“Besides, I’m not tired.” Just then, Matt let out a
long yawn. “Come on, Matt! You gotta get some sleep!
You know you can’t keep going like this!” Tsunomon
pleaded.

“All right, Tsunomon,” Matt reluctantly agreed. “We’ll
find a place to spend the night, okay?” “Okay!”
Tsunomon agreed as Matt continued walking down the
path, still carrying the little orange Digimon. They
eventually left the forest and entered a small
clearing. “That could be a good place to spend the
night,” Matt announced as he pointed at a building off
the side of the trail, blanketed by the thick fog.
Tsunomon squinted his eyes and recognized the building
as an old run-down church, with a large spooky
cemetery next to it. “What do you think, Tsunomon?”
Matt asked. “I don’t know about this, Matt. That place
looks kinda creepy,” Tsunomon admitted.

“You’re right about that, but where else can we go?”
Matt asked groggily. Tsunomon looked up at Matt’s eyes and could see how exhausted his human friend was.
“Well...I guess it’s better than sleeping outside,”
Tsunomon reluctantly agreed. “Okay, let’s go inside,”
Matt suggested with a quick yawn as he and Tsunomon
started to head towards the old church. They had not
even taken more than three steps when the two friends
heard a strange, eerie moan coming from somewhere in
the cemetery. “What was that?” Matt asked a bit
nervously. “I don’t know,” Tsunomon replied, trying
his best not to sound scared.

Suddenly, Matt and Tsunomon were startled to see
eighteen Bakemon pop up from behind the several stone
tombstones scattered about the cemetery. “Yup, this
place is definitely creepy!” Tsunomon shouted as Matt
tried to make a run for it. Unfortunately, he and
Tsunomon found themselves surrounded by the group of
Bakemon. “Ready, boys?” one of the Bakemon asked
sinisterly. “Let’s get them!” a second Bakemon shouted
as the eighteen Bakemon closed in on Matt and
Tsunomon. Tsunomon let out an angry little growl as he
jumped out of Matt’s arms. “Tsunomon digivolve
to...Gabumon.”

“Blue Blaster!” Gabumon shouted. The blast of blue
energy struck down a couple of the Bakemon, but it
didn’t stop the others from advancing towards them.
“Blue Blaster!” Gabumon shouted again, releasing
another blue blast at the group of Bakemon. “There’s
too many of them, Gabumon!” Matt shouted. Before the
Bakemon could attack Matt and Gabumon, they all heard a strange distant shriek. “Oh, no! It’s Bansheemon!” one of the Bakemon shouted nervously. “Let’s get outta here!” The eighteen Bakemon collided with each other as they all tried to fly away at the same time. “What could have scared those Bakemon so badly?” Matt asked uncertainly after all of the Bakemon left.

“That could be the reason why!” Gabumon gasped loudly
as he pointed at a glowing white figure in the
distance that was floating towards them. Matt looked
up and was surprised to see that the ghost-type
Digimon looked like a human. She was wearing a flowing
white dress that was tattered and torn around the
edges of the skirt and sleeves. Her long white hair
went down to her waist. As the Digimon came closer to
Matt and Gabumon, they noticed that her eyes were a
chilling ice blue. The Digimon also had a
nasty-looking expression on her face. Matt and Gabumon gasped as the Digimon turned her head and looked straight at them. They were about ready to run for it, like the Bakemon before them, when the Digimon
shouted, “Wait! Don’t go!”

Matt and Gabumon looked back at the ghost-type Digimon and noticed that the nasty expression that was on her face before was replaced with a gentler, more
concerned look. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to
frighten you,” the Digimon apologized. “I was just
trying to scare away those troublesome Bakemon.”
“Thanks a lot!” Gabumon admitted. “Who are you?” Matt asked uncertainly. “I am Bansheemon,” the ghost-type Digimon introduced herself. “You’re one of the Digi-Destined children, am I right?” “Yeah, I am,”
Matt answered reluctantly. “How did you know?”

“Everyone in the Digiworld knows of the legendary
Digi-Destined,” Bansheemon revealed. “You and your
friends have come here once before and defeated our
greatest enemies. Now, you’re back again to defeat
Armaggedamon. Tell me, what is your name?” Matt
hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t sure whether or not
he could trust Bansheemon, since he never heard of her
before. But then again, Bansheemon did save him and
Gabumon from the Bakemon. “My name’s Matt,” Matt
finally answered. “A pleasure to meet you, Matt,”
Bansheemon admitted. She looked into Matt’s blue eyes
and noticed how drained he looked. “You look very
tired, Matt. Would you like to come inside and get
some sleep?” Bansheemon offered. “I have plenty of
room inside the church, where I live.”

“All right,” Matt agreed, letting out another sleepy
yawn. “It’d be nice not to have to sleep on the ground
tonight.” “Follow me,” Bansheemon instructed as she
led Matt and Gabumon into the church. She led them
down the main sanctuary towards a hallway in back of
the church. As the threesome walked down the hall,
both Matt and Gabumon saw a door on their left that
was slightly open a crack. “What’s that room for?”
Gabumon asked as they passed it. “Oh, that’s just my
room,” Bansheemon explained. When they approached a
second door, Bansheemon opened it for Matt and
Gabumon. It was a small room with a bed in the middle
and a dresser against the wall. “If you’re hungry, the
kitchen is right across the hall from your bedroom.
Feel free to help yourselves to whatever you want,”
Bansheemon told Matt and Gabumon as she started to
leave the room.

“Thank you, Bansheemon,” Gabumon admitted. “Umm,
Bansheemon?” Matt asked as a question popped into his
head. She turned around to look at him. “Have you seen
any other kids besides me in the past couple of days?”
Matt asked curiously. “No, I’m afraid not, but if I do
see any of your friends, I’ll let them know that you
were here,” Bansheemon assured him. “Thanks,
Bansheemon,” Matt admitted with a look of gratitude on
his face. “I’ll leave you alone so you can get some
sleep,” Bansheemon continued as she left the small
bedroom. “Good night,” she whispered as she closed the
door behind her. As the ghost-type Digimon drifted
down the hall, she chuckled sinisterly to herself.
“What a foolish boy this one is,” Bansheemon muttered
to herself as she entered her room...

“Are you okay, Marisa?” Chamelamon asked her human
friend, who was walking a bit sluggishly. “I’m really
tired, Chamelamon. Can we please stop and rest for a
while?” Marisa asked. “Okay, no problem,” Chamelamon agreed. Marisa instantly dropped down to the ground and let out a deep sigh, leaning her back against a tree along the path they had been following.
Chamelamon slowly crawled into Marisa’s lap and let
out a quick yawn. “How much longer is it going to take
until we reach that abandoned church you told me
about?” Marisa asked curiously. “It’ll just take a few
more minutes, Marisa,” Chamelamon told her. “It’ll be
safer for us to sleep inside the church than out here
in the open.”

“I definitely agree with you about that,” Marisa
muttered nervously, looking around at the fog-filled
forest surrounding them. “Who knows what bad Digimon
are out there in the woods looking for us!” “Don’t
worry, Marisa. If any bad Digimon tries to hurt you,
they’re gonna have to go through me first!” Chamelamon
proclaimed. “You’re so brave, Chamelamon,” Marisa
admitted with a small smile as she hugged her Digimon.
“I wish I could be as brave as you.” “You’re pretty
brave yourself, Marisa,” Chamelamon told her.
“Remember when you stood up to Minotaurmon? That took a lot of guts to do that!”

“Who knows? Maybe I have the crest of Bravery!” Marisa remarked as she took out her tag and stared at the strange symbol on her forest green crest for a few
moments. “But then again, Bravery means the same thing
as Courage, and that’s Tai’s crest.” Marisa let out a
long frustrated sigh. “I wish I knew what this crest
meant! Then you’ll be able to digivolve to Ultimate,
Chamelamon.” “There’s no need to rush, Marisa,”
Chamelamon assured her human friend. “We’ll figure
this out together.” “I hope so, Chamelamon,” Marisa
murmured thoughtfully as she put her tag back
underneath her shirt. “You ready to go?”

“Uh-huh,” Chamelamon nodded as she got out of Marisa’s lap. Marisa stood up, stretched out her arms, and continued walking down the path, with Chamelamon
walking alongside her. A few minutes later, the two
friends approached a fork in the path. “Which way,
Chamelamon?” Marisa asked. “The church is to the
left,” Chamelamon replied. When they reached the turn
in the path, Marisa looked down and noticed some marks in the packed dirt. “Chamelamon, look!” Marisa
whispered excitedly as she bent down to take a closer
look. “They’re tracks! One of our friends must have
gone by here!” Chamelamon exclaimed. “Yeah, but who
knows how long these tracks have been here,” Marisa
muttered disappointingly.

“No way! These tracks are fresh!” Chamelamon revealed. “Whoever it was, they must have passed here a few hours ago, at least.” “Yeah, but who could it be?”
Marisa asked. “Someone who was wearing boots,”
Chamelamon reported as she carefully examined the
tracks. “Let’s see...which one of our friends wears
boots?” Marisa asked herself as she tried to recall
who wore boots. She gasped slightly when she
remembered one boy in particular who was wearing boots the last time she saw him. “Matt wears boots!” Marisa exclaimed happily, her eyes lighting up and her cheeks turning a slight shade of red at the thought of
running into him.

“Oh, great! Anyone but Matt!” Chamelamon thought
angrily to herself as she looked up at Marisa. “I
don’t see why Marisa likes that guy! Matt’s been such
a jerk to her!” “Umm...Marisa? Are you sure Matt’s the
only one who wears boots?” Chamelamon asked out loud, bringing Marisa back to reality. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Mimi wears boots, too,” Marisa muttered a bit
disappointingly. “So, it could be Mimi,” Chamelamon
replied cheerfully. “Yeah, I guess,” Marisa muttered
as she stood up. “Let’s see if we can find whoever it
is.” “Yeah, let’s go!” Chamelamon added as she and
Marisa turned left at the fork and continued walking
down the path.

They haven’t gone far down the path when Marisa’s
digivice went off. “Chamelamon, look! Whoever it is
must be nearby!” Marisa whispered excitedly as she
took the digivice off of her shorts. “Well, what are
we waiting for?” Chamelamon asked. The two friends ran down the path, following the directions from Marisa’s
digivice. Marisa and Chamelamon suddenly stopped when they noticed the old church with the cemetery next to it. “According to this, our friends are inside that
church!” Marisa explained as she checked her digivice.
“Let’s go inside,” Chamelamon suggested as she started
to walk to the church. She turned around and realized
that Marisa wasn’t following her. She was still standing on the trail, staring at the creepy fog-filled cemetery.

“Marisa, what’s wrong?” Chamelamon asked. “N-nothing, Chamelamon,” Marisa stuttered nervously. “It’s just...it’s just that cemeteries gives me the creeps!”
“It’s okay, Marisa,” Chamelamon tried to convince her
as she rejoined Marisa on the trail. “There’s nothing
to be afraid of.” Just then, Marisa and Chamelamon
heard a couple of strange voices coming closer to
them. They looked up the trail and gasped when they
recognized the two ghost-type Digimon floating down
the trail towards them. “Bakemon!” Marisa gasped.
“Quick, behind here!” Chamelamon whispered quickly as
she ran behind a large tree on the side of the trail.
Marisa quickly joined her Digimon behind the tree
before the Bakemon could see them.

The two Digimon stopped in front of the very tree that
Marisa and Chamelamon were hiding behind. “It was MY acting that fooled the kid in the first place,” the
first Bakemon bragged loudly. He cleared his throat
for a moment and shouted out in a convincing
frightened voice, “ ‘Oh, no! It’s Bansheemon! Let’s
get outta here!’ ” The Bakemon chuckled a little bit
out of pride. “Don’t forget! Your so-called acting is
just a small part of Bansheemon’s plan,” the other
Bakemon reminded him. “When sunrise comes around, that boy and his Gabumon will be shipped off to Lord
Armaggedamon!” The two Bakemon began to laugh evilly.

“Oh, no!” Marisa gasped a bit too loudly. “Did you
hear that?” the first Bakemon asked as he stopped
laughing and looked around. Marisa quickly covered her
mouth with her hands, praying silently that the
Bakemon wouldn’t find her and Chamelamon. “It was
probably just the wind. Nothing to worry about,” the
other Bakemon told him. “Come on, we better get back
to our posts before Bansheemon lets us have it!” “All
right,” the first Bakemon agreed as they continued
floating down the trail. As soon as the two Bakemon
left Marisa and Chamelamon’s sight, Marisa brought her
hands down and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Chamelamon admitted. “We
gotta let Matt and Gabumon know what’s going on,”
Marisa admitted as she stood up. As the two friends
headed to the church, Marisa asked her Digimon, “Do
you know anything about Bansheemon?” “Not much,”
Chamelamon admitted. “She’s an Ultimate ghost-type
Digimon. Bansheemon’s attack is Wailing Shriek. She
lets out a terrible scream that can shatter glass and
even bend steel!” Marisa and Chamelamon stopped at the tall, heavy wooden double-doors of the church. Marisa took in a deep breath before she slowly pushed one of the doors open a little bit, revealing the main
sanctuary with its two rows of long wooden benches.

As Marisa continued to push the door, the rusted
antique hinges suddenly let out a loud squeaky moan.
Marisa gasped when she heard the loud moan and quickly let go of the door. “Do you think anyone heard that?” she asked nervously. “I don’t know,” Chamelamon whispered. Just then, Marisa and Chamelamon heard a strange noise coming from a hallway in back of the sanctuary. “Then again, maybe someone did hear us!” Chamelamon admitted nervously. The two girls quickly ran to the bench that was closest to the door. They had just ducked down behind it when they saw a glowing white figure floating down the aisle in between the two rows of benches. “It’s Bansheemon!” Chamelamon whispered softly so that Bansheemon couldn’t hear her.

Marisa nodded silently as she carefully peeked over
the top of the bench to see what Bansheemon was doing.
She watched as the ghost-type Digimon floated toward
the open door. Bansheemon studied the open door for a
moment before she closed it. “I ought to get this old
thing fixed,” Bansheemon muttered to herself as she
turned around and headed back to the aisle. As
Bansheemon floated down the aisle, Marisa and
Chamelamon slowly crawled down the narrow space
between the benches toward the aisle. Marisa slowly
stuck her head out in the aisle and watched as
Bansheemon drifted into the hallway in the back of the
church. “Matt and Gabumon must be back there
somewhere,” Marisa whispered to Chamelamon as they
stood up in the aisle.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Chamelamon
whispered. Marisa nervously nodded in approval as she
and Chamelamon gradually walked to the entrance of the
back hall. They entered the hall just in time to see
Bansheemon enter the first room on the left. “Be very
quiet, Chamelamon,” Marisa whispered softly as she and
her Digimon slowly crept past Bansheemon’s room. As
soon as they were a good distance away from
Bansheemon’s room, Marisa spotted two doors across the hall from each other. “Which one could they be in?”
Chamelamon asked. “Let’s try this one,” Marisa
suggested, pointing at the door to the left. She
grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door.
Marisa gasped slightly when she noticed a small figure
lying on the bed in the dark bedroom.

“Who’s that?” Chamelamon asked curiously. Marisa
squinted her eyes so she could see the figure better.
“It looks like...I think it’s Gabumon!” Marisa
whispered. The two girls didn’t notice a dark figure
slowly approaching them from behind. “But, if
Gabumon’s in there, then where’s Matt?” Chamelamon
asked. “I don’t know,” Marisa whispered. Suddenly, the
two friends noticed a long dark shadow coming from
someone standing behind them. Marisa froze still like
a statue, too afraid to move or speak. Slowly but
surely, Marisa turned around to face the figure
standing behind her. She gasped loudly out of surprise
when she saw who it was.

“Matt!” Marisa exclaimed in a hushed voice, trying her
best to hide her excitement. “Marisa? Chamelamon?”
Matt asked, a bit startled to see the pig-tailed girl
and her Digimon standing right in front of him in the
middle of the night. Matt was even more surprised when
Marisa suddenly embraced him. “I can’t believe this!”
Marisa gushed out in a hushed whisper. “I was getting
worried that I wouldn’t find anyone! I’m so glad that
I found you!” “Yeah, umm...same here,” Matt stuttered
a bit nervously. Just then, Marisa realized what she
was doing at that very moment. “Oh, I’m so sorry,
Matt,” Marisa quickly apologized as she let go of
Matt, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment. “I’m
just so happy that I finally found someone.”

“Yeah, you kinda made that obvious,” Matt remarked.
“What’s going on, Matt?” Gabumon asked drowsily as he slowly entered the hallway. He stopped and gasped out of surprise when he saw Marisa and Chamelamon standing in the hallway with Matt. “Marisa! Chamelamon! When did you two get here?” Gabumon asked. “Just a few minutes ago, Gabumon,” Marisa replied. “Yeah, but now that you’re awake, let’s get outta here,” Chamelamon suggested. “What for?” Matt asked curiously. “Bansheemon said it was all right with her to spend the night here.” Marisa looked down at the floor, a
bit fearful to tell Matt the truth. “Umm...Matt? There’s something you need to know about Bansheemon,”
Marisa eventually got out. “What do you mean?” Matt
asked curiously.

“Well, I don’t know how to tell you this, Matt,
but...” Marisa trailed off. “But what?” Matt prodded.
“Bansheemon works for Armaggedamon!” Marisa stuttered quickly. Both Matt and Gabumon gasped when they heard this news. “Are you sure?” Gabumon asked. “Uh-huh. We overheard a couple of Bakemon talking outside,” Chamelamon explained. “They were talking about how Bansheemon tricked you into thinking that she was a good Digimon, but the truth is, it was just a trap so
she could ship you guys off to Armaggedamon in the
morning!” “I don’t believe this,” Matt muttered out
loud. “I’m sure it’s kinda hard to believe after what
you’ve been through,” Marisa admitted.

“Marisa, what makes you think that I’m the one being
tricked here?” Matt asked. “What do you mean, Matt?”
Marisa asked. “Maybe those Bakemon knew you were there the whole time and made up all that stuff about
Bansheemon,” Matt revealed, getting a little impatient
with Marisa. “But why would they do something like
that?” Marisa asked curiously. “Maybe they wanted
Bansheemon to look like the bad Digimon, okay?” Matt
retorted a bit rudely, staring at the floor the whole
time. “Yeah, right,” Chamelamon retorted. “Bakemon
aren’t THAT smart!” “That’s a lot of maybes, Matt,”
Marisa admitted. “Are you sure about this? Why don’t
you come with us and—” “Will you just stop it with all
these lies, Marisa?” Matt interrupted with anger in
his voice.

Marisa was obviously very hurt by Matt’s angry remark.
She could feel tears filling up her eyes and slowly
running down her face. “Why don’t you trust me, Matt?”
Marisa demanded, her voice quivering from her crying.
Matt looked up and immediately regretted what he said
earlier when he saw Marisa’s tear-stained face.
“Marisa, I...” Matt found himself at a loss for words.
He wasn’t used to dealing with such a sensitive person
before. Matt had no problem dealing with T.K.’s
emotional outbursts, since T.K. was his little brother
and he was used to it. Matt also had no problem with
Sora that one time she broke down and bawled her eyes
out. But Sora was a different matter. Matt knew that
he wasn’t the reason that Sora became upset that day.

Marisa was watching Matt the whole time, who was
staring out into empty space for some reason, with a
strange look in his eyes. “Why doesn’t he answer me?”
Marisa thought angrily to herself. Not being able to
take it anymore, Marisa turned around and ran down the
hallway back toward the main sanctuary of the church,
with tears still running down her cheeks. “Marisa,
come back!” Chamelamon shouted, which quickly brought Matt back to reality. He looked up and was surprised to see Marisa leaving the hallway, with Chamelamon running after her. “Gabumon, what happened?” Matt asked uncertainly. “Marisa got upset that you wouldn’t answer her and left,” Gabumon replied. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Matt whispered sincerely.

“I know you didn’t mean it, Matt, but I don’t think
I’m the one you should be telling that to,” Gabumon
told his human friend. Matt looked at his Digimon and
nodded in approval. “You’re right, Gabumon,” he
admitted. “Let’s go find Marisa.” As the two boys
headed down the hallway, Matt noticed that
Bansheemon’s door was open a crack. As they walked
past the door, both Matt and Gabumon clearly heard
Bansheemon say, “Of course, Lord Armaggedamon.”
Becoming suspicious, Matt and Gabumon crept up to the
door and peeked in through the crack. Bansheemon was
sitting on a chair, talking into a black
walkie-talkie, just like the ones they had seen some
of Armaggedamon’s hench-mon use before.

“My plan worked so perfectly, Lord Armaggedamon!
Thanks to the Bakemon, Matt thinks that I’m a good
Digimon! It convinced him very easily!” Bansheemon
bragged. “Is he suspicious of anything?” Armaggedamon
asked through the walkie-talkie. “No, not at all, sir!
He’s sleeping in the other room at this very moment,”
Bansheemon answered. “Excellent work, Bansheemon. I
knew I could rely on you,” Armaggedamon admitted.
“Now, explain to me how you plan to bring this ‘Matt’
to me.” “It’s actually quite simple, Lord Armaggedamon. Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake Matt up and tell him that one of his friends has arrived,” Bansheemon explained. “I’ll lead him and the Gabumon into the sanctuary, where the Bakemon will be waiting for us in ambush. When I give the signal, the Bakemon will come out of hiding and tie them up faster than you can say ‘Armaggedamon!’ ”

“Did you hear that?” Matt whispered as he and Gabumon took a few steps back from the door. “Marisa was right about Bansheemon the whole time!” Gabumon gasped. “Yeah, and I just called her a liar right to her
face,” Matt muttered out loud. “Come on, Matt. If we
hurry, we might catch up to them,” Gabumon suggested.
“Okay, Gabumon,” Matt replied as they entered the
sanctuary. To their surprise, Matt and Gabumon heard
soft sobbing coming from up ahead. The two boys looked up and gasped slightly when they saw Marisa sitting on the front bench with her head bent down. “It’s okay, Marisa. Please stop crying,” Chamelamon whispered comfortingly to her friend.

Matt felt even more guilt-ridden than before. He
shamefully stared down at the floor. “Come on, Matt.
She’s right over there,” Gabumon whispered, pointing
at Marisa. “I...I can’t,” Matt whispered. “Why not?”
Gabumon asked. “I just can’t, Gabumon,” Matt replied
in a low whisper, shaking his head. “Yes, you can, and
you will,” Gabumon replied as he grabbed Matt by the
arm and dragged him down the aisle to where Marisa and Chamelamon were sitting. Marisa looked up for a moment when she heard Matt and Gabumon coming, but she quickly turned around and lowered her head down again.

“What do you want?” Chamelamon asked rudely as Matt
and Gabumon stopped next to her and Marisa. “Matt has
something he wants to say. Right, Matt?” Gabumon asked as he gently nudged Matt in the ribs. “Umm...right,” Matt replied. He looked over at Marisa, who was staring down at her lap. “Marisa, I’m really sorry about yelling at you like that,” Matt apologized. “I
never meant to hurt your feelings.” Matt noticed that
Marisa was still looking down at her lap. “Look, I’ll
understand if you don’t feel like talking to me at all, after the way I treated you,” Matt admitted. “Do you think that maybe we can put this aside and start over?”

“Why should she, Matt?” Chamelamon asked angrily.
“Marisa was happy to see you until you yelled at her and hurt her feelings! I would be very surprised if she forgave you at all!” “Chamelamon, calm down,” Marisa whispered. “I can speak for myself, okay?” Chamelamon reluctantly kept quiet as Marisa wiped her eyes before she lifted her head up and looked at Matt.
“Look, I understand why you felt you had to defend
Bansheemon, but you didn’t have to be so rude about it,” Marisa told him. “I was just telling you what I heard those Bakemon say.” “I know, Marisa. I’m sorry,” Matt whispered solemnly.

Marisa was silent for a few moments, looking at Matt
the whole time. “It’s okay, Matt,” she finally responded, which caught Matt, Gabumon, and Chamelamon by surprise. “Really?” Matt asked uncertainly. Marisa slowly nodded her head. “I’m kinda surprised,” Matt openly admitted. “I mean, you were really upset and angry at me. The truth is, I wasn’t expecting to see you here at all, Marisa. At the rate you were going, I thought that you would be long gone by now!” “Yeah, I know,” Marisa whispered. “So...why did you change your mind?” Matt asked curiously.

“Well, I was about ready to head out of the door when
I stopped,” Marisa explained. “Why did you stop?”
Gabumon asked. “I realized that even though Matt
didn’t believe me about Bansheemon, I couldn’t leave
him here by himself,” Marisa replied. “Even though
we’re obviously very different from each other, Matt,
we’re both in the Digiworld for the same reason: to
find and defeat Armaggedamon. We both know that we
can’t do that on our own.” “Aww, man! I feel like such
a jerk!” Matt thought to himself. “Marisa has been a
much better friend to me than I’ve ever been to her! I
don’t deserve to be her friend.”

“Matt, are you okay?” Marisa asked, which brought Matt back to reality. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Matt quickly
stuttered. “So, what do we do now?” Marisa asked.
“First of all, we’re getting out of here,” Matt announced. “There’s another reason why I had to find you. You were right all along about Bansheemon, Marisa. Gabumon and I overheard her talking to Armaggedamon on one of those walkie-talkies!” Marisa and Chamelamon gasped when they heard this news. “You ready, Marisa?” Matt asked. “Yeah, let’s get outta here,” Marisa replied as she and Chamelamon got off of the bench.

“Leaving so soon, Matt?” Bansheemon asked. Matt,
Marisa, and their Digimon turned around and gasped
when they saw the ghost-type Digimon floating at the
entrance to the back hall. “Bansheemon!” Marisa and
Chamelamon gasped simultaneously. “You lied to me,
Bansheemon!” Matt shouted angrily. “What did you
expect, Matt? I’m sure you know by now that I’m not on
your side after all,” Bansheemon revealed. She glanced
over at Marisa and smirked a little bit. “Looks like Lord Armaggedamon will be getting an unexpected bonus,” Bansheemon continued. “Two Digi-Destined for the price of one!”

“I don’t think so, you old hag!” Chamelamon shouted
boldly as she joined Gabumon in the aisle. “What did
you call me?” Bansheemon asked angrily, the expression
on her face changing back to the nasty hate-filled
expression that Matt remembered seeing earlier. “I’ll
show you, you little Digi-pest! Wailing Shriek!” Bansheemon shouted before she let out a long, ear-splitting scream. Matt, Marisa, Gabumon, and
Chamelamon quickly covered up their ears, but they
could still hear Bansheemon’s horrible scream. “Come
on, Gabumon! We gotta stop her!” Chamelamon managed to shout over Bansheemon’s scream. “You’re right, Chamelamon!” Gabumon shouted. “Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!” “Chamelamon digivolve to...Dragomon!”

“Howling Blaster!” Garurumon shouted. “Inferno Blast!”
Dragomon shouted. The two attacks struck Bansheemon
head-on, knocking her down to the floor. “All right!”
Matt shouted. “Way to go!” Marisa cheered. “You
foolish children! This is far from over!” Bansheemon
shouted angrily as she got back up. “Stay back, you
two!” Garurumon growled in warning to Matt and Marisa. “Wailing Shriek!” Bansheemon shouted. She let out an even louder deafening screech, but this time, it was
followed by a powerful roaring wind that swirled around the room like a mini-tornado, shattering the church’s glass windows and knocking down some of the benches. Dragomon was lifted up by the powerful wind, but she used her massive wings to help her steer her way through it.

The powerful wind also lifted Matt up and threw him
against the front wall of the sanctuary. “Matt! Are
you okay?” Marisa shouted. Matt let out a small moan
as he slowly sat up. When he looked up, Matt gasped
loudly out of shock. He saw the benches behind Marisa
starting to topple like a row of dominoes. Unfortunately, there was so much noise from Bansheemon’s attack that Matt couldn’t hear the benches falling, and he knew that meant Marisa couldn’t hear them either. If Matt didn’t do something fast, the benches were going to crush Marisa! “MARISA! LOOK OUT!” Matt yelled at the top of his lungs. Marisa heard him, but the warning came too late. She let out a terrified scream as the benches came crashing down, causing a giant cloud of dust to rise up from the floor.

“Marisa!” Matt shouted as he quickly got up and ran
toward the dust cloud. He coughed a few times from the
dust as he entered the swirling cloud to try and find
Marisa. As the dust started to clear away, Matt could
see Marisa lying on the ground. “Marisa! Are you okay?” Matt asked as he knelt down beside her. “Matt, my leg is caught!” Marisa cried out. Matt looked up and gasped when he saw that the bench that Marisa was originally sitting on had landed on top of her left ankle. “Don’t worry, Marisa. I’ll get you out of this,” Matt assured the frightened girl as he approached the bench, grabbed it with both hands, and tried his best to lift it up on his own.
Unfortunately, the bench was too heavy for Matt to even lift up an inch, no matter how hard he tried.

To his surprise, Matt felt the bench being lifted up, as though it had mysteriously become lighter. Matt looked up and realized that Dragomon had landed next to him and was lifting the bench off of Marisa with very little effort. As Dragomon tossed the bench aside, Matt once again knelt down beside Marisa. “How’s your leg, Marisa?” he asked curiously. “It hurts really bad, Matt,” Marisa whispered softly, with tears welling up in her eyes from the pain. Matt looked at her leg and gasped when he saw the large red circle covering her ankle and part of her leg. He gently felt around the inflamed area, silently hoping that Marisa’s ankle wasn’t broken. Marisa winced a bit when Matt first touched her sore ankle.

“Doesn’t feel like anything’s broken,” Matt revealed as he let go of Marisa’s leg. “Can you get up at all, Marisa?” Dragomon asked. Marisa tried to stand up on
her own, but when she put some weight on her sore ankle; a huge shock of pain went up her leg and she slumped down to her knees. “No, I can’t, Dragomon,” Marisa whispered. Dragomon looked up at Garurumon, who was fighting off Bansheemon as best as he could, but it was obvious that he was struggling. “Marisa needs
my help, but so does Garurumon,” Dragomon thought. She looked back at Marisa and was surprised to see that
Matt was helping her get up. “Take it easy, Marisa.
Try not to put any weight on that ankle,” Matt instructed as he allowed Marisa to lean on him for support.

Although she didn’t want to abandon Marisa, Dragomon
knew in her heart what the right choice was. “Matt, I
want you to get Marisa out of here!” Dragomon announced. Both Matt and Marisa gasped out of
surprise. “Are you sure, Dragomon?” Marisa asked.
“Yes, I’m sure. Garurumon needs my help,” Dragomon
replied, pointing at the continuing battle behind the two children. Matt and Marisa turned around and realized that Dragomon was right. “You should go help Garurumon,” Marisa admitted. Dragomon slowly nodded as she flew up in the air. “I’m trusting you to take care
of her, Matt,” Dragomon added before she flew over the
two children’s heads towards the battle between
Garurumon and Bansheemon.

“Come on, Marisa,” Matt shouted as he led Marisa to
the doors, which had been blown wide open by
Bansheemon’s attack. The two children slowly made
their way out of the church into the dark, fog-filled
cemetery. Matt wanted to go much faster, but he knew
they couldn’t because of Marisa’s injury. “Matt, maybe
you should just go on without me,” Marisa suggested,
which caught Matt by surprise. “What?” Matt asked.
“You should keep going without me. I’m just slowing
you down,” Marisa explained. “No way, Marisa! I’m not
leaving you!” Matt shouted with determination in his
voice.

Just then, there was a terrible crash coming from the
church behind them. Matt reacted quickly by pulling
Marisa behind a large tombstone in the middle of the
cemetery. “What’s going on, Matt?” Marisa whispered as Matt peeked over the side of the tombstone. He gasped slightly when he saw both Garurumon and Dragomon sprawled out on the ground unconscious, with
Bansheemon floating above the defeated Digimon. “It
doesn’t look good, Marisa,” Matt whispered. “You
children might as well come out of hiding!” Bansheemon
shouted as she started to search around the cemetery.
“Your Digimon have been defeated! You have no choice
but to turn yourselves over to Lord Armaggedamon!”

Matt and Marisa stayed perfectly still, staying as quiet as they could, but unfortunately, it didn’t help them. The two children gasped when they saw Bansheemon floating above their heads. She let out a sinister chuckle upon finding the two children. Matt quickly stood up and glared at her in hate, positioning himself between Bansheemon and Marisa. “Do you really think you can fight me without your puny Digimon?” Bansheemon asked with an amused look on her face. “I’m not going to let you hurt my friend anymore, Bansheemon!” Matt shouted with anger in his voice. While this was going on, Garurumon was starting to gain power from Matt’s crest of Friendship. He rose to his feet and used the energy coming from Matt to digivolve. “Garurumon digivolve to...Were-Garurumon!” Garurumon’s digivolving quickly caught Bansheemon’s attention.

“It’s time to end this, Bansheemon! Wolf Claw!”
Were-Garurumon shouted as he formed his paws into a
fist and let out an ice blast at Bansheemon. She was
caught totally by surprise, and wasn’t able to guard
against the attack. Bansheemon let out a pain-filled
scream as she broke up into thousands of tiny black
pieces, which disintegrated soon afterwards. A
walkie-talkie dropped from her hand and onto the
ground, which quickly disintegrated. Were-Garurumon
quickly ran over to Dragomon, who was just starting to
come out of it. “You need any help, Dragomon?”
Were-Garurumon asked. “No thanks, Were-Garurumon,” Dragomon replied as she slowly got to her feet. “What about Marisa? Is she okay?” “I’m just fine, Dragomon,” Marisa replied with a small smile...

“Here ya go, Marisa,” Chamelamon announced as she
dropped some thick yellow-green stems from her mouth
on the ground in front of where Marisa was sitting.
“You just snap the stems open and rub the sap from
them on your bruise. That’ll help it heal,” Chamelamon
explained. Marisa nodded as she picked up one of the
stems and snapped it open. She took out the clear
gel-like sap with her finger and smeared it over the
red mark on her ankle. “It’s starting to feel better already!” Marisa admitted with a small smile. “That’s
good,” Chamelamon confessed. Marisa looked up at Matt, who was leaning against a nearby tombstone with
Tsunomon in one arm. “Matt, I don’t think I could ever
thank you enough for helping me out tonight,” she
admitted.

“Thanks, but I don’t deserve it,” Matt mumbled just
loud enough for Marisa to hear. “What are you talking
about?” Marisa asked curiously. “Marisa, don’t you
see? It’s my fault that you got hurt!” Matt blurted
out. “What do you mean it’s your fault?” Marisa asked.
“Yeah, Matt. It wasn’t your fault,” Tsunomon added.
“Yes, it is,” Matt argued. “If I believed Marisa about
Bansheemon in the first place, none of this would have
happened!” “Is that what you think, Matt?” Marisa
asked curiously. Matt slowly nodded his head. “Matt,
it’s not your fault. You’re not the one who knocked
down all those benches on me. That was Bansheemon. You saved my life tonight, Matt. Honestly, I couldn’t ask
for a better friend than you.”

Matt found himself blushing a little bit from Marisa’s
comment. “Thanks, Marisa,” Matt replied as he looked
up at her. Marisa smiled a bit in return before she
looked down and continued rubbing the gel-like sap
onto her sore ankle. “Marisa’s so different from the
other girls,” Matt thought to himself. “She’s kind and
selfless, like Sora, and she’s also sensitive and honest, like Mimi. And Marisa’s definitely not like her sister, Marni! Guess if I want this friendship to work out, I’ll have to take things easier with Marisa.” “Matt, are you ready to go?” Marisa asked, bringing him back to reality. “I’m ready if you are,” Matt replied as he stood up straight. “Do you need any help, Marisa?” he asked as he put Tsunomon down on the ground.

“I don’t think I do,” Marisa replied as she used a nearby tombstone to help her get up. “Are you sure?” Tsunomon asked. “Yeah, I think so,” Marisa slowly replied as she tried to take a few steps. Unfortunately, Marisa tripped due to a shock of pain from her ankle. She would have fell to the ground if Matt didn’t catch her. “Then again, I guess I do need some help,” Marisa admitted with a nervous giggle. Matt smiled a bit to himself as he helped Marisa stand up. “We should get outta here before the Bakemon get here and find out what happened,” Matt remarked as he looked back at the sun, which was barely peeking over the horizon. “Good idea,” Marisa admitted as they slowly made their way out of the cemetery, followed by Chamelamon and Tsunomon...

TO BE CONTINUED