Disclaimer: Hey, I actually finished this at long last.  I know I haven't had a chapter since before summer started, and summer is already long over, but at least this is super long. 

Trimon: Whatever happened to your new and improved name?  And a picture of my final form?

Later, my brain is half fried after all that school work.  And I don't want to sound arrogant, but this chapter is already longer than half of the combined first three chapters, nearly 20,000 words, so I hope that makes up somewhat for the long absence.

Well, onto the end of the first part of the trilogy, and more author notes at the end.

***

The Fellowship was in a sad state as they moved through the trees quietly, always glancing behind them.  Most of the Digimon were being carried by their own partners, as they had used up all their own energies fighting the hordes of Digimon at Moria.

The only two rookies still moving on their own were Renamon and Guilmon, as they were both too large to be carried by their human partners.  Leomon and Guardromon were both carrying two people, Kazu and Kenta on Guardromon's shoulders, and Henry and Jeri in Leomon's arms.

And of course, all of them still remembered the sight of Davis plunging into the abyss while wrestling with a Mega level Virus Digimon.

Tai nodded, satisfied, as he looked at one tree particularly hard.  "I remember this tree.  We should be getting close to Lorien soon."

"I don't see what's so good about another Elf village," Kazu grumbled.  "The last one barely let us stay two weeks before it kicked us out."

"But we volunteered to go with Takato," Jeri reminded him mildly.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't think he would have to leave so soon," Kazu answered.  "And man, this sucks!  First we have to go over mountains, nearly get buried in an avalanche, then we had to turn back, and go through a bunch of dark, damp caves, then Davis jumped off a cliff, and Queenie over there blew up the exit."

"What did you call me?!" Rika demanded, as her head snapped towards the other Tamer.

"Nothing," Kenta stammered, as he stepped between Kazu and Rika before Kazu could say something worse.  "Its just that…"

Kenta trailed off for a moment, before saying "Did you really have to destroy the only chance we had of going back for him?"

Rika growled.  "Its not like I wanted to!  I bought us some time, just like Davis did.  Going back there would've only have gotten us killed, and made his sacrifice for nothing."

Henry sighed loudly, and then added his own opinion.  "Rika's right, Davis was already gone.  Our first priority right now is finding shelter, and hopefully we'll find sanctuary here."

"I don't see what's so great about all these trees," Matt grumbled, as he looked around the forest. 

They had managed to make good time, so there was still some sunlight left, but the sun was setting now, and they had been hearing explosions several miles behind them for most of their trek.

"This forest is home to the kingdom of Lothlorien, one of the more ancient Elf kingdoms remaining," Tai explained.  "As Rika here is the official ruler, she should be able to convince them to let us in."

"Wait, you mean we're about to go into her kingdom?" Kazu shouted, pointing at the redhead tamer.

"Either that, or would you rather wait for that herd of angry Digimon to catch up to us?" Tai snapped back.

"Um, Rika, we can go in there, right?" Takato asked uncertainly.  He was still partially in shock from their last fight, and he had started hearing voices, whispers, ever since they had entered the enchanted woods.

Rika looked at him strangely.  "What makes you think they wouldn't let us in?  Though I don't spend most of my time there, I still have a lot of clout.  Besides," and she looked at her ragged clothes, which had tears in it from the previous battle, "though I really hate to sound like my mother, we need new clothes."

"Sorry, just voices in my head," Takato said, giving a weak smile as he tried to ignore the repeating "You bring great danger with you" in his head.

"Momentai!" Terriermon said confidently from Henry's shoulder.  "Even if they don't like us, we can handle a few measly Elfs.  And there's no way they could sneak up on us, cause I've got the ears of a rabbit, and the nose of the dog, so-"

"Eh, Terriermon, could you please be quiet?" Henry asked tensely as he stared straight ahead.

"What's the matter?" Terriermon asked as he turned around from looking at Takato and instead found an arrow at his throat.  "Uh oh."

The entire Fellowship suddenly found themselves surrounded by a large group of Elves, all holding bows and arrows, and partner Digimon ready to attack.

Rika slapped her head.  "Will you put those things down, these guys are with me," she ordered as she pushed down one of the bows pointing at them.

"Well, well, well, if isn't the intrepid little Tamers from Shinjuku," said a voice as the speaker stepped out from behind a tree.

Several reactions are worth noting at this point.  One, Kazu and Kenta jumped for joy.  And two, steam flew out of Rika's ears.

"You!"

Takato and Jeri also recognized the new arrival.  "Ryo!"

The Legendary Tamer smiled.  "Never thought that you guys would get this far.  And how's it going, pumpkin?"

Rika looked like she was ready to strangle Ryo, and was about to leap forward, before Takato managed to get her in a full Nelson (don't ask me how he knew how to do one of those), while Kazu and Kenta grabbed her arms, holding her back (barely).

 "Hey Ryo, haven't seen you for awhile," Tai greeted, as he tried to ignore the growling Rika behind him.  "Mind letting us in?'

Ryo frowned and shook his head.  "Sorry, no can do.  We don't generally let non-Elves in here.  For you and a few others, we might've make an exception, but you've got both a Techno-Mage and the Hazard Digivice."

"You guys still owe me a favor for that time I helped with that rampaging BlackWargreymon, remember?" Tai prodded.  "And Rika is the official queen here, so anything she says goes, right?"

"You've got a point," Ryo agreed.  "But I should warn you- both Rika's grandmother and mother are here right now."

Rika ceased her struggling, slumped, and would've fallen to the ground, except for the fact that Takato, Kazu, and Kenta were still holding her up.

Kazu and Kenta had been surprised by Rika's sudden lack of clawing, so they accidentally let go of her.

"Oh, not her," Rika mumbled, when she noticed the two arms that were still wrapped around her.  Takato hadn't been so quick to distance himself away from the Digimon Queen as he couldn't see her face.  Unfortunately, Rika, of course, got the wrong impression from this.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, GOGGLEHEAD?!"

Takato quickly let go, but not before Rika started strangling him, and Kazu and Kenta had again grabbed her arms to save their best friend.

"We won't stay here long, I promise," Tai said.  "We just need a night to rest, we just lost Davis in the Mines of Moria, so we're still recovering."

Ryo's eyes darkened.  "Damn.  What happened to him?"

"He met a Digimon named Galfmon," Tai said shortly.

Ryo gasped, and then winced.  "Okay, that would be a bad thing."  He sighed.  "He'll be missed, so for his sake, we'll let you stay the one night."

Tai smiled.  "Thanks, we appreciate it."

***

"Whoa," was the general reaction of the Fellowship as they ascended the steps, and left the forest floor behind them.

They had arrived when the sun had just begun setting, so the effects of the twilight on Lorien made the ancient village even more radiant in the blue light of the lanterns.

They were led to a central pavilion, where from a higher canopy two women walked down.  Takato recognized one as Rumiko Makino, from the Council, and before anybody could do anything, she had glomped Rika.

"Oh, Rika darling, I'm so glad you're safe, when I saw you leave with the Fellowship, I was so worried," she said all in one rush, making Rika a very embarrassed young Elf.

The other women just smiled indulgingly at the reunion, and then turned to the rest of the assembled.

"Hello, my name is Seiko Hata," she said politely.  She looked each one of them in the eyes, and they all had the uncomfortable feeling that she was looking into their very souls.

Tai and Henry easily withstood her gaze, while Kazu, Kenta, and Jeri were all awed by the wisdom in the ancient eyes.  Matt, for some reason, felt a little guilty when he saw those eyes focused on him, and Takato shuddered when they made eye contact.

After her eyes finished probing them, she again smiled, and addressed Tai.  "Rumiko has told me of your quest, and as a favor to my old friend Gennai, you, and to the late Davis, we'll grant you one night rest here."

Tai and the rest of the company sighed in relief.

***

"Man, this place is even cooler than Rivendell," Kenta murmured as they were led to beds among the tree tops.

Rika smiled sadly.  "I lived here when I was younger.  It was always peaceful like this until he left…"

Most of the others didn't hear her, being too busy marveling at the sights, but Takato saw her face, and was amazed at the soft look on her normally hard face.  For once she actually looked wistful instead of bitter.

That expression on her face haunted Takato even up until he had taken off his battered cloak and had lain down to bed.

***

Takato started when he heard something loud, interrupting his dream of an benign looking yet sinister smile.  He groaned when he realized that it was just Kazu's snoring.

He got up from bed, knowing that he wouldn't get any sleep while that horrible smile still lingered in his mind.  He had much preferred the image of Rika in his mind to that other Digimon.

He momentarily paused in putting his cloak back on to wonder how he had known it was a Digimon?  It had a human face, which looked like an angel, yet something in the eyes hinted at horrible darkness.

Not wanting to spend his thinking time in the company of a drooling Kazu and Kenta, he stepped out of the little tree mounted hut to take a short walk.  He thought about taking Guilmon along, but decided that he was safe in the Elf city.

He walked quietly, a trait all humans in Shinjuku were known for.

He moved among the various pathways in the tree, not seeing anyone, and generally just enjoying the sight of Lorien, until he thought he saw a glimmer of light.

He made his way there, and saw that it was small pool.  He stepped up to looked into it, but hesitated at the last moment for some reason that he didn't know.

"Are you afraid?" asked a kind voice.

Takato started, and turned around to see that it was only the lady who had greeted them, Seiko Hata.  Now that he looked a little closer, he thought that there was a minor resemblance to Rika there.

Takato shook his head, and then paused.  "I don't think I'm afraid, but its just that I don't know if what I see in there will be a good thing."

Seiko smiled sadly.  "Sometimes, it is the sad things in life that drive people to change them.  I don't know what you will see in there even though it is my mirror, the Mirror of Seiko.  It shows many things.  The past, the future, the present."

Takato gulped as her gaze seemed to pierce his soul, and decided that he'd rather look in the mirror.

The mirror flashed, and showed so many things- fire, death, pain, but mixed in there were glimpses of hope, triumph, and happiness.  He thought he saw Shinjuku flash by for a moment, but didn't quite see what state it was in. 

He saw that face again, along with 9 dark looming figures, but saw many in opposition to it.  He saw a fallen angel, with black wings being shot in the back by another.  He saw a walled city firing into a sea of Digimon.  He saw a white knight with a blood red cape.  He saw that beautiful shaman again.  He saw a walking fortress.  He saw a paladin stabbing at a dragon.  He saw a barrage of missiles striking another.  He saw two towers.  He saw huge armies.  He saw a girl with brown hair screaming while engulfed in light.  He saw a giant beast.  He saw two little kids.  He saw-

The slide show abruptly stopped on one scene.  It looked like Lorien at dusk, with the sun burning red in the background.  A little redheaded girl was tugging at the hand of a tall man, but though she seemed to be begging him, he turned away.

Somebody's hand splashed the water, destroying the vision, and he looked up to see Rika's face, full of fury.

"Ever mention that to anyone, and, even if you're the last hope for peace in this world, you are dead," she hissed, and Takato shivered at the rage in her voice.  But he also saw that crying, sorrowful girl somewhere behind those eyes.  Deeply buried, but still there.

Rika had turned away from Takato, now venting on Seiko.

"How could you, grandma?!" she nearly screamed at Seiko, Takato only just now noting the title, and understanding why there was a resemblance.

Seiko listened to Rika's accusations patiently, until she had to catch her breath, and then the ancient Elf lady answered.

"I have no control over what my mirror shows to other people, Rika," she answered simply.  "I expected that he would see glimpses of the future, but I never expected that he would see your-"

"Stop," Rika said wearily, and sighed.  Her D-Arc flashed for a moment with a triangular symbol, before she managed to gain control over her anger.

She seemed to pull into herself again, before her shields were up again.  "I'm going back to bed," she spoke.  With one last glare of warning at Takato, she left the small clearing.

"What was that about?" Takato asked, very stunned at the outburst from Rika.

Seiko sighed.  "That last scene you saw?  That was the last time Rika ever saw her father.  His and Rumiko's marriage was an arranged one, mainly to give birth to another heir to the throne of Lorien.  Once it was determined that Rika had the power and the potential to be a good ruler, he left.  It was very hard on her, and she has never told anyone about it since."

She looked at Takato closely, but this time he didn't care that she was examining him since he was too busy trying to remember what that sign on Rika's D-Arc had been.

"What I don't understand it why the Mirror showed you that scene," Seiko said.  "Perhaps you and my granddaughter have been spending a lot of time together?"

That broke Takato's concentration, as he blushed at the insinuation.  "I guess you could say that we're friends, I guess," he stammered.  "She's always been semi-willing to explain things to me, since I usually barely any idea what's going on and-"

Seiko raised a hand to stop Takato's excuses for his blush.  "Never mind, that is enough.  Perhaps you should go back to bed," she suggested.  "This will be the last time in a very long time that you will have a soft bed and haven to sleep in."

Takato thought of the continuing suicide mission into Mordor and shudder.  "I guess you're right," he agreed, as he started walking again.

Suddenly he remembered where he had seen that symbol before- after all, he saw it everyday on Guilmon.

He turned towards Seiko to ask one last question.  "Uh, Ms. Seiko?" he asked timidly.

She smiled benevolently.  "Yes, what is it Takato?"

"Why did the Hazard sign flash on Rika's D-Arc?" he asked out of curiosity.

Seiko's eyes flashed for a moment- with fear, or anger, Takato couldn't tell- before they were the same ageless eyes as before.

"Rika's D-Arc is one of the Three held by the Elves," she explained.  "Like all Prime Digivices, it is linked to your Hazard Digivice, the One.  Because they are all linked, all of them have the potential to fall into darkness, and become part of the natural chaos that is the Hazard.  That is why all of the bearers of the remaining Digivices of Light take great care not to loose control of their emotions, lest they fall."

Takato winced.  "That could happen to Rika?"

Seiko nodded sadly.  "When I handed my Digivice down to her, I hoped that she would use it to maintain this paradise, as I did, but she chose a different path, the path of a warrior."

Her expression sharpened again as she looked at Takato.  "It is also why you must never let her hold your Digivice.  I don't know why you yourself are still unaffected by its inherent chaotic nature, but if a person ever held more than one Digivice of Power, well, it would probably drive them mad.  Holding a Digivice of Power and the One would definitely drive anyone mad."

Takato nodded fervently as he thought about Rika's blue D-Arc, and Henry's green one, and also of Jeri's, Kazu's, and Kenta's D-Arcs.  Having so many Prime Digivices in one place didn't seem like such a good idea now.

"One last thing," she said.  "You do not need to hold a Digivice of Power to be tempted by the One," she warned.  Takato knew who she was talking about.

She then smiled reassuringly at Takato and said "Good night, Takato.  Pleasant dreams."

Takato nodded once, and then walked off, leaving Rika's grandmother alone with her thoughts, and not noticing that she had called the Hazard Digivice his, and not Lucemon's.

***

Seiko and Rumiko were there to see them off the next day, while the Elves were loading up their packs with fresh supplies.

Seiko went to each of them, and gave them all an item.

She handed Taichi a hair pin, and whispered in his ear "Sora sends her best and this to help you remember her by."  Tai smiled, and then slipped it into his pack.

To Matt she gave a small harmonica, and the words, "Never forget your friends."  Matt's eyes widened, but he also accepted his gift.

Seiko handed a Red Card with a dinosaur's head on the front of it to Henry.  "Use this when you look into the abyss, and it will shield you," she told him.  Henry examined the Card closely, before carefully placing it in his card pouch.

Rika received a tall fox headed staff.  "Listen to your heart," she told her granddaughter.  Rika looked a bit disappointed at the benign looking staff, before her grandma pulled at the top of the fox head tipped staff, to reveal a blade hidden inside the staff.  Rika smiled and bowed once in gratitude to Seiko for the gift.

Kazu and Kenta both got large packs of powerful cards, making them two very happy Tamers.

Jeri gasped when Seiko gave her a small crystal.  "May it shield you from the chaos, and the darkness," Seiko advised her.

Takato himself wasn't sure if he would receive a gift, but he got far more then he ever expected when something landed right in front of him.

Seiko smiled at the "kid on Christmas morning" expression on Takato's face.

"You carry Dukemon's weapons," she spoke.  "When the Elves witnessed his death at the hands of Lucemon, they managed to retrieve three of his weapons.  You already carry two of them, the Gram and the Aegis, and this is the third item- Grani.

"Grani was a prototype glider, designed by the finest minds of all three races of that Age.  It has waited for a master to serve for many centuries, and I believe that you are that master."

Takato cautiously stepped forward, and raised a hand to touch, and was startled when Grani moved forward suddenly, to- nuzzle him?

Takato smiled and patted it fondly.  "Thank you."

Seiko nodded happily.  "Grani can fly, and should your partner ever evolve into Dukemon, then know this- Grani and Dukemon were famous for the power of their combined attacks."

Takato nodded again, and looked into the eyes of the sentient glider.

She looked at all of them once more.  "We've never given our cloaks to members of other species before, but because your quest is so important, you will probably find them very useful.  The cloaks are very durable, and they will help hide you when you do not wish to be seen."

They walked to the riverbanks together, and saw four small canoes, with Ryo directing the rest of the Elves on what to pack.

Ryo turned to face them, and bowed once to Seiko and Rumiko.  "The supplies are all set, we're ready to depart."

Takato thought he had misheard Ryo, until Rika also reacted to Ryo's statement.  "Wait a minute.  Did you just say 'we'?"

Ryo gave a roguish smile.  "Yep.  I'm coming along with you guys, along with Monodramon."

The cute purple dragon, who was standing behind Ryo, waved.  "Hi!"

Tai and Matt both gulped, and that was before they saw Rika turn red.  "We don't need his help!" she shouted.

"Yes you do," Seiko said firmly.  "Personal problems aside, he is the strongest Elf Tamer aside from yourself, and he'll fill the vacancy left by Davis."

Takato flinched.  They were already replacing Davis?

Seiko, seeing his face, nodded in answer to his silent question.  "Gennai said nine was a very lucky number, so that it was essential that we maintain a fellowship of nine.  As such, Ryo is going with you, and that is final," she said, looking at Rika in particular.

Ryo just nodded grimly.  "After this, you'll be in Mordor's territory.  Many enemy Digimon roam the shores and the waters, and I know the terrain better than any of you.  I'll act as guide, at least till we get past the V-Tamer gate."

Rika sighed, conceding the point, at least for now.  Later was another matter altogether.

The Fellowship was split up into four groups, since each canoe was only large enough to fit two people, their packs and their partner Digimon.

Takato counted off the possible pairings in his head, and then realized something.

"Uh, isn't there going to be one of us out?" he asked as he looked at the four canoes meant for eight people.

"I thought you and Guilmon could just ride Grani," Ryo said with a surprised expression. "He can easily carry at least four people.  Besides, these four canoes are all we can spare right now."

Kazu picked up one of the packs that was lying in the canoes, opened it, and was shocked at what was inside it.  "I thought these were supposed to be supplies!"

This time, Rumiko spoke.  "Why, they are," she said, puzzled to why Kazu looked so surprised.

"And what are we supposed to do with a bunch of food cards?" Kazu asked, as he reached in and pulled out a card with a large hamburger on it.

"Well, you're just supposed to slide it through your D-Arc, and then you have an endless supply of food," Rumiko answered.

Kazu blinked at that, and then slid the card through his D-Arc, and instantly, a hamburger appeared in Guardromon's hands.

Kazu and Kenta's eyes lit up.  "Cool!"

"There are also several other cards in there, with various dishes," Rumiko added.  "This way, you don't have to carry around any food that'll expire, you can just make your own.

Tai and Matt each got into one of the first two canoes on the right, with Kazu and Kenta sitting behind them.  It had been decided that their two co-leaders would share a canoe with one of the younger Tamers.  Guardromon himself was going to follow the canoe from the air.

Henry climbed into the third canoe, and Jeri followed him, since she was more familiar with him than Ryo.  Leomon jumped in, after he had dedigivolved to Elecmon so he could fit better.

Rika definitely didn't like the way the canoe assignments were looking, since it looked like now the only available space left was in the fourth one- with Ryo.

Rika growled, and then turned to Takato.  "Enough room on that thing for two more, gogglehead?"

Takato, who had been practicing balancing on Grani, nearly fell off when he heard Rika's request.  "You want to ride him with me?"

Rika nodded reluctantly.  "Better you than him," and she pointed towards Ryo.

Takato, still too shocked at her uncharacteristic request, just nodded, before climbing back onto Grani, and then tugged Guilmon up along with him.

Rika nimbly jumped on behind him, and Renamon did her usual teleportation trick, appearing behind Rika.  Luckily, two young adults and Rookie Digimon were no trouble for Grani to carry.

"Good luck," Seiko told them once more before they pushed off.  "The fate of all of Middle-Earth depends on you."

The once more group of nine drifted slowly down the river, looking back once more at the beauty of Lorien, before they turned a corner, and it was gone.

***

They paddled downstream for several hours, with Tai, Matt, and Ryo keeping a wary eye on the riverbanks of both sides.  Ryo's canoe, with him in it alone led the group, while Takato and Rika on Grani flew behind him.

"What the hell is that?!" Rika blurted out at one point when they came within sight of two giant statues that had been carved into the sides of cliffs.

Tai smiled proudly.  "They're more of my ancestors, Taichi and Zero, his Veedramon!"

Half the party sweatdropped at the sight of two giant figures of a Tai look-alike and a pudgy dragon giving the victory sign.

Takato whispered something to Grani, and the glider obediently flew closer so that Tai's head with level with Takato's.

"Uh, Tai, how many hero-ancestors did you have?" Takato asked.

Tai thought for a moment, and then shrugged.  "I have no idea.  History was never my favorite subject."

***

They went ashore in the afternoon, and set up camp in a small clearing.

"After we cross those mountains, we'll be in Mordor proper," Tai said as he looked at a hand drawn map in the dirt.

"Yeah, then all that we'll have to do is walk through miles of wasteland, go through poisonous swamps, dodge all of Lucemon's spies and avoid meeting his army dead on, and then climb up Reaper Mountain and throw in the Hazard Digivice.  Yep, it'll be a piece of cake," Terriermon said.

"Shut up, Terriermon," the entire group said as one.

Tai shook his head.  "There's no other way.  We'll just need a bit of skill and a whole lot of luck to make it that far, and then afterwards…"

"Afterwards we'll have a huge victory feast," Kenta asked hopefully.

"Nope, we pray Lucemon kills quickly rather than slow and painfully," Terriermon answered.

"Shut up, Terriermon," the entire group again said.

Henry just then noticed that several voices had been missing from that last "Shut up, Terriermon."

"Where's Takato?" he asked, as he noticed Grani lying on the ground, apparently dormant.

"You know, now that you mention it, where's Rika?" Ryo added, as he didn't see Rika's fiery hair anywhere within sight.

"Maybe they're having a little quiet time, together, if you catch my drift," Terriermon said, snickering.  "Hey, Henry, why don't you do that more often?  How about with Jeri?  She's available- ACK!"

Terriermon's cracks were cut off as Henry clamped his mouth shut, while trying not to blush and not look at Jeri.  Too bad he was only successful at one of those things.

"I'm right here, brainiac," Rika said as she strode back into camp from the south.  "Me and Renamon were just checking something out.  We thought we heard something on this bank, but it was nothing."  She then glanced at the west bank.  "Though I'm not too sure about the things on the other side."

"I've got a better question," Tai interrupted.  "Where's Matt?"

***

Takato wandered through the woods, his mind not even remembering any of the warnings Tai gave him to not be alone.  Though he wasn't completely alone, as Guilmon was still with him.

The topic on his mind?  His Digivice of course.  He held in the palm of his hand, the familiar weight of it giving him some comfort.

He debated the pros and cons of his possible choices.  If he just went along with the current plan, it was most likely that they would all die, either killed by Lucemon and his armies, or they would end up killing each other over the Hazard Digivice.

On the other hand, if he went it alone, then he would be on his own, in a land he had only heard of in legends before, with no help, or guidance, but the others would probably survive.  And he might even have a slim chance of getting to Reaper Mountain and of destroying the Hazard Digivice.

Takato jumped when he heard a twig snap behind him, and he whirled around, already holding the Takato-sized Gram and Aegis when he saw it was just Matt.

"Hey, Takato, you should be more careful not to wander off," Matt said, as he held his arms up to show he meant no harm.  Though Takato couldn't help noticing the Garuru Gun attached to Matt's belt.

"I'm fine, I just felt like I needed some, uh, air, yeah," Takato quickly lied, as he tried to think of a more believable excuse- and failed.

Matt shook his head, and then saw the Red D-Arc cradled in Takato's hand.  "Hey, be careful who you show that too.  I expect every dark Digimon from here to Mordor would give their right arm to get that thing."

Takato quickly put the Digivice back in his pocket, not liking the look in Matt's eyes.  He subtly glanced around, and saw that unfortunately, he had wandered quite far from camp.

"You know, if you're getting tired of carrying it, I can hold it for a little while," Matt offered, holding out one hand.

Takato saw Gabumon hanging back behind of Matt, with a guilty expression on his face.  Takato didn't blame him.

"Uh, its okay, its only a tiny little thing, its not heavy," he said, as he stepped back from Matt.

"I've always wondered about the what such the big thing about being  a Tamer was," Matt commented, as he stepped closer still, and Takato took another step backwards.  Guilmon was growling.

"After all, no Crest, no Tag, and those cards of yours don't make that much of a difference," Matt continued, speaking calmly, yet there was something in his voice that set off alarms in Takato's head.

"And why should a little kid like you have it, when you have paid no price, no blood, no lives for it," Matt said, talking faster now, with a feverish light in his eyes.

"Matt, I know you have the best interests of Odaiba at heart, but couldn't we talk about this?" Takato asked nervously as he backed up, and then tripped over a tree root.

Matt reached out a hand to help him up, but Takato quickly pulled himself back up and continued backing up.

"Tai, Gennai, and especially that idiot Davis never even thought about taking it from you," Matt growled as he continued stepping forward, and Takato kept backpedaling.  Gabumon looked sad, but resolute in following whatever Matt chose to do, while Takato had to keep a hand on Guilmon's neck to keep him from lunging forward.

"They were always too blind, too weak to do the right thing, the necessary thing, in order to win.  Tai's always been the great leader, never once thinking about all the lives lost, the people, the Digimon, all lost because of his ego and misplaced trust in a little boy."

"Matt!" Takato shouted, and that actually seemed to stop Matt's advance- at least for a moment.  "I know you think that my D-Arc could help save Odaiba, but Matt, I know that it would just corrupt Gabumon and every other Digimon that it touched."

"And what about your precious little Guilmon?" Matt countered.  "He's seems absolutely fine."

"Guilmon's special!" Takato yelled back.  "I-I don't know why, but I just know if you or anybody else held it they wouldn't last a week before they would be at Lucemon's beck and call."

"And why are you so invisible?" Matt asked in a dangerous tone, hand resting on the butt of his weapon.

"I don't know!" Takato screamed so loudly, that he was surprised no one came running.  "I just don't know why, about this, or how this thing created Guilmon.  All I can do is listen to my heart and follow this thing through."

Matt snorted.  "Do those goggles kill all of your brains cells?  I sometimes wonder about that.  But since you're so resistant," Matt pulled out the Garuru Gun, and pointed it at Takato.  "Either you give me that Digivice, or we settle this the hard way."

Takato shook his head.  "No, I can't.  Don't you see that even now, before you've even held it, you're already lusting for it?"

"I've paid for my power with blood and sacrifice," Matt said.  "You had it handed to you on a silver platter, and you don't even have the guts to use it!"  Matt held out his left hand while still keeping his Gun up.  "Now give it to me!" he demanded.

"I can't!" Takato protested.

"Then so be it!" Matt said grimly, and he pulled the trigger.

Takato knew that at that close a range, he should only have a moment before that powerful blast obliterated him and hopefully his Digivice.

But time seemed to slow down, so much so that Takato had enough time to turn to Guilmon.  "Are you with me, boy?"

Guilmon blinked, and lost his primal look a little.  "Of course, Takato.  Why wouldn't I be?"

Takato smiled sadly.  "Oh Guilmon, thank you."

He turned back to the ever so slow ball heading towards them.  "I only wish we could've fought together Guilmon, even if only for one time."

In that last second, Takato's D-Arc, the Hazard Digivice, shone with power, power that swallowed up both Guilmon and Takato before either of them could so much as blink.

Takato gasped as he seemed to feel weightless for a moment and vaguely heard Guilmon shout out "Guilmon biomerge to Dukemon!"

When the flash of light vanished, Takato still found himself holding up the Aegis, but now it seemed larger.  Come to think of it, when was he 6 foot tall?

The blast from Matt's gun hit the Aegis, but to everybody's shock, Takato managed to hold the blast back.  The blast stayed in ball shape for a second, before it exploded, sending Matt and Gabumon flying back.

***

"Damn you, Takato!" he screamed, flying through the air far, far away from Takato, until he hit a tree and fell to the ground semi-conscious.

Matt groaned as he tried to sit up, and heard something thump next to him, and turned his head to see Gabumon land next to him.

"Uh, what's going on?" he asked in a dazed voice, before he realized that he was holding his weapon, and that smoke was still rising from the barrel, before the memories of the past few minutes rushed back to him.

"What have I done?" he gasped.  "What have I done?"  He rushed over to Gabumon, and turned him over.  "Gabumon, are you okay?"

Gabumon stirred, and then smiled.  "Matt, you're back to normal," he said happily.

Matt nodded sadly.  "But, what about Takato?  Is he still alive?"

"I think so," Gabumon said.  "I'm not quite sure how, but I think he and his partner Biomerged to form Dukemon, and that's how he managed to push back your attack."

Matt smiled.  "Then I guess he really is the one destined to end this long endless tale."

He stood back up, and then helped his partner up, and looked back in the direction he had come flying from.

"I don't think I can ever make up for this," he said sadly.

"Of course you can, Matt," Gabumon said, standing by his side faithfully.  "They're your friends, they'll understand."

"Maybe Tai, but what about Takato?" Matt asked.

"All we can do is try," Gabumon said.

Matt hesitated for a moment, before he noticed a glow from under his shirt, and reached under it to see his own shining Crest.

"I guess you're right," he said, as he held up his Digivice.  "Let's go, Gabumon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to… Garurumon!"

Matt climbed onto Garurumon's back, and the two galloped off, searching for redemption.

***

Takato blinked when he saw the small crater surrounding him, and then remembered that he was suddenly a lot taller.

He looked down and saw an armored body, mostly white with red, and holding the Gram in one hand, and the Aegis in the other.  Strangely enough, now he looked like the type of person who should hold the weapons.

Suddenly he realized that he couldn't see Guilmon.  "Guilmon, where are you?!"

"Right here, Takato," Takato heard in his own head.

"Guil… mon?" he asked silently, speaking the words in his mind.

"Yeah?" Takato heard Guilmon answer.

"Did we somehow become one?" Takato asked, as he took a few experimental jabs with his lance

"I think so," Guilmon said.  "Takato, what do we do now?"

Takato hesitated.  "Matt just tried to kill us for my Digivice.  Hey, where is my Digivice, anyways?"

He looked around, and then shrugged when he realized that it had probably disappeared with the rest of his normal clothes.  Takato hoped that if and when he and Guilmon split, that his clothes would come back.

Anyways, back to the current situation.  Matt just tried to kill me, Takato thought, so who knows who might try next?  Tai?  Ryo?  Kazu?  Rika?

Takato shuddered at the thought of anyone of them trying to kill him, but then again, he had never really thought that Matt would either.

"Takato, is that you?!" yelled a voice, and Takato started, and raised his shield, as he looked in the direction the voice had come from.

He saw Tai and running towards him, sword out, but both stopped when they saw Takato's new form.  Tai gasped, and quickly sheathed his sword.

"Dukemon…" Tai whispered.

Takato blinked and looked around.  "Where?!"

Tai couldn't help but smiling at Takato's ignorance, but then pointed at Takato.  "You actually managed to biomerge into Dukemon!  I can't believe it!"

Takato knew he had heard the word 'biomerge' before, and tried to remember, and then realized that Guilmon had said it while they were merging together.

"Uh, Tai, what exactly is biomerging anyways?" he asked.

"I'm surprised that none of the other Tamers told you about it," Tai said as he stepped closer, but stopped when he saw Takato take a step back.  "Well, its something only Tamers can do, as only their D-Arcs have enough power to do it."

"So, uh, how do I get out of this form?" Dukemon asked, still keeping a constant distance between him and Tai, a fact that Tai noticed.

(Author's Note: If anyone wondering, since Takato now knows why he's a Digimon now, I'll refer to him as Dukemon for the rest of the time he's in that form.  Also, I'm basically following the same idea Epsilon uses for the biomerged Digimon, that the Tamers are in control, with the Digimon in the back seat.)

"Takato, what happened with Matt?" he asked urgently, and making sure to keep his hands away form his weapon.

Dukemon hesitated for a moment, before answering.  "He tried to take my Digivice," he finally said.  He looked up at Tai again, and raised his lance in challenge.  "You're not going to try that, right?"

Tai sighed.  "I had hoped that Matt wouldn't succumb, but I guess it was too much.  As for me?"  Tai shook his head bitterly.  "It already screwed up my life once, I don't even want to touch it again, much less take it."

"What about the others?" Dukemon asked nervously.

"They're all out searching for you," Tai said, seeing the look in Dukemon' eyes.  "So, you're

leaving us?"

Dukemon nodded.  "I can't risk anybody else taking it.  And who knows what they'll do to take

it."

Tai smiled sadly.  "You're a good kid, Takato."  Tai pulled his weapon out again, making

Dukemon tense for a moment, before Tai raised it in a formal salute.

"May our paths someday cross again, hopefully in this life," Tai said.

Dukemon raised the Gram, mirroring Tai's stance, before his head snapped to the right.  "What

the-?"

A loud roar came before a large fireball flew towards them.  Dukemon easily batted the fireball aside with his lance, then saw the source, a charging Tyrannomon, along with an army of various other Digimon.

Tai gasped, and shouted "Aim for that ring around his neck!" before he himself jumped forward, with a digivolved MetalGreymon behind him, and sliced with his sword, and the Dark Ring shattered, changing the Tyrannomon's glowing red eyes back to their normal color.  It blinked it confusion for a moment, before it quickly ran off.

"What are these things?!" Dukemon shouted as he broke another ring that was around a Drimogemon's leg.  At the moment, all the Digimon attacking them were only Champion level, with the occasional Ultimate, so Dukemon was easily warding off their attacks.

"Those things are Dark Rings!  And watch out for the Dark Spirals too, they're on the Ultimates!" Tai answered as he warded off a Musyamon's attack.  "That's how Kari is controlling the Digimon!"

"Kari?" Dukemon blinked even as he destroyed another ring and sent a Monochromon running.  "How do you know she's controlling them?"

"The machine for making them were at Isengard!" Tai shouted back.  "If they don't have a Dark Ring or Spiral, that means that they're doing this of their own free will, and those you can kill."

"MetalGreymon, keep them away!" Tai commanded, and MetalGreymon stepped in front of him, effectively blocking most of the Digimon from attacking Tai and Dukemon for at least a moment considering his great size.

"Go," Tai urged Dukemon.  "We'll hold them back.  That's the least we can do as your guardians.  Take Grani, he'll be faster than the boats, and he'll probably be a great asset to you as you try to get into Mordor.  We'll take care of things here."

Dukemon hesitated for just a moment, before Tai shouted "Go!" once more, and then Dukemon nodded once before running back in the direction of the canoes, never once looking back.

MetalGreymon started being pushed back as more Ultimates arrived, though he was still doing his best to keep the brainwashed Digimon away from his partner.

Tai leaped up onto MetalGreymon's head and looked at the huge crowd of Digimon.  "Hey, MetalGreymon, how about firing a flare to get some help here?"

"Gladly," MetalGreymon grunted as he quickly leaned upwards and opened his chestplate and fired two missiles into the sky, which exploded in a flash of light that could be seen for miles around.

Tai looked at the fading light in the sky once before turning back to the horde of attacking Digimon.  "Come on, MetalGreymon, we should be able to handle these guys!"

"Definitely," MetalGreymon agreed, before charging straight into the hordes of enemy Digimon, both human and Digimon slashing every which way.

***

Rika looked up at the signal from Tai.  "Looks like he found Takato first.  Renamon, let's go!"

She hadn't taken a step forward before Renamon appeared in front of her, blocking her.

"What's going on?  Renamon?" Rika asked.

"Tai's under attack by Dark Ring Digimon, and it looks like more are on their way," Renamon reported.  "Also, several are heading towards us right now."

"What about Gogglehead?" Rika said, trying not to sound too concerned.  "Did you check the place where Matt attacked him?"

Renamon nodded.  "I managed to follow his tracks to where Tai's fighting now, but then I lost it because too many other Digimon have been trampling around there."

"Dammit, then where did Gogglehead go there?" she wondered.

She didn't get any more time to ponder that question as two things came out of the forest.  One looked like a fairy in purple, while the other resembled a water sprite.

"So, you're after the other gogglehead too?" the fairy commented as she stopped to hover in the air before them.  "Wonder if he's as dumb as Takuya.  And who are you, his girlfriend?"

"WHAT?!" Rika roared (yes, roar), and actually scared the fairy into backing off a bit.

The water sprite snorted.  "Figures that a little girl like you, Fairymon, would be scared of another little girl."

"Hey!" both Rika and Fairymon protested.

"Take that back, Ranamon," Fairymon said, fuming.  "I'll show you who's a little girl!"

"You think a little shrimp like you could beat me?" Ranamon asked, and then burst out laughing.  "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Why I outta-" Fairymon grumbled, before she remembered something.  "And don't think you're getting out of this, you little Elf- Hey, where'd she go?"

Both female Hybrids then realized that while they had been arguing, Rika and Renamon had snuck off.

They were silent for a moment, before Fairy spoke again.

"This is all your fault!"

"I think not!"

***

"If the rest of them are that dumb, then we don't have anything to worry about," Rika said, smirking at their clean getaway.  Normally, she would've stayed there and taken both of them on, but then Renamon reminded her that Takato was their priority right now.

She stopped for a moment to lean on a tree as she tried to think of what Takato would do.

"Let's see, the Gogglehead is probably running scared now, since Matt just tried to kill him.  I assume he's not dead or else this whole thing falls apart.  Now, he knows that any one of us could fall to the temptation of trying to take his Digivice, so he would try to distance himself from the rest of us, so-"

She gasped.  "So he would head back to the river!  Renamon!  We've got to get there fast!  Biomerge activate!"

 "Renamon biomerge to… Sakuyamon!"

With a flash of blue light, both figures vanished to be replaced by a tall woman, with long white ponytails, a curvy figure, wearing bright yellow armor and holding Rika's fox staff.

"I'm going to kill that Gogglehead when I catch up with him," Sakuyamon grumbled as she took off flying at top speed.  "Though it figures that he would do something self-sacrificing like this."

"Is that a note of admiration I hear in your voice, Rika?" Renamon asked from the back of Rika's mind, before Rika snapped "Shut up!" though that wasn't enough to stop Renamon's amused chuckle.

***

"Is there no end to these guys?" Henry asked as he shattered another Dark Spiral with his axe, releasing another Digimon that frantically ran away from the battle.

"What is their goal?" Grapleomon asked, as he wrestled with a BlueMeramon.  He searched for the characteristic red glowing eyes, but not seeing any, leapt back from the fire Digimon, and then spun around with a "Lion Whirlwind Kick!" that instantly deleted BlueMeramon.

"We know they're from Isengard, since Hikari's the only one with the technology at the moment to make Dark Rings," Henry said, as he blocked another attack.

"Which means that she's after Takato!" Jeri exclaimed, as she ducked under an attack from a Digimon.  Not being a trained figher, she had just been doing her best to stay out of everybody else's way.  She had known Takato for years, and knew that Takato would've found some way to survive Matt's attack, but what was he going to do now?  Jeri tried to figure out what Takato was going to do even as she kept an eye on Grappleomon's situation in case he need a card.

"Now, if we can just find the gogglehead, if he hasn't been nuked by Wolf boy, then everything will be all hunky-dory," Rapidmon said as he released another barrage of missiles into the crowd.

"Well, so you're the Fellowship, not much to look at, are they?" commented a voice from behind them.

Henry and the others whirled around to see what looked like a humanoid bug hovering in the air, while what looked like a snow bear with a bazooka stood below him.

"Nothing personal, but we've got orders to take you guys out," the bear said, as he held up his weapon.  "In case any of you wanna know, I'm Chakmon."

"And I'm Blitzmon," the flying beetle said proudly.  "Now, tell us where the Hazard

Digivice-bearer is, and we'll go easy on you guys."

Henry held his axe up cautiously while he looked at his D-Arc for more info.  He frowned at the screen, as it seemed to take an unusually long time to find the data.  "Chakmon, Hybrid-level?  What's a Hybrid?"

"We're a special type of Digimon, created specifically to take out the Digidestined," Chakmon said confidently.  "And we have more than enough power to defeat you."

Jeri hung back behind Grapeleomon, who stood in front of her protectively.  "Henry, do these guys sound like kids?"

Henry nodded in agreement as he tried to analyze the enemy Digimon's voices.  Now that he thought about it, they did sound like teenagers, just about his own age.  Also, Henry noticed that the majority of the Digimon that had been attacking them had backed off, or run in another direction.  Henry just hopped that the others were faring better than themselves.

"No way are we telling you guys anything!" he said defiantly, while Rapidmon hovered in front of him.

"Besides, what can a snowman with a little gun do?" Rapidmon chuckled at his joke, until he had to quickly dodge a barrage of snowballs from Chakmon.  "Hey, watch it, you could take somebody's eye out with that thing!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Chakmon shouted back, as he jumped into the air.  "Snow Bomber!"

"I'll show you some real firepower!  Rapid Fire!"

Rapidmon's missiles collided with Chakmon's attack- and unfortunately, Chakmon's first shots cancelled out Rapimon's attack, and opened the way for more fire from Chakmon.

Rapidmon flew up to meet Chakmon in mid-air, and quickly kicked Chakmon into the air.

"Heh, take that you little snow cone!" Rapidmon said happily as he watched Chakmon go flying up, and then start falling again.  He wound up for another kick, when suddenly Chakmon was surrounded in Digi-Code.

"Chakmon!  Slide Evolution!  Blizzarmon!"

Rapidmon's eyes widened.  "What?!"

He quickly dodged to the right as the now much larger Blizzarmon dropped right through where he had been a moment before.

"Let's see how you handle a Beast Hybird," Blizzarmon said, as he lowered his head towards Rapidmon.  "Glacier Torpedo!"

Blizzarmon's long hair shot out and entangled Rapidmon and then started pulling him in.

"Hey!" Rapidmon shouted as he struggled to escape.  "Henry, a little help here!"

Henry quickly shuffled through his cards quickly, and then chose one and slashed it.  "Digi-modify!  Snimon's Twin Sickle Activate!"

"All right!" Rapidmon cheered as a pair of sickles appeared on his arm, temporarily replacing his missile launchers.  "Twin Sickle!"

Blizzarmon cried out in pain as Rapidmon cut his way free, and was knocked backwards as Rapidmon kicked him again.  Recovering quickly, Blizzarmon grabbed his two axes, and hurled them at Rapidmon, who knocked them aside with his sickles, before Snimon's weapons disappeared.

Menawhile, Blitzmon had simply lunged at Grappleomon, who easily dodged, and kicked Blitzmon away.

Blitzmon put his two hands together and flew at Grappleomon again, shouting "Thor Hammer!"

Grappleomon blocked with his forearms, and shouted "Lion Whirlwind Kick!" and sent Blitzmon flying until he crashed into a tree.

Blitzmon shook his head once to clear it and then glared at Grappleomon.  "So, that's the way you want to play, huh?!

"Blitzmon!  Slide Evolution!  Bolgmon!"

Blitzmon fell to the ground, and landed with a loud thud.  Grappleomon kept his guard up, and was ready when Bolgmon shouted "Ultimate Thunder!" and started dodging the electric balls.

Unfortuantely, Bolgmon kept on firing, sounding half-crazed as he kept firing Grappleomon, and also destroying quite a few tree.  Grappleomon couldn't dodge the attacks forever, and when one connected with his foot, he cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, making him an easy target for more Ultimate Thunders from Bolgmon.

A few more attacks later, and Bolgmon lowered his head so that his cannon-like head was aimed straight at Grappleomon and then what looked like an aiming lens flipped up on his back.

"Leomon!" Jeri cried desperately, and quickly searched through her cards and then pulled out the first Ultimate level card she saw.

Bolgmon's cannon glowed.  "Bye-bye.  Field Destroyer!"

Bolgmon fired at the same time Jeri yelled out "Digi-modify!  LadyDevimon's Darkness Wave activate!"

Grappleomon's eyes glowed red, and then he opened his mouth and roared "Darkness Wave!"

A blast of darkness flew at Bolgmon's attack, and then both attacks collided creating a terrific explosion.

Jeri winced as she thought of the damage Grappleomon had taken, but sighed in relief when she saw Grappleomon fly out of the smoke, straight at Bolgmon, and then started attack his backside.

Jeri suddenly gasped as she realized what Takato would do!  She ran over to Henry and pulled his right ear close to her mouth so she could whisper.

"Henry!  We've got to get back to the river!"

"What?!" Henry exclaimed, as he kept one eye on Rapidmon's battle.  "Why?"

"Takato's going to leave on his own!" she answered, and then started explaining at his shocked expression.  "He doesn't want to endanger the rest of us, so he's separating himself from everybody else!"

Henry frowned as he thought about everything he knew about Takato, and found that he agreed with Jeri.

He looked at the cards in his hand currently, and a plan started to form in his head.

"Jeri, do you have an Alias card?" he asked.

Jeri nodded as she took a moment to look through her deck, and then pulled it out.

"Jeri, when I count to three, slash it, and then tell Leomon to get back here while their distracted with the clones, okay?  I'll do the same with Terriermon."

Jeri nodded, so Henry raised his own hand and counted off softly and then as one both shouted "Digi-modify!  Alias Activate!"

Both Rapidmon and Grappleomon seemed to fritz out for a moment, and when Blizzarmon and Bolgmon tried to attack them again, they found that their attacks flew right through as if there was nothing there.

"Boy, was that close," Rapidmon said as he flickered in next to Henry in a reasonable imitation of Renamon's own teleportation.  "So, now what?"

"Dedigivolve," Henry ordered, causing the rest of his group to blink before he continued.  "Then we're going to biomerge.  We need to get back to the river fast, and with SaintGalgomon we can easily make a path through all the wandering Dark Ring Digimon."

Rapidmon quickly obeyed, shrinking back to Terriermon, and then Henry raised his D-Arc.  "Biomerge Activate!"

"Terriermon biomerge to… SaintGalgomon!"

Jeri gasped as she looked up and up at SaintGalgomon, a giant green walking, talking fortress.

SaintGalgomon crouched a little and lowered one hand.  "Climb in," Henry's voice came from the Mega.

"Henry?" Jeri asked hesitantly.  "How did you-?"

"I'll explain later," SaintGalgomon said.  "Now, come on, it'll be faster and safer if I carry you, and I don't want those two Hybrids to be chasing us the whole way."

Henry's last statement had reminded Jeri of the two Digimon they had been fighting and she turned around to see them coming towards her again.  She and Grappleomon quickly climbed into SaintGalgomon's hand, after which he then stood up.

Blizzarmon and Bolgmon skidded to a halt in front of SaintGalgomon.  "Damn, he's huge," Bolgmon swore when he saw the giant Mega.

"Hey guys, here's a little parting gift," Terriermon's voice said as lots and lots of missile compartments opened all over SaintGalgomon's body.

"Uh oh," Blizzarmon said as missiles emerged from all the holes, then SaintGalgomon shouted "Burst Shot!"

Both Digimon were literally blasted off by the explosions, and as they went sailing through the air they were both surrounded by Digicode again. SaintGalgomon squinted at the disappearing two figures and could've sworn that they had turned into humans, but then they were out of sight.

Shrugging off the matter for later, SaintGalgomon's jet pack ignited and slowly started rising until his feet were above treetop level.

"Hey, Henry, why don't we just start bursting through," Terriermon asked Henry as he turned their combined body horizontal and then zoomed off towards the river.

"So that if anybody wants to follow us, they won't have a bunch of wrecked trees to follow," Henry answered as he tried not to knock over any trees accidentally.

***

Ryo destroyed another Digimon, and ducked as one flew over his head, tossed by Cyberdramon.

"Hey, buddy, will you watch where you chuck those things?" Ryo asked, as he waited for more Digimon to attack them.  Due to Cyberdramon's berserk tendencies, all the Digimon had started avoiding them.  Nobody, not even brainwashed Dark Ring/Spiral Digimon wanted to face Cyberdramon when he was like that.

Before Ryo could think anymore, two voices from above them shouted "Dark Side Attack!" and then missiles flew through the treetops, destroying them, and then heading towards ground level.

Ryo shielded himself with his cloak, and was actually surprised when Cyberdramon also leapt to cover him.  Most of the time all Cyberdramon had on his mind was killing, killing, and more killing.

Ryo looked up at where the tree tops had been and saw two metallic dragons hovering in the air.  Cyberdramon stood up straight again and growled at the two other dragons, and Ryo looked at the images his D-Arc displayed.

"Megadramon and Gigadramon.  Twin brother Ultimates, these two guys are no easy pickings.  Their Dark Side Attack is enough to wipe the land clear of nearly anything."

Ryo pulled out five cards, and then shifted through them.  "Cyberdramon, you wanna biomerge, or do you want to fight them alone?"

Cyberdramon's answer was to lunge at the closest dragon, which happened to be Megadramon.

"Erase Claw!" Cyberdramon roared as he gathered energy in his hands and hurled in a straight beam at Megadramon.

Moving with surprising speed considering its size, Megadramon dodged, and then opened up his two missile launchers.  "Dark Side Attack!"

Cyberdramon easily dodged, but didn't see the tail of Gigadramon come flying at him, and then whip him out of the sky.

"Cyberdramon can dodge their long range attacks, but he doesn't have enough physical power to handle their short range attacks," Ryo murmured as he looked at his five rarest cards carefully.  Choosing one, he put the rest away and then shouted to Cyberdramon "Get ready!  Digi-modify!  King Device Activate!"

Cyberdramon flew back up, but as he rose, his size also grew until he was the same size as the two other dramons.

He growled at them once before lunging, ignoring the missiles that both Megadramon and Gigadramon sent his way, absorbing the blows with his forearms, and then grabbing the tails of both other dragons as they tried to flee, then swung them together again and again into the ground, leaving a larger impression each time.

Ryo winced.  "Almost nobody deserves this.  Almost nobody."

***

Tai slashed at another Digimon, which instantly burst into data, even though Tai had already turned around to block the attack of another Digimon.

"Hey, MetalGreymon," he shouted over the noise of the battle, "Have you seen any Dark Rings or Spirals for a while?"

"Actually, no," MetalGreymon said as he realized that he hadn't seen any of the mind-control advices on these Digimon.

"Which means that they're probably out of them, so that means it time to let loose!" Tai shouted as he leapt back onto MetalGreymon's head.  "Let it rip!"

"Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon roared as his chest plate opened up again and he started firing missiles left and right, though making sure to keep an eye out of Dark Rings or Spirals just in case.

MetalGreymon kept firing until either of the Digimon around him had been deleted or they had retreated.

Tai looked at the backs of the retreating Digimon and frowned.  "Something's wrong.  This was too easy."

"And you'd be right!" roared a voice from the right as both Tai and MetalGreymon turned around just in time to see what looked like tornado made of fire coming towards them.

MetalGreymon swatted at the tornado with his right metal arm and the metal easily withstood the flames and something came flying out of the tornado right at Tai's head!

"Salamander Break!" the figure, a humanoid Digimon with red armor, long hair, and two horns shouted as he tried to kick Tai's head off.

Tai quickly ducked, and slashed with the Grey Sword, though the other Digimon was too quick and dodged the attack.

Before Tai could attack again, the Digimon had leapt off of MetalGreymon's head, out of his reach, and back to the ground.

"So, you're the great Tai Kamiya!" the red Digimon said as he looked at Tai.  "Not much to look at, though I've gotta admit, nice goggles!"

Tai blinked at the odd statement and then grinned as he readjusted his headware.  "Why, thank you.  And who are you?"

"I'm Agnimon, special Hybrid Digimon, and I've been sent here to look for Tamers in general, and the Hazard D-Arc to be specific," Agnimon said.  "Oh, and in the interests of fair play, watch out for Grottomon and Arbormon behind you."

"You think I'm gonna fall for that?" Tai asked before he heard a growl from behind him and whirled around, just in time to catch a swing from a pick-axe on his sword, and to receive a kick to the chest from someone else.

Tai went flying off of MetalGreymon's head, but he still managed to land on his feet as he evaluated his two new opponents.

He guessed that the purple troll was Grottomon, while the brown thing was probably Arbormon.

"Me smash you into little pieces!" Grottomon grunted as he jumped into the air, swinging his axe again.

"Hope you have your affairs in order," Arbormon added as his legs lengthened again, though they were still attached to his body by strings.  "Machinegun Dance!"

"And I guess I'll take you on," Agnimon said as his fist burst into flames, sorta like Flamedramon used to do.  "Burning Salamander!"

He punched two fireballs at MetalGreymon, but the Ultimate just batted the attack aside with his metal arm.  MetalGreymon growled as he advanced towards a now nervous Agnimon.  "Is that the best you got?  Cause if it is, then you're not going to stop me from helping Tai!"

Agnimon pulled his resolve back together and jumped at MetalGreymon again, and then started spinning in midair again until he was once again surrounded by a wall of fire.

MetalGreymon just swatted at the tornado again with his metal arm, but he missed Agnimon himself.  Agnimon was still flying through the air as he shouted "Salamander Break!" and slammed his foot into MetalGreymon's jaw sending the Ultimate Digimon flying backwards.

Tai, who was busy dodging both Grottomon's and Arbormon's attacks, saw MetalGreymon's condition and quickly knocked both of his opponents onto their backs for a moment so he could leap towards MetalGreymon.

"MetalGreymon!  Are you okay?" Tai asked worriedly as the Ultimate Digimon rose again.

"I think so, but for such a little guy, he sure packs a punch," MetalGreymon said as he rubbed his jaw with his organic arm.

"Well, maybe its time we even up the odds," Tai said as he held Digivice up.  MetalGreymon shrunk back to Agumon, and then he was bathed in light from Tai's Digivice.

"Agumon warp-digivolve to… Wargreymon!"

"Now, that's better," Wargreymon said as he touched his healed jaw with one claw gently.  He turned towards the three Hybrid Digimon waiting.  "So, you guys up for round two?"

"You're not the only ones with tricks up your sleeves," Agnimon said as he was enveloped in Digi-Code.

"Agnimon! Slide Evolution! Vritramon!"

"What-?" Tai wondered at he looked at the new figure of a dragon with red wing and armor bearing a slight resemblance to Agnimon, but looking much more bestial.

"You guys had better slide evolve if you want to stand a chance against him," Vritramon advised Grottomon and Arbormon as he fiddled with the controls of his own Digivice.

"Okay," Arbormon said as he was covered in Digi-code.

"Arbormon! Slide Evolution! Petaldramon!"

Grottomon grumbled at taking orders from Vritramon, but did the same as Arbormon.

"Grottmon! Slide Evolution! Gigasmon!"

"Hm, you guys still think you can take on a Mega and me?" Tai asked as he held his sword up.

"We can sure try," Vritramon rumbled as the gauntlets on his arms moved.  "Corona Blaster!"

Wargreymon's snapped his shield together and it easily withstood the red bullets from Vritramon.

Gigasmon slammed the ground with his fist and shouted "Earthquake!"

Wargreymon took to the air, but Tai had to struggle to keep standing.

Petaldramon stood up on two legs, and the flower around his neck started spinning.  "Leaf Cyclone!"

A blast of green energy flew from his nostrils but Tai reflected the attack back at Petaldramon with his sword.  The rebounded attack sent Petaldramon crashing onto his back.

Vritramon was enveloped in flames, and then roared "Flame Storm!" as a huge blast of fire flew at Wargreymon.

"Mega Claw!" Wargreymon started spinning and then drilled right through the attack as a golden tornado and rammed into Vritramon, sending him crashing into a tree.

"Hurricane Bomber!" Gigasmon, using yet another spinning attack, turned into a brown tornado that then came right at Tai.  Tai braced himself, so that when the tornado was about to hit him, he drove his sword straight into the center, and was rewarded with a loud cry of pain as Gigasmon fell to the ground.

Gigasmon growled, and then hit the ground again with his Earthquake attack, and then a huge crater formed around him, and Tai found himself rolling down the sudden incline.

Gigasmon roared in triumphed and jumped down, about to crush Tai with his Earthquake attack, when Wargreymon came out of nowhere and kicked him out of the hole and into a tree.

"Wargreymon, how strong do you think these guys are?" Tai asked as Wargreymon helped his stand up, and then carried him up back to level ground.

"I'd say about Ultimate strength.  Weak Ultimates, but combined they may be trouble."

Vritramon groaned as he managed to fly back to where Gigasmon and Petaldramon were gathering.

"Okay, guys, I think its time for our trump card," Vritramon said as he landed, and then was surrounded in Digi-code again, and much to Tai and Wargreymon's shock, dedigivolved into a human boy.

"What is it, some form of biomerging?" Tai wondered.

The boy smirked.  "Nope, we have the legendary spirits of the Warrior Ten.  They allow us to become Digimon ourselves."

The boy then spoke to his allies.  "You'd better step back, or else you might get burned.  After this I'll take on Wargreymon, and you two can handle Tai."

"Okay, Takuya," Petaldramon said as he and Gigasmon backed up.

Takuya then raised his own Digivice.  "Now, get ready to see the combined power of my D-Scanner and both my Human and Beast Spirits!"

"Double Spirit Evolution! Ardhamon!"

A burst of intense red light, and then what looked like a fusion of both Agnimon and Vritramon appeared.

"Wargreymon, do you think he's on par with a Mega now?" Tai asked his partner quietly.

"Maybe," Wargreymon said carefully, while still trying to gauge Ardhamon's strength.  "Probably a weak Mega, but still strong enough to put up a good fight."

"So, do you wanna surrender now, or shall we do this the hard way?" Ardhamon asked as he held up both arms.

"You know our answer," Tai said, as he gripped his sword tighter.  "We always like the hard way!"

"Your funeral," Ardhamon shrugged as both of his gauntlets split and glowed with fire.  "Brahma Shil!"

A ton of fireballs flew at the Tai and Wargreymon.  Tai blocked any of the ones heading towards him with his weapon while Wargreymon defended himself with his own shield.

"Ah, will you stop that?!" Tai shouted in a frustrated tone as he was getting tired of blocking small fireballs.  And was very surprised when the Grey Sword shot out a huge blast of energy.

Ardhamon only had time to say "What?" before Tai's accidental attack sent him flying back.

Tai could only stare in shock at his weapon, and then grinned widely.  "I never knew it could do that!" He pointed the Grey Sword at the remaining two Hybrids.  "Who's next?"

"I'm not out of the game yet," Ardhamon said as he managed to stand back up, though his armor was missing a few pieces here and there.  "And do you guys want to tell Lady Hikari that we retreated?"

"How dare you talk about my little sister like that?!" Tai roared in anger as he again fired his sword at Ardhamon, but this time Ardhamon managed to block some of the blast's power with his gauntlets.

Gigasmon and Petaldramon looked at each other, and then shrugged.  Gigasmon pulled out a bottle from somewhere and sprinkled something on the ground, and then a bunch of Golemon quite literally sprouted out of the ground.  Petaldramon crawled over to one of the trees, and actually devoured it whole, and suddenly grew much, much bigger.

"Do you want those two bozos or the pyromaniac?" Tai asked his partner.

"I'll take Ardhamon," Wargreymon answered as he lifted up from the ground, and then flew straight at Ardhamon, claws outstretched.  Ardhamon was ready though, and then the two Digimon started engaging in a test of strength to see who would win.

Tai ran through part of the crowd of Golemon, slashing and after a minute he paused, and all of the Golemon behind him burst into stray data.  Petaldramon tried to stomp on him, but Tai easily dodged Petaldramon's foot and jumped up, slashing Petaldramon's side.  Unfortunately, the big gash from Tai's sword resealed itself in seconds.

Tai sweatdropped when he saw that he had done no damage to Petaldramon.  "This… could take awhile."

***

Dukemon ran, not caring at all what he ran into (considering he's a Mega now, there's not much that can bother him).

"Hey, Takato is that- you?  Takato?"

The voice stopped Dukemon, as he turned to the side and saw Kazu, Kenta and their Digimon crouching behind a log.

"Is that some digivolution of Guilmon?" Kazu asked, as he looked at the Guilmon mask on Dukemon's face.  "But where's Takato?"

"Uh, Kazu, I think that is Takato," Kenta said, sounding stunned.

"What?!" Kazu said, sounding just as surprised as Takato had been at first.  "Then, how the heck did Takato become a Digimon?"

"I heard Henry mention it once, something called biomerging, where the Digimon and human become one," Kenta explained.  "Anyways, Takato, get down, these guys are looking all over for you, and you don't want to get caught, right?"

Dukemon hesitated, wondering how to tell the two boys, two of his oldest and closest friends, that he couldn't trust them?

"What's he waiting for?" Kenta said nervously as he looked around to make sure no evil Digimon were around.

Kazu himself was still puzzled as to why Takato wasn't hiding like them, or better yet, helping the others fight.  Then he saw the look in Dukemon's eyes, and realized what he was going to do.

"He's leaving," Kazu slowly, not sure he wanted to believe it, but slowly starting to understand Takato's reasons.

"But, why would he want to leave?" Kenta asked desperately.

Kazu looked sadly at Kenta.  "Remember that blast we saw from Matt?  What Matt did, eventually any of us could do eventually, and Takato would never want our friendship to come to that."

Kenta nodded as he too understood now.  They both looked at Dukemon, but before any of them could anything more, they heard roaring, and from the sound of it, whatever was doing it was getting closer.

Kazu froze for a moment, before he looked Dukemon directly in the eye.  "Go.  Now.  We'll hold them off."

Dukemon looked surprised for a moment, before Kazu shouted "Go!" again, and then leapt up out of their hiding place.

"Hey, over here!" Kazu yelled, starting to run in the opposite direction of the riverbank.  He looked one more time at Dukemon, before he broke into a full sprint, Guardromon loyally following.

"Good luck, Takato," Kenta whispered, though Dukemon with his enhanced sense still heard it, before he too started running in the opposite direction, making as much noise as possible.

Dukemon could only stare in shock for a moment, before he turned back to the river.

"Thanks, guys."

***

"Uh, Kazu, maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Kenta said as both of them were being chased by a small army of Digimon.

"Well, too late to change our minds now!" Kazu said as he skidded to a halt and pulled out his D-Arc and cards.

A Deltamon and a Triceramon came charging towards them, knocking down quite a few trees in the process.

"You take the Triceramon, I'll handle the Deltamon!" Kazu ordered.

"Why do I have to fight the Ultimate?" Kenta asked as he too pulled out his cards.

"Cause I'm not the one with a partner stuck at the Mega level because of a freak accident!" Kazu answered, as he pulled out the Elven sword he was still carrying.  He remembered that Tai had given the sword to him back at Weathertop, and wondered why that had seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Flamedramon's Fire Rocket Activate!" he shouted, slashing a Flamedramon card as Guardromon flew right into Deltamon's Triplex Force, and then winced.  He didn't need to be reminded of Davis and his Digimon right now.

"MarineAngemon, try to trap him," Kenta commanded, as he flipped through his cards for something to use.

MarineAngemon pipi'ed in agreement, and then blew out a giant heart bubble that Triceramon ran right into, and then found that he couldn't break through it with his sharp horns, despite all his best efforts.

Kenta sighed in relief as he saw that Triceramon was contained, at least for now, before a dark blur appeared behind Triceramon, and before the dinosaur could react, it had been hit and its data loaded.  The dark blur then leapt over the barrier MarineAngemon had erected and then started advancing on Kenta and MarineAngemon.

"What are you?!" Kenta asked as he back up.

"What?" Kazu looked at the new Digimon, and actually shivered when he saw him.  "What is that?"

"That's a Duskmon, and I'm a Wolfmon," answered a voice right from behind him.

Kazu jumped, and apparently that saved his life as he felt something whip very close to his head.

Guardromon quickly flew in front of Kazu, and then stared down at the white humanoid Digimon that had tried to kill his partner.

"What manner of knave are you?" Guardromon challenged.

The new Digimon, Wolfmon only said one word, "Hybrid," and then swung his beam weapon around in a wide arc, before yelling "Licht Sieger!" and jumping at Guardromon.

"Guardian Barrage!" Guardromon shouted as he fired his missiles at Wolfmon.

Wolfmon spun his blades, and sliced the missiles in half before they could hit him, and then swung his leg, kicking Guardromon away.

"Guardromon!" Kazu shouted as he raced over to Guardromon's side.

"Don't worry, Kazu," Guardromon said as he struggled to stand up again.  "I will not allow this evildoer to triumph!"

"Yeah, that's the way," Kazu cheered, as he pulled out another card, and was surprised when it burst into blue light.  "And this is how you're going to win!  Digi-modify!  Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

"Guardromon digivolve to… Andromon!"

The now revitalized Andromon leapt at Wolfmon, while his right hand started spinning as he used his Lightning Blade to slash at Wolfmon, who was suddenly put on the defensive as surprisingly Andromon wielded more power with just one hand then Wolfmon could muster with both arms.

Andromon managed to knock Wolfmon's saber out of his hand, struck him with his left hand, then Andromon jumped back, and shouted "Gatling Attack!" as he fired two missiles from his chest.

Wolfmon was quick to react though as he braced his left arm and fired a blast of energy that destroyed Andromon's missiles in midair.

"You're stronger than I thought," Wolfmon muttered as he surveyed his now Ultimate-level opponent.

He reached behind him, pulled out something that resembled a Digivice, and then-

"Wolfmon! Slide Evolution! Garmmon!"

"What the?" Kazu said as he saw that the bipedal wolf had changed into a more normal type wolf, on all fours, though with two blades on his side, somewhat resembling MetalGarurumon.

 Before Kazu had any more time to react, wheels lowered from the heels of the new Digimon, Garmmon.

A cry of "Speed Star!" and suddenly Garmmon was gone!  Kazu blinked to make sure he was seeing right, and then realized that Garmmon had superspeed, which was why it looked like he had disappeared.

Kazu had only realized this when Andromon started getting cut by the blades on Garmmon's back as the wolf used his speed to attack Andrmon again and again before the android Digimon could even begin to defend himself.

Kenta had actually managed to find a way to improve his situation- if you called having a unholy figure of darkness trapped in a giant heart bubble an improvement.

"I hope Kazu's doing okay," Kenta said worriedly as he heard the sound of swords clashing nearby.

Unfortunately, because Kenta was distracted, he didn't notice the power Duskmon was radiating, until the Tamer heard the sound of cracking, and then ducked as the bubble exploded.

When the flash from the explosion cleared, Kenta looked up and saw that Duskmon was kneeling in the small crater he had created.

At first, Kenta was scared by the sheer power Duskmon had just shown, but then he saw that Duskmon was deeply exhausted, and was heaving. Apparently, breaking out of MarineAngmeon's bubble had taken a lot out of him.

Kenta was trying to think of a way to boost MarineAngemon's offensive power enough to take out this strange dark Digimon, when Duskmon started glowing with more power suddenly.

"Uh oh," Kenta said as Duskmon disappeared, only to be replaced by a monstrous bird.

"Duskmon!  Slide Evolution! Velgmon!"

Velgmon crowed loudly, and then took off, the winds generated by his wings knocking over Kenta.

Velgmon circled in the sky for a minute, as if it were a giant vulture, when it seemed to focus again on Kenta and some semblance of intelligence entered its eyes again as it dove at Kenta.

"Master of Darkness!"

A black beam of energy flew from the third eye on Velgmon's head, and flew straight at Kenta, but MarineAngemon quickly blew another bubble in front of Kenta that easily deflected the attack. 

Velgmon was obscenely powerful for his level, but MarineAngmeon was still a Mega, with weak attack strength, but with more than enough defensive strength to make up for it.

Velgmon tried to strafe them a couple more times, but MarineAngemon held him back each time.

After the third time they went through this, Velgmon lost its patience and seemed to be preparing for something drastic when it spotted the ongoing battle between Garmmon and Andromon and decided on a new target.

"Oh no," Kenta said he saw Velgmon veer off in Kazu's general direction.  "Kazu, look out!"

"Huh?" Kazu asked as he glanced in Kenta's direction, but didn't pay too much attention as he was too busy watching his own battle.

Andromon had finally managed to figure out a pattern to Garmmon's movements, and right not Andromon's energized right hand was straining against Garmmon's own blades.

Kazu then caught sight of the giant bird bearing down on Andromon and barely had enough time to shout "Look out, Andromon!" before Velgmon was attacking.

Andromon had heard Kazu, and just barely managed to duck in time, but this allowed Garmmon to gain the upper hand as it pushed Andromon over and literally ran right over him.

Andromon got back up, as Kazu ducked as Velgmon made another pass, and Kenta and MarineAngemon had managed to catch up.

"How come you didn't tell me about that overgrown turkey?!" Kazu yelled at Kenta, prompting a sigh, but they ceased their arguing when they saw that Garmmon had halted in front of them.

"You'd better surrender now, or else you'll be in even deeper trouble," he advised.

"What, surrender and be killed?  Like that's any better then right now," Kazu snorted.

"Well, we wouldn't kill you, we need you as hostages to lure the Hazard Digivice bearer to us," Garmmon explained.

"Then they'd have a long wait," Kazu muttered as he thought about Takato's flight towards the river.  "Sorry, but a Tamer never surrenders!"

"You had a choice," Garmmon said, sounding resigned.  "Velgmon!"

Kazu and Kenta looked up to see that Velgmon was now flying vertical to the ground, and seemed to be tracing a glowing line in the ground with one wing tip.

Garmmon reversed direction and made it out of the circle just before Velgmon completed it.

"I don't like the looks of this," Kazu said.  "Andromon, try to break out of here!"

"Gatling Missile!" Andromon's attack soared toward the wall of the dome, hit- and did absolutely nothing.

The dome started pulsing ominously, and then started shrinking slowly.

Suddenly, Kenta had an idea.  "Kazu, Andromon, get close!"

Outside, Garmmon was staring at the black dome, and the gruesome face on the top.  Then, the face and Velgmon said at the same time "Zone Deleter!"

Velgmon's attack shrunk until it was only a small black dot, and then it exploded again, creating a large crater.

"I thought I told you to take it easy, we still want at least one of them alive!" Garmmon shouted up at Velgmon, but the other Digimon just cawed back in anger.  Then Garmmon saw something still glowing in the center of the crater Velgmon had created and gasped.  "Impossible!"

Still safe, and mostly unharmed, Kazu and Kenta were still standing, surrounded by another of MarineAngemon's bubbles.

"Man, I didn't think we would survive that," Kazu said, sounding awed.  "Next time I start making fun of your partner, remind me to shut up, okay?"

"Yeah, but I don't think it's over yet," Kenta said as the bubble slowly floated to the ground, and then popped.

Garmmon growled, and then started howling loudly.

"Man, what is he doing?" Kazu said as he clamped his hands over his ears to try to block out the sound.

"I believe he's calling for reinforcements," Andromon answered as he analyzed Garmmon's calls.

"What?!" Kenta said.  "Just what we don't need, more of these Hybrids!"

***

"Mega Claw!" Wargreymon shouted as he punched Ardhamon, sending the Advanced Hybrid back, then Wargreymon tossed a min-Terra Force at Ardhamon, which Ardhamon barely dodged.

Then, all five combatants heard Garmmon's howling.  Ardhamon listened for a moment, before he barked an order.  "You two go help Kouji, I'll take care of these guys."

Gigasmon then started digging, and before Tai could stop them, Petaldramon had also crawled down the hole and both had disappeared.

He then turned to see Wargreymon still eyeing Ardhamon  "You don't think you can hold both Tai and me here?"

"No," Ardhamon said truthfully.  "But I can certainly distract you at least."

Ardhamon cried out as he concentrated, and then formed a ball of energy between his hands, and then it grew until it was the same size as him when he held it above his head.

"Hey, that's my signature attack!" Wargreymon protested, as he himself summoned another Terra Force.

"Well, let's see who's is better," Ardhamon said.  "Brahma Shil!"  And he pushed the sphere towards Wargreymon.

"Oh no you don't," Wargreymon said he hurled his own attack.  "Terra Force!"

The two attacks sped towards each other, and then they hit.  Ardhamon was already flying away when the attacks hit, so he wasn't blinded by the bright flash of light, but both Wargreymon and Tai were.

"Damn!  Wargreymon, can you see?" Tai asked as he frantically tried to clear his vision.

"No, and I've lost track of where Ardhamon went," the Mega answered.

"I just hope that the others are doing okay," Tai said as he sheathed his sword.

***

MarineAngemon was still managing to hold off Velgmon while Garmmon and Andromon grapple again, when a giant hole opened up beneath him, causing him to drop.

MarineAngemon was distracted by Andromon's fall, and that allowed him to be blindsided by a blast of leaves from Petaldramon.

Gigasmon leapt out of the hole he had created, though Andromon had managed to climb out by then too.  Too bad they were serious outnumbered now.

"So, these guys are Tamers," Fairymon said as she hovered in the air.  "Not much to look at, I must say."

"You two must really be losing your touch if you need help with these two guys," Ranamon said as a small rain cloud hovered over her head.

"I don't see you two having any captive Tamers," Garmmon growled at her.

"Well, we would've if it hadn't been for her," Fairymon said, sticking a thumb at Ranamon.

"It was so your fault-"

"Would you girls drop it?!" Ardhamon ordered.

"You stay out of this!" both Fairymon and Ranamon shouted at Ardhamon.

Ardhamon backed up for a second, before he just decided to ignore that last comment.  "Just slide evolve.  There are a couple of Megas wandering around, and I wouldn't want to take any of them on without Mercuremon.  Speaking of him, where is that guy?"

All the Hybrid Digimon present just shrugged, so then Ardhamon, as the unofficial leader turned to Kazu and Kenta.

"You guys are outnumbered nearly four to one," Ardhamon said to the two Tamers, as behind him Ranamon slid evolved to Calamaramon, and Fairymon to Shutumon.  "Now surrender, or else we carry your bodies back to Isengard."

Kazu clenched his fists, but before he could answer, another yell attracted all of their attention.

"Nobody's taking anybody as long as I'm around!" Matt roared as he sprinted towards the clearing.  Gabumon was running alongside him, until in a flash of light, he was replaced by MetalGarurumon, armed and ready to tear some Digimon apart.

Matt whipped out his own blade and jumped at Ardhamon, forcing the Hybrid to block Matt's attacks with his arms.

MetalGarurumon flew right into the center of the gathering, and unleashed a whole barrage of missiles in almost every direction, making sure not to hit Kazu, Kenta, or Matt.

Ardhamon kicked Matt away, just in time for Gigasmon to tackle him, but Matt stabbed his sword into Gigasmon's arm, forcing the earth Digimon away, just in time for him to be knocked into the air by a blast of wind from Shutumon.  Calamaramon started strangling him in one of her tentacles.

Matt strained, then pulled out the Garuru Gun, and fumbling for the trigger, actually found a switch, which he randomly flipped, and to his shock, a laser blade somewhat similar to Wolfmon's own weapons extended from the barrel.  He swung, and Calamaramon shrieked as Matt sliced off one of her tentacles.

MetalGarurumon was being slashed again and again by Garmmon as the Mega didn't have the speed to keep up with the Beast Hybrid, but once MetalGarurumon took to the air, Garmmon's speed advantage significantly lessened.

Garmmon bounded off a tree and at MetalGaruurmon, but this time the metal wolf shot a blast of icy power at Garmmon, sending the Beast Hybrid to the ground with a frozen lower half, but this left MetalGarurumon open to a Master of Darkness attack from Velgmon.

The attack slammed into MetalGarurumon's back, and slammed him into the ground, but MetalGarurumon managed to roll onto his back and fire a Giga Missile from his belly at Velgmon, effectively clearing the skies of the dark buzzard.  Petaldramon stomped towards MetalGarurumon, but a Ice Wolf Claw froze most of Petaldramon's body, and when he managed to break free, he was now back to his original size.

Matt cut one of Shutumon's wings off, and then shattered part of Ardhamon's armor.  He then jumped backwards, turned the switch again, and then shouted at Kazu and Kenta "Get down!"

The two boys, seeing how Matt was holding the Garuru Gun yelped and then jumped behind a tree.

"Take this!" Matt shouted as he pulled the trigger at the same moment a mirror appeared in mid-air before him.

"Foolish human," a voice said as a tall Digimon covered with mirrors emerged from the first mirror.

"Mercuremon!" Ardhamon shouted angrily.  "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Preparing for his moment," the Warrior of Steel said calmly while Matt's attack streaked towards them.  "Generous Mirror!"

To everyone's shock, the ball of energy entered Mercuremon's left mirror, and then emerged from the right mirror heading right back at Matt!

Matt tried to raise his arms in what he knew was a useless gesture to shield himself, but at the last moment MetalGarurumon threw himself in front of the attack, shielding Matt from part of the attack.

The ensuing explosion attracted everybody's attention, and when the light cleared, a very bruised Matt and Tsunomon lay against a tree.

Ardhamon gaped at the damage.  "Remind me never to make Mercuremon mad," he whispered Shutumon, who happened to be the closest.

Shutumon nodded fervently, before she noticed the pain from the limp of her right wing.

"Why do you just slide evolve back to Fairymon?" Ardhamon asked her, seeing her wince from the damage.

Shutumon blinked at the surprisingly bright idea from Ardhamon.  "Sure, you just like staring at me in that form better."

"N-no, I don't!" Ardhamon said, actually blushing.  "Anyways, we've gotta get out of here before the rest of these guy's friends arrive.  Velgmon, pick up that giant tin-can, Fairymon, grab that little pink thing, and I'll," Ardhamon reached down, and before Kazu and Kenta could draw their swords, had picked them up and slung them over his shoulders.  "Let's move it!  Garmmon, tell what's left of our soldiers to retreat too."

Garmmon nodded in agreement, and then howled loudly.

***

Tomoki moaned as he pulled his head out of the dirt, and then heard the howling.  "Hey, Junpei, sounds like that the signal to retreat."

Junpei managed to pull himself up.  "Ow, remind me to watch out for the giant heavily armed dog next time, okay?"

"Yeah, me too," Tomoki said as he pulled out his green D-Scanner.  "Come on, I need somebody to carry me, neither Chakmon nor Blizzarmon is all that fast."

Junpei pulled out his own Digivice and then "Spirit Evolution! Blitzmon!"

"Spirit Evolution!  Chakmon!"

Blitzmon bent down, grabbed Chakmon in his arms, and then opened his insectoid wings and took off.

***

"N-no, come back," Matt said weakly as he strained to get back up, but the Hybrids were already leaving, with a screaming Kazu and Kenta, who were desperately trying to escape from Ardhamon's clutches and to try to save their dying friend.

Matt tried to think of a part of his body that didn't hurt, and unfortunately, came with nothing.  He looked up and saw Garmmon stopping by his body for a moment, as if contemplating whether to finish it, but then there was a loud roar, and a golden tornado tore into Garmmon's side, sending the lupine Digimon flying.  When Garmmon landed, he managed to get back on his feet, and zoomed off at high speed before Wargreymon could pursue.

"Matt!" Matt dimly heard a voice call his name, and then the Digidestined of Friendship tilted his friend to the left to see Tai running towards him.

Matt tried to sit up, but only strained his injuries, and slid down again.  "They took… Kazu and Kenta," he managed to say as Tai leaned down next to him.

"We'll get them back," Tai assured him as he examined Matt's injuries and didn't like what he saw.

"Takato?" Matt asked, trying not to sound too guilty.

"Gone," Tai said, looking Matt directly in the eye.

Matt let his eyes fall shut good.  "Good.  Tai, I-I tried to take-"

"I know," Tai said, nodding.  "No offense, but your weapon isn't the most subtle one to used for theft."

"Heh, I guess you're right there," Matt said as his breathing slowed.  "Tai, about that other thing…"

"What other thing?" Tai asked, searching desperately through his pockets for medical supplies.

"About Sora…"

Tai froze at that, and then looked at Matt's face.  Instead of the bitterness Tai expected to see, there was instead only regret there.

"I know we fought over her, and it seemed that I stole her, but I never wanted it to go this far," Matt whispered.

"Yeah, but things have a way of blowing up," Tai said, smiling sadly.

"I just hope you two are happy together," Matt said softly.  "I saw you two at the hill.  Throughout our entire relationship, she never once had a special place like that with me."

Matt tried to get up again, and this time managed to sit up against the tree with Tai's help.

"One moment of madness, and all my honor, pride, gone," he said bitterly.

"No, you've kept your honor," Tai said, patting Matt on the back, and causing Matt to wince.  "You fought bravely.  And throughout all our fights, I have always known that I could trust you with my life."

"You did?" Matt asked, surprised.

"Of course," Tai said, clasping Matt's hand.  "You're one of my best friends, after all."

"Thanks, Tai," Matt said as his breathing slowed.

As Matt's breathing slowed until he felt his last breath leave him, the Crest of Friendship glowed underneath his shirt until, when Matt's chest fell for the last time, it exploded with light and enveloped Matt in its glow.

"Matt?" Tai asked, as he was forced to look away from the bright light.

When he could see again, Matt's body had been miraculously restored, as well as Tsunomon, who was once again Gabumon.

Matt blinked as he found that he could breathe again, and that all the pain was gone- and then noticed that Tai was still holding his hand.

"Uh, Tai, you know you can let go now," Matt said.

Tai looked at where his hand was, blinked, and then jerked backwards.  "Now, uh, don't you be getting any ideas-"

Matt laughed, as he climbed up on his own power, and shook his partner awake.  "What happened?"

Tai pointed at Matt's shirt, and he looked down to see that his crest was still glowing.  "I think your crest healed you."

"But why?" Matt asked, tugging at the chain his Crest hung on and pulling it out from underneath his shirt.  "All it's ever done before was just let Gabumon digivolve past Champion."

"Maybe cause at that moment you were the truest definition of a friend you've ever been?" Tai asked, and then grimaced.  "I can't believe I just said something that sappy."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody," Matt said, smiling.  "After all, what are friends for?"

Tai laughed, and then turned serious again.  "It's nice to be on the same side again, Matt."

"Hey, we were never on opposite sides to begin with," Matt corrected.  "Anyways, what are we going to do now?  Go after Takato, or chase those weird Hybrids that are carrying Kazu and Kenta?"

"No, for better or worse, the Fellowship of the Digivice is over," Tai said.  "Though considering the looks Rika's been giving him, I doubt he'll go to Mordor alone.  And I think Jeri and Henry know him well enough to join him before he leaves."

"But what if they do the same thing I tried to do?" Matt asked, thinking of his own treacherous act.

"Those three are Takato's closest friends," Tai said confidently.  "If anyone can resist the temptation, they can."

***

Dukemon saw the river come into view after what seemed like forever.  He paused a moment, unsure if anybody else was there.  He wanted to leave before anybody else could try to persuade him to stay.

"Going somewhere, gogglehead?"

Dukemon yelped, and then turned his head to see that Sakuyamon casually leaning against a tree, arms crossed.

Dukemon gulped, and then answered, trying to keep his voice steady.  "Uh, n-no, I was just checking here to make everything was okay, yeah- wait a second, is that you Rika?"

"Of course," Sakuyamon said.  "If a novice like you could figure it out, than a Tamer of my caliber could definitely master it easily."

"Uh, right," Dukemon said, glad that Sakuyamon couldn't see the nervousness on his face.  It had been bad enough facing Tai, but trying to leave with her standing there was magnitudes harder.

"If you think you're going to head off towards Mordor alone, then you've really become delusional," Sakuyamon said, destroying any chances Takato had of convincing her to let him go.  "Do you have any idea of how to get there in the first place?"

"But I can't let the others come with me!" Dukemon protested.  "Matt tried to-"

"Matt's a conceited bastard who's still sore over his ex-girlfriend," Sakuyamon snapped.  "And he has a whole country to think of."

"Don't you do, too?" Takato pointed out, thinking of the Elf kingdom they had just left.

"I left that place long ago," Sakuyamon said, sound sad for a moment.  Only for a moment though.  "And he was weak.  I have absolutely no interest in that hunk of junk, and I do know that you won't survive long out there alone."

"I won't be alone, Guilmon will be right there," Dukemon said, trying to subtly edge towards Grani.  The glider beeped once as it sensed its true master for the first time in a millennium, and started powering up.

"A bread-scarfing Digimon will be no help in the wastelands of Mordor," Sakuyamon said and stood up straight.  "And don't think I didn't see that, gogglehead."

Dukemon took another step towards Grani.  "Saw what?"

"You moron, I can fly in this form, so don't think you're getting away on Grani that easily," Sakuyamon said.  "Listen, I know that you're worried about the rest of us, but I can definitely take care of myself.  I made an oath to follow you, even into the very depths of hell, and a true Tamer never runs away from anything.  So, either shut up and let me go with you, or we take this back to Tai."

"I'm sorry, Rika," Dukemon said once, as he summoned his weapons, and before a startled Sakuyamon could even erect a barrier, he had fired a low-power blast directly at her.  Not enough to harm her, of course, but enough to give him time to get at least a small head start.

He than sprinted towards Grani, which rose above the ground- only to be crushed back into the soft dirt by SaintGalgomon's foot.

Dukemon gasped at the sight of the giant Mega in front of him, and then recognized the bunny ears far above him on SaintGalgomon's face.  "Henry?"

"Takato!" shouted a voice from one of SaintGaglomon's hands as the Vaccine Mega crouched, and Jeri and Grappleomon leapt out, after which, SaintGaglomon split into the forms of Henry and Terriermon.

"Sorry, Takato, but we couldn't let you leave yet," Henry apologized as he looked at the flattened Grani, which was beeping rather indignantly.

"We're going with you Takato!" Jeri said determinedly.  "And there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

"But guys-" Takato started to protest before he was knocked down when someone whacked him in the back of his head with a large object.

"That was a cheap shot!" Sakuyamon said angrily, as she pulled Dukemon up until they were face to face.  Or at least were mask to mask.

Dukemon swallowed as he tried to regain his nerve.  He hadn't meant to hurt her, he was trying to protect them from themselves.  And though he was currently a Holy Knight, and Rika currently looked like a model, they were yet again in this position of her nearly strangling him.

"Rika, please, it/s better this way-"

"I'll tell you what we're going to do!" Sakuyamon roared at him, and for a moment, Takato thought he saw Rika's face appear overlaid Sakuyamon's own mask, but then it faded.  "Henry, Jeri, and you are going to get on that glider, and then we're all going to Mordor!  Got it?!"

"Uh, yes ma'am," Dukemon said.

Jeri reached up and laid a hand on Sakuyamon's shoulder.  "Please, put him down, he only has our best interests at heart."

Sakuyamon dropped Dukemon, growled, and then turned around.

"Takato, why do you want to leave so much?" Jeri asked gently.  "We saw Matt's attack, but don't you trust us?"

Dukemon shook his head.  "You don't understand.  Lately, as we've been getting closer and closer I feel this… hunger, rage inside me.  The closer we get to Mordor, the more this Digivice influences me.  And if its affecting me, then eventually it'll affect the rest of you, and I don't want to fight you."

"You didn't seem to have any problems a moment ago," Sakuyamon snapped, though at least now she wasn't facing away from him anymore.

"You didn't see the look in Matt's eyes," Dukemon said, sounding haunted.  "He actually wanted to kill me.  He would've fought me to the death, tried every weapon he had, simple to get at my D-Arc.  It was either him or me at that point, and I was just lucky that the blast threw him away.  I don't want to hurt any of my friends anymore.  And its my destiny to destroy it-"

Sakuyamon snorted, a definitely very strange sound coming from the beautiful shaman.  "Destiny is just an excuse for the weak.  Truly strong people make their own destiny.  Takato, I've seen your strength, you stood up fine in Moria, and from what I've heard from Tai and Sora, you're a pretty good Tamer.  Now, you don't want to prove me wrong, right?"

Sakuyamon stretched out a hand to Dukemon to help him up.  Dukemon stared at her hand for a moment, before Jeri's and Henry's hands also reached for him.

"Takato, we'll always be your friends, and will help you through whatever happens," Jeri said, smiling gently at him.

"Takato, as long as we're your friends, I promise you won't ever face whatever's coming alone," Henry promised, looking Dukemon straight in the eye.

"Now, come on gogglehead, trust us," Sakuyamon added, a gentle smile on her face.

Dukemon blinked.  Strange- Sakuyamon's face was distinctly different from Rika's own, but he could tell that the expression on Sakuyamon's face was Rika's.

Dukemon reached up, and Sakuyamon grabbed one hand, while Henry and Jeri held onto Dukemon's other hand.

"Thanks, guys," Dukemon said sincerely.  "I don't know what I would do without you guys."

"Probably step off a cliff," Sakuyamon answered, though the teasing tone in her voice softened the insult.  "Now, let's go, before anybody else wanders along."

Dukemon and Sakuyamon managed to pull Grani free of the dirt, and helped brush him off quickly, before Dukemon jumped on top, instinctively knowing how to balance now.

Henry, with Terriermon on his shoulder, climbed onto Grani's left wing, and then helped Jeri up, while Leomon climbed onto the other wing to balance out the two humans' weight.

Grani shook for a moment as it adjusted to the weight and then it took off across the river towards the other bank, with Sakuyamon flying alongside it.

Though she didn't say anything as they crossed the river, her mind was full of disturbing thoughts.

Rika had never been a good judge a character, not like her grandma, and she didn't analyze people's actions like Henry did sometimes.  But what she did know was that the boy she met back before Rivendell would've never attacked any of his friends; he would've died first.

She knew that Dukemon had been desperate to try to get away, but she had never thought that Takato would actually go so far as to strike her.

"Renamon, have you noticed anything different about Takato?" she asked in her mind, so that the others wouldn't hear.

"Yes, he is not as innocent as he was just a few weeks ago," Renamon answered, confirming Rika's suspicions.

"Do you think his Digivice is corrupting him?" Rika asked as he sneaked a sidelong glance at Dukemon.  Though Dukemon didn't have a mouct, he still projected expressions, and right now he looked determined.  But Rika also thought that there was a hint of desperation and madness in Dukemon, no, Takato's eyes.

"Maybe," Renamon answered, surprising Rika.  "I've heard tales of Digivices corrupting humans and Digimon, but usually they became insane almost immediately.  Lucemon's Nine Dark Lords were likewise corrupted when they received their Digivices, and the only reason why they aren't completely insane is because they are so tightly tied to Lucemon's will.  Takato's case is different, especially since he holds what is basically the core of Lucemon's power."

Rika thought back to when she probed Takato's soul, just after they had entered the Rivendell valley.  "You know, now that I think about, his soul felt a lot like a Digivice."

"What?" Now it was Renamon's turn to be surprised.  "What do you mean by that?"

"He has a soul, of course, with his own little dreams, ambitions, but its type of power seemed just like a Digivice.  Also, I thought I detected a hint of Hazard power within him.  At first, I thought it was just because of his partner and their close link, but now I wonder…"

Rika's musings were interrupted by the only person there bold enough to crack jokes when there was still enemy armies wandering around.

"Hey Takato, Rika's staring at you," Terriermon said loudly, poking Dukemon's leg.  "And if I were you, I would definitely go for her while she's in that form, she's much more hotter than normal, rrrriiiiiiiggggghhhtt?"

Somehow, Dukemon's armored head actually blushed, and so did Sakuyamon.  She made a mental note.  Next time she started examining Takato for possible insanity, make sure the dog-rabbit wasn't around.

"Hm, think of the kids those two could have?  Let's see, a knight and a supermodel priestess would probably have-Ack!"

Terriermon's last word was caused by Sakuyamon grabbing him around the neck and starting to strangle him.

***

Tai looked at the fading flash of red as the Tamers ran up the slope on the opposite side of the river and disappeared from view.

"So they're gone, huh?" Matt asked as he walked up behind Tai, who nodded.

There was a crash in the trees, and then Cyberdramon landed, Ryo on his back, both with lots of gashes on their clothing.

"Hey guys, what I'd miss?" he asked curiously until he noticed that Grani was gone, along with part of their supplies.  "Hey, where did Takato go?"

Tai silently pointed across the river.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ryo asked as he climbed on top of Cyberdramon again.  "We've got to go after him!"

"No, its better this way," Matt said, and Ryo suddenly realized that Matt was there and started drawing his sword before Tai gestured for him to stop.

"Don't worry, he's over it," Tai said, and Ryo slowly put his sword away, though still keeping an eye on Matt.  "And its kind of a good thing that he did try to take it at this point."

Matt looked startled.  "How can I breaking up the Fellowship be a good thing?"

"You were only the first to succumb to the temptation," Tai said.  "Eventually, I don't think any of us could've stopped ourselves from doing the same thing, and if this had happened in Mordor, then it would've definitely have ended with Lucemon getting his Digivice back.  Its better that we got past that obstacle while we still had time before the final stretch."

"I just hope Rika, Henry, and Jeri can hold out," Matt said.

"Hey, if I know that Wildcat, she will definitely stop herself from doing anything like that," Ryo said.  "And from what I've seen of Henry and Jeri, they'll be okay."

"They'd better be," Matt said, looking around at the clearing which was empty save for the three of them.  "They're our last hope."

Ryo noticed the lack of Tamers currently around, and then did a mental count.  "Hey, wait, where are Kazu and Kenta?  If they were here, they would be practically begging for my autograph."  Ryo shuddered at their continuing fan worship of him.

"Captured," Tai said, before turning away from the river and back towards the woods and the plains beyond.  "Some of Kari's forces, Digimon calling themselves Hybrids, managed to hold us long enough to capture Kazu and Kenta."

"I think that they wanted them as hostages, to try to force Takato to give up his Digivice," Matt said, remembering the conversation he had overheard while dying.  "Fat lot of good it does them now, since Takato probably doesn't even know what happened."

"So this is how the Fellowship ends," Ryo said.  "Not with a bang, but with a whimper."

"The Fellowship is over, but that doesn't mean we will abandon our friends," Tai said as he started gathering supplies.  "We owe it to Takato to take care of his friends, and I won't leave Kazu and Kenta in unfriendly hands."

Tai grabbed a bag with some of the solid the Elves had piped, their own patented Lambas bread, and dumping the rest of the food cards out.  They didn't need that many of them now, considering that they only had one person with a D-Arc still there. 

"Are you guys with me?" He held out one hand.

"You know it," Matt said, putting his hand on top of Tai's.

Ryo shrugged, and then added his own gloved hand.  "Why not?"

"That's it, then," Tai said.  "We'll save Kazu and Kenta, or die trying.  Now let's go!"

Before any of them could give a rousing war cry, Cyberdramon himself roared loudly and then started running off in a random direction.

Ryo sweatdropped and quickly pulled out his D-Arc.  An energy whip extended from it, and Ryo quickly tied it around Cyberdramon's neck.  "You should never say die around Cyberdramon, it drives him into a bloodlust and then he goes looking for the nearest thing to kill."

Ryo climbed onto Cyberdramon's back, and actually used the whip like a saddlestrap.  "Come on, let's go now.  I'll keep him under control, and chasing after these Hybrid guys should calm him down- I hope."

Tai and Matt looked slightly nervous at the prospect of traveling with such a crazy Digimon, but it looked like Ryo had it under control, so they both had their Digimon partners digivolve once, and then Greymon, Garurumon, and Cyberdramon ran in pursuit of lost friends.

***

Takato took one last step and they finally reached the top of the hill and saw what lay beyond.

"So that's Mordor," he said grimly.  Guilmon was already growling just after looking at the foul land.

"Henry, do you think we'll ever see the others again?" Jeri asked Henry quietly.

"I hope so," Henry said.  "I know that Tai will take care of them, but I really don't know if we'll make it out alive."

"Of course we will," Rika said, glancing at Takato quickly to gauge his reaction.  "The moment we start believing we'll die in Mordor, we will."

Takato gave a wan smile.  "Never though you would be giving pep talks, Rika."

"I'm not giving a pep talking, I'm making sure we survive this," she said bluntly, but then her expression softened.  "Takato, are you sure you can do it?  Can you really drop your D-Arc back into the chaos from which it was spawned?"

"Of course," Takato said, his back to them so she couldn't see his face.  "What's so hard about letting go of a little trinket?"

"You'd be surprised," Henry said quietly, noticing where Rika was going with her questions.

Jeri looked between them worriedly, then patted Takato on one shoulder.  "I know you can, Takato."

"Thanks, Jeri," Takato said, and Rika actually bristled.  Her own personally reason was that here they were trying to figure out how the gogglehead was doing, and then Jeri just ruined all of their questions.  It had nothing to do with the friendly manner between Jeri and Takato.  No, definitely not.

"There's always a chance," Takato murmured, still staring into the empty lands of Mordor.  For a moment, he thought that if he squinted enough he could see a burning eye between two claws on top of a tower, with a small angel hidden in the eye.

Then Rika whacked him in the head.  "Stop spacing out, gogglehead," she scolded.  "If you don't concentrate, then we all lose.  We need to be on our guard all the time while we're in there."

Takato shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and then smiled at Rika.  "Don't worry, I know I'll be fine as long as you're here."

Rika blushed at the statement, and Terriermon started to snicker, before he remembered the indentations still on his throat.

Takato looked at the two other humans there and said "I know that with all my friends, I'll be fine."

Rika sighed as she realized that Takato hadn't meant just her.

"Come on, let's go, we have a long way to go," Takato said, finally taking the first step.

He knew this wasn't the end.  It was only the end of one part of his journey and the start of another.

"May it be," he whispered, wishing for so many things and not knowing if any of them would come true.

Takato walked forward, knowing that as long as he had his friends, he could do anything.

End of Book II

Finally finished it, at long last.

Okay, first of all, thanks for all the reviews (wow, 80, yay!).  I checked them weekly, so that I wouldn't forget about this little project.

Trimon: You call over 50,000 words litte?!

Fine, fine.  Anyways, remember, school work is still more important (most of the time).

Now, several people asked whether this will be a Takari.  My honest answer as of right is: I don't know.

Trimon: I thought you liked Daikari more?

*Holds up giant shield* I do, but I don't really like bashing any character, including TK or Ryo, since Davis got bashed so much in the dub, stupid dubbers…

TK isn't going to meet up with the rest of the main party till the third part.  Obviously, he's going to fill the role of Faramir.  I'm still trying to think of how to write the 2nd part, since the movie itself left out quite a few things from the book, which I assume are going to be resolved by the third move.  Anyways, I'll probably have Davis vs. Kari again, though I'm not sure how it'll end.  So, we'll see about the Takari/Daikari angle later, and I doubt I'll catch up with the movies before the Return of the King.  Sorry bout that, but my brain is maxed out about now, so to show I have finished something, I'm posting this chapter.  There are tons of typos in there (probably), but I'm too tired to find them now.  I'm going to add in more Digimon characters of course, change a few things back from movie-verse to book version, and some just for my own liking (I said this was an adaptation after all), and I'll probably throw in Jyoumi somewhere, Kenyako too, more Henry/Jeri, when I get more inspiration.  All other fic ideas are on hold while I work on this one.

Please read, and review, and see ya later.  Now, back to the candy.  I need another sugar rush for inspiration Trimon!

Trimon: Right!

See ya!