//------------------------------//
// New Friend. Old Enemy? 
// Story: Equestria Ninja Girls Going Digital 
// by WarriorofFaith18 
//------------------------------//

The Ninjas, Rainbooms, Bebop, Rocksteady, Starlight, CMCs, Team Shine, and Digidestined were continuing their way to Gennai’s place to learn more about this virus affecting their worlds. They were telling Leomon and Ogremon of their first adventure together from their training to their climatic fight with Devimon. 

“So this Ripley guy used the very mutagen that made you guys who you are to revive Devimon?” Ogremon asked.

“Yep. He got the mutagen from our enemy, Baxter Stockman. The mutagen itself was from an alien race called the Kraang.” Mikey explained.

“Well, I used to work for Devimon. And I tell ya he’s a real jerk! Especially after the way he turned me into gears and absorbed them into his body!” Ogremon huffed.

Starlight walked up to him. “So, Ogremon, how did you redeem yourself?”

“Well, I was fighting other Digimon when the Dark Masters took over when a giant meteor crashed near me which injured me. When I woke up, Mimi and Joe found me and treated my wounds.”

“I was fed up with fighting back then, so I needed a break.” Mimi sighed. “Joe stayed with me to protect me while the others fought the Dark Masters.”

Mikey leaned up to Joe. “Well well well. I wonder why’s that?”

Blushing, Joe pushed him away. “Please! It was nothing like that! Tai needed to lead the others and Matt had to get his act together, so I was seemingly the best choice to stay with Mimi. We’re just good friends.”

Ogremon continued. “Anyway, because they were the first and only ones who ever showed me kindness before so I swore I’d repay them by helping against the Dark Masters.”

“Well, comrade, we can relate to what you went through.” Rocksteady patted his shoulder.

Ogremon nodded. “So, you guys worked for this Shredder guy?”

“Well, we had a little…..persuasion, mainly this!” Bebop bit his lip, pointing to himself. 

“Hard to believe a guy named after a kitchen utensil was actually very tough!” Ogremon pondered.

“Well, he wasn’t something to sneeze at.” Casey warned.

Meanwhile, Leomon was also getting acquainted with the Ninjas and Rainbooms as well. “So, you all were trained to be ninjas?”

“Yes. Our late father, Splinter, trained us since we were young.” Leo explained.

“While the rest of us came by fate and were given the chance to train.” Sunset added.

“I would like to see you guys in action.” Leomon admitted.

“I’m sure we’ll have time to train after we meet with Gennai.” Shine Boy promised.

“And we should join in for old time’s sake.” Davis spoke for his friends.

“That is part of the plan. I’m glad to hear you all have been practicing.” Leo smiled.

“Well, it did seem like a waste if we stopped. Especially if we faced someone like those Gem Knights again.” TK confessed.

“Even my grandpa was amazed how much my ninja training improved my kendo.” Cody added.

“Yeah, after what Matt and Izzy told me, I’m curious to see you guys in action.” Tai grinned.

“Here we are!” Izzy called.

Everyone looked to see they arrived at a lake.

Sunset looked around to see no buildings in sight. “Uh.. where is Gennai’s place?”

“Right there.” Tentomon pointed to the lake.

“He lives…. In a lake?” Applebloom pieced together.

“I guess so.” Gamer calculated.

“You’re joking, right?” Karai raised a brow.

“Maybe it’s a subterranean establishment.” Donnie figured.

“Must be hard to get pizza or takeout around here.” Shine Boy joked.

“That’s what I thought too at first.” Joe smiled.

“So what? He has a yellow submarine to take us there?” Night Shine griped.

“Maybe we have to swim down there.” Mikey figured before jumping into the water. “Cannonball!”

His splash was so big it narrowly missed Rarity but hit Raph and Ogremon.

“MIKEY!” Raph yelled.

Ogremon however just spat. “Well, I did work up a sweat sparring with Leomon, so thank you?”

“Come on in, guys! The water’s fine!” Mikey swam around.

Suddenly, the water began to glow and bubble where the turtle was.

“Mikey get outta there!” Rainbow gasped.

“it’s okay.” Sora assured.

Then, the lake split in two, revealing a stairwell that Mikey now stood.

“Guess you were right about him living in a subterranean home, Donnie.” Starlight shrugged.

“Looks that way.” The smart turtle concluded.

“Well, we better head down there. I’m sure Gennai’s waiting for us.” Twilight spoke. And they all started to head down.

---------

When they arrived at the bottom, they found and old Japanese household. The Ninjas, Allies, Rainbooms, CMCs, and Team Shine were amazed.

“Wow! I always wanted to see an old-fashioned Japanese house up close. This is so cool!” Shine Boy awed.

“It’s like being in one of those old samurai movies.” Scootaloo smiled.

“Reminds me of home.” Shini said happily.

“Minus the water walls left and right.” Keno pointed to the parted lake.

“On the plus side, it saves me the trouble of watering the plants.” Everyone looked over to see Gennai walk up to the group. “It is good to see you all again.”

“It is good to see you again too, Gennai.” Leo shook his hand.

“Sorry it’s not on better terms.” Shine Boy added.

Gennai nodded. “Indeed. I’ve been noticing the virus shortly before Bishop called me. Come on inside and we’ll discuss it over tea.”

Soon, they were all in Gennai’s house enjoying tea and biscuits. Even Leomon, Ogremon, and Rocksteady were able to fit inside as the lake closed up again. As they looked at the windows, they saw fish swimming by. 

“It’s like having your own private aquarium!” Applebloom awed.

Fluttershy was enjoying them the most. “A European Bass, a pink Salmon, and a swordfish!” she then pulled out a sheet and wrote in it. “Three more for my exotic fish Bingo sheet.”

“They have bingo for that?” Yolei asked.

“Something I do with my animal loving friends.” The shy girl smiled.

“What’s next? Exotic bird bingo?” Night Shine joked.

“Actually, that’s in April.” Fluttershy pointed out to the antihero’s surprise.

“But those are saltwater fish. How can they live in a lake?” Twilight straightened her glasses.

Gennai walked in with some biscuits. “I usually feed them salty pretzels and popcorn.”

“Makes sense.” Pinkie shrugged while Twilight raised a brow at her.

“Remember, we’re in another world, Twilight. Things were tended to be different here.” April reminded her.

“Very fascinated.” Donnie smiled.

Mikey looked at a picture of the Digidestined when they defeated Apocylamon and saw an old man with them. “Hey, Gennai, who’s that? Is that your dad?”

“Believe it or not, Michelangelo, that was me four years ago.”

Blinking, Mikey looked at the picture and then Gennai back and forth before chuckling. “You look great for your age.”

Rarity was equally surprised. “Must know a really know a great surgeon.”

“Actually, it was some Digi vitamins. You see I’m a being who lives in the Digital World. I’m like data only not an actual Digimon because I have no attributes.”

“Attributes?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“They’re types of Categories. Data, Vaccine, and Virus.”

“I’m gonna take a guess and say Virus types are mostly evil Digimon?” Starlight guessed.

“That is correct, Starlight.” Gennai confirmed.

“You’re with one right now.” Starlight wide eyed before turning to Ogremon and chuckled nervously.

“I didn’t mean any offense by that.”

Ogremon waved it off. “I can’t deny my past. Besides, I’m used to it.”

“Now then, down to business.” Gennai pulled out a fan as a big screen slowly descended, showing a map. “I’ve been trying to pinpoint the source of the virus and it seems to be originating here!” he pointed the fan to dot on the map. “I had just checked the surveillances of that area and just noticed these.” Gennai then pulled up a screen of a recording showing some familiar figures. “I believe you may recognize these guys, Shine Boy?”

Shine Boy gasped. “Gem Knights!”

“Lewej must’ve escaped to the Digital World after we defeated her last.” April figured.

“Along with Gladitron and her forces.” Gamer added.

“You don’t think Ripley survived as well, do you?” Kari asked.

“I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.” Shine Boy clenched his fists.

“What about Maxer Brockman?” Davis asked.

Everyone looked at him confused. “Who?” Leo asked.

“I mean Dexter Locksman.”

“Come again?” Applejack raised her brow.

“Derek Sockman? Daryl blockhead?”

Davis kept guessing before Ken politely silent him. “Do you mean Baxter Stockman?”

“Isn’t that what I said?”

“He really needs a nametag if everyone keeps mispronouncing his name.” grumbled Night Shine.

“I don’t think so, Davis. Last we faced him; he was dealing with a criminal group called VILE.” Donnie recalled.

“Least we haven’t seen him for a while.” Bebop agreed.

“Well, either way, we better be ready to face them again.” Leo stated.

“And the sooner we stop them, the sooner we can stop this virus.” Tai added.

“Then we better get going.” Shine Boy got up as everyone agreed.

Gennai spoke up. “Before you all go, I may have something that might help.”

He led them to the other room and took out a big case. “Years ago, before the Dark Masters threatened the Digital World, six warriors tapped into the powers of ancient Digimon and manned armor and powers to defeat an ancient evil. In order to prevent it from returning, they sacrificed themselves and are said to be watching over the Digital World as legends. Azulongmon created these based on that legend.” He then opened up the case, revealing six objects that looked like Armor Digieggs. Four were shaped like different colored turtle shells while one red with a line that looked like Bebop’s vizor and the other was grey with rhino like horns.

“Are those Armor Digi Eggs?” Davis asked.

“In a way, they are. But these can be used by not only by Digimon but other beings as well. I recommend letting mutants try them because of your body structures making you sturdier. If tried out on humans, they might strain your bodies to life threatening situations. Since you’re half human half mutant, Karai, it might strain your body too.”

“I see.” Karai understood.

“I originally was gonna have the Turtles use four of them, but I believe Bebop and Rocksteady can use the other two.”

“We get to use one of those?” Bebop gasped in awe.

“Get big upgrade.” Rocksteady jawdropped.

The turtles, Bebop, and Rocksteady each took an egg. Leo took a blue and silver shell, Donnie took a green, purple, and yellow one, Raph grabbed the cyan and white egg with a red mark, Mikey accepted the gold and purple egg, Bebop took the egg with the visor and Rocksteady took the egg with horns.

Raph then spoke up. “How do they work?”

“Oh! Oh! I know!” Mikey beamed. “I saw the Digidestined do this.” He stood up, held up his egg, and shouted, “Digi Armor Energize!”

After a couple minutes of nothing happening, Mikey opened his eyes and looked at his egg. “Uh…. Helloooo? I said Digi Armor Energize!” He kept shaking his egg, trying different poses, even took a megaphone from Pinkie and shouted, “DIGI ARMOR ENERGIZE! YOU HEAR ME!”, Then he set it on the table and glared at it, then tried to open it before finally falling down in defeat. As everyone looked down at him, Rainbow asked, “You done?”

“Yeah. I am.” Mikey groaned.

Gennai then cleared his throat while trying to hide a laugh. “I was going to say for your question, Raphael, is Azulongmon said that you must search in your spirit to execute the evolution.”

“Glad I asked.” Raph grumbled.

“That is something you’re gonna have to figure out on your own. Also, don’t take em for granted. They may give out on you.”

“We promise, Gennai.” Leo nodded before Leomon spoke.

“I’ve been analyzing the map and the closest to where the enemy is the Primary Village. We can head there for refuge.”

“What’s the Primary Village?” Casey asked.

“It’s the place where Digimon are born and raised.” TK explained. “You might like it a lot, Fluttershy. There are a lot of baby Digimon.”

“Really?” Fluttershy went wide eyed.

“If it’s close to where Ripley and Lewej are, then they might strike there.” Sunset realized.

“Then let’s head over!” Tai declared.

As they all left, Gennai waved goodbye to them. “Good luck, everyone. If I learn anything new, I’ll email through Izzy’s laptop.”

-------

After they left the underwater home, the group had their own meeting as they walked in the forest. 

“So what do we do now?” Scootaloo asked.

“What do you mean, Scootaloo?” Sora raised her brow.

“I mean, how we gonna take on these bad guys and stop the virus?”

Night Shine walked by cracking his knuckles. “Nothing a little tail whooping can’t fix.”

“Looks like we’re gonna continue you guys’ training.” Karai smiled.

“You guys still have the weapons we gave you last time?” Sunset asked.

“You bet.” Davis grinned as he held up his tribiton followed by Yolei, Cody, Ken, TK, and Kari with their weapons.

“And I have a feeling we may need some help.” Shine Boy pondered out loud.

Leo nodded then turned to Tai and the older Digidestined. “While we work with Davis and the others, we would be more than happy to give you guys the same basic ninja training we gave Davis and the others from last time. But the choice is yours.”

“I say let’s do it!” Tai thumbed up. “Always thought ninjas were cool.”

“Count me in!” Matt smiled. “I’d like a rematch with Gladitron after the way he hurt me and Gabumon last time.”

“I’ll give it a shot.” Sora confirmed.

“Sounds prodigious!” Izzy beamed.

“I was never big on fighting in the old days, and many friends have paid for that. But not this time. so, I’m in.” Mimi boldly stood.

“As a doctor in training, I don’t think I’m a capable fighter myself.” Joe sighed.

Fluttershy walked up to him and patted his shoulder. “I felt that way when I started. But when they told me that ninjutsu is more than about fighting, and about being wise and resourceful, I was able to take the chance and become a ninja.”

Joe smiled at the shy girl’s words. “Well, if it’ll make me more reliable, then I can’t let you guys have all the fun.”

“You’ve all made wise decision.” Karai looked at the six with a smile.

“I could use the practice to see you all in action and see how you all measure up.” Leomon added.

Soon, they all left the forest and were trailing a desert area. It wasn’t long before they found a good area to practice.

“This looks like a good spot to begin.” Leo inspected before looking at the group. “Okay, Sunset, Shine Boy, Karai, Twilight, and I will show moves to the older Digidestined. Donnie, Raph, Keno, and April, you guys have Davis and the others spar with each other.”

“You got it, Leo.” April nodded.

“Alright. Let’s begin!” 

Before long, everyone was hard at work in their training. Leo and Karai led Tai and the others in basic katas while Sunset, Shine Boy, and Twilight corrected any mistakes they’ve done. Back with the others, they were taking turns sparring one on one. Davis walked up and prepared to spar with Applebloom.

“Okay, Applebloom. Don’t expect me to go easy on you because I’m more experienced!” He bragged.

“Long as you don’t mind me doing the same.” Applebloom grinned.

“Careful, Davis! Applebloom’s got the same amount of experience!” April warned.

“Remember, Sugarcube! Keep your guard up!” Applejack called out.

Yolei whispered to Casey. “Five bucks say Applebloom creams Davis.”

“You’re on!” Casey shook on it.

Raph stepped up and threw his arm down like a referee. “Begin!” 

Davis charged and tried to strike Applebloom with his tribaton only for the young cowgirl to dodge as well as deflect some hits with her tanto blade. After dodging hits, Applebloom ducked down and did a sweep kick, knocking the spikey haired Digidestined to fall down. Before he could recoil, Applebloom held her blade near his chest.

As everyone laughed, Davis gulped. “I don’t what your sister had for breakfast, Applejack, but I could use some!”

“Me too!” Veemon cheered, misunderstanding the sarcasm.

Applebloom helped him up. “Still, you got some good moves.”

“Yeah. You too.” Davis smiled.

“Called it!” Yolei gestured to Casey who shrugged as he gave her five dollars.

“Eh. Still fun to watch.”

Next to spar was T.K. and Rainbow. Both fought staff to staff until T.K. pole jumped over Rainbow and held her in a full nelson. He let her go shortly after.

“Nice move there, T.K.!” she complimented.

“Yeah. It was a move Leo taught me last time. Been perfecting it for a while.” The Digidestined smiled.

As T.K. went to sit down as Yolei got up to spar with Shine Girl, April walked up to him.

“Nice move.”

“Thanks.” T.K. thanked.

April took a deep breath. “T.K. could I ask you something?”

“What’s up, April?”

April made sure she was quiet about it. “Is something wrong with Kari? She feels a little…. Off.”

T.K. looked over to Kari who had a depressed look on her face before shakin it off as she got up to spar with Sweetie Belle. He did a double take and somehow began to see through her smile. “Now that you mentioned it, I’ve seen her like this!”

“What happened?”

“Okay, I don’t mind answering that, but I would like to tell Leo, Shine Boy, and Sunset as well if it’s what I think it is.” 

April pondered before smiling. “Okay. When we’re done training, we’ll tell them. And we’ll keep it to ourselves.”

“Thanks, April.” T.K. grinned as he watched Kari hesitating during her spar with Sweetie Belle while acting like nothing was wrong.

I hope we’re not too late, he thought.

Meanwhile, Leomon was sitting next to Rarity and Applejack watching the spars. “Your sisters are pretty skilled for their young age.”

“Yeah they are.” Applejack agreed.

“Though at first, we forbid them from training for their safety. While Rainbow Dash is Scootaloo’s honorary sister and she was okay with it, we forced her to Pinkie promise not to.” Rarity continued.

“Mikey and Keno secretly gave them training before we found out, but when they helped us against an old enemy and we remembered something our sensei told us once, we decided that they’ve earned our trust and let them train with us.” Applejack added.

“I think you made the right choice.” Leomon admitted. “One day, your sisters will face danger on their own without your guidance and it’s best to train them while they are still young and have potential.”

“You know, a wise butler told me something similar.” Rarity admitted, remembering Alfred Pennyworth.

After a while, both groups took a quick breather.

“Boy, you Digidestined would’ve been a handful if you fought like that!” Ogremon blinked.

“Glad to see you guys keeping up.” Leo smiled.

“You guys are doing good on your end too.” Sunset smiled at Tai and the older Digidestined.

“Whoo! That was tough!” Tai stretched.

“That got my blood going.” Izzy panted.

“Reminds me of my stretches at Tennis.” Sora nodded.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep up with you guys and not in your way.” Joe breathed.

“Keep training with us and I’m sure you’ll do just fine.” Karai patted his shoulder.

“You guys ever thought about making your own workout video?” Mimi joked.

Everyone laughed when suddenly April felt her head.

“April?” Starlight noticed.

“There’s something big nearing us!”

Leomon went wide eyed as he quickly got up. “Everyone! We gotta move! NOW!”

Everyone hurried away to see sand sinking in the ground, then emerging from the ground was a giant blue T-Rex creature. Its right arm was a metal Dino head and it’s left was a skull head.



“I think I speak for everyone when I say WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?” hollered Keno.

“Oh no! It’s Deltamon!” Tentomon shuddered as he explained. “Deltamon is a Composition Digimon. It was fused from three Digimon, and although each of them had existed as separate Digimon, due to a computer running wild after it was struck by a storm's electromagnetic waves, they were forced to fuse by a computer bug. It is said that since this Digimon, which possesses three heads and two tails, specializes in tripartite attacks that capitalize on its body's traits, it is even able to fight against three Digimon as if they were one.”

Ken looked at it in shame. “I remember having him under control as the Digimon Emperor.”

“Oh yeah! That day we learned that you were the Digimon Emperor.” Davis recalled.

“I uh don’t suppose he’s forgiven you yet, Ken?” Donnie sweated.

“Fraid not!” Leomon shook his head. “Deltamon are very vicious! They only come out of hiding if they’re either challenged or hungry!”

Mikey turned accusingly at Raph and Night Shine. “Raph! Night Shine! Which one of you challenged him?”

“WHAT?” Raph took a back.

“Yes, Mikey, I purpose knew that three headed lizard was underground and decided- IT’S UP HERE CAUSE IT’S HUNGRY YOU DOPE!” Night Shine protested.

“And it probably thinks we’re dinner!” shivered Sweetie Belle as she hid behind Rarity.

“Then there is only one logical course of action.” Gamer stated.

“I hope it’s running away.” Twilight guessed.

“Like CRAZY!” Gamer shouted as everyone began run from Deltamon.

Rocksteady however stood his ground which Bebop noticed.

“Cmon, Ivan baby! Let’s get outta here!” he pleaded to his buddy trying to budge him.

“Feh! The Rocksteady never runs from challenge!”

Deltamon responded by roaring at the rhino’s face. 

“But in this case, I make exception!” Rocksteady cried as he grabbed Bebop and runs like heck.

“You nuts?” Ogremon called as he ran by the duo. “Even I’m not crazy to fight him!”

“Over here!” Rainbow led everyone behind a big rock ledge as they all hid from Deltamon.

“That’s great and all, Rainbow, but now how do we shake him off now?” Yolei griped.

“Yeah, he’s definitely not giving up so soon.” Scootaloo peeked to see Deltamon looking for them.

Leo pondered before looking towards the group. “You guys make your way to The Primary Village. I’ll hold him off as long as I can!”

“What?” everyone gasped.

“Leo! No!” Twilight pleaded.

“I’ll go with you.” Shine Boy was about to walk over before Leo held him back.

“No, Shine Boy. If anything happens to me, you and Davis will have to lead the others.”

After hesitating, Shine Boy nodded. “Fine. I won’t stop you, but don’t make me regret this.”

Leo nodded back before looking out to Deltamon. “Once I get his attention, you all run for it.” He instructed before jumping out shouting. “Hey! Over here!”

Deltamon roared when he spotted the lead turtle. As he started to stomp towards him, Leo ran leading him away.

As they watched, Shine Boy then spoke. “Now’s our chance. Move!” They left their hiding spot. Twilight looked back to see Leo continuing to lead Deltamon away from them.

“Leo…” she worried.

Sunset hurried to her. “Don’t look back, Twilight! C’mon.” she began to pull her towards the group.

Deltamon tried to strike at Leo, who dodged and struck with his katana blade. Deltamon roared in pain before opening all three of his mouths and fired a big blast, sending Leo falling off a cliff nearby.

Twilight unfortunately noticed. “NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Her scream got Deltamon’s attention and the Digimon began stomping towards the group.

“He spotted us!” Applebloom gasped.

“I wonder why.” Night Shine glared at Twilight.

Davis walked up with Ken and T.K. “Leave this to us. We’ll handle him.”

“Right! Good luck!” Shine Boy said as the three held up their Digivices.

“DIGI ARMOR ENERGIZE!” Davis cried.

“Veemon Armor Digivolve to…. Flamedramon! The Fire of Courage!”

“Patamon Digivolve to….. Angemon!”

“Wormmon digivolve to…. Stingmon!”

“Let’s get’em! For Leo!” T.K. cried.

“For Leo!” The Digimon cried before jumping to the attack.

-------

Leo screamed as he fell down the cliff. Then suddenly, he began to glow. He then noticed his Digi Egg was glowing just as bright. As the glow engulfed his entire body, Leo heard a voice that repeated the riddle Gennai told him.

“You must search in your spirit to execute the evolution.”

“Search in my Spirit…” Leo pondered before his eyes began to glow just as bright. As his body began to get covered in silver and black armor, He began to float back up the cliff as he shouted,

“UNITY! EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!”

His head was then cover in a chrome helmet with four triangular diadems as he flew up.

--------

“FIRE ROCKET!”

“SPIKING STRIKE!”

“HAND OF FATE!”

Flamedramon, Stingmon, and Angemon were blasting Deltamon with everything they got. Deltamon roared as he recoiled.

“Now we got him!” Davis glared.

T.K. then noticed something by the cliff. “Guys look!”

Everyone looked at the cliff to see an armored turtle fly up. He then flew at Deltamon and punched him away. 



Twilight jawdropped. “L-Leo?”

The turtle looked at her and gave a thumbs up, showing it was Leo in his new armor.

“Is that…. His new armor?” Sunset asked as Leo continued to fight Deltamon.

“Whoa!” awed Mikey.

“I gotta get me one of those.” Ogremon grumbled.

“I can’t wait to try mine now.” Raph admitted.

Leo then drew his katana blade which took a different shape and glowed blue. As he slashed at Deltamon, his swords shot energy waves that caused the giant Digimon to recoil in pain. He then opened his mouths again, firing a blast at Leo again. When the smoke cleared, Leo was seen unscratched.

“Awesome!” Rainbow and Scootaloo cheered.

“Amazing.” Leomon gasped.

“Get him, Leo!” Davis grinned.

“Time to-” Suddenly, Leo knelt down grunting in pain and began to glow. His armor began to disappear in the light. “No! not now!”

“Something’s wrong!” Gamer cried.

“Well, Gennai did say these new armors could give out at any time!” Donnie recalled.

Soon, when Leo stopped glowing, he was back to normal. As he caught his breath, Deltamon stomped up to him.

“Leo! Look out! He’s coming!” Tai called.

Flamedramon, Stingmon, and Angemon hurried in front of Leo.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take it from here!” Angemon told Leo as they prepared to fight while Raph and Shine Boy hurried over to grab Leo out of there.

Deltamon was about to fire again when suddenly a voice cried out:

"UNCONNECT BUSTER!"

and a large laser beam shot and hit Deltamon right smack in the face, knocking him down somewhat.

"Holy Chalupa!" Mikey cried out. "That was one powerful laser!"

Izzy then turned towards the direction the beam came from. "But who did it?"

Everyone turned to see a large figure approach, floating towards the scene. It obviously was another Digimon, as big as Greymon, but longer. IT looked like a giant cocoon with eyes, a red horn coming out of the head and six tentacles coming from it's back, each ending in a blade.

But what really caught everyone's attention was the boy on it's shoulder. He was probably 15 years old, with dark skin, black hair and green eyes with peach fuzz on his lip.. He was slightly overweight and wearing a green shirt with a lightning bolt on it. He had a large goofy grin on his face, revealing that he had small fangs. In his hand he was holding a digivice.

The boy laughed and pointed at Deltamon. "Let's get him, buddy! Go Chrysalimon!" He yelled at the Digimon he was riding on. The large, cocoon-like Digimon nodded. "Time to be heroes!" It shouted.

Deltamon Roared in response with all three heads. It then charged at Chrysalimon, who charged at it in retaliation. "Data Crusher!" he yelled,, and whipped his tentacles at Deltamon, stabbing it;s two heads on it;s arms with the bladed tips, causing Deltamon to roar in pain.

Meanwhile, everyone was in shock at the scene unfolding.

"Who is that? " Ken asked."

Ogremon shrugged. "Don't know, but he seems to be on our side."

Leo then managed to rise to his feet with the help of Raph and Shine Boy. "Whoever he is, he came in the nick of time. " Shine Boy said.

Mikey and April stared cheering on the new arrivals. April then turned to Tai. "Looks like we got reinforcements. Right, Tai? Tai?" She looked at Tai who had a nervous look on his face. "Tai, what's wrong?" she asked.

Tai shook his head. "I'm not sure. Something about that Digimon seems awfully familiar, and for some reason, I don’t like it. It's weird." 

Matt nodded. "I feel it too."

Mikey then shrugged. "You must be imagining things! This Kid is definitely Digidestined like you dudes! I mean, look at him! He's got a digivice and Digimon partner!"

Soon Crysalimon attacked Deltamon so much that the three headed Digimon buried back underground. When it was gone, Leomon and Sunset walked up to the newcomers as the lion spoke.

“We can’t thank you enough, friends.”

“We owe you our lives.” Sunset added.

“Who are you?” Sora asked.

The boy smiled and gave a thumbs up. "My name is Joshua Garrett. Nice to meet you all! " He then motioned to the others. "I see you guys are Digidestined like me!"

His eyes grew big with excitement. "This is SO COOL!" he shouted. "I never thought I'd meet other Digidestined kids like me! I didn't even know there were others!"

Davis walked up to him. "You should probably know, but we discovered there are Digidestined kids all around the world, actually."

This surprised the group. Donatello was the first to speak up."You mean there are more? How do you know this?"

Izzy nodded. "It was when we still had to deal with MaloMyotismon's forces. Evil Digimon were popping up all over the globe in the real world. We had to split up and send them back to the Digital World, and work with new Digidestined kids in each part of the world. "

Pinkie then ate some of her sprinkles, which exploded in her mouth and caused smoke to come out of her ears. "Mind blown!" she said.

Joshua chuckled. "Same here! This is very exciting! " he then motioned to his Digimon partner. "This is my partner. Or at least his champion stage. " he said.

Chrysalimon then began to shrink down back to his rookie form. When he did, All Digidestined present, as well as their Digimon partners stared in shock, with the exception of Davis, Cody, Yolei and Ken.

Standing before them was a smallish Digimon with a bulbous head with big eyes and a large mouth with two entennas. He had long floppy arms with large hands. Where his body and legs should be was a bunch of tentacles.

He smiled and waved. "Hi! My name is Keramon! Nice to meet ya! Hey, Josh? Am I seeing things or are there four giant turtles and a pig and rhino?"

"No, I see them too. Are you guys some new type of Digimon?"

Leo smiled. “No actually we’re mutants from another world. I’m Leonardo.”

“I’m Michelangelo. What up?”

“Donatello.”

“I’m Raphael.”

“I’m April O’Neil.”

“Names Casey Jones.”

“I am Karai Hamato.”

“I am Shinigami.”

“My names Keno.”

“I go by Bebop! This is Rocksteady.”

“Da. Together we are the Bebop and Rocksteady!”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

“Name’s Rainbow Dash!”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is my dog, Spike.”

“Hiya.”

“I’m Applejack.”

“I am Rarity. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Pinkie Pie. Party extraordinaire!”

“I’m Fluttershy.”

“My name is Starlight Glimmer.”

“I’m Applebloom.”

“I’m Sweetie Belle.”

“And I’m Scootaloo.”

“I am professor Zayton Honeycutt. But you can call me Fugitoid.”

“I’m Shine Boy.”

“Gamer. Shine Boy’s brother and partner.”

“Call me Love Shine.”

“I go by Shine Girl.”

“Names Luke. And if anybody tells him to call me Night Shine, I’ll smack em!”

Josh chuckled. "I gotta say, you all look cool. "

Keramon nodded in agreement. "Yeah! You guys look like you know how to par-tay!"

Mikey and Pinkie grinned. "We sure do!" the yelled in unison.

Josh then pointed to the rest of the group. "So, who are the rest of you? "

Keramon walked up to the group and held out his hand. "Hi! Nice to meet ya!" he grinned. "You all look really strong!"

Davis walked up. "Yeah we are! I'm Davis and this is Veemon."

"Yiya!" Veemon greeted.

"I'm Cody and this is Armadillomon."

"Howdy."

"My name is Yolei and this is my partner Hawkmon."

"Greetings."

"I'm Ken and this is my buddy Wormmon."

"Hello."

April and Shine Boy noticed some of the older Digidestined looked cautious at the newcomers, especially Tai. breathing, T.K. walked up to Josh and smiled.

"Call me T.K. and this is Patamon."

"Hi!"

Keramon stepped up and smiled, causing TK to back up a little. "HI! I'm Keramon! Ooh! A Patamon! Holy Digimon are so rare to find! Wassup, buddy?"

Patamon looked at him nervously, then held up his paw. "Hi." he said. I'm Pata-" Patamon was stopped min-sentence when Keramon scooped him up in his arms and gave him a tight squeeze. "OOOOH! SO CUTE!" he cried out.

Joshua chuckled. "Pardon Keramon. He has a weakness for cute things. He sees something cute and he just has to either pet it or hug it."

Patamon's eyes bulged as he was tightly hugged. "Can't...breathe!" he choked, causing Keramon to drop him. "Sorry about that, little guy!" Keramon said. "I tend to forget my own strength."

"I can related." Fluttershy smiled, petting Keramon.

"I'm Leomon. it is nice to me you."

"Name's Ogremon."

Night Shine looked at the rest of the Digidestined annoyed and gestured them to go say hello. Sunset and Leo walked up to an equally Shine Boy and April.

"Is it me or do you guys sense some hostility between Tai and the others?" Sunset raised a brow.

"Good. It's not just us.'" Shine Boy noticed.

"Something's up." Leo nodded.

"I'm Kari. and this is Gatomon." Kari sweated as she waved.

"hi."

Josh smiled and waved back. Keramon then stepped up to Gatomon and started scratching her chin.

"Another Holy Digimon! Amazing! And so cute and fluffy!" he gushed. "I have a question. How do you keep your Holy Ring from slipping off? So cool!"

Gatomon blushed and purred as her chin was scratched. "Oh.. uhh. I don't really know. IT just stays on." she replied.

Josh then stepped up to Mimi. "You look familiar." he said. "Doesn't your Grandfather own some big business in Japan?"

Mimi nodded shyly. Josh smiled. "I thought so."

Meanwhile Keramon was looking at Palmon with sparkles in his eyes and a blush on his face. "Hi!" he said to her. "My name's Keramon...... your'e really pretty." he finished with a blush. This caused Palmon to blush a little and fidget uncomfortably.

Izzy cleared his throat as he tried to greet professionally. “I’m Izzy. And this is Tentomon.”

“Pleased to make acquaintance.” Tentomon greeted as Keramon excitedly shook his talon.

"Uh. Joe!" Joe squeaked before clearing his throat. "My name is Joe and that's Gomamon."

"Kay pasa?"

Sora crept up. "I'm Sora and this is my friend Biyomon."

"Hi." Biyomon waved before Keramon greeted her with a hug.

"You're pretty too." he smiled while Biyomon smiled uncomfortly.

Matt walked up. "Matt. and this my buddy Gabumon." he gestured to the Digimon behind him.

Gabumon waved nervously. "Hi."

"Love your fur." Keramon waved.

"I have to say Wolf fur is cool. Can't wait to see you Digivolve into Garurumon!" Keramon added. This caused Gabumon to blush.

Josh then turned to Tai. "Since you are the last to intruduce, I'm guessing youre the leader of this group?" he asked as Keramon walked up to Agumon.

"Hey! Cool! an Agumon! Those guys are really strong!" he said as Agumon looked nervous. Tai then grew a tick mark.

Suddenly he stepped between him and Agumon. To everyone's surprise, he was looking at Keramon with nothing but hatred. "Keep away from my buddy!" he shouted. Josh's eyes went wide and Keramon's jaw hit the floor.

Rainbow hurried between the two. "Whoa whoa whoa! What was that for? All he wanted was to say hello!"

"Okay. What's going on?" Shine Boy folded his arms.

"You guys have been acting nervous since these two showed up." April pointed out.

"Care to share with the class?" Night Shine asked as he pull out a bottle of root beer.

Izzy stepped up. "It was quite a while ago, before Davis, Yolei and Cody began their adventures as Digidestined. A digi-egg appeared on the internet and was attacked by a computer virus. It hatched and began to attack data in the internet. Most of the rest of the group was doing other things, and only Tai, Matt, TK and myself could send our Digimon into the internet to battle it. "

Starlight tilted her head. "Other things?"

Joe nodded. "I was at summer school doing a big test."

Kari stepped up. "I was at a friend's birthday party."

Mimi looked somber. "While all that was happening, I was on vacation in Hawaii."

The rest of the group looked at them. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up. "Pathetic."

Izzy continued. "Anyway, you'll be shocked at who this virus-infused digimon is. "

"Who?" Leo asked.

Izzy gulped and pointed to Keramon. "Him."

This caused a major uproar. "WHAAAAAAAT???!!" Everyone screamed, including Joshua and Keramon himself.

Keramon clutched his head. "But that's impossible! Ever since I hatched from my digi-egg, I've been waiting for my partner Josh! I had no life before that...right?"

Josh hugged his partner. "It can't be true!"

Izzy continued. "During the fight, Keramon bypassed the champion level and digivolved straight into the ultimate level, Infermon, and made his way through the internet to America, causing more havoc with electronic devices. He also seemed to be looking for someone, as he was dialing every phone number in the world at the same time. We caught up with him, but he digivolved to the Mega Level, Diaboromon and attacked. Agumon and Gabumon warp digivolved into MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, but couldn't defeat him. You see, people all around the world were sending us emails telling us to save the world, and it slowed down our digimon."

Donnie nodded. "Right, if you open a bunch of programs and emails on the internet your computer will slow down."

Izzy continued. "But that wasn't the worst part. Diaboromon then started multiplying and set up a timer for 10 minutes as he forced the Pentagon to launch two nuclear Intercontinental ballistic missiles: one headed for Colorado, the other for our hometown!"

Davis went pale: "He was targeting all of us! AND Willis!"

This caused everyone to tilt their heads in confusion. Bebop spoke up. "Willis?"

Kari explained. "He's a digidestined like us. He lives in Colorado."

Izzy nodded. "It was Willis who created Diaboromon's Digi-Egg before it was infected by the virus, so he blamed himself for what happened. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon went to stop the Original Diaboromon, but he had already created over a million copies of himself. They all open fired on both of them. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon almost didn’t survive."

Everyone now understood why Tai was so distrusting: He almost lost his best friend.

Matt spoke up. "Somehow, ME and Tai's bonds with our digimon was so strong, we were able to cross over from the real world into the internet to get to them. With the help of the hope of all the people sending us emails, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon fused into Omnimon, one of the most powerful Digimon ever. He destroyed all the Diaboromon copies until only the Original remained. "

Mikey and Pinkie Gasped: "SOOO COOL!"

Izzy then explained. "Diaboromon was still too fast to catch, so we slowed him down with the emails. Omnimon then destroyed Daiboromon just as the timer was about to run out, ending the threat of the missiles and saving the world."

Tai spoke up. "So, you see now? There is no way I'm letting that monster on our team!"

Joshua scowled, his fangs showing. "That’s insensitive! Keramon never hurt anyone innocent in his life! He's my destined partner, not a bad guy!"

At this point Keramon was hugging Josh tightly and tears in his eyes. "Aww, I love you, brother!"

Sunset had an idea and went up to Keramon. “Relax. This won’t hurt a bit.” She calmly assured as she took the Digimons hand. Her eyes glowed as her geode activated. After seconds of nothing, she snapped out of it. “I couldn’t find anything bad. He seems to be telling the truth.”

“What did you do?” Josh asked.

“My geode gave me the ability to read minds and memories of anyone I come in contact. All I found was the memory of you two. Nothing else.”

“You sure he’s not hiding anything?”

Sunset got up and looked at Tai. “I would know if he was hiding anything, Tai. And I’m telling you guys. He’s clean!”

“I still don’t trust him.” Glared Tai.

This made Starlight cross. “So, whether or not it’s the same as the one you fought, they just automatically don’t get a second chance? Is that it?”

“I’m not taking any chances!” Tai argued.

“You do that to humans or any other creatures too?” Starlight challenged.

“Well-“

“Because some of us have done things that we’re not proud of! Despite everything we’ve done to redeem ourselves, there’s always people like you WHO DONT BOTHER GIVING US A CHANCE!” As Starlight gave Tai a piece of her mind, April, Karai, Sunset, Bebop, and Rocksteady walked up between Tai and Josh.

“And what’s happens if he IS the same one?”

“We’d worry about it when or IF it happens!” April called out.

“They’re not coming with us!”

“Need we remind you he saved Leo’s life!” Karai glared.

Tai was about to argue some more when Suddenly-

“WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE IT’S THE SAME KERAMON?!”

The group looked in shock to see it was Shine Boy who shouted. His eyes were glowing bright as he glared at Tai who was also at a loss of words. Frightened, Keramon Hid behind Rocksteady.

Keramon spoke to Rocksteady. "This doesn't look good! I think I just started a civil war!"

Rocksteady patted his head. "Is not your fault, bug-eye guy."

Keramon smiled. "Thanks, Rhino Man."

Still glowing, Shine Boy stomped up to Tai. “Whether or not that Digimon is that same enemy, that boy didn’t know about it. And he just had him save us from that overgrown reptile that almost killed Leonardo so we owe him!”

Tai huffed as he paced in anger as Matt spoke up.

“Tai! Shine Boys right! We owe them for saving us from Deltamon!”

“And he has a Digivice so he is a Digidestined like us!” Sora pleaded.

“Tai, not all our Digimon had good starts.” Kari added, recalling how Gatomon used to work for their enemy Myotismon.

“And my friend Michael back in America has Seadramon, one of the first Digimon we fought, not to mention one of the Dark Masters.” Mimi mentioned

“I know how we can solve this!” Shini walked up to Josh and Keramon then motioned her finger to Mikey to come over. Feeling his heart beat, Mikey walked up. “Mikey, what’s your opinion about these two?”

Mikey looked carefully at the duo before speaking up. “They’re cool.”

“And if Mikey thinks they’re okay, they’re okay with all of us!” Pinkie stood by them.

“And we are NOT ignoring Mikey’s opinion. Never again!” Sunset stated as the others agreed.

Looking back at the other Digidestined showing they want to give Josh and Keramon a chance as well, Tai still frowning took a deep breath. “Fine. They can stay. But I’m not gonna take my eyes off you both. We’ll see if you deserve the title Digidestined.”

Shine Boy powered down while everyone smiled at Josh and his partner. He looked to Leo who was equally concerned.

“Yeesh! And I thought I had to work hard to redeem myself.” Ogremon mumbled.

Josh smiled. "Thank you all for putting so much trust in us."

Keramon nodded. “Yeah. For a second I thought I'd be chased away by potential new friends!"

Matt spoke up. "We're sorry for doubting you both."

"And sorry about Tai's attitude to you." Sora added.

"And we can use your help as well." Ken patted Josh's shoulder.

Donnie explained. "A computer virus is affecting all technology in our worlds and we think some old enemies are behind it."

"We'll explain to you along the way to the primary village. Right now, we better get a move on." Gamer added.

"What are we gonna do about Tai?" Davis asked.

"We'll just have to keep him away from these two." Shine Boy pointed as the CMCs play a little bit with Keramon.

Leo spoke up. "We're training the others some ninjutsu. and we're willing to train you as well if you like."

Josh's eyes lit up. "Cool! I always wanted to be a ninja!"

“Mikey, you, Pinkie, and Keno will train Josh personally while we train the others.” Leo instructed.

“You got it, bro!” Mikey saluted.

“Okie dokie Loki!” Pinkie chimed in.

“We should be fine as long as we keep Mr. personality away from him.” Keno pointed to Tai.

“Let us worry about Tai. We’ll try to reason with him.” Sora suggested.

“If not, I’ll deal with him personally.” Night Shine grinned before burping.

As they continued their journey while Mikey and Sunset briefed Josh on the situation, Karai walked up to Shine Boy.

“Are you alright? I’ve never seen you that angry before.” She asked.

Shine Boy took a deep breath. “Let’s just say I know what it’s like to be rejected. I’ll tell you sometime when we’re not so busy.” He said as they continued on their way.

-------

Meanwhile, in their base, Ripley, Lewej, Chaos Mage, and Gladitron were led to a dark room with cells by Mortar as he explained to them.

“We have been able to cypher Dr. Stockman’s notes to recreate his mutation machine in order to revive fallen Digimon as we did with Devimon.”

“Any progress?” Ripley asked.

Gladitron walked up to Mortar’s side. “As a matter of fact, when we relocated in the Digital World, the Gem Knights collected data from a deceased Digimon.”

“We tested the machine on the data and revived the Digimon with the mutation. It took a while to restrain it.” Mortar made way to show a giant cage which held a giant figure hidden in shadows. When it opened its glowing eyes, it growled as four arms shook the cage.

“How horrendous!” Lewej gasped before chuckling. “I love it!”

Ripley smirked at the ravenous creature. “As do I. in fact, he could be quite useful for our plans….”

To Be Continued