Arriving at the bottom of the stairwell Tai spoke of, the group found themselves in a rather large corridor, similar in structure to an old underground train station. There were lanterns hanging, alight in blue flame and a large computer along the wall that seemed relatively new in its design. However further down the corridor were two massive tunnels, both of them dark and seemingly endless. 
“Homeostasis!” Tai called out. “We want a word with you!” After a few seconds, a flicker of light descended down into the room. Taking a deep breath, Kari stepped forward and turned around. “Thanks again, sis.” Kari nodded as the entity entered her body, closing her eyes for a moment before unveiling the prismatic ones that Homeostasis often wore. 
“So. Now you’re here, and your digimon are restored. What more do you want from me?” It asked, but Izzy was the first to speak. 
“Do you have any information about the creature King Drasil is building?” 
“I don’t feel overly compelled to share it with you, however.” It shrugged. “It’s extremely powerful. King Drasil has always sought an avatar of his own that he can embody to rule the digital world. When Dark Gennai coveted the data from Megaseadramon’s defeat, King Drasil began to incorporate that data into a living vessel. He’ll soon take form, likely in a shape similar to this.” It showed them, as the room seemed to give way to massive grassy area. Shortly after, an enormous white and black creature appeared supported by a structure of thorn covered vines. Its arms were little more than triangular extensions from the torso, along with what appeared to be white cannons mounted to its shoulders. Its absent legs, more like a skirt, covered in solid white plating disguising the black figure underneath. However, it was the sheer size that surprised everyone. King Drasil stood taller than any digimon they had encountered. 
“He must be, at least five hundred feet tall, maybe more!” Izzy exclaimed.
“The avatar is built from quantum data, copied from the Primal world. While I cannot gauge its strength. I can only imagine it is limited to the data that was received. He may not have had time to perfect it yet.” 
“Do you know about Dorumon?” Tai asked. 
“I’m not concerned with him, no.” 
“Not concerned with him!?” Matt fumed. 
“He just died saving Tai’s life!” Davis cut in. “How can that not be a concern?” 
“It’s no secret that I despise Alphamon. Understand that from my perspective he had been working to circumvent my efforts to restore balance for years. His loss is no matter to me.” 
“Heartless.” Mimi scoffed. 
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Homeostasis turned away. “I grieve for Hackmon. Though he turned away from me in his final days, his service to me was a significant honor. I miss him dearly.” 
“Which is why I think we need to make a quick trip.” Gennai said, appearing before them all. “The Kernel restored the digi-destined for a reason and I have a hunch you know why.” 
“My first thought is desperation, but.” It submitted, tipping its head. “Both myself and King Drasil have become, destabilized.” 
“You’re willing to admit it? Why the change of heart?” Izzy questioned. 
“I recognize at least 4924 programming errors in my own code. Basically put, I cannot think as clearly as I used to. This needs to be remedied. Attempting to split myself into multiple functional forms to assist in maintaining balance may have played a factor, but that’s over now.” Homeostasis said, and with a snap of Kari’s fingers, a light enveloped the floor encompassing all of the digi-destined. Though the room was familiar to Kari, they found themselves in a massive open area with a great light at the center. Beneath them the primal world, the digital world over head and earth behind them. Kari was relinquished and the spectral light that used to make up Homeostasis finally began to take shape. The figure shared in Gennai’s hair color, but wore it the length of her back. She was clad in the same robes as him though they tinted much further to white, but wore bright pink eyes and a face structure similar to that of Kari’s, though she appeared a fair bit more middle aged than her. 
“Homeostasis?” Kari asked. 
“Yes.” She answered in a soft feminine voice. Turning around, the figure of a man took shape within the light before once again regressing to the size of a child. The Kernel had taken T.K’s form once again, the same clothes and age he was when he first arrived in the digital world. 
“Is that me!? Wait, I was that short?” T.K wondered. The Kernel giggled and tipped his head. T.K produced the new digivice, however just like his D3, it had the countdown ring on it. “Even though we have these, does this mean the potential protocol’s going to happen?” The Kernel reached out his hands and T.K set the digivice in it. Giving a soft blow, the timer went away and he dusted it off after before handing it back to him. 
“Can you do the same for-“ Kari began to say, but as she produced her digivice, there was no countdown ring. “Oh!” 
“Haha.” He laughed. 
“No more counters, no more potential protocol.” Gennai explained. “Though you can still use the rings if you want, since they’ll enhance your digimon just like Gatomon’s. But that’s up to you now.” The Kernel smiled at Gennai and nodded in approval. 
“Are we strong enough now to destroy King Drasil?” Tai asked. The Kernel shrugged and turned his head to Homeostasis. 
“Ah.” She nodded. “It’s a question wrongly asked.” She replied for him. “The Kernel says that King Drasil is an essential structure of the digital world just like me. Destroying it would likely lead to the destruction of the digital world, however this avatar it is creating is little more than a vessel for it. Destroy the vessel, and then, bring King Drasil back here.” 
“What for?” Sora took her turn to speak. 
“For the same reason I’m here.” She sighed. “Is it time?” 
“Mmhmm. You need rest.” The Kernel replied in T.K’s child like voice. 
“Gennai.” She said, producing a sphere of light from her heart. “My duties, my charge. They are yours now. Watch over the light of the digital world until my return and. Apologize to Hackmon for me when you see him next.” She begged, as the light sailed toward Gennai and landed in his heart. His robes turned from their usual off color grey to white. 
“I will.” He bowed. 
“Sleep.” The Kernel spoke, waving his hand. Homeostasis curled up, clasping her heart and slowly trickled away in a stream of light. 
“So now we gotta face King Drasil’s avatar thing.” Davis thought aloud. 
“Huh?” Gennai turned to the Kernel who seemed to be staring at him. “Of course. The Avatar is the prime threat. However King Drasil will also be unleashing all of his most dangerous servants on you. Myotismon, Devimon, Etemon, The Dark Masters and Diaboromon just to name a few. You’ll need to fight back against all of them.”
“Figures.” Tai huffed. 
“They’ll probably come for you in the real world too.” The Kernel spoke in T.K’s voice. 
“Whoa!” Everyone said in unison. 
“You’ll have to make teams that can handle it. But you guys are really strong now, and you won’t have to fight alone.” It said. 
“Right. It’s high time that some long standing wrongs, were righted.” Gennai stated. “I’m going to release all the recalled digimon. The digi-destined were never meant to be separated to begin with.”  
“Alright!” Tai fist pumped. “I don’t care how tough King Drasil thinks he is, we’re bringing him down!”
“We’ll handle this! Leave that nasty avatar to us!” Agumon joined in. 
“We’ll defend both worlds, after all this is practically home for us too.” Matt threw in. 
“It’s why we’ll never give up, fighting the good fight.” Gabumon agreed. 
“We know what we’re up against!” Izzy said. 
“So we know best how to take them down!” Tentomon stated, who was followed up by Sora and Biyomon. 
“There’s nothing we can’t accomplish together!” 
“And we’ll fight together to the end!” 
“We’ll go in with a well thought out plan.” Joe smiled, rubbing the back of his head. 
“And if all else fails, we’ll wing it! Haha!” Gomamon laughed aloud, before being followed up by Cody and Armadillomon. 
“We’ll never abandon the digital world.” 
“Not when it needs us the most!” 
“We won’t stand by this time.” Meiko clasped her chest. 
“We won’t be afraid!” Meicoomon cheered.
“I’ll fight anyone that threatens our friends.” Willis joined in. 
“Or our family!” Lopmon and Terriermon said, hugging each other. 
“For the digi-world!” Yolei cheered.
“For all worlds!” Hawkmon joined in. 
“We’ll stand in defiance.” Ken raised his fist.
“Against any darkness!” Wormmon stated. 
“They’ll never have a chance against us! We’re the best team in the world!” Davis shouted. 
“We’ll take whatever they got and then some! Bring em on!” Veemon joined in. 
“It’s time to end this threat once and for all.” T.K said. 
“And together, we’ll win!” Patamon joyfully responded. 
“For all those we lost, we’re the last hope!” Gatomon spoke.
“And we’ll see it through to the end. After all.” Kari smiled. 
“We’re the digi-destined!” Everyone shouted.

Dorumon found himself walking beneath a darkened sky that flashed with the occasional crackle of lightning. Before him was a great grass covered cliff and beyond that was a maelstrom of water that spanned all the way toward the horizon and at the center a good mile down was a portal of light. He sighed, steadily climbing the cliff but took special note of a red cloaked figure at its peak, staring down into the abyss below. Dorumon knew who it was right away and gave a quick huff as he approached. 
“Well, go on, say it. You were right and I was wrong.” He called, slowly approaching the figure. “I’m sure you wanna get all your little jabs in now before I fade forever.” However Dorumon stopped a handful of feet shy of his brother, noticing he wasn’t turning around. “Well, say something Hurlmon.” He lightly teased. “Remember, cause of that time we rode the rollercoaster and-“ He cut himself off hearing a sniffle. “What’s wrong with you?” Dorumon asked, rushing to Hackmon’s side. He could see his brother was in tears, gazing down into the light below. “What’s with the water works?” Hackmon slowly turned to Dorumon and spoke. 
“I’m proud of you.” He said softly. 
“Tch.” Dorumon scoffed. “Yeah well, King Drasil turned his back on me. Couldn’t let him kill the best shot the digital world had of surviving. Sides.” Dorumon sat down close to his brother. “You’re the hero of this tale; mister sacrifices himself to defeat Megaseadramon.” 
“Am I?” He asked, returning his gaze out to the horizon. “I often wonder.” 
“Jump in, and find out yourself.” Dorumon casually suggested. “That’s how it goes, right? All digimon get reborn, but some of us really evil ones well. We gotta wait a long time, and sometimes. We just don’t get to come back.” 
“You, are not evil.” Hackmon interjected. 
“Pretty sure The Kernel will feel differently.” Dorumon sighed, looking down into the light below. “Pretty far drop. No matter what, when we come out, we won’t be the same. Reconfigured, and probably no memories of anything that happened. I guess, I’ll never see Tai again. Maybe that’s for the better.” Hackmon returned his attention to his brother as both let a tear escape. Stammering Dorumon spoke once more. “Think it’ll hurt?” Hackmon lunged for Dorumon, wrapping him up in his cloak and squeezing him tight. 
“Not if we go together.” Hackmon spoke softly. 
“Not gonna leave me alone this time?” He asked. 
“Either we’ll be reborn together again. Or not at all. I’ll accept no compromise.” 
“The digital world needs you.” Dorumon argued. 
“There will always be royal knights and digi-destined. There will always be those to champion the cause of the digital world. But I only have one brother.” Hackmon smiled, squeezing him tight. “Let us go, together.” 
“Together.” He whispered, as the two fell from the cliff. Approaching the water, Dorumon whimpered, gripping Hackmon just a little tighter. Hackmon just smiled, his eyes closed and hold fast on his brother. As the light took them both, their bodies trickling away in a stream of red, white and purple, the last flickers of which faded into the endless light below.

Back in the real world, the digi-destined returned to Izzy’s apartment. Night had rolled in, and with everyone’s status restored, Izzy rushed to the computer to get in touch with the other digi-destined around the world. 
“Checking in on them babe?” Mimi asked, leaning over his shoulder. 
“Right, I’m hoping everyone got their partners back, but I wanna make sure.” 
“Matt, Davis. I got a hunch with Dark Gennai destroyed and no defenses left that King Drasil is going to bust out everything he’s got, and soon.” Tai advised. 
“Right, why hesitate when both Hackmon and Dorumon are gone.” Matt agreed. 
“So then, we bust him back!” Davis chimed in. 
“Right, but I think the three of us should lead the teams.” Tai carried on explaining. 
“But that would mean we won’t have Omnimon.” Matt reminded him. 
“We don’t need him. I’m sure if we put our hearts into it, we can bond form with our digimon again.” Tai advised. 
“Hey yeah, good call.” Matt agreed. “So, you really wanna put me in charge?” 
“You and Davis got the chops. I’ve never doubted either of you.” Tai smiled. “You did great when I was gone during the Meicoomon incident and Davis well, to say you did amazing with Malomyotismon is an understatement. I trust you both.” 
“Alright, so what’re the teams!?” Davis cheered. 
“I’ll take T.K, Kari, Meiko and Mimi. We’ll be the frontal assault team. Drawing out King Drasil’s tougher forces and taking them down. Matt, take Sora, Cody, Willis and Izzy. We need full recon, and maybe even a path into King Drasil’s server tree. If there’s a way to blow up his avatar before he can unleash it, you guys can do it. Davis, you get Joe, Ken and Yolei. Guard the real world. With Imperialdramon you guys can fly anywhere on earth, or use the digiports. Once Matt’s broken into the tree, or figured out where and when this avatar’s gonna show. We regroup and attack together.” 
“Good plan, when do we start?” Matt stated.
“Let’s get our digimon fed and mobilized right now. I don’t want to give King Drasil any more time to prepare his monster.” Tai answered. “Alright! Everyone!” Tai announced. “We’ve come up with a plan to counter King Drasil, but we have to do it tonight!” 
“I’m glad we’re taking this with urgency.” Izzy spoke up. 
“Matt, Davis and I will lead the teams. Get all of our digimon fed and prepared. Izzy, we’ll need the locations of any of King Drasil’s servants in the digital and real worlds asap.” 
“I’ve been monitoring them since the truce began. To say they’re on the move now is an understatement.” Izzy replied. 
“He’s not joking.” Tentomon added in. “Worst of all, it looks like both the Dark Masters and Myotismon are up in arms.” 
“Myotismon.” Gatomon growled. 
“We’ll take em.” Tai nodded. “Have our targets ready. Agumon, all of you guys. I’m glad you’re here to stay for good now. But we still have work to do before we can live in peace. Are you guys all up for it?” 
“Of course Tai!” Agumon jumped happily. “I still gotta figure out what this mark does. Also, you mentioned food so who am I to complain, haha!” 
“We’re ready!” They all cheered. 

Tai and his team passed through the gate, arriving just outside of Myotismon’s castle. Gatomon took point, huffing at the sight of the home she used to live in ages ago. 
“Myotismon. This time we’re gonna put you away for good.” Gatomon hissed. 
“We need to get his attention first.” Tai stated, turning to Gatomon with a devilish grin, he asked. “Gatomon, shall we knock on the door?”  
“Oh with pleasure!” 
“Suit up everyone!” Tai called out. 
“Agumon, warp digivolve to! Wargreymon!” 
“Gatomon, digivolve to! Angewomon.” 
“Palmon digivolve to! Togemon!” 
“Togemon digivolve to! Lillymon!” 
“Patamon, digivolve to! Angemon!” 
“Angemon digivolve to! Magnaangemon.” 
“Meicoomon, digivolve to! Meicrackmon!” Wargreymon, Angewomon and Lillymon were the first to fire on the giant castle as they ascended the cliff toward the top. 
“Terra Force!” 
“Heaven’s Charm!” 
“Flower cannon!!” the trio shouted as their attacks slammed the stone towers, sending huge chunks of the building down. 
“Be ready for anything.” Kari stated. 
“We are.” T.K agreed. Shooting out from the dust and rubble, wrapped in his signature black cloak he let loose with his diabolical laugh. 
“Digi-destined! Welcome back to my humble home.” Myotismon descended nearby, unfurling his cape. “I see you couldn’t resist coming back to get your revenge.” 
“This has nothing to do with revenge Myotismon. You serve King Drasil, don’t you!?” Kari demanded. 
“I serve no one. But King Drasil’s interests just so happen to align with mine and I would take great pleasure in destroying you nonetheless.” 
“Look at your odds, tall dark and ugly. You’re out matched.” Tai shouted back. 
“There’s that buffoon once again. Haven’t you learned anything from our past encounters? Your over confidence shall be your downfall! Crimson Lightning!!” He lashed out, swinging for Tai but Wargreymon slashed away the beam and went in for Myotismon. Ducking his claws however, he went back on the offensive. “Like for one thing, I never fight alone.” 
“Shadow Scythe!” Phantomon appeared behind Lillymon slashing her down. “Remember children, never play with sharp objects. You could hurt yourselves, just let me do it for you instead.” He taunted, bringing behind him a fleet of Bakumon. 
“Crimson light-UGH!” Myotismon was cut off by Meicrackmon’s tail across his neck. “You, who are you?” 
“My friends call me Mei.” She stated, hurling Myotismon into the castle walls. 
“Celestial Arrow!” Angewomon fired at Myotismon but he managed to leap up out of the way. 
“Grizzly wing!” 
“Gate of Destiny!” Magnaangemon cut in, creating a portal that sucked in all the bats. 
“Diabolic star!” Phantomon tried to go for Lillymon again, but the flail of his chain caught nothing but air. 
“Hitting a girl from behind, guess there’s a real coward behind that cloak.” Lillymon taunted. 
“My apologies, if you hold still though, I can take your throat face-to-face.” He offered. 
“Terra Force!” Wargreymon fired on the Bakumon blowing dozens of them away as the explosion caused Phantomon to turn away. 
“Flower Cannon!” Lillymon fired on Phantomon and this time caught him with the blast and destroyed him.
“Nice shot!” Mimi cheered. T.K gasped though as a new figure appeared behind his digimon.
“Magnaangemon! Behind you!” 
“Trump Sword!” A familiar voice cried out, as four blades lashed near Magnaangemon, spinning him around. “My-my-my, it certainly has been a while.” Piedmon chuckled briefly. “I’ll have to continue to perfect my aim.” 
“Black Wing!” A shrill voice cried out, lunging for Angewomon. Dodging the attack she recognized her right away. 
“Ladydevimon!” Angewomon shouted. 
“That’s right. Myotismon my dear, is this a private party or is anyone welcome?” She proposed to him as he rose up into the sky. 
“Certainly, the more the merrier. Just remember to leave that one girl to me, she and I have unfinished business.” He cackled, pointing to Kari. T.K however leapt in front of Kari and shouted back.
“You lay one finger on her, I’ll make you pay!”
“You wanna up the ante!?” Tai threatened. “Fine, let’s see what you got!” 
“Magnaangemon, digivolve to! Seraphimon!” 
“Angewomon, digivolve to! Ophanimon!” 
“Lillymon digivolve to! Rosemon!” 
“What!? Impossible!” Myotismon cried out. 
“Stop gawking you fool and fight!” Piedmon shouted. “Clown Trick!” He fired on Wargreymon but he deflected the attack whipping the shield from his back. 
“Terra Force!” He fired right back. 
“Forbidden Temptation!” Rosemon joined him, but both blasts missed Piedmon as the two went into hot pursuit. Ladydevimon and Myotismon came together to attack.
“Darkness Wave!”
“Grizzly Wing!” The two launched an unrelenting torrent of bats at Seraphimon and Ophanimon. 
“Sefirot Crystal!” Ophanimon responded, forming an array of crystals and firing back at the attack. 
“Strike of the Seven Stars!” Seraphimon shot at Myotismon while Ladydevimon leapt out of the way. The stars hit true and Myotismon cried out in agony as he was vaporized, leaving behind only his mask. Ladydevimon found her escape cut off by Meicrackmon who locked her in her grasp from behind. 
“Who invited you to this party!?” 
“Subtle Sting!” Meicrackmon shouted, jabbing her stinger into Ladydevimon’s belly. 
“AHH!” She cried out, keeling over and shivering. “You’ll pay for that!” Ladydevimon swung for Meicrackmon and caught her in the face, forcing her to back off. However Ophanimon was now standing before her and though she was wounded, Ladydevimon readied her claws for attack and leapt back. 
“Black Wing!” She shouted, lunging for Ophanimon who deflected the spike with her spear and aimed the tip at Ladydevimon’s throat. 
“Look on the bright side, at least we didn’t slap each other silly this time.” Ophanimon reminded her of their previous match atop spiral mountain. Firing her Eden’s Javelin, the blast blew through Ladydevimon’s neck and sent her to the ground and as she landed she blew apart into data. Meicrackmon drifted over to Ophanimon and gave her a quick high five.
“Never mess with the cat pack huh?” Meicrackmon smiled. 
“I love it when we’re working together.” Ophanimon chuckled. 
Piedmon continued fighting with Wargreymon, the two trading clashes of claws and swords until he broke free and squared off with him and Rosemon. Humming a soft laugh at first, it soon blew into a full blown fit. 
“Wargreymon, take him out.” Tai called out. 
“Now now, so hasty!” Piedmon shook his head with a devilish little grin. “After all, you aren’t the only one to put on a compelling performance tonight, hmm?”
“What do you mean!?” Mimi demanded. 
“Oh I do wonder where my former comrades in arms went.” He playfully thought aloud. “Ah that’s right. Their likely ripping apart your precious human world as we speak! Hahahahahaha!” 
“Oh, we were prepared for that.” Tai smiled. 
“Huh?” 
“You’ve been down too long Piedmon. We’re bigger, stronger and more wide spread than we’ve ever been before. If the other dark masters are in our world right now, they’re getting their tails kicked!” Tai flaunted. 
“Yep, Davis and the others have probably already defeated them. Face it joker, you’re done for.” Meiko joined in, taunting Piedmon.
“That’s right. There aren’t as many rats among you as I recall before. No matter. I’ll simply destroy you all one by one.” Piedmon laughed. “Trump Sword!” Launching his blades at Wargreymon, but they were deflected away with his claws. 
“Thorn Whip!” Rosemon cried out, lashing up Piedmon and restraining his arms. He growled and struggled to break free as Wargreymon rushed, winding up with a massive haymaker. He threw his fist across Piedmon’s face, sending him spiraling to the ground. 
“Shows over, clown. Terra Force!” 
“Forbidden Temptation!” The two attacked in unison before Piedmon could find his feet and in a massive explosion that consumed the cliff-side Piedmon cried out as he was vaporized. 
“That all you got King Drasil!?” Tai called out. “Cause we’re only getting warmed up!” Meiko however could see a massive visage of darkness rising from where Myotismon fell. 
“Tai! Behind us!!” Meiko called out, as the digimon rallied behind their partners. 
“Hahahahaha!! You didn’t think it was over that easily did you!?” Myotismon cackled, taking on that massive form of Venommyotismon. “After all, a true demon never fails to rise again! So allow me to introduce a new friend!” 
“Cable Crusher!” Diaboromon blindsided Meicrackmon, sending her down to the ground. 
“Oh no! Wargreymon, take him out quick!” Tai ordered. 
“Seraphimon, help Meicrackmon!” T.K joined in. 
“Rosemon, Stay with Wargreymon, you have to help bring that monster down!” Mimi ordered. 
“You too Ophanimon! Focus on Venommyotismon!” 

Matt’s team had arrived deep within the heart of a jungle within the digital world, in the southern portion of the Server continent. Izzy had his laptop out, acting as a pseudo GPS to lead them toward an ancient ruin, said to house the gateway to King Drasil’s Server tree. Willis was leaning a little on Cody, being a bit exhausted from his trial and still recovering from his concussion while Sora stayed close to Matt. 
“Shouldn’t be far now.” Izzy stated. 
“Good, cause Tai’s gone dark on coms.” Matt replied. 
“Which probably means they’re fighting right now.” Sora threw in. 
“I hope they’ll be ok.” Gabumon spoke up, as the team cleared a tree line and found the ruins before them. It was a massive triangular temple, similar in style and design to the Mayan ruins that Matt and Ken had ventured into in Mexico. “Whoa, this place looks kind of familiar.” 
“Yeah, no kidding. It looks a lot like the ruins from when we visited Mexico.” Matt noted. 
“You’re not wrong.” Izzy spoke up. “Remember, the digital world has an aptitude for adopting data from our world to utilize here. So it’s no surprise that in a tropical location we’d see ruins similar to ours on earth.” 
“Lovely, a dark, damp and potentially trap laden temple.” Tentomon said. “I feel like I need a whip and hat.” 
“Hahaha, silly Tentomon.” Biyomon giggled. 
“Let’s stay on guard.” Cody said, rebalancing Willis. “Willis, are you sure you’re up for this, you really don’t look good.” 
“Maybe Cody’s right.” Terriermon stated. 
“Willis, if you need to sit down for a while, it’s ok.” Lopmon joined in. 
“Don’t worry, I’ll be alright. Besides, worse comes to worse I can just portal out.” He reminded them. 
“Willis, guys. Let’s move. If Tai’s already fighting, then Davis isn’t far behind either. We have to make the distraction worth it. Izzy, guide us through the temple.” Matt said, taking control of the situation. 
“Right, got it.” Izzy replied, taking the lead inside and down the long dark corridor. “Hey, it’s working. I’m getting a layout in here. Buah!!!” He cried out as the map showed itself. “Oh great, it’s another massive maze.” 
“Wasn’t that what you faced in your trial?” Sora asked. 
“Well yes, but remember Izzy, we couldn’t digivolve and we didn’t have a one mon wrecking crew with us.” Tentomon replied for him. 
“Ah! Digmon!” Izzy exclaimed. 
“Well I’m not big on smash and bash cause it kind of feels like cheating but, if it’ll get us where we need to go. Armadillomon, are you up for it?” Cody asked. 
“You know it!” 
“Right, then let’s get to it!” Cody produced his new yellow digivice and shouted. “Digi-armor energize!” 
“Armadillomon, armor digivolve to! Digmon, the drill of knowledge!” 
“Digmon!” Matt called out. “Avoid hitting any pillars or support structures, just create passages large enough for us to get through.” 
“Wise call.” Izzy complimented. “Last thing we need is the ruins coming down on us. The port should be about five walls through. Starting here!” Izzy instructed, patting his hand on the open part of the wall.
“Gold Rush!” Digmon fired, blowing a hole clean through the wall, revealing a narrow passage ahead. “Too easy.” He laughed, leading everyone through. Izzy pointed toward the wall directly ahead of the first hole they blew open and Digmon went to work burrowing through. It was quite a lot thicker this time, and even went through a bit of earth to get to it. However upon entering the next chamber they found themselves with a new problem. “Wuh oh.” 
“Whoa jeez!” Cody exclaimed. Digmon had burrowed a hole close to the ceiling and the drop was a good hundred feet down. 
“Sora.” Matt smiled back to her. 
“You got it.” She winked. “Biyomon, you know what to do!” 
“Right!” 
“Biyomon, digivolve to! Birdramon!” Two at a time, she brought everyone down to the ground as Izzy pointed out where to tunnel next. 
“Gold Rush!” Digmon fired once more, creating another passage in the hall. Birdramon de-digivolved and everyone entered inside. In a similar style they found that after borrowing through the fourth wall, they were quite close to the ceiling of another hundred foot drop. 
“Well, here we go again.” Sora suggested. 
“Hang on, you’re not the only flyer.” Izzy smiled. “Besides, we should rotate who digivolves to conserve energy.” 
“Isn’t he brilliant?” Tentomon praised. 
“Tentomon digivolve to! Kabuterimon!”
“Alright, let’s go!” Kabuterimon called out, bringing people down in the same fashion Birdramon did. At the bottom this time, he remained digivolved as they turned right down the hall and found themselves confronted by a giant iron door. 
“Looks a little heavy, but I think we can manage!” Digmon proudly touted. “Come on Kabuterimon!” 
“Right!” He joined in, pressing hard on the door with Digmon but it wouldn’t budge. “Ok, little tougher than I thought.” He huffed, landing on his backside. Izzy took special note however of a certain ingress on the side. It seemed to have the same triangular shape that Dorumon had used to access the anti-chamber after the brief maze in toward the vault. 
“Only a royal knight can open it.” Izzy thought aloud. “Gabumon, think you can try pressing your paw against this?” 
“Well, sure. Let’s give it a try.” Gabumon agreed. Placing his hand inside, a soft blue glow began to emanate. “Whoa!” he breathed, as the door clunked a good three times and steadily began to open. 
“Wow Izzy, how’d you know!?” Matt exclaimed. Izzy proudly smiled as he turned around to explain. 
“Dorumon opened a similar door in the past, he was able to do so because he’s a royal knight digimon. It just makes sense that Gabumon could do the same, since he and Agumon can form Omnimon.” 
“Smart call.” Matt complimented. They stepped inside to find a massive computer room, with what looked like a crescent shaped tree in the middle embedded into the ground. The workstations looked fairly old, and weren’t on, however nearby were a pair of Tesla coils which seemed to feed into the computers. Izzy and Willis went right to work, trying to get it back online but it didn’t seem to have sufficient power. 
“Out of power.” Izzy huffed. 
“Hey, think Kabuterimon can give it a jump start?” Matt suggested, nodding off toward the coils. 
“Be happy to try. Electro Shocker!” He fired on the coils, and in a flash of light they began to arc between them and the workstation came back online. 
“Sometimes all you need is a little boost.” Cody smiled. 
“Right, let’s see here.” Izzy went right to work alongside Willis and began to pull up a few files on the main monitor. “It does seem like this is more or less an observation room. That structure in the middle is likely a digital gateway as well.” 
“Izzy, is it possible to check on Tai and Davis from here?” Sora asked. 
“Anything’s possible, let me have a look.” He carried on working. “Whoa! Yeah I’m picking up some powerful readings alright. It’s Venommyotismon and Diaboromon.” 
“And Davis?” Cody asked right away. 
“He’s over the pacific right now, inbound for Maui. Metalseadramon’s heading there too, along with a group of Gesomon, Divermon, Octomon and Shellmon.” 
“They can handle it. Imperialdramon’s no slouch!” Biyomon spoke up. 
“That’s right!” Terriermon joined in. 
“Wait you guys!” Lopmon jumped up, raising his ear toward the door. “I think I hear something.” 
“Someone on our tail?” Matt questioned. 
“I’ll check it out.” Cody took the charge with Armadillomon behind him. “Come on Armadillomon.” 
“I’m with ya!” Cody stepped outside and rounded the hall to the main chamber they entered from. He could see the hole at the top of the wall where they came in, but searching around they couldn’t see anything. “Maybe Lopmon was just hearin stuff?” 
“Perhaps.” Cody sighed, when suddenly a loud crackle rushed along the wall, followed by a loud crash in the distance. “Or maybe not.” 
“We should get back to the others.” Armadillomon suggested. 
“Right.” Cody agreed, but as he rounded the corner, the great door slammed closed with a deafening crash. Matt got up and started pounding on the door. 
“Hey!! Let us out!” He shouted. 
“You fools fell right into our trap!” A familiar voice spoke, as Datamon materialized before them. 
“You!” Sora scowled. “I remember you!”
“You kidnapped Sora and tried to copy her!” Biyomon joined in. “What’s your evil plan this time you overgrown alarm clock!” She growled, her feathers ruffled by Datamon’s presence. 
“Copying you was a clearly a mistake. However, thanks to King Drasil I can simply destroy you this time, an act that would grant me a great deal of satisfaction.” Datamon stated. 
“Think again ya tin can!” Sora shouted. 
“Ah-ah-ah! I’d suggest you submit willingly unless you wish your friend outside to perish here and now.” Datamon warned. Outside Cody was trying to feel out the door, even giving it a few pushes but it was no use. 
“Great, now what are we gonna do?” 
“We gotta think of something, our friends are in there and we ain’t turning our back on em are we?” Armadillomon smiled. 
“Yeah, absolutely right Armadillomon.” Cody gave him one right back. 
“I’d be a lil more concerned about yourself than your friends.” A voice spoke up, rounding the corner. “After all, they aren’t about to get their backsides kicked by the king of rock and roll!” Etemon proclaimed, revealing himself. 
“King of rock and roll?” Cody tipped his head. 
“Cody, I think he’s a servant of King Drasil.” Armadillomon stated, lunging in front of him.
“Now now, I won’t have ya’ll going off assumptions. Drasy’s a big fan of mine, and he’s agreed to give me an entire audience of digimon to rule over if I bring ya in dead or alive. Frankly, I prefer the former.” He posed. 
“Not a chance! Go get him Armadillomon!” 
“Armadillomon Digivolve to! Ankylomon!” 
“Hey look at that, we got a new batter stepping up to the plate. Too bad the king of rock’s gotta send ya back to the stone age. Summon the Dark Network!” Etemon proclaimed, as black wires ripped out from the wall and wrapped around Ankylomon and began shocking him. 
“No! Ankylomon hang on!” 
“Gabumon, digivolve to! Garurumon!” 
“Garurumon, digivolve to! Weregarurumon!” 
“I warned you.” Datamon threatened as Weregarurumon threw a hard punch for Datamon. Leaping out of the way, he just missed the computer and went for a roundhouse kick on the little digimon. 
“The others are too big to fight in here.” Izzy shivered. “We’re at a slight disadvantage if Weregarurumon can’t win.” 
“No we’re not!” Willis jumped in. “Terriermon, step up!” 
“You got it, Willis!” 
“Terriermon Digivolve to! Gargomon!” 
“Gargomon digivolve to! Antylamon!”
“Lopmon, protect Willis!” Antylamon stated before jumping into the fray with Weregarurumon. The little digimon could only avoid the swings from the two digimon for so long before catching a solid punch from Weregarurumon, sending him into the wall and cracking the glass covering on his head. 
“Very well, if you want to play rough, than that’s how we’ll play. First, the digi-destined must die, than you will be powerless to stop me!” Datamon threatened, aiming his fingers at Matt. “Allow me to show you a gift, given to me by King Drasil. Nanite shower!” He cried out, as an effusion of nanites flooded the room from his finger tips. Weregarurumon and Antylamon covered their partners as best they could while Izzy, Tentomon, Sora and Biyomon huddled up under Weregarurumon. Everyone started coughing violently, struggling to catch their breath as the nanite shower dissipated. “Now you will learn your place. Those nanites will soon drain all of your power and as for you humans it’ll eventually shut down your nervous systems.” 
“Not good, ugh!” Matt coughed over and over. Back outside Ankylomon had finally broken free of the cables for now and took a swing at Etemon with his tail hammer. Etemon however caught the attack and threw the big digimon into the main chamber ahead. 
“Now come on honey, you gotta give it a little more than that. I give that a 3.5 outta 10.” Etemon taunted. 
“Ankylomon don’t give up, you can win this!” 
“Don’t get your hopes up little buddy.” Etemon waved his finger at Cody. “After all, Datamon is likely tearing apart your friends in there while we’re cuttin a rug here. I just wanna enjoy myself while that tin can does the only thing he can do right.” 
“No!” Cody cried out, clenching his fists. “Stop it! Stop hurting Ankylomon! Stop attacking my friends right now!” 
“What, you mean like this? Monkick!” He shouted; drop kicking Ankylomon into the wall. “Summon the Dark Network!” He called out, once again wrapping him up in cable as the walls began to crumble. “Now see what happens when ya come a knockin where the king of rock’s rockin!” 
“You monster! I’ll make you stop it!” Cody lunged in and tried to shoulder tackle Etemon to the ground. Though he didn’t fall over, it was enough to stagger the monkey digimon, and force him to drop Ankylomon. Growling he turned around and swung for Cody’s face and sent him to the ground. Grunting, Cody picked himself up, wiping a bit of blood from his lip. 
“Hey that wasn’t half bad, specially for a human. How bout that, you’re a loyal piece of work ain’t ya. Too bad it got ya destroyed.” Etemon taunted, picking up Cody by his shirt. 
“I’ll never back down from a bully like you! You’re just another monster who wants to hurt people for no reason.” He eked out. 
“Look at that, the last horse crosses the finish line.” Etemon mocked, channeling a dark sphere in his hand. 
“No! Cody!” Ankylomon grunted trying to pick himself up. “I can’t, let him win! I just can’t. Cody’s my best friend, I won’t let it end here!” As he spoke Cody’s crest began to resonate and his digivice screeching.
“Ankylomon, digivolve to!” Transforming, Ankylomon stood upright, his arms taking a more humanoid look while retaining his spiked iron bands on each wrist. His legs dawning the same spikes across his ankles, while the armor took to a more gold-plate like form across his husky figure, maintaining the spikes along his back. His face rounding out to be a bit more human like, and his tail hammer split into two large iron maces, wrapped in white guard tape to which he held in each hand. Finally, he had reached his ultimate level standing only a few feet taller than Weregarurumon he called out his new name. “Warankylomon!” 
“What in the world!?” Etemon dropped Cody just in time to see the new digimon behind him. 
“You got a real nerve threatening my friend, I won’t stand for it anymore!” Warankylomon shouted. 
“Well looky here, a new fully evolved digimon. Come on ugly, show me what’cha got.” Etemon openly invited, spanning his arms out. 
“Fine by me! Twin-Iron Stars!” He shouted, slamming the ground with both maces he just missed Etemon but the force still blew him back against the wall. 
“Alright, so ya ain’t playin around huh?” Etemon groaned. 
“You’re finished Etemon! Warankylomon, let’s show him what happens when you try to pick a fight you can’t win!” Cody cried out. 
“You got it!” Warankylomon obliged, locking the base of each of his maces together to form one weapon. “Shatter-star Attack!” He called out, hurling the maces in a whipping spin right for Etemon. The weapon just sailed over Etemon’s head and as a last ditch effort he went in for the attack. 
“Summon the Dark Network!” Once more the wires tried to trap Warankylomon, but this time, after a series of grunts and growls he began ripping the cables out of the wall and broke himself free. “Hey, that’s cheating!” Etemon nervously stammered. 
“Gigaton Punch!” Warankylomon landed a devastating blow to Etemon, sending him harshly into the wall and creating a massive crack in it in the process. Warankylomon was quick to pick up his weapon and separate the maces as he leapt into the air. “Here’s your swan song! Twin-Iron Stars!” He cried out, slamming down on Etemon who cried out in agony as he was destroyed by the attack. 
“Yeah!! You did it!!” Cody cheered with delight. “I’m so proud of you Warankylomon!” 
“I couldn’t have done it without you, Cody. You’re so brave and loyal, the true hallmarks of a great warrior. I’m proud to be your partner.” He smiled. 
“I’m honored to be yours, and I love you Warankylomon.” Cody bowed. “I’m so grateful you’re a part of my life.” 
“Aw, stop. You’re making me blush, hahaha.” 
“Come on, see if we can crack that door open. Our friends are in trouble.” 
“Right!” Warankylmon obliged joining him at the door.