Welcome to the Digiworld, Junpuu!

by Cybra

A/N: If you haven't read my story Life Before the Digiworld, GO READ IT!!! This story will make little or no sense if you haven't. Junpuu wasn't properly described in that fanfic, so I shall do so in here. Ages still based off of what I've read or assumed. However, I have now learned that Izzy and Mimi are 10 years-old; Joe is 12; Matt, Tai, and Sora are 11; TK and Kari are 7 (thanks, Gomamon96!). Oh, and another thing, this may not be an actual adventure, it'll most likely turn out to be just an introduction for a new character before things heat up in the future. Sort of like the before mentioned fanfic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters or any of the characters from that show. I DO own Blackwidowmon, Junpuu, and all the other strange new things in here so NYAH! However, I have "borrowed" Japanese names from various anime shows or mangas (including my sister's attempts at manga). See if you can find them! Please send your scary lawyers away for I have nothing you would find of value. The city where I live is so lame that the only Digimon stuff I could get is a bunch of cards so if that's what you're after, you're "Sorry, Out of Luck".

Junpuu Hino was somebody you never forgot. The girl was almost Matt's height with long, chestnut-brown hair that went down to her shoulder blades. Her turquoise eyes always seemed to be laughing at some private joke. She was only 10 years old, but she looked about 12. She was on the skinny side and her skin was a golden tan.

The girl watched as one of her best friends, if not her BEST friend, took off into the sky with 7 other kids and 8 weird creatures. They were floating inside a giant column of rainbow light which stretched to the strange land in the sky. She hadn't gotten the chance to wish him good luck. What scared her even more was that she might never see him again. Junpuu could only watch as the 16 members of the group disappeared into the sky.

"I'm too late," she whispered to herself. Tears filled her eyes.

Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi had been in Miss Naru's class with her only a few weeks before. The pair hadn't become instant friends or any sort of nonsense like that. She just wanted to draw and do her assignments. Izzy had wanted to just type away at his computer and do his assignments. Both of them had hardly said a word to each other than asking the occasional question to each other. However, those questions only had something to do with school work.

So what had brought those two together? Seiya Fukachi, the son of the principal, had managed to corner Izzy when he had been walking home from school. Junpuu had forgotten one of her books and was heading back to school when she heard Izzy cry out in pain. Seiya had just shoved him against the wall of a building. Junpuu had foolishly tried to take him on, but ended up getting in trouble herself. Seiya had been ready to pound those two flat when Izzy and her, simultaneously, kicked him in the left shin. The bully had released just long enough for them to get away.

After that, the pair had become mostly joined at the hip at school. They didn't live near each other or they would've been joined at the hip in other places. Sometimes Junpuu would go over to Izzy's home to work on homework, study, or just see what he was up to, but never the other way around. Junpuu's parents had adamantly refused to allow her to bring a boy into her room for some strange reason. Izzy hadn't been offended, but Junpuu felt embarrassed.

Now, he was going to another world. Junpuu knew that he had to go, but it still wasn't fair. Why him? Why, out of all the children in the world, did it have to be Izzy?! She had seen the battle with VenomMyotismon and saw the purple beam come out of the thing that Izzy wore around his neck along with the other beams from the other weird necklaces. She had found it slightly humorous that Izzy's had wrapped itself around the monster's neck.

"Come back soon, Izzy. Please..." she begged quietly.

It had been a little over 2 weeks in the Digital World since Cybra had left. Blackwidowmon still threatened both Earth and Digiworld. Kari woke up early to find Izzy still on watch.

The rotation had been this: Tai from 7-9:30, Matt from 9:30-12, Joe from 12-2:30, Sora from 2:30-5, and then Izzy would finish up the night. Last night it had been the same times, but in this order: Matt, Joe, Sora, Izzy, and Tai. They changed the schedule around so everyone had the same amount of sleep a week. Plus, it would be fair.

Izzy poked the campfire with a stick. Tentomon had left to see if he could find something to eat for breakfast. The faithful Digimon had been reluctant to leave his human partner alone at first, but had given in to hunger pains. That and Izzy looked like he wanted to be alone. The insect-like Digimon knew about Izzy's secret now, but Izzy didn't know that. Tentomon sensed that Izzy was still working out everything that had happened. If something happened, Izzy would awaken the others and shout for Tentomon. He had promised.

Izzy sighed. He saw Kari get up out of the corner of his eye and walk over towards him. Izzy wasn't much older than she was so he didn't call her "Squirt" or any kiddie names like that. That would've been treason. Instead, he silently acknowledged her as she sat down beside him.

"Where's Tentomon?" she asked.

"Foraging for breakfast," he answered laconically.

Silence reigned. The pair had nothing really in common to talk to each other about. They were both close to the same age, only 3 years apart, but it seemed as though they were decades apart in age. Kari finally put what she was thinking into words.

"Izzy?"

"Hm?"

"How come you never talk about your problems with anybody? You always seem a little depressed if you ask me."

Izzy didn't hesitate as he came up with a quick lie.

"I really miss being home, but don't want to bother anybody with it. You guys all miss home, too."

In fact, Izzy liked the Digiworld a lot more than the real world. Here, being adopted and all his other problems didn't really matter. At home, his problems were everywhere. The Digiworld was somewhere that Izzy felt at least like he was needed. He could just forget his problems and try to figure out everything in this strange world. Still, Izzy knew, deep down inside, that he was just running away from his problems.

Kari put her hands around her knees. "That's true, but if you miss being home, how come you get so involved in your work?"

"I...just like trying to figure out this place," he offered lamely.

Kari's eyes showed that she wanted a REAL answer. Izzy looked away, acting like he might have heard something suspicious. Kari opened her mouth to ask another question, but shut it before she did.

If Izzy had asked her who put her up to this, she would have had to say Tai. Tai had noticed, when Izzy had thought nobody had, that he'd become far more distant than normal after their trip home. He'd answer questions scientifically, like normal, but didn't offer up anything else in conversation. Izzy had never been much of a socialite anyway, but he still would talk with the others on occasion.

Still, Kari had volunteered to be the one to talk with him. She'd told Tai that since she was a bit better at talking to people than him that it might work better, but had also wanted to know what was wrong herself. However, this plan wasn't working. Izzy was as distant as what was now becoming normal. He needed someone he could confide in...but who?

One thing that nobody knew on either Earth or Digiworld was that holes between both worlds were opening up all over the place. However, all of these portals weren't stable for very long. That and they constantly jumped around. It was about a minute after the group had left. Junpuu kicked a stray rock, a piece of debris from the battle.

"This bites," she grumbled.

Much to her total shock, the ground beneath her seemed to swirl. Junpuu looked down with extreme interest. She shifted the backpack on her back a little bit. She had gotten into the habit of carrying a backpack from hanging around Izzy so much. While he kept a laptop, a cell phone, and a digital camera in his at all times, she kept at least 5 notebooks, 25 pencils, a pencil sharpener, and plenty of erasers.

"What in the world...?"

Her feet began to sink into the ground. Junpuu desperately tried to get away, but to no avail. She was being slowly sucked in!

"Help! Somebody!" she called out in fear. Nobody answered her cries.

She was now sucked in up to her waist. She continued to shriek and scream, hoping someone would see or hear her. The ground continued to swallow her whole. Quickly, only her head and neck rose about the swirling patch of ground.

"HELP ME!!!"

With those final words, Junpuu's head sank into the ground. Nobody had come to her rescue.

It was now about 3 weeks since Cybra had gone off on the mission that Gennai had sent her on. TK and Kari were walking side by side, Gatomon next to Kari and Patamon on TK's head. Matt was keeping an eye on TK while talking with Gabumon. Joe was in the back with Gomamon, both of them arguing over something that the others had lost interest in. Tai was walking up front with Agumon, Sora, and Biyomon. Mimi was complaining while Palmon was trying to get her to look on the bright side of things. Izzy and Tentomon weren't as far back as Joe and Gomamon, but they were close to the rear.

Izzy had had a terrible nightmare the night before. He'd woken up in a cold sweat. In his dream, Izzy was watching Liquimon die all over again. Only this time, Liquimon took on the face of Jamie, the human girl that she had taken the form of. Jamie's face had looked at him, wide-eyed. She had begged him to get her to the water, but he did nothing. That's when he heard her laugh. He turned around and saw Megakabuterimon behind him. That's when he and Liquimon switched positions. Megakabuterimon attacked Izzy with his Horn Blaster, wounding him greatly. He pleaded with Myotismon to spare him, but ended up being left to evaporate into nothing. Jamie was standing there, laughing.

Even though Joe, who had been on watch at the time, had tried to get him to tell him the dream, Izzy had refused. He felt that he shouldn't bother Joe with it. Apparently, he had been right. Joe, after asking for the 3rd or 4th time, had finally stopped asking. Actually, Joe had tried to respect Izzy's privacy.

"HELP!!!" came a voice from above.

All the Digidestined and their Digimon partners looked up towards the sky. They saw a figure dropping towards them. All of them managed to get out of the way, except Izzy stood there, dumbfounded.

"Izzy, watch out!" Matt called to him.

It was too late...and Izzy knew it. Matt watched as Izzy's expression turned from shock to this pathetic "why me?" expression. Whoever the figure was crash-landed on top of the computer genius. Izzy was lying underneath that person, slightly dazed.

"Who are...WHA?!" Tai asked.

It was a human girl! Unlike Liquimon in human form, she had just fallen from the sky. The girl looked up at him with her turquoise eyes. Her T-shirt-and-jeans ensemble looked great on her. Her white sneakers made it look even better. A lock of brown hair fell into her eyes, which she quickly brushed away.

"Where am I?" she asked.

Izzy groaned. "On my back for one thing..."

The girl jumped up. Izzy gave a slight moan as he slowly got up.

"That had to hurt," Sora stated.

"Izzy!" the girl yelled happily.

She threw her arms around the boy. The others stood there in total shock as Izzy was getting the life squeezed out of him by this lunatic girl. Izzy gasped for air.

"Let...me...GO!" he gasped.

The girl let go immediately. She held him away from her to get a good look at him. He was dirty, especially since she had used him as a landing pad, but he looked whole to her.

"Izzy, who is this girl?!" Tai asked.

Izzy blinked a few times. He could hardly believe it!

"Junpuu? Is that really you?" he asked.

"No. It's Miss Naru. Of course it's really me!!!"

"IZZY, who IS she?!?!" Tai repeated.

Izzy blinked once more before answering, "This is Junpuu. She's a close friend of mine."

Sora's jaw dropped to the ground. Another kid?! Woah!

"So she IS for real..." Tai muttered.

Izzy rubbed his sore back. "I can give testimony to that."

"WOW!" TK exclaimed. "Is she another Digidestined?!"

"Am I another digi-whatsined?" Junpuu asked, completely clueless.

Matt walked up. He held out his Digivice.

"Do you have one of these?" he asked. The answer would tell them whether or not she WAS another Digidestined.

Junpuu looked at it quizzically. "Nope. Looks like a virtual pet thingamajig, but that's all it reminds me of."

"Then, how did you get here?"

"Wrong Place At the Wrong Time Syndrome."

"Huh?"

Izzy rolled his eyes. "She means that she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Which, by the way, she constantly is."

"You got that right," Junpuu agreed, nodding. "So what is that thing and what do you mean by Digidestined?"

Izzy brought her up to date within 10 minutes after they had started walking. He told her about the Digimon, the Digivices, and the Digiworld itself. Afterward, Junpuu explained how she had gotten there. Izzy snapped his fingers.

"A dimensional rift!" he exclaimed.

"In English," Mimi requested.

The laptop came out and he began typing away. As he did so, he started to talk.

"Tai, remember when, after defeating Etemon, you were pulled through that portal to the real world?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So, I have a theory that all this traveling between worlds has made entrances into the Digital World from our world and visa versa. Apparently, these rifts aren't very stable. If they were, one of them would've appeared IN FRONT of you, Junpuu. Not underneath." He paused. "And it also wouldn't have opened on this side over my head."

"Sorry," Junpuu apologized. "I couldn't exactly aim myself away from you."

By now, TK was totally lost in all the technical jargon. He wasn't the only one. The Digimon, Tai, Kari, and Sora also showed blank looks. Joe looked like he had caught some of it while Matt had this look that said "What the heck did you just say?"

Junpuu could tell a translation was needed. Badly.

"He said that portals between the Digiworld and Earth are popping open at will in both worlds, and that they constantly move around."

"Oh..." the others said, understanding dawning on them.

Gatomon rolled her eyes. "So, why didn't he say that in English?"

Junpuu grinned evilly. "Because Izzy swallowed a dictionary when he was 6."

Izzy looked up from what he was doing to shoot her a dirty look. Matt suppressed a laugh. Here was a girl who could be Izzy's best friend one second, then Izzy's worst enemy the next. He had to admit, she had personality.

"You knew him when he was 6?" Mimi asked.

Junpuu sweatdropped. So did Izzy.

"No, I've only known him for a few months now."

"Oh..."

The others were now sweatdropping. Gatomon was muttering something about Mimi and her reasoning powers under her breath. Palmon suspected that it wasn't pleasant.

Biyomon asked, "So you fell through one of these portal things, right?"

Junpuu nodded. "Yup. I guess it also means that I don't get a little Digimon of my own." She melodramatically sighed. "Whatever shall I do?"

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Izzy said, not looking up from what he was doing. "If a Digimon tries to attack you, you'll probably scare it off."

Junpuu's jaw dropped towards the ground. Gomamon started to laugh, then covered his mouth with one of his forefeet. Not even that covered up the snickers that managed to escape. Matt looked impressed by how quickly Izzy had bounced back from the "dictionary" comment.

Junpuu smiled and made an invisible tally mark in the air.

"Score one for you."

Matt was sitting on watch when someone scooted up next to him. He turned to see it was the new girl, Junpuu. She had brought with her some twigs and leaves to feed the fire.

"I offer these gifts to you, Oh Great Fire Spirits," Junpuu said solemnly, her face didn't even crack a smile. Matt's did.

"Nice to see you have a good sense of humor about all this," Matt said, still smiling.

Her turquoise eyes twinkled. Despite begging to be allowed to take a watch of her own, the others had agreed that she shouldn't take a shift. She didn't have a Digimon with her to hold off an attacking Digimon until one or more of the others woke up. That problem was a real big gamble. All, but Junpuu, were in agreement on the decision.

"There are two things you can do in life. One is Mimi's way: whine." Ah, so Junpuu was also annoyed with Mimi's whining. "The other is to laugh about it. It's your decision."

She pulled out a notebook from her backpack. After flipping a few pages, she found the one she was looking for. She pulled out one of her erasers and one of her pencils.

"Hey, Gabumon? Hold that pose. I need to finish this picture of you."

"All right."

The "scratch-scratch-scratch" of her pencil against the paper was the only sound for a few seconds.

She said without looking up, "Matt, you can talk to me if you want. Unlike Izzy, I don't zone out completely when I'm doing something."

Matt gave a slight laugh and shook his head. "When Izzy zones, he zones."

She looked up at him, her eyes glittering mischievously.

"Wanna know a way to grab his attention?"

"Sure."

The girl tapped her finger on one spot on the back of Matt's neck.

"Tap him right here and you're guaranteed his full attention. That and a really ticked off look."

"Mimi would love to have this information."

"I may use that as a bargaining chip sometime."

Junpuu had many other reasons to dislike Mimi. Mimi had said that since she was very good-looking, that she should wear a dress or something. Junpuu had been horrified at the idea. The two of them argued for about an hour with the rest of the group trying to ignore the fight.

Sora hadn't done very well with the new girl either. Sora had tried to be friendly and give her a choice of nicknames: "June" or "Puu". Junpuu had tried to be patient with Sora, saying that she preferred her own name, but Sora had insisted. A rather unwise choice.

Kari was probably the only one of the group that was a girl (other than the girl Digimon) that she got along with. Why? Because Kari knew where the line was. Mimi had asked Junpuu if she had a crush on Izzy and had almost received the new girl's fist in her mouth. Kari, by watching the other two girls, had learned just how far Junpuu could be pushed before she went onto a relatively short fuse. Junpuu could be patient with someone...up to a certain point on certain subjects.

Matt shook his head. The girl added some spice into their lives. For example, she had watched TK and Kari when Matt had to go foraging with Gabumon, Agumon, and Tai. When the four had returned, the group of 3 humans and 2 Digimon had been in a tangled mess. Joe had been laughing so hard that he almost sliced his own finger off with his pocket knife. Gomamon had gotten tangled in a vine so Joe had been trying to cut him loose. Izzy had looked more than just slightly amused. Sora, Biyomon, Palmon, and Mimi had all been sweatdropping.

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"What's Izzy like here?"

Matt cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Just a theory I have. I figured that Izzy might act different here than he does at home."

Matt thought for a second. "He mostly pays attention to his computer which makes Mimi mad. He's not very talkative and spends a lot of time by himself with his laptop. Half the time, you don't even notice he's there."

"I was afraid of that."

"Huh?"

Junpuu's face grew serious. "Izzy was like that when I first met him. It took me forever to peel back some of his defenses and get him to open up just a smidgen to me. Even now, he still doesn't open up that well." She looked at the fire as crackled in front of her. "You probably noticed that I can seem to be Izzy's best friend one minute, then his worst enemy the next. Haven't you?"

Matt gaped. She was observant. He nodded.

She gave a bitter laugh. "I'm nothing. You see, Matt, he's his own worst enemy. He really tries to make it seem like he can get rid of his problems like water off a duck's back, but it comes back to haunt him. He tries to bury himself in his work so he can have a temporary escape, but whatever grim, ugly truth that bothers him comes back." Her turquoise eyes reflected the flames. "The worst thing is that he won't tell ANYONE what's bothering him. He's stubborn and won't give in too easily. Most of the time, I have to twist his arm or pull on his ears to get him to talk, but no matter how much I beat up on him, he won't tell me the REALLY big things."

Junpuu stopped talking. She looked at the notebook, glanced at Gabumon, and added one more quick stroke of the pencil. Then, she smiled.

"Finished."

Matt looked over her shoulder to see this beautiful picture of Gabumon. It looked so real! Matt half-expected the black-and-white picture to jump off the page and begin talking to him.

"That's really good!"

"Thanks! You wanna see the others?"

There were pictures in there of Biyomon, Tentomon, Agumon, Palmon, Patamon, Gatomon, and Gomamon. There were also pictures of the Digidestined themselves. In one of them, Kari had posed during a break. There was one of Izzy, typing and walking at the same time. Another picture showed Tai, striding forward confidently. A picture of Joe had him pushing up his glasses. There was also an unfinished picture of TK.

Matt whistled. Junpuu grinned and gave a victory "V".

"I took art lessons!" she said cheerfully.

"A lot better than Mimi's singing lessons, I hope."

Junpuu's smile faded. A worried look crossed her face.

"She...sings...?"

"According to Tai, Joe, Agumon, and Gomamon, she's gotten better, but she used to sing WAY off-key."

Junpuu muttered something under her breath. Matt was sure it was unpleasant.

"Thanks for letting me chatterbox to you about Izzy. I bet you really didn't want to talk about him or anybody behind their back."

"It's okay. I just never really noticed him."

Junpuu nodded. After exchanging "good nights", she fell instantly asleep. Matt couldn't help but notice that she'd left her notebook out. He fought down the urge to look at the other drawings that she might not have shown. Still, his mind was thinking over what Junpuu had said. Maybe they could all stand to be a little more observant.

The next morning started off with breakfast, then walking. Junpuu deliberately pestered Izzy and try to make life annoying for him. Matt found it infinitely amusing when Junpuu would poke Izzy in that one special spot just so she could watch his reaction. Abbott and Costello had NOTHING on these two. Izzy would try to look pained or mad at her, but have to give into laughter sooner or later.

Tai also found it amusing. He also found that Izzy seemed just a little more talkative...thanks to Junpuu. With both Junpuu and Tentomon trying to yank him off the computer, he had to give in. Either that or never get a moment's peace. They still allowed him to do the important stuff, but when he was just typing away at something that neither of them saw a point to, they let him know real quickly. Tentomon couldn't do half as much as Junpuu did to the shorter boy. She even let him know he was shorter.

"So, Short Stuff," she began, "whatcha up to this time?"

Izzy winced. "I am trying to see if I can work out a translation program for the hieroglyphics we keep finding here."

"Spiffy." She thought for a moment. "Hey, everybody! Wanna play a game? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm bored."

"Whatcha got in mind?" Palmon asked.

"I don't remember the name, but you have to say a sentence beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. You can say as many sentences as you want, but when it goes onto the next person, they HAVE to begin their first sentence with the next letter of the alphabet."

Izzy closed up his laptop. He couldn't do work if he was laughing like an idiot.

"I'm sure Izzy would love to help me demonstrate," Junpuu said devilishly.

"No."

"C'mon! Don't be a stick in the mud!"

Finally, Junpuu managed to pester her friend into agreeing to it. It was either that or she would bother him non-stop for the rest of the day. If not, the rest of the week.

"Okay, now that we're finally in agreement..." Junpuu began.

"No. It's more like now that I've RELENTED to be humiliated," Izzy interrupted.

Junpuu ignored the interruption as she continued, "...Tai, I need you to give us a situation."

Tai thought for a moment. "Two friends at the mall."

Izzy moaned. Junpuu laughed.

"Now, we need a letter to start off with! Mimi...?"

"Uh...Z!"

Izzy gave another moan. This was going to be SO embarrassing!

"Okay...here goes everything!" Junpuu said cheerfully. As they continued walking, Junpuu said, "Zounds! Look over there, Izzy! It's another store for those cute little Beanie Babies!!!"

Izzy, frowning, answered, "Another store? This craze is going too far..."

"Baldy! They have Baldy!!! Buy it for me!!!"

"Can't. I don't have any money."

By now, the others were giggling.

"Darn! Wait...Didn't you buy something at that electronics store?"

"Electronics store? I have no idea what you're talking about."

Exasperated, she said, "Forget it!"

"Good."

"Huh?"

"I said, 'okay'."

"Jeez, Izzy! Speak up more often!"

A panther-like scream interrupted the game. The children tensed, as did their Digimon, ready to digivolve in the case of a fight.

Some sort of Digimon with a blue amulet around her neck leaped down from the trees towards Tai. Tai yelped and leaped to the side. The Digimon looked like a woman covered in black fur with large, four-fingered hands (or, rather, paws), two feline ears, a muzzle, feet with only four toes, and a ropy tail that swished back and forth. From her paws, 8 deadly claws unsheathed.

"AH! Panthramon again!!!" Tentomon shouted.

"What's a Panthramon?!?!" Junpuu asked. Izzy stood slightly in front of her with Tentomon.

The stat screen popped up with Panthramon in the picture box. Izzy's voice was heard saying, "Panthramon is a fully evolved Digimon, only not a Mega. She looks like she's half-woman/half-panther. Her main attack is 'Screaming Blaster', but she also has an equally powerful 'Super Lightning Claw'."

"Super Lightning Claw!" she yelled.

She brought her right paw forward and a four strands of green electricity came towards the group. Izzy jumped backwards to avoid getting hit, forgetting that Junpuu was right behind him. They smacked into each other, landing on the ground in a mess. The attack barely went over them.

"Izzy!" Tentomon yelled.

"Tentomon digivolve to...Kabuterimon!"

"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!"

The four Champions charged towards the one Ultimate. Gatomon quickly joined up with the group of four making a group of five Champions. Panthramon leaped out of the way of the first barrage of attacks. Gatomon jumped right up towards her.

"Lightning Claw!"

Even though Panthramon dodged, the attack went into her shoulder. Panthramon growled in anger at the smaller feline Digimon.

"Screaming Blaster!!!" She gave the panther's well-known scream.

A laser beam shot out of her mouth and hit the ground underneath Gatomon. The little Digimon flew backwards towards her friends. Kabuterimon got between her and the "Super Lightning Claw" that came after that. He went off course, but quickly regained his balance, bringing him back on course.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Nova Blast!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Electro Shocker!"

The four attacks converged on the smaller Ultimate's position. In the explosion that followed, nobody could see where she was. When the dust cleared, she was gone!

"We did it!" Tai yelled joyfully.

"I wouldn't be too sure..." Joe moaned. "Look!"

They saw her feline face peek out from behind the tree just before she seemed to fly forward. She ran at a mind-boggling speed towards the children. The Digimon were caught completely off guard.

"Marching Fishes!" Gomamon yelled. The fish appeared and splatted themselves against her face. She ignored the fish.

Joe yelled in fright, a yell that had no real meaning.

"Gomamon digivolve to...Ikkakumon!"

The large, furry Digimon aimed his horn towards Panthramon.

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

The attack was right on target. If only she hadn't dodged! She was really tearing up the terrain! She was now right in line with Matt. She leaped forward, ready for the kill. Garurumon ran forward as fast as he could. He leaped forward...

BAM! The two Digimon collided. Panthramon landed on all fours, as did Garurumon.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Screaming Blaster!"

The two attacks stopped each other. Tai's eyes widened.

'Wow...Garurumon wasn't able to do that the last time we faced off against Panthramon...How did he do that?'

Panthramon looked ticked. She brought both paws forward.

"Super Lightning Claw!"

The lightning bolts hit Garurumon's snout. The force of the blow sent Garurumon flying. Matt called out his faithful Digimon's name. The Crest of Friendship began to glow brightly.

"Garurumon digivolve to...WereGarurumon!"

"Wolf Claw!"

Panthramon was sent backwards. Birdramon flapped up higher into the sky. Ikkakumon aimed upwards.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

The fireballs kept Panthramon from really moving. The torpedo from Ikkakumon's attack revealed itself and split into several little torpedoes. They all struck the ground at the same time.

"Amulet's Hypnotism Power!"

The blue beam went into WereGarurumon's eyes. The group, except Junpuu, now knew what was coming.

"Destroy the Digidestined," a voice whispered in WereGarurumon's head.

"Yes, Mistress," the now-controlled Digimon answered.

"Nail the amulet!!!" Tai shouted.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Nova Blast!"

Panthramon jumped easily out of the way. This was not going to be easy.

Blackwidowmon watched the battle through her amulet. As soon as the Digidestined were finished, she'd go and bring WereGarurumon under her permanent control. She smiled, a disgusting sight. The two large pincers in front of her mouth didn't help her smile either.

Suddenly, she frowned. She did a quick count. 9 children. That was impossible! There were only 8 Digidestined and 8 Digimon! She realized that the 9th child was not one of them. If she was, the evil Digimon would've sensed the power of a new Digivice. Apparently, this child had accidentally stumbled across a pathway into the Digiworld.

"Hmmm...a rift leading to Earth would be a useful treasure..." she touched her amulet. "WereGarurumon, grab the girl tangled up with that orange-shirted Digidestined brat."

"Yes, Mistress," WereGarurumon answered.

Izzy and Junpuu were trying desperately to get out of their predicament. Their only problem was that they didn't know what exactly was preventing them from separating from one another. The more they struggled, the worse off they became.

"Junpuu! Try moving your left foot from behind my back towards yourself!"

Junpuu tried, but her foot couldn't move very far.

"No good! It's stuck!"

"That must be why we're still stuck like this! We have to get your foot loose!"

The girl tried to wriggle her foot out of its stuck position. That's when she saw the problem.

"Izzy! It's tangled in your backpack strap!"

Izzy reached towards her foot, twisting in order to get a better view. Sure enough, the backpack strap was wrapped tightly around Junpuu's foot. Matt ran towards them to give them a hand.

"What's taking you guys so long?!"

"My foot's tangled in his backpack strap! See if you can help us UN-tangle it!"

"All right! Stop squirming!"

Izzy glanced at the battle and saw that WereGarurumon was heading straight towards them. He looked like he was going to kill them.

"Matt! Behind you!!!" Izzy warned.

Matt turned slightly and saw the threat. He lifted up his Digivice, hoping that it would affect the controlled Digimon like it had affected Devimon's minions. A light shone brilliantly from the device. It was like a ray of hope.

The light slowed down WereGarurumon...for a moment anyway. However, that was just enough time for Junpuu to yank her foot loose. Both children scrambled to their feet and took off running, Matt running in-between them. WereGarurumon ran towards them.

"Wolf Claw!"

The attack was coming right towards them. There was no way the kids could outrun it. That's when Greymon saved the day. He stepped right into the path of the attack and stopped it from harming the frightened children. However, he did stumble from the blow.

"Does this sort of thing happen often?!" Junpuu demanded as they ran.

"Monsters fighting each other?!" Izzy asked in response.

"YES!"

"Almost every single day!"

"Oh, GREAT!!! I LOVE this place!!!"

"Nova Blast!"

The fireball was right on target for WereGarurumon. WereGarurumon easily dodged out of the way. Tai's Crest of Courage glowed.

"Greymon digivolve to...Metal Greymon!"

"Go, Metal Greymon!" Tai cheered.

"Giga Blaster!"

The attack hit the ground below WereGarurumon's feet. The wolf-like Digimon fell to his knees. Panthramon leaped up from behind.

"Screaming Blaster!"

Metal Greymon sort of just leaned over a bit when the attack hit. He turned towards the little Digimon. WereGarurumon began to stand once more. Kari gasped and her Crest of Light began to glow.

"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"

Angewomon flew up behind WereGarurumon.

"Forgive me, WereGarurumon! Celestial Arrow!"

The attack hit the back of WereGarurumon's knee. He howled in pain and surprise, but at the same time, he fell forward. Panthramon prepared to leap nimbly aside the second that Metal Greymon attacked.

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

The torpedo popped out of its casing and became many torpedoes. They all struck the ground quickly, all around Panthramon. She could go nowhere without being hit.

"Giga Blaster!"

This time, the Metal Greymon's attack nailed the shiny blue amulet. Panthramon threw it off her neck as it began to glow even more brightly. It landed a few feet away from the Digimon. Suddenly, it glowed with an intense light as it exploded. When the dust cleared, they saw Panthramon turning tail and running off.

Metal Greymon shrank back down to Agumon. Angewomon shrank back down to become Gatomon. WereGarurumon shrank down to become Gabumon. Gabumon hung his head in shame. Tai, Kari, and Matt ran over to their Digimon partners.

"Agumon! Way to go!" Tai congratulated.

"You were awesome, Gatomon!"

Both Digimon gave their partners back a hug. Matt put his hand on Gabumon's shoulder.

"Hey, Gabumon, it's okay. It wasn't your fault."

"Matt, I could've killed you at any moment. I am truly sorry."

Matt's blue eyes looked directly into Gabumon's red ones, holding their gaze.

"BLACKWIDOWMON could've killed us at any moment. Gabumon, you were not in control. If you had, you would've stopped yourself at any time. You're not the only one to have been controlled in your life. Think how Panthramon or Falcunomon must feel."

"Or how I did," Gomamon, now de-digivolved, added.

Joe looked at his digi-partner. Gomamon nodded towards Joe. Yes, he accepted what happened 3 weeks ago and knew it hadn't been his fault. Joe held himself back from hugging the little guy. It would've been embarrassing for both of them.

"Gabumon, I know I get mad at Joe sometimes, but I don't try to hurt him. He knows that and I know that. It took him a while to get it through to me that he didn't blame me for what happened. I hope it doesn't take as long for Matt to do that for you."

Gomamon stopped, blushing at his little speech. Gabumon and Matt looked at each other. Gabumon saw that Matt held no blame towards him. Just anger towards Blackwidowmon. Both of them smiled at the same time.

Junpuu decided it was time to put the battle behind them, if only for a little while. She walked up right beside Gomamon and Joe, a mischievous look on her face.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving! I say we all go down to a lake or stream, catch some fish, and have a nice fish dinner."

Gomamon exploded, "No way! Over my dead body! Those fish are my friends!!!"

Joe began laughing his head off as Gomamon continued to argue with Junpuu. The others quickly joined him.

"You FAILED!!!" Blackwidowmon snarled angrily.

The blood-red amulet glowed brightly. Panthramon gasped for air. She gripped at her throat as if that would help solve the problem. She fell to her knees.

"Forgive me, Mistress!"

"Not ONLY did you fail to destroy the Digidestined, but you also failed to bring me a valuable asset! WereGarurumon would've been a powerful 'ally'!"

"For...give...me...Mis...tress..."

The amulet stopped glowing. Panthramon inhaled delicious oxygen into her lungs. She fought to regain her breath quickly. Blackwidowmon's eyes narrowed.

"I will have to create another amulet for you. In the meantime, you will aid Falcunomon in his assignment," she ordered, her voice a whisper and calm once more.

"Yes, Mistress!"

Panthramon dashed off into the darkness. Blackwidowmon sat there on her web, thinking.

"These children are more powerful than I first believed," she thought out loud. "In fact, that is where Devimon, Etemon, and Myotismon all failed. They underestimated the Digidestined's powers since they were only children. I shall not make that same mistake. It is better to overestimate your enemy than to underestimate your enemy. That way, you are prepared for just about everything." She put her fingers together, forming a steeple with them. "The Digidestined are in for the time of their lives. Sadly, those lives are going to be cut short."

Junpuu stood on watch with Izzy and Tentomon. At first, the boy had protested, but with a quick threat to twist his arm, Izzy had amazingly become compliant. Matt watched them while pretending he was asleep.

The fire popped as its warm glow covered the three of them. Junpuu poked the fire with a stick.

"What a day," she said at last, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. You're in for more of them," Izzy warned.

"Great...You know what? I actually like this place."

"I'm not sure, but are you being sarcastic?"

Junpuu rolled her eyes. "Not this time. This place is gorgeous! Odaiba has NOTHING on this place."

Izzy nodded in agreement. The Digiworld was rather beautiful. The sudden changes from desert to jungle to forest and back again were strange, but the arrangement was starting to make sense. He often wondered what their planet had been like when there wasn't any cities. Had it been similar to the appearance of the Digiworld?

Tentomon watched the two humans closely. He felt that there was something the two of them were hiding from each other, but neither one of them knew the other was hiding something. Junpuu knew he WAS hiding something, but not that he was adopted. Tentomon had heard about this by eavesdropping in on a conversation between Izzy and his parents. Junpuu obviously didn't know and neither did the rest of the group. Tentomon was constantly torn between telling the others about it and telling Izzy he knew or just keep his mouth shut.

Junpuu suddenly smiled.

"I kept him," she stated.

"Huh?"

She pulled something out of her pocket. It was a little figurine, no bigger than an inch. It had a white helmet on its head and an army-like uniform on it. Two magnets were stuck to the figure's feet and its eyes were black. Its head wobbled around when she jerked it around and one of its arms did the same.

"'He's my stand-in,'" Junpuu said, quoting a letter Izzy had sent her with him.

Izzy looked surprised. "I didn't think you WOULD keep him."

Junpuu had invited him to her birthday party only to discover that he'd already signed up for summer camp at the same time. He'd felt really bad so he sent her a present via his parents. The actual present was a photo-shop program since her parents had bought a scanner. He'd sent her the program since she then could color her pictures without messing them up. All she had to do was scan, open the picture on the program, and then start coloring and doing other assorted things to the picture. However, that wasn't her only present from him. He'd sent her a little figurine along with it. That and a letter. He'd written to apologize for not being there. The figurine didn't have a name, but Junpuu had adored it.

"Why not? I thought he was cool."

"I sort of sent him as a joke. By the way, what happened to his eyes? And his arm and head for that matter."

"The eyes are the result of his eyes being poked out with a ball point pen. Don't ask. The arm and head are like that because my little cousin got his grubby hands on him." She smiled. "But he finally has a name! I call him Magna Man!"

Izzy snickered. "Magna Man?"

Her smile broadened. "The magnets on his feet. You have no idea how many things I've stuck him to."

"You didn't give your parents a heart attack did you?"

"What makes you ask that?" she asked, total innocence in her voice.

Izzy gave her a serious look. "What did you do with Magna Man?"

"I merely stuck him to my dad's glasses when he was asleep. He woke up and freaked out when he saw, quote, 'a little man sticking to my glasses'. Unquote."

Izzy shook his head. Matt was barely keeping his laughter under control. He didn't understand what the little toy was for, but it was pretty funny all in all. Junpuu kept talking about the "Adventures of Magna Man" while Izzy was trying his best not to burst out laughing. It wouldn't do if the others woke up. Tentomon covered his mouth, trying to keep himself from laughing.

Finally, a laugh escaped Matt's lips. Both 4th graders turned their heads towards him. Busted.

"Well, well, well, Izzy, what do we have here?" she asked.

Playing along, Izzy answered, "Gee, I don't know, Junpuu. However, I THINK we have an eavesdropper."

"Exactly what I was thinking."

With an air of utmost seriousness, the girl walked over to Matt, hands on her hips.

"Don't you know it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations?" she asked, sounding only half-way indignant. "You will have to be severely punished."

"I say we give him a severe tongue lashing," Izzy stated with utmost seriousness, but there was genuine amusement in those dark eyes.

"I say we give him a lashing, but not for the tongue. That'd be WAY too disgusting. I don't want his spit on my hands."

Tentomon and Matt both laughed, but tried to keep it down. Fortunately, Agumon's snoring covered up their laughter. Izzy closed his eyes and shook his head. Junpuu smiled, thoroughly satisfied with herself.

"So, I guess you heard the 'Adventures of Magna Man', huh?" she asked casually.

"Yeah."

"Well, you should hear the one called 'How Magna Man Fought Against the Dragon...And LOST!' starring Magna Man and Lassie!"

"Lassie?"

Izzy gave a slight laugh. "A blue dragon figurine a lot bigger than Magna Man. She calls him 'Lassie.'"

"Well, he doesn't mind," she stated.

"Whatever," Matt said.

It was now Matt's turn on shift. Izzy was curled up into a tight ball on the ground, a highly unusual position for him to be sleeping in. His laptop was sitting there in the open. Junpuu woke up.

"I'm not going to get used to Agumon's snoring in only 2 nights," she grumbled.

"You'll have to. Trust me."

Junpuu picked up Izzy's laptop and set it on her lap, her legs crossed Indian-style. She turned on the machine and began looking around. Matt raised an eyebrow.

"You know computers?"

"No...say the words 'CPU', 'hardware', or 'software' and I sort of glaze over. I only know enough to survive using one. My parents bought me one of these and Izzy taught me how to use it." She smiled, enjoying the memory.

Finally, she gave a victory "V" as she found what she was looking for. Matt, now curious, came over and sat beside her. Gabumon continued to watch the surrounding terrain.

"What'd you find?" he asked.

"The pictures he's taken with his digital camera!"

The list was a long one. The first 3 dozen pictures were the group of Digidestined, Digimon, other Digimon, hieroglyphics, and even plants. The pictures themselves weren't too shabby. Matt looked pretty cool in one of the ones he had posed for.

The next group of pictures were pictures of him and Junpuu which he added little comments to.

For instance, one picture had Junpuu standing like she was showing off how great she looked and Izzy had this "yeah, right" look written all over his face.

Over Junpuu was typed, "Don't I look great or what?"

Izzy's "reply" was, "Definitely 'or what'."

The last set of pictures was just them goofing around with the camera. There was one of Izzy doing a split on the slick floor of the Izumis' kitchen.

Matt winced. "That had to hurt."

"Actually, it didn't hurt him too badly. He's more flexible than people give him credit for."

One had Izzy and Junpuu side by side on a fountain. Then next one had them falling in. There was one with Junpuu breaking out fake looking pompoms and mocking the cheerleaders in the background. Izzy was munching on a French fry in the next one and staring at the camera (a picture obviously taken by Junpuu).

Matt saw all these funny and weird pictures that had been taken by the two of them or when Izzy had set the digital camera on a timer. The fountain pictures had been the result of Izzy using the timer and setting for it to take 2 pictures. When he'd jumped up on the fountain, the first picture was taken. He accidentally knocked Junpuu and himself over when the second picture was taken.

Junpuu yawned. "Well, now that I've embarrassed him without him realizing it, I'm going to bed. G'night, Matt."

"'Night, Junpuu."

Matt sat down next to Gabumon once more. Junpuu shut down the laptop and laid down next to Izzy. Matt glanced over there.

Was it just his imagination or did Junpuu just give Izzy a light kiss on the cheek?

Naw. Had to be his imagination.

THE END

A/N: Okay, Magna Man really DOES exist! There is also a real Lassie, too! Just as described in this fanfic. I asked permission from my friend, the person who is the keeper of Magna Man, and she said it was okay. So do not steal Magna Man! Thank you. Also, there was some action in there. I turned out to be wrong. And about the "Izzy being more flexible than people give him credit for" thing, I have proof of that! Remember in "No Questions, Please" when Izzy was doing the alphabet? He'd have to be REALLY flexible to be able to do that! One more thing, the game Junpuu and Izzy started was "borrowed" from "Whose Line is it Anyway?" (great show!).

Thanks go to: Gomamon96 of Digimon Isle, the two people who e-mailed me saying that they liked my stories, Pix AKA the Gomamon who runs Digimon Central, Mei of Digirealm, and, most of all, my muse Izzy!

Anybody know what time it is? RATING TIME!

1 - Your ability to write was stolen by Vademon!!!

2 - That was worse than Demidevimon!

3 - Wasn't too bad, but wasn't too good either.

4 - Was pretty good, but needs to digivolve a little bit so it's a little better.

5 - Your ability to write is really good.

6 - Woah! Joe might want to borrow your notes from English!

7 - Even Mimi couldn't complain about this!

8 - Tai must be slipping you info or something!

9 - Who are you? A professional writer who just happens to like Digimon?!

10 - Prodigious!