Wrapping her arms around Davis’ waist and clinging tightly to Raidramon’s sides with her thighs, Sora galloped through the forest. Trees and bushes flowed away on either side, like water in a river, while patches of light rippled and dappled over them as they ran. Over his shoulder, she kept a close watch on Daisuke’s D-3. The space between them and the other Digimon was closing by the second, until . . . .

"Here we are, Raidramon," she yelled, her words swept away by the wind. She felt the Digimon’s muscles bunch beneath her legs as he slowed to a halt. Carefully, she dismounted and began to look around herself for the other Digimon. Even though her Digivice said they were almost right on top of them, there was no sign of them. They had to be hiding somewhere in the bushes.

"Biyomon! Gomamon! Patamon! Gatomon!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth, "Tentomon! Armadillomon! Hawkmon!"

"Sora!" a familiar, high voice called from the treetops. She looked upwards, grinning as she saw Biyomon perched on a branch, along with Tentomon and Hawkmon. Chirruping happily, Biyomon flew into her arms, while the other two landed on the ground in front of her. At the same time, Gatomon leapt fluidly down from another tree, closely followed by a flapping Patamon, while Armadillomon, Palmon and Gomamon emerged from the undergrowth.

"What were you doing up there?" she asked Biyomon, "Why were you all hiding? Veemon told us you had gone after the shadowy creatures who jumped you earlier."

"It was the weirdest thing, Sora," her partner explained, "We were following the shadowy creatures in an attempt to find their base, but they . . . they suddenly disappeared. They just seemed to melt into the rest of the shadows in this forest. We looked for hours for some sort of trail, some sort of clue that would tell us where they had gone, but we didn’t have any luck finding one. Anyway, we decided to rest before looking for a way back to the others. It seemed safest to do so out of sight. And you, Sora? I love seeing you again, but why are you and Davis here?"

Quickly, Sora outlined to her and the other Digimon how Myotismon had used the Crest of Cowardice to force Greymon to Darkdigivolve and how they had come to the Digital World to fetch their partners. By the time she had finished, all of their partners had worried expressions on their faces. That was unsurprising. They had all faced Skullgreymon at some stage of their lives, and they all knew precisely how dangerous he was. They also had to be aware that they had never defeated him in their previous encounters. He had always run out of energy and reverted to Agumon in the past, but they had never beaten him.

"So, we need to get going," she concluded, removing her Digivice from her pocket and pointing it in Biyomon’s direction, "Let’s travel first class on the way back, Biyomon."

"Hey!" Davis exclaimed from his seat on his Digimon, "Raidramon is first class!"

Ignoring the boy’s indignant comment, Biyomon nodded, "Okay!"

Flecks of light began to gather around the small, pink Digimon, until she seemed to be surrounded by a swarm of fireflies. When she was almost hidden from sight by them, the light rushed into her suddenly and she began to glow. Knowing it would only get brighter Sora ducked her head in her sleeve. After a few seconds, she heard a deep, triumphant cry, and knew it had been successful.

She lifted her head to see the champion form of her partner standing there. If the Phoenix had been a real creature, it would have looked like Birdramon. Taller than the trees and with a wingspan that could blot out the sun, she was a creature of heat and flame. The light blazed off her red-gold feathers, making her seem as if she were on fire. Fine, sharp fangs protruded from the end of her beak, and her claws were talon-tipped. She was one of the most beautiful Digimon that Sora had ever seen, and one of the most dangerous.

"Climb aboard," Birdramon said, tucking her feet beneath her and lying down on the floor, "If you cling onto my feathers, you won’t fall off me. Sora can hang onto my claws."

With a flick of her tail, Gatomon leapt lightly onto Birdramon’s back and fastened her claws around a feather, before motioning for the others to join her. Patamon hopped up beside her, holding on with his stubby feet. Hawkmon and Tentomon soon joined them, as did Palmon, who wrapped her vines snugly around everyone like seatbelts. Sora looked expectantly at the two remaining Digimon.

"If it’s all the same to you, I’ll go back with Davis and Raidramon," Gomamon said, wiggling his flippers in front of him, "These flippers weren’t made for clinging."

"Nor were my claws," Armadillomon admitted reluctantly, "Guess I’ll join you, Gomamon."

"Sure," Sora nodded, as Birdramon stood and stretched out her flame-like wings in preparation to take flight, "We’ll meet you back in the real world!"

"Got you," Davis nodded his understanding, helping the remaining two Digimon onto the back of his partner. In her turn, Sora wrapped her arms and legs around Birdramon’s scaly legs. Pleasant fear tingled in her stomach, as she felt the rush of wind that meant they were about to leave the ground. Rollercoasters had nothing on this. With a flap of her giant wings and a yelled "hold on tight!", Birdramon took off into the sky. And Sora shrieked in delight.

"Come on, guys," Izzy muttered, tapping away at his keyboard, "It is not like we’ve got much time here."

Glancing up anxiously from the e-mail he was writing to Cody, he felt his stomach clench within him, as if a hand were closing around it. From what he could deduce, Garurumon was only going to be able to hold off Skullgreymon for a few minutes longer. The wolf Digimon was moving with a limp now, and the blue energy coming from his mouth had dimmed to a faint phosphorescence. Skullgreymon, on the other hand, was as fast and as deadly as he had been at the beginning of their battle.

After a few more sallies, the inevitable happened. Detaching itself from Skullgreymon’s back, another organic missile screamed towards Garurumon. This time, however, the Digimon was too slow to avoid it and it hit him full in the side. The invisible hand squeezed Izzy’s stomach painfully, and he battled to keep himself from throwing up. He heard the other Digidestined gasp in horror, and Matt cry out his Digimon’s name. Clouds of dust flew up in the air, obscuring both Garurumon and Skullgreymon from view. A faint glow was visible through it, however, and, when it cleared, Gabumon was lying on the floor. He was breathing with difficulty and blood matted his fur, but he had not been destroyed.

"Where are you?" he exclaimed in desperation, looking at the still-closed Digital Gate.

"GABUMON!" Matt yelled in anguish, shaking off Tai’s hand and running towards his Digimon. He fell to his knees and scooped the bleeding Gabumon up in his arms. Very slowly, Skullgreymon’s head turned to face the boy. His eyes swivelled in their sockets and his jaws gaped open, revealing rows of flint-sharp teeth. Cradling Gabumon at his chest, Matt stared defiance at the monster. He knew it was as futile as a moth spitting in the eye of a tiger. Skullgreymon did not care if he died holding his head high or if he died screaming and crying. He was going to die. He, Matt Ishida, was going to die. Instead of the fear he had expected to feel, the thought filled him with an odd numbness.

"Matt! No!" he heard his younger brother scream, as Skullgreymon dipped his head towards him. Clutching onto Gabumon’s warm, damp fur, comforting himself with his steady heartbeat, he closed his eyes, whispered a prayer and prepared to die. He could hear the creak of bone on bone, smell the stink of carrion breath, almost feel the sharp points of bone piercing his skin. He swallowed, willing himself to be strong. Instead of the agony he had expected, however, an explosion boomed above him and a blinding flash burnt red against his eyelids. His eyes snapped open to see Birdramon hovering above the park, as bright as a flame in the darkness. Skullgreymon was also staring at it, a malign curiosity in its green eyes.

::Sora.::

"Get away from him!" Sora screamed, her face contorted with fear and anger, "Or I’ll get Birdramon to blast you into a million splinters."

Holding Gabumon tightly against his chest, he scrambled to his feet and ran back towards his friends. They had all returned from the Digital World, and had brought all of their Digimon with them. Most of them had Digivolved to their Champion forms, apart from Patamon who was flapping behind his brother and Palmon who could not become Togemon in Mimi’s absence. There had been no time to contact the girl in America. Stingmon also was missing, for reasons that became obvious when he saw Ken was carrying an injured Wormmon.

"You idiot. You absolute idiot," T.K. yelled, "If you ever do something like that again, I’ll kill you in Skullgreymon’s place!"

"I couldn’t let him hurt Gabumon," Matt said tiredly, "You know what it’s like."

A shadow passed across his brother’s clear, blue eyes, "Yeah, I know."

Smiling tightly at him, Yamato turned to face Sora. For some reason, she looked nervous. Her eyes were fixed on a point slightly in front of his shoes, and she was chewing her bottom lip. Her knuckles around her Digivice were almost white with gripping it.

"Thanks. I owe you one," he said casually.

"M-my pleasure, Matt."

"As much as I hate to break up such tender moments," Izzy remarked, "I don’t think I need to remind you that Skullgreymon is still tearing up at the park and that he should be our first priority."

"Yeah," Matt agreed, "Garurumon did his part. Now it’s up to the rest of you to finish the job. . . ."

"What is it going to take to break through his thick hide?" Davis shouted in frustration as Skullgreymon took yet another of ExVeemon’s attacks and responded with a swipe of his claws that sent the blue Digimon flying. Aquilamon and Ikkakumon’s efforts met with as much success. Skullgreymon knocked aside Hawk Digimon and Harpoon Torpedo with equal alacrity. Armadillomon, similarly, could not get close enough to him to use his Tail Hammer. As he approached, he was swept aside by a single swing of Skullgreymon’s powerful tail. And he seemed to simply absorb both Kabuterimon’s Electroshocker and Birdramon’s Meteor Wing. Davis clenched his fists at his side. All of their Digimon, attacking him in concert, were having as little effect on the Dark Digimon as Garurumon by himself had had. Skullgreymon looked as if he were unbeatable.

Exasperatedly, he ran over to where Yolei was standing with Ken. The two were holding hands, and watching the battle with worried expressions on their faces. Jyou was also there, treating Gabumon’s wounds with disinfectant and bandages from his first-aid kit, while a concerned Matt watched.

"We need Silphymon," he told her without preamble, "Pronto."

"Speak to Kari," she replied with a shrug, "I asked her, but she said she thought two Digimon could occupy Skullgreymon more effectively than one. I think she’s still hoping to keep him contained until he runs out of energy and reverts to Agumon. I don’t think she wants to hurt her brother’s Digimon if she can avoid it."

Making an irritated noise at the back of his throat, "What about T.K. and Cody?"

"T.K. wants to keep Angemon in reserve. He’s our trump card against Dark Digimon, after all."

"Great," Davis said sardonically, folding his arms across his chest, "Just great."

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon yelled as she leapt at the skeletal Digimon with her paws outstretched. Her claws grated hideously against the bone of his forearm, leaving deep gouges in it, but he swatted her away as if she had been no more nuisance than a gadfly. Kari felt her stomach turn liquid with fear, as her Digimon flew at speed towards a tree. If she hit it, she would be killed. At the last second, however, Gatomon twisted in the air to spring off the trunk and land lightly on four paws. She shook herself off in disgust, then scampered across to where Kari was standing with T.K.

"We’re getting killed out there," she panted.

"I know I said I wanted to keep you in reserve, but I think it might be the time to use Angemon," T.K. said slowly, "Are you ready, Patamon?"

"He’s too strong," Patamon chirruped from his perch on T.K’s hat. The little Digimon had a worried expression on his face, "I don’t know if I can beat him, even if I become Angemon."

Kari nodded in agreement, "Patamon’s right. Skullgreymon is an Ultimate. He could even be a Mega for all we know of Dark Digivolutions. Angel-type Digimon might be stronger than usual champions, but they’re still champions for all that."

"And neither of us can reach Ultimate without your crests," Gatomon added with an exasperated hiss, "In other words, we have to come up with another plan."

"If we can’t defeat him, I guess we’ll have to restrain him until he runs out of energy," T.K. said decisively, removing his D-Terminal from his jacket pocket. Understanding what he meant, Kari found and snapped open her own. On the screen, she could see the Digiegg of Light revolving slowly.

"Let’s do it, T.K," she said to her friend, as Patamon flapped down from T.K’s hand to stand beside Gatomon on the floor.

"DIGIARMOUR, ENERGIZE!" they yelled in unison.

Even though she had seen it happen often in the past, Kari was never sure exactly how Armour Digivolving worked. The Digiegg rose from the screen, becoming as solid and real as anything laid by a bird. It appeared to crack at that point, opening out into what appeared to be a mechanical suit and moving to fit around the Digimon. Beyond that, she did not know what happened. There was always an odd blur at the exact moment egg and Digimon fused, as if she were looking at it through a veil or through opaque glass. Izzy spoke about the eggs being programs that changed their Digimon’s data and reconfigured them into new forms, but that did not adequately explain the mystery for her. She supposed she should have been content with the fact that it worked, because it certainly did.

Kari and T.K. smiled at each other. Of all their Digimon’s forms, their Armour Digivolutions were the most like their rookie forms. In keeping with her name, Nefertimon resembled the Egyptian cat goddess about whom Kari had read some years ago. She seemed to recall her being called Bastet or something similar. Her face was certainly as enigmatic and as feline. Two, white ears poked out of her blonde mane, and she had a heavy, golden headdress about her forehead. A matching collar hung around her neck, while large, feathery wings sprouted from her back. Pegasusmon, on the other hand, resembled a long, sleek horse. His mane and tail appeared to be spun of pure gold, matched by his armour. The crest of Hope was etched on his breastplate, while other designs were carved on his greaves. His ears were the same batwings as Patamon had, but another, more useful pair of feathery wings sprouted from his back.

"You two know what to do," T.K. said with a pat to his Digimon’s armoured muzzle.

"Try not to hurt him," Kari pleaded in turn.

"We’ll try," her Digimon inclined her head in acknowledgement, as Pegasusmon replied, "We know what we have to do."

Beating his powerful wings, Pegasusmon soared into the eastern half of the sky. Her own white, feathery wings shimmering in the moonlight, Nefertimon flew wide in the opposite direction, before arching round to meet the other Digimon. When the two crossed over, a golden light formed between them, becoming longer and brighter as they parted. Still holding it in balance between them, they wrapped it around the dark Digimon, weaving in and out like Maypole dancers. Skullgreymon struggled within the brilliant noose, but could not break it. After what felt like hours to Kari but was in reality minutes, he began to shrink until only Agumon was lying limply on the floor. Her brother started running towards him.

"Yes! We did it!" Kari cheered, spontaneously throwing her arms around T.K.’s neck. Laughing, he picked her up off the floor and spun her around. The world turned around her, becoming a crazy blur of trees and rubble and city lights and lake and ploughed-up earth. After dizzy moments, he set her down lightly on the floor. She put a hand to her head to steady herself. Even though she had stopped spinning, it seemed the park had not kept pace with developments. The ruined trees and starry sky seemed to bulge and lurch at her, as if she were standing on the deck of a ship. Her legs felt equally wobbly, stumbling forward of their own accord. She clutched for T.K. as her feet gave way beneath her, but only succeeded bringing him down on top of her. She suddenly realised his face was close enough to hers to kiss her. She could feel his warm breath against her skin, his heartbeat against her chest. Her own breath caught in her throat. Unconsciously, her lips parted a fraction.

Blushing, T.K. scrambled to his feet and stooped to retrieve his hat which had fallen to the ground when he did. He settled it snugly on his head, before pulling it down at the back so that it was slightly tilted. Staring up at him, she felt her stomach grow hollow with disappointment.

::I can’t believe he didn’t kiss me. Okay, admittedly, it would be pretty disgraceful under the circumstances. After all, everyone is watching us. Including my brother, who would probably forget that he liked T.K. And Davis, who would probably have a nervous breakdown. And Yolei, who would bring up the Kiss-with--a-capital-K in every conversation we have. And I suppose this isn’t the first time we’ve ended up in a monkeypile on the floor.::

Lying on the floor beneath the spinning stars, she started to giggle.

"What’s so funny, Kari?" he asked, offering her a hand.

"I’m just thinking we can’t seem to get out of landing in a heap after a fight," she grinned, letting herself be pulled to her feet, "And we don’t even have the Digital Gate to blame this time!"

"It’s tradition. We can’t break it now," he smiled, "Come on, let’s go check on our brothers."

"You’d think they’d been the ones fighting Skullgreymon, and not their Digimon," Hawkmon commented in amusement, inclining his head towards T.K. and Kari and settling his feathers fussily about him, "Humans are strange."

"Hawkmon, shh!" Yolei scolded, staring after her two friends with a suspicious gleam in her brown eyes. It was the sort of gleam she got when she detected a particularly juicy morsel of gossip. Davis rolled his own. He couldn’t believe that Ken had such weird taste in women. On one hand, he was glad he didn’t have another rival for Kari’s affections. T.K. was bad enough. On the other, he could not understand why anyone as sensible as Ken would date Yolei of his own, free will.

He cast a sideways look at his best friend. At the moment, Ken was standing behind Izzy and looking intently at the laptop screen. From time to time, he would say something in a low voice that Davis could not quite catch. It sounded like they were discussing the nature of the Shadow crests from the little he could hear, though. Wormmon was curled up in his arms, his bandages vivid with green fluid. He returned his attention back to his immediate surroundings.

"Besides, I think we’ve all earned the right to celebrate!" Veemon was saying cheerfully, "I know I’m gonna sink my teeth into a celebratory candybar when I get home!"

"Why? It’s not like there’s much to celebrate," Davis said sourly, kicking at the ground,"It’s not like we’ve beaten Myotismon. He’ll be back with his Shadow Crest - he might even have more of them - and who knows who will be his next victim?"

"All of that is true. But, sometimes, you have to take the small victories," Jyou said, coming up from behind him with Gomamon in tow. He placed a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder, gently turning him to face Taichi. The older boy was bending over Agumon, cradling the Digimon’s head in his lap and stroking it soothingly. Agumon was saying something to him, and Taichi was shaking his head emphatically. Even from a distance, Davis could see he had tears in his eyes. "Sometimes, small victories are all you have."

ANNOYING ANNOUNCER: Is Davis right? Will Myotismon return with more Shadow Crests? And who will be their next victim? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters.