Episode 9: Evolution

On a tall skyscraper, a tall, dark, devil-like Digimon stands on the ledge. "Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Lust. Six of seven have been placed." Bending its long arm, it looks at the palm of its hand. An aqua sigil, looking almost like a large eye on top of a body, glows on its hand. The Digimon looks at the city with its red eyes. "The last one, Envy, still needs a conduit." Spreading its large, torn wings, the Digimon takes flight. "I will not fail you, my lord."

"Why is he trying to tackle this on his own?" Sara groans as Patamon flies out of her arms.

"He's being rather stubborn," Patamon points out as he lands on Sara's bed.

"Yeeeaaah…" Sara looks at Patamon. "Hey, Patamon." Patamon looks back. "I've been calling you 'he' and such. But what actually is your gender?"

"Oh!" Patamon jolts up. "Digimon actually don't have a binary gender. Some may appear as more feminine or masculine to your humans. But there's no defined gender."

"I see…"

"But 'he' works just fine!" Patamon smiles.

"Okay!" Sara nods.

"What about you?" Wings lifting him off of the bed, he hovers in front of Sara.

"Well…" Sara pauses. "I've always been told that I was a 'girl', but I gravitate more towards boy clothes and find myself in the men's restroom more times than the women's. Saying that I'm a 'girl' never felt right."

"So, you're a boy?"

Sara flinches in surprise. "I guess you could say that."

"Or are you like a Digimon and don't have one?"

"I definitely feel more like a boy."

"It's like you're evolving!" Patamon squees.

"I guess so, huh."

Excited, Patamon flies in circles around Sara. "What are you evolving to?!"

"I…I don't know yet."

"That's okay!" Patamon lands on the bed again. "I don't know what I evolve to, either."

"You don't know what you evolve to?"

"We only really know when it happens. Digimon can evolve into any number of different Digimon. Usually, we evolve as we get older and there's no going back to our prior forms. It seems to be different when we're with you guys."

"I see."

"You should tell everyone!"

"What?"

"Tell everyone that you're evolving!"

"I don't know what will happen if I do! I could lose people that are close."

"Is that bad? If they were your friends, they'd support you."

"It's dangerous. This isn't exactly something everyone agrees with that and might even get violent with me."

"I'll protect you! Like your guardian angel."

"My guardian angel, huh…" Sara looks at his partner and takes a deep breath. "I'll tell our friends tomorrow."

"Isn't it great that everyone is evolving?!" Herissmon jumps on Ezra's bed. Placing his bag on the floor, Ezra takes his Digivice out and stares at it as it reads: Link Strength: 12%.

"When are you going to evolve?"

"Eh?"

Ezra slams his hand on the nearby desk and whips his head to Herissmon. "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO EVOLVE?!"

Shaking, Herissmon slumps down. "I don't know… Patamon hasn't evolved yet either…"

"Tch."

"I'll evolve one of these days, though! I promise!" Ezra nearly bangs his Digivice on the desk, leaving it there with it reading: Link Strength: 11%.

"If only you were more like Renamon or V-mon…"

Looking at his boy-ish appearance in the mirror, Sara looks to his side, examining the loose fitting cargo pants and faux-leather jacket, all in black. "I don't think I'm passing." He pulls at his orange shirt.

"You look great!" Patamon hovers next to Sara. "I think you look like a boy!"

Sara blushes. "You really think so?"

Patamon nods. "You pass in my book!"

Sara smiles and taps the toes of his combat boots against the floor. "Let's get out of here before we're late."

The humanoid Digimon lands on the top of a building, out of sight of any humans. "Hmmm?" It looks at its hand. The sigil starts glowing brighter. "A perfect conduit must be nearby." The Digimon holds out the sigil and turns, back and forth. When turning left, the sigil glows brighter. "This direction." The Digimon takes flight once more. "The return is eminent."

"Why don't you drive to school?" Patamon looks up to Sara from his arms.

"School is perfectly within walking distance. So why spend the gas to get there when we can just walk? And it's not only my car anyways." Arriving at Mr. Crest's classroom, Sara opens the door. Everyone's attention immediately turns to him.

"Sara!" Lauren jumps from her chair.

"Took you long enough," Lance jokes.

V-mon approaches Sara. "You look different from yesterday!"

"You think so?" Sara grins. V-mon nods and returns next to Lance.

Ezra leans in from his chair. "Did you dye your hair again?"

"I think it was red last time I saw it," Mr. Crest recalls.

Sara scratches the back of his purple hair. "Well, it's not just that…" Squeezing Patamon, he starts shaking, butterflies in his stomach. "It's…I'm…Well…" Sara goes silent for a moment. "I'm sorry…it's difficult…"

Lauren slowly approaches Sara. "Hey, we're here for you. Take your time."

Tears begin to well up in Sara's eyes. "I'm sorry…"

Patamon wiggles his way out of Sara's arms. "AHEM!" Everyone's heads turn to Patamon. "Sara is evolving!" Sara gasps.

Herissmon tilts his head. "Humans can evolve, too?!"

"What do humans evolve to?!" V-mon pesters.

Lance places his hand on V-mon's head. "V-mon, let her talk."

"I think this is more of a metaphorical evolution," Renamon deduces.

"It…it is," Sara speaks up. "It's been on my mind for a while now. I've…always felt like I was in the wrong body. I never…thought of myself as a girl." His voice begins choking up, holding the side of his head, unable to hold the tears back anymore. "And I hate this body! I've felt this way for a while! I wear baggy clothes just to hide my body because it's not me! I'm a boy, not a girl!" Breathing heavier, Sara covers his eyes with his hands and crouches on the floor.

Lauren crouches on the floor next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for sharing this with us, my friend."

Lance joins the two on the floor. "It takes a lot of courage to come out and I'm proud of you. We're all still your friends, okay?"

Sara nods. Patamon lands on top of Sara's head. Realizing Patamon landed, he pets the top of Patamon's head. "Thank you, Patamon."

Espimon flies high off of the ground, scanning his surroundings. "Nothing today." He hovers in the air for a moment and shrugs. "It's getting late. Nothing's happening." He turns around and sees a devil-like Digimon land on top of a building. Espimon approaches it. "Hey!" The Digimon squints its eyes while turning its head, ignoring Espimon. "Are you new here?" No response. "Well, what are you doing here?"

"It's useless." The Digimon spreads its wings out. "The plan cannot be stopped." Flying off, the Digimon leaves Espimon behind.

Espimon raises an eyebrow. "What's his problem?"

As the group enters their usual spot, Lauren spots Shelby. "Shelby!" Lauren dashes up to her. "Sorry we're late!"

"I actually wasn't here for very long." Shelby turns to Sara. "You look like you had a long day."

"Well I…evolved, I guess?"

"You evolved?" Shelby blinks. "Are you out?!"

"Y-yeah…"

"I'm happy for you!"

Jellymon scratches her head. "Humans can evolve, too?"

Shelby pulls Jellymon off of her head. "Not in the same sense you Digimon can."

Lance looks around. "Is Connor not around?"

"No, he didn't even come to school today."

"What a pain," Ezra complains. "The one most knowledgeable about Digimon and Digital Waves isn't even around."

V-mon looks up to Shelby. "Was it because of something we did yesterday?"

"I think he's just trying to figure out some things," Lance clarifies.

"Wait!" Patamon pushes himself out of Sara's arms. "We're forgetting something important!" Patamon turns to Sara. "What did you evolve to?"

"Huuuh?" Sara looks at Patamon in confusion.

"I evolve to V-Dramon." V-mon steps over to Sara. "Renamon evolves to Kyubimon."

"And I evolve to TeslaJellymon!"

Patamon hovers in front of Sara. "What do you evolve to?"

"I see what they're asking," Lauren chuckles. "What is your name?"

"Oh!" Sara grins. "I think I finally decided on-"

"Good evening." The group whip their heads upwards to see a devil-like Digimon floating above them. As the group starts feeling uneasy at the sight of the Digimon, it looks at its hand as an aqua color glow emanates from it. "One of you is the conduit we need." The Digimon lands in front of them.

"Conduit?" Lance repeats as he takes out his Digivice.

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: Devimon

Level: Adult

Attribute: Virus

Technique: Death Claw

Devimon turns his head to Ezra and smirks. "You." Devimon takes a step towards him.

"Don't you think about it!" Herissmon charges at Devimon. "Lightning-!" Devimon nonchalantly swats Herissmon aside.

"Useless." Devimon takes another step forward.

Lance holds his Digivice up. "Let's go, V-mon!"

"V-mon evolve! …XV-mon!" XV-mon leaps at Devimon. Devimon takes flight to evade the attack. XV-mon follows.

Lauren transports everyone to Digital Space. "Let's not attract attention. Renamon, your turn!"

"Renamon evolve! …Kyubimon!" Kyubimon jumps in the air. "Koenryu!" A dragon-shaped fire leaves Kyubimon's tail.

"X-Laser!" XV-mon fires at Devimon. Devimon deflects the attacks with his wings.

"You can't take all the fun!" Jellymon teases. "Jellymon evolve! …TeslaJellymon!" TeslaJellymon jolted upwards to XV-mon's altitude. "Punishöne!" TeslaJellymon fires several bolts at Devimon, hitting him directly.

As the shocks surge around his body, Devimon seems unphased. "Is that all the power you can muster?" Devimon uses his wings to disperse the electricity surrounding him. "Let me show you real power." Devimon rapidly charges at XV-mon and punches him out of the sky.

XV-mon crashes into the ground. "Such strength…" XV-mon stands back up.

"Vorsprite!" TeslaJellymon charges electricity around her body and dashes at Devimon. Devimon kicks her in the stomach, making her plummet.

"TeslaJellymon!" Shelby worries.

As Devimon Kyubimon charges at him with XV-mon doing the same from the other side, attempting to pin Devimon. "So careless." As XV-mon attempts to punch, Devimon grabs XV-mon's arm and slams him into Kyubimon, causing the two to smash into a wall.

"KYUBIMON!" Lauren screams.

Devimon smiles as he looks to Ezra. "The final conduit." Devimon approaches Ezra slowly.

Terrified, Ezra panics and pulls out his Digivice. He holds it towards Herissmon, still laying on the ground. "Herissmon! Evolve! Evolve right now!" Herissmon doesn't react. "Evolve like V-mon and Renamon!" His Digivice displays the message: Link Strength: 10%.

"It's useless," Devimon tells Ezra, standing in front of him now. "Do not resist." Devimon puts his hand to Ezra's head. Ezra stands still, freezing in fear. "You shall become the conduit of envy." His Digivice glows as an aqua sigil appears on the screen. Devimon backs away and turns towards the fallen Digimon. "Now to deal with you. All who oppose us must be eliminated."

Panicking, Lance turns his head to XV-mon. "XV-mon! Get up!" XV-mon rolls off of Kyubimon and attempts to push himself up.

"You can do it, Kyubimon!" Kyubimon stares at Devimon as she lays on the ground motionless.

"I believe in you, TeslaJellymon!"

TeslaJellymon kneels up. "He's so strong…"

Patamon flies in front of Devimon's path. "Air Shot!" Patamon fires at Devimon. Devimon chuckles as he approaches Patamon. "Air Shot!" No effect. "Air Shot! Air Shot! Air Shot!"

Devimon stops in front of Patamon. "What a nuisance." Devimon's hand emanates dark static. "Death Claw!" Devimon strikes Patamon and sends him hurling to the ground.

"PATAMON!" Sara runs over to Patamon and kneels on the ground. "Patamon! Patamon!" Patamon's data begins to disintegrate.

Devimon turns his attention to the rest of the Digimon. "Where were we?"

"You're fading away!" Sara sobs.

Patamon looks up at Sara. "I'm glad I got to meet you," Patamon smiles.

"I didn't get to tell you my new name! It's Aster!"

"What a nice name…" As Patamon's body is halfway gone, Devimon stands in front of the remaining Digimon.

"Thank you for helping me evolve…" Aster clenches his Digivice. "I want to help you evolve! I want to see what you evolve to!"

"I do too…" Patamon's body starts to regain its data as Aster's Digivice begins to glow.

"And Digimon like Devimon won't stop us when you do!" Patamon's body regains itself.

"I'll be your guardian angel!" Aster's Digivice and Patamon glow bright. "Patamon evolve!" Patamon rises high into the air as his body grows, becoming white and more human-like, growing six pairs of angelic wings and gaining a golden staff and a metallic helmet covering the top of his head. "Angemon!"

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: Angemon

Level: Adult

Attribute: Vaccine

Technique: Heaven's Knuckle

"Patamon's…an angel?"

Devimon turns around and sees the angelic Digimon hovering in the air. "Another evolution? Hmph." Devimon floats off the ground to the level of Angemon.

"Your plan stops here," Angemon declares.

Devimon laughs. "Our plan cannot be stopped now, you fool. I was tasked to find the conduits and to take out all who would oppose us."

Angemon dashes at Devimon, attempting to strike him with his staff. Devimon blocks the attack with his arms. "Who do you work for?!"

"That's no concern of yours!" Devimon pushes Angemon back. "You all will be gone before our plan comes into fruition!" Devimon tries to strike Angemon. Evading the attack, Angemon flies backwards. "After all, the humans deserve what's coming to them! Death Claw!" Devimon hurls himself towards Angemon.

Angemon's staff condenses itself into his glowing hand. "You won't prevail." Angemon pulls his fist back. "Heaven's Knuckle!" Punching forward, Angemon releases a beam of light from his hand at Devimon, hitting him directly.

Devimon floats still in the air as his data starts to disintegrate from his feet, traveling upwards. He smirks. "You may have defeated me, but you won't defeat my master, Lord L-!" Devimon disperses.

Angemon stares where Devimon was. "Angemon!" Turning, Angemon looks at Aster with a wide smile. Angemon smirks and descends back down, devolving back to Patamon. Aster embraces Patamon. "You were amazing, Patamon!"

"It's thanks to you, Aster!" Patamon snuggles against Aster.

Passing by the convenience store, Lance and V-mon head home. "Another day, another evolution," V-mon points out.

"It appears to be that way…" Lance places his hand to his chin. "There's a couple things that concern me, though. What did Devimon do to Ezra exactly? What did he mean by 'conduit'? And what is this 'master' he mentioned?"

"Hmmmmm…" V-mon folds his arms. "Well, we'll find out eventually, I suppose."

"I'd rather not if we can help it." Lance looks at the data cables. "What's becoming of the worlds, Connor?"