A New Ally and an Old Rival

by Cybra

A/N: This is the start of my new "Dark Digidestined" arc as somebody would probably put it. It's inspired by the upcoming "Digimon 02" (even if Izzy DOES look ugly in the second season...), but I thought that why not make it with the original 8 since this new thing confuses me. Woah! What I'm writing in this author's note is confusing myself!!! Since MagnaAngemon had decided to show up in the show, I decided, what the heck? Might as well include him here. Also, I'm trying an idea about doing recaps for all you lazy people who might not want to read the fic before each new one. These shall be marked like this: RECAP. Then, it's back to my normal writing. So...>P Kyra, this one's for you!

Disclaimer: While Scarleomon is mine, sadly, Digimon is not. Here's the long and short of it: go sue somebody else.

RECAP

Junpuu: Tai, Matt, Cybra, and I traveled into Izzy's mind in order to save him when we were attacked by his mental defense systems. Gatomon followed us in and helped save us from this ugly frog-slash-Sora thing, not a bad makeover for her if you ask me. That's when we met up with Skullgreymon. Finally, we managed to find Izzy and get him back to normal, but we'd seen this really weird memory that we all wanted to know about. Later that night, Motimon told us Izzy's secret. It's official: I'm not using Izzy's family as ammunition in our little battles of wits anymore.

"Dark Twin Fang!" came the yell of Scarleomon, a Virus-type digivolution of Leomon at the Ultimate level.

Scarleomon himself looked very much like his Vaccine counterpart Saberleomon, only his color was all black instead of yellow and red. Kabuterimon swooped downward.

"Electro Shocker!"

The electric attack flew towards the large feline Digimon. Scarleomon dodged easily out of the way only to meet a VERY mad Garurumon.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Dark Twin Fang!"

The two attacks took each other out. Angemon came between TK and the evil Digimon, just to make sure the boy was safe. Gatomon ran up into Scarleomon's face and leaped at him.

"Lightning Claw!"

Even though she was swiped away, she easily landed on her feet. Gatomon silently thanked her feline abilities for saving her. Greymon rushed Scarleomon.

"Nova Blast!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Psy-Tornado!"

"Dark Twin Fang!"

"Woah!" Togemon yelled as she ducked under the attack.

"Togemon!" Mimi shouted.

"I'm okay, Mimi, just stay back!"

"Tai, we're going to have to digivolve," Greymon growled.

Tai nodded and held out his Digivice, as did the others with theirs.

"Greymon digivolve to...Metal Greymon!"

"Garurumon digivolve to...WereGarurumon!"

"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"

"Togemon digivolve to...Lillymon!"

"Birdramon digivolve to...Garudamon!"

"Ikkakumon digivolve to...Zudomon!"

That's when something strange happened. Izzy knew that his Crest, for some strange reason, could help Cybra digivolve to her Ultimate level, but always had to digivolve Cybra and Kabuterimon separately. THIS time, the beam split in two, hitting both Digimon at the same time. Then, a THIRD beam shot off into the dark forest.

"What was that?!" Joe panicked.

"Fascinating!" Izzy said, looking at his Crest.

Junpuu, standing beside him, just rolled her eyes. "Izzy, you'd find your own funeral fascinating."

Izzy shot her a death glare.

"Kabuterimon digivolve to...Megakabuterimon!"

"Humamon's Champion form digivolves to...Ultimate form!"

They had digivolved at the same time! Tai grinned. That meant they had a full team a lot faster now. Hopefully, together the team could take down the more experienced Scarleomon.

The third beam from the Crest of Knowledge flew onwards until it reached a small clearing in the forest. It hit the dirt, allowing the ground to glow a faint purple light. Then, little sparkles of purple light swirled up from the ground, forming a figure. Within seconds, a girl of about 14 years-old was standing there, looking slightly dizzy and happy.

"Free!" she yelled happily.

The girl landed on her rear as the dizziness temporarily overtook her.

"Ow. Wish that kid...I mean, Izzy...didn't move around so much. That makes that Crest swing a little and makes ME dizzy..."

The dizziness passed and she stood once more. Her auburn hair, darker than Izzy's red hair, fell just past her shoulders as she hastily tied it up into a battered old scrunchie. She adjusted her white socks in her brown school shoes (or, as she called them, "moccasin clones with rubber soles") as they slid downwards, making standing uncomfortable. Her hands brushed off the dirt from her cut-off blue jeans, long-sleeved emerald-green shirt, and white tank top. She picked up her "little black bag" filled with Band-Aids, a small hair brush, and other assorted items, some needed and some not. A green WWJD bracelet was wrapped around her left wrist with a ring with an emerald. Her right wrist showed off her power bracelet, representing intelligence or knowledge. Around her neck, hung a necklace with a lightning bolt.

Her blue eyes scanned over the surrounding terrain.

"Definitely not in Kansas anymore," she noted dryly.

She was as tall as Matt was, if not a slight bit shorter. She stubbornly pushed her glasses back onto her nose, not wanting to admit defeat in the unending battle. They stubbornly slid back down, but she took no notice as she heard sounds of people yelling and screaming. The sounds of Digimon using their attacks alerted her ears to trouble.

She smiled, a Devil-may-care smile. "Looks like I get to see what's up."

She ran towards the sounds of the battle in progress.

"Flower Cannon!"

"Wolf Claw!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

Scarleomon cried out in pain as the four attacks hit him.

"Time to put the cat out!" Lillymon joked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Dark Twin Fang!"

Black needles flew everywhere. Everybody jumped, flew, or ran out of the way. Junpuu took a quick step backwards, tripped, and landed on top of the surprised Izzy.

Junpuu looked over her shoulder in time to see Izzy raise an eyebrow and tell her, "We've got to stop meeting like this."

She quickly gave him a slap in the face, but it wasn't very hard. Just hard enough to give him the message. Izzy merely looked amused as they stood up and backed up.

"We have to get this guy to stop firing those stupid needles long enough for our Digimon to attack him all at once!" Matt shouted to the others.

"Brilliant strategy, Matt! And just HOW are we supposed to DO that?!" Tai demanded.

Over in the shadows, just arriving came the strange girl formed from the Crest of Knowledge's light. She saw their dilemma as she heard Matt's shout. She pulled a rod out of her bag, her Guardian Staff.

"I hope this thing works..." she muttered.

"Guardian Seismic Tremors!"

A purple beam hit the earth below Scarleomon, making the evil Digimon shake with the ground. He stopped attacking as he tried to regain his balance.

"NOW!" the Digidestined children shouted together, Junpuu's voice also shouting the word.

"Psy-Hurricane!"

"Flower Cannon!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Giga Blaster!"

"Wolf Claw!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Horn Blaster!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

Scarleomon screamed in agony as the attacks hit him all at the same time. He vanished into nothingness, being sent to the Primary Village to be rejuvenated as a good Digimon. Or at least, that's what the children HOPED.

"Woohoo!" Junpuu shouted. "Got that kitty GOOD!"

Sora raised an eyebrow at Junpuu's behavior as Junpuu grabbed Izzy's hands and pulled him around and around in a crazy, happy dance. She stopped when she noticed Sora's look. She merely raised her own eyebrow in response.

"Something wrong, Sora?" she asked coolly.

Sora blinked, but shook her head. She turned her attention back to their Digimon. Tentomon flew towards the edge of the battle zone to thank whoever had assisted them to find another child! He saw her put some sort of staff into her bag. She raised an eyebrow at the insectoid Digimon.

"Take me to your leader," the girl ordered, like an alien or a robot.

Tentomon sweatdropped but lead her towards the group anyway, keeping a close eye on her to make sure nothing was going to happen. Matt and Tai had started to argue over what to do next when Tentomon cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, everyone, but we have a visitor," Tentomon stated.

Everyone fell silent and looked over at the newcomer. She stared back at them coolly for a brief moment until 2 faces jumped out at her. Junpuu Hino and Koushiro Izumi. Or actually, "Izzy" as he liked to be called. She grinned at those two, ignoring the others. Both of them sort of jerked for a second, then returned wary smiles.

"I don't bite, okay?" she asked in a teasing tone.

Junpuu grinned a genuine grin. Izzy rolled his eyes at the old joke.

"Who are you?" Tai demanded.

She finally turned her attention to the real leader of the group. She pushed up her glasses as she spoke.

"My name is Kyra Deceemerio. I am the Guardian of the Gates to the Knowledge Temple."

Mimi noted that Kyra was a lot different from the other girls in the group. As the new girl stood next to Junpuu, she saw that while Junpuu was sort of slender, Kyra was built with a more broad and muscular body. Sora eyed Kyra more than with a little wariness as Kari happily introduced herself. She continued to watch the new girl as Tai began to talk to her warily.

"How did you get here?" Tai asked, studying her carefully.

"Well, I got to this exact spot after that beam from the Crest of Knowledge released me." She grinned in satisfaction as Izzy jerked in surprise. "I got to the Digiworld a long, LONG time ago. I was among a group of 17 kids who were sucked into this world and created it. I promised to guard the gates to the temple, so when an evil Digimon attacked...I forget the name...I took on the power to defeat him." She sighed. "However, I couldn't handle it. It...I guess the word is 'absorbed'...me inside of it."

Junpuu and Izzy exchanged looks. This silent communication between the two friends continued for several seconds, before Junpuu spoke aloud.

"Tai, I believe her," Junpuu stated.

The older boy turned to her. Matt raised an eyebrow at Junpuu's statement.

"Why?" Tai asked.

"Well, I'm not the greatest at judging people on first glance, but Kyra DID save our lives. Her intentions must be true." She flinched. "Listen to me talk. I sound like Metal Cheetarenmon!"

Izzy stifled a laugh just in time. Junpuu shot him a warning glare.

"Don't make me cause physical harm to come to your body," Junpuu growled.

Izzy's dark eyes went wide as he held up his hands.

"I didn't say a word!"

Junpuu only gave him a truly mischievous grin. Izzy eyed her warily, like he was expecting her to whip out a gun or some other object meant to kill him.

Matt rolled his eyes at the exchange and turned his attention back to Kyra.

"So, the Crest of Knowledge...released you? How?"

Kyra grinned. "I basically downloaded myself into the Crest. The next time the Crest glowed, I was to be released. I lost all that power in the process." She paused. "Well, not all of it. 1% of it I still have an can use in attacks, like a Digimon in Champion or Ultimate form."

Cybra whistled. Kyra wiggled her finger at her.

"Naughty girl. You're supposed to let me finish."

"Sorry."

"'S okay. All right...uh...1% of that power was used to seal up the gates. The remaining 98% is in this little charm here." She tapped her power bracelet. "If that power is ever released again, I become one with it once more and I can never be released again."

Cybra concentrated for a moment, closing her eyes. Kyra raised an eyebrow.

"What's she doing?" she asked warily.

Cybra opened her eyes. "She's telling the truth, Tai." She grinned evilly. "Also, I had no idea that hockey could be such a hazardous sport to males."

Kyra flushed, half from embarrassment, half from anger. It was obvious that Cybra had done a quick scan of her mind to see how truthful Kyra was being. Still, the human-like Digimon couldn't resist taking a peek at another memory of hers. The one where she'd been playing hockey...and nailed the opposing team's goalie. Right where it hurts.

Junpuu leaned her head back and whooped with laughter. Kari was giggling, trying to stifle her laughter with a hand over her mouth. TK looked confused. Izzy snickered and shook his head. However, Mimi was laughing her head off as well. Joe, Matt, and Tai all had this horrified look on their faces. They knew what Cybra had just implied. The Digimon looked as confused as TK while Sora frowned.

'I don't trust this new girl,' she thought to herself.

Seiya Fukachi had heard Junpuu's cry for help while walking along the destroyed streets of Odaiba. He had run as fast as he could to the spot, only to see her last fingertip disappear into the street. His heart clenched as he realized he was too late.

He demanded to the ground, "Where'd you take her?!"

A drunk passing by, a bag filled with clinking objects in one hand and an open bottle of sake in his hand, looked over with glazed eyes at the sight of a boy pounding the ground and screaming at it. The drunk hiccuped and took another swig from his bottle. He staggered away, hiccuping and laughing at the scene.

"Kidssss theshe...dayssss!" he laughed, hiccuping slightly.

Seiya paid no heed to the drunk as he continued to pound away at the ground. He finally sat back, defeated. Junpuu was gone...and he might never see her again.

He'd never paid attention to that girl until she had tried to stop him from beating "Lizzy" senseless. What had started as deep admiration for the headstrong girl had changed into a deep affection. All his friends knew that he had set his eye on her out of all the girls in the 4th grade, but she didn't return the looks he gave her. Instead, her eyes seemed to be focused on another. Koushiro Izumi.

Seiya boiled in anger at the name. He'd seen the boy during the fight against the steroid-affected monster and had watched him take off with a group of other children and 8 creatures in that column of rainbow light.

A bright light streaked across the sky until it crashed into the ground. It left a small crater where it landed. The boy approached it warily, not sure of whether it would explode or not.

It was a small device, no bigger than the palm of his large hand. He squared his muscular shoulders as he bent to pick it up. It was pitch black. Next to the device was some sort of strange necklace with a black picture in the window and a strange symbol drawn onto it. The symbol looked very much like a dagger with a drop of blood coming from it.

He held up the two objects so he could get a better look at them. That's when a bright light shone out of the necklace's window. What it revealed caused Seiya to growl.

It showed Izzy walking in a forest somewhere with Junpuu at his side. The two of them were discussing something with constant interjections from a large beetle and two other girls. One of them, the oldest-looking one of the group leaned forward and whispered something in Junpuu's ear, causing her to laugh. Izzy rolled his eyes.

"How DARE he take what's mine?!" Seiya snapped, indignant.

The necklace glowed again, as did the strange device. The boy lost awareness in an explosion of light.

Cybra sat on guard duty that night with Junpuu and Kyra. She watched in amusement as Izzy opened one eye to glare at them, their stifled laughter having disturbed his sleep. However, the look in his eye showed that he was more asleep than awake at the moment, but that was rapidly changing. His eye blinked as he sat up, deciding to just stay awake for now.

Junpuu was messing with Magna Man and explaining the "Adventures of Magna Man" to Cybra and Kyra since neither of them had heard about him. That was what was causing their barely contained laughter. She bounced the small figurine up and down until his head flopped over backwards.

"Oh, no! Magna Man has broken his neck!" Junpuu asked in a mock-horrified voice.

As she tried to flip his head back into place, it just kept rolling around on the figurine's shoulders. Izzy sat down beside her, eyes sparkling with amusement as she continued to try to get Magna Man's head back to normal. Cybra had both hands clapped over her mouth, trying to stop the giggles that were barely muffled. Kyra was turning Tyrannomon red just trying to stop her laughter.

Izzy took the fruit that Kyra handed him. He was starved. Of course, he hadn't eaten dinner either.

"Do you always skip out on meals or is today something special?" the girl teased.

Izzy retorted, "Yeah, today's 'Let's Watch the New Girl Eat Like a Pig Day'. Watching you eat made me lose my appetite."

"Hey! I have a good reason! I haven't eaten in...at least a hundred digi-years!"

Kyra's face showed mock-anger as she reached to grab the smaller boy. Izzy dodged as he took the first bite of the apple-like fruit. His stomach thanked him by eagerly accepting the food. He munched away as Cybra and Junpuu took the opportunity to take cheap shots at Kyra...to which she returned with cheap shots of her own at them. Kyra watched as the amused sparkle in Izzy's eyes grew brighter.

The little group managed to keep their voices down so as not to disturb the others. Izzy glanced over at Tentomon to see the bug on his back like a dead roach. His feet were scurrying in the air like he was trying to get away from something. Junpuu gave a small snort of laughter.

"Reminds me of the roach I sprayed last week!" she whispered, trying not to laugh.

Kyra and Cybra turned to see the little beetle-like Digimon in his strange position as he tried to run somewhere. Kyra clapped a hand to her mouth and tried not to laugh. Cybra looked confused.

"What's so funny?"

Izzy, while snickering, replied, "He looks like a dying roach."

"Oh..." Pause. "What's a roach?"

Izzy almost spat out the bite of "apple" he'd just taken. As he began to cough a little, Junpuu patted him on the back.

"Don't choke, Izzy!" she warned quietly.

They heard a sudden roar from behind them. Everyone whipped around to see a strange new Digimon standing there.

It had no rhyme or real reason for why the claws were placed on the stomach, blades on the wrists of its two hands, the wings attached to all four paws, a long neck with a snake-like head attached, and a tail like a whip. However, Izzy could make a pretty good guess at how some of them worked.

"Crud! That's Maritarimon!" Cybra yelled in fear.

"I knew we should've been paying closer attention!" Junpuu yelled.

The stat screen popped up with the new Digimon's picture in it. Cybra's voice was heard saying, "Actually, while ugly, Maritarimon is EXTREMELY good at stealth! You almost never hear him coming! He's almost a fully-evolved Digimon with a major bad attitude which his Blade Throw will let you soon know. But these guys aren't around anymore!"

"What's going on?!" Tai demanded as he got to his feet.

"Blade Throw!" Maritarimon yelled as he brought his bladed wrists forward.

The blades seemed to pop off and fly at them. Cybra ducked under one and lost about a centimeter of hair. She yelped at how close the blade had gotten to her head as it suddenly turned around and returned to the wrist of Maritarimon, the other one doing the same. Tentomon fought to get to his feet until Izzy helped flip him over.

"Thanks, Izzy!" the Digimon said.

"Everyone, digivolve!" Tai ordered.

"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to...Kabuterimon!"

"Palmon digivolve to...Togemon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon!"

"Patamon digivolve to...Angemon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!"

"Gomamon digivolve to...Ikkakumon!"

The Digimon that could fly quickly took to the air. Maritarimon ran forward on all four paws and leaped up into the air as well. Much to everyone's surprise, the wings on Maritarimon's feet began to flap, allowing him to fly as well. Cybra felt the sudden urge to curse, but held her tongue.

"Psy-Tornado!!!"

It struck the evil Digimon in the side. He turned and faced the challenge to be met with a Harpoon Torpedo from Ikkakumon.

"How's about a little Needle Spray?!" Togemon yelled as she fired her needles.

Gatomon climbed up Greymon's back and waited on his head.

"Greymon, you need to get me a little more height!" she shouted.

"You got it!"

"WOAH!" Gatomon yelled as she held on tightly to his horn.

Greymon had started running forward and leaped up into the air.

"Is this enough height for you?"

"Plenty! Lightning Claw!"

Gatomon leaped off the larger Champion and swiped the arm of the enemy. Maritarimon howled in pain and opened his mouth completely to reveal a very impressive set of fangs. Gatomon fell towards the ground once more to be caught in Kari's arms.

"Thanks, Kari!"

She hopped out of the girl's arms and went back to the fight.

"Be careful, Gatomon!"

Izzy turned to Cybra.

"Cybra, you said that Maritarimon didn't exist anymore! Why'd you say that?!"

"Well, Maritarimon digivolves from Cleekaramon, which looks a lot like Motimon only he's blue and a Rookie. They can only digivolve into Maritarimon when something evil makes them digivolve! However, the black stone that had made them digivolve into Maritarimon was destroyed hundreds of digi-years ago. There hasn't been one Maritarimon since!"

"You mean until today!" Matt yelled.

'If only he was on the ground, then I could attack!' Kyra thought angrily.

"Nova Blast!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Psy-Tornado!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Needle Spray!"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

Maritarimon fell to the ground. Kyra grinned as she pulled out her Guardian Staff.

"Guardian Seismic Tremors!"

Maritarimon was jostled around from the attack. He didn't get up.

"Maritarimon...digivolve NOW! Destroy them, but bring me the girl I ordered you to bring!" came a new voice.

The team whipped around, searching for the source.

"Who are you?!" Tai demanded.

"I know that voice..." Izzy whispered ominously.

A dark glow came from the trees and a small flame came from that dark glow. It passed through a black Digivice and the fires went up into the sky to create a fiery mass.

"It's just like that time you digivolved into Skullgreymon!" Garurumon shouted to Greymon.

"Don't remind me!"

Joe was shaking as he yelled, "But that's impossible! Who's responsible for this?!"

The fiery mass created several beams of fire as they came down and hit the fallen Digimon. He began to glow.

"Maritarimon digivolve to...Megamaritarimon!"

The whole group blinked as a much larger version of Maritarimon appeared with many, many more blades all over its body. Izzy had his laptop out in a nanosecond.

The stat screen popped up as Izzy said, "Megamaritarimon is a fully digivolved version of Maritarimon. He uses his Dancing Blades to slice his enemies to pieces!"

Kyra's eyes widened in fear.

"That's it! THAT'S the Digimon that I fought with before I was absorbed into the power!!!"

"Dancing Blades!"

The blades raked across all the Digimon's bodies. Kabuterimon and Birdramon fell from the sky in pain. Greymon fell to one knee. Angemon flew even higher to try to avoid it. Gatomon was doing a crazy dance to avoid being hit while Cybra did the same. The group of children ran every which way to avoid the blades. Garurumon and Ikkakumon bravely fought back against the blades, but soon Ikkakumon de-digivolved down to Gomamon once more.

"Gomamon!" Joe shouted to his partner.

"Get going, Joe!" Gomamon shouted back.

One by one, they began to de-digivolve. Within moments, all that was left of the team was Cybra, Gatomon, and Angemon.

"Not good..." Sora noted.

"No duh..." Junpuu stated sarcastically.

"You two better digivolve!" Tai shouted to Cybra and Gatomon. The two Digimon nodded.

"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"

"Humamon's Champion form digivolves to...Ultimate form!"

"Dancing Blades!"

"Angewomon! Give me a lift!" Cybra shouted.

Angewomon grabbed the fully-digivolved Cybra and flew high into the air.

"Psy-Hurricane!"

Suddenly, the blades changed direction and rose upwards to greet them, Cybra's attack took most of them out. More blades sprouted from Megamaritarimon.

"Doesn't this guy EVER give up?!" Cybra shouted in annoyance.

"Apparently not! Hang on!"

"Actually, you hang on! You're the one holding onto me!!!"

What followed was a crazy flight trying to avoid the blades. The children's heads got dizzy just trying to follow it. Angemon tried to help the other two, but his attacks weren't powerful enough to take out very many blades.

"I know you can do it, Angemon!" TK shouted.

That's when something amazing happened. TK's Crest of Hope finally glowed.

"TK! Your Crest!" Matt shouted to his little brother.

"Angemon digivolve to...MagnaAngemon!"

Angewomon's and Cybra's eyes practically flew out of their heads.

"Woah!" Cybra exclaimed. "He looks UGLY!"

"Be nice..." Angewomon told her.

Izzy was already typing away at his computer. The stat screen popped up as Izzy said, "MagnaAngemon is the fully digivolved version of Patamon. He holds the sword Excalibur, and uses his Destiny's Gate attack to defeat his enemies!"

"Wow! He's better than Angemon!" TK exclaimed happily.

Kari muttered, "I hope he's enough."

MagnaAngemon flew forward quickly and went in front of the next barrage of blades from Megamaritarimon. He swung his sword in a circle, creating a purple circle which in turn created a portal.

"Destiny's Gate!"

All the blades were sucked inside. Angewomon and Cybra went behind Megamaritarimon. The evil Digimon turned around and saw them standing there.

Cybra gave a little wave as both of them yelled, "Hi there!"

"Heaven's Charm!"

"Psy-Hurricane!"

That shoved the larger Digimon into the portal. The portal sealed itself shut and disappeared.

A tired Angewomon de-digivolved into a very exhausted Gatomon. Cybra de-digivolved to her Champion form again; at the same time, MagnaAngemon de-digivolved into Tokomon.

"Way to go, Tokomon! You did it!" TK yelled as he picked up his friend.

"I couldn't have done it without you, TK!" the little Digimon said cheerfully.

Matt smiled at his little brother. Cybra walked over to where Kari was holding a panting Gatomon.

"You okay, Gatomon?"

"Just tired. Dodging blades with a passenger is not fun."

"Sorry about that."

"Not your fault. Neither one of us expected the first batch of blades to come up towards us."

Cybra held her hand out, palm up. Gatomon smiled and brought her paw down on top of it.

Junpuu walked over to Izzy where he had a very distracted look on his face. He was looking towards the trees where they'd seen the beginning of the digivolution of Megamaritarimon. His features showed off worry.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, hoping nobody would notice that she wasn't dancing for joy like normal.

"Something's not right. I KNOW I've heard that voice before. I just can't put my finger on it..."

"Now, that I think about it, I think I know that voice, too. It's very familiar..."

That's when Izzy's computer began to beep.

"Huh? Hey! I have e-mail! Must be from Gennai!"

Junpuu frowned and put her hands on her hips. "You know what, I've never met this 'Gennai' of yours! How can I be sure that you're not pulling my leg?"

Cybra put a hand on her shoulder. "Gennai is real. He raised me from my Baby form to my In-Training form, then sent me to be trained by Piximon." She stuck her tongue out. "I hated Piximon's training course."

"You're not the only one, Cybra," Matt agreed. He leaned over Izzy to see the screen. "So what'd Gennai send us this time? Another prophecy?"

The familiar little Chibi-Gennai appeared on the screen as he walked to the center of the screen and faced them.

"Hello, kids! I see you've made a new ally. Kyra, right?"

Kyra blinked. "How'd he KNOW?!"

"You're probably wondering how I know, well I have informants all over the Digital World. You know how Digimon love to gossip!"

Cybra laughed. "Ask a stupid question..."

"I'm afraid that you all have a very serious problem." A picture of a black Digivice and a tag with a black Crest appeared on the screen.

"Another Digidestined?" Matt asked.

"You know, that Digivice looks like that one which helped Maritarimon digivolve into Megamaritarimon." She stopped when she noticed everyone was staring at her. "What?"

Junpuu said in wonder, "I had no idea..."

Chibi-Gennai continued, uninterrupted. "This Digivice and Crest both helped Maritarimon digivolve into Megamaritarimon." The picture zoomed in on the Crest where a symbol was outlined in a light gray. "As you can see, the symbol is that of a dagger with a drop of blood coming off the edge. This is the Crest of Deception." Chibi-Gennai reappeared on the screen. "The Crest and tag, along with the Digivice, were sent into your world and picked out a child from there to act as a Dark Digidestined. This child's purpose is to destroy you."

"So basically, we should scratch the idea of help," Tai muttered.

"They were given to this boy right here." Another picture appeared. This time, it was of a tall boy with green hair and eyes. Izzy and Junpuu gasped.

"That's..." Junpuu began.

"Seiya," Izzy finished.

Seiya kicked the dirt of this world to his side. He had been SO CLOSE! If only that stupid angel Digimon hadn't digivolved, he would've won! That would've proved to Junpuu that she belonged with him who could be able to protect her in this strange, new world. Now, he was back at square one.

"Hey, 'Lizzy'," he muttered to his absent rival. "You're going to be VERY sorry you tried to cross me and take what's mine!!!"

He walked along the trail in the woods, searching. Apparently, this strange device and necklace could force a Digimon to digivolve and stay under his control. If he could find enough Digimon, he could make them digivolve and destroy his rival and his rival's friends.

"Except Junpuu," he added quietly. "Junpuu is mine and will be with me."

Then he saw a Salamon and a Motimon appear in front of him. The Salamon turned to the Motimon.

"Look, Motimon! He's got a Digivice and Crest like the Digidestined do!"

"You think that maybe he's one of them?"

Seiya smiled cruelly. He held up his Digivice.

"Not quite."

You could hear the Salamon and Motimon's screams from almost a mile away.

Izzy stared down at his Crest of Knowledge as he walked a little ways from the group later that night...which was actually early morning. Tentomon had objected, but Izzy had won out on the small argument they'd had. In reality, the boy wished he hadn't had the fight with his Digimon friend, but he had to think for a bit on his own.

Tentomon had realized something was up not when Izzy had stood up, stretched, and asked Tai if it was okay if he could take a walk, but when Izzy had started to walk off without his laptop. Izzy sighed, there were days when his friend could read him like a book. However, Tentomon usually couldn't easily see what he was thinking.

The boy sat on a log not too far from the campsite. He could still see the fire and hear the distant chatter of the group, but it gave him at least the illusion of solitude. He continued to look at the Crest.

"Deception...Knowledge...both of these Crests can work hand in hand. When used for good, knowledge and deception can actually improve a situation," Izzy thought aloud. "However, they also are opposites of each other."

He sighed and held the Crest up to his eye level. It seemed to shine with all that was known and all that would be known. Vaguely, he remembered when Cheetarenmon had said that it held no life when it had been broken. What had she meant by that? Were the Crests actually ALIVE?

The redhead shook his head. That didn't make sense. If the Crests were alive, then they would talk or something along those lines. Briefly, he wished that his Crest WAS alive so it would at least guide him on a course of action. Seiya Fukachi had been the LAST person he had wanted to enter the Digiworld.

Junpuu sometimes would pray if she felt lost and needed a little guidance. The idea flitted through Izzy's mind, but was quickly rejected. He had never, EVER, been able to stomach the idea of getting down on his knees and asking for guidance meekly. He did the last part, asking for guidance meekly, on several occasions, but he didn't like the idea of bowing down before someone or something for that.

Quietly, he asked the Crest, "What should I do?"

He received the answer he'd suspected he'd get. Silence.

Junpuu frowned as she waited for him to start to return to camp near the lake. When he disappeared from view, she circled around in front of him to reach the camp first. She had a vague idea of what she had to do. Something to cheer him up and get his mind off of things.

The next morning, Kyra was sleeping peacefully on her back until Sora decided it was time for her to wake up and join the group. They had made a unanimous decision to take a break from fighting for a few days and Kyra was determined to sleep in.

"Wake up, Kyra," Sora said, tapping the older girl's shoulder.

Kyra woke up with a start and accidentally lashed out her arm. She'd had a dream about fighting Megamaritarimon before she was absorbed into the awesome power of the Knowledge Temple. Her hand formed a fist and punched the first thing it came in contact to...

Which happened to be Sora's face.

Sora stumbled back while the others gaped in surprise. Junpuu shook her head.

"I believe I said, 'I wouldn't do that if I were you', but did you listen? Nooo...don't listen to Junpuu, she might have a good idea once in a while."

Tai made a quick decision to keep the two separated for a while to keep a fight from breaking out between them later. He thought he heard Kyra mutter that he should do the same with him and Matt, but dismissed the thought.

Cybra and Kyra joined forces on a hunt for food. Tai, Matt, and Joe went out searching for an easier way over the rise ahead of them, their respective Digimon partners accompanying them. Mimi, Sora, Biyomon, and Palmon were all having fun in a nearby meadow. That left Junpuu, Izzy, TK, Kari, a newly-digivolved Patamon (a good meal and some rest was all he needed to be able to digivolve), and Gatomon behind.

Junpuu was smiling to herself as she thought of a private conversation between her, Cybra, and Kyra had popped up last night.

"So, Cybra," she'd begun casually. "How goes the crush?"

Cybra had moaned while Kyra had looked confused. "That crush died out quickly. I don't know what possessed me!!!"

"What crush?" Kyra had asked, ignoring the death glare from the human-like Digimon.

"Her crush on Joe!"

Kyra and Junpuu had burst out into shameless laughter while Cybra had fumed, but their friend had managed to get them back fairly quickly.

Junpuu was still smiling to herself when Kari tapped her on the shoulder. She looked down at the younger girl, smiling.

"What's up, Kari?"

Kari grinned. "TK said something about Romeo and Juliet in front of Patamon, Tentomon, and Gatomon, and now those three are trying to figure out what it is from what TK's saying." Her grin grew wider. "TK's having a problem explaining it. The only part he knows is 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo'."

Junpuu grinned as well. "Let's go assist our friend, shall we?"

The two girls walked over to where TK and the three Digimon were sitting very close to the edge of the lake.

"Hey, Junpuu? What's Romeo and Juliet about?" Gatomon asked.

"Well, it's a love story about two young humans who fall in love at first sight and what happens to them. It's very sad at the end." She closed her eyes as she remembered some of it. "Hey, TK. Remember this part? 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or, if thou wilt not, say the word and I shall no longer be a Capulet.'"

She paused. TK smiled, impressed. Kari looked the same. The Digimon listened quietly, but Tentomon seemed to have his eyes focused upon something else. However, what she had heard had to have been her imagination.

She couldn't have heard Izzy's voice say, "'Shall I hear more? Or shall I speak at this?'"

That encouraged the girl to keep going. She felt absolutely wicked for showing off, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. She continued Juliet's part and finally ended with "take all myself".

That's when a voice from behind her say, "'I take thee at thy word.'"

Giving a slight yelp, she whipped around and hit whoever it was behind her. The person's arms pinwheeled for a moment as he tried to regain his balance, but ultimately ended up in the water. Junpuu leaned over the edge to see that person's head pop up.

"Izzy?!" she asked, incredulous.

Izzy spat the water out of his mouth...into Junpuu's face. Apparently, the boy had sneaked up on her while she'd been doing her little recitation. He soon began laughing his head off at her angry face as she wiped off the water.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!" He continued laughing as he spoke...much to Junpuu's annoyance.

Junpuu rolled her eyes while the others were laughing as well.

"Funny, Izumi." She called him by his last name whenever she was REALLY annoyed with him. "VERY funny."

She let out a sudden yelp as two splashes of cold water came up at her. TK and Kari were now also in the water after having jumped in. The day was a bit on the hot side. Besides, their clothes needed the wash anyway. Tentomon buzzed past her with Patamon and Gatomon behind him. Gatomon tried to stop from falling in herself, but failed. Junpuu was the only one out of the water...for now.

"Come on in, Junpuu! The water's great!" TK invited her.

"If you like the water, that is," Gatomon grumbled, but there was a small hint of actual happiness for the swim.

"I may join you at that..." Junpuu agreed, grinning devilishly.

Izzy got the hint a little too late. He tried his hardest to swim out of her way, but she had leaped into the water, tackling him at the same time before he had the chance. This worked its way into an all-out water battle between the two.

"Get him!" Junpuu ordered everyone in the water except Izzy as she pointed to the redhead.

Eagerly, the Digimon, TK, and Kari joined in the fun. Tai was doubled-over laughing on the shoreline after having returned from scouting around. Matt leaped past him into the water.

"BANZAI!" he yelled as he performed a perfect cannonball, soaking Tai.

"All right! SWIMMING!!!" Gomamon cheered as he ran towards the lake. Joe picked him up and hurled him into the water. "HEY!"

Joe laughed as Gomamon landed in the water. The little white Digimon lost no time in squirting the blue-haired boy when he came back up. Matt swam under the water towards Tai, reached up, grabbed the boy's shoe, and yanked him in before Tai could object. That started a water fight between the two of them.

One by one, the group of children and Digimon ended up in the water. Cybra and Kyra, like a pair of deranged sharks, would swim together under the water, then pull under some unsuspecting victim. Afterwards, they'd quickly swim away to avoid their victim's wrath. They weren't always successful on the last part.

Night fell. And with it came the touches of slumber. It had been a great day on the whole. Matt grinned mischievously in his sleep as he remembered stealing Joe's glasses, creating a sort of weird version of Marco Polo. Joe would dive after whoever swam by him as he tried to find his glasses.

Izzy had curled up on his side and fallen instantaneously asleep. Junpuu smiled down at her friend in the dark as a small smile formed on his lips. The look on his face made him appear as innocent as TK or Kari.

Quietly, she whispered to him, "'Night, Izzy."

She quickly fell asleep, knowing that even though Seiya was still out there, at least one person wasn't having nightmares.

However, that quickly changed when the blissful look on Izzy's face changed to pure pain and suffering. The nightmares had started again. All of those nightmares contained one person.

'Seiya...'

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: I know what you're thinking: "The Crest of Deception? How lame!" Well, first off, both my muse and I drew a complete blank on the name of Seiya's Crest. Second off, after we came up with the name, both of us realized what Izzy realized in the story. Also, the little "Romeo and Juliet" thing is from the real balcony scene!!! I watched the movie with Leo Decaprio and liked the "balcony" scene. If you have know idea what I'm talking about, just watch the movie (I don't like Leo, I just like the movie). And, Kyra, I hope you enjoy this!!!

Kudos to: Gomamon96 of Digimon Isle, I never give you peace for very long! :) Kyra of the Fanfic Digiworld, my friend and partner-in-crime! Pix and her muses Golamon and Gomamon of Digimon Central, you three really know how to make a person laugh (and I mean that in the nicest way possible!)! Her Royal Weirdness of World Above Ours (or something like that...GOMEN!), I bow before your mightiness! Dana-chan of Shadows Beyond Reality, I appreciate you talking to me and you're pretty cool!!! Stephanie and Teya of DigiLegend, the site's coming along great! All my readers at Fanfiction.Net, <sniff> I love you guys! And last, but not least, the guy I would surely burn in Heck without his aid, "da man" and my muse Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi!!!

Dang! That was a long "Kudos" list! Now for the fun and easy part...RATING TIME!!!

1 - Your talent was stolen by Vedamon!

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 writing is pretty 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!