Okay so a bit of background as to why I'm doing this. One major problem with the Tri storyline, I felt, was they gave too much focus on Meiko and not the original gang. There's so much potential with the original gang that was left unexplored or left hanging. I wanted to shift the focus into the original gang growing up and the challenges, hence why I removed Meiko from the story. I might change more as I go along. I also tried to offer more explanations on the 02 gang. Hope you like it!

Taichi

'Taichi!' Aizawa shouted as he passed the ball.

Taichi Yagami caught the ball with his chest before letting it slide down to his feet and dribbling it. He effortlessly spun round to prevent Kotobuki from the opposing team from snatching the ball and made a beeline for the goal. The white goalposts loomed before his sight, growing bigger and bigger by the second. He saw the goalkeeper, Hasegawa, lowering his back and preparing for his attack. And out of the corner of his eyes, he also saw a recovered Kotobuki sprinting wildly towards him.

What do I do now? he thought. The goal is still some ways off, but if I hold onto this ball, there's a risk that Kotobuki is going to tackle me and snatch it.

And beyond everybody's expectations, Taichi launched a sharp kick at the ball at his feet, sending the ball flying towards Hasegawa. He could see Hasegawa squinting as he tried to make out which direction is flying towards. The ball, however, curved just past Hasegawa's outstretched hands and hit the net.

'GOAL!' His team erupted in cheers.

'That was an amazing goal you made there!' Aizawa hollered. 'Heck, the whole game was amazing! This is the best practice run we've ever had!'

'If you keep this up then we'll definitely win the match next Saturday,' Kotobuki agreed, patting Taichi on the back.

'You guys did well too!' Taichi grinned. 'I couldn't have done it without Aizawa and the others. We're a team and if we work together, we'll crush the finals!'

'Got ya, Captain!' Hasegawa said, flicking a thumbs-up.

'Well, as Aizawa said, since this is the best practice run we've ever had, I suppose it wouldn't hurt if we ended practice early today.' Taichi said and his teammates cheered once more.

The high spirited cheers and banter did not subside even as they were changing and grabbing their equipment from the locker room. It was only until the last of his teammates have left and Taichi was locking up the room that the noise slowly dwindled off.

'That was a great shot you made,' a voice startled Taichi, almost causing him to drop the keys. He turned around to see Koushiro Izumi standing behind him.

'Koushiro!' Taichi grinned at his friend. 'Haven't seen you in a while!'

'Yeah,' Koushiro agreed, 'I haven't seen anybody from the old gang in a while, in fact.'

'What made you stay back so late today, anyway?' Taichi asked, gesturing at the dilapidated school building. The orange glow from the setting sun cast long shadows, further accentuating its emptiness.

'The usual,' Koushiro said shrugging, 'trying to establish a reliable connection to the Digital World.'

Taichi felt his hand move subconsciously into his pocket and grip his Digivice, his connection to the Digital World that he constantly kept with him. He felt a sharp pang of longing as he recalled the Digital World and his partner, Agumon, inside it. 'Oh, right,' he said, scratching his head. 'How long has it been since we last went there? Six months?'

Koushiro nodded, taking out his own Digivice out of his pocket. Like Taichi, he carried the device with him all the time. 'The connection's never been stable since the events of three years ago. It goes on and off, and we never know where we can establish a portal next. This, however, is the longest stretch of time that we've been unable to connect with the Digital World.'

'Right…' Taichi said, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. 'Shall we talk as we walk?'

Koushiro nodded in agreement and the pair began making their way out of the school grounds. 'Anyway, back to your match,' Koushiro said, diverting the topic, 'when are the finals again?'

'Next Saturday!' Taichi replied excitedly, 'You should come to the match!'

'Next Saturday, huh?' Koushiro pondered for a bit before continuing, 'I'm sorry, that's my parents' wedding anniversary, and I've got something planned for them.' He gave a regretful smile.

'It's all right,' Taichi said, smiling at his friend. As much as he wanted Koushiro to come, he did not want him to feel bad because of disappointing him.

'You should ask the others,' Koushiro suggested, 'Sora, Yamato and Takeru, Joe and, heck, even Mimi!'

'I'll ask Sora and Yamato when I meet them,' Taichi contemplated, 'And Yamato can ask Takeru. But Joe… I think he's busy studying for college entrance exams, isn't he? And Mimi's in America!'

'Well I admit, asking Joe is a bit of a stretch,' Koushiro conceded. 'But Mimi used to return here every now and then. And it has been a while since she last came back for a visit!'

'True…' Taichi said, still skeptic that Mimi would fly all the way back from America just to watch his match.

'Just text her,' Koushiro said.

…

'I'm home!' Taichi announced as he reached his apartment.

'Ah, welcome home!' his sister, Hikari Yagami, greeted him from the living room.

'You're home early today!' Mrs Yagami called out from the kitchen. 'How was practice?'

'Great,' Taichi replied as he crashed onto the sofa.

'It's Taichi we're talking about,' Hikari said, grinning at her brother, 'Of course the match'll be a breeze, right?'

'Oh stop with the teasing,' Taichi said. 'You're coming to the match, right?'

'Of course,' Hikari replied as she headed back to the kitchen to help their mother. 'Daisuke and Ken said they'll be there too. There's no way Daisuke'll miss a match with you in it.'

'Great,' Taichi said, thankful that he'll have at least some supporters.

'Have you asked the others?' Hikari asked, 'Sora? Yamato? Koushiro?'

'I asked Koushiro earlier,' Taichi replied, 'But he's can't make it on the day. I haven't gotten around to asking Sora and Yamato.'

'You should,' Hikari suggested. 'The more the merrier. Besides, we haven't gotten together in quite a while.' She echoed Koushiro's suggestion.

'That reminds me…' Taichi said, digging his pockets for his phone. He had just remembered Koushiro's suggestion of asking Mimi. 'Here goes nothing,' he whispered as he texted Mimi the following message:

'Hey Mimi, it's been a while! Fancy coming back to Japan? I've got a soccer match next Saturday and I'd love for you to come if you happen to be in town.'

'And… Send,' Taichi clicked on the 'send' button, but immediately second guessed how effective it'd be to actually invite Mimi.

'And who are you sending the invitation to?' Hikari asked with her eyebrows raised.

'Oh, Koushiro suggested inviting Mimi to the match,' Taichi said, shrugging.

'Mimi?' Hikari exclaimed. 'Will she be in town?'

'Not that I know,' Taichi said, 'But it's Koushiro, he might be excited to meet Mimi.' Just as he said it, his phone beeped, signalling an incoming message. 'Speak of the devil,' Taichi mused when he saw that Mimi had replied him.

'Taichi! Oh it has been a while, hasn't it? How are you guys!? I've missed you! I'll be there next Saturday! But be sure to pay for my flight, ok?'

'Huh?' Taichi stared at his phone screen in bewilderment.

'What did Mimi say?' Hikari asked.

'She said that she'll be there,' Taichi answered in an uncertain tone. 'But that I'll have to pay for her plane ticket… She's joking, right?'

'I never really know when Mimi is joking,' Hikari replied in the same doubtful manner.

'Well, she's gotta be,' Taichi said as he typed a reply for Mimi, 'It's not like she's coming from Osaka…'

'Just make sure you're there. Everyone is doing well, and we'd love to see you! Koushiro sends his regards.'

He grinned while typing his last sentence, wondering if Koushiro will ever find out about his little prank.

…

As Taichi ascended the stairs to where his classroom was on, he caught sight of Yamato and Sora, standing outside the classrooms. Sora was in Taichi's class, but Yamato was in the next class, which explained them meeting outside the classrooms before classes began. But what doesn't explain the situation was how serious the pair seemed to look. Maybe it's better if I don't disturb them for now, he thought as he tried to slip into the classroom.

However, before he could make a single step forward, a booming voice called out to him from behind.

'Yagami!'

He turned around to find his homeroom teacher Daigo Nishijima looking disgruntled with one hand on his hip.

'When are you intending to submit your career form?' Nishijima asked, sounding annoyed.

'Ah, about that…' Taichi began, but his voice trailed off without any follow-up explanations.

'Please meet me in my office during break, Yagami,' Nishijima said before walking off towards the classroom.

'Right…' Taichi replied glumly.

'Taichi,' He heard Yamato's voice. Nishijima had obviously alerted him and Sora of Taichi's presence. 'What was that about?'

'It's nothing,' Taichi replied a little too quickly, not wanting to further discuss the topic of his career form. 'There's something that I owe Sensei, that's all.'

'You didn't get into trouble again, did you Taichi?' Sora asked, half-teasing, half-worried.

'No way!' Taichi exclaimed. Sora, being Taichi's childhood friend since they were both first-graders, was very familiar with all of Taichi's 'troubles'.

The school bell fortunately rang just in time to let Taichi escape further prodding. As they headed to their respective classrooms, Taichi's thoughts wandered back to the topic of his career form. It wasn't as if he was doing that to stir up trouble, but he had deliberately left his career form blank because he just didn't know what he wants to do with his life yet.

…

'Let me guess,' Nishijima began when Taichi met him in his office during break. Nishijima, also being a calligraphy teacher, has decorated his office in Japanese style furniture, all the way down to the floors. 'You are still lost. You don't know what you want to do in the future. Is that your explanation for not submitting your career form?'

Taichi sighed at his teacher's spot on deduction. Nishijima, however, had a gentle look in his eyes. 'You know, it's actually not that strange for a teenager to not know what he wants to do. It is after all a big life decision. But that doesn't make it ok to not choose something. This, after all, is going to affect the courses you take in college.'

'It's like, I'm not ready to commit to something I'm still uncertain of,' Taichi admitted.

Nishijima arched his brows. 'I didn't think you'd be the type to falter, to be honest,' he said.

'Had you told me that six years ago, I wouldn't believe it either,' Taichi said wryly.

'What do you like, Taichi?' Nishijima asked.

'Like?' Taichi mused, his thoughts swirling back to Agumon and the Digital World. Looking back, those months he had spent at the Digital World was pure bliss. They were children then, unburdened by questions about 'growing up' and their mission was clear-cut: save the world. 'I guess I'd like to meet my friends again…'

'Your friends?' Nishijima asked. 'Are they somewhere far away?'

'Yeah…' Taichi replied, remembering Koushiro's attempts at establishing a connection to the Digital World. 'And I don't know if it's possible for me to meet them again.'

'Why don't you learn to be a diplomat then?' Nishijima suggested. 'That way you can always travel to meet your friends. Here.' He gave Taichi a university brochure and pointed to the link written there. 'You can look up the courses that you need to take to be a diplomat and see if they interest you.'

Taichi was certain that Nishijima misunderstood his friends' locations to be overseas, but he would rather not discuss the Digital World with his teacher. He took the brochure and said, 'I'll look it up.'

'I'm sure you'll perform wonderfully in whatever you set out to do,' Nishijima said, encouraging him. 'I've watched your performance over the course of these past two years. I think being a diplomat will suit you. Building bridges, bringing friends together. I think that's a strength of yours.'

…

Yamato

Yamato Ishida sat in class, not taking in any of the words that the teacher was saying. His mind wandered back to earlier before class when he asked Sora to come to his concert. As guitarist and lead vocalist of his new band, he wanted, more than anything, for all his friends to come. But even more than that, he wanted Sora to come.

'Next Saturday, huh?' Sora had frowned when Yamato handed her the ticket. This sent worrying signals to Yamato's brain. 'I guess I should be free then…'

But before Sora could say anything else, Daigo Nishijima's voice had diverted both their attentions towards Taichi. Yamato had overheard Nishijima's words. He was asking Taichi for his career form, the form that every second year high schooler needs to fill in to ascertain the courses that they'll be taking in college.

The fact that Taichi had yet to fill in his form came as a surprise to Yamato. He had always admired Taichi's steadfast determination, and as far as Yamato could remember, Taichi had always been the one to leave everyone else in dusts behind his blazing trail.

…

He found Taichi in the corner of the cafeteria late during lunch break. Based on Taichi's conversation with Nishijima earlier, he had been in his office to discuss the career form. Yamato looked on as Taichi gazed at the distance, listlessly swirling the bowl of noodles in front of him.

'Penny for your thoughts?' Yamato asked as he set down his own bowl of noodles on Taichi's table.

'Huh?' Taichi jumped a little.

'You seemed out of it,' Yamato said as he added seasonings into his bowl.

'I'm fine,' Taichi grinned, switching out of his gloomy mood in a split second.

Yamato shook his head, 'I overheard your conversation with Nishijima earlier… Sorry,' he said. 'He was asking for your career form? Have you not submitted it?'

Taichi waved him off, 'I just needed a little more time,' he said in a lighthearted tone that did little to mask his inner turmoil. 'What about you? Are you gonna continue your music career?'

'No, I'm afraid not,' Yamato admitted, 'While I do enjoy it, it's not something I'd wanna do for life.'

'Does it have anything to do with the band name? "Teenage Wolves" wasn't it?' Taichi grinned as he teased Yamato, 'Maybe you just gotta pick another word apart from "Teenage".'

'The band name's got nothing to do with it,' Yamato retorted, 'And besides, I'm in a new band now.'

'The Adult Wolves?' Taichi quipped.

'It's called "Knife of Day",' Yamato said. 'We're holding our first gig next Saturday, you should come.'

Taichi's smile faded instantly. 'I can't,' he said, 'I've got a match on Saturday. And I was actually thinking of inviting you too.'

'Oh,' Yamato replied in the same crestfallen tone. 'That's a shame…'

'I'll come to your next gig, I promise.' Taichi said, cheering Yamato up.

'Thanks,' Yamato smiled back. 'Anyway, back to your career, I'm surprised you haven't picked a career path yet.'

'I'm surprised myself,' Taichi admitted, 'I never gave it much thought before this year, to be honest. I thought saving the world would have been much harder than this.' He poked around at his noodles with his chopsticks, giving the same distant look that Yamato had noticed him sporting before he joined him at the table.

Yamato gave a wry smile. He too, like Taichi, would have loved to go back to being the Chosen Children. Life in the Digital World seemed much less complicated than the real world. However, just like Wendy in Peter Pan, they have to make the adult choice; to grow up.

'I understand, Taichi,' Yamato said softly, 'I really do. But we can't be the Chosen Children forever.'

'I know,' Taichi smiled back at him. 'I'll come to terms with it. Don't worry about me. What about yourself? What course will you be taking?'

'Aerospace engineering,' Yamato replied.

Taichi tilted his head in suprise. 'Oh?'

'It's an interest I developed quite recently,' Yamato explained, 'And after reading more about it, I decided to actually pursue it. Quite simple, really.'

'I guess I'll have to do something similar,' Taichi sighed.

'You'll figure it out,' Yamato said.

…

The speakers blared as Yamato jammed on his electric guitar and sang. The dark hall set an atmosphere similar to that of a real concert, helping them get into their performers' psyches. Yamato was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the rehearsal went. No mistakes made, no technical difficulties and all his bandmates seemed to be enjoying themselves.

As he let his last note ring through the air and fade, a clapping sound could be heard echoing through the empty hall. He turned up to see his little brother, Takeru Takaishi standing just beside the entrance, leaning against the wall and enjoying Yamato's practice run.

Yamato jumped off the stage to greet his brother. 'Did you like that?' he asked.

'Sure did,' Takeru replied, grinning at his brother. 'You seem to be enjoying yourself more with this band.'

'Well, yeah,' Yamato grimaced. 'The old one did disband because of creative differences. Guess you can say that I'm more comfortable here.'

'Did you invite Sora and Taichi to the concert?' Takeru asked.

'Well, sorta…' Yamato replied with a slight frown. 'Sora hasn't said whether she's coming, and Taichi couldn't make it due to a soccer match.'

'Shame,' Takeru said. 'They'd enjoy it a lot, I'm sure.'

'Speaking of which, you did ask me for an extra ticket,' Yamato said, 'Will you be bringing Hikari?'

'Hikari?' Takeru asked, 'If her brother's going to a soccer match, she'd be there.'

'And so who's this special friend you're bringing?' Yamato cast his little brother a mischievous grin.

'Does it matter?' Takeru said, calmly smiling back, 'You know you'll always be the one I love the most.'

Yamato groaned, 'Don't divert the topic.'

'You should worry more about Sora,' this time, Takeru was the one displaying the impish smile. Yamato could feel his face burning as his little brother hit his soft spot.

'W-What has it got to do with Sora?' Yamato stammered. 'A-Anyway, before I forget, Dad wants you to come over for dinner this Friday.' Even though they were brothers, Yamato and Takeru lived apart from each other because their parents were divorced. Yamato lived with their father and Takeru, their mother. But the brothers still maintained a strong bond and would occasionally join their other parent for meals and outings.

'I'll be there,' Takeru said. 'Speaking of which, have you heard the news about the signal malfunctions that's been going around lately?'

'Ah, I've heard,' Yamato said. 'Cellphones frequently having their signals cut off and TVs buzzing out every so often. Dad has also said that there's widespread confusion at the TV station because of that. They're trying to find the cause of it, but I don't think they found anything conclusive yet.' Their father worked at a TV station, and the mention of him must have jogged Takeru's memory about the signal malfunctions.

'Strange,' Takeru frowned. 'There are lots of rumours circulating on the internet about that. Some say that it is due to shifts in electromagnetic fields; other say that it is a government conspiracy and that they are testing weapons of mass destruction. But I don't believe any of that. However…' He hesitated for a moment before continuing, 'You don't suppose this has anything to do with the Digital World… don't you?'

'What makes you say that?' Yamato asked, perplexed by his brother's suggestion.

'I was young then, but I remember clearly that there was this fog when Vamdemon invaded Tokyo,' Takeru explained. 'And this fog was affecting anything electric-related, from communications to public transport.'

Lines formed on Yamato's forehead as he recalled their quest to defeat the vampire-like Digimon who terrorised Tokyo six years ago. 'I do remember that,' he said, 'but that was a complete breakdown of anything remotely electronic. This is hardly that extreme. Besides, it would spell trouble if a Digimon is doing something that's affecting this world.'

'I hope that isn't the case either,' Takeru replied, his voice still tinged with uneasiness.

'Let's consult Koushiro about this, ok?' Yamato suggested in an attempt to put his brother's mind at ease. He knew that Koushiro always had the answer to everything, and even if he didn't, he would try his best to research it. That was just how reliable Koushiro was.

'There's something else that's bugging me, though,' Takeru said. 'But it may sound kinda silly.'

'I'm your brother,' Yamato said in an incredulous tone. 'Are you really scared of sounding silly in front of me?'

Takeru laughed at Yamato's reaction. 'No, of course not,' he said, in a much lighter tone than before. 'Okay, let's just suppose for a minute that this is the work of some Digimon. And if it is affecting this world, then this Digimon might potentially be dangerous. And if it is dangerous, then it is our duty as Chosen Children to fight it, right?'

'I suppose,' Yamato replied, wondering where this conversation was going.

'But we haven't been able to establish any contact with the Digital World,' Takeru said. 'Not in a long time. You don't suppose, we have been… replaced, don't you?' His voice faded towards the end.

Yamato now understood the source of his brother's anxieties. If the Digital World has picked new Chosen Children to fight in their stead, they might not be able to return to the Digital World, and hence might not be able to reunite with their partners. At that moment, an image of Yamato's partner, Gabumon, flashed before his eyes. Yamato could almost feel Gabumon's furry coat between his fingers and his gentle voice calling out Yamato's name as his hand brushed the Digivice that he kept in his pocket.

'I'm sure that isn't the case,' Yamato replied gently. 'Me, Taichi and Sora… We still managed to get into the Digital World when we were at your current age. True, we still don't know when we can meet them again, but nothing's impossible. Remember… it was three years after that summer vacation that we finally managed to get back into the Digital World.'

'You're right,' Takeru chuckled. 'Sorry. I shouldn't have made all those gloomy speculations.'

'Don't think too much,' Yamato said, smiling at Takeru, I need to be strong for Takeru, he thought. Those were the words that he had repeated over and over again since their first adventure in the Digital World. But deep inside, Yamato knew that the prospect of not being able to see their partners again devastated him just as much as it did Takeru.

…

Sora

Sora Takenouchi glanced at the digital clock she had on her cabinet. It read 03:50 in the afternoon. She then turned her gaze back to the ticket she held in her hand — the ticket she received from Yamato a few days prior. The show would start at 06:00 PM. Plenty of time to get ready, she thought. Just as her hands reached out for her wardrobe door, however, her phone beeped, signalling an incoming message.

She reached out for her phone, wondering if it could be Yamato reminding her of the concert. Instead, her phone listed Taichi Yagami as the sender of the message. Her heart skipped a beat. Huh, Taichi? she wondered.

'Hey, Sora! Sorry for the late notice, but I was kinda wondering if you could come and watch my finals this afternoon? Kick-off time's 5 PM at our school. If you're free, please do drop by.'

'T-Taichi!?' Sora almost shouted. She turned towards the clock again. 03:52. 5 PM was about an hour away, there was certainly not enough time for her to leisurely do her make-up if she wanted to make it in time for the kick-off. She dashed towards her wardrobe again only to realise that she still had the ticket she received from Yamato in her hand.

No! Sora shouted internally. Her eyes darted back and forth from her phone with Taichi's message, which she still held in one hand, towards the ticket in the other hand. There was no way she could make it to both events. I have to make a rational decision here, she thought, inhaling deeply. Yamato asked me first so it would make sense for me to go to his concert. She nodded in agreement to that voice in her head. But before she could assert her decision, another voice rang in her ears. But Taichi's my oldest friend, and I used to play soccer with him. And this is a finals match. There's no way I can NOT support him. Besides…

Sora shook her head wildly. No, this is not helping at all, she thought. There was no way she could choose between the two of them. She could already imagine the looks of disappointment on their faces if one of them were to find out that Sora attended the other's event. Taichi and Yamato can be so childish sometimes, she sighed.

'Fine! I won't go to both then,' She crossed her arms and sat down at her bed. However, ten seconds in, she immediately rushed back to her wardrobe. As expected, there was no way she could ignore both her friends.

So what if she formulated a plan that allowed her to go to both?

Taichi's match would start at 5 PM, and would last until about 7 PM whereas Yamato's concert would start at 6 PM and should end at about 8 PM. So I'll be able to watch Taichi's match until about 6.15 PM and take a taxi to Yamato's venue at 6.45 PM. That'll be an hour and fifteen minutes at both Taichi's game and Yamato's concert. Perfect!

She glanced at her clock again to estimate the time she had left to prepare, only to find the red lights denoting the time whizzing in and out of focus. Huh? Strange. It was fine only a while back. She peered at her cellphone instead to check the time. 4:04 PM. Something else, however, also caught her eye. Where her reception bars should be were instead the words 'NO SIGNAL', in tiny black letters.

'Could it be… the signal malfunctions?' she wondered aloud, remembering the string of news about bizarre electrical errors that had perplexed the nation recently. She shook her head. 'No time for that,' she told herself, but nevertheless made a mental note to talk to Koushiro later on.

…

Taichi

Fifteen minutes until kick-off. Taichi was sitting on the ground, stretching when Hikari walked over to him with her cellphone in her hand and a worried look on her face.

'What's wrong?' he asked her.

'It's strange…' Hikari replied, glancing at her cellphone. 'But I hadn't been able to contact Daisuke nor Ken for the whole day.'

'Maybe something cropped up and they couldn't make it?' Taichi asked, not sounding the least bit convincing.

Hikari shook her head. 'Knowing Daisuke, it doesn't make sense for him to bail out on your match at the last minute. And Ken should be sensible enough to notify me if something indeed cropped up.'

Taichi could understand his sister's concerns. It simply wasn't in her friends' characters to bail out at the last minute without any word. 'There have been lots of issues with cellphone signals recently. That may be why you weren't able to contact them,' he hoped that it would alleviate his sister's concerns at least a little.

'Maybe…' Hikari whispered, still staring at her cellphone.

'There's still time left until the match, they might appear any second now.' Taichi assured her.

'Right,' Hikari took a deep breath before casting a wide smile that displayed her strength of heart. 'Do your best, brother! Good luck!'

Taichi grinned back and gave her a thumbs up. But before he could resume his stretch routine, a large shadow loomed over the playing field. Shrieks of terror could be heard and as he turned his gaze to the source of the shadow, he saw a familiar figure flying overhead: a giant red bug with black markings on its head.

'That's-!' Taichi shouted as the monstrous creature flew past. Hikari let out a yelp of surprise. She too had recognised it.

Without thinking, Taichi quickly jumped up and took off in pursuit of the giant bug.

'Taichi!' he could hear Hikari shouting his name from behind, but he didn't care. That bug, Kuwagamon, was no ordinary creature. It was a Digimon. And Digimons in the real world almost always meant trouble.

Taichi grabbed his bicycle and chased after Kuwagamon. He didn't know what he would do once he finally caught up with it, but it didn't matter. All he could think of was to find out why exactly was Kuwagamon in the real world.

Kuwagamon flew high above, without as much as glance at Taichi who was pedalling frantically behind him. Neither did it care that people were screaming their heads off at the sight of it. Taichi gritted his teeth as he silently hoped that Kuwagamon would not hurt anybody or cause any damage.

His prayers, however, proved futile as Kuwagamon smashed its giant pincers into an overhead bridge that was in its way. Screams erupted as people scrambled to escape the falling bridge. Either the destruction or the screams must have stirred something within the creature for instead of flying off, it swung its large arms, crushing the foundation of the bridge as well as a portion of the building beside it. A salary man screamed as he fell off the bridge and rubble fell on top of him.

'NOOOOO!' Taichi hollered. A mixture of horror and dread struck him like lightning. The man might be dead for all he knew. A couple of passersby who ran away earlier ran back to help the man who was lying underneath the pile of debris. Another flipped out his cellphone and attempted to call the ambulance.

Taichi jumped off his bicycle and flung a rock at it in a desperate attempt to stop Kuwagamon's rampage. 'Hey!' he shouted at it. The rock did little to hurt the monster but it did turn around to face Taichi. Taichi could feel cold sweat form as he gripped his Digivice. 'Agumon…' he whispered. 'If you can hear me, I need you!'

Kuwagamon lunged forward at him. Taichi ducked and very nearly avoided the graze of Kuwagamon's pincers as it flew past, inches above his head. It made a sharp turn in midair and flew back towards Taichi's direction. 'Uh oh,' Taichi jumped on his feet and made haste towards a nearby field.

This time, the giant red creature dove towards him from high above. Taichi lunged forward to avoid its razor sharp pincers. He escaped by the skin of his teeth as Kuwagamon created a massive crater where it landed in its botched attempt at Taichi's life.

Taichi rolled over on the ground, groaning. What was I thinking? he thought. There was no way I could face anything like this without Agumon. He watched in terror as Kuwagamon stood back up on its two back legs, let out a spine-chilling cry, and directed its pincers at him for the third time.

Is this the end? he thought as Kuwagamon drew near. There simply wasn't enough time for him to pick himself up off the ground and run. All he could do was grip his Digivice.

Just then, a flash of golden light shone brightly, forcing Taichi to squeeze his eyes shut. For a moment, he could see nothing.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

It was a familiar sound that he couldn't quite place a finger on and shortly after, he could hear Kuwagamon howling again, but this time he detected pain in its cry. Taichi carefully opened his eyes and right before him, an orange reptilian creature stood in a defensive stance against Kuwagamon, which had toppled backwards in pain.

'Agumon!' Taichi shouted with joy at the sight of his partner.

'Taichi!' Agumon replied in the same excited tone. 'Long time no see!' He rushed forward and gave Taichi a big hug with his claw-like hands.

'Indeed!' Taichi said, returning the hug. 'I thought I might never see you again!'

Their reunion, however, was cut short when Kuwagamon let out another loud cry.

'Now's not the time for reunions though,' Agumon said, turning back around to face Kuwagamon, which was scrambling back up.

'Stop him, Agumon!' Taichi said, lifting his Digivice.

'Got it!' Agumon replied. A flash of bright white light engulfed Agumon as he Digivolved into a bigger dinosaur-like creature with a black horned head — Greymon.

Greymon charged forward with his horned head at Kuwagamon, pushing it backwards, before blasting a huge fireball at Kuwagamon. Kuwagamon shrieked as it was blown back by the fireball. Greymon immediately took the chance to charge at it.

At that moment, Taichi caught sight of a little girl of about five, frozen by horror at the sight of the two Digimons locking heads with one another. As Kuwagamon recovered from the shock of the fireball, it rammed it's huge pincers at Greymon, causing Greymon to stagger.

'Crap!' Taichi ran towards the little girl, wrapped his arms around her and jumped out of the way just as Greymon's flailing tail swept past where she had stood seconds earlier. He lost his balance mid-jump when Kuwagamon swung one of its many arms at him and tore through the flesh of his right calf.

A searing pain, then a hard bump on the asphalt. Still, Taichi kept his arms wrapped protectively around the little girl as the pair collapsed onto the ground.

'Miya!' A frantic voice could be heard. Taichi lifted his gaze to see a middle-aged woman running towards them.

The little girl in his arms burst into tears at the sound of the woman's voice. 'Mother!' she shrieked and tore away from Taichi's grip to reunite with her mother.

'Miya!' the woman wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter. 'You aren't hurt aren't you?' she asked, double checking and triple checking her crying daughter before turning to Taichi. 'Thank you,' she choked.

Taichi straddled up. 'Go find a safe place, now!' he warned them.

'You should come too,' the woman said, picking up her daughter. 'You're hurt!' She cast Taichi an anxious glance.

'I'll be fine, you go!' Taichi replied, turning back towards the fight between Greymon and Kuwagamon. The woman did not need further coaxing, she had seen enough. She quickly took off with her daughter in her hands, but not before shouting 'Be careful!' at Taichi.

Kuwagamon reared its ugly head backwards before lunging at Greymon with its sharp pincers, but Greymon was again able to stop it with his horns. The force of their impact, however, was enough to cause fissures to form on the ground.

Just then, Taichi noticed a large black hole with bizarre glitch-like formations around it appear by the side of a nearby building. Greymon seemed to have notice the same as he pushed Kuwagamon towards the hole. The two interlocking Digimon entered straight into the hole and no sooner had the tip of Greymon's tail vanished into the abyss than the hole disappeared.

'They… disappeared?' Taichi whispered incredulously. He limped over to where the hole had been just seconds earlier but found nothing. Had it been an inter-dimensional portal? Did it lead to the Digital World?

'Yagami!' A big black car swerved and halted right in front of him, with its windows wound down. Inside, Taichi could see his homeroom teacher, Daigo Nishijima behind the wheels, motioning for him to get on the car.

Taichi was hesitant. He had that nagging feeling that his teacher would bring him somewhere 'safe', and 'safe' would mean far away from wherever Greymon was. Not that he knew where Greymon disappeared to, but he definitely did not want to be quarantined and kept watch over.

Nishijima, however, seemed to be able to read his mind. 'We'll find out where they disappeared to and we'll go after them. Trust me, I have my own sources. In the meantime, I have some medication here so that you can fix your leg.'

'We're… going after them?' Taichi asked.

'Yes,' Nishijima said as he leaned forward to get the passenger door for Taichi. 'You're a Chosen Child, aren't you?'

…

Hikari

'Taichi!' Hikari screamed at her brother, but Taichi didn't as much as look back. He pedalled away, much faster than Hikari could run. There he goes again, she thought as a sense of deja vu swept over her. For as long as she could remember, she was always watching helplessly at Taichi's back as he charged headfirst into danger.

'Hikari!' a familiar voice dragged her back into reality. She turned around to find Sora running towards her, her face pale. 'D-Did you see that?' she gasped, panting.

'Kuwagamon,' Hikari replied. 'I did. Taichi went after it.'

'Taichi did!?' Sora shrieked. 'But what exactly did he plan to do!? Agumon's not here!'

Hikari shook her head. 'I don't know.'

'This calls for Koushiro,' Sora flipped out her cellphone. 'Argh! No reception at a time like this!?'

Hikari clenched her fists. 'I'm going after Taichi!' she said, breaking off into a run in the direction her brother had disappeared to. Sora, however, gripped her arm, stopping her.

'You can't go!' she said, frowning. 'It's too dangerous!'

'Well Taichi's there!' Hikari cried.

'Taichi wouldn't want you to go after him!' Sora asserted, tightening her grip on Hikari's arm.

Hikari's lips pursed. Again, she thought, Taichi's always like that. Keeping her out of danger when he did not so much as spare a thought for his own safety. Did he not realise how worried she'd get?

Before Hikari could reply, a black car swerved into the school courtyard, turning everyone's attention towards it. Out of the car, a woman with short brown hair stepped out. She, however, largely ignored everybody's shocked gasps and questioning looks, and walked straight over to Hikari and Sora.

'Maki Himekawa, Incorporated Administrative Agency,' she introduced herself to the both of them in a professional tone whilst displaying an official-looking badge. 'In light of recent events, we'd like to seek the help of the Chosen Children. Please come with me.'

…

Yamato

'There it goes again,' Takeru sighed as he stared at his cellphone.

'No reception again?' Yamato asked as he casually swept his fingers across the strings of his guitar. The brothers were seated in the green room of the concert venue where Yamato is due to perform in less than an hour when Takeru noticed his cellphone signal getting cut off again.

Takeru nodded. 'Yea, unfortunately.'

'Hope nothing's gonna go wrong with the equipment later,' Yamato said, cradling his electric guitar and running a few notes on it.

'Don't jinx it, Yamato!' Kaito, his bandmate shouted from across the room. 'This is our big day!'

'I don't want to jinx it,' Yamato replied with a shrug. 'Just a precaution-'

Suddenly, the door to the green room swung wide open and a staff working for the venue scrambled in, out of breath. 'Quick, turn on the TV!' he hollered. 'Something's going on!'

Kaito, who had the remote in arm's reach, quickly pressed the power button. Immediately, a news flash appeared on screen with an image of Kuwagamon wrestling Greymon. The caption on the bottom read: 'Destruction caused by unknown monsters in Odaiba'.

Both Yamato and Takeru jumped up on their feet. 'T-That-' Takeru stammered, his face pale as sheet.

'Taichi…' Yamato breathed, cold sweat forming.

'We need to go,' Takeru whispered. 'Taichi might need our help.'

Yamato didn't need telling twice. He immediately put down his guitar and rushed for the door. 'Sorry guys, looks like we need to postpone the concert!' he shouted before dashing out with Takeru hot on his heels.

…

Koushiro

The fancy restaurant that Koushiro had been dining at with his parents was thrown into a frenzy the moment someone blurted out that 'two monsters are wreaking havoc in Odaiba'. Some panicked and rushed out of the restaurant, others sat frozen and pale-faced. Several more extreme customers had even proclaimed the end of the world.

'Koushiro,' his mother whispered. 'Has it got anything to do with, you know, Digimons?'

Koushiro whipped out his cellphone and tried browsing for the news, but the lack of reception made it impossible. 'There's got to be a TV somewhere…' he said looking around.

'I'm sure the reception area has one,' his father recalled.

'Umm thanks, I'll be right back!' Koushiro jumped off his seat and rushed out of the dining area.

A crowd had gathered in the reception area where the TV was turned on at full volume, showing the news of wreckages around Odaiba. They even had a short clip of a Kuwagamon wrestling Greymon. Koushiro eyes widened at the sight of the clip. Greymon… he thought. That would mean…

He took another glance at his cellphone. Still no signal. He rushed over to one of the waiters and asked if he could borrow their phone. The one in the reception area had been hogged by an anxious lady who seemed to have a long checklist of people she needed to check in on in light of Kuwagamon's rampage, so the waiter took Koushiro to the restaurant's administration office where he dialled Taichi's number.

A dial tone told him that he had managed to get through to Taichi.

'Koushiro!' it took barely two rings before Taichi picked up his cellphone.

'Taichi!' Koushiro breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank God I was able to get through! I hadn't been able to get any reception on my cellphone.'

'I just left Odaiba,' Taichi explained. 'That could be why. For some reason, the reception got through perfectly fine the moment I left the area.'

'Where are you?' Koushiro asked.

'I'm with Nishijima-Sensei,' Taichi replied, 'He's giving me a ride. We've received word that Greymon and Kuwagamon had been sighted at Haneda Airport. So that's where we're headed.'

'Nishijima!? Haneda!? The news said the destruction was in Odaiba! What the hell is going on, Taichi?' Koushiro exclaimed.

'I don't know yet.' Taichi replied, 'These weird portal thing swallowed Greymon and Kuwagamon earlier and the next thing we know, they're in Haneda. But right now, Greymon's our only chance at stopping Kuwagamon, so I have to go there.'

'I'm coming with you!' Koushiro said.

'No!' Taichi snapped, 'Not unless you have Tentomon with you. It's too dangerous!'

'You fighting Kuwagamon alone is also dangerous!' Koushiro retorted. 'There's been so many bizarre incidents. Who knows what might happen?'

Koushiro could almost hear Taichi's hesitation in the pause. 'No, Koushiro. Don't come unless you can get in touch with Tentomon.' he asserted, slowly. 'I'll contact you once I have updates.' And with that the line went dead.

'Taichi…' Koushiro whispered, staring at the receiver. Don't come unless you have Tentomon with you… But how in the world did you get in touch with Agumon? Koushiro reached into his jeans pocket to find his Digivice. Gripping it tightly, he closed his eyes and recalled images of his partner, the robot-like Digimon in the shape of a giant ladybug. 'Tentomon… can you even hear me?'

…

Taichi

The setting sun cast a warm orange glow unfitting of the tense situation they're in. As Nishijima sped past road after road, Taichi sat on the passenger seat and treated the wound on his calf with a first aid kit given to him by Nishijima, albeit rather haphazardly. Every once in a while, he would glance out of the window to check the situation, but the streets were exceptionally quiet and occasional glimpses of people were always accompanied by frantic steps and anxious glances.

After he disconnected Koushiro's call, Taichi stared at his cellphone and wondered if it had been the right choice — forbidding Koushiro to come to Haneda. After all, Koushiro was probably the only one who had any chance of finding out the truth behind these bizarre incidents.

Yet, his hands still shook from the horror he felt as Kuwagamon drew close to him, making him think that it might be his end. He could also still taste the helplessness he felt when he saw Kuwagamon crash into the overhead bridge, almost killing that poor man who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Without Agumon, Taichi felt powerless.

'You sure about not letting Izumi come?' Nishijima broke the silence, his guess spot-on.

'Yeah,' Taichi muttered, one hand brushing over his bandaged leg. Blood still seeped through the slapdash dressing. 'Too dangerous for him to come without his partner.'

'But can you handle this alone?' Nishijima asked.

'Well I have to,' Taichi replied. 'We're powerless without our partners. And as far as I know, I'm the only one with a partner right now.'

Nishijima raised an eyebrow. 'People can help in ways other than fighting heads on, you know? What else should I be doing then?'

'Right, isn't it time you explain who exactly are you, and what exactly is going on?' Taichi demanded.

Nishijima sighed. 'I'm an undercover agent for the Incorporated Administrative Agency,' he explained. 'That's a fancy name for a government agency which was set up specially to study Digimon.'

'What does the government know about Digimons?' Taichi asked.

'More than you think they do,' Nishijima replied. 'This isn't the first time Digimons appeared in our world, and the first sighting dated back up to twenty-five years ago. Before you were even born. And as with anything unknown, the government's bound to set aside a group of people to study them. It's called risk control.'

'But only the Chosen Children can access the Digital World!' Taichi exclaimed, 'How do you study something that you can't even access?'

Nishijima chuckled at Taichi's last statement. 'You know, you guys aren't the only Chosen Children around.'

Taichi jolted upright at his seat. 'You don't mean!?' Now that Nishijima mentioned it, he vaguely recalled Gennai, their guide in the Digital World, mentioning a group of Chosen Children who had saved the Digital World before them.

'Now, now, that was a long time ago,' Nishijima said. 'I'm no longer a Chosen Child. And as you have so kindly asserted, I cannot fight without a partner.'

'But, what happened to your partner?' Taichi asked, a forlorn look in his eyes. His mind immediately began to imagine the worst scenarios. What if the Digital World refused access to a Chosen Child once he or she has grown up? Is that what's going to happen to him and Agumon someday?

'It's not what you think,' Nishijima replied gently, taking his own Digivice out of his pocket. 'I can still enter the Digital World. But my partner… let's just say he has his own role to play now. Something much bigger than being the partner of a Chosen Child. But that's a story for another day.'

…

Mimi

Mimi Tachikawa wasn't having a good day. The plane she was in had circled up in the air for a whole hour before finally landing, attributing the delay to 'connection issues with the ground control'. Then afterwards, the baggage conveyor belt had malfunctioned.

Mimi pouted as she threw herself onto a bench near the stationary conveyor belt. She took a glance at her watch — 5.25 PM. There was no way she was going to make it to Taichi's match at this rate. She took out her cellphone from her bag and began dialling Taichi's number, at the same time wondering if he would even pick up.

No signal.

Mimi groaned. Nothing was going as expected. Just then, the ground suddenly shook and a faint rumbling sound could be heard in the distance. A few people around Mimi jolted up in shock.

'Was that an earthquake?' Mimi could hear a number of people shuffling around in panic.

Ding, dong. The chime was a lead-in to an announcement. 'Attention all visitors of Haneda International Airport. This is not an emergency drill. There has been an unexpected… d-development on the runways. All visitors please kindly proceed for evacuation immediately. Please follow the lead of our personnel.'

'Unexpected development?' Mimi tilted her head in confusion. Nearby a female staff approached her male colleague and began speaking in hushed voices.

'Yes… That seems to be the case…' Mimi could hear bits and pieces of their conversation. 'Monsters… No one knows… A giant red bug and an orange dinosaur…'

Mimi gasped at that last bit of information she overheard, turning the pair's attentions towards her.

'Miss,' the female staff began, shifting awkwardly once she realised that Mimi had been listening in. 'Please kindly proceed for evacuation. We have to clear this building.'

Mimi let out a nervous smile. 'I-I'm good. I forgot something… I'll evacuate once I got my stuff.' And before any of the staff could react, Mimi broke off into a run.

Panting, Mimi found herself around the departure lounge. She had run quite some distance in her attempt to evade the staff. The area was now largely empty and from beyond the multi-storey glass windows, Mimi got a clear view of the runway.

CRASH.

A deafening sound jolted her. She looked out of the window to see Kuwagamon pushing Greymon against a jet bridge. Greymon let out a howl before blasting a fireball at Kuwagamon.

'Greymon!' she shouted, pressing her hands against the glass pane. Then out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a figure form on the horizon. She shrieked at the sight of a second Kuwagamon materialising out of the purplish sky.

Mimi dropped herself on the floor and turned her bag upside down, letting all the contents fall onto the floor. And amongst the cosmetic, her passport and several sweets, she found her Digivice. She clutched the object with both her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. 'Palmon!' she cried, shaking the device violently, 'Palmon! if you can hear me, please! I need you!'

Without warning, a bright pale green light erupted out of her Digivice, and a green, plant-like Digimon with a large pink flower perched atop its head emerged in front of her.

'Mimi! You called me!' Palmon squealed with delight as she wrapped her long arms around Mimi.

'Palmon!' Mimi screeched at the sight of her partner. She returned the hug twofold, almost causing Palmon to topple over.

'Mimi, what's happening here?' Palmon asked. 'Why was I suddenly able to come to this world?'

'Oh right!' Mimi said, pulling herself together. 'We need to help Greymon! He's in trouble!' She pointed out of the window towards where Greymon is now fighting two Kuwagamons alone.

'Greymon?' Palmon squeaked. 'That means Taichi's here?'

'I don't see him around,' Mimi replied. 'If he's anywhere near, Greymon should be evolving further by now. So let's help him out!'

'Right! Let's do this!' Palmon said.

…

Now that she's out on the runway, the tremors felt even more pronounced than ever. But now that Palmon's beside her, Mimi did not feel fear anymore. She charged towards where Greymon was fighting with her Digivice in one hand, and when they were a mere few yards away. She turned towards Palmon and nodded. 'Now!'

A bright light engulfed Palmon and within seconds, a giant cactus-shaped Digimon has taken over her place. Togemon.

Togemon wasted no time in landing a well-aimed punch at one of the Kuwagamons pestering Greymon with her red boxing glove. Greymon acknowledged her presence and attacked the remaining one with another fireball.

'Yeah! That's the way!' Mimi shouted, jumping up and down as she watched the two tackle the Kuwagamons.

'Mimi!' a familiar voice called her from behind. She turned around to see Taichi running towards her, still wearing his soccer uniform and with a bandage around one leg. Behind him was a man she did not recognise, standing by a black car from which Taichi must have gotten out.

'Taichi! There you are!' Mimi squealed with joy at the sight of her old friend. She threw her arms around Taichi, almost causing Taichi, whose leg was injured, to fall over.

'Let's stay out of their way,' Taichi had to shout to get himself heard between all the roars and rumblings. Mimi nodded and they made their way towards the opposite direction of the fight.

Just as they were walking, however, a jet bridge above them suddenly burst into a thousand glass pieces. Mimi reflexively raised her arm to protect her head, and above her she could see Taichi shielding her from the scattering debris.

'W-What?' Taichi gasped.

Mimi screamed. A third Kuwagamon had appeared behind the remains of the fallen jet bridge, evidently having caused the destruction. It was now making its way towards them.

'T-Togemon!' Mimi hollered, but Togemon was way too busy with her own opponent. Greymon, on the other hand, took notice of the third Kuwagamon but was dragged back by the Kuwagamon he was fighting.

'Damn it!' Taichi spat as he stood between Mimi and Kuwagamon. He was heavily wounded now. The glass shards from the broken bridge had caused a number of gashes to appear on his arms and cheek.

The third Kuwagamon let out a battle cry before charging forward. Mimi screamed again as it grew larger before her very eyes. But before Kuwagamon managed to reach them, a large blue ball of electricity made its mark on Kuwagamon's head, blasting it out of the way.

Both Mimi and Taichi looked up to find the source of the electrical ball, and high up in the sky, a large blue insectoid Digimon flew towards what was now the battlefield. Sitting on top of that Digimon was another familiar figure.

'Taichi! Mimi!' Koushiro's voice rang through the evening air. He waved fervently from atop Kabuterimon, the evolved form of his partner, Tentomon.

'Koushiro!' Mimi and Taichi cried out.

Kabuterimon landed beside Mimi and Taichi to let Koushiro alight, before flying off again to finish his business with Kuwagamon. Koushiro immediately took out his laptop and began typing away a string of codes. As usual, Mimi could only look on in wonder as Koushiro performed his magic.

'As I expected, the distortions are way stronger around here, possibly due to the presence of three hostile Kuwagamons,' he muttered, mostly to himself. 'The distortions allowed the Digimons to pass through to the real world. Then we might be able to send them back via the distortions.'

'But how?' Taichi asked. 'We couldn't control them. They appear as and when they like. Which was how Greymon ended up here in Haneda in the first place.'

'We might be able to "create" a portal if we concentrate the wayward electrical signals to one spot,' Koushiro replied, frowning. He glanced around left and right, in search of some clues, until his eyes widened at the sight of the control tower. 'That…' he whispered.

'That?' Mimi asked, tilting her head.

'Yes, the control tower,' Koushiro nodded as he continued typing furiously at his laptop. 'The control tower is the one place in an airport whereby it is crucial to maintain solid communications. That's why they generally have their own antennas. Lots of them. Now if we can increase the strength of those signals, I mean, really max them out, we may be able to focus the distortions in that area.'

'And what if we fail and they crash into the tower instead?' Taichi asked.

'We can't let that happen!' Mimi snapped, glaring at Taichi.

'Look, this is just a case of what-if,' Taichi replied. 'There's been enough destruction already. The control tower, just as you said, is an important piece of equipment. We can't afford to make a mistake.'

'I'm confident in my plan,' Koushiro replied. 'Besides we can lead them towards the tower only after the portal has fully formed. That way, we can be sure that they'll fall through the portal.'

'It's the only chance we've got now!' Mimi said, pumping her fists. 'If we leave them be, they'd cause more destruction all the same.'

'All right,' Taichi relented. 'Let's do this!'

…

Koushiro

Taichi looked worried, and for good reason. The Digimons had caused much destruction and injured a fair number of people, and that's not even considering the psychological distress that the people who witnessed the event must have felt.

Koushiro scanned his surroundings to assess the damage and saw three wrecked jet bridges, fissured asphalt and a chunk of the terminal building that had been sliced off. His eyes finally landed on Taichi, who had a cut on his left cheek; about half a dozen gashes on his arms, both big and small; and a bandaged right calf with fresh blood still seeping through the dressing.

'You need to get help, Taichi,' Koushiro advised, gesturing towards his wounds. 'Why don't you get back to the car?'

'No way!' Taichi snapped. 'I won't stand back until those Kuwagamons have been taken care of.'

Koushiro sighed. He expected nothing less of his friend, but that didn't stop him from worrying. He turned back towards his laptop which was displaying a satelite image indicating all the distortions around their area. As Koushiro inputed several more commands, he made a mental note to develop a more convenient method of tracking distortions in real time. Right now, however, this was all he got.

'This validates my theory, look!' Koushiro pointed at a dot on his screen while waving over for Mimi and Taichi to have a look. ' This dot's the control tower. And the distortions are slightly more pronounced around there. Now if we can ramp it up, we'd be set to go.'

'How?' Mimi asked, still staring at the screen. She tilted her head slightly and her brows furrowed, unable to make sense of the graphical representations of the area and of the distortions.

'Manually. We go in there, and turn on every machine, every radar we can find.' Koushiro replied. 'Let's hope that the resulting electrical waves are powerful enough to focus the distortions and create a portal.'

'Well, it's our best shot,' Taichi said. 'But first, we'll have to go through that.' He pointed at the airport apron area between where they were standing and the control tower. A vicious fight was ensuing between Greymon, Togemon and two Kuwagamons.

Koushiro gulped silently. One wrong move and they might be crushed by either of them. He took a deep breath, clenched his fists and stepped forward with a slightly shaking leg.

His pace quickened after the first few steps. Soon, he was jumping ahead of the other two and was giving them signals to follow his carefully timed steps. Hiding behind whatever they could find — debris, plane wheels, carts — they took extra care so as not to attract the Kuwagamons' attentions.

The expanse right before the control tower, however, was the largest yet, spanning almost two hundred meters without cover. There was no plane, no building, no cart, not even a rock to hide them from sight. 'We need to wait for an opening,' Koushiro whispered, carefully scrutinising the fight which was happening right before their very eyes.

Fortunately for the trio, the opening came around soon enough. Greymon stunned one Kuwagamon with a well-time fireball, staggering it backwards whilst Togemon struck the other one with a bullseye punch on its face.

'Now!' Koushiro shouted out of reflex, even though his two friends were right beside him. They made a mad dash for the opposite side, hoping that both Kuwagamons were stunned for a long enough period of time.

Problem was, the third Kuwagamon now had its eyes on them. It fled its fight with Kabuterimon, which was taking place high up in the sky, to target the trio. With its razor-sharp pincers readied, it nosedived towards their direction.

Mimi's scream filled the air. Before Kuwagamon found its mark, however, a blue flame hit it square on the face, stopping it in its track.

'Taichi! Koushiro! Mimi!' A familiar voice called out to them. Koushiro turned around to see a large blue wolf running towards them, and sitting atop the great wolf, was Yamato. Behind Yamato, a large red bird flew up in the sky, carrying Sora, Hikari and white cat-like creature that was Hikari's partner. The majestic bird was followed by an angel Digimon with Takeru on his back.

'Guys!' Mimi jumped up and down with glee. 'We're finally all together!'

'Not all together! Where's Joe?' A white head popped up from behind Yamato. Koushiro recognised the creature as Gomamon, Joe Kido's partner.

Yamato picked up Gomamon and slid down Garurumon, the wolf — the evolved form of his partner Gabumon. Garurumon gave a howl before running off to aid Togemon. 'He might not have received the message, but I'm sure he's fine.'

Gomamon looked crestfallen.

'So what's the plan?' Takeru asked, jumping off Angemon, his partner. Sora and Hikari too hopped off their ride as Birdramon, Sora's partner hovered close enough to the ground to let them alight before joining Greymon. Angemon and Tailmon — Hikari's partner — both followed suit.

Koushiro briefly explained the plan to the newcomers.

'Then let's get going to the control tower!' Yamato pumped his fists as Koushiro finished the explanation. 'Garurumon and the others can take care of things here, we'll do what we can.' His friends all nodded in agreement before making their way through their now cleared path towards the control tower.

…

Dozens of computer screens blinked wildly at them the moment they entered the tower. Fortunately, the door was unlocked and the computers left on. It seemed like the staff had left the tower in such a hurry that no security measures were put in place. A large crack on the tower window confirmed that theory.

'Let's see,' Koushiro said, typing on the nearest computer. 'It seems like all processes are still running normally. Can you guys please help to switch on whatever equipment you can find?'

The others dispersed to scour the rooms for dormant machineries. Whirring sounds filled the air and more lights blinked on.

'That should do it,' Koushiro said as he checked his own laptop for the distortion map from earlier. The lines denoting the distortions had became significantly more focused and more convoluted than before.

'Look!' Gomamon shouted, pointing out the window in the direction above the control tower. He had no knowledge of electrical equipment and was instead looking out the large glass panes when he saw a large black hole, swirling high above. Koushiro and the others hurried over to the window.

'That's the… portal?' Yamato gaped.

'Must be it, right Koushiro?' Mimi asked.

Koushiro nodded. 'It could only be it. Now all we have to do is to push the Kuwagamons through that hole…'

'I'll let Greymon and the others know,' Taichi scampered off before the others could stop him.

'Taichi, wait!' Sora shouted as she ran after him. And one by one the others followed suit.

Koushiro remained at the control tower, staring at his laptop. He recalled all those afternoons he spent, trying to establish a connection to the Digital World with no avail. So why now? Focused electrical waves? It seemed too easy. He couldn't help but wonder if the Digital World had a plan for them after all…

…

Taichi

'Greymon!' Taichi hollered once he stepped out of the control tower, pointing towards the portal. Greymon turned towards his partner and gave a small nod once he saw the black hole above the tower. He charged his horns towards the Kuwagamon he was fighting and drove it deep into its body, causing said creature to writhe in agony. He pushed the struggling bug Digimon towards the direction of the tower and once he was close enough he pulled his long horn out of Kuwagamon and swung his powerful tail at it, flinging Kuwagamon towards the portal. Once close by, Kuwagamon appeared to be sucked into the black mass by some unknown force.

With one last cry of agony, Kuwagamon disappeared through the hole.

'It… worked…' They all gaped in amazement.

'Great! Two more to go!' Taichi punched the air excitedly.

Kabuterimon launched an electrical shock that momentarily stunned the second Kuwagamon, giving Birdramon the opportunity to clutch it with its large claws and fly towards the portal with the red bug in tow. She flew above the portal and dropped Kuwagamon. The next thing they knew, that Kuwagamon had disappeared.

'Last one… Garurumon! Take care of it!' Yamato shouted.

'Garurumon shot a breath of blue fire at his opponent, staggering it. However, before he could attack Kuwagamon any further, a second portal materialised out of the blue behind Kuwagamon. A large hand, clad in black armor, portruded from said portal, grasped Kuwagamon and vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Once the second portal disappeared, the first portal they created above the control tower evaporated as well.

'W-What was that!?' Takeru gasped.

'Whose hand was that…?' Mimi stammered.

One after another, the partner Digimons began to devolve into their Rookie forms. Taichi gently picked up an exhausted Agumon off the ground just as Nishijima drove towards them in his black car.

'Get on,' Nishijima said as he approached them. 'We don't want the police to find out about the Digimons, so let's get out of here before they arrive.'

…

'Ah! I almost forgot about my luggage!' Mimi exclaimed twenty minutes into the ride, after a long stretch of silence due to exhaustion. They were all seated comfortably in the huge car that Nishijima had, with their respective Digimon partners on their laps. It was the kind of car that you would expect to see a politician or celebrity in with back seats that stretch sideways along the length of the car.

'Don't worry, someone from the Agency will get it and deliver it to your house for you,' Nishijima assured her.

'Aw, thanks!' Mimi thanked him before turning back towards her friends. 'I have souvenirs for all of you guys!' She announced cheerfully.

'Wow, really? Thanks Mimi!' Takeru smiled with Patamon sleeping in his arms.

'Oh, and Taichi,' Mimi said grinning mischievously as she turned towards Taichi who was having his wounds treated by Sora. 'I also have the bill for my flight ticket for you.'

'Eh?' Taichi's mouth dropped open, recalling his text exchange with Mimi in which she had demanded that Taichi pay for her flight tickets. 'That was for real…?'

'Of course! That'll be 110,000 yen please!' Mimi said, extending her outstretched hand towards Taichi.

'EH!?' Taichi jerked up, almost knocking the bottle of medication off Sora's hand.

Mimi burst out laughing at Taichi's reaction. 'Chill, Taichi. I was just joking!' She casually waved her hands.

'T-Then why are you here?' Taichi asked, not entirely convinced.

'Well, my Dad's being transferred back here,' Mimi replied. 'So here I am, back in your company!'

'W-What!?' Everybody jolted upright on their seats, even Koushiro who had been tinkering with his laptop up until then.

'C'mon! I was expecting a much more positive reaction to that!' Mimi exclaimed.

'Of course we're happy, Mimi!' Palmon said, 'We're all happy to be back together!'

'Aww, Palmon! You're the best!' Mimi hugged Palmon.

'Speaking of getting back together,' Yamato began, 'do you have any explanations as to why all these are happening, Nishijima-Sensei?'

'My guess is as good as yours,' Nishijima replied in a grave voice. 'And my best guess is that the Digital World is facing some kind of danger that requires the Chosen Children's help again.'

'You haven't fully explained your role either,' Koushiro added, 'Why are you an undercover agent? Why does the government need undercover agents anyway?'

Nishijima sighed. 'My role is to keep watch over the Chosen Children,' he explained. 'The government fully understands that the Digital World can be volatile at times and just like that event six years ago with Vamdemon, there are things that only the Chosen Children can handle. Which is what makes you important. But at the same time, we do not want to make you feel like you're prisoners, which is why we employ undercover agents.'

The children fell silent. Having government officials as bodyguards seemed like a scenario out of a spy movie, and they didn't know how to react to that — flattered that the government was seeing them as an invaluable resource, or mad that they were having their privacy breached.

'Don't think too much into it,' Nishijima said, 'It's not like we watch over you twenty four-seven. I was only stationed where I am so as to provide easy communications access to you guys and of course to take note once you start acting funny. For example, if you start disappearing on us, it may mean that there's trouble brewing in the Digital World. That's it. We don't watch over your houses and tail you out of school if that's what you're thinking.'

Taichi felt his tension ease a little and could see his friends relax ever so slightly as well. At the very least they weren't under constant surveillance, and thus far, the government hasn't been intrusive towards their lives.

'You guys are tired,' Nishijima said, 'I'll drive you to your respective homes. Rest assured the Agency will take a look into this issue and we'll update you once we find something out.'

…

Joe

Joe Kido woke up to an aching back and sore limbs. He tried opening his eyes, but the light felt too blinding. He squeezed his eyes, blinked a couple of times, and slowly, his vision came into focus. The faint sound of knocking that he had heard from his dreams also slowly became clearer.

'Coming,' he mumbled as he got up from his desk where he had fallen asleep, slouched all night. He straightened his lopsided glasses and glanced at the clock on his desk. The time showed 02:00 in the morning. Who could be looking for him at such an ungodly hour?

He dragged his feet towards his bedroom door and opened it, but only darkness greeted him. The living room was empty and the lights were off. The confusion slapped a little bit of his consciousness back into him as he perked up his ears to listen to that faint knocking sound.

Rap, rap, rap… Now that Joe was slightly more awake, he finally noticed that the sound did not come from the door but from the window beside his bed. Bewildered, his mind promptly came up with a hundred different scenarios, none of them good. What if it was a burglar who would immediately bludgeon him the moment he opened the windows? Or what if he saw a dead body hanging upside down from his roof, swaying due to the wind and knocking at his window as it did?

His shaking hand gripped the closest thing to a weapon he could find within arms reach — a long metal ruler — not that it would help him if there really was an attacker holding a bat or a knife, but at least he felt safer. He tiptoed towards the window and with a quivering hand, used the ruler to split the curtains open.

The room's light shone through the window to reveal who had been standing outside his balcony — a white Digimon with red hair sticking out the center of his head and down his back. He bore purple markings all over his white body.

'Gomamon!' Joe cried out as he dropped the ruler and rushed towards the window, opening it to let Gomamon into his room. He kneeled down to meet Gomamon's height and wrapped his arms tight around his partner, a single tear trickling down his cheek.

'Joe! I've missed you!' Gomamon gushed as he too wrapped his wide forelimbs around Joe.

For a while, the two remained locked in silent embrace. That is until Gomamon broke the silence. 'Joe, have you not heard the news? Where were you?'

'News? What news?' Joe finally released Gomamon and wiped his tear with his hand.

'Joe! Have you been living under a rock?' Gomamon chided in disbelief.

'Well I have been studying all day!' Joe quickly defended himself.

'There was a Kuwagamon attack!' Gomamon told him, 'Three Kuwagamons, as a matter of fact. Everyone was fighting at Haneda Airport.'

'W-Wait, what?' Joe exclaimed. 'Kuwagamon!? And by everyone, you mean…?'

'Taichi, Mimi and the others.' Gomamon clarified.

'I-I didn't know,' Joe whispered.

'Well… It's all good now,' Gomamon said in a gentle tone, placing one limb on Joe's knee.

'You're here now,' Joe placed his own hand on top of Gomamon's limb. 'That's all that matters.'

…

Hikari

For the whole of Sunday, all the television ever broadcasted was that attack on Haneda Airport by 'monsters'. They ranged from pure informative news to various discussions and debates about the origin and nature of these monsters. There was even a detailed segment on the victim of the overhead bridge attack that Taichi witnessed. The man caught up in it lay in a coma, with doctors uncertain about his future.

Hikari had switched the television on an off incessantly the whole morning. She didn't want to hear people theorising bad things about Digimons, especially with Agumon and Tailmon around. But at the same time, she wanted to know if there were any new cases or new developments that were Digimon-related.

'…experts are trying to find out more about these monsters… People should remain vigilant and report any sightings of monsters to the police…' The lady in the television had a huge frown plastered permanently on her face throughout the whole broadcast.

Beep. The screen abruptly turned black. Hikari turned around to see Taichi pointing the remote control at it with glaring eyes.

'Taichi! You're back!' Hikari exclaimed. Taichi had been at the hospital since morning to treat the wounds he received from the battle with the Kuwagamons the day before. Tailmon and Agumon who were sitting on the sofa of their apartment also jumped up the moment Taichi appeared.

'Taichi! How are your wounds?' Agumon asked, his orange head craned over the sofa's back support to face his partner.

'I'm fine,' Taichi replied, sounding rather annoyed. He had bandages wrapped around his arms and right leg, and a large band-aid over his left cheek. He turned towards Hikari and added, 'I've seen those clips at the hospital. You really shouldn't be watching those, at least not around… them' He jerked his head towards Agumon and Tailmon's direction.

'They just don't know how sweet Digimon can be,' Mrs Yagami appeared from behind Taichi. She had been at the hospital with her son and had seen those same messages flash over and over again. 'Agu-chan and Tail-chan aren't scary at all, right?'

'Right!' Agumon and Tailmon replied in unison.

'Come now, you must be hungry,' Mrs Yagami said, hauling a large plastic bag onto the dining table. 'I've bought takeaway lunch.'

'Yeay!' Agumon immediately leapt off the sofa and rushed towards the dining table. Tailmon shook her head but followed behind him anyway.

'Taichi,' Hikari whispered as their mother, Agumon and Tailmon were busy unpacking their lunch boxes. 'Sorry about earlier. I just wanted to know if there have been any more developments after yesterday's incident.'

Taichi sighed. 'I… It's fine. I know where all these fear is coming from. It's just that, I don't think letting Agumon and Tailmon hear all those nasty things about Digimon is going to be nice.'

'That man…' Hikari muttered. 'Is he going to be all right?'

Taichi's face turned pale. He clenched his fists and breathed. 'I… I should've been able to save him…'

'Taichi?' Hikari was startled by the severity of Taichi's reaction. 'I-It's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything.'

'If I couldn't save a man from a Digimon rampage, what good is there in me being a Chosen Child?' Taichi asked, mostly to himself.

'Taichi…' Hikari said gently, placing a hand on her brother's arm. She could feel his pain, his vulnerability. Hikari had always known Taichi as a kind and gentle person with a great sense of pride. That helplessness that her brother felt — failing to save a man who was injured in front of his very eyes — must be crushing.

'Anyway,' Taichi said with a great effort to sound more lighthearted. He must have realised that he had made Hikari worry. 'Have you been able to contact Daisuke?'

Hikari shook her head. 'I still haven't been able to contact him… nor Ken. I wanted to tell them about the incident yesterday, but no luck…'

Taichi's brows furrowed. 'What about their homes? Have you tried contacting their families?'

'I did. Neither of their parents knew where they went.' Hikari replied. 'They have contacted the police. It has been over forty-eight hours after all. They were last seen two days ago.'

'What about Miyako and Iori?' Taichi asked. 'Have you tried contacting them?'

'I did,' Hikari said, 'Same thing.'

'We need to meet up with the others and discuss what to do about this,' Taichi said, 'Things are getting fishier.'

'Let's do it tomorrow after school,' Hikari suggested. 'You've just came back from the hospital and you need to rest. I'm sure Mimi must have lots of unpacking to do too today. Oh, and I bet everyone's exhausted too.'

'Yeah, let's…' Taichi concurred.

…

Takeru

Takeru squinted his eyes as he scanned the bustling courtyard. School had just ended and the courtyard was jam packed with students from all years.

'Seen them?' Hikari stood beside him with a worried look on her face.

'No,' Takeru sighed. Daisuke hadn't been in class earlier and Hikari had failed at contacting him since Saturday. Now, they couldn't even find Miyako Inoue and Iori Hida, two of the other Chosen Children who also went to their middle school. Something fishy was definitely going on. There was no way the Kuwagamons manifestation and their friends's disappearances aren't connected.

'Did you find them, Takeru?' A muffled voice sounded from the large duffle bag he was carrying.

'No, Patamon.' Takeru whispered, reflexively placing a hand over his bag. He glanced around at his immediate surroundings, but fortunately everyone was too busy to notice one additional muffled voice.

'That's fishy,' Patamon mumbled again, albeit in a softer tone. 'So weird things are going on not just in the Digital World but here too.'

'Wait, what?' Takeru asked, opening the zipper of his bag slightly to reveal Patamon's wide blue eyes peering out of the gap. 'What was that about weird things in the Digital World?'

'I kinda thought it was me being paranoid at first,' Patamon whispered. 'But several Digimons have seemingly gone missing, and there are conflicts brewing left and right.'

'Who went missing? And what sort of conflicts?' Takeru asked. He was intrigued now, but made sure to steal a few lookout glances at his surroundings every now and then.

'Well you said Daisuke and the others are missing.' Patamon replied. 'Most obviously Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon and Wormmon are all missing too. And about the conflicts, I'm actually not too sure of its origins, but there seems to be a faction of Digimons who are unhappy with the way the Digital World is now.'

'Not happy with the current state of the Digital World?' Takeru asked, Patamon's revelations were getting even more perplexing.

'As I've said, I'm not really sure myself,' Patamon sighed. 'Wish I did. That way I'd know what exactly was going wrong. Sorry, Takeru.'

'No, that was very informative, Patamon,' Takeru said, flashing a smile at his partner. 'Thank you.' He turned back towards Hikari who was listening in with a frown on her face. 'The others need to know about this. I wonder if their partners have already told hem.'

'Should we head to the meeting point then?' Hikari asked.

'Yeah, we should,' Takeru replied as he readjusted his bag strap's position on his shoulder. 'Where's Tailmon anyway?'

'Oh she should be around here,' Hikari said lightly.

'Around the school?' Takeru asked, tilting his head.

'Well thankfully she resembles a cat enough to go unnoticed if she were to remain on tree branches or behind bushes.' Hikari said.

Once they have walked out of the school gate and turned towards a fairly deserted pathway, Tailmon jumped out of a nearby hedge straight into Hikari's arms.

'Hikari!' she crooned.

'Sorry to keep you waiting,' Hikari smiled.

'No worries at all,' Tailmon replied. The hedge rustled a little just as Tailmon said that. She quickly turned her head at the noise and her purple-pointed ears jerked upright to pick up additional noises.

'What's wrong?' Hikari asked.

Tailmon did not immediately answer. She kept her ears upright for a good thirty more seconds before she replied. 'It might just be me, but it feels as though something's been following me around all day. I tried shaking it off, but…'

'Something?' Takeru asked. 'Did you see what it was?'

'I caught a glimpse of… a cat.' Tailmon replied, but her tone indicated that even she wasn't entirely sure of what she saw.

'Maybe a cat wanted to befriend you,' Hikari let out a soft chuckle.

Tailmon, however, wasn't entirely bought over. 'I sure hope that's the case,' she said.

…

Joe was the last to arrive amongst the gang. The place they have chosen for their meeting is a quaint riverside, under a large bridge. The area was quiet and quite far off any of their schools, making a chance encounter with a familiar face rather unlikely.

'Sorry, I'm late!' Joe panted as he scampered down the stone steps.

He, like Takeru, had a large bag with Gomamon's head creating a huge bump on the top. The bag shuffled at Joe's announcement and a large groan sounded from within. 'Joe, can I come out now?' Gomamon asked.

'Sorry, yeah of course you can,' Joe placed his bag on the ground before opening the bag to reveal Gomamon, gasping for fresh air. He leapt out and quickly joined his Digimon friends who were already present.

'I brought food for you guys,' Sora said as she took out an enormous bento box and set it on the riverbank.

'Food!' Agumon squealed with delight. When it comes to food, he's always the first to react.

'Hey! Save some for the rest too, Agumon!' Gabumon chided him, but nevertheless smiled at the offering Sora had brought them.

Once the Digimons were all settled, Sora walked back to where her friends stood, some ways off. Only Koushiro was sitting on a rock, and as usual, typing away furiously on his laptop.

'So, what's this meeting about?' Joe asked. 'I can't stay long, I've got cram school to go to within an hour.'

'First things first,' Taichi started, 'Daisuke and the others have been uncontactable for the past few days. We fear that something might've happened to them. Something connected to those Kuwagamon attacks from two days ago.'

'Do you think they were attacked by the Kuwagamons?' Mimi gasped.

'No,' Taichi shook his head. 'It's too much of a coincidence to suggest that all four of them have been attacked by the Kuwagamons. I fear something more sinister is going on in the Digital World.'

'Patamon said the same thing!' Takeru exclaimed. 'He said that weird things have been going on in the Digital World.' He quickly repeated what Patamon had told him earlier.

'Missing? Conflict?' Sora asked, her brows furrowed. And from their facial expressions, Takeru easily surmised that none of them liked what they were hearing, not one bit.

'Come to think of it, the Digital World doesn't exactly have a ruler, doesn't it?' Mimi mused. 'Factions to me sounded like politics. So if there is no ruler, what's there to revolt against?'

'A ruler…' Koushiro repeated. 'Hold on! What about the beings who chose us? Remember them?'

'As I recall, that was one being, wasn't it?' Mimi pursed her lips as she tried recalling the being who possessed Hikari six years earlier to tell them about how they were Chosen.

'Right, one,' Koushiro corrected his sentence. 'But from what he… or it said, there are more than one of them. Sora even asked it if it was the God of the Digital World.'

'Ah, I remember that,' Sora said.

'So we can safely surmise that they have powers great enough to interfere to the extent of bringing human children into the Digital World,' Koushiro said, 'And since Digimon are data, then wouldn't it be logical to think of these beings as hosts?'

'Hosts?' Yamato asked, somewhat finding this information hard to digest.

'Hosts facilitate the exchange of data,' Koushiro explained, 'In this case, the hosts allow the Digimon — data — to function the way they do. They are the core of the Digital World. And I bet they could easily open up their "doors" to let us Chosen Children into the Digital World.'

'Basically Gods,' Sora said, crossing her arms.

'No, not as all powerful as Gods,' Koushiro said. 'Though the basic gist of their existence may allow them to be categorised as such. You see hosts don't always get to choose what sort of data pass through their systems. Think of viruses. So they are not as omnipotent. Doesn't help that there are more than one of them. They might have different… agendas.'

'Maybe that's what Patamon was talking about!' Takeru exclaimed. 'Factions!'

'There's no way of knowing for sure as of now, but that is certainly a possibility,' Koushiro nodded. 'Question is, what exactly triggered this "conflict"?'

Silence befell the group as they pondered over Koushiro's words. It was a while until Koushiro finally spoke up again, 'Of course, those were just my theory. There's no evidence to back that up.'

'But it's a plausible one,' Takeru admitted. 'Anyway, back to Daisuke and the others, could another "faction" be behind their disappearance? Is there any way for us to get into the Digital World to look for them?'

'I… don't know,' Koushiro replied in heavy tone. His eyes gazed at his laptop in an empty stare and his fingers stopped typing. Takeru could sense something amiss with Koushiro.

'H-Hey, it's okay,' Takeru said, 'We'll figure that out.'

'Those kids…' Koushiro said, his voice grim, 'they might be in danger. And even though our partner Digimons made it to this world, I still did not manage to find a way for us to get to the Digital World. I've been doubling… no, tripling my search since the Kuwagamon attacks and still, no portals for us to use.'

'Don't be too hard on yourself, Koushiro,' Taichi said gently, 'It's okay to not know things sometimes. That's the only way we pursue knowledge, isn't it? To learn what we do not know.'

'You're right, I guess,' Koushiro said, resuming his typing. 'Oh but even though I couldn't find usable portals, I found that there are still a lot of distortions going on in our world.'

'Is there anything we can do about it?' Joe asked, frowning.

'Unfortunately, no,' Koushiro replied. 'Not unless we find out what's causing it. What I'm more worried about is whether or not a Digimon like Kuwagamon is going to come out of that portal to wreak havoc again.'

'As if there hasn't been enough damage done,' Hikari said, gloomily. 'It's not just lives and buildings, all these confusion are making people scared too.'

'Don't listen to a word those damned television shows are saying!' Yamato, who had remained fairly silent until now, snapped. 'They are just making biased accusations about Digimons!'

'But it's not hard to imagine where all those fear are coming from…' Taichi said.

'What do you mean by that!?' Yamato demanded, his temper rising. 'Are you saying that Gabumon and the others deserve this?'

'I'm not saying they deserve this!' Taichi said, his voice rising to meet Yamato's. 'I'm only saying that there has been enough destruction caused by Digimons that it's only normal that people are reacting the way they are.'

'There you go again!' Yamato fumed. '"Destruction caused by Digimons". Do you think Agumon and the others did it on purpose!? They were fighting to save our world and these people are just too blind to see it!'

'You're being ridiculous, Yamato!' Taichi said, 'These people cannot tell who is on our side and who isn't! All they can see are monsters fighting, causing destruction and endangering lives!'

'Monsters?' Yamato seethed. 'Do you actually mean that, Taichi?'

'Just try picturing yourself in someone else's shoes!' Taichi lashed out, 'You weren't facing Kuwagamon without your partner! You didn't see an innocent bystander get crushed by falling debris! You didn't save an innocent little girl from…' his voice trailed off.

'What's your point then!?' Yamato was shouting by now. 'Are you saying that Digimons are dangerous? What exactly are you trying to say!?'

Taichi fell silent. But his silence somehow provoked Yamato even more.

'If there's something you want to say, then say it now!' Yamato raged. 'We have just talked about this. Something very wrong's going on and as Chosen Children there are things that only we can do. Or have you forgotten what happened in the Digital World six years ago? How we fought to save the world!?'

'How could i forget?' Taichi said, his voice firm.

'Then you'd remember what it took to save the the world!' Yamato said. 'Are you actually being hesitant about fighting? That we should've left those Kuwagamons to rampage?'

'That's enough!' Sora interjected, positioning herself between her two raging friends.

'That's it! I'm going home!' Yamato cast a deadly glare at Taichi before turning around to call out for Gabumon. 'Gabumon, let's go!'

'Fine! Just go! You don't have to announce it.' Taichi snapped. 'Agumon, we're going.'

The two walked off in opposite directions, leaving their remaining friends at a loss for words.

'I suppose the meeting's over then…' Joe began after Taichi and Yamato disappeared from sight. 'I'll leave for cram school now.'

'Awww you're way too serious, Joe,' Mimi chided him playfully. 'We haven't gotten together in a long time and you're prioritising studying?'

'I have exams coming up, Mimi,' Joe said with his hands on his hips. 'They're taking a toll on me. I don't even have much time for my girlfriend.'

'G-Girlfriend!?' Mimi exclaimed. 'Did I hear that right, Joe? Did I?' All at once, Koushiro, Sora, Hikari and Takeru too perked up at the news.

'Joe-san, you have a girlfriend?' Takeru asked.

'H-Hey! What's with all these disbelieving reactions!?' Joe's whole face instantly flushed red.

'It's… surprising, that's all,' Koushiro replied with his mouth agape.

'T-T-That's it!' Joe stomped and turned around. 'Gomamon, let's go!'

The others all watched in silent awe as Joe furiously climbed up the steps and disappeared.

'Well, no point in us continuing this meeting then,' Mimi said, 'Let's go for some okonomiyaki! I know a quiet place nearby that'll probably let us in with our Digimon undetected! I know the old granny running the place and she'll get us private rooms.'

'Sorry, but I'll pass on this one,' Koushiro replied, 'I want to go back to my office and resume my research on the distortions.'

'I gotta go too,' Takeru piped in. 'Gotta help my mom with some shopping.'

'Arghhh! You guys are no fun!' Mimi cried out. 'Fine! Girls day out it is!'

…

Sora

The drool-inducing scent of okonomiyaki wafted through the air as the mixture slowly solidified. Everyone was shifting anxiously as they watched the okonomiyakis form on the griddles in front of them. As Mimi had said, they managed to get a private corner in the restaurant, therefore allowing Biyomon, Palmon and Tailmon to join in their meal without worrying about prying eyes.

'I can't wait to dig into these!' Mimi squealed excitedly, waving her spatula about.

'Calm down Mimi!' Palmon said, 'You're gonna gouge someone's eyes with that.'

'Geez, Palmon,' Mimi pouted. 'Don't be such a spoilsport. Anyway…' she turned to Sora with flickering eyes. 'I can't help but notice that Taichi and Yamato had grown to be rather handsome young men.'

Sora immediately choken on the tea she was drinking. She coughed a couple of times to clear her throat before replying, 'And?'

'Well, who will you pick between the two?' Mimi asked, no frills needed. 'Oh and for discussion's sake, let's pretend Hikari's not Taichi's sister. You aren't gonna blab to your brother, aren't you?' She turned towards Hikari.

Hikari smiled. 'Not a word.'

'Well, what's your point in asking me?' Sora said. She could feel her cheeks warm up, and she was pretty sure it wasn't due to the heat from the griddle.

'Just a casual question,' Mimi said, waving her spatula again. 'But you didn't seem to take it so casually. So I can't help but wonder if you might have a little something for one of them.'

'Speak for yourself,' Sora snapped, a little too tensely. 'Didn't you time your flight so that you could catch Taichi's match?'

'Ahhh! Is that jealousy I sense?' Mimi's eyes perked up even more.

'H-Hey!?' Sora stammered.

'What's wrong with putting in a little bit of extra effort for a friend?' Mimi answered, her smirk growing wider and wider. 'What about Yamato? What do you think?'

'Nothing!' Sora almost shouted.

'Hmmm… My senses are picking up signals towards an inclination for Taichi…' Mimi mused. 'What do you say, Hikari? Does you brother display the same sort of affection?'

By then, Sora's fists were clenched and shaking. She did not want to hear how Taichi felt about her, least of all not from his sister. What if it didn't live up to her expectations?

'Taichi doesn't say anything much,' Hikari said, giggling. 'Not about himself, at least.'

'What do you mean?' Mimi asked, tilting her head.

'Well, he did sort of mention someone who might have an affection for you, Mimi,' Hikari replied, deciding that it was time to safe Sora from further prodding. Sora felt a surge of affection towards Hikari.

'What? Who?' Mimi asked, bewildered.

'Oh, you'll find out soon enough,' Hikari teased her.

'I think I know!' Tailmon chimed in. 'Someone you know very well, Mimi-san.'

'Ehhh? Can you whisper it in my ears?' Palmon asked. 'I promise I won't tell Mimi.'

'Hey! Not fair!' Mimi crossed her arms. 'If I don't get to know, then neither will you, Palmon!'

'H-Hey!' Palmon squeaked. 'That's not fair.'

…

The sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm vermilion glow on the quiet riverbank that Sora walked on with Biyomon in her arms, acting like a huge stuffed animal. The road was dilapidated, save for a couple of elementary school boys, chasing each other by the river.

They walked in silence for a long while, basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun, until finally Biyomon broke the silence. 'Hey Sora,' she started.

Sora replied with a soft hum. 'Hm?'

'About what Mimi said earlier,' Biyomon said, 'Is it true?'

Somehow, Biyomon had managed to start a conversation in the worst possible way. 'W-What Mimi said?' Sora asked, playing dumb.

'About Taichi, of course!' Biyomon replied with a slightly exasperated tone. 'C'mon Sora, am I not your partner? Would you keep things from your partner?'

Sora's footsteps halted and she let out a long sigh. 'All right, you win.' she conceded.

'So you do like Taichi!' Biyomon chirped.

'I… don't know,' Sora said, turning her gaze towards the sun which hung above the steadily flowing river. 'Taichi… he's like the sun. Relentlessly charging forward, waiting for no one. He would disappear every twilight, but he'll always come back for us when we need him. I've always admired that about him.'

'That sounds just like him,' Biyomon remarked.

'But, I'm never that strong,' Sora added. 'So I've always looked up to him as my guiding light. I think we all do in a way. That's why the group crumbled when he wasn't around. So to answer your question… I suppose, I do like him.'

'You… don't sound so certain,' Biyomon turned her large pink head around to face her partner.

Sora sighed again. She wasn't sure if she could even explain it well enough to Biyomon. 'It's not that I'm uncertain about my feelings. But… with the way Taichi is wired, I often feel like all I'm doing is watching his back as he runs off to the horizon.'

'Well, to sum it up, you do like him, but you aren't sure if you two can become a couple?' Biyomon ascertained. Sora felt her face burn again at the word "couple".

'Well, maybe he'll treat you differently once he realises how you feel about him,' Biyomon assured her. 'Maybe then, he'll remember to look back every once in a while to make sure you're following.'

Sora gazed at Biyomon, stunned by Biyomon's words.

'I'll support you all the way, Sora,' Biyomon added. 'No matter what happens.'

Sora smiled at her partner. 'Oh, what would I do without you.' She then gave her partner a tight squeeze. 'Thank you, Biyomon.'

…

Yamato

Yamato received a text early Saturday morning from Koushiro, asking the whole group to meet up at Odaiba at 10am. From the text, Yamato could only surmise that Koushiro must have found something out about the recent happenings.

He got dressed and arrived at the meeting point at 9.45am along with Gabumon whom he carried around like a stuffed toy. Koushiro was already there, with his laptop in hand, and so were Takeru and Sora. Tentomon rested atop Koushiro's back, watching his partner's computer while Patamon and Biyomon sat atop a nearby ledge, not moving an inch. Passersby looked on curiously at the array of 'stuffed animals' the group brought along with them, but otherwise did not look particularly alarmed.

'Morning, Yamato,' Sora greeted him. She was wearing a cardigan over a pretty white tank top with khakis. Yamato couldn't help but turn a little pink when he noticed how lovely she looked in a casual outfit.

'Morning,' he grunted back before quickly turning towards Koushiro. 'So did you find something out?' he asked. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Takeru smirking.

'I did not find something out, but I did create something that might help us to do that,' Koushiro explained. 'I'll wait for the others to come first before I explain in detail.'

'Right,' Yamato said.

The group didn't have to wait long until Taichi and Hikari arrived, along with Agumon and Tailmon. Yamato scowled a little when he saw Taichi, remembering the fight they had a few days earlier. They hadn't talked to each other since then.

'Morning, have you been waiting long?' Hikari greeted them.

'Not at all,' Takeru replied with a warm smile. 'So it's just Mimi and Joe left, huh?'

'Joe's not coming,' Koushiro replied. 'He texted me earlier saying he's got some assignments to catch up on. So it's just Mimi.'

Hikari frowned. 'Why do I get the feeling that Joe's taking it too hard on himself?'

'I'm sure he'll manage,' Taichi assured his sister.

'Heyyyy!' Mimi's shout filled the air. They all turned around to find her running energetically towards them, dressed in fashionable shorts and a polkadot jumper, with Palmon in one arm.

'Ever so cheerful, eh Mimi?' Takeru chuckled.

'So what have we got here?' Mimi asked as she put Palmon down.

'Okay, since we're all gathered, then let me begin my explanation,' Koushiro began. 'When we were chasing down the Kuwagamons, my satellite map showed that the distortions are everywhere, although not all of them were big enough to create portals to the Digital World. Now to find the root cause of the distortions, we need to find where these distortions are the greatest and most focused. This will likely lead us to a portal to the Digital World. If we're lucky, we can find the cause of these anomalies there.'

'And does your satellite map show where exactly this huge distortion is?' Yamato asked.

'Here's where it gets tricky,' Koushiro turned his laptop so that the screen faced the others. Yamato recognised the image shown on the screen as a map of the Odaiba area. However, the bizarre thing was, the map constantly flickered and displayed glitchy pixels in random spots throughout the map. 'I focused the map on Odaiba because that's where the first Kuwagamon appeared. However, the map then glitched and this did not allow me to pinpoint the exact location of the cause of distortion. Fortunately, I developed something a little more… manual.' He took out a pair of googles, much like the one Taichi used to wear as a young boy.

'I've modified these goggles so that it can detect distortions,' Koushiro handed the googles over to Taichi. 'Try it.'

Taichi put the goggles on and looked up towards the sky. 'Ah! It… worked!' he exclaimed.

'Good,' Koushiro said. 'Now the green lights you see are the flow of data. It'll turn orange then red depending on the strength of the flow. Now, red lights aren't normal, so those point to distortions. A couple of red lights signify minor distortions. But the more red lights you see, the closer we are to our target.'

'Cool!' Taichi said in awe.

'Now, we can't wander around, looking for distortions with our Digimons around. We'll attract too much attention.' Koushiro said as he begun typing another series of commands on his latpop. 'But, it might be dangerous to not have them around either in case of hostile Digimon attacks. So I've developed this.' He turned his laptop again and now the screen was showing a large, cozy-looking room with sofas, toys and books.

'This is…?' Mimi asked, leaning in to have a closer look.

'Tentomon, why don't you demonstrate?' Koushiro said.

'Of course!' Tentomon flew off Koushiro's back and towards the front of the laptop screen. The screen glowed white and the next thing they knew, Tentomon was waving at them from within the laptop.

'Wh-What?' Yamato felt his mouth gape as he watched the magic that's happening in front of his eyes.

'This way, we can call upon them anytime we want,' Koushiro said. 'And it doesn't just work through this laptop. Basically any screen that can be connected to the internet can function as a portal. Like a mini Digital World.'

'That's AMAZING!' Mimi gushed, instantly making Koushiro's face beet red.

'A-Anyway, we should get going,' he stammered, ushering the other Digimons in.

One by one, the partner Digimons disappeared through the glowing screen, until finally it was just Tailmon left. She glanced around, her expression tense, as she slowly walked towards the laptop.

'What's wrong, Tailmon?' Takeru asked.

'Someone… or something, is following us,' Tailmon replied. 'I'm sure of that.'

'Just like the other day in school?' Takeru said.

'Yeah… This feeling's been constantly nagging me ever since that day.' Tailmon said. 'At home, I sense it from outside the windows. I told Hikari and Taichi about this, but we could never find anything. Agumon's just too dense to realise it, but I have lived in the shadows once. I'm used to these kind of things.'

'Do you think it's one of those Agency guys?' Sora suggested.

'I don't think so…' Tailmon shook her head. 'Whatever this is… it's not human.'

'A Digimon, perhaps?' Yamato asked.

'A more plausible theory,' Tailmon said, turning back towards the laptop screen. 'Anyway, keep your guards up.' she warned before disappearing in a flash of white light.

'That's… worrying,' Mimi said.

'If it meant any harm, it would have struck us down a long time ago,' Hikari said. 'But it's not a bad idea to be careful.'

…

Odaiba was packed with people due to it being a weekend. Families strolled past with smiles on their faces, laughing and joking; groups of friends huddled together, sharing gossips; and couples walked hand in hand, occasionally throwing loving gazes at their partners. Yamato looked at all of them with envy. How long had it been since his family last looked like a family? And he had just fallen out with Taichi, the person he considered to be his best friend. His gaze then turned towards Sora who was walking wordlessly beside him. She, however, wasn't looking in his direction. In fact, Yamato had a feeling that she barely even noticed him at all. Her eyes were fixed at Taichi, who was striding ahead, leading the group while occasionally checking his goggles.

A sharp piercing pain seared through his chest. No, Yamato, he thought. You're overthinking things. You're just angry at Taichi. She was just looking at him because he's leading the way.

Taichi's footsteps came to a halt, and everybody followed suit. 'This isn't very productive,' he mused, taking off his goggles and letting it hang loosely around his neck. 'If only we can reach a high place so that we have a clear view of the area.' Odaiba wasn't exactly filled with high rise buildings, but from the streets, even a regular building a couple of storeys tall could block the view of the sky.

'I know of a place,' Takeru replied almost immediately. He pointed towards a large ferris wheel overlooking the bay.

'That's it!' Taichi replied excitedly.

They group rushed towards the ferris wheel and joined the queue for the ride. When it was finally their turn to board the cabin, Yamato felt Takeru and Hikari push their way ahead. Mimi waved excitedly from the doorway of the cabin whilst Sora and Koushiro were already seated inside. Just as Yamato was about to step into said cabin, Mimi slammed the door in his face.

'Hey!' he shouted.

'Take the next one,' Mimi whistled from the window as the cabin she and their friends were in began taking off.

Taichi stood beside him with his hands on his hips and shook his head exasperatedly. Now Yamato finally understood their friends' intentions. They wanted him to talk to Taichi and sort out whatever differences they had.

Grumbling, Yamato sat down in the next cabin whilst Taichi sat opposite him. The ride was slow and quiet, making it painful for Yamato. He gazed out the window, trying to avoid locking gazes with Taichi. However, after some time, he came to a realisation that they were being incredibly childish by choosing to remain quiet.

'Hey,' Yamato finally broke the silence. 'Sorry about the other day. I might have overreacted. However, I still stand by my opinion. At times like this, we shouldn't be hesitant.'

Taichi remained silent as he stared out the window with a frown on his forehead.

'What exactly is troubling you?' Yamato asked, his voice rising. 'It's so unlike you! The old you would never have done that!'

'People change, Yamato,' Taichi finally replied. 'I'm not the old me. The old me charged forward without sparing a thought for consequences. But now that I'm older, I realise that the world is not so black and white. Sure, it was Kuwagamon who crushed the building on that man. But it was Greymon's tail that I saved the little girl from. I realised then that our partner Digimons can cause as much harm as enemy Digimons.'

Now it was Yamato's turn to fall silent. He was beginning to see Taichi's trauma. However, it left a distasteful ache in his chest, like seeing a friend dissolve away. He recalled the first time they met as fifth graders. Taichi was, in Yamato's opinion, obnoxious and egoistical, charging forward without so much as a second thought. But over time, as he matured, those traits of his developed into a quiet inner strength. Taichi's steadfastness was the reason he was seen as the group's leader.

'Isn't that running away?' Yamato remarked in a quiet voice. 'Sure there are consequences, but saving the world… that's only something we can do.'

'Is that what Digital World expects of us now?' Taichi asked. 'Sure it did, years back. But now… are we still the Chosen Children who are expected to take up arms and fight?'

Yamato was taken aback by Taichi's question. He recalled Takeru mentioning something similar a short while back, about whether or not their position as Chosen Children had been replaced by someone else. There was no way of knowing what the Digital World had in store for them.

'A while ago, didn't you say saving the world was easy compared to growing up?' Yamato asked, recalling his conversation with Taichi in the cafeteria about two weeks back.

'I did,' Taichi replied. 'And this is growing up, Yamato.'

Silence befell them yet again until Yamato suddenly spoke up in a more anxious tone.

'Speaking of which, don't we need to check the distortions?' Yamato said, remembering their task.

'Oh right,' Taichi put his goggles back on, and almost immediately he let out an audible gasp.

'What's wrong?' Yamato jerked upright on his seat.

'There's a huge mass of distortion over on that direction,' Taichi said, breaking in cold sweat. 'Not good. It's… reacting. We have to call Koushiro!'

…

Taichi

The group ran past the busy walkways as the clouds swirled ominously above them. Something about the distortion had caused the weather to react to it. The clouds had begun to form a whirlpool-like shape where the distortion was centred. Taichi frantically led the way to where he saw the distortion form from high above the ferris wheel.

This can't be good, he thought as he made his way through the worried crowd. His injured calf began throbbing again. Not a good sign either.

The centre of the whirlpool of clouds up in the sky was a deserted courtyard. People had evacuated in anticipation of the weird weather phenomenon. And right in the centre of the courtyard was a furry orange cat.

Something about that cat struck a chord within Taichi, as if he had seen it somewhere before but couldn't exactly place a finger on. High up above, a large black hole like the one they'd seen in Haneda formed in the centre of the clouds, and out of it, a gigantic black armoured Digimon descended.

'W-What's that!?' Yamato exclaimed.

Koushiro's immediately took out his laptop and the device automatically scanned the unknown figure. 'Alphamon…' he read out the name of the large black Digimon aloud. 'Ultimate form. There's no other information written here, though.'

'Why do I get the feeling that he's super strong?' Mimi squealed. 'Get Palmon and the others out, hurry!'

Alphamon, however, barely paid any attention towards the group. Instead, he turned towards the furry orange cat, and shot a green blast at it. The cat jumped out of the way just in the nick of time as the blast left a crater in its wake.

'It's not a cat!' Taichi shouted. 'It's a Digimon!'

One by one, the partner Digimons all evolved to their adult forms, save Tailmon who was already an adult Digimon, and Agumon because Taichi was still hesitant about whether they should be fighting.

Birdramon and Kabuterimon flew ahead, blasting Alphamon with fire and electric balls. Alphamon, however, barely flinched and instead used the same green blasts to send the both of them flying and crashing onto the ferris wheel and a nearby building. The blast was so powerful that it immediately rendered them unconscious.

'N-No way!' Sora's eyes widened at the shock of seeing how easily Alphamon dispatched two Digimons.

Togemon too charge ahead only to be crushed into the ground with one hand. Angemon and Tailmon were also sent crashing into a nearby building by blasters. Seeing how easily Alphamon eliminated his friends, Garurumon immediately further evolved into his ultimate form, MetalGarurumon.

MetalGarurumon fired missiles after missiles at Alphamon out of his metallic body, but all it did was anger Alphamon. Enraged, Alphamon fired a charged blaster out of its hand, bigger than any of the previous ones he used, and struck MetalGarurumon right on his head, sending him crashing onto the ground.

'Taichi!' Yamato shouted at him. 'Don't you see!? If we don't fight, it'll destroy everything!'

An image of the man and the little girl who was caught up in Kuwagamon's rampage flashed back into Taichi head. No… he did not want the same thing to happen again. He needed to stop this madness.

'Agumon!' Taichi shouted. 'Digivolve to Wargreymon now!'

'I got this!' Agumon jumped ahead and in a flash of light turned into his ultimate form, the golden armour-clad Wargreymon.

Wargreymon fired a massive fireball at Alphamon which successfully staggered it. Alphamon, however, was way too strong and got back on its feet in no time at all.

'We need to get Omegamon out,' Yamato said as MetalGarurumon shakily got back up. 'You can do it, can't you, buddy?' he asked MetalGarurumon. The metal wolf nodded and a flash of light engulfed him just as it engulfed Wargreymon.

And right in front of them, an enormous white armoured Digimon stood, majestically rivalling Alphamon. Finally seeing a worthy opponent, Alphamon summoned its wings and weapon — a giant bladed lance.

The two locked weapons, clashing in such a grand scale that every blow they launch create a massive shockwave, sending the group flying backwards and causing fissures to form on the ground. Whenever Alphamon swung its bladed weapon, Omegamon would parry with his sword. And whenever Omegamon fired his cannon, Alphamon would evade and fire its own green shots.

They traded blows back and forth, as equals, until finally Alphamon swung its charged bladed lance down on Omegamon, very nearly missing him. Omegamon took the chance to rise above the lance and charge his very own cannon right in Alphamon's face.

A shot at point-blank range would have been enough to finish off Alphamon. And Alphamon too must have realised it as he summoned the same black hole he appeared out of, right behind him, ensuring his escape. But for a brief moment, images from his fight with Kuwagamon flashed back into Taichi's mind — the rampage, the destruction, the victims, the near-victims — and his own injuries which had not fully healed throbbed again. That split second of hesitation allowed Alphamon to retreat into the distortion and the cannon that Omegamon was charging blasted onto the empty ground.

Just as quickly as it began, the coast cleared and all the partner Digimons devolved back to their rookie and in-training forms now that there were no more enemies. Taichi collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

'Taichi!' Sora rushed over to his side. 'Did your wounds open up again?'

'No, they didn't,' Taichi replied. 'I'm fine.'

The orange cat Digimon made its way back towards them, having escaped and hid earlier.

'Thank you for saving my life,' she said. 'I'm Meicoomon.'

'You're the one that's been following me!' Tailmon exclaimed. She was clinging onto Hikari, having just recovered from the fight.

'Ah no wonder you looked familiar!' Taichi exclaimed. 'You'd been lurking outside our windows!'

'I did, and I meant no harm,' Meicoomon gazed down at the ground, her wide eyes glistening with tears. 'I was transported here by some bizarre occurrence and when I saw another Digimon, I thought that you'd be able to take me back to the Digital World.'

'Unfortunately, we do not have the answer to that as of yet.' Koushiro replied. 'But you're welcome to stay with us until then.'

'Right, you can take turns to stay in our homes!' Mimi suggested excitedly. 'Aww how great is that? We made a new friend!'

Meicoomon beamed at the suggestion and the others all smiled warmly at their new friend. Little did they know the problems that are about to crop up from then on.

…