Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure is a fan fiction idea. Please support the official properties.

Author's Notes: Hey there folks! Welcome to the final installment of part I of the Tamer: A Digimon Adventure. I hope that all of you are excited because this has been a long time coming. We're a bit behind schedule but not by much. I want to thank all of you who left reviews, followed, and favorited the story. And a great big special thanks to Ace Spiritwell for creating the cover art for this story. You can help show thanks by checking out their fanfiction profile and their deviantart account. By the way, this is arguably the longest chapter I've written. Okay, let's not hold off any longer and get this chapter started!

The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure

Chapter 52: A Decision

It came from the darkness so quickly that they were overwhelmed by its presence - a figure whose body was large enough to be the size of the Digital World. It was a polyhedron with chain liked arms shaped in a double spiral reaching from every surface. And at the end of each arm was a large three pronged metal claw large enough to crush each of them between its pointed fingers. At the northernmost point of this planet sized body was a humanoid shaped figure melded from the waist down into the polyhedron. A veiny blue body with long slender arms that ended in razor sharp nails. Half of its face was concealed by a black mask with a beak shaped nose and long silver hair that billowed against a wind that wasn't there. Through the holes where the eyes should have been, they could vaguely make out two pointed white lights that chilled them to the core as it looked at them.

"What is THAT!?" MegaKabuterimon shouted.

Its mouth moved but its voice resounded all around them; deep, guttural and slow, "Who. Are. You?"

They all stared at it silence, made all the worse when Tamer started grabbing at his head and barely holding on to WarGreymon. Sora swallowed the forming lump in her throat and answered, "We're the Digidestined, the children chosen to help defend the Digital World with our Digimon Partners. Who are you?"

"We. See. No. Digital. World," it spoke back at them, "We. See. Nothing. To. Defend."

One of the claw like arms moved close, closing so that it resembled a head and only moving one its appendages like a mouth, "We. Are. Apocalymon. We. Are. Born. Of. Your. Dead. Your. Sorrow. Your. Hate. Your. Jealousy. Avarice. Indolence. Desire. Gratification. Fear!"

"Okay, that's helpful," Matt remarked sarcastically, "A great big evil guy that the Dark Masters summoned and Izzy's probably the only one who understands a word he says."

"If I understood correctly, he was born out of negative emotion which is what fuels him. Sort of like how our digivices, our crests, and our partner's digivolutions are powered by positive emotions," Izzy mulled it over quietly, with a hand to his chin. Tamer smacked himself in the forehead and grunted, "Of course! It all makes sense! The war! The Dark Masters. Myotismon, Etemon, Devimon, all of it! They were trying to cause as much chaos as possible to feed this thing! And disrupting destiny ensured a cataclysmic chain of events that guaranteed the Digital World disappeared from reality. In the end, the Dark Masters made sure that this thing would come into Reality no matter what we did."

"So...what? We're fighting literally every bad mood every digimon's ever had in the Digital World?" Mimi asked, "Because you said you're like...one hundred thousand something years old and you probably had a bad mood through all of it. If it made Agumon into SkullGreymon, then I'd hate to see what it did to this thing."

"Your. Mother. Died. It. Feeds. Us," the claw gurgled in front of them, "Your. Fear. Feeds. Us. Your. Hatred. We. Are. Born. Of. This. World. And. Yours. We. Are. What. Was. What. Is. What. Will. Be. The. Digital. World. Made. Us. Real. And. Our. Existence. Is. Agony. We. Must. End. It. We. Will. End. It. Your. Ancients. Sought. To. Stop. Us. Our. Spawn. Our. Servants. They. Turned. Your. Allies. Defeated. Your. Guardians. So. Our. Will. Could. Be. Done!"

"Tai, how do we beat that thing?" Kari asked him from the safety of Angewomon's arms. Still holding his head, the boy was able to look up long enough to see the monstrosity in front of him and grunted, "No idea. Still thinking of one. For now, let's just make conversation."

"You. Are. The. Last. You. Will. Surrender. Or. You. Will. Join. Your. Brethren," it replied angrily. Tamer refused to make eye contact with the claw, instead staring at the figure's pinpoint eyes in the distance. It spoke again, "Your. Fate. Is. Doomed. Yet. You. Still. Cling. To. It. Why? So. Many. Died. Trying. To. Turn. You. What. Makes. Your. Own. Damned. Destiny. Worth. It?"

"Well, for starters, it's really better than anything you're offering us," Tamer replied, "Eternal nothingness sounds boring."

"An eternity where all you can do is nap and never have any snacks when you wake up. I don't like that," WarGreymon added, "You can take it and keep it. Hang on Tamer. TERRA FORCE!"

WarGreymon flew ahead of the group and gathered energy in his hands that created a small ball of fire. He raised it over his head to let it expand tenfold and threw it with all his might. At first, it seemed like it might actually hurt the planetary enemy but they only realized the true size of Apocalymon once it drew closer. When it finally struck the massive creature, all they could make out was a tiny spark of light where it impacted and the creature spoke again, "Your. Resistance. Is. Futile. You. Are. Insects. And. We. Are. God!"

"Scatter!" MetalGarurumon cried out to the others as one of the metal claws came clamping towards them. Everyone shot out in different direction as the claws turned on them from nearly every angle. Tamer adjusted his goggles back over his eyes and chastised his partner, "Good job WarGreymon. Now he's mad!"

"We've made others mad before. The only difference is this guy is bigger," WarGreymon responded. Tamer chuckled, "Yeah."

"THIS GUY IS AS BIG AS A PLANET AND YOU TWO ARE MAKING JOKES!" Lillymon shouted the two down as another large claw nearly snatched her out of the void. Before either could retort, a claw came from behind Lillymon. She noticed it too late to dodge and instead threw Mimi into the air, "Mimi! Look out!"

"Lillymon!" Mimi shrieked in terror, helpless as she watched the claw snatch up her partner. MegaKabuterimon caught the girl in his hand and buzzed towards the claw to ram it with his horn, "I'll rescue her! TAKE THIS!"

It did nothing and left the large beetle reeling long enough for another claw to take him. Thankfully, the Agumon riding his back and Andromon fired on the incoming appendage and blew it to pieces. Once MegaKabuterimon regained himself, he attempted to ram the claw again to free Lillymon while Izzy busied himself to find some kind of information on Apocalymon in his laptop. He scanned it as quickly as he could and found nothing - nothing on this impossible digimon, assuming it even was one.

Without realizing it, Izzy began to think aloud, "Come on! There has to be something. Think. Think. It calls itself Apocalymon - that could be a reference to the apocalypse. Apocalypse is greek for revelation or disclosure. It's used in Abrahamic religions to infer the end of the world but we're not in the apocalypse. Unless this is supposed to be the apocalypse. Some angry priest is going to have to revise their-"

"Izzy! FOCUS!" Sora shouted at him from Garudamon, before she too was thrown off her partner when a claw snatched her from the side. Sora, Gomamon, Joe, Centarumon, and ShogunGekomon all went flying through the void until WarGreymon sped forward to catch the digidestined and Gomamon. Centarumon and ShogunGekomon were not so lucky and were trapped between the metal claws before they could utter a cry. Gomamon stated, "We have to get them out!"

"How?" WarGreymon said, pointing out another large claw snatching MegaKabuterimon, throwing off Izzy, the Agumon, Mimi, and Andromon. MetalGarurumon sped past to catch them while Andromon was taken by another claw. The wolf fired wave after wave of missiles at the claws at the polyhedral body to little effect.

MagnaAngemon and Angewomon flew close beside the wolf to call out the metal claws as they drew near, and MagnaAngemon's sword proved more than effective at slicing the claws apart. For each one he destroyed, another rose to take its place. Eventually, both angels were snatched by the claws - leaving their partners flying through the void. The children screamed at the top of their lungs until WarGreymon caught Kari and MetalGarurumon caught TK. In that brief moment when MetalGarurumon checked to make sure Matt had his little brother, he flew straight into another claw and the two brothers were thrown clear off.

This left WarGreymon as the only digimon left, but the extra load made maneuvering too difficult for him. In the end, a claw snatched him by the leg. Tamer shone light from his digivice to try and repel the claw, but all it did was open wider to grab WarGreymon whole. In a last ditch effort to save the others, WarGreymon threw them all off as hard as he could.

Tamer yelped as he careened away while the digidestined called out for their partners. Gomamon perplexedly asked why he and the Agumon were ignored, "What's going on? Why hasn't he gone for any of us?"

"Are you complaining?" Joe asked him as they all drifted along the emptiness. Gomamon shrugged, "Sort of. I just feel left out is all."

With all the high leveled digimon in hand, Apocalymon mocked them, "Behold. My. Power."

The claws opened up to show each digimon reduced to their rookie forms - Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Patamon, Salamon, and Palmon. Andromon, Centarumon, ShogunGekomon, and Ogremon were not spared the regression - becoming a set of floating gears with a face, an Agumon, an Otamamon, and a little green monster wearing a tunic. The four looked at each and the little green one started laughing, "NO WAY! ShogunGekomon was just an Otamamon? Oh that's rich!"

"Better than you, half-pint," Otamamon spat back, "No one likes you anyway Goblimon!"

"Who are you calling half-pint? I'm the biggest digimon here!" Goblimon said proudly, missing the other half of the insult. The digimon resembling a floating set of gears replied, "Guys! Stop it! We're in the middle of a fight!"

"Hagurumon's right," the Otamamon said. The digidestined's rookie digimon were caught in a daze, with Tamer's Agumon saying, "That was the weirdest feeling ever."

"Does anyone else have that tired feeling after you normally de-digivolve? Because I don't. I feel...I don't know what I feel," Biyomon said. Gabumon covered himself with his paws, "I don't know but I don't want it to happen again."

"Are you guys okay?" Matt called out to the digimon. Each of them gave a shaky nod and mumbled something about feeling a little sick. Only Tamer asked, "Agumon! Are you still able to fight?"

The little dinosaur nodded and raised his arm up, "I'm ready when you are boss. I just need to digivolve!"

"That's right! He might have made you guys small but you can still digivolve as long as we have our crests and digivices!" Kari reminded them excitedly, "We can beat him! We just need to keep fighting!"

"Yeah! We can't give up, no matter what!" TK added, "Patamon! Can you still go?"

"Always," the little creature beat his ear wings furiously to fly forwards towards Apocalymon.

"Okay! Everyone, use your crests to get your partners back up to the Ultimate level!" Tamer shouted. They collectively cheered as their digimon hurried to join the charge led by Patamon.

"No. You. Won't," Apocalymon's claws came at the digimon from every direction, then passed over them for the digidestined. Sora tried to reach for Kari but had no way of propelling herself in the void, so she had to helplessly watch as a claw moved to claim the girl. However, it snatched away the tag hanging around her neck and crushed it with between its claws. Another did the same for Sora's crest, as it did for all the other digidestined. Salamon's mouth fell open, "What just happened?"

"I thought you said the crests can't be broken!" Mimi scolded Tamer, who was just as dumbfounded, "They can't!"

"This. Is. Not. Your. Reality. Your. Rules. Mean. Nothing," Apocalymon replied, "It. Is. Ours. And. Our. Will. Be. Done."

"Well. That's…not good," Tamer frowned, massaging his temple in his hands. He called out to his partner, "Agumon? I'm out of ideas. Got anything?"

"Do we have a banana?"

"How is a banana going to help?" Palmon asked curiously. Agumon rubbed his stomach, "Oh, not for that. I'm just really hungry."

"Focus!" Joe snapped, "We're literally staring at the apocalypse!"

"How can Agumon focus when he's hungry?" Tamer came to his friend's defense, "I'm hungry too! Do you want to snap at me? What you need is some positive thinking Joe!"

Joe's face twisted into an angered growl, "I tried positive thinking once and I was positive of one thing - I was positively sure that I was just thinking wishfully! We need a plan and we need one now."

"Boy, you digidestined sure like to bicker," Goblimon observed quietly, upsetting Matt, "Says the digimon who literally spent so long fighting Leomon that he had no idea what to do afterwards."

TK grunted his disapproval, "Guys! Stop it! We need to work together to beat him and we can't do that if you won't stop fighting with each other! This guy says he comes from all the bad stuff that happens, right? So stop fighting! Otherwise, we'll just end up making him stronger!"

"What do we do TK?" Kari asked the boy hopefully. He looked her square in the eye and answered, "We don't give up! That's what we do! So what if we lost the crests? We still have our digivices! That means we can still digivolve our partners! And if we lose that? Well, we just keep fighting! We keep doing what we can and we don't stop!"

In spite of the lost crest, a golden light came from TK's chest after finished. A light that enveloped Patamon in spite of his lost crest. In a bright flash of light, Patamon digivolved straight to his Ultimate form of MagnaAngemon. The other digidestined watched breathlessly as the angel flew ahead and cut one of the metal claws apart. Tamer was the most amazed and was left sputtering, "How did you…no crest! You can't…it's not…what just…"

"Are you stroking out?" Agumon asked quietly. Inspired by his little brother, Matt put a hand on the boy's shoulder and added, "He's right. There are people out there counting on us - our friends and our family. I know that if we work together, all of us, we can beat this guy!"

A blue light emanated from his chest and propelled Gabumon straight to his Mega level as MetalGarurumon. Another digivolution that was impossible without the crest, yet still happened regardless. Still, the brothers' inspirational display showed them that it was possible to digivolve without the crests but Izzy, Tamer, and Agumon were the only ones concerned with how it was possible. Sora agreed with Matt and exchanged an empowered glance to Biyomon, "He's right. Everything and everyone we care about is on the line. And they're definitely cheering us on!"

She thought of her parents, of Tai and Kari's parents, her friends when she said those words. She thought of how much each of them meant to her and her desire to protect them. A light came from her chest as well, a soft red light that empowered Biyomon into Garudamon, "Wow. Sora. This strength. It's amazing. I can feel so much energy."

"No! No! This doesn't make sense!" Tamer complained, dumbstruck that it happened not once but three times. Apocalymon was unamused and began his counter attack, sending forth claws to destroy the digidestined. Garudamon gathered everyone into her arms and began flying around desperately to avoid the claws coming at them. MagnaAngemon and MetalGarurumon flanked her, fighting back any claws that came close and dodging the ones they couldn't push back.

"Ice Wolf Claw!"

"Excalibur!"

"I can't take this. We have to get out there and help them," Palmon stamped her foot impatiently. Mimi agreed, "You're right. I can't just stand around like this. I want to do my part too! And we have a bone to pick with this big creep!"

A green light came forth from her chest and wrapped her plant partner in its glow, digivolving her straight from Palmon to Lillymon. Lillymon flew out of Garudamon's arms to join the battle against Apocalymon's many claws. Tamer continued to sputter in confusion until Agumon smacked him in the back of the head for speaking gibberish. Joe looked out at the fighting from within Garudamon's claws. Gomamon cocked his head, "What do you think Joe? Should we get in there?"

"Yeah. We were chosen for this right? They wouldn't have made a choice like that if we weren't up for it. Will you be okay, though? I mean, you said you can't fly and I don't see any solid ground for you to fight on," Joe pointed out. Gomamon glanced over at Tamer and Agumon before replying with a smirk, "Eh, we'll wing it. Right?"

"Go for it buddy!" Joe cheered his partner on when he leapt out of Garudamon's hands, backed by a soft gray light coming from his partner's chest. The light enveloped him, and changed him to Zudomon just in time to slam his hammer into one of the large claws coming at Garudamon from below. Tamer continued to sputter, "None of this should be possible without the crests! How are any of you doing this without the crests?"

"Possible or not, it just...feels right," Kari said to him, "The light that made them all digivolve. It's warm and it feels safe. It's better than all the darkness around us."

"Kari, that's not how it works," Tamer tried to explain it to her until she countered, "That's what they said about you! You were gone and never coming back. But guess what? You did! I don't question it because it made me happy to see you again. Even if you couldn't remember me. And not just you, I got to see Sora and Koromon again. I mean Agumon. Plus, I got to meet Gatomon and we beat her mean boss Myotismon! I mean Salamon. This is confusing."

"Right, if we hadn't met each other," Salamon said pausing briefly to add, "And if Wizardmon hadn't helped me find you, I'd still be a member of Myotismon's army - doing everything he asked because I was too scared to say no."

"So don't say it's not possible Tai. Because it happened!" Kari said, a pink light glowing forth from her chest that wrapped around Salamon. The little pup knew to leap out of Garudamon's hands as she turned into Angewomon, "Let's work together everyone! We can push this monster back where it came from!"

"Fascinating," Izzy mused, unaware that his own chest was giving off a purple glow while he thought aloud, "The crests are gone but we're still able to digivolve our partners to the Ultimate level without them. That shouldn't be possible. Unless, and this is just a conjecture, they work on the same principle as our digivices. The digivices use energy driven by our emotions and converts it into something that helps our digimon reach stronger levels. If I had to guess, the crests work on that same principle but are focused towards single thoughts or emotions as opposed to simple emotional states."

"But Izzy, Knowledge and Responsibility aren't exactly emotions you can have," Tentomon countered. Izzy scratched the back of his head, "Yeah. It was just a thought. It needs more evidence before any serious conclusions can be drawn. I'd like to study it in greater detail if we still had the crests on us."

"That's my Izzy. I'm just glad you're not using this as an excuse to put something off," Tentomon nodded approvingly as he saw the light coming from Izzy's crest. He understood what that meant and flew away, "I should get out there too and help fight the bad guy!"

The purple light surrounded Tentomon and turned him into MegaKabuterimon. In this stronger form, he rammed his horn in to one of the large claws and snapped it off the twisted tentacle appendage with a loud crunch. Tamer stood baffled while Izzy added, "It's always a welcome change of pace when we're not the ones with no idea what's going on."

"You digidestined sure are amazing," said the Otamamon that had once been ShogunGekomon. The Agumon that had been Centarumon watched MagnaAngemon and Angewomon work together to shatter one of the claws at full force, observing, "You really are meant to drive back the darkness."

"It just comes down to you guys to get in there too," Goblimon commented, shooting a sideways glance at Tamer and Agumon. Tamer was still absolutely baffled by their subversion of the rules but Agumon was bemused by the spectacle. He turned to his partner and nudged him, "What do you say Tamer? We have to go help too, y'know? Besides, it's not like either of us ever cared for the rules anyway."

"No we didn't," Tamer recalled quietly, musing on the circumstances in front of them before answering, "Now that I think about it, this place is perfect for us. The rules of reality don't apply here. I'd say screw it, let's do what's right and save destiny. But this moment is outside all of that. There is no destiny here - it's just what we choose to do. He's using that freedom to destroy reality. So I say let's use that freedom to set it right."

"Won't that be doing what destiny said we would?" Agumon asked. Tamer shrugged, "I guess. But in that context, we'd be doing not because we're supposed to but because we chose too. I don't really want to wax philosophical right now."

"You said it, buddy," Agumon nodded, letting the orange light from Tamer's crest envelope him before he jumped out of Garudamon's hands to become WarGreymon. The dinosaur warrior made his presence known by setting the air around him aflame and spinning through several of the tentacled claws reaching for Garudamon, "Great Tornado!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

"Flower Cannon!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Excalibur!"

Each digimon did their part to fight back the increasing number of claws coming after them. Like the Vilemon before it, every claw they cut down was quickly replaced by another. However, it was easy to predict their movements because of their slow speed. Avoiding them really came down to getting out of their massive path. While they fought, something happened they didn't expect - a stream of blue light shot past their formation and set off a large explosion in the distance, accompanied by an enraged scream, "River of Power!"

The blast of energy disappeared in the distance and erupted in a large flash of light. Slack jawed, Angewomon pointed out, "It can't be! We beat MetalSeadramon!"

"It isn't," MagnaAngemon assured her pointing off into the distance at another metal claw whose appendages opened out for a shadow. It writhed and squirmed while it took a solid form. The serpentine figure of MetalSeadramon leered at them before attacking again, "RIVER OF POWER!"

The blast scattered the digidestined's digimon as they tried to make themselves a harder target to hit. Apocalymon growled and opened another of his claws to produce a similar shadowy figure that took the shape of Machinedramon. Another claw opened and produced a shadow in the shape of Devimon. A fourth claw created the darkened silhouette of Myotismon. The three specters each took their own shots at the digidestined, "Giga Cannon!"

"Grisly Wing!"

"Death Hands!"

Beams of energy and swarms of bats came at them all at once. MagnaAngemon put himself in front of the group to reopen the gate of destiny once more. As soon as he did, a second gate appeared just above the first. Both opened at the same time but neither created the same roaring wind from before. Instead, the gate opened by MagnaAngemon simply swallowed all the attacks thrown at them while the second spat them back out in the opposite direction back at Apocalymon. Sora was the first to point it out, "Look! The other gate!"

"We know where MagnaAngemon's gate goes now. Right here apparently," Izzy commented. Tamer raised his goggles to see the spectacle with his own eyes, "Fantastic! I always wondered where a gate would go if there were no coordinates entered. Now I know. Brilliant!"

The attacks struck the surface of Apocalymon's massive form but there was no damage at the point of impact. Zudomon commented, "This guy's tough. All those attacks did nothing to him!"

"We're aiming at the wrong spot," Izzy said, pointing out the northernmost tip of Apocalymon's massive frame, where the upper half of a humanoid digimon stood, "We just have to get close and attack its upper half!"

"Will it work?" MegaKabuterimon asked.

"It's squishier than the rest of it," WarGreymon replied, "That's good enough for me! Let's go for it!"

Before they could talk it out further, WarGreymon zipped ahead of them and punched the first claw that tried to get in his way. Garudamon sighed at his lack of forethought and cried out, "Come on! Let's help him together!"

The other digimon rallied around her and followed after WarGreymon while listening to their partners cheer them on. Even more claws appeared to stop them with shadows that took the shape of their old enemies - Etemon, Puppetmon, Piedmon, LadyDevimon, DemiDevimon, and other digimon they'd defeated previously. The shadows of their former enemies took turns attacking the digidestined as they flew past, forcing their digimon to change directions constantly while steadily making their way up to Apocalymon's body. While they ducked and weaved, a handful of claws moved like mouths so Apocalymon could speak, "Your. Efforts. Are. Futile. The. Digital. World. Is. Destroyed. We. Begin. Anew. In. The. Human. World. And. Others. After. It. Your. Efforts. Are. Pointless."

"We're not going to let you!" Sora shouted at one of the mouths. They ignored her to look off into the distance, "You. Are. Too. Late. To. Stop. Me."

A tear began to form some distance in the darkness - a light that expanded and grew until it was large enough to see the lights of a city from above. The digidestined all knew what they were looking at right away. Joe gasped, "It's Tokyo!"

"Our home," Mimi added. While they were awe struck, the mouth like claws parted to spew out a black cloud - swarms of Vilemon cackling and screeching towards the portal to the Real World. MagnaAngemon called out, "He's sending an army to attack your world!"

In the real world, the parents on the digidestined were still gathered at the street where they'd just watched their children leave for the world above. Toshiko Takenouchi and Haruhiko looked up in awe, wondering what was going to happen to their only daughter and her thought to be deceased friend. Occasionally, they glanced over at their old friend Yuuko Kamiya. They knew each other mostly through their kids - their only daughter and her eldest son were best friends.

Still, they could only imagine what she had been going through - watching idly as both her children went to the alien world in the sky after they'd spent their afternoon on the run from monsters. Before any of them could utter a word to each other, they saw one of the parents point up, "Look! The sky!"

Above them, they watched as the world started to disappear systematically. First a desert like zone, then the ocean, afterwards the forest, and finally a wasteland. Leaving behind an empty void. The woman beside the man shook him, "Oh my god! Hiroaki! Our boys are up there!"

"I knew it. I knew it! I should have gone with them!" Yuuko panicked, "I can't lose them both! Not again!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure they're all fine," the doctor assured them quietly, "My son is there too. They wouldn't have been chosen if they weren't ready for whatever they're up against. Besides, they defeated the monsters on their own - we'd likely have been a burden if we had gone with them."

Toshiko looked up again to see the darkness that had replaced the world above. Slowly something came into view. She squinted her eyes to better see as the figures became clearer. First, they saw their children above with their backs to them, along with the monsters they called friends. Then something else, a world sized monstrosity that dwarfed them in such a scope that they resembled specks in the distance. Panic swept through the streets as every who could see the monster above was now in a state of panic.

The police in the area tried to calm everyone down, a hard feat when they were visibly shaking at whatever they were looking at. Toshiko put her hands together and hoped that whatever their children would come back okay after whatever they were fighting.

"We have to stop them!" Matt shouted out, "MetalGarurumon!"

"Don't worry, I'll go back and stop them," MetalGarurumon turned around to head for the portal, followed by MegaKabuterimon and Lillymon. Tamer shouted, "No! Don't! We need to focus on Apocalymon! If we stop him, we can stop all of this."

"We're not leaving the portal undefended," Mimi declared, stamping her foot down on Tamer's and forcing him to jump up in pain. Her point made, Tamer relented, "Okay. Okay. If it'll make you feel better, WarGreymon and I will head back to cut them off. Sora, you take the rest of the digimon and stop Apocalymon."

Sora shook her head and protested "What? No! Tai, you should come with us and-"

"Sora!" Tamer snapped, "You guys got this. Just avoid the claws, don't get killed by the villain knock-offs, and kick Apocalymon's butt. Easy!"

"But-"

"Look, you and Garudamon took out Etemon which I couldn't do. TK and MagnaAngemon defeated Piedmon. Kari and Angewomon destroyed Myotismon. Joe and Zudomon beat MetalEtemon. You guys have this," Tamer said encouragingly. The digidestined who weren't mentioned scoffed, with Matt asking, "What about us?"

"You did other things. Don't worry about it," Tamer nodded with a wink, "You guys just go take care of Apocalymon. WarGreymon! Let's head back!"

"What?" the dinosaur looked over his shoulder, "You've got to be kidding."

"As a matter of fact, I am not. We're going to cut off those Vilemon and make sure not one of them gets through!" Tamer shouted aloud, leaping over the side of Garudamon's hand. Kari shouted after her brother too late to stop him and ran to the edge in time to see WarGreymon catch him in his arms. WarGreymon remarked, "You are going to get yourself killed with all the jumping that you do."

"Not if you're with me! Let's go!" Tamer pointed for the portal where MetalGarurumon, MegaKabuterimon, and Lillymon were doing everything to hold off the tide of Vilemon. MetalGarurumon's rockets tore through them easily, thinning the herd for Lillymon and MegaKabuterimon to pick apart. When WarGreymon joined the fray, he cut their numbers by throwing his Terra Force into the heart of the swarm.

Knowing the portal was defended, Sora looked at the others who had their eyes on her expectantly. She looked ahead at Apocalymon's massive body, knowing that it would be an intense battle just to get close to his massive frame. But they were the only ones standing in the way of whatever Apocalymon was and they had to stop him to save the entire Digital World. Her throat dried but she said, "Okay guys! Let's go save our world!"

The digidestined cheered their remaining digimon on. Zudomon leapt from tentacled claw to tentacled claw, using his hammer to smash them apart before moving onto the next one. MagnaAngemon flew ahead of the main group and used his sword to cut the arms in half while Angewomon stayed back to shoot her arrows at the claws. While they wouldn't be powerful enough to destroy them, the claws that were disconnected would be thrown off into the void, thus clearing a path. In the center was Garudamon, moving as fast as she could to protect the digidestined in her hands but also to quickly get to Apocalymon's torso.

Claw after claw came, some opening to reveal the shades of their former enemies while others unleashed swarms of Vilemon. All the while, a few of the claws moved like mouths to talk, "Why. Do. You. Resist?"

"This. Is. Inevitable."

"Death. Is. The. Fate. Of. All. Things."

"Life. Is. Sorrow. And. Sacrifice. And. Loss."

"It. Feeds. Us."

"We. Are. Made. Stronger."

"We. Are. Always."

"And. Eternal."

"Destiny. Means. Nothing. Here."

"You. Cannot. Defeat. Us."

"We. Are. God."

"You're wrong!" TK spat back, "You're not a god! You're just a bully! A bully throwing a tantrum and taking out your problems on others!"

"Yeah! Everything dies but that doesn't mean we have to just lie down and take it!" Sora argued, "We live on!"

"It's sad every time we lose someone we care about, but that only means we really did care for them," Mimi added with a smile, "Our pain shows how much we cared."

"It can be hard to deal with, but that doesn't mean we have to be afraid of it," Matt continued, "We have to accept that things change and that's okay. Because if we don't, then we just get stuck."

"And that doesn't do anyone any good," Joe nodded, "What good does that do anyone if all we did was mope and around? Nothing."

"So we're going to take everything we've learned, everything we experienced, and we're going to use it to beat you!" Izzy affirmed.

"Because we're the digidestined! And destiny or not, we're going to beat you!" Kari declared happily. As they spoke, the light poured from their chests to drive back the claws and the shadows of their old enemies. Apocalymon's voice screamed in agony, "This. Light. What. Is. It?"

"It. Does. Not. Belong. Here."

"This. Place. Is. Darkness."

"Light. Is. Not. Welcome. In. This. Place."

"Cease. This. Resistance."

"We. Must. Drive. It. Out!"

Even though he said that, the claws were absolutely powerless against the light that came from their chests and were forced to retreat away as the digidestined flew past. This cleared a path straight for the northern most edge of Apocalymon's body where they came face to face with the humanoid being. Its eyes were more piercing up close and its face was twisted - conveying both calm and tortured agony at the same time. Just looking at it was painful for them and gave them splitting headaches. But they wouldn't look away from the monster that had caused all of this.

It was completely open to attack here, and made no attempt to stop them now that it was illuminated by the light of their crests. It's mouth moved inhumanly when it spoke, sideways but also inverted - sucking in air instead of breathing it out, "Finish. It."

"Go for it guys!" Sora cried out.

"Wing Blade!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

"Excalibur!"

The three ranged attacks stabbed him through the chest, staggering him and leaving him reeling. MagnaAngemon delivered the finishing blow by removing his head with a swing of his sword. The head was cleanly removed from his body but the mess that followed had Joe covering both Kari and TK's eyes. Blood spurted from his neck, sometimes red but other times green until his torso went limp and sagged onto the rest of his massive polyhedral frame. Then it began dissipating to data slowly. It left nothing behind as it continued past his torso and spread out towards the rest of world sized body.

In the distance, they witnessed the clouds of Vilemon become nothing, leaving the bewildered defenders of the portal cheering at the apparent victory. It didn't last long as they all realized that the gate was still open. WarGreymon led the rest of the digimon back to rejoining them while Tamer called out, "HEY! So…did you guys do it?"

"I think so," TK answered although his tone betrayed his uncertainty. Lillymon looked over her shoulder, "But then, why's the portal to the Real World still open?"

"Tai, do you know?" Kari asked him. He shook his head and pointed back at Apocalymon, "I don't, but I bet that might have something to do with it."

Apocalymon's body was still dissipating into data but there was something left behind. A dark polyhedron that was visible only by the light reflecting off the portal to the Real World. The Otamamon that had been ShogunGekomon blinked in disbelief, "What is that?"

"I don't get it. We beat Apocalymon! His body should be turning to data! So what is that?" Izzy shouted excitedly, leading to Mimi slapping the back of his head, "Not so loud. We're right here."

"You. Have. Not. Won," Apocalymon' guttural voice growled from nothing. Everyone felt a chill run down their spines and looked in every direction possible for the source. But there was only one thing that could have made that noise and it was sitting directly beneath them - the black object before them. Angewomon protested, "That's not possible! We killed it!"

"This isn't reality Angewomon. The normal rules don't apply," Tamer reminded her, "Death may not even be possible here. So we'll just have to keep on fighting until it stays down."

"No. Fight. Only. Death. For. Those. Who. Resist. Our. Power. Grows. From. The. Digital. And. The. Real. The. Despair. The. Fear. The. Anger. The. Anguish. It. Feeds. Us. Fuels. Our. Final. Attack. Our. Final. Gambit. We. Will. Perish. This. Reality. Will. Perish. All. Ends. With. Us."

"Can someone explain what he just said? I don't speak Izzy," Matt frowned, noticing that everyone else was just as lost as he was. Izzy sighed when he saw everyone looking at him and explained, "The portal! The whole of Tokyo can see this. If time passes there like it did before then our parents probably just watched us leave a second ago, and now we're facing Apocalymon."

"It's not just them, everyone in the city and around it could just look up and see this," Joe panicked, "He's literally using all the fear and panic to become stronger."

"Oh that's bad," MetalGarurumon motioned for everyone to join him in retreating away, uncertain of what would happen next.

"What do we do?" Zudomon asked, "I don't see any weak points to hit this time."

"Just pound it until it breaks," MegaKabuterimon growled, "If we hit it with everything we've got, then we can beat him!"

"We just did that!" Sora shouted, noting that the black shape began glowing a soft white light. Apocalymon's low guttural voice began, "Prepare. For. Our. Ultimate. Attack. Our. Energy. Will. Be. Unleashed. It. Will. Consume. All. Worlds. Everything. Comes. To. Nothing. Our. Will. Be. Done. Total. Annihilation. BIG. BANG!"

A distant sound of thunder accompanied hundreds of tiny flashes around the black shell, cracking it apart. Tamer panicked, "That much energy released against a weak point in reality like the portal to the Real World is...oh crap. We're looking at a total event collapse. The combined yield is going to destroy everything!"

"Total Event Collapse? That's just a theory!" Izzy argued, "There's no way that's possible."

"Well, we're watching it happen! Right there! That weak point will break like a glass window, cracking open the barrier between worlds. With nothing to keep them in place, the worlds will collide and shatter. Everything is going to end right here! Okay, need a plan. Think, think, think," Tamer warned, tapping his finger against his head in a desperate attempt to make the thoughts flow faster. Mimi shouted, "What do we do!? We can stop it, right?"

"I'm thinking!" Tamer shouted, "I...I...this just seems so familiar. Why is it so familiar? Who cares about that! What do we do? What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO!?"

"Don't give up! That's what we do!" TK said, "This isn't hopeless! We can beat him!"

No sooner had TK spoken, but his digivice flashed three arrows of white light that extended into the distance. Seeing this, Tamer pulled the boy into a hug, "I Remember! TK! You're a genius!"

"What?" TK mumbled, trying to push himself away from Tamer's close chest. He answered, "The digivices! We can use them to- That's why there's eight! That's why! Oh, I can't believe I didn't see this before! So stupid!"

"Tamer! The explosion!?" WarGreymon reminded him. Tamer nodded, "Yes! Right! The digivices! We use them to erect a barrier around Apocalymon. A hard light barrier! There's eight of us which means we can create a perfect square - a box that will contain the explosion and save your world. It works the same way it always has. Just like TK's digivice!"

"Okay, let's split up and contain this blast!" Izzy shouted. The digidestined scattered into the hands of their partners and hurried for different points around the ever growing explosion. As soon as each of them got to the right spot their digivices sprang to life with light. Each beam connected to each other, slowly sealing the barrier around the growing my blast. Tamer and WarGreymon went to the furthest point away from TK, ready to finish the barrier and hold the explosion back. Unlike the others, Tamer's digivice did not activate once they were in place - the two were unnervingly still and the digivice remained dark in the face of impending annihilation. Sora shouted, "Tamer! WarGreymon! What's wrong? Hey!"

"What's going on? Why aren't they moving?" MetalGarurumon asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to look!" Kari shouted, "Let's go Angewomon!"

The angel digimon said, moving from her place on the barrier. Despite letting go, the digivice held its place in the void unyielding against the growing blast. Apocalymon's voice growled, "They. Are. Lost. In. Their. Own. World. You. Can't Awaken. Them. In. Time. It. Is Too. Late."

"Shut up!" Kari barked back just as Angewomon reached Tamer and WarGreymon. The two stared blankly into nothing, caught in a trance that held their attention. Angewomon landed beside them and Kari tried to snap her brother out of it but couldn't get any kid of response, "Tai! Tai! Answer me! Tai! Please!"

Angewomon did the same to WarGreymon only to be met by silence.

"They. Can't. Hear. You. They. Don't. Want. To. Hear. You," Apocalymon retorted, "We. Gave. Them. Everything. They. Want. They. Have. No. Reason. To. Leave. The. Dream."

"I don't get it. What could you have possibly shown them?" Angewomon grit her teeth angrily, shaking the Mega level digimon furiously. Apocalymon laughed, "We. See. All. We. Know. Their. Greatest. Desire. The. Cause. Of. Their. Grief. Their. Anger. Their. Despair. Behold. Their. Wishes. Made. Real."

Kari and Angewomon saw the darkness come to life with a light, revealing a scene from a castle that was old and new - crowded with people dressed in flowing white robes with gray trim going about their business. There were a handful whose trim were a different color, but neither could discern a reason for the colors. In the crowd, there were seven who caught her immediate attention - three digimon and four humans.

Tai, the older brother she knew when he'd first disappeared, dressed in a white robe with orange trim along side Agumon. They were talking to another person - a girl who seemed about his age but Kari had trouble recognizing the face. At times, it looked like Sora and other times it didn't. Her hair was much longer than Sora's but the color was right - some of the time. Other times, it appeared a burned orange or even brown. The only consistency was the trim on her white robe - a sharp red that helped to outline her build. Seeing the two of them talk, brought memories to mind of seeing Tai and Sora talking so many years ago - best friends who were inseparable. With her was a little blue imp like digimon who argued with Agumon incessantly.

The third was a boy with sharp black hair and tan skin wearing a blue trim robe beside them. Next to him was a gray digimon resembling something between a fox and a dinosaur. Occasionally the digimon would crack a joke that would make them laugh and the boy would pat the digimon. Finally, there was a single adult mixed in - a man with gray trim on his robe who was trying to scold them all to go back to class.

The scene flashed and changed again - they were older now. Adults who'd aged but still interacted as closely and warmly as they did while children. Only now with an air of intimacy between Tai and the woman - holding each other close in each other's arms as they sat under a tree some distance away from the castle. Their intimacy was only broken when Agumon and the imp like digimon jumped in between them. Instead of becoming angered, they laughed uncontrollably as Agumon complained to them to stop. In distance, Kari and Angewomon could see the man who chastised them as children looking in silent approval.

The scene changed once more to a sunny day in the not far off future - the two were stood before each other dressed more ceremoniously. Tai, his hair cut short and style back, had grown to be well built of his size and wore only the black attire beneath his robes. The girl matured into a beautiful woman and still wore the white robe although now it lacked the red trim and had been fitted to accentuate her body. The two walked hand in hand down an aisle, away from an altar where the same man who'd scolded as children stood in full white garb to declare a blessing on them. Agumon and the little digimon she didn't recognize cheered them on happily.

The scene faded once more to them at old age, with children who'd had children of their own. The same man who scolded them as kids and wedded them now attended their children with the same teacher attitude he'd had before. The woman turned to the older Tai and asked one question, "Do you have any regrets?"

Gently, he brushed her cheek with his hand, "Nothing."

Kari knew it was wrong. Everything about this was wrong. She scrambled off her partner and ran to her brother, tugging at his robes, "Tai!"

His eyes widened when he noticed her, listening to her plea, "This isn't real! None of it is real! Please, snap out of it!"

"Kari!? You can't be here. There's-"

He paused when he turned to look back at the woman and saw her face cracking like glass. They both watched, stunned as the world shattered into a million pieces to reveal the darkened void with the encroaching explosion. He still had his hand out stretched for where the woman had been, "No! No! It was real! It had to be! It-"

"It. Is. Real. They. Were. It. Can. Be. Yours. Again," Apocalymon's voice echoed. Even though Kari was still holding on to his shirt, he ignored her to ask, "They'd still be alive. All of them?"

"Yes."

"Even-"

"If. You. Desire."

Kari saw his eyes glaze over and pulled on his robe to get his attention, "Tai! It's not real. None of it was real! It was a lie! Every bit of it."

"I haven't seen them in so long. I wanted to believe it was real," he replied sheepishly, "You saw it too, right WarGreymon?"

"I did," WarGreymon said with a pause, "All of them."

Angewomon interjected, "Tamer, I don't know what we saw or who they were, but none of that was real. Are you going to throw away everything you've ever worked for just for a lie?

Tamer opened his mouth to reply but no words escaped. He just stared blankly at the ever encroaching explosion. Kari tugged on his robe again to remind him that she was there, "Tai! Please! We have to save our world!"

He finally looked at her for the first time since the illusion fell apart and only managed to say her name, "Kari?"

"How can I Kari? How can I when they're so close. I could see them again," Tamer said, unaware that the longing tone in his voice hurt her. She replied, ignoring the tears she felt coming on, "Because I know you, Tai. You always pull through when you need too the most. Everyone else is doing what they can to hold this back. We just need you! You can do it Tai!"

He examined her carefully, eyes still lost on what he should do, "You…trust me that much? After everything I did?"

"Yes!" Kari shouted, seeing the explosion draw closer. She knew he was talking about his persistent leaving but this wasn't the time to talk about it. WarGreymon positioned himself to shield Kari and Angewomon, "It's getting close! If you're going to do something Tamer, do it now!"

He ignored WarGreymon and kept his eyes fixed only her. It only lasted a moment but, when Kari looked into his eyes, she saw Tai - the older brother she knew for so long - staring back. He rested a hand on her shoulder and tried to crack a smile but instead only manage to tilt his lips, "I'm sorry Kari."

He gave her a shove and pushed her back into Angewomon's arms. Tamer pointed his digivice and fired three arrows of light out into the darkness, connecting with the other digivices in the distance. The light spread out, creating a barrier that trapped the fiery explosion. Still, it tried to break its way through the barrier and Apocalymon's voice raged against the darkness, "It. Could. Have. Been. Yours."

"It was!" her brother shouted, "But you took it away! You took it all away!"

"We. Offered. It. Back!"

"It was a lie!" Tamer roared, "All of it!"

The light coming from his digivice was blinding in the darkness and the screeching noise deafened anyone who could hear it. WarGreymon pushed Angewomon away, "Keep back! I'll go help Tamer!"

"Wait!" Kari called back for them, "Tai! WarGreymon!"

She knew she was shouting but couldn't hear her own screams over the deafening roar of his digivice. Soon, the light of her brother's digivice was too bright and she could only see white all around her. Angewomon held her tight despite how hard she reached for where her brother had been, letting go only when the first blades of green grass appeared beneath her. Kari landed with a soft thump and ran to the edge of the grass while calling for her brother, "Tai! TAI! Where are you!?"

Her heart felt lighter when she saw someone in the distance, a dark figure on the horizon accompanied by something just a little taller than Angewomon. But it sank when it was close enough for her to realize it was TK and MagnaAngemon. There was still relief to know that there was someone else in here with her, it just wasn't who she hoped it would be. TK waved his arms in the air, "Kari! You're okay! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Do you see anyone else?" Kari asked, realizing more things in the distance were becoming clear to her. Trees, flowers, stones, and water. TK shook his head, "No, we didn't see any one. Just this bright white stuff."

"But we heard you, calling out through the light. That's how we found you," MagnaAngemon offered as his explanation. Angewomon looked all around the white void, seeing the grass spread out and trees sprouting from the ground as it expanded further out. In the same distance, she saw another figure - much larger than the last and was disappointed that it again wasn't Tai but Sora and Garudamon. Garudamon's landing was far from elegant which she apologized for as Sora leapt off to hug the two kids, "You're okay! I'm so glad. The digivice led us to you. I was worried when there was that bright flash of light."

"Yeah, we thought we were done for," said Goblimon, "But you digidestined managed to beat that guy."

"I guess that prophecy from the old temple is just history now," the Agumon who'd used to be Centarumon said, "I wonder what I should do now?"

"You could always come with us!" one of the Agumon from Koromon Village suggested, "We'd be more than happy to have help putting our village back together."

"First, we'll need to find the others," Sora said quickly, "Not to mention figuring out where we are!"

"We won't have to wait too long," the Hagurumon who was Andromon said, motioning above them.

"Hey!" they heard Matt's voice, and the sound of MetalGarurumon's engines as he soared over head. It didn't take long for the other digidestined to join them - Mimi and Lillymon were greeted with enthusiasm from Otamamon although he refused to be addressed by his old title as ShogunGekomon. Izzy and MegaKabuterimon came next with Joe and Gomamon, having given the two a ride since neither of their digimon could fly. All the while, the world around them came back to life with rolling grass fields, forests, a distant mountain, and a nearby lake with an old street car sitting on the coast. Kari continued scanning the horizon expectantly for her older brother or WarGreymon to show up but they never did.

"I remember this place, we're back on File Island!" Mimi said when the sky finally returned above them, "But I thought the Digital World was destroyed, so what are we ding here?"

"Maybe beating Apocalymon set everything right?" Izzy postulated although MegaKabuterimon countered, "Does that mean the other digimon will come back? Piximon, Leomon, and Wizardmon!"

Angewomon looked over hopefully at the thought of seeing Wizardmon again but her heart sank when she heard Kari say, "I don't see them. Where are they?"

As she said that, she finally noticed him standing some distance away from the group. He was hardly there though; transparent and frowning at them apologetically. It was like a ghost of himself. Kari gasped on seeing him as he tried to offer some kind of friendly greeting with a smirk, "Hey guys."

"Tamer! Man, what's up with the projection thing that Etemon uses? Where are you guys?" Matt raised an eyebrow in disbelief. MetalGarurumon looked around the surrounding tree line, "You two didn't get stuck in another part of the Digital World, did you? Hurry up and get here!"

"It's sort of like that. But it's not the Digital World. Or any world for that matter. We're stuck outside of reality," Tamer replied sheepishly. Kari shook her head in disbelief, already trying to see the positive side of things, "But you can come back into this world right? We beat the bad guy!"

Without acknowledging her question, he pressed on, "I don't have a lot of time so I'll try to keep it short. That barrier we made with our digivices contained the energy that Apocalymon released when he did tried to self destruct. The barrier is self sustaining now, so there's no need for our digivices to maintain it. I'm using that energy right now and channeling it through my digivice to recreate the Digital World using the data on Izzy's laptop. Think of it as restoring a computer from a back up."

"Wait, is that why you put all that information on my computer!?" Izzy asked. He shook his head, "No, I just thought it might do you guys some good to know what you're getting into. Honest. The thing about that energy is, it looks like there's a lot. And there is. But there's only so much and I have to use as little of it as I can."

Kari looked up hopefully, "You can use some of it to bring yourself here, though. You and WarGreymon can come back!"

Tamer finally looked at her, reaching out with his hand to pat her head only for his hand to pass through. He did something like a laugh, before trying to level his hand on her head again and co, "It isn't that simple Kari. I could use that energy to bring us back into reality, but then there wouldn't be enough to send you guys back to your world. I either send you guys back to your world, or reassert ourselves back on this world."

"So our choices are to either stay stuck in this world or leave you stuck wherever you are," Lillymon repeated more than asked, sheepishly looking at her partner only to see her just as lost. He snorted, "I'm not giving you guys a choice in the matter. WarGreymon and I will just stay out here. That way, you guys will get a ride back to your world. There should be a street care nearby you can use. It's already been reformatted for a one way trip back to the Real World. I'm sorry, I can't give you more time but reasserting the Digital World like this will permanently seal the barrier between worlds."

"So, we'll never see each other again?" Sora and Garudamon asked. Tamer's expression remained apologetic but soured when Kari asked again, "But you should still be able to come back, right? You and WarGreymon."

"Bad idea. If WarGreymon and I did that, it'd damage the barrier and there isn't enough energy left to repair any additional damage," Tamer replied quietly, "There's no way to get us back."

TK jumped in with his own suggestion to try and convince them to stay, "MagnaAngemon could open the gate and-"

"TK, that gate is meant to pull things in, not let them out," Tamer replied quickly, "Even if the gate were reversed, there wouldn't be enough energy to fix the damage to the barrier from opening it. We're stuck, but that doesn't mean you guys have to be. You guys will be able to go home, but that's where the problems will come with the barrier. You won't be able to cross it again. This will be the last time for either of you to interact. You can choose to stay, but you'll never be able to go back to your own world. You can go back, but you'll never be able to see your digimon again. You can bring the digimon, but they'll never be able to come back to the Digital World. And I'm sorry, but the clock's ticking - this is your final chance to say your good byes before the barrier seals itself forever."

"But what about you guys?" Kari swallowed hard to fight her dry throat, but it did nothing against the tears welling up in her eyes, "You just came back and now you're saying good bye again!?"

This time, he crouched down to sit eye level with her, smiling as stupidly as he did the day they'd met. He moved his hand off her head and onto her shoulders, "I'm sorry Kari. That's the way it'll have to be. Don't worry about us though, we'll just go back to doing what we do best. The last of the Ancients and his best friend. WarGreymon and I are used to being on our own. We were for over a hundred thousand years. What's another hundred thousand? Besides, you'll be okay - you and the digimon. You guys just saved reality from an eldritch abomination born outside existence. After that, I'm sure anything is possible for you guys."

He looked down at his own shoes, suddenly finding them more fascinating than his own sister. When he looked back up at her, his eyes were closed but he was smiling as warmly as she remembered, "Time's almost up. You guys go out there and live your lives. Have fun and be whatever you want because nothing can stop you, not after what you guys just went up against. Good bye, guys."

He vanished, leaving nothing behind but his final words to them and Kari burst out into tears, heartbroken that her brother was gone again. Angewomon comforted the girl in her arms, allowing her to let out all her sadness. Sora looked up at Garudamon, knowing that this time was all they had with each other. She didn't want to leave Biyomon behind though. She wanted to bring her friend back with her - but would Biyomon be able to be in the Real World?

The digidestined and their digimon split up so that they could spend time alone with each other; each digimon regressed to their rookie form since they felt more at ease that way around their partners. Angewomon was the only one not to change back, as she was busy trying to calm her partner down. Sora and Biyomon sat quietly under a nearby tree close to the street car, neither saying a word to the other until Biyomon began, "Hey Sora, are you going to forget me when you leave?"

"No, of course not," Sora replied, "I'd just be hurting myself if I did. I'll miss you when I go back, but I'm not going to forget you. I'll remember all of it, everything we did together, the digimon and people we saved, the bad guys we beat - every last thing. Because that's how much you mean to me."

Sora paused when she realized there were tears coming from her eyes but they stopped when Biyomon threw herself into a hug, "Oh Sora! Don't cry!"

"But I will! Because I can't see you again and I don't want to go!" Sora whimpered, hugging her partner back. Biyomon peeked up at her and replied, "I don't want you to go either Sora!"

Gomamon and Joe retreated to the lake shoreline to say whatever they had to each other. To Gomamon's surprise, Joe was straight forward, "So...this is the last time we'll see each other, huh Gomamon?"

"I guess so," Gomamon stared down into the water quietly, "I'd say you've grown up Joe, but I guess you were always pretty grown up."

"I get that a lot," Joe mumbled, adjusting his glasses, "I'm used to it."

"It's just, you were sort of a stick in the mud when we first met, but the more time we spent together, the more it made sense. You said so yourself - someone has to be thinking about all the things we would be going up against," Gomamon said to his partner's chagrin, "Gee thanks. Your last words to me and I think you insulted me."

"Oh come on, Joe. You know what I mean," Gomamon pleaded only for Joe to run his hand through the little seal's red hair, "Yeah, I'm just giving you a hard time. But that's what I like about you - you're the sun to my rain cloud."

"Wow, that was kinda poetic," Gomamon nodded, only to yelp when Joe picked him up for a hug, "Yep."

Izzy and Tentomon went inside the street car to say their good byes, but also to wait patiently for the others. The exchange between them was brief but comical. Tentomon opened first with a quip, "Izzy, you're not going to open up your laptop again to avoid the fact that we have to say bye, are you?"

Izzy made a point of shutting the door behind them before replying, "Of course not Tentomon. I just want you to know that I love you."

"Wait, what? Shouldn't you be saying that to Mimi?" Tentomon stumbled, only to be saved when Izzy caught him, "No, not like that! I mean - I care about you a lot and I'm glad we got to meet each other."

"Wow. I have to admit, the last time you were this emotional - you were pummeling Piedmon for turning Mimi into a keychain," Tentomon said, "So I'm a little surprised. You're usually really reserved."

"I guess I learned it's okay to be a little more emotional," Izzy smiled, hugging his partner as hard as he could and throwing the bug into a sad wail, "Oh! I'll miss you, Izzy!"

TK and Patamon retreated away to the edge of the forest to be by themselves, although TK mostly didn't want the others to see him crying. The whole time, he didn't once let go of his partner and seeing the boy wail made Patamon cry. Seeing the tears from his partner, TK replied, "Please don't cry Patamon!"

"How can't I when you're crying?" Patamon asked back through the tears, making TK realize that he'd need to calm down so that he wouldn't make his partner cry. The little boy took a few deep breaths to calm himself before managing to stutter, "Okay, I won't cry if you won't."

"Okay," Patamon said quietly, "But I'll still miss you when you're gone."

"I'll miss you too buddy," TK said, going on to recall, "This is just like my parents all over again when they split up. I thought I'd never see Matt again. But then we went to camp and we saw each other again. So who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again some day!"

"You think so?" Patamon asked hopefully. TK nodded, "I know so."

"Then instead of being sad about saying good bye now, let's look forward to when we do see each other again. Promise?" the little creature climbed up onto TK. TK agreed and hugged his partner harder, "Promise!"

Matt and Gabumon stood at the border of the forest, both quietly commenting on TK. Matt watched his brother and Patamon hugging proudly while saying, "He's really growing up."

"You are too Matt," Gabumon said. Matt looked away for a moment, uncertain and filled with doubt. He didn't believe he had really grown up, and Gabumon noted his silence. He put on his best smile and added, "You really have! You would never have left TK alone before and now? You let TK and Patamon join in on the fight against Myotismon! Not to mention the Dark Masters! You're letting him grow up and find his own way, and that's the most grown up thing you can do. Let go."

Matt continued his silence a little longer before he nodded, "Thanks Gabumon. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Could you thank me by playing your harmonica? I really like listening to your music," Gabumon replied proudly. Matt smiled and retrieved his harmonica. Rather than play his typical morose tune, the notes he played produced a more harmonious melody - one more suited to a farewell between two good friends and the memories they shared together.

Kari was still being cradled in Angewomon's arms as she cried over her losing her brother again. It took some time and was quite difficult to calm her down; Angewomon could only stroke the poor girl's hair and assure her it would be okay. When Kari finally stopped crying long enough to catch her breath, she wiped her eyes and said, "I'm sorry Angewomon. I know I should be using this time to say good bye. I just...I wish Tai didn't have to go again after he just came back."

Angewomon stroked the girl's hair a few times before replying, "It's okay Kari. I understand how you feel. Can I say something about it though? If I know Tamer the way I did back when I...I served Myotismon. then you'll see him and WarGreymon again. Those two have a bad habit of showing up when you least expect it. Not to mention how many secrets they keep."

Kari sniffled and wiped her nose while her partner went on, "Believe me. They said you'll never see us again but I bet you that we will. And that means you'll see them again too. It might be a while but they will come back. Eventually."

"Thank you," Kari's expression brightened up but her eyes were still glazed over. Angewomon nodded and the little girl hugged her partner, "Angewomon. I wish I didn't have to leave."

"I wish we could stay together a little longer too," the angel replied, still holding the girl.

Mimi and Palmon strolled along the lake shore, occasionally looking down at their reflection is the still waters but also taking in the lush green scenery around them. Mimi sighed, "I never thought I'd see the day I wished I didn't have to leave this place."

"Mimi, will you be okay?" Palmon asked out of concern for her partner's emotional well being. It was no secret to Palmon that she'd left the Real World partly to escape having to deal with her mother's own death. She didn't feel comfortable letting her partner go back if she still wasn't ready to handle it. Mimi looked down at her partner and Palmon offered her hand as a measure of comfort, "Mimi, you don't have to go back alone you know. I can come back with you if you need me to."

"I...I want you to come back with me Palmon," Mimi said quietly, "But not because I can't deal with my mom being dead. I…I think I'm ready to handle it when we go back. I want you to come back with me because I'll miss you if you don't come."

"Oh Mimi," Palmon raised up her vine like fingers to brush her partner's face. Knowing that her partner would be able to deal with her mother's death meant that she would be able to handle her absence. It pained Palmon to say it, but she did so anyway, "I'll miss you too and I want to help you whenever I can. But I don't belong in your world and there's plenty of things here that need doing. I want to help you if you need me to, but I'm needed here if you don't."

"But I-"

"Mimi. You'll do great! Besides, I know a boy who'll be more than happy to be there for you if you need a hand," Palmon winked at her. Mimi shivered, "Can we please drop that joke already?"

Palmon snickered, "At least one more time, Mimi. Oh, I'll miss you!"

Palmon wrapped her vines around her partner to hug her, a gesture Mimi returned with a hug of her own.

Once everyone had a chance to say their good byes, the digidestined boarded the street car. As soon as the doors shut, the engine roared to life and it started moving along the surface of the water. Although no tracks guided it, it somehow made its way to a bright light at the far end of the lake, reminiscent of the gate used by Tamer's people. The digidestined took one last look at the Digital World and saw their partners running along side as fast as they could to wave them good bye. Without a second thought, Sora lowered one of the windows to wave back and they could hear their digimon shouting their farewells.

The others followed her lead and lowered the other windows to shout their good byes one more time. At the last moment before they entered into the gate, Mimi threw her pink cowboy hat out the window and into her partner's hands. As they disappeared, they witnessed Palmon throwing the hat over her head and shouting one last goodbye to her partner.

Tamer sighed once he'd finished talking and checked his digivice to make sure the barrier was sealed to the Digital World. WarGreymon cocked his head to the side, "Why'd you lie to them like that Tamer? There's more than enough energy for us to go back!"

"Because there's still a lot of work that we have to take care of," Tamer dusted his hands and pocketed his digivice, "A lot of worlds out there are still reeling from the damage to reality. We won for now but you know that the job is far from done. Why ruin the mood for them and give them something to worry about when there's nothing they can do about it? Well, nothing most of them can do about it. Myotismon is still out there, not to mention all the other baddies that need to be taken care of - the Demon Lords, the traitor, the ancient terrors, things from beyond time and space."

WarGreymon grew concerned and felt he had to remind his partner, "Tamer, we barely survived fighting the Dark Masters, Myotismon, or Apocalymon on our own. We need them! You know that!"

"I'm not saying we don't," Tamer raised his hood over his head, "Because we do. But we need to get things ready first. Destiny needs to stay on track - remember? So let's get started."

Tamer stretched and motioned for WarGreymon to follow. WarGreymon sighed but knew his partner well enough to trust him. He may not have always known what he was doing, but he would stick with him no matter what. He hurried after his partner, "Alright, where we off to?"

"Who knows?" Tamer replied quietly, while he fiddled with his digivice, "There's a lot of places for us to go. As long as it's fun, I don't really care. Oh! I know! How about here. No wait! Here! Digiport OPEN!"

He used his digivice to open a portal in front of them, excitedly leading the way forward. WarGreymon stretched and yawned, "Okay. Let's get back at it partner!"

Author's Notes: And so we've come to the end of Part I of The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure. I'll be taking a brief break from updates to rebuild my chapter backlog, as well as attend to some of my normal life affairs. If you loved it, let me know in the reviews section. I make a point of replying as soon as the website will allow me. And hey, why not follow and favorite me to get all the latest updates on the next installment of The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure. And hey, come back on Friday, March 3rd 5 PM CST for the first installment of The Life of Kari Kamiya. The working title for that project is 'War Time'. Additionally, come back on Friday, March 31st 5 PM for Part 2 of the story of The Tamer. Look forward to it! For now, this is Leonardo1123581321 signing out!

In a dark one bedroom apartment complex, a lone adult sits quietly in the living room observing a video playing on a laptop. The adult sighs and looks up from the screen briefly to review a stack of papers sitting on the coffee table before them. After skimming the first few pages, the adult sighs, "Okay. We're on schedule. On to phase two."

"Babe, it's midnight. Let's go to bed," says another adult from the bedroom. The adult looked up at the other, "You go ahead hon'. I'll be in soon. I just want to get some work done."

"Okay, but not too long," the second adult said before disappearing into the bedroom. The first adult sighed and went to work on their laptop.