FortuneTeller Town. He's one of the wisest Digimon in the area, and he's capable of giving accurate predictions."

"So you think this Shamamon can help us?" Zoe questioned.

"That sounds like a shot in the dark if you ask me." Koji grumbled.

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Takuya retorted.

"And have we steered you wrong yet?" Kokuwamon asked.

"Labramon was able to help you get your Beast Spirit, even risked herself to help you gain control over it," Biyomon reminded Koji.

Labramon blushed. "Y-you don't have to bring that up again…"

Koji looked at Labramon. She had been with him since he arrived in this crazy world, and she had helped him every step of the way. He had no reason to doubt these Digimon who had been helping them, despite not being strong themselves.

"Okay, we'll give this fortune thing a try." Koji sighed. "But only because you guys haven't steered us wrong yet."

"I think Koji is just too scared to admit that he does believe in you guys~" Takuya grinned mischievously.

"Nobody asked you!" Koji snapped.

Labramon gave a small smile, though it was also a sad smile, knowing they couldn't stay forever to see this through.

"Okay, then follow us, we shouldn't be too far from the town," Patamon spoke up. "Just don't let the other Digimon trying to make a quick buck by pretending to be fortune tellers sway you. We're only there to see Shamamon."

The kids nodded in agreement.

"This should be kinda fun." Zoe giggled. "I've never had my fortune told before."

"If it works," JP grumbled. "But I guess we've seen weirder things Digimon can do."

Tommy looked at Lopmon and Patamon, they both still looked troubled by something, and almost resigned. But despite that, they refused to say what was bothering them. Maybe he should keep an eye on them for the time being.

---

Lopmon and the other Digimon were leading Takuya and the other children through the forest, coming up to a lively looking town. When they reached the town, the children all stopped to look around. It almost looked like they were at some kind of festival with all the Digimon acting as sale vendors, selling different kinds of stuff to small and young looking Digimon.

"Wow… look at this place." Takuya whistled. "I've never seen so many different Digimon in one place."

"Yeah, but I hope we can find this Shamamon amongst all these Digimon." Koji grumbled.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Koji." Zoe groaned. "Lopmon and the others will help us find Shamamon."

"But would it hurt to look around while we're here?" JP asked. "There could be some place we could get some food, I mean we can't keep going on an empty stomach!"

"Why is food all you ever think about?" Koji grumbled.

"Actually he makes a good point, food is what helps give you energy to Spirit Evolve and fight," Kokuwamon pointed out.

"We did bring some non-perishable foods with us, but how much do we have left at this point?" Biyomon asked.

"Well, maybe we could find something to eat while we are here." Zoe suggested. "At least, we should be able to, what with this being some kind of festival and all."

"Yeah, but Shamamon also needs to be a priority." Koji pointed out.

"Maybe we should eat, then look for Shamamon. This place isn't going anywhere." Tommy suggested.

"Come on, Koji, no need to be a stiff," Labramon said. "I think it'd be nice to not always be in such a rush to get where we need to go." After all, that means we'll be leaving you guys that much sooner.

"You hear that, Koji? Even your companion is telling you to relax." Takuya grinned.

Koji huffed. "Okay, fine. We'll look around." He conceded. "But we need to find Shamamon soon, otherwise we may not be able to find a way to defeat Grumblemon."

"Well, I still say that having your fortune told is just a bunch of baloney," JP grumbled. "I don't believe in that mumbo jumbo stuff."

"Careful, if you say something like that, you're going to attract some unwanted attention," Lopmon warned.

As if on cue, a strange alien, tentacle looking Digimon with an exposed brain came up to JP. "Oh, I can tell you your fortune, and it's certain to come true, big boy~ For example, there's a girl in your life who thinks you're quite special."

JP blushed as he gave a quick glance at Zoe. "I'm… special…?" He murmured, imagining himself and Zoe running through a field of flowers.

"Oh yes, you two were just meant for each other~" The Digimon said with a grin.

JP was now imagining him and Zoe getting married, with the whole gang with them to witness the big event.

"JP, he said a girl, not Zoe," Kokuwamon pointed out, shattering JP's daydream.

JP pouted. "Aw man… Why did you have to ruin the good mood?!" He whined.

"Hey, JP! Hurry up!" Takuya called.

"We're leaving now! We don't want to leave you behind." Zoe added, forcing JP and Kokuwamon to catch up with the rest of the group; the others had started to continue on while JP had been daydreaming.

They ran into some drunk looking Gekomon, which Patamon and Lopmon told the group to ignore. Then they saw a masked monkey Digimon.

"Come one, come all, for I can tell you your future with the carry-wood-method!" The masked monkey announced.

"What exactly is this carry-wood-method?" Zoe asked.

"I give you these heavy wooden sticks, and you carry them," The masked monkey explained as he swung the wooden sticks. "One at a time."

"And… what exactly would that do to tell you our future?" Zoe asked.

"That in the future, you will be stronger," The masked monkey stated. "The more wood you carry, the stronger you get."

"Let's just keep going…" Koji grumbled. "A lot of this is not making any sense. Most of it sounds too fake to be real."

"How do we know that Shamamon is the real deal anyway?" JP asked. "I don't know if we will really have our fortunes told, based on what we've seen anyway."

"Trust us, Shamamon is definitely the real deal. I've had my fortune told by him before, and it came true," Lopmon explained.

"We've all had, and all of our fortunes came true," Patamon added.

"So there's no reason to doubt him now," Lopmon stated.

"I guess it's only fair if we see what Shamamon has to say first," Tommy said. "We don't have much to lose."

"Yeah, and I'm kinda curious about what Shamamon will say for us." Takuya agreed. "Patamon and the others haven't done us wrong so far."

Patamom gave a small smile.

"Okay, but these fortunes had better be good, or at least really come true." JP grumbled.

"He lives in that tall building up there," Lopmon pointed at a temple looking building.

"A temple?" Zoe asked. "Is Shamamon that big of a deal?"

"He's big enough that they built an entire town around his ability to tell fortunes," Biyomon replied.

"That's pretty impressive." Tommy whistled.

"Well, if the Digimon around here truly believe Shamamon has the power to tell fortunes, then, based on the size of this town, there must be a few that have come true at least." Takuya mused. "They would not have built the town in this area if that wasn't the case."

"Then let's go see if we can experience this for ourselves." Zoe grinned. "I've sometimes wondered what it's like to have my fortune told by a real fortune teller!"

"Just don't get your hopes too high," JP muttered.

"Don't be a spoilsport now, JP," Kokuwmon replied.

The kids and Digimon entered the large temple. Lopmon seemed to be slowing down to a stop when they were in a large looking room. He looked back at Tommy and Takuya for a moment. "I guess you guys might want to prepare yourselves."

Takuya and Tommy looked at one another before looking back at Lopmon in confusion.

"Um… Okay…?" Takuya said uncertainly.

"I guess…" Tommy muttered awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it so much." Zoe said. "It's not like Shamamon will hurt us." She then paused for a moment. "Um… right?"

"Calm down." Biyomon sighed. "Shamamon won't attack you guys. He's a peaceful Digimon who is glad to tell fortunes."

"Then why is Lopmon being all nervous about it?" Tommy asked.

"Sometimes the future can be a bit… difficult to accept," Patamon answered.

Lopmon took a deep breath and called out. "Shamamon! Are you there? We've come to seek your wisdom. We are in need of guidance of how to deal with a great enemy."

"Who dares to call upon Shamamon?" The Digimon in the back of the room called back.

"Weary travelers and those who seek to defeat a powerful enemy." Biyomon replied back.

"Oh you'll get guidance alright~" The Digimon replied before he turned around, showing his face to the children.

Takuya, Tommy, Zoe, JP, and Koji gasped at seeing the Digimon's face. He looked just like the Goburimon who had enslaved the Kokuwamon back at the wind factory.

"Are you sure this isn't a Goburimon?" JP asked, feeling tense now. "This guy looks just like them, only with a different skin tone!"

"No, this isn't a Goburimon, this is Shamamon," Lopmon quickly assured the group. "You see, Digimon have… look alikes, but even though they look similar, they are completely different Digimon. For example, Shamamon here is a spirit medium. Instead of using his club to bash things, he uses it to help him see into the future."

"If… you say so…" JP frowned, not sure if this was true.

"You should be very careful," Shamamon warned. "Up ahead, you face many dangers. Not just that, but heartbreaks that are inevitable as well."

"Heartbreaks?" JP asked, uneasy now.

"Um… What kind of dangers will we be facing?" Takuya asked Shamamon.

"You will come up against a foe you have faced before, but…" Shamamon took a moment to swing his club around and do a little hop. "This foe will have a friend, and by beating him… you will find a friend is your foe."

Tommy and Takuya looked at each other, neither of them were convinced by this strange mumbo jumbo this Digimon was spouting out.

"I don't buy it," Takuya grumbled.

"Yeah, just seems too… weird," Tommy agreed.

"Then listen, you two!" Shamamon spoke up, quickly getting their attention before he jumped in front of them and pointed his club at them. "The greatest test will be faced by you two! And let me be clear, this test could destroy you all if you're not careful."

"Um… Yeah, noted…" Takuya gulped. The greatest test will be faced by me and Tommy? That sounds ominous…

"I don't like the sound of that…" Tommy gulped as well.

"Isn't there anything we can do to not get destroyed?" Takuya asked.

"You must remember who you are, and trust in each other… and your friendship," Shamamon answered as he walked away.

"What does that even mean?" Takuya frowned.

"Yeah, that doesn't make any sense," Tommy pointed out.

"Of course it doesn't make sense, because it's in the future. All context to what he's saying won't make sense until it happens," Lopmon pointed out. "It's just something to keep in mind when it does happen."

"That fortune sounds quite ominous though." Zoe shivered. "Do you think it means we could end up in some kind of disaster we can't get out of unless we work together?"

"That's a possibility, though not all of Shamamon's fortunes he gives are so… dark." Biyomon said reassuringly.

"I guess that's… reassuring somewhat…" Tommy gulped. "But I don't think such a disaster would bode well for us…"

Patamon looked at Shamamon. "We thank you for your wisdom, Shamamon."

"But of course, I always help to those who seek guidance," Shamamon replied.

"But… that doesn't really tell us anything." JP frowned. "We still don't know what to do about Grumblemon, and if we should just keep going to the Forest Terminal or not."

"Did you remember what Shamamon said? 'You will come up against a foe you have faced before'. That likely means Grumblemon will be coming to us, so we don't need to go to him," Kokuwamon pointed out.

"Yeah…" Tommy frowned. "But it's the next part that worries me too, besides the 'destroy us all' part. 'This foe will have a friend'. So… does that mean he's bringing an ally to help him this time?"

"If that's the case, that's going to be bad. We were barely a match for him when he was alone." Zoe frowned as well.

"Fighting Grumblemon when he has an ally will definitely not be easy, but we need to remember, Koji has his Beast Spirit. If anyone can match Grumblemon, it's him. The rest of us can handle Grumblemon's ally." Takuya reminded the group.

"I barely held my own against Grumblemon last time though, and that was with my Beast Spirit." Koji retorted with a huff.

"To be fair, you didn't have a lot of control over your Beast Spirit at the time," Labramon pointed out. "You might be able to match him this time."

"How are you so sure I've gained control over my Beast Spirit already?" Koji asked.

"Because you were able to control it before, you can do it again," Labramon encouraged.

"Great… so what do we do in the meantime? Any ideas, Patamon?" Takuya asked.

Takuya looked at Patamon, but he noticed how quiet Patamon had been.

Takuya blinked, and poked Patamon. "Hey, you okay, Patamon? You've been awfully quiet lately since we got here."

Patamon looked at Takuya with a small frown. Takuya frowned as well, if he hadn't been sure before, he was definitely convinced now. Patamon looked really troubled and worried about something. Patamon would sometimes make a witty comment, or be annoyed with Takuya if he poked him like he did now. But Patamon just said nothing and only looked at Takuya like he was about to vanish before his eyes.

"Um… Why are you staring at me like that, Patamon?" Takuya asked nervously. "It's starting to creep me out."

"Sorry…" Patamon sighed. "I guess I was just… deep in thought about something."

Lopmon looked at Patamon for a moment before he looked back at the others. "Maybe we should go. We don't know when Grumblemon will come, but we might as well take this time to rest."

"Good idea." Zoe agreed. "It would be a good way to distract ourselves from what's to come for a while."

"Maybe there's a place we can eat too," JP said. "I'm getting pretty hungry."

"Me too, I'd like an actual meal instead of foraging for food," Kokwuamon agreed.

"We don't have money…" Biyomon pointed out.

"Don't shatter my dreams, please," JP whined.

"We really should think of how to make money while we're here," Labramon said. "I used to work at a part time job so I would be able to have some spending money when my parents wouldn't give me more allowance for the things I wanted."

"How would we get some money though? We're human right now." Koji pointed out.

"You guys can Spirit Evolve, duh!" Biyomon retorted. "You don't have to do any jobs just as humans you know…"

"Even so, I don't think the Digimon are going to be picky about who they hire," Kokuwamon said. "As long as you are capable of working, that's all they care about."

"So… you're saying we have to work a part time job?" JP frowned.

"If you want to eat, you gotta have the cold hard cash," Kokuwamon pointed out. "That's how it works in your and our world."

JP grumbled, but his empty stomach growled, making up his mind for him. "Ugh… Fine… But only because my stomach won't stop growling."

"Is it really alright to stay here for too long?" Koji asked.

"The Forest Terminal isn't going to go anywhere. And you're not going to be able to save anyone if you're always too hungry to fight," Labramon pointed out. "Besides… there's no reason we can't stop for a moment to smell the roses… Cherubimon may be a menace, but he doesn't seem to be in any hurry destroying the Digital World."

"Besides, for all we know, staying for a little while might be when we'll see Grumblemon again," Lopmon added. "And having some money will be useful in the future."

"Yeah, and we wouldn't have to struggle to get food to recover our strength either." Tommy added. "I think it will be a big benefit to have money here instead of relying on help from others all the time."

Koji let out a sigh. "Alright, fine, let's go find a part time job or whatever."

Zoe smiled. "Wow, Koji, finally deciding to slow down for a bit, huh? Never thought I'd see the day."

Koji grumbled. "I'm only doing this because we need to get money so we can eat."

"It will also help us get to know the Digimon here better too." Patamon pointed out.

"Great, but how are we going to find out who's hiring some random children that just wandered into town?" JP asked.

The 5 Digimon all looked at each other.

---

"Come and get your fortune!" JP called out while ringing a bell at a stand. "Get your fortune! If you're lucky, you may win a prize!"

"I can't believe we've been reduced to a monkey's employee…" Koji grumbled.

The monkey with a mask was smiling. "You guys are not bad! It's good to have helpers to bring in customers!"

"Thanks for hiring us, Sepikmon," Lopmon said.

"No problem, I've been needing some helpers anyway. It's not fun trying to work alone," The monkey, Sepikmon, replied.

"This had better be worth it." Takuya grumbled as well, feeling silly holding the boomerang.

"Speak for yourself, I've been hit in the head 3 times now trying to use this thing…" Koji grumbled.

"At least your prediction is always accurate, about the 'item you toss away will always come back to you'," Takuya snickered.

"Haha, very funny." Koji huffed. "At least the little kid has the easiest job… All he has to do is stand there and look cute."

"I don't think Tommy appreciates it too much," Takuya sweatdropped.

Tommy was standing outside of the shop while holding Lopmon. "... Why are we here again?"

"To have our cuteness amplified to bring customers in," Lopmon replied.

"I wish I had something else to do…" Tommy grumbled.

"Me too…" Lopmon grumbled as well.

"Wish I had my cellphone… I could watch a movie or something…" Tommy sighed.

"Didn't you technically bring it to the Digital World?" Lopmon asked.

"Yeah, but it's now my D-Tector." Tommy grumbled. "I don't know if I can use it to watch videos now."

"Well, you may as well try it." Lopmon shrugged. "No time like the present to see if your D-Tector works to show videos."

"... I guess," Tommy said, it never crossed his mind to try to watch videos from the mysterious device that allowed him to Spirit Evolve into a Legendary Warrior.

Tommy was about to take his D-Tector out with one of his hands when he stopped. Since they were just standing there, this was probably as good an opportunity as he was going to get to just talk to Lopmon. The others were busy with their job, so it was mainly just the two of them.

"Hey, Lopmon?" Tommy said.

"Yeah?" Lopmon replied.

"Why did you decide to take us here of all places?" Tommy asked. "Did you really believe in Shamamon's fortune telling abilities that much?"

"I had no reason not to," Lopmon answered.

"But… you seemed… like you knew something, even before we talked to Shamamon. You and Patamon… have been acting more distant since you took us here," Tommy noted. "Especially Patamon. What's going on?"

"That's…" Lopmon frowned. "That's not really… something I can tell you… I'm sorry."

Tommy pouted. "Awww… Keeping secrets is mean…"

Believe me, I really don't want to keep this from you. I thought we found a way we could work things out, until Tapirmon made it clear we were not to try that stunt again. Lopmon sighed.

"... But why are you keeping secrets? You guys have been trying hard to help us since we met back at that train station," Tommy pointed out. "Why won't you tell us?"

"It's not that I won't tell you, it's… I can't," Lopmon answered. "This subject we're on is already treading on thin ice. I have to watch what I say or… I could be in trouble."

Tommy blinked in confusion. "Is someone threatening you or something? Why didn't you tell us? We could help you guys out!"

"Don't," Lopmon said in a serious tone. "You can't help us. But we've already resigned to this fate when we decided to help you. Don't worry about us. You need to worry more about yourself and the others you're traveling with."

Tommy felt his eyes furrow in concern. "But… that's not fair… You shouldn't have to be dealing with that! It's not right that we can't help you! You've helped us so much, but we can't help you in return?!"

Lopmon hopped out of Tommy's arms, keeping his back to the child. "I… understand your frustrations, Tommy… believe me… I… we felt it too. It really isn't fair. But there isn't anything we can do about it. We've already tried…"

Lopmon slowly turned back to Tommy. "We've tried, Tommy… but… we were reminded that we can't. We can't… change it. That's… just how it is. If you try to help us, Tommy… we can no longer help you."

"So… it's more like… you're being allowed to help us…?" Tommy asked in confusion.

"Stop," Lopmon said. "Tommy… we've already been through this. If you keep going down this road, we'll end up back like how we did in the fore-"

Lopmon cut himself off, frowning, realizing he may have already said too much there. Tommy was a smart kid, just by saying that much was already dangerous.

"The… forest?" Tommy frowned. "Like… back at TV Forest? … There was a huge mess in that forest when we woke up… you guys looked tired… like there was a fight yet we somehow slept through it all. Was that…?"

Lopmon gritted his teeth and spoke out. "That's enough, Tommy! Stop… don't think about it anymore, please… Even if you did figure it out… it won't change anything."

Tommy frowned, the hurt on his face showing clearly. "But… We're friends, right? Don't friends help each other? I… We can't just ignore what you're going through though… Can we?"

Lopmon looked away, looking down.

"Lopmon… please, just tell me… what's going on with you guys?" Tommy asked softly.

Lopmon balled his hands into a fist. "I'm sorry… I can't…"

Flashbacks to when Kumamon attacked him… when the other Legendary Warriors attacked them ran through his mind. They came close to getting wiped out. They wouldn't be here right now if Lopmon hadn't figured out how to wake them up from their nightmares when he did. Tapirmon made sure to remind them who was truly in control.

"That's that, Tommy, no more questions about this," Lopmon stated firmly.

Tommy pouted, but it was clear Lopmon didn't want to talk about this anymore. "Alright, fine… I won't ask anymore." But Tommy clenched his fists at his sides. I just want to help you, Lopmon… You and the others… We just want to help you… What are you guys going through? Why can't you tell us?

Tommy could tell this was hurting Lopmon as well. Lopmon seemed pretty adamant about not telling Tommy anything, but whatever happened seemed to have stemmed from when they woke up back in TV Forest. Something big happened there, and only the 5 Digimon know about it.

"Sometimes you're too clever for your own good," Lopmon said softly.

---

Later that night, after a long day of working for Sepikmon, the kids were staying in his house for the night.

"I never had sleepovers with friends!" Sepikmon said. "But I have a lot of sleeping bags in case I have a slumber party like this! Good thing I was prepared, huh?"

"Yeah, it worked out for everyone I think." Takuya agreed with a grin. "Thanks for letting us stay here for the night."

"Sure, no problem!" Sepikmon smiled.

"At least he also got us dinner," JP said. "So I can't complain too much."

"And soon we'll be able to pay for our own meals," Kokuwamon chuckled.

"It was a pretty productive day, wasn't it?" Labramon smiled.

"Yeah, aside from getting whacked in the head with that boomerang…" Koji grumbled. "I'm surprised I didn't get knocked out from being hit so many times."

"You're not the only one…" Takuya groaned as he rubbed the back of his own head. "I think I have a lump from that last hit…"

"You'll get used to it," Sepikmon chuckled.

"I'd rather not," Takuya grumbled.

"Let's just get to sleep. We're out of here tomorrow morning anyways," Koji huffed.

"As blunt as ever I see," Biyomon remarked.

"I can't help but sometimes wonder if Koji's blunt attitude is a good thing or a bad thing…" Zoe sweatdropped.

"You get used to it." Labramon chuckled sheepishly.

Everyone started settling into their sleeping bags. Though Takuya noticed Tommy wasn't getting into his sleeping bag, and neither was Lopmon. Patamon was looking out the window, he didn't seem interested in sleeping either.

Takuya sighed, seeing how it was obvious something was bothering them. Maybe he should try talking to them. He got up from his sleeping bag and walked over to them. "Hey… how about we go out for a night stroll?"

"... Are you sure?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, I think it's a nice night tonight, it'd be a shame to not enjoy it before we sleep," Takuya replied.

"Okay," Tommy answered back.

"Patamon, Lopmon, do you two want to join us?" Takuya asked.

"No… you two go ahead," Lopmon replied.

"I'll stay here too," Patamon sighed.

Takuya blinked in surprise at the offer being turned down, but nodded. "Okay. Tommy and I won't be too long. Sleep well, you two."

Tommy and Takuya walked out of the house, and began walking into the town at night. It was a lot more quiet at night.

"Is everything between you and Lopmon alright, Tommy?" Takuya softly asked.

"I don't know…" The younger boy answered back.

Takuya blinked. "What? Why? Did something happen?"

"I… couldn't help but notice how… the 5 Digimon who've been helping us have been acting lately," Tommy answered. "Ever since we woke up at TV Forest… it looked like each of them had been carrying a big burden. Labramon pushed herself hard for Koji, but she also looked sad about something. Lopmon and Patamon seem to know what's about to happen, and were dreading it. They brought us here for guidance from Shamamon, but… they didn't seem surprised or confused by his words like the rest of us were. Sometimes… it looks like they know what's going to happen… and they're worried about it."

Tommy took a moment to take a breath. "I tried asking Lopmon about it… he wouldn't give me a straight answer, but… he kept telling me that he can't tell us anything. He let something slip, something that proved my suspicion that something did happen back in TV Forest, something we missed. But he won't say anything else… but I could tell… he was scared… I remembered feeling the way he did when I was at my school's playground, and I got scared of the bullies."

"So you think Lopmon and the other Digimon helping us are… being threatened?" Takuya asked, concerned now. "And they can't tell us what's going on? That's… worrisome to say the least. But why? Why can't they let us help them?"

"Lopmon said that if we try to help them, they can't help us anymore," Tommy answered. "And… he said something about how they tried, but he was being vague about it."

Takuya felt a concerned frown crossing his face. "It sounds like they are being allowed to help us under strict conditions then… But if we can't help them… then what? What can we do?"

"I don't know… that's the problem," Tommy replied with a sigh. "Lopmon won't let me try either. He keeps telling me to stop thinking about it, and to worry about ourselves. But… that only makes me worry more. What's going on with them? What happened back at TV Forest? Who's 'allowing' them to help us with such strict rules?"

"I think we need to keep this to ourselves." Takuya said at last after a few moments of thinking. "At least, Lopmon and the others can't know what we've been talking about. We need to figure out who is behind what Lopmon and the others are going through. We can't just let them suffer whatever fate is before them."

"Yeah…" Tommy agreed before he gave a small smile. "Thanks, Takuya… I think I needed someone to talk to about this."

"I'm always happy to help." Takuya smiled back.

"Yeah… I've been feeling helpless since I lost Kumamon," Tommy sighed. "I guess maybe that's why I was pushing Lopmon so much earlier. I wish there was something I could do… but without my Spirit, I think I'm just a burden to you guys…"

"No, you're not." Takuya said. "We'll get your Spirit back, and you're far from a burden to us. There's more that you can do besides fighting alongside us. Besides, remember how our Digimon friends had stuck with us despite being outclassed by the Digimon we were fighting? They kept on supporting us in their own way, and we were able to come out on top because of that. And you… you saved them from Grumblemon, you gave up Kumamon for that. You're a lot braver than you think, Tommy."

Tommy looked up at Takuya. "Well… if you think I can still be of help… I'll try my best."

Takuya grinned. "That's the way to look at it." He put a hand on Tommy's head. "You'll be helpful in some way, don't worry."

Tommy laughed a little, this reminded him of how he and his older brother used to be. Yutaka used to always play with Tommy, and comforted him when he was scared or upset. Though Yutaka seems to have changed lately… Tommy decided not to dwell on that.

---

Takuya and Tommy soon came back to the house. They saw Lopmon and Patamon were in their sleeping bags.

"Have a good night, Tommy," Takuya said quietly.

"You too, Takuya," Tommy replied just as quietly.

Takuya got into his sleeping bag… only for Patamon to wiggle around.

"Ah, so you're back," Patamon whispered. "You and Tommy were out for a while."

"Yeah… We went for a long walk." Takuya replied. "It was nice to get some fresh air for a bit."

"What did you two talk about?" Patamon asked.

"Just… some stuff," Takuya replied.

"Hmm…" Patamon let out a sigh. "... Lopmon… told me about the conversation he had with Tommy earlier today… I'm sure Tommy told you."

"... Maybe we talked about some stuff, and that could have come up." Takuya replied, trying to keep things vague.

Patamon looked at Takuya. "I'm not telling you that you have to tell me. After all, we have our own secrets too. But… I feel like I at least owe you some kind of explanation. I've been… trying to distance myself from you…"

Takuya blinked. "Huh?" He had not expected that comment. "B-But why? Why distance yourself from me?"

"Because…" Patamon began. "You… you know how Shamamon can see into the future? At least… if you believe he can?"

"Um… I can't say it's impossible, but it is kinda hard to believe if it is true." Takuya admitted. "I'm keeping an open mind to the possibility, but it's not easy to accept it's possible."

"Well… whether you accept it or not… that comes into my next answer," Patamon replied. "I may or may not have knowledge of the future, at least up to a certain extent. And that knowledge is… a blessing and a curse. The future isn't set in stone, so things can still change… but as of right now, the future I've been dreading is nearly upon us."

"And that's why you've been distancing from me? Because this event involves me?" Takuya asked.

"Yes," Patamon answered.

"How… could you have knowledge of the future? Are you… able to see into the future too?" Takuya questioned.

"That's… complicated," Patamon admitted. "But… I don't see into the future, I just… know of it."

"How?" Takuya frowned, not really getting it. "What's the difference?"

"Seeing into the future is like… getting a glimpse of events that have yet to come," Patamon tried to explain. "However, knowing the future… It's like a video game. You experience something that happened, and when you reset that game, you already have knowledge of what's going to happen next, because you've already experienced it."

"So… you know what is going to happen? Involving me? But how?" Takuya blinked, now starting to get it somewhat. "And… Why distance yourself from me based on that? Do I do something to hurt you or someone else?"

"I can't really tell you how I know… but as for why I was distancing myself…" Patamon sighed. "It's not really… because of what will happen… but what happens after that…"

"What?" Takuya frowned.

"Listen, Shamamon wasn't kidding when he said this 'test can destroy you if you're not careful'," Patamon spoke up. "You have to be careful… because losing yourself to great power will destroy you, and those around you… Try to keep that in mind."

Takuya looked down in thought. "Great power… What kind of power would that be?" However, a niggling feeling in Takuya's mind told him this power was familiar.

Then Takuya looked at Patamon. "You say you have knowledge of the future… is that why you've been acting off lately?"

"I guess you could say that," Patamon answered. "It's not easy… knowing the future… knowing what must be done for the best outcome… especially if it involves potential heartbreak…"

"Wow… I didn't think this conversation would get so heavy…" Takuya muttered, feeling a bit uncomfortable now.

"It's been a heavy burden on all of us," Patamon admitted. "Lopmon… tried to find a loophole around it… so that we may be able to share it with you guys. But… he paid dearly for it, we all did… that's why we… we can't really say much. But… I have faith… even though we can't tell you anything, that you guys will be alright. And… when the time comes, I know you'll be able to make it through this."

Takuya sighed. "I suppose I should just trust you on that, since you guys haven't led us astray so far. But… I can't stand the fact you can't tell us anything. It's just frustrating, you know?"

"Yeah… believe me, I know… we're not exactly happy about it either," Patamon agreed. "But… well… this is the best we can do."

Patamon gave Takuya a small smile. "I'm sorry about worrying you. I'll see you in the morning."

Takuya nodded with a small smile of his own. "Yeah… See you in the morning…"

---

The next morning, the group were sleeping when an earthquake began to wake them up. There was stuff falling, and breaking on the floor.

"W-what's going on!?" Zoe yelled.

"Is that an earthquake!?" JP shouted.

"Brace yourselves everyone!" Lopmon called out.

Everyone braced themselves, just as the shaking seemed to get even more intense. The shaking lasted for a few more minutes, but it felt like hours instead due to how intense the quakes were,

Finally, the earthquake settled down and even stopped. The kids and Digimon had been thrown around the room despite bracing themselves.

"Ow… Man… What a way to wake up in the morning…" Takuya grumbled from beneath the pile of Lopmon and Biyomon.

"What could have caused that?" Kokuwamon asked from where he was on top of Koji and Labramon.

"Something's wrong…" Labramon frowned. "I smell a strong scent of sulfur."

"Do you think that earthquake wasn't a natural occurrence then?" Koji asked.

"There's trouble brewing at Shamamon's temple!" Sepikmon shouted. "A huge Golemon popped out of the ground and is attacking the temple!"

Everyone gasped at that.

"We need to get to the temple!" Takuya exclaimed. "Shamamon could be in trouble!"

"Whoa, settle down there, cowboy." JP countered. "You just want to rush in there? We have no idea what could await us if we do that."

"But we can't just sit here and think either! We don't have time!" Takuya argued back.

Patamon began flying ahead.

"Patamon? Where are you going?" Takuya asked.

"To Shamamon's temple, we don't have time to argue about this," Patamon replied.

Tommy frowned, he was nervous about going to help because he was without his Spirit, but he wasn't going to just let everyone go on without him. "Come on, let's go!"

Lopmon ran ahead as well. "We can figure out what to do once we see the enemy!"

Takuya looked abc at the others. "C'mon! Shamamon will need our help!" He said before turning and running after Tommy, Patamon, and Lopmon.

Zoe, Koji, and the others all looked at one another before nodding and chasing after Takuya and the others ahead of them.

"Wait for us!" JP called out.

Everyone ran to Shamamon's temple. They saw that there was definitely something big trying to tear it down.

"There's that sulfur smell, it's almost unbearable!" Labramon groaned.

"Try not to breathe through your nose if you can help it, Labramon, we don't need you losing last night's dinner on us!" Biyomon quickly said.

"What is that thing!?" Takuya shouted.

"It looks like a Golemon!" Kokuwamon called out. "A Digimon made from the earth, mainly rocks and sulfur. It's pretty powerful, being a Champion level Digimon. But this one seems more powerful than an ordinary Golemon!"

"And bigger too!" Patamon added.

"Wait, look!" Tommy pointed out. "There's someone riding on top of that Golemon!"

"Can you make out who it is?" Lopmon asked.

"No, it's too far for me to see." Tommy replied.

"It's not a problem for me though!" Biyomon exclaimed as she caught sight of who it was on Golemon's head. "It looks like Grumblemon is on top of Golemon."

"Grumblemon!?" The children shouted.

"Remember what Shamamon said yesterday?" Patamon asked.

"An old foe with a new friend," Lopmon reminded.

"Yeah, I remember." Koji growled out. "I take it this is what he meant?"

"Most likely." Kokuwamon replied.

"Well, we can't let Grumblemon get the better of us again." Takuya stated angrily.

"Then stop standing around and start Spirit Evolving!" Patamon shouted.

"I'll stay with Tommy to keep him safe," Lopmon quickly said. "The rest of you focus on Grumblemon and Golemon!"

"Right!" The four kids who still had their Spirits exclaimed.

Takuya held up his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed a ring of fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his canine teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Zoe held up her D-Tector as the magenta outline of her Spirit appeared visible on the screen of her D-Tector. Fractal coding appeared on her left hand and she slammed the D-Tector against it as she brought the two together. Zoe then called out the familiar phrase she knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her body became data as her clothes ripped away. Coding surrounded her in a cocoon of sorts and the power of her first Spirit flowed into her. Her hair became longer, flowing past her waist and turning a purple color. Her body grew in height, increasing her strength and speed. A bikini-like outfit appeared on her body as gloves, and high boots formed on her arms and legs, with shoulder guards appearing as well as a visor that covered her eyes. Butterfly-like wings appeared on her back and she landed, letting out a cry as she unleashed a kick before she came to a stop and said her name. "Kazemon!"

JP held up his D-Tector as the green outline of his Spirit became visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he held it up. JP then held up his left hand as fractal coding formed around it, his D-Tector held in his other hand. Slamming the device against the ring of coding, he brought the two together. JP then called out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Coding encircled him as his clothes ripped away and his body became data, the power of the Spirit flowing into him. Blue and yellow armor formed on his body as he grew in height and strength. On his back, wings formed before they were covered by two halves of a hard shell and on his head, a horn grew. His eyes became green as a faceplate covered his mouth and he felt the power of thunder flowing into his body. He landed, slamming his fists together as he cried out his name. "Beetlemon!"

Koji held up his D-Tector and the white digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the energy of the Spirit entered his body. His eyes became red as his hair shortened and turned almost platinum in color. A white helmet covered his head as white and blue armor covered his body. He grasped the beam sabers and swung them a few times before clasping them around his waist and firing off his arm laser. "Lobomon!"

With all 4 children now Evolved, Lopmon looked at Tommy. "We better find Shamamon, he might need our help."

"Good idea. At least there's still something I can do…" Tommy said.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up too much," Lopmon said softly. "After all, the rest of us are unable to go into a stronger form, but we still find ways to help you guys."

"Yeah, we just need to fight smarter, not harder." Patamon agreed. "So for now, let's focus on Shamamon and helping him out. The others can handle Grumblemon and that two-bit rock Golemon."

"Come on, let's go! Hurry!" Biyomon yelled.

Tommy ran towards the temple with Lopmon, Patamon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Labramon.

"Alright, that's enough of that! Thunder Fist!" Beetlemon ran at Golemon, powered up his fist with electricity, and punched Golemon in the face to get him away from the temple.

"So you annoying brats finally show up!" Grumblemon noted. "Bout time me find you! You won't win so easily this time!"

"What, you're so weak to take us on your own that you had to bring a friend now?" Lobomon growled.

"Look who talking! You used Digimon to help you fight me before!" Grumblemon snapped. "But I use a Digimon born from my own power! He stronger than normal Golemon!"

"We can't be too careless." Agunimon cautioned. "We don't know the extent of this Golemon's power."

"I'll give it a test run then!" Beetlemon exclaimed as he opened his wings and flew at Grumblemon and Golemon. "Let's see if he likes a fist full of Thunder Fist!"

Just like before, Beetlemon coated his fist with electricity and charged at Golemon. This time, however, Golemon took the hit on purpose. Beetlemon noticed his Thunder Fist seemed to have done nothing to Golemon.

"Uh-oh…" Beetlemon quickly flew back.

"Hurricane Wave!" Kazemon created wind on her fingers and blasted them at Golemon.

Golemon side stepped the attack, dodging it. Then he opened his mouth. "Sulfur Plume!"

Super heated gas came out of Golemon's mouth. As soon as it engulfed Beetlemon and Kazemon, they fell back in pain. Some of the pillars behind them broke into pieces from the Sulfur Plume attack. Agunimon and Lobomon quickly stood in front of Beetlemon and Kazemon, trying to protect them from Golemon's attack.

"You're one annoying gnome, you know that?" Lobomon snapped at Grumblemon.

"Get behind me, Lobomon!" Agunimon instructed as Golemon prepared for another Sulfur Plume attack.

"You no win against me now!" Grumblemon snickered as Golemon roared out.

"Sulfur Plume!" The thick sulfuric smoke came at the group quickly.

Agunimon held his ground and crossed his arms in a defensive manner before fire flickered from his armor and formed into his shield. "Plasma Sphere!"

The sphere protected Agunimon and Lobomon from a direct hit by the Sulfur Plume, however, they could both still feel the heat, and the disgusting smell of sulfur.

When the attack ended, Agunimon dissipated the Plasma Sphere, and Lobomon jumped at the Golemon with his lightsabers.

"Lobo Kendo!" Lobomon slashed at Golemon with the lightsabers.

Golemon let out a growl as the lightsabers cut his rocky hide, but only a little bit. "Rock Punch!"

Golemon punched Lobomon away with his large, rocky fist.

"Gah!" Lobomon landed next to Beetlemon and Kazemon, his hand moving to feel where he had been punched in the chest; his armor had a good-sized dent in it, but it wasn't cracked or broken. "Ow… That smarts…"

"That's it!" Agunimon hissed as he coated both of his fists in fire. "Let's see if you like a hot foot! Pyro Punch!"

Agunimon punched as hard as he could, sending his fiery attack at Golemon and Grumblemon.

Golemon ran at Agunimon as well. "Rock Punch!"

The two fists hit each other. While Agunimon had armor, Golemon was made out of rocks. Agunimon's flames barely did anything as he was soon pushed back by Golemon's larger fist.

"You no match for my new friend~ Give up!" Grumblemon shouted.

Agunimon managed to land next to Lobomon. "I hate to say it… but without Kumamon here, and our Digimon partners backing us up, we may need the beast. Can you control it?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Lobomon replied as his red eyes glinted dangerously.

"Then do it," Agunimon said.

Lobomon nodded before he started running towards Golemon and Grumblemon. He was the only one who could be a match for Grumblemon and Golemon. He started to tap into his Beast Spirit, preparing to slide evolve.

"Been waiting for this moment!" Grumblemon grinned as he took out a vial, then he threw out some kind of red, glittering sand at Lobomon.

A red circle with some kind of pattern appeared right under Lobomon. Lobomon frowned before he suddenly found himself unable to move. It suddenly felt like gravity was 20 times higher, and he fell to the ground. Not only that, but it was doing something to weaken him. Fractal code surrounded Lobomon, turning him back into Koji.

"W-what? W-Why can't I move?" Koji wondered as he tried to stand up, but he just fell back down again. "And how did I revert back to human?!"

Agunimon saw what happened and felt his heart racing. "Koji! Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah… But I can't tap into my Spirits, nor can I move." Koji replied, a bit shaken but otherwise fine.

"Oh that's just great… our only Beast Spirit can't do anything," Beetlemon groaned as he and Kazemon finally recovered from the Sulfur Plume attack.

"We might still be able to fight back, just don't give up," Kazemon said.

Meanwhile, Tommy and the Digimon made it into the ruined temple. A lot of rubble were all over the place. The Digimon had to use some of their attacks to clear some of the way.

"Shamamon!" Tommy called out. "Where are you!?"

"Are you here!? Shout if you can hear us!" Biyomon called out as well.

"... We're not getting a response… do you think he's… even here?" Kokuwamon asked.

"It's too soon to give up." Labramon frowned. "But I'm worried about the others. Do you think we should go and help them?"

"What are we going to do? We're just going to get in the way at this point…" Lopmon frowned.

"We need to stay focused. Shamamon was being attacked, so we need to make sure he is alright first." Patamon said seriously. "If we can't find any sign of him, then we will go help the others."

"Do you think he might've left? I mean he can see the future, right? So he probably knew what was going to happen and left just before the attack," Tommy pointed out.

"That may be, but Shamamon needs to use his ability to see the future, he doesn't just see the future all the time," Lopmon answered.

They heard a lot of yelling, and felt shaking from the battle going on outside.

"Sulfer Plume!"

"Pyro Tornado!"

"Lightning Blitz!"

"Tempest Twist!"

There was some screaming as well, mostly coming from Agunimon, Kazemon, and Beetlemon rather than Golemon.

"It doesn't sound like the others are doing well…" Tommy frowned in concern.

"Maybe some of us should go help them…" Biyomon frowned as well. "I… don't know if we should leave them alone like this, especially when they're down a Legendary Warrior."

"Maybe… I don't think all of us need to be here to find Shamamon, right?" Kokuwamon asked.

"That's true." Patamon conceded. "But that still leaves the question of who will look for Shamamon, and who will go help the others."

The Digimon and Tommy looked at one another, trying to decide who would stay and who would go help in the battle.

"Biyomon, Patamon, and Kokuwamon, you guys go and help them," Lopmon spoke up.

"Huh? Why us?" Kokuwamon asked.

"You 3 can fly, that gives you an advantage, you can attack from the sky," Lopmon answered. "Labramon might be able to sniff out Shamamon, and she can't take all that sulfur out there. Tommy and I aren't going to be able to do that much out in the battle, so we're best left here to keep looking for Shamamon."

Patamon nodded. "Okay, good luck to you guys." With that said, Patamon took off to the battle site again. Biyomon and Kokuwamon were right behind him.

"Wait for us!" Biyomon called.

"Slow down please!" Kokuwamon called as well, trying to keep pace with Patamon and Biyomon.

"That was a good idea, but I think they can only do so much." Tommy frowned.

"Then we better hurry, they just need to buy us some time," Lopmon said. "Labramon, can you try picking up on Shamamon's scent? Do you remember what he smelled like?"

"He did have a distinct… mint smell to him," Labramon admitted. "I'll try to pick him out."

Labramon began sniffing around, trying to ignore the sulfur. "Hmm? I think he's this way."

Labramon began running in a direction. Tommy and Lopmon hurried after her.

Meanwhile, Agunimon, Kazemon, and Beetlemon dodged another Rock Fist attack from the Golemon. Koji hissed as he could only watch them, feeling helpless to do anything.

"We can probably defeat him if we can all attack at once," Agunimon said. "But the problem is finding an opening!"

"Look out!" Kazemon warned as she kicked Agunimon away from an incoming Sulfur Plume attack.

Agunimon yelped at the sudden move and landed on the ground with a grunt. "Ugh… Ow…" He rasped, feeling like the wind was knocked from his lungs; he was trying to get fresh air into his body, but it hurt to breathe and he felt himself struggling to get air into his lungs.

Agunimon saw Golemon rushing towards him while he was still recovering.

"Boom Bubble!"
"Spiral Twister!"

"Power Surge!"

A large air bubble, green spiraling flames, and an electric attack all hit Golemon from behind at once. This took Golemon by surprise, making him flinch, and turning to face the three Digimon in the sky.

"Guys! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE!" Patamon shouted at the 3 Legendary Warriors.

While the 3 Rookie Digimon's attacks weren't strong enough to do much to Golemon, 3 attacks from 3 Legendary Warriors should be more than enough.

Agunimon got to his feet as Kazemon and Beetlemon flew down low. All three nodded before they powered up their strongest attacks.

"Pyro Tornado!" Agunimon created a fiery vortex around himself using his flames.

"Hurricane Wave!" Kazemon's wind engulfed the fiery twister, making it stronger.

"Discharge!" Beetlemon let loose a powerful electrical field that encircled the flaming twister.

The three combined attacks hit Golemon directly, engulfing him in an electrified fiery twister.

Golemon let out a cry of pain as the attacks were strong enough to shatter his rocky hide. Golemon fell apart into little pieces of sulfur and rocks. Since he wasn't a true Digimon, he didn't turn into a Digi-Egg. That just left Grumblemon.

"No!" Grumblemon shouted angrily. "You won't win! Execute! Slide Evolution! Gigasmon!"

Grumblemon was quick to change into his Beast Form. "You 3 have interfered with my plans for the last time!"

Gigasmon glared up at Patamon, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon.

"Uh oh…" Biyomon gulped. "We've pissed him off…"

"Gee… What was your first clue?" Kokuwamon grumbled.

"We have to move!" Patamon exclaimed.

"Quagmire Twister!" Gigasmon shouted as he jumped at the 3 Rookie Digimon and spun around into a twister.

Kokuwamon, Biyomon, and Patamon were all caught up in the large twister.

"NO!" Agunimon shouted as he jumped at Gigasmon to try to stop him, but he got smacked away, unable to break through the Quagmire Twister.

Kokuwamon, Biyomon, and Patamon were thrown out of the twister, and to the Legendary Warriors's horror, they saw their fractal codes were showing around their body. If Gigasmon consumed that, they wouldn't just simple lose their Spirit like Tommy did, they would actually die and get reborn as Digi-Eggs.

Gigasmon grinned, seeing his chance to finally stop at least 3 of those little nuisances who were assisting the children.

However, as Gigasmon came in close to take their data, Patamon opened his eyes. The strange thing was that instead of their normal blue, Patamon's eyes were glowing an unnatural green. His fractal code suddenly burst into light that created a force enough to shove Gigasmon away.

Agunimon, Kazemon, Beetlemon, and Koji all gasped as this light erupted from the twister, throwing Gigasmon back and ending the attack.

"What the heck?!" Koji exclaimed.

"What's… going on?" Agunimon asked as he managed to get to a kneeling position. Why do I feel like this may be familiar in a way?

"I sense… something… unnatural from that glow…" Kazemon murmured.

But despite that surprising thing that happened with Patamon, his eyes went back to normal quickly. Patamon looked like he was feeling better as his fractal disappeared back into his body, and he quickly moved to Biyomon, pushing her up. Biyomon groaned as she woke up, the fractal code disappearing back in her body as well. She saw Kokuwamon was still falling, and his fractal code still showing. She and Patamon quickly grabbed onto him and started trying to fly away from Gigasmon.

"I don't know what's going on, but it looks like Patamon managed to push Gigasmon back a bit," Beetlemon said. "We have to do something now!"

"Right! Let's see if we can do that combination attack again!" Agunimon suggested.

"I'm game!" Kazemon said with a grin.

Gigasmon growled. "That won't happen again! Tectonic Slam!"

Gigasmon punched the ground so hard that it caused a large crater, and stones to come up from the ground. Agunimon had to try to jump away from the stones, and Kazemon and Beetlemon had to move quickly as well. Gigasmon wasn't as mindless as Golemon was, he wasn't going to just let them attack him all at once.

Meanwhile, back at the temple, Labramon stopped in front of some large rubble. "Right here! Shamamon's scent is the strongest behind that rubble."

"You're sure he's not… squashed under it?" Tommy frowned.

""I don't think so." Labramon replied. "He would be a Digi-Egg, and there would be no scent if that were the case."

"Shamamon! Are you back there!? Can you hear us!?" Lopmon called out.

There was no response.

"He might be unconscious," Lopmon concluded. "We'll have to try to move all this rubble away before we can get to him."

"That's a lot of rubble." Tommy frowned. "I think it's going to take more than just you two to get it all out of the way."

Labramon used her paws to dog at it for a moment, before something else caught her attention. "Wait…"

"What is it?" Lopmon asked.

"I smell… something else nearby… it smells familiar… and intense," Labramon said.

"Where is it coming from?" Tommy questioned.

Labramon walked over to a wall that was cracked. There was some kind of light coming through the cracks. She reached up her paws on the wall. The wall was crumbling down rather quickly. "There's something behind this wall."

Lopmon and Tommy came over and looked at the wall themselves.

"Could that be…?" Lopmon frowned.

"What? Do you know something?" Tommy asked.

"Tectonic Slam!"

As soon as they heard that shout, they immediately felt the entire temple shaking violently. They fell on their butts, but scrambled to move away from the rubbles, lest they get buried themselves. The walls crumbled away, already breaking apart in the first place.

"Back away!" Lopmon quickly shouted, seeing the light threatening to engulf them.

They could see the light becoming flames, Tommy yelped as he quickly scrambled away from the flames. Lopmon and Labramon didn't hesitate to move away either.

"Wait, what about Shamamon!?" Tommy shouted.

The flames were already engulfing the rubble. They could hear someone screaming in pain as the flames licked against them.

"We're too late…" Lopmon grimly said.

"No…" Labramon murmured. "The Spirit has awoken…"

"W-what?" Tommy asked.

"We have to get out of here, now!" Lopmon shouted. "Go! The temple's going to come down on us!"

Tommy didn't want to just leave, but Labramon was already urging him to move gently, so the boy did as he was being instructed to do. Lopmon, Labramon, and Tommy all ran out of the temple, just barely avoiding the final collapse of it.

"The temple… It's… gone…" Tommy murmured. "And… Shamamon… We didn't even find him…"

"No… I don't think he's gone…" Lopmon said.

"What do you mean?" Tommy frowned. "We just saw him get engulfed in flames!"

Suddenly, a large figure flew out of the collapsed temple and shot towards the battlefield. It slammed into Gigasmon, sending him flying.

"W-what the?" Tommy asked, surprised. "What's that!?"

Patamon stopped flying when he saw the giant figure as well. "... It's here…"

Agunimon looked over, only to see what looked to have slammed into Gigasmon. "H-Huh?!" He had never seen this Digimon before, but it felt… familiar… in a way. He could also sense an immense power coming from the Digimon in front of him. "W-Who is that?!"

The Digimon itself let out a horrible crying noise as it roared, causing the air around it to shift unnaturally.

The new Digimon looked draconic in appearance, but the wings were a bright orange and covered in feathers, which was a bit unusual. It stood on two legs that were coated in bright red armor, and the feet were covered in shining white armor. The Digimon had a black body suit on, and white claws. Red armor was on the lower arms and shoulders while there were gold and red cannons on the lower arms as well. The head was white, but the eyes were a glowing red color, and a red tail swished around menacingly.

"What is this!?" Gigasmon shouted.

The draconic Digimon glared at Gigasmon and shot out some kind of powerful flames at Gigasmon. Gigasmon let out a cry of pain, then the draconic Digimon punched Gigasmon into a stone hill, leaving a large gap.

This allowed Koji to finally be able to move again. He grabbed his D-Tector that he dropped earlier and ran to the others.

"It's so strong!" Kazemon yelped.

Biyomon quickly, and tiredly, flew over at Kazemon. "We have to get out of here! That thing will destroy us if we don't!"

"H-huh?" Kazemon looked back at the Digimon. "We…" The feeling of pure power she was sensing from the new Digimon really unnerved her, and Kazemon found herself inclined to agree with Biyomon's suggestion. "O-Okay… I don't want to face down that thing anyway!"

"Wait! You want us to just… run away, Biyomon?!" Beetlemon asked, surprised, having overheard Biyomon's words to Kazemon.

"What do you expect to do!?" Biyomon shouted back. "You couldn't beat Gigasmon, and that thing just put him through a cliff side!"

Beetlemon winced at the reminder of losing to Gigasmon. "Yeah… good point." He conceded. "If it means we'll stay alive, we have no choice it seems."

"Wait, what about the others?" Koji asked.

"Guys!" Tommy called out, running towards them with Lopmon and Labramon.

Kokuwamon managed to recover enough to fly back to the group himself, and Patamon quickly followed.

"Tommy! Are you and the others okay?" Koji asked in concern. "We saw that temple collapsing."

"We're fine, but we weren't able to save Shamamon." Tommy frowned.

"What? Is Shamamon…?" Kazemon began asking in dread.

"I don't think he's dead," Labramon said. "I think… something happened to him."

"What do you mean 'something happened' to him?" Beetlemon questioned.

Lopmon frowned as he looked at the draconic Digimon before looking back at the group. "We should take cover. If that Digimon lays his eyes on us, we could be finished ourselves."

However, Agunimon seemed a bit distracted, like he was trying to figure something out, but couldn't for some unknown reason. His gaze was fixed on the draconic Digimon that had slammed into Gigasmon.

Gigasmon hissed in pain and he decided this was enough for one day, and he quickly burrowed underground to get the heck out.

"Agunimon?"

Agunimon blinked when he heard Patamon's voice from beside him. Patamon was looking at him in worry, and… something else.

"What are you thinking?" Patamon asked softly.

"I… I just… feel like… I've… seen this Digimon before… like… I feel a… connection to it." Agunimon admitted. "I can't explain it, but I feel like this… Digimon may be connected to me somehow."

"That's crazy talk!" Beetlemon spoke up, having heard Agunimon's comment. "Let's just go!"

Agunimon hesitated, but he knew Beetlemon was right. "Yeah… sure…" But it was clear he was hesitant, as he didn't move right away.

Agunimon did, however, begin turning around. Patamon watched him, wondering if they could really get off this easy. But then came the cry for help.

"H-H-Help me!" The draconic creature called out in a familiar voice. "I'm not doing this! I-I'm p-possesed b-by the B-Beast Spirit!"

Agunimon hesitated as he perked up, glancing back over his shoulder in surprise. "Wha…?" He turned around quickly. "S-Shamamon?!"

Agunimon began to see something… an image in his mind. He saw Shamamon injured in the collapsing temple. He heard Tommy, Labramon, and Lopmon's voices calling out to him. Then as the walls crumbled down, Shamamon saw a figurine… a Spirit in the light. Shamamon, by instinct, reached out to the Spirit. As soon as he touched it, his body and the temple was engulfed in flames.

Agunimon realized what happened. The Beast Spirit had been hidden within the temple's walls, and when it was released, it took over Shamamon's body. It saved Shamamon's life, but it was also using him to go on a rampage. Shamamon had no control.

However, it seemed that only Agunimon was able to hear Shamamon's voice. The others didn't even react to it. Patamon looked at Agunimon, frowning. He seemed to know what happened as he watched Agunimon walking toward the roaring dragon.

"Agunimon? What are you doing?" Beetlemon asked when he noticed Agunimon was walking towards the draconic Digimon.

"Agunimon?" Tommy frowned.

The others turned around as well, wondering if Agunimon had lost his mind. Lopmon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Labramon all frowned as they looked at each other.

"Hang on, Shamamon. I can help you." Agunimon said as he continued to make his way to the draconic Digimon.

"Wha… Agunimon? Have you lost it?!" Beetlemon asked in shock.

The draconic Digimon let out another roar as flames shot out from his body. Agunimon stopped and prepared himself as the Digimon shot out flames at Agunimon. Agunimon jumped away to dodge. It seemed that he would need to weaken the Digimon to save Shamamon.

"Pyro Darts!" Agunimon shot out flames from his arms at the draconic Digimon.

The draconic Digimon blocked the flames with the armor on his arms, before he shot out some kind of heat lasers at Agunimon. Agunimon let out a shout as he was hit. Despite being the Warrior of Flame, the attack really hurt.

Agunimon hit the ground, landing on his back and skidding before coming to a stop. He let out a groan as he tried to regain his bearings and overall sense of what had just happened. The others looked on in worry at Agunimon.

As Agunimon tried to get to his feet, the draconic Digimon flew at him and then stomped down on his upper right leg, pinning him down. Agunimon managed to roll onto his back, only to be met with a cannon pointed straight at his face.

How can I help you? Agunimon frowned.

"We have to do something!" Tommy shouted.

"R-right! We can't just stand here!" Kazemon shouted as well.

"Stop it!" Patamon suddenly shouted, suddenly in the draconic Digimon's face.

The draconic Digimon glared at the little winged Digimon in front of him.

"P-Patamon!? What are you doing?" Agunimon shouted.

"You want to help him, don't you?" Patamon asked. "Then… I'll support you."

Patamon expanded himself. "Boom Bubble!"

The Boom Bubble attack hit the draconic Digimon right in his eye. The draconic Digimon let out a roar of pain as he stumbled back from the attack.

Now freed, Agunimon got to his feet. "Thanks, little buddy." He said.

"Now's your chance, hit him as hard as you can!" Patamon shouted.

Agunimon nodded before fire flickered from his form. As soon as fire began to surround Agunimon, he began to spin around, creating his most powerful move. "Pyro Tornado!"

The fiery twister engulfed the draconic Digimon, causing fire to burn at his exposed limbs and armor. Agunimon came in close and hit the draconic Digimon with a kick as hard as he could.

The draconic Digimon let out a growl as he fell onto the ground. The body was already weakened from the temple earlier, so this was enough to release his fractal code, showing the Beast Spirit's figure.

"Whoa, he actually did it!" Beetlemon said in surprise.

"Yeah, looks like it," Kokuwamon agreed.

"What Agunimon said earlier… was that really Shamamon?" Tommy asked.

"I guess we'll find out," Koji replied. "Hmm?"

Koji noticed Labramon was shaking as she was slowly backing away from the scene.

It wasn't just Labramon either. Biyomon, Lopmon, and Kokuwamon looked to be slowly backing away, like they were scared of something.

"Time to free Shamamon." Agunimon said as he held up his D-Tector. "My D-Tector should be able to free him."

Agunimon pressed the button on the side of his D-Tector, the symbol of Flame appearing on the screen as the scanner lit up. Agunimon swung his arm, scanning the fractal code as he did so. "Fractal Code… Digitize!"

The Beast Spirit was released from Shamamon, but now it had a new target…

Patamon, seeing this, quickly flew away from Agunimon.

"What's going on?" Koji asked. "Why are you all so… scared?"

"What?" Tommy frowned before he noticed how the Digimon were reacting. "Lopmon?"

Lopmon looked down. "Don't… don't die."

Tommy paled at the ominous response before he quickly turned back to Agunimon. Something was wrong. Instead of just absorbing the fractal code, and being the end of it, Agunimon's body was suddenly engulfed in flames, just like Shamamon's was earlier. Shamamon himself was lying unconscious in the rubble, but he appeared to be alive.

Agunimon suddenly let out a scream of pain as the flames became fractal code. Inside the fractal code cocoon Agunimon felt himself changing, becoming more draconic in nature. However, he also felt an overwhelming power come over him, overriding his human state of mind and making him become more primal in behavior. It was like he had regressed to more basic, primitive behavior.

The fractal code dissipated, revealing the draconic Digimon now in Agunimon's place.

"W-what happened!?" Kazemon asked, confused and worried. "W-where's Agunimon?"

"I think that big dragon is Agunimon now…" Beetlemon gulped.

The draconic Digimon began to let out a growl.

"This isn't good…" Patamon hissed as he looked at what was once Agunimon.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: You will see~ XD Can't say much because of spoilers. XP

pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: Thanks, and yeah, we're reporting those people if they keep reviewing. I've been deleting the private messages they keep sending me too. It's really annoying and I hope they stop soon. And anyway, I do hope the divergence won't disappoint.

Titanic X 21: ZAFT: Yep! We're approaching the divergence point~ XD