"Where is he?” Armaggedamon asked angrily. There were several garbled replies throughout the dark corridors. Suddenly, the muffled replies turned to gasps and whispers as a mysterious figure surrounded by shadows walked down the corridor, heading toward Armaggedamon’s throne. When the figure stepped into the patch of pale light in front of the throne, even Armaggedamon gasped. He and the other Digimon recognized the figure as the leader of the Digi-Destined children: Tai! Armaggedamon started to chuckle sinisterly. “Do you really think you stand a chance against me by yourself, boy?” he asked sarcastically.
To Armaggedamon’s surprise, Tai looked up at him with a sinister smirk on his face. Instantly, Tai changed into a figure wearing a charcoal gray jumpsuit, dark brown boots, and a deep burgundy cloak with a hood. A matching burgundy scarf covered most of his face. Only his pale blue eyes could be seen from underneath his hood. “Cloakmon, what an unexpected surprise,” Armaggedamon admitted as the Digimon bowed respectively to him. “Your powers have improved greatly. Last I heard, you were only able to copy other Digimon.” Armaggedamon paused for a moment. “This new power of yours will be very useful, indeed.”
“How may I assist you, Armaggedamon?” Cloakmon asked. Armaggedamon’s glowing red eyes focused on the large television screen next to him. The screen turned on, showing an image of the Digi-Destined kids and their Digimon walking through a dense forest. “I want you to lure these children into a trap,” Armaggedamon explained. “My original plan was to have you impersonate one of their Digimon friends, but perhaps you can disguise yourself as one of those Digi-Destined kids instead. They may be suspicious of a Digimon, but they wouldn’t suspect one of their own leading them into a trap.”
“I could do that,” Cloakmon admitted, “but I would need to do a Mind Merge on the child I choose to impersonate so the others won’t catch on.” “Very well, then. Now, go!” Armaggedamon commanded. Cloakmon bowed once again before he turned around and headed back down the dark corridor. As the Digimon continued down the corridor, Houdinimon emerged from the surrounding shadows and approached the throne. “Why did you send Cloakmon after the Digi-Destined, Armaggedamon?” he asked. “Why didn’t you send me instead?” “Although you are a master of illusion, Houdinimon, Cloakmon has the ability to disguise himself into any Digimon, and now, any human as well,” Armaggedamon reminded him.
“That may be true, Armaggedamon, but Cloakmon’s a lone Digimon who doesn’t answer to anyone,” Houdinimon pointed out. “He may desert you.” “Cloakmon wouldn’t dare do that,” Armaggedamon muttered. “He’s aware that if he betrays me, I would hunt him down and destroy him myself. You may leave now.” Houdinimon was about to head into the dark shadows when Armaggedamon added, “There is one more thing, Houdinimon.” The Digimon turned around and faced the throne, waiting to hear what he had to say. Armaggedamon’s eyes glowed bright like fire as he yelled angrily, “Question my orders again, and it’s back to the dungeon for you!” “O-of course, Armaggedamon. N-never again,” Houdinimon stuttered fearfully before he stepped back into the shadows...
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m totally wiped out,” Marni yawned loudly as she stretched out her arms. “You’re not the only one, Marni,” Marisa told her as she pointed at a nearby tree. Mimi, T.K., Palmon, and Patamon were leaning against the tree, nodding off every now and then. It was almost dark out in the Digiworld, and the Digi-Destined and their Digimon had stopped for a rest in a small clearing. Only Tai, Matt, Sora, Yuuchi, and their Digimon were missing.
Suddenly, the kids that were still awake heard some rustling from some nearby bushes. It turned out to be just Matt, Sora, Gabumon, and Biyomon. All four of them were carrying a pile of sticks in their arms. As they laid the sticks on the ground in a pile, T.K. slowly opened his eyes. “Matt?” he whispered as he rubbed his eyes. “Hey, T.K.,” Matt greeted as he approached his little brother. “You feeling okay?” “I’m fine, Matt. Just a little tired,” T.K. admitted after letting out a long yawn.
“Ready, Gabumon?” Matt heard Sora ask. He turned around and noticed that Sora had already arranged some of the sticks for the fire. Gabumon nodded and released a blue blast, which lit the small pile of sticks into a roaring campfire. Just then, a familiar voice shouted, “Hey, guys! We’re back!” Sora looked up from the campfire and watched as Tai, Yuuchi, Agumon, and Nanmimon entered the campsite. Tai, Yuuchi, and Agumon were each carrying an armful of fruit. Nanmimon was carrying a partially eaten plum in his mouth. “Go ahead, everyone. Dig in,” Yuuchi announced as they piled the fruit on a large leaf next to the campfire.
“Looks like Nanmimon already did,” Chamelamon pointed out with a laugh. Nanmimon quickly swallowed the rest of the plum and retorted, “Well, I can’t carry any fruit with no arms.” “So, what are the plans for tomorrow?” Zack asked as he grabbed a banana from the pile of fruit and sat next to the fire. “We have to find out where Armaggedamon’s hiding,” Tai revealed as he and the other kids sat next to the campfire. “It seems plausible that Armaggedamon’s headquarters is located here on Server,” Izzy theorized. “What makes you think that, Izzy?” Marni asked curiously before taking a bite out of an apple.
“Think about it, Marni,” Izzy told her. “When we were still on File Island, we were attacked by only two Champion Digimon, whereas when we arrived here on Server, we’ve been attacked by one Champion and two Ultimate Digimon. Since Armaggedamon is putting serious effort into keeping us away from here, it seems plausible that his base is located somewhere on the continent of Server.” “You could be right, Izzy,” Marisa admitted. “Hold on a second!” Yuuchi interrupted. “You guys said before that Armaggedamon would be the toughest Digimon you would ever face, right?” “Yeah, so?” Tai asked. “Well, I seriously doubt that you defeated all those other Digimon with only eight Champion Digimon,” Yuuchi retorted.
“That’s true,” Sora admitted. “When we fought Apocalymon, we had only two Mega Digimon and six Ultimate Digimon, and he was the toughest Digimon we faced so far.” “So, if we’re ever going to defeat Armaggedamon, we’ll have to get our Digimon to digivolve to at least Ultimate, right?” Zack asked. Tai, Matt, Sora, Joe, and Izzy nodded in approval. “And the key to getting our Digimon to digivolve once again is to activate our crests?” Marisa asked as she took out her tag and examined the forest green crest. “That is correct,” Izzy confirmed.
“So, do you guys know anything at all about our crests?” Marni asked as she allowed her tag to hang freely from her neck. “If you do, now would be a good time to tell us.” “Well, all of our individual crests are based on our strongest trait. You know, what makes you unique,” Izzy explained. “So, do you know what our crests mean?” Yuuchi asked. “Sorry, but we don’t know what your crests mean,” Joe apologized. “If we did, we would tell you.” “Can you at least tell us what your crests stand for?” Zack asked. “That might help us figure out what our own crests mean.”
“I have the crest of Courage,” Tai boasted. “My crest is Friendship,” Matt revealed. “Mine’s Love,” Sora admitted. “I have the crest of Knowledge,” Izzy added. “And mine’s the crest of Reliability,” Joe finished. “What about T.K., Kari, and Mimi?” Marni asked as she looked at the three sleeping kids and their sleeping Digimon. “T.K. has the crest of Hope,” Matt explained. “My sister, Kari, has the crest of Light,” Tai admitted. “And Mimi has the crest of Sincerity,” Sora finished.
“Well, that actually makes sense,” Marni admitted. She looked over at Marisa, who was staring vacantly into the campfire. “Marisa, what’s wrong with you?” Marni retorted. “Nothing, Marni. I was just thinking about something,” Marisa whispered. “Care to share with us?” Yuuchi asked a bit sarcastically. “It’s just that...are we the only ones who can use these digivices?” she asked. “Of course, we’re the only ones. Why would you ask something like that?” Tai asked. “I was just scared that maybe someone could use our digivices against us,” Marisa admitted. “Don’t worry about it, Marisa,” Matt assured her. “A good friend of ours once told us that the digivices would be powerless in the hands of anyone else,” Sora announced.
“Then I guess I was just worried over nothing,” Marisa admitted. Just then, Yuuchi let out a long yawn, immediately followed by Nanmimon. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for bed,” Yuuchi muttered groggily as he stretched out his arms. “Me, too,” Nanmimon agreed. “Wait a minute. Someone needs to stay up and stand guard,” Izzy revealed. “We can each take turns. Who’s going to go first?” “I’ll do it,” Tai volunteered. “I’ll go next,” Yuuchi announced. “I’ll go after Yuuchi,” Matt added. “And I’ll finish up the night,” Marni volunteered. “I’m a light sleeper, so I won’t mind.” “So, everything’s settled, then. Good night,” Joe announced before he lied down and went to sleep. Everyone else did the same, except for Tai, who stayed up and tended to the campfire...
“Matt! Hey, Matt! Wake up!” Yuuchi whispered loudly as he shook Matt’s shoulder. His green eyes quickly looked around the campsite and spotted a hollow melon rind. Yuuchi had filled up the rind with water earlier since he was thirsty. A devilish grin appeared on his face as he approached the melon rind and scooped up some of the cold water. “This ought to wake him up,” Yuuchi snickered to himself as he came up to Matt and dumped the water on his face. Matt woke up with a start. “About time you woke up,” Yuuchi retorted with a smile as Matt shook the excess water out of his hair. “What did you do that for?” he asked angrily. “Well, first of all, you snore louder than a chainsaw,” Yuuchi pointed out. “And another thing, it’s your turn to stand guard.”
Matt eyed him suspiciously as he slowly stood up. “Go to sleep,” he told Yuuchi. “You’re gonna need it for tomorrow.” Yuuchi nodded as he walked to an empty space, laid down, and went to sleep. Matt sat down in front of the fire and poked at the remaining embers with a stick. His blue eyes glanced around the campsite, finally resting on Marisa, who was lying next to Marni. “Why can’t I remember?” he thought. “I know I’ve seen Marisa somewhere before, but I don’t remember!” Matt groaned out of frustration and threw his stick into the burning embers, causing a few sparks to fly up. That’s when he realized that the fire was dying down. He looked over to where he and Sora piled up the wood they gathered earlier, but there were only a couple of sticks left.
“Looks like I have to get more wood,” Matt muttered to himself as he got up. He threw the remaining sticks into the low-burning embers before he headed into the forest. It didn’t take him more than five minutes to find what he needed. With his arms full of sticks, Matt started to head back to the campsite. He didn’t take more than three steps when a large black marble dropped from the sky and landed at his feet. Once it hit the ground, the marble released a steady stream of thin bluish-gray smoke. Matt tried to get away from the smoke gathering around him, but it was too late. He felt his eyelids drooping and his body going limp. Matt fell face-first on the ground, fast asleep, causing all the sticks he collected to scatter around him...
Matt slowly opened his eyes halfway, since his eyelids felt as though they weighed a ton. “Man, what happened?” he muttered drowsily to himself. Matt tried to move, but discovered that he couldn’t. He looked up and noticed to his surprise that his hands were shackled to a stone wall. Matt looked down and realized that his feet were also shackled to the stone wall. He tried to move once again, but the shackles prevented him from moving around a lot. By looking around, Matt realized that he was in a cave. The entrance was only a few yards away from him, with the dawn’s pale light shining through.
“Don’t even bother,” Matt heard a sinister voice reply from somewhere within the cave. “You can’t escape without your friends!” Matt looked toward the direction the voice was coming from. He saw a Digimon approach him that reminded him of Wizardmon, only he was wearing a burgundy cloak and hood, with a matching scarf covering his face. “Who are you?” Matt asked curiously. “The name is Cloakmon,” the Digimon replied. He glanced at the cave’s entrance for a few moments. “Your friend won’t be awake for a couple more hours,” Cloakmon muttered out loud. “Once they realize you’re missing, they’ll be out looking for you.”
“My friends will find me, and then you’re gonna pay for this!” Matt shouted. Cloakmon stared at Matt with an evil glare. “Don’t be so sure that they’ll even come looking for you,” he muttered out loud. “What do you mean by that?” Matt asked. “You’ll soon find out for yourself,” Cloakmon told Matt as he closed his eyes. “Mind Merge!” Cloakmon whispered. He slowly opened his eyes, which were now glowing pale blue, and focused them on his prisoner.
Matt tried to close his eyes, but he couldn’t move them at all. It was as though his eyes were frozen open. Cloakmon felt the sudden rush of Matt’s memories entering his mind. They were in the form of several bubbles, each one containing a different memory. Some memories that stood out the most to Cloakmon were Matt’s parents splitting up, going to summer camp with T.K. and his friends, going to the Digiworld for the first time, meeting Tsunomon for the first time, watching his Digimon digivolve for the first time, fights with Tai, the encounter with Cherrymon, the battles with Piedmon and Apocalymon, going back to the Digiworld with the four new Digi-Destined, and the encounter Matt and Marisa had with Minotaurmon.
Cloakmon’s eyes returned to normal as he turned away from Matt, a bit exhausted from the process. The young boy felt as thought he had been drained of something as he let his head fall to his chest. He quickly looked up when Cloakmon started to laugh sinisterly. “What’s so funny, Cloakmon?” Matt shouted angrily. Cloakmon turned around and slowly removed the hood and scarf covering his head and face. Matt gasped out of complete shock. Standing in front of him, still wearing the burgundy cloak, was an exact double of himself! “Surprised?” the impostor asked in Matt’s own voice. “But...how did...?” Matt stuttered.
“Now you understand the full extent of my powers,” the mirror twin replied in Cloakmon’s voice. “I’m able to copy other Digimon and, as you just seen for yourself, humans, too.” “What did you do to me?” Matt asked wearily. “My Mind Merge copied all of your memories into my mind,” Cloakmon replied as he removed his cloak, which disappeared as soon as he took it off. “I know everything that you know now.” “That’s...not possible,” Matt muttered out loud. “You don’t think so?” Cloakmon asked. “I can prove it. I can tell you anything that only you would know.” “Oh, yeah? Like what?” Matt asked a bit skeptically.
“Well, back when you and the other original Digi-Destined were battling the Dark Masters, one of those Dark Masters, Puppetmon, kidnapped your little brother, T.K.,” Cloakmon started. “He managed to escape by himself, which caught you completely off guard. You wandered away from the other children and ran into a Digimon called Cherrymon, one of Puppetmon’s hench-mon. He convinced you that the only way you could change like the other children did was to defeat your rival. Cherrymon had you look at the Lake of Reflections, which would reveal the identity of your rival. When you looked at the surface of the lake, you saw your friend, Tai. You even end up having your Digimon at Mega level, Metal Garurumon, battle Tai's Mega Digimon, Wargreymon.”
Matt stared at him with an astonished look on his face. Suddenly, he burst into laughter. “What’s so funny about that?” Cloakmon asked. “That is what really happened.” “Come on! All the Digimon know everything that goes on in the Digiworld,” Matt pointed out with a smirk on his face. “I’ll bet they all know about what happened between me and Cherrymon. You’re gonna have to do better than that to prove that you really absorbed all of my thoughts, Cloakmon.” He turned his head to the side, as though he didn’t want to hear anything more from the Digimon. “Although what you said is true, Matt, I can still prove that I absorbed your thoughts,” Cloakmon pointed out. “I can reveal secrets that you never, ever told anyone.”
“Yeah, right,” Matt retorted. There was a moment of silence that followed. “You have a crush on one of the girls in your group,” he heard Cloakmon whisper out loud. Matt quickly turned toward the Digimon; his eyes and mouth wide open from shock. “I knew that would catch your attention,” Cloakmon muttered sinisterly. “Still think that I didn’t really absorb your memories?” “You-you’re bluffing,” Matt stuttered. “You just took a wild guess, that’s all.” “Oh, really?” Cloakmon asked. “What if I identified the girl you have a crush on? Would that make you believe?” Matt didn’t say a word after that. “I guess you believe me now, don’t you, Matt?” Cloakmon asked. He turned toward the cave’s entrance and started to leave.
“Where are you going?” Matt asked. “Where do you think I’m going?” the disguised Digimon asked. “I didn’t do all this for nothing.” Matt gasped when he realized what Cloakmon planned to do. “You won’t be able to pull it off, Cloakmon!” Matt shouted. “You can’t fool my friends!” “We’ll just see about that!” Cloakmon shouted. He quickly grabbed Matt’s digivice. “You won’t be needing this anymore,” the Digimon muttered as he hooked it onto his jeans. “I would like to keep chatting with you...” Cloakmon continued before he cleared his throat. “...But I have to rejoin my friends before they start to worry about me,” he finished in Matt’s voice as he left the real Matt alone in the dark cave...
“Matt! Can you hear me?” T.K. shouted. “Where are you, Matt?” Tai yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth. The eleven kids and the twelve Digimon woke up a few minutes ago and discovered that Matt was missing. They were now searching the woods for him. “Maybe an evil Digimon got him,” Zack muttered loud enough for Joe to hear. “What if he’s right, and that Digimon comes back for the rest of us?” Joe asked panicky. “Now you’ve gone and done it, Zack,” Gomamon retorted as he rolled his eyes.
“Hey, everyone! Over here!” they heard Marisa shout. The kids and their Digimon quickly ran over to where Marisa and Chamelamon were standing. “What is it, Marisa?” Marni asked. Her sister pointed at a bunch of sticks that were scattered closely together. “It appears as though there was some sort of struggle here,” Izzy theorized. “Maybe Zack’s right, and an evil Digimon did get Matt,” Gabumon reluctantly admitted.
“Hey!” they heard a familiar voice shout. The kids and the Digimon looked up and saw Matt emerge from a cluster of trees. “Matt! You’re okay!” T.K. exclaimed happily as his older brother stopped in front of the group, completely exhausted from running. “Matt, what happened?” Gabumon asked. “Last night...a Digimon named Cloakmon...kidnapped me...I managed to escape...” Matt explained between gasps of air. “Cloakmon? Who’s that?” Sora asked. “I remember hearing about Cloakmon,” Chamelamon announced. “He’s a Digimon with mysterious powers. He could have been sent by Armaggedamon, but Cloakmon’s a lone Digimon who doesn’t normally answer to anyone.”
“What kind of mysterious powers does this Cloakmon have?” Marisa asked. “I wish I knew,” Chamelamon reluctantly admitted. “Cloakmon is able to copy other Digimon and humans, too,” Matt told them. “How do you know that?” Tai asked. “I saw him use his powers right in front of me,” Matt explained. “Wait a minute! How do we know that you’re the real Matt and not Cloakmon in disguise?” Yuuchi asked suspiciously as he crossed his arms. “Because I still have this,” Matt told him ass he showed everyone his digivice. “Cloakmon didn’t get the chance to swipe it from me.” “He must be telling the truth,” Sora whispered to the others. “There’s no way someone could make a fake digivice.”
“Where did Cloakmon take you?” Tai asked. “We gotta stop him before he disguises himself as one of our Digimon, or one of us.” “I’ll show you. Follow me,” Matt explained as he returned to the cluster of trees. He smirked a little bit to himself as he led the others deeper in the forest. “My plan is working perfectly,” Cloakmon thought to himself. “Those kids have no idea what’s in store for them.” The other kids and their Digimon continued to follow Matt and Gabumon deeper into the forest. Marisa and Chamelamon lagged behind the group, along with Marni, Yuuchi, Snakemon, and Nanmimon. “Marisa, what’s wrong?” Chamelamon asked. “Yeah, what’s up?” Marni whispered. “I don’t know. It’s just...are we really sure that’s Matt?” Marisa whispered uncertainly. “He had his digivice, didn’t he?” Yuuchi retorted.
“Yeah, that’s true, but...” Marisa was interrupted by an extremely loud buzzing sound. “Duck, everyone!” Tai yelled in warning. Everyone quickly dropped down to the ground as something massive flew right above their heads. Yuuchi looked up and saw a bug Digimon that looked like a giant wasp. “What was that?” he asked. “That was Flymon,” Biyomon explained as everyone cautiously stood up. “Heads up! He’s coming back!” Marni shouted, pointing up at Flymon. “Brown Stingers!” Flymon shouted as he quickly shot out ten massive stingers one by one. Fortunately, all of the Digi-Destined kids and their Digimon avoided all of the stingers.
“I’ll take care of Flymon,” Biyomon shouted as she stood ready for battle. “Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon!” “Go get him, Birdramon!” Sora shouted as her Champion Digimon flew after Flymon. The two Champion Digimon collided forcefully in the air. “Brown Stinger!” Flymon shouted, shooting out one of his stingers at Birdramon. “Meteor Wing!” Birdramon shouted. Her fireballs instantly burned Flymon’s stinger into ashes. Enraged, Flymon charged at Birdramon and hit her head on. “Birdramon needs help,” Chamelamon announced. “Go for it,” Marisa encouraged her Digimon. “Chamelamon digivolve to...Dragomon!”
“I’ll help, too,” Gabumon added. “Gabumon digivolve to...” To the Digimon’s surprise, he didn’t digivolve into Garurumon. “Don’t worry, Gabumon,” Matt assured him. “Those two can handle Flymon by themselves.” Gabumon nodded hesitantly as he watched Dragomon take off into the air. “Inferno Blast!” she shouted. “Meteor Wing!” Birdramon shouted. The two fiery attacks nailed Flymon head on, burning him to a crisp and causing him to disintegrate. “Way to go, Birdramon!” Sora cheered as the two Champion Digimon landed on the ground. “You, too, Dragomon!” Marisa added.
As soon as Birdramon and Dragomon landed on the ground, they both de-digivolved back to Biyomon and Chamelamon. “No problem,” Biyomon admitted. “That’s why we’re here: to protect you,” Chamelamon pointed out. “Come on, everyone. We need to keep going, or we’re gonna lose Cloakmon,” Matt explained. “Matt’s right,” Tai admitted. “If we don’t stop Cloakmon now, he’ll try to trick us later on. Lead the way.” Matt headed toward a pair of large bushes and parted them before stepping through them. The other kids and their Digimon continued to follow their friend deeper into the forest...
“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!” Matt shouted as loud as he could. The only response he got was his echoes from within the cave. He tried once again to free his arms, but the shackles held him back. Matt took a deep breath and shouted, “HELP! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?” He waited for a few moments, but there was no response at all. “This is hopeless,” Matt muttered to himself. “Cloakmon is probably with my friends right now, and I can’t do anything about it!” He groaned out of frustration and closed his eyes. “I can’t give up now,” Matt thought. “I need to help my friends before it’s too late!”
When Matt opened his eyes, he was shocked to see a ball of glowing blue light fly into the cave. “What...is that?” Matt asked himself slowly. The ball of light hovered up and down in front of Matt, as though it was examining him. Suddenly, the ball of blue light shot a tiny blue spark at the lock of the shackles holding his arms. To Matt’s surprise, the lock instantly clicked open. As he removed his hands from the shackles and rubbed her sore wrists, the ball of light moved down to the shackles holding his ankles and shot another spark into the lock. As soon as he heard the lock click open, Matt bent down to remove the shackles holding his ankles together. To his surprise, when Matt stood up, the ball of blue light had disappeared.
“Where did it go?” Matt asked himself as he looked around the cave. The strange ball of light was nowhere to be found. “What was it, a Digimon?” he muttered to himself. “Whatever it was, it saved me. Now, I gotta find my friends before it’s too late.” Matt looked out the cave’s entrance and realized that he was on a steep hillside. Looking down at the dense forest below him, Matt noticed some small clearings not far from the bottom of the hillside. To his surprise, he saw his friends walking through one of the clearings with his impostor: Cloakmon! “Hey, guys! Up here!” Matt shouted while waving his arms, hoping to get his friends’ attention. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hear him. Determined to put a stop to Cloakmon’s plan, Matt ran as fast as he dared down the steep hillside...
“Can we please stop and rest for a while?” Yuuchi complained. “My feet are killing me!” “For once, I agree with Yuuchi,” Zack reluctantly admitted. “But don’t get used to it!” he warned Yuuchi. The other kids and their Digimon laughed over their arguing. “I think we could all use a break,” Tai admitted as he leaned against a tree. Everyone else sat on the ground, except for Matt, who was heading toward some bushes. “Where are you going, Matt?” T.K. asked. “I’m just gonna check the path ahead, just to make sure we’re going in the right direction,” he explained. “I’ll go with you,” Gabumon suggested as he started to get up. “I’ll be fine by myself, Gabumon. I’ll only be gone for a few minutes,” Matt explained before he headed deeper into the woods.
Gabumon sighed deeply as he sat back down next to Marisa and Chamelamon. “Is there something bothering you, Gabumon?” Chamelamon asked. “Well...when Flymon attacked us, I tried to digivolve to Garurumon, but for some reason, I couldn’t,” Gabumon admitted. “You couldn’t digivolve?” Chamelamon asked out of disbelief. Gabumon nodded his head. “Has that ever happened before?” Marisa asked curiously. “Only a couple of times,” Gabumon explained. “Before, I was either tired or hungry those times I couldn’t digivolve. But I wasn’t either tired or hungry when Flymon attacked us.”
“If you weren’t tired or hungry, then what could have stopped you from digivolving into Garurumon?” Chamelamon asked. “I don’t know,” Gabumon admitted. Marisa gasped as she recalled what Sora told them last night: “A good friend of ours once told us that the digivices would be powerless in the hands of anyone else.” “Hey, guys?” she asked the other kids. “What is it, Marisa?” Sora asked. “I know this is going to sound kind of strange, but…do you think that maybe that’s not really Matt, that it could be…Cloakmon?” “What makes you think that?” Tai asked. “Well, Gabumon told us that he wasn’t able to digivolve earlier when Flymon attacked,” Marisa explained. “If that guy we’ve been with all day is really Matt, then why would Gabumon have problems digivolving?”
“Hmm...good point,” Tai muttered thoughtfully. Just then, Matt came back. “You guys ready to go?” he asked. Matt noticed that everyone was looking at him strangely. “What’s the matter, guys? Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked. “Well, there’s a little bit of a problem, Matt,” Tai explained. “If that’s your real name!” Yuuchi retorted suspiciously. “What is with you, Yuuchi?” Matt asked. “Of course, I’m Matt. What’s with the first degree here?” “If you’re really Matt, then how come Gabumon couldn’t digivolve, hmm?” Yuuchi asked as he crossed his arms. The question caught Matt a bit by surprise, but he didn’t let it show. “No big deal. Gabumon was probably just tired or hungry at the time,” he replied. “Ehhh, wrong! Guess again!” Yuuchi retorted.
“Gabumon couldn’t digivolve because only the Digi-Destined can use the digivices,” Tai explained as he approached Matt. “And you’re not one of the Digi-Destined...Cloakmon!” Tai’s accusation caught Matt completely off-guard, and it showed. Drops of sweat formed all over his face and he was apparently speechless. Tai took this opportunity to grab Matt’s digivice from the cleverly disguised Cloakmon. To everyone’s surprise, Cloakmon’s eyes glowed pale blue for a few seconds out of anger of being discovered. “Give that back!” Cloakmon yelled angrily. He made an attempt to get the digivice back, but Tai quickly jumped out of his way.
“Hey, Tai!” a familiar voice shouted. The kids, their Digimon, and Cloakmon looked up and saw the real Matt jump out of the bushes. “That’s not me, guys. That’s Cloakmon!” he shouted, pointing at his impostor. “Yeah, we figured that out when Gabumon couldn’t digivolve,” Sora explained. To the kids and Digimon’s surprise, Cloakmon charged at Matt and punched him in the face. The two Matt’s fell to the ground and started to roll around in a fury of fists. “All right, stop that!” Tai shouted. He ran towards the two Matt’s and separated them. “Umm...Tai...we got a little problem here,” Marni pointed out, looking back and forth at the two Matt’s. “Good going, Tai. Now we can’t tell which one’s Matt and which one’s Cloakmon!” Yuuchi retorted sarcastically.
“This is working out perfectly,” Cloakmon thought to himself. “They can’t tell the two of us apart. If I can keep this charade up, perhaps I can convince the Digi-Destined that I’m Matt.” “You guys, I’m the real Matt,” Cloakmon replied in Matt’s voice. “He’s lying! I’m Matt!” Matt yelled. The other kids and the Digimon stared at them with confused looks on their faces. “Aww, man! They might as well be twins,” Yuuchi muttered out loud. “I can’t tell them apart at all. Can you?” Zack asked Sora. “No way,” she replied slowly as she carefully watched the two Matt’s.
“There’s only a fifty percent chance of picking out the real Matt,” Izzy muttered thoughtfully. “We have to find a way to determine who’s who.” Marisa was also carefully watching the two Matt’s, hoping silently that Cloakmon would slip and accidentally expose himself. Suddenly, she gasped quickly. In the blink of an eye, she saw Cloakmon to her left. To her right was Matt, but there was a small blue glow radiating from his chest. Marisa didn’t recognize the shape within the glow, but as soon as she saw the blue glow, it disappeared, and Cloakmon returned to looking like Matt’s mirror twin.
“Marni?” Marisa whispered to her sister. “What’s up?” Marni asked in a whisper. “Did you just see that?” Marisa whispered. “See what?” Marni asked curiously. “You didn’t see what just happened?” Marisa asked, a bit surprised. “What are you two whispering about?” Sora asked as she and the other Digi-Destined kids, except for Matt, looked at the two sisters curiously. “Never mind that,” Marisa replied. “Tai, could I have Matt’s digivice?” “What for?” Tai asked. “I know which one of them is Matt,” Marisa quickly explained. “And how do you know that?” Yuuchi asked suspiciously.
“Just trust me on this, okay?” Marisa asked. “I don’t know about you guys, but if Marisa says that she knows who Matt is, I believe her,” Gabumon admitted. “Yeah, me, too,” Chamelamon added. Tai let out a slight groan before he opened his hand, which contained Matt’s digivice. “Okay, Marisa,” he agreed as he put the digivice in Marisa’s hand. “Here’s your chance.” Marisa took a deep breath before she left the other kids and the Digimon and slowly made her way toward the two Matt’s. “Marisa, you gotta believe me,” the Matt on her left pleaded as she stopped right in front of them. “Don’t listen to him! He’s Cloakmon!” the Matt to her right exclaimed.
Marisa looked at the Matt on her left for a moment, and then she looked at the Matt on her right. Finally, her violet eyes rested on the Matt on her left. “Way to go, Marisa,” he replied. “Now, can I have my digivice back?” To his surprise, Marisa replied, “The digivice didn’t belong to you in the first place.” She quickly put the digivice in the real Matt’s hand. Instantly, the digivice reacted by radiating a white glow. His impostor fell to his knees and covered his eyes from the brilliant white light. To the Digi-Destined kids’ surprise, Cloakmon returned to his true form.
“You lost, Cloakmon!” Matt yelled angrily at Cloakmon. “Give it up!” Cloakmon looked at Matt with sheer anger burning in his pale blue eyes. “I don’t give up so easily,” he muttered sinisterly. Suddenly, Cloakmon quickly stood up and made a run for it. “Come on, you guys! We gotta stop Cloakmon!” Tai shouted as he and the other Digi-Destined children, along with their Digimon, ran after Cloakmon. The cloaked Digimon got a good lead on the kids, but his luck ran out when he stopped at the edge of a cliff. Cloakmon turned around, but the twelve kids and their Digimon had him boxed in.
“It’s over for you, Cloakmon!” Tai yelled. There was an eerie silence that followed. Suddenly, Cloakmon abruptly started to laugh sinisterly, which was obviously scaring T.K., Kari, Mimi, and Marisa. “You’re obviously forgetting something I told you about myself,” he muttered out loud. Cloakmon turned around to face the Digi-Destined. They were shocked to see his eyes glowing pale blue. “I can transform into other Digimon as well!” Cloakmon yelled as a deep violet light engulfed his body. The twelve kids and their Digimon took a few steps back as Cloakmon’s body expanded up to ten times his size. He also sprouted a long tail and a pair of massive wings.
When the deep violet light faded away, the eight original Digi-Destined kids and their Digimon gasped out of shock. They recognized the huge black gargoyle-like Digimon that stood where Cloakmon once was. “What is that?” Zack asked fearfully. “No way!” Tai slowly exclaimed. “Cloakmon transformed into Devidramon!” Sora exclaimed. Devidramon bellowed out a loud roar as he started to flap his massive wings. The twelve kids and their Digimon ducked in order to avoid the powerful winds caused by Devidramon’s wings as he took off into the air and flew away.
“Aww, man! He got away!” Marni complained as she stood up, along with the others. “Don’t worry about it, Marni,” Marisa assured her sister. “I doubt that we’ve seen the last of Cloakmon.” “Marisa’s right,” Izzy admitted. “Armaggedamon is not going to give up until he succeeds in taking over the Digiworld.” “And there’s no way we’re gonna let him get away with that! Right, guys?” Tai asked. Everyone nodded in agreement. “Shouldn’t we keep moving before another Digimon attacks us?” Zack suggested. “That’s a good plan. I like that plan a lot,” Joe agreed without hesitation.
As the twelve kids and their Digimon headed back into the forest, Marisa and Chamelamon lagged behind the group. Marisa was thinking to herself about what happened earlier when a familiar voice asked, “Marisa?” She looked up at Matt, who was walking next to her, along with Gabumon. “Yeah, Matt?” Marisa asked. “Look, I don’t know how you pulled it off, but thanks a lot,” Matt admitted. “Sure, no problem,” Marisa muttered just loud enough for him to hear. “How did you figure it out, Marisa?” Matt asked curiously. “I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Marisa admitted as they continued walking through the forest...
Unknown to the Digi-Destined kids and their Digimon, they were being watched from a distance. Cloakmon was keeping an eye on them with a small black telescope as he stood on a branch high in a tall tree. Suddenly, a loud beep came from a black walkie-talkie attached to Cloakmon’s belt. He immediately picked it up and asked, “Yes, Armaggedamon?” “Did the trap work?” Armaggedamon asked. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work as planned,” Cloakmon reported. “WHAT?” Armaggedamon yelled angrily. “Somehow, they managed to figure out who I really was. But, I did discover something that may be of interest to you.”
Armaggedamon took in a deep breath, as though he was trying to calm himself down. “What did you find out?” he asked. “It appears that Marisa, the girl with the Chamelamon, has some sort of power that she’s not entirely aware of,” Cloakmon revealed. “My transformation was completely flawless, yet she managed to see through it somehow. With your permission, Armaggedamon, I would like to follow these children in order to confirm my suspicions about Marisa.” There were a few moments of silence that followed. “You have my permission, Cloakmon,” Armaggedamon finally agreed. “Keep me posted on your progress.”
“Of course, Armaggedamon,” Cloakmon replied before turning off the walkie-talkie and hooking it back on his belt. He picked up the telescope and focused it once again on the twelve kids and their Digimon, who were walking through the forest, with Tai in the lead. Cloakmon searched among the children until he found Marisa, who was talking to Matt in the back of the line. “There’s something special about that girl, and I won’t rest until I find out what it is,” Cloakmon thought to himself as he slowly brought the telescope down. He put the telescope away in a pouch connected to his belt before he climbed down the tree and left...
TO BE CONTINUED
Go on to Part 8
Go Back to Part 6
Go Back to the Digimon Fanfiction
Go Back to the Main Page
