Author's Notes: Well, I'm like a week and a half past my monthly update schedule I placed upon myself. Sorry! My classes started back up and I've been working on other writing and stuff. Also, I'm in the process of editing the first four chapters. Not changing anything in the story or anything, just removing tons of filler and fixing the structure of the story. You'll probably see the overall word count drop like 6k over the coming weeks if I get around to finishing my editing, which is a truly frightening figure. Just goes to show how much filler was really in the first four chapters.

Anyways, This is a really short piece. It's just kind of a "sign of good faith" that I intend on meeting (or coming close to meeting) my deadlines in the future and show that I'm not going to disappear again, or at least probably not. Long story short, our second group makes their way to the Digital World. Sorry that I couldn't get something a little bit more exciting going this time! Will try to make up for it in chapter six!

Also, read, review, follow, etc. Critique is always welcome!

"They expect all four of us to cram into that tiny elevator?" Sayuri complained as her group filed into the elevator ahead of her.

"Yikes," Kouichi said. "If this is something you're going to complain about, I can't even imagine how you're going to deal with being stranded in the desert, or on the moon, or in the belly of a Whamon."

"Well sorry that I'd prefer not to be crammed into a box with that jerk," Sayuri said, pointing at Takuya.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Takuya said. "I get it. You have some crazy obsession with me. Now are you coming or not? We don't have all day." Sayuri glared as Kouichi and Nanami sighed.

"Oh fine!" Sayuri pouted as she entered the elevator next to Takuya. "Don't get any funny ideas, you creep." She warned as the doors closed.

"I wouldn't dream of it, psycho," Takuya shot back. "Why isn't this stupid thing moving?" he demanded as he stomped his foot. As if waiting for such a command, the elevator began descending.

"Can't this stupid thing move any faster?" Sayuri whined.

"Is complaining all you ever do?" Takuya said.

"You're one to talk! You were literally just complaining about this thing not moving!" Sayuri yelled back. As Takuya and Sayuri continued to argue, Kouichi drifted into thought. I could definitely do without these two bickering like an old married couple, but this is definitely a better way to get to the Digital World than falling down a flight of stairs. Kouichi smirked for a moment at the thought, but quickly returned to his thoughts. Sometimes I wonder how things would've gone last time, had I not been held up at the station. If I would've made it into that elevator with Takuya and Kouji, I wouldn't have been rushing down the stairs. I wouldn't have had my accident. I wouldn't have been manipulated by Cherubimon. Man, that really would've changed everything, I suppose. Kouichi was brought back to the elevator by something brushing against his side. He turned to see Nanami shifting awkwardly in her small corner of the elevator.

"Oh," Kouichi started as he shuffled to his right a bit. "Sorry, I didn't even realize how crammed you were in that corner. There you go." he smiled as he bumped shoulders with Takuya.

"Watch it, Kouichi!" Takuya complained.

"Really, it's okay," Nanami said as she flushed. "We're all crammed in here. I'm fine." Her eyes darted to Kouichi as she cracked a faint smile. "But thanks." Kouichi nodded as the group continued to wait out the monotonous ride.

"Takuya, did the elevators take this long when you guys went last time?" Kouichi asked, beginning to grow impatient and anxious.

"No way, man." Takuya replied. "It was like a normal elevator ride last time. Then again, I think I was more focused on why your brother was being a hardass, so maybe it did take longer."

"What do you mean by 'when you guys went last time?'" Sayuri asked suspiciously. "Weren't you with them?"

"Not exactly," Kouichi laughed, thinking about how to explain how he ended up in the Digital World last time. "It's a really long story that began with me falling down a flight of stairs." As Kouichi was about to go further into detail about his unique entrance into the Digital World, the lights in the elevator flickered and went out and the elevator stopped moving.

"Seriously?" Takuya complained, slamming his fist against the door.

"Do you really think beating on it will make it start working again?" Sayuri said.

"You'd be surprised." Takuya replied, rolling his eyes. "This is getting weird, though. Last time the elevator took us straight to the platform."

"Why is all of this happening so differently this time?" Nanami asked.

"I think I can try to fill you in on that." Said the high-pitched voice of Lopmon behind the group, causing them to jump. Nanami grabbed onto Kouichi's arm as they turned toward the voice to see an image of Lopmon projected on the back wall of the elevator.

"Lopmon!" Takuya exclaimed. "Good to see ya, buddy!" Sayuri and Nanami stared in amazement, not entirely sure whether to believe the brown rabbit-like creature with gigantic ears was really there.

"Hey Takuya! Kouichi! It's good to see you guys too!" Lopmon said. "It's been a really long time! I see Kouichi even found himself a girlfriend!"

"Huh?" Kouichi said, confused. He and Nanami locked eyes briefly before Nanami quickly released his arm and turned away, blushing madly. "Oh, no, she's not-"

"Sorry!" Nanami exclaimed. "The voice caught me off guard. I just grabbed onto the closest thing to me!"

"Oh," Lopmon said. "Darn. You guys look cute together." He giggled, causing Kouichi to flush a little himself and crack a warm half-smile.

"So, is this thing a-" Sayuri started.

"Excuse me, missy!" Lopmon pouted. "I am not a thing! I am a living, breathing being! Takuya, I have to say, I like Kouichi's girlfriend more than yours." Takuya and Sayuri both flushed bright red in a mix of anger and embarrassment while Nanami hid her face in her hands.

"Girlfriend?" Sayuri and Takuya exclaimed in unison.

"In his dreams!" Sayuri exclaimed.

"In my dreams?" Takuya retorted. "Yeah right! I'd date a Sukamon before I'd date you!"

"I don't even know what that means, but the feeling is mutual!" Sayuri responded before turning away and pouting.

"To answer what I assume was going to be your question," Kouichi began, "yes, that "thing" is a Digimon."

"He's adorable!" Nanami exclaimed.

"This definitely isn't what I expected when you described a world of fighting monsters." Sayuri said. "If the evil Digimon look anything like that little guy, I don't think we'll even need to change into giant monsters to win."

"Hey!" Lopmon complained. "I may look harmless now, but you're looking at one of the three Celestial Angels!"

"You mean he's one of the overlords you guys were talking about?" Nanami said in disbelief. "You guys talked about them like they were powerful wizards or something."

"You're just lucky I'm only in my rookie form. If I warp digivolved, I'm sure you'd be a little more respectful of my power!" Lopmon explained, flexing his arms while he said "power."

"What is "warp digivolving?" Sayuri asked.

"Don't you pay attention to anything?" Takuya scolded.

"Sorry I don't understand how some crazy alternate universe I learned about an hour ago works!" she shot back.

"To answer your question," Kouichi cut in. "Digimon have a special ability to morph and change form. This special ability is called digivolving. Most Digimon are capable of digivolving multiple times, but digivolution requires a lot of energy as well as a certain set of circumstances that varies from Digimon to Digimon in order to activate the evolution." Seeing that his explanation wasn't quite getting through to the girls, Kouichi pointed to Lopmon.

"Take Lopmon here, for example." He said. "Lopmon is currently in his rookie form. Rookie form is the form most Digimon are found in. It's the third stage of digivolution after baby and in-training. Digimon naturally digivolve up to Rookie over time and generally stay in Rookie form for the majority of their lives. However, digivolving past Rookie does not just happen naturally. It usually requires some particular set of circumstances where it is necessary for the Digimon to tap further into its powers in order for the Digimon to move to the Champion stage and further.

"How many stages are there?" Nanami asked.

"Well," Takuya started. "That kind of depends. Standard digivolution goes like this. Digimon hatch from Digi-eggs into baby form. Babies digivolve to the in-training stage. In-training Digimon digivolve to Rookie. Rookies digivolve to Champions. Champions digivolve to Ultimate. Ultimates digivolve to Mega."

"So Mega is the strongest stage?" Sayuri asked?

"Not quite," Kouichi broke in. "You see there are all kinds of different evolutions. Some Digimon are capable of more than others. For example, Some Digimon are able to fuse with each other to become even stronger. Others are able to draw power from artifacts to Digivolve. It's kind of complicated."

"So, what stage did you guys reach when you turned into Digimon?" Nanami asked.

"Well," Takuya said. "None of them, really. We used a different kind of digivolution." He explained, rubbing the back of his head.

"How many different kinds are there, for crying out loud?" Sayuri complained.

"Honestly, I have no idea." Kouichi said.

"Truth be told," Lopmon broke in. "nobody knows. There's a ton. I'm sure the kind you're most concerned about is spirit evolution, though, seeing as that's what legendary warriors use to digivolve."

"Spirit evolution?" Nanami said. "Is that what you guys meant about all that spirit talk?"

"Yep," Kouichi replied. "Like I said back at the restaurant, my spirit is the spirit of darkness. It allows me to spirit evolve into Lowemon and beast spirit evolve into JagerLowemon."

"Yeah," Takuya cut in. "And my spirit is the spirit of fire. I can spirit evolve into Agunimon, beast spirit evolve into BurningGreymon, fusion spirit evolve into Aldamon, and unified spirit evolve into EmperorGreymon."

"Why do you get two more evolutions than Kouichi?" Sayuri asked. Takuya took a moment to think, then looked to Kouichi for help. Kouichi shrugged.

"Ya know," Takuya said. "I never really thought about it before. No one ever questioned it, so I guess I never really even gave it a second thought."

"What's that Patamon?" Lopmon said, looking off-screen. "What do you mean you lost your connection to them? You too Salamon? No, I still have my connection. Interference? From where?"

"Lopmon?" Kouichi asked. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure." Lopmon said. "Some type of technical difficulty made us lose connection to the other two elevators."

"What do you mean? Is everything going to be alright?" Nanami asked, clearly concerned.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry young lady." said the voice of Bokomon, as the small white bear walked into the shot behind Lopmon. "It's probably just one of those dreaded "fast food" establishments in your world. Their intercom signals are always interfering with our transmissions!"

"Bokomon!" Kouichi and Takuya said in unison.

"How have you been?" Asked Kouichi.

"Why, hello boys!" Bokomon replied. "I've seen better days, unfortunately. However, things are looking up now that you'll be back!"

"How's Neemon doing?" Takuya cut in.

"He's as infuriating and dense as ever." Bokomon said with a sigh.

"Hey!" Neemon's voice cried out from somewhere off-camera. "...what's infuriating mean?" Takuya and Kouichi laughed as Bokomon sighed in defeat.

"See what I mean?" Bokomon said.

"By the way, why did you have us split up like this?" Takuya asked.

"What do you mean? Do you honestly think all twelve of you would've been able to fit into one of those elevators? It just so happened that we didn't have an ideal way to transport all of you at once." Bokomon said

"We get that." Kouichi said. "But why did you have us split up so that we ended up in unfamiliar groups? That felt strange to me. Plus, the text was written in such a weird, poetic format. It seemed out of place."

"What are you talking about?" Bokomon asked with a curious look on his face. "I never instructed you on how to split yourselves into groups. What text are you referring to? The only message I've sent you was the voicemail distress call. I figured you would know what to do after that."

"Well we got a text once we got to Shibuya Station." Takuya said.

"Yeah." Sayuri said. "The entire thing was written in rhyme and it said we could only have four people in an elevator to "continue the plot."

"The next line read 'Familiarities, let's keep them a few. Let's leave it to chance. New groups and you may advance.' so we split into new groups by drawing slips from a hat." Nanami explained.

"I never sent such a message." Bokomon insisted.

"What about Salamon?" Kouichi asked.

"Nope." Salamon's voice interrupted. "I never sent that message either."

"Then who sent it?" Takuya demanded.

"Whoever it was sounded like they pulled it straight out of a medieval fairy tale." Sayuri said. "It was creepy."

"Medieval fairy tale…" Bokomon pondered. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Whoever sent that message must be pretty powerful." Patamon said as he fluttered into the picture. "It takes all three of us to muster the strength to send messages to your world with the Digital World in such disarray." and with the word disarray, a petrified look overcame Bokomon.

"Oh heavens no!" Bokomon exclaimed. "I know who sent that message. Takuya, Kouichi when you get to the terminal, you have to get on the nearest Trailmon as quickly as possible and-" the transmission suddenly cut out and the lights flickered back on in the elevator.

"Bokomon?" Takuya cried. "What's going on!" he shouted. His plea was interrupted by a loud grinding sound. The elevator began to shake and rapidly move up and down, tossing the four occupants freely. The elevator settled down, and as the group got to their feet, the elevator went into freefall. The warriors shrieked. After about ten seconds, the elevator came crashing to a halt, sending the warriors sprawling across the floor. The doors opened.

"Get off of me, you perv!" Sayuri yelled as she pushed out from underneath Takuya.

"Right, because I totally fell on you on purpose while we plummeted down the elevator shaft." Takuya rolled his eyes as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Seriously, is me falling a requirement to get to the Digital World?" Kouichi said as he dusted himself off. Takuya and Sayuri ran ahead into the terminal, still bickering about the fall. Kouichi looked down to Nanami and reached his arm out. "Here, I'll help you up." He offered with a warm smile.

"Thanks." Nanami smiled as she grabbed ahold and Kouichi hoisted her up. She didn't blush or get all nervous this time. Kouichi noticed. Maybe she's starting to warm up to me. He pondered, drifting off into thought again.

"Uhm, Kouichi?" Nanami's voice brought Kouichi back to reality.

"Yeah?" Kouichi said.

"I think I'm okay now," She said. "You can let go." She lifted her arm with Kouichi's hand still clasped around it.

"Oh!" Kouichi jumped. "Right! Sorry!" He flushed ever so slightly and cracked a half-smile. "We should get going I guess!"

"Yeah." She said. "I don't think those two will wait much longer for us." They stepped out of the elevator and walked to the middle of the terminal. platform was large and circular, with eight sets of train tracks jetting off in eight different directions from the platform, but only one set of tracks was occupied by a Trailmon. Kouichi watched as Takuya and Sayuri climbed onto the Trailmon.

"I guess you were right about them not waiting for us." Kouichi laughed. "Let's get going." Kouichi and Nanami walked toward the Trailmon and as they got closer, Kouichi immediately recognized the train Digimon.

"Worm!" Kouichi said. "It's good to see you. Are you our ride back into the Digital World?"

"Ya mean what's left of it?" Worm replied. "Yeah. I suppose I am. Now get your butts in gear and hop on board. I ain't got all day. I'm missin' my nap for this and I'm not even gettin' paid overtime." As the group climbed aboard, the doors shut, and Worm made his way out of the station, off to the Digital World.