I wake up early in the morning. I look next to me to see Whispered, Coronamon, and Lalamon all peacefully sleeping. Though, the quiet reptile is nowhere to be seen in the shack.

"Guilmon?" I call out, wondering where he is. I walk outside the shack, combing my matted hair with my hand. I see Guilmon running around the dojo, while Titamon cheers him on. I walk up to them.

"Hey there kid. The little lizard wanted some training!" Titamon says. "I still got it but don't expect me to teach him math."

"Does the digital world even have math?" I ask.

"How would I know?" He says. Guilmon trots slowly over to me, panting. "Keep up the hard work little dragon and you'll be stronger than Lalamon!" Titamon says.

"Hey Titamon, do you know of anything past this?" I ask, turning my body to the orge's larger green one.

"Actually, yes. There's a pretty decent sized village further down about ten miles. It's a nice place for resting and the villagers are extremely friendly. After the village is just more woods." Titamon smiles. "I can give you a compass I've got to help you." He straightens himself before taking off to grab the compass. I turn to Guilmon.

"We can do more training at the village if you want little buddy." I pat his head and his thick red tail wags.

"Yeah! Say, I saw Lalamon and Whispered become Ultimates and when I became champion it was so cool!" He exclaims. He babbles on and on about wanting to get stronger. In that time alone, I'm able to see past the small lizard that's Guilmon and imagine what he would look like as an ultimate. Would he wield guns or grow even more impressive horns? That I hope to find out. My daydreaming is interrupted by a punch in the gut. I double over in pain and fall to the ground.

"Wow kid, maybe you should be the one training." Titamon says. Whispered stands over me, smiling.

"Morning Whispered…" I groan and I sit up.

"Whispered, why'd ya do that?" Coronamon asks.

"Hit him again." Lalamon says, coaxing me to finally stand fully back up.

"You looked so stupid, how could I not punch you?" He laughs and Coronamon sighs.

"Here's the compass, kid." Titamon smiles as his large hand drops the small device in mine. "Really wish I could spend more time with you guys, but right now, you've got a journey. And I wish you the best luck on it." Titamon straightens himself and I look back at him one more time before walking with the cats and Guilmon.

"Lalamon?" He calls out. The bulb stops.

"What is it?" She asks, floating up to him.

"I want a rematch when you get to the mega level. No exceptions nor excuses." He says sternly and smirks.

"Got it. My dad will be the ref." Titamon laughs heartily.

"No fair!" Titamon says and they both laugh. Lalamon waves one more time before flying off to catch up with us.

—-

"The bud grew more?" Piedmon remarks. Myotismon looks at the large screen.

"Looks like it." He smiles. "Glad I didn't have to deal with that."

"I might." Piedmon says, walking up to stand next to Piedmon.

"Sucks for you." Myotismon says mockingly before a kiss is planted on his cheek. "HEY!" He snarls, his fangs bared. "You know not to kiss me when we're working"

"Disobeying Axeknightmon's rules is working? Tell me the salary and I'm in." Piedmon chuckles as he scrolls through different lenses. "Shame though for those littles ones…Once I get my hands on them they'll be unrecognizable."

"Gory, I like that." Myotismon smirks. Piedmon turns around to face the vampire.

"I'm a clown with swords. Gory is my middle name."

"Okay, Pennywise." Myotismon mocks, causing Piedmon to draw out his sword.

"Should I slit your throat or cut your dick off?" Piedmon chuckles, placing the sword's tip to Myotismon.

"That would be a loss for both of us." Myotismon laughs. Piedmon laughs alongside him.

"Where even is Axeknightmon?" Piedmon inquires, his finger finding home on his chin.

"Think he's torturing some guy." Myotismon answers.

"Kinky."

"Shut up."

—-

"One general down, six to go." Axeknightmon says as he looks down.

"You…asshole! Haven't you caused enough pain to the DigiWorld?!" A hollow voice shouted at him. "Let me go! You have caused me enough suffering!"

"I wish I could, Gravimon. But you play a very important part in my mission." Axeknightmon snickers quietly as he makes his way over to the eerie podium. His black armored hand trails downwards until he reaches the second to last collar. Imprinted is a light purple name "Gravimon" "Say I even made you your own collar. AND the print is purple. What more could you ask for?"

"Freedom." Gravimon replies with an annoyed scoff. "And your demise."

"You were always the guy with the smart mouth. I won't take it any longer!" Axeknightmon trots slowly towards Gravimon, prolonging the suspense and anxiety for the ex general.

"You can torture me all you want, but if you lay hands on my daughter I'll-" A rough slapping noise breaks the sentence. Gravimon stiffens. "Fuck…you…"

"I'm surprised, your daughter just reached the ultimate level yesterday." Axeknightmon says. "She'll make a fine toy." Axeknightmon laughs. Gravimon grits his teeth.

"You leave my daughter alone!"

"Oh I will. But you won't" Axeknightmon threatens.

"What are you saying?!" Gravimon yells. Axeknightmon lifts up the collar.

"With this collar on, you'll be under my control. You'll do whatever I want without the extra prison land crap. I call these Whispered Collars."

"How original…" Gravimon mutters before getting slapped harder across the face.

"As I was saying, with these you'll be the best soldier ever. And just for you, I'll assign you the job of killing Miss. Flower." Axeknightmon chuckles. Gravimon expression changes to one of a desperate one.

"You can threaten me, beat me, or even kill me. But I beg, don't make me fight my daughter. She's everything to me…"

"Oh I bet she is, which will make it even more exciting." Axeknightmon says as he latches the collar onto Gravimon's neck, tightening it. "I won't turn it on just yet, so be grateful." Axeknightmon says as he leaves Gravimon's tied up body against the wall of the dirty, cold, and dark dungeon.

"Oh Lalamon…I'm so proud of you…" He sobs. The old general hangs his head in defeat, trying to think of happier times. "Derin…Whispered…I trust you…" Noises of sobs and chokes are only heard for about another hour before Piedmon shuts him up.

—-

"Finally! We're here!" Whispered announces. "I was hungry!"

"You always are." I say, smiling.

"I agree with Derin here." Coronamon smirks. Whispered reels back, looking offended.

"Well excuse you." He puffs out his chest and walks into the village. Me and the others follow him. I notice Guilmon trailing behind.

"You good, Guilmon?" I slow my pace so I'm walking beside him.

"Yeah…" The dragon mumbles.

"Tell me what's wrong, Guilmon." I demand to know. I sit down on a rock and he sits on the floor. I look over for a quick second and see the other three talking to villagers.

"Do you think I'll ever be as strong as the other two? They've already reached a way higher level than me…" Guilmon slumps down, looking sad.

"Bud, I've had Whispered and Lalamon training with me longer than you. Growth can either come with luck or with hard work I suppose. Well maybe not luck… Whispered used to be a strong dark general and Lalamon grew up with a very strong dad, so I guess your background really helps with it. But I definitely admire how willing you are to train and make yourself stronger. That's impressive. I wish I could do that…"

"But you are strong Derin!" Guilmon says. I shake my head.

"Not really bud." I grip the rock tighter, trying to find ground. "Believe it or not, I'm really weak."

"Well maybe in this world but definitely not in the human world!" Guilmon insists. I laugh.

"I've just been weaker than others. Anywhere I go." I pat his head. "But having such a strong dragon does make me feel better." I chuckle and Guilmon smiles.

"So if I get even stronger, will you feel even better?" He asks enthusiastically.

"Sure, buddy." I smile weakly and sigh. Guilmon looks extra determined.

"Then I'll try to digivolve as soon as possible!" He cheers and goes running to meet the others.

"Here we go again…" I sigh and walk up to the others as they pester a flower digimon.

"How soon can we enter?" Lalamon asks the giant cactus with…boxing gloves? Digimon get weirder by the day.

"The tournament is being held this evening. I can help you guys get in if you want." The cactus has a gruff voice.

"Yes please!" Whispered says, practically bouncing up and down with Lalamon

"I'll get you all in then. How many digimon are participating?" The cactus looks at me.

"Three." I smile and Guilmon looks at me and smiles widely.

"Alright, I'll go enter y'all in." The cactus says, walking away.

"Thank you, Togemon!" Coronamon says. I look around the village for a bit, and a few younglings stop to stare at me. Which I gladly stare back at. The sun sets a little bit and a loud bell sounds off.

"Gather around everyone! Let's start this off!" A voice shouts. I look over to see Whispered and Lalamon beelining it for the start. I cock an eyebrow and chase after them with Guilmon and Coronamon.

"Is fighting the only thing in your head right now?" Coronamon asks Whispered.

"That and you." He snickers and Coronamon looks away.

"Idiot…" Coronamon mutters.

"Our first two contestants will be…Whispered and MetalTyrannomon!" Togemon shouts.

"Let's go! I'm first!" Whispered cheers and grabs Coronamon's hands and drags him along. He lets go and jumps in the ring. "Let's do this scaly." He mocks. I lean against the rim of the ring. I pull out my fusion loader.

"Whispered! Digivolve!" I yell.

"Coronamon Whispered warp digivolve to…Flaremon Whispered!" Out comes Whispered. His yellow eyes gaze at MetalTyrannomon. "Come on big guy, show me what you can do!"

"Fire Blast!" MetalTyrannomon fires a missile from its right mechanical arm. Whispered dodges it with ease and looks at the metal dino.

"Heh, is that all you got? I thought I signed up for a challenge!" Whispered declares, charging at the Machine and hitting it square in the chest. He quickly grabs the machine's huge leg and is able to toss it up in the air.

"Beat the circuits out of him!" Lalamon screams, cheering Whispered on. Whispered jumps high into the air.

"Guren Juuouha!" Whispered's fist flames up and he fires a massive energy blow right at MetalTyrannomon. The giant metal beast is squashed to the ground and Whispered lands right on him, leaving the android unconscious.

"Hey Coronamon, wanna make metal-angels?" He chuckles.

"Maybe another time." Coronamon says and Lilamon hops into the arena.

"Come on! Keep whooping him!" Lalamon encourages, trying to pick up the lion's fist.

"Unlike you, I know when to stop." Whispered laughs.

"No you don't." Coronamon remarks snarkily. Whispered gets up at the sound of a loud bell and walks over to me and Coronamon.

"Oh really?" Whispered picks Coronamon up by the tail. The little lion flails his limbs, his actions becoming fruitless. I laugh alongside Whispered.

"Good match. Really quick too, you're getting really good in battle." I smile and Guilmon gazes up at the victor.

"Thanks." Whispered puts Coronamon down on the ground gently and the bell sounds again.

"Our next contestants will be Lalamon and D'arcmon!" Togemon announces. Whispered hops out and high fives Lalamon, the tiny flowing heading in. D'arcmon walks in the room, another feminine looking digimon with a more angel appearance.

"Watch me win!" Lalamon speaks. Guilmon jumps up and lays his stomach on the rim, his arms dangling inside the small arena. My fusion loader glows again.

"Lalamon! Digivolve!"

"Lalamon digivolve to…Lilamon!" The tall flower digimon emerges from the dispersing petals and looks to D'arcmon. "Let's go, little angel." Lilamon smirks, challenging D'arcmon to make the first move. D'arcmon flies to Lilamon and swings her staff at her. Lilamon grabs it and with some effort, is able to send D'arcmon flying with it. D'arcmon steadies her pace before plummeting to the ground, pointing her sword in front of her.

"Lilamon! Watch out!" I yell.

"Child's play" Lilamon scoffs and quickly moves out of the way. D'arcmon saves herself from hitting the ground and grabs ahold of Lilamon's hair.

"Hah! Got you now, flower girl!" D'arcmon tugs on her hair, pulling Lilamon closer.

"Let go!" Lilamon screams, trying to slap the other woman away from her. After a good minute of trying Lilamon flails harder and gets more angry. "Damn it bitch, I said let go!" Lilamon punches D'arcmon right in the cheek. The angel recoils and looks up to see Lilamon going to kick her in the stomach. She gets pushed back to the wall and bangs her head on the surface. A small crater forms from the impact. Lilamon pins her against the wall and keeps her there.

"Give up yet, bitch?" Lilamon smirks.

"Hell no." D'arcmon smirks and punches Lilamon in the face. Lilamon punches back as the two engage in a classic fist fight.

"Damn…" Whispered watches. He picks me up and places me on his shoulder so I can get a better view. The two girls go at it for a good ten minutes before Lilamon finally gets on top of D'arcmon and gives the final blow. The bell rings and both girls stand up.

"We should hang out." D'arcmon winks, blows a kiss, and walks away.

"Definitely" Lilamon smirks and walks over to us. She glows and turns back into Lalamon. "Score." Lalamon sighs and falls down on my lap.

"Well at least you won." I chuckle. After a few minutes another bell chimes.

"Second to last round! Angemon and Guilmon!" I hop off of Whispered's shoulder and walk over to the very bubbly and excited Guilmon.

"Ready, buddy?" I ask him. He nods enthusiastically. He struggles to hop in and trots over to the center. Another angel walks in. He has long blonde hair and a mask covering the top half of his face. He has a golden staff but looks way smaller compared to Growlmon.

"Guilmon! Digivolve!"

"Guilmon digivolve to…Growlmon!" The giant red dragon appears from weak fire.

"It seems this is your weakest digimon." The Angemon says. "Am I a joke to you, human?" Angemon smirks and grips his golden staff tighter. "Let's dance, you unholy beast." Growlmon, now slightly enraged, flares his mouth up.

"Exhaust Flame!" Growlmon shoots fire at the heavenly being, who jumps up high to dodge.

"Angel Rod!" Angemon whacks Growlmon on the head, causing dizziness. He stumbles back. "Staff Sweep" Angemon hangs low, and smacks Growlmon in the leg, knocking the red dragon to the ground. I watch in shock as my own digimon gets clobbered by some prick angel.

"Growlmon! Get up!" I yell. Whispered and Lalamon watched alongside me.

"How can a dragon like that, get beaten so badly. The other red dragon I know would have killed Angemon already and gone out for some Barbeque." Whispered says. Coronamon lets out a chuckle both returning to watch the fight.

"Growl Claw!" Growlmon tries to slash Angemon away from him as he gets up.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon huffs and fires a holy blast of light from its fist. It strikes Growlmon right in the chest, knocking him down for the count. Angemon places his rod onto Growlmon's head. "Victory!" He declares. Whispered growls.

"Be humble, asshole…" He mutters and Lalamon nods. Coronamon looks really sad. I frown and look disappointed for a second. He tried his best at least. Growlmon gets up and looks at me. He catches my sorrowful and disappointed expression. He slowly walks over to us.

"You did g-"

"I'm sorry I made you sad." He says, cutting me off.

"You did-"

"I have just been an unhelpful burden to the team. You'd be better off with just Lalamon and Whispered." He says, turning around. "My mother was right, I am useless. Thank you though, for giving me a chance." Growlmon says and takes off running to the other side connected to deep forests.

"Whispered!" I say. "After him!" I hop on his shoulder and he grabs Coronamon.

"Growlmon! Wait!" Whispered yells, chasing after him.

"Exhaust Flame!" Growlmon yells, blinding Whispered with the hot flames.

"Agh!" Whispered rubs his eyes and Growlmon is already far away. "Fuck…" We begin chasing after him again. We almost gain ground on him before he stampedes into the forest. He starts running faster. "Growlmon! Get back here!" Whispered roars. In a split second, Growlmon knocks some trees down using his sharp claws. One almost squashes us as Whispered catches it. I duck down, hiding in his furry neck. He throws the tree aside and looks over. Growlmon is gone.

"We have to get him!" I say.

"You think I don't know that?!" Whispered asks and snarls. We try to follow his path.

—-

"I'm a failure…" Growlmon sighs, trotting on at a decent pace. "They probably hate me now." Growlmon continues on, thinking about his earlier life. Mother was a Geogreymon, and a prideful one. Had a bundle of eggs, eight to be exact. Each egg was a Punimon, not him. He was an alone Jyarimon, the oddball. Then came when he was a Gigimon along with all his Koramon brothers. His family traveled a lot, and when he became Guilmon, his mother had enough. He wasn't a help to her and said he made her look bad. She took poor Guilmon and kicked him out to die in the extreme climates. "Mother…" He growled softly. He remembered the life he had to take up, of stealing. He hurt others and it hurt him. He always wanted to make people happy. Though it seems he keeps failing. "And now I've failed the one person who truly gave me a chance. Something's wrong with me. Have the gods cursed me with horrid luck?" Growlmon mutters as the sound of familiar giggles and roars of little dramons. Growlmon moves closer to the noise and exits the abundance of twigs and leaves. He sees a bunch of Agumon playing with each other. They all stop to turn to him. He looks up and sees a Geogreymon.

"Mother?"

—-

"The tracks are still looking pretty obvious." Whispered says as he follows the path of smooshed leaves and branches. "What will we do once we find him?"

"Talk to him." I answer. I check my fusion loader and put on the GPS system. It loads the whole forest here.

"Cool." Lalamon says as she stares at my screen. Whispered stops moving.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"The path ends here but…" The sound a yelling occurs north of us. Whispered bursts through the bushes to see a large orange dragon yelling at…Growlmon! The orange dragon has a brown shell with red stripes on their head and they look nasty.

"You dare come back here after I told you to beat it?!" The orange dragon yells, Growlmon stiffening. The two dragons notice us. "Who are you?!" The dragon sounds more ladylike. How I can distinguish that shocks even me. Growlmon turns to us.

"You guys should leave. You don't have to take care of me any longer." Growlmon sighs. I hop down from Whispered.

"Growlmon, listen. You're no burden, you tried your best in that battle and I could see that!"

"But you looked disappointed…and you said making myself stronger would make you happy. All I wanted to do is make you happy and I fail at that. Every. Single. Time." Growlmon slumps defeatedly.

"He's not lying" The orange beast smirks, choking back a laugh. The dragon walks closer to me, and swipes at me. A few holes tore in my green sweatshirt, but I was lucky enough to dodge. Growlmon looks back at the attack. The orange dragon quickly grabs me by the hoodie and holds me with their teeth.

"Let him go!" Whispered yells, baring his claws as he steps closer.

"Growlmon, as punishment for coming back." She starts. "I'm killing the human." She throws me up in the air and opens her mouth wide.

"AHHH!" I scream flailing my arms and legs, trying to escape my doom. I don't hit the ground but instead a scaled claw. I look up to see Growlmon.

"Are you telling me the truth? Am I really not a burden?" He asks.

"It takes a lot of strength to be that cruel. Good thing I'm weak because you're just as useful as Lalamon or Whispered." I smile. Growlmon puts me down.

"Alright then, thank you Derin…for everything." Growlmon faces the other dragon. "Mother, Geogreymon. I no longer see myself how you do."

"Oh really?" Geogreymon asks. "You can't prove it though. All bark, no bite." She hisses. Growlmon remains firm.

"I'll show you." Growlmon starts to glow again. My fusion glows alongside him.

"Growlmon! Digivolve!"

"Growlmon digivolve to…WarGrowlmon!" A more andronic digimon appears. He shares the familiar red color with black stripes like Growlmon and Guilmon did. His white hair became shorter and his claws grew. He now wears a harness with two cannons on it. Behind said harness is an "Assault Balancer". Finally, his jaw has become tighter and now has a metal rim to it.

"Oh my god! You digivolved!" I cheer and Whispered quickly swoops me up and brings me back safely. Geogreymon claws at WarGrowlmon.

"Assault Balancer!" WarGrowlmon yells as he impales Geogreymon around the hip and throws her to the trees. WarGrowlmon goes to claw at her but stops as all the young Agumons flood to her.

"Go ahead, kill me." She growls. "I know you want to." WarGrowlmon backs away.

"Let's go guys." WarGrowlmon points to Whispered and then in the other direction. Whispered walks with me and the other two and we go into the forest. WarGrowlmon looks to his mother. "You may see me as a weakling, but I still see you as my mother. That sadly won't change but I do wish you and my brothers good luck in this cruel world." He turns back into Guilmon. "Farewell, mother…" He runs off to join us.

"Guilmon?" I say.

"Yeah, Derin?" His ears perk up slightly. I smile.

"I'm proud of you."