Disclaimer: Digimon is the property of Toei, Bandai, Saban and Disney (It might be back with Saban for all I know).

Reemergence; Reunion; Retaliation

by

The Analyzer

Elecmon was having a productive day. He had sufficient sleep and the little ones weren't being very incorrigible this morning, so he was able to attend to the needs of the upset few without being harried. He was currently returning with a decent catch of fish and he looked forward to entertaining the little ones after their meal. However tiring it was to take care of so many baby Digimon, it was fun bringing smiles to their faces.

The giant colorful blocks emerged into view. Elecmon turned in the direction of the small kitchen, where he would chop the fish into edible chunks. The route took him past the Digiegg field. He paused and appraised the area for any sign of twitching eggs or brown cradles.

Elecmon nodded in assurance to himself when he saw neither of those. He turned, thinking of how he should entertain the little ones today, when he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye. His head rose instantly, blue eyes searching quickly.

Elecmon homed in on the source. Thinking he could leave his net of fish behind for a few minutes without attracting thieves, he made a beeline for the glow.

The Digiegg he was approaching was white and pink spotted. These details were difficult to discern through the glow. The Digiegg was shaded, with gold stripes aligned through the golden Digital World alphabet. They were moving too swiftly to be legible, phasing into a pale yellow blur.

Elecmon stared. From his first encounter with a human to the destruction of the Village of Beginnings under the Dark Masters, he had seen many amazing events. But this was definitely unprecedented. There was only one team he could call for this. With the image of a blond boy and an orange hamster in his mind, Elecmon took off with the intent of calling the Chosen Children.

But first, he had to make sure no one stole the little ones' meal.

Hikari could sense Tailmon looking over her shoulder as she flipped through the magazine.

"I thought you weren't interested in fashion." Tailmon commented.

"Not really." Hikari said. "But Michael-san picked this up while in Canada and Mimi-san mailed this over so I could practice my English. Besides, it's interesting to look at the trends going on in Canada."

Tailmon shrugged. "Not my thing, but whatever interests you, I support." She hopped off the bed. "I'm going to go and see if I could see some of tonight's dinner."

"Okay. Be sure not to sneak anything from under Mom's nose."

Tailmon looked affronted. "Unlike V-mon or Armadimon, I ask permission before I sample the food."

"Then where did the sushi go last week when Mom was busy finding Dad's keys? I'm sure they didn't vanish into Agumon's stomach. He wasn't visiting during that time."

Tailmon was halfway to the door when she froze in mid step. Hikari looked up from her magazine and giggled.

"Don't worry, I won't tell."

"Yes…thank you." Tailmon departed stiffly.

Smiling, Hikari returned to the magazine. It was quite an exercise to figure out the grammar and sentence structure of the English alphabet. Her class was still trying to master the Japanese writing systems, which was a challenge in and of itself. Hikari wondered how Mimi was able to more-or-less master English in less than three years. If her family were to suddenly up and move to America, she wasn't sure she would be able to cope with the language change.

Hikari didn't entertain such thoughts for long. The Friday afternoon was currently peaceful, which helped ease Hikari into a relaxed mood. Admittedly, the peace could be partly attributed to the absence of her elder sibling. Taichi was visiting Agumon, having gone through the gate via Hikari's D3. Judging from what she heard before he vanished into the computer, they were going to tour through Agumon's area and play some local games to burn off energy. Since such games could devolve into brotherly squabbles between the two, Hikari was somewhat glad she remained in the Real World today. As endearing as their relationship was, Hikari valued her peace and quiet.

In the apartment, Tailmon could be heard asking Mrs. Yagami about dinner. The murmur of her father commenting on a television program also reached Hikari's ears. The wind blew gently from the window, carrying the faint sounds of the traffic and a distant plane. The sun shone through the window, making her comfortably warm. She had since slipped from scanning the words to admiring the gorgeous pictures. Hikari was content. It would be nice if this lasted for a couple of hours…

Her D-Terminal beeped, announcing the arrival of a message. Hikari sighed, putting the magazine down. Of course this would have happened. Scolding herself for jinxing the mood, she worked her stiff limbs and pushed herself out of bed. She retrieved her D-Terminal from under a school notebook. As she clicked it open, she found Tailmon already by her side, looking alert.

"What is it?"

Hikari scanned the message. "It's Takeru-kun. He's saying everyone should meet up at File Island. Something unusual is happening at the Village of Beginnings."

"We should go." Tailmon said.

Nodding seriously, Hikari snatched up her D3 and the pair left the room. Calling to her parents vaguely about Digital World emergencies, she and Tailmon vanished into Taichi's room.

Hikari and Tailmon were the last to arrive. She found Takeru waiting worriedly for them. When she and Tailmon landed on the soft earth, Takeru beckoned for the Chosen and Digimon to follow, Patamon flying impatiently ahead.

"So what's the big emergency, Takeru?" Miyako asked.

"I got a message from Elecmon asking for our help." Takeru replied. "He didn't elaborate on the details, but he sounded pretty worried, so I messaged you all quickly."

"Elecmon." Iori said thoughtfully. "Isn't he the caretaker of the Village of Beginnings who you met with in your first adventures?"

"Yup." Patamon said, slowing down a little. "We ran into him after we were all scattered by Devimon. He thought we were the enemies at first and didn't like us, but Takeru sorted him out."

"No offense Takeru, but how could an eight year old have solved it?" Daisuke said.

Takeru turned to grin at Daisuke. "Would you believe sumo tug of war?"

Daisuke and V-mon blinked. So did the others.

"Anyway, we better hurry. Elecmon sounded worried." Takeru said.

The bemused group agreed and picked up its pace.

Daisuke wasn't initially impressed when they first set sights on the Village of Beginnings. When he was sent nearly twenty feet in the air by the springy ground, though, forcing them to slow their jog to a crawl, he revised his opinion and declared this was the best place ever. After Takeru informed Daisuke he told him so, he began looking around.

"Where is he? Elecmon said he would meet with us."

"Maybe he got delayed by the babies." Patamon suggested.

The caretaker in question soon came into view. He rushed toward them, looking harried.

"Sorry." he panted. "Some of the little ones needed to be fed."

"That's okay!" Patamon called back. "We know your job's tough."

Elecmon took a moment to catch his breath before smiling up at Takeru.

"Patamon. Takeru. It's been so long. Especially for you, Takeru." Elecmon added, sizing him up with wide eyes. "You've grown like a pine."

Takeru laughed. "Humans have a habit of doing that."

"Indeed. Ordinarily I would have loved to tackle you in welcome...or lecture you on not visiting. But now's not the time."

"What's the problem, Elecmon?" Miyako asked.

"It's a Digiegg. It's acting strangely. It's…well, see for yourself."

Waving a paw, Elecmon padded off. Looking at each other, the group shrugged and followed.

Elecmon eventually led them to a field of Digieggs. The Chosen Children paused for a moment to appreciate the varying colors and patterns and the enormous number of them. Hikari glanced at Ken. He and Wormmon were staring at the field with identical expressions of déjà vu. Hikari was suddenly swept up into a similar feeling. It was probably not as intense as theirs, but she felt she was going to run into someone she met long ago…

The group suddenly realized Elecmon was still walking, and hastily caught up.

"It's over there." Elecmon pointed."See that yellow glare somewhat near the center?"

The Chosen Children and their Digimon companions squinted.

"You mean that glowing Digiegg behind the green-starred one?" Miyako said suddenly, pointing.

Hawkmon followed her finger. Flying at arm level, he made a sound of recognition.

"I see it!" he said.

One after the other, the rest of the group also exclaimed in confirmation.

"What could be making the Digiegg glow like that?" Hikari murmured, her gaze fixed on the glow. Tailmon looked at her with concern.

"I suggest we get closer to find out." Iori replied.

They were halfway through the Digiegg field. A few members of the group like Daisuke or Armadimon found their eyes drawn to any interesting Digiegg along their path. Most of them, however, didn't lift their gaze from the most interesting one of all.

The Chosen Children and their partners gathered around the Digiegg. Elecmon stood to the side, throwing inquiring looks at them. Hikari somehow found herself at the center of the group. As she stared at the blurred digital characters, her sense of déjà vu grew. She took out her camera, a new model she recently brought, and snapped a few photos.

"This Digiegg has been acting this way ever since I came across it." Elecmon said, waving at it. "I've been watching this Digiegg like all the other ones and it never acted strange before."

"Hmm." Takeru stared speculatively at the glowing Digiegg, moving a bit close before thinking better of it. "Has this happened to any of the other Digieggs, Elecmon?"

"Not since I first took up the post of caretaker. It's why I called you. I thought you might have some familiarity with it."

"Unfortunately, I don't believe we've encountered this before." Ken said, glancing inquiringly at the others. They all shook their heads, but Ken was back to staring hypnotically at the Digiegg. Hikari noted uneasily that she also couldn't take her eyes off the Digiegg.

She didn't feel like touching the Digiegg, so she and everyone else were surprised when the normally rational Ken reached for it.

"Hey, are you nuts?" Daisuke said quickly, seizing Ken's wrist. "You can't just touch random glowing things! Haven't you seen the movies where touching random glowing things leads to a gory end? I don't want you to end all gory-like, okay?"

Ken stared. Then blushing, he withdrew his hand. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"What happened, Ken-chan?" Wormmon asked worriedly.

"I don't know. One second I was staring at the Digiegg and the next thing I knew, I just HAD to touch it."

The group exchanged uneasy looks and they all shuffled away from the glowing Digiegg.

All except Hikari, who stared unwaveringly at the Digiegg.

"Hikari-chan, what's wrong?" Miyako asked nervously. "You aren't thinking of touching it too, are you?"

"I don't think so. It's just…I'm having a funny feeling…like I'm meeting with an old friend."

Takeru stared at the glowing Digiegg for a moment. His eyes widened.

"I think I'm having the same feeling! It's probably not like Hikari-chan's, but-"

"Okay, this is getting creepy." Miyako said. "First Ken-kun, now Hikari-chan and Takeru. Who's going to be next?"

"Don't worry, Miyako-san." Hawkmon replied. "I will protect you from doing anything too foolish. Don't even think about it." he added to Daisuke, who had been opening his mouth.

"Hikari." Tailmon's voice was laced with concern. "You said you felt like you were meeting up with an old friend…can you tell who it was you felt you were reuniting with?"

Hikari took an unconscious step forward, opening her mouth to answer. But the glowing Digiegg then blared with yellow light, forcing them all to shield their eyes.

"Oh no, Hikari-chan touched the random glowing thing!" Daisuke exclaimed. "I don't want her to have a gory end!"

"I didn't!" Hikari yelled. "It just-"

Whatever else she was going to say said was drowned out when the light level intensified. The sounds of eggshell cracking increased in volume. Those who could squint through the light thought the cracking Digiegg resembled the Ring of Fire. Then the Digiegg burst into data particles.

The incredible brightness died down at once. The Chosen Children and the Digimon blinked as their eyes adjusted to the light level and looked at the place where the Digiegg used to be.

They expected a brown basket to have taken its place, but a Botamon lay there instead, blinking orange eyes up at them.

Floods of familiarity flowed through Hikari, knocking off her sense of balance. She lowered herself to her knees, her shocked eyes never leaving the Botamon.

"Hikari-chan? Hikari-chan, what's wrong?" Miyako demanded.

"I knew it!" Daisuke moaned. "I knew something bad would happen if Hikari-chan touched it."

"No, I didn't touch it." Hikari said distractedly. "It's just…I know this Botamon. The eight of us know this Botamon!"

"Oh no, now she can't count. What's going to happen to her-"

"Daisuke, please be quiet." Ken said. His quiet, yet firm voice made Daisuke close his mouth without comment.

"The eight of us…wait." Takeru's eyes widened in realization. "You can't mean that Botamon is-"

Before Hikari could answer, the Botamon let out a sound of longing and before anyone knew it-

*smooch*

Botamon was clinging to Hikari's face.

"Hey, get off Hikari-chan's face." Daisuke demanded, moving forward.

"It's alright Daisuke-kun." Takeru said, throwing an arm out. "We don't need to be worried here."

"Huh?" Daisuke stared at him bemusedly as Hikari finally snapped the Botamon off her face.

"Oh Botamon." she said, tears building up in her eyes. "Is it really you?"

The Botamon stared up at her longingly before nodding hard. Then Hikari brought him close so he could nuzzle her face.

"Um, do you mind explaining what's going on, Takeru?" Daisuke asked.

"Yeah, I'd like a clue as to what's going on myself." Miyako said.

"Remember when we told you about Hikarigaoka?" Takeru asked.

Iori nodded. "That was the night the eight of you were selected to be Chosen Children. A Digiegg appeared in Hikari-san and Taichi-san's home and hatched into a Botamon. They took care of it until it evolved into an enormous Agumon. Then Parrotmon came and the Agumon evolved into Greymon to defend them. Greymon defeated Parrotmon and they both disappeared." Iori's eyes widened. "You can't mean this Botamon is…"

Takeru smiled wryly. "Yup. That same Greymon just kissed Hikari-chan's face."

Taichi was feeling relaxed. He had joined his partner in the patrols of the protected area, who pointed out the sights and reintroduced him to the local Digimon. They had been pretty friendly, asking them to join in eating and the local recreational activities. It was fun to participate in the unique games of the Digital World and he was feeling tired yet content after the horseplay.

He and Agumon were lying underneath a tree, having completed the area patrol. Sunbeams occasionally broke through the tiny spaces and the wind made the shade rustle like a cloak. As much as Taichi loved Tokyo, there were times an energetic boy like him wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

"What are you thinking?" Agumon asked.

"Just how nice it is to be in the Digital World. Being with friends, kibitzing with nature, that sort of stuff."

"Not to mention trying out the local food." Agumon teased.

Taichi gave a playful glare. "Hey, don't say that to me after what you did to the ramen joint in the mall. Thanks to you, I'm not sure anyone in the Yagami line will ever be allowed back again."

"Hehehe. Sorry. But their ramen was so GOOD…"

"I know. But at least I won't get driven away from any of the local villages after scaring the servers like that."

Agumon flushed. "You're right. I shouldn't have done that. But what do you want me to do about it?"

"Nothing. I'm just teasing you, you know." Taichi slung an arm around his partner in a friendly manner. "I forgive you for your uncontrollable appetite. It's not your fault it's the size of Whamon."

"Taichi, you're mean." Agumon said, but it was a light sulk.

Taichi's D-Terminal beeped. He dug it out of his pocket and checked it.

"Who is it from?"

"Takeru. I wonder what he's calling for?"

"Maybe he's going to tell you Yamato's mad because you forgot the study session between him and Sora."

Taichi glared at Agumon, who sniggered.

"I'm just teasing you, you know."

Rolling his eyes, Taichi read the message. Taichi froze and scanned the screen slowly, eyes growing wider by the second. Agumon began to feel concerned.

"What is it? Is Takeru in trouble?"

"No, nothing like that. Takeru's okay. He just told me that the Greymon from the Hikarigaoka incident had been reborn."

Agumon's eyes widened. "What? That Greymon's back? Is he sure?"

"Let's be sure." Taichi replied, typing a quick message. A minute later, the answer came and he smiled wryly. "Yup, that's him. His way of expressing affection is very…special."

Agumon scratched his head. "Wow…this is kinda amazing."

"Yeah, isn't it?" Now that the shock had begun to fade away, Taichi grew excited and got to his feet. "Oh, it'd be awesome to see him again. C'mon, let's go!"

"Right!" Agumon stood up just as eagerly, but he paused and crossed his arms. "Don't tell me this Greymon's gonna replace me as a partner, huh?"

Taichi laughed. "No! But be like that and I might consider getting a new partner. Now let's hurry up before he actually evolves to Greymon!"

Grabbing his partner's hand, Taichi eagerly pulled him forward. Agumon almost lost his balance. He got a brief view of a bird Digimon perched in the treetops before regaining his footing. Agumon sighed and allowed himself to be led toward the Village of Beginnings.

"A lot of things have changed since you've last given me a piggyback, Botamon." Hikari said, still smiling tearfully at the baby Digimon held comfortably in her hands. "It's a bit long, but if you want to hear it, I'll be more than happy to tell you about it."

Botamon nodded eagerly, spurring Hikari to continue speaking. She had been doing a lot of that. Once she had become coherent enough to speak, Hikari hadn't stopped talking and Botamon never took his eyes off her. She introduced him to the Chosen Children and their partners, briefly describing each of their personalities before moving on to the next one. A couple of them stepped back when they were introduced, wondering if they would also be on the receiving end of a face smooch. Aside from studying Ken, Botamon just nodded at each of them and took in their appearance. When Hikari moved on to other topics, Elecmon returned to his duties. The group sensed she wouldn't stop talking anytime soon and drifted off to the forest edge.

"Maybe Miyako had been a bad influence on her." Daisuke mused, watching Hikari explain the apartment her family had moved into. "I've never heard her be so chatty."

"Hey, watch it." Miyako said. "She's just reunited with someone she hasn't seen since she was five. I bet if you had been separated from V-mon for that long, you would break the record for the longest conversation."

"But that's never going to happen, of course." V-mon piped up, clinging to his partner's legs.

"Right." Wormmon said, cuddling stubbornly into Ken's arms.

"I wonder why his Digiegg displayed those characters." Iori said. "That looked too forbidding to lead to a happy reunion."

"I know." Miyako replied. "Maybe it has something to do with how Botamon got in Hikarigoaka all those years ago."

"Come to think of it, how did he and Parrotmon get into Hikarigaoka in the first place?" Takeru mused. "Aside from learning that Gennai-san's people selected us as Chosen Children from the incident, we never found out much about it. Koushirou-san and Gennai-san had their theories, but they weren't confirmed."

"It will be interesting to find out." Hawkmon said. "Maybe Botamon would know what happened before he entered Hikari-san's home."

"Botamon was a Digiegg when he got into Hikari-chan's home." Miyako said. "I thought you knew that."

Hawkmon flushed. "B-but, of course! I just meant…"

As Miyako proceeded to tease her partner over that flub, Tailmon remained silent. She listened as Hikari regaled about the time she first met her partner to an attentive Botamon. Ordinarily, Tailmon would have been more than happy that Hikari had reunited with an old friend. However, something about the baby Digimon set her on edge.

Ken appeared to have noticed her expression, and he asked. "Are you alright? Something seems to be troubling you."

"I just have a feeling that…never mind."

Ken frowned. "Don't be embarrassed to admit an unfounded suspicion. Sometimes it is warranted and might lead to something important. Believe me, I've been there. I think I'm just imagining things and the next thing we know, we're almost killed by a seemingly innocent blossom."

Tailmon welled up a smile. "Good point. I should have known that. Anyway, it's Botamon."

"Botamon?"

Ken exchanged glances with Wormmon, who said. "You don't think he's dangerous, do you?"

"Not exactly." Tailmon said slowly. "It's just that I feel a faint sense of déjà vu around Botamon. An uncomfortable one. I don't know if he's aware of it or not, but nevertheless, the feeling makes me nervous."

Ken considered the point for a moment. "Maybe we should get in touch with Koushirou-san. He could do some tests on Botamon to make sure he isn't dangerous in some way."

"Yeah, and if that isn't enough, we could always contact Gennai-san." Wormmon said.

Tailmon's smile returned. "I don't believe we need to go that far, but I would appreciate the help. Thank you."

"Anytime." Ken smiled back as well.

"Hey, what are you three talking about?" Daisuke asked, leaning in suddenly.

"Nothing that important!" Wormmon said too quickly. All three cringed.

"Wormmon." V-mon sing songed ominously. "You wouldn't lie to your Jogress buddy, would you?"

"O-of course not! It's just…"

"We were talking about making sure that Botamon is healthy." Ken said. "As happy as this reunion is, we still can't explain why his Digiegg acted like that. I suggest we stop by Koushirou-san so he can check Botamon out. If necessary, we could stop by Gennai-san's as well."

"Good idea." Iori said. "We don't want Botamon to be infected with something like a computer virus."

"Or something that'll make him om nom everything like Pac Man." Armadimon piped up. He became puzzled by their stares. "What? Iori was playing Pac Man a lot last night, dagyaa."

Iori flushed, and Takeru coughed nervously.

"Anyway," he said, "the suggestion has my support. Not to mention it makes it convenient for the rest of the Chosen to meet up with Botamon as well. There's Mimi-san to talk about, but I'm sure Koushirou-san can set up a live feed."

"Then that's settled." Miyako said. "All agreed?"

"What about Hikari-chan?" Daisuke said. "We're going to tell her, right?"

A guilty silence followed. Takeru glanced in Hikari's direction.

"We'll tell her when it's time to leave. She looks like she's having fun."

Thankfully, the awkward moment was interrupted by the arrival of Taichi and Agumon.

"Hey!" Taichi waved as they jogged up to the gathering. "Is it true, Takeru? Greymon from Hikargaoka is back? You better not be pulling my leg, or you are in for a headlock!"

"It's true." Takeru laughed, his hands spread in a placating manner. "Hikari-chan sensed it and since when have her abilities ever proved her wrong? Plus he did the face kiss thing you talked about."

"Awesome! I never dreamed we'd see him again, so this is an great surprise. Agumon's sulking because he thinks he'll be replaced."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" V-mon teased.

"Oh, stay out of this!" Agumon said, giving him a playful shove. The others snickered.

"Tell you what?" Taichi laughed. "Why don't you come with me to meet up with him and see how threatening he is?"

"I guess it can't hurt." Agumon said, and he followed Taichi to where Hikari lay.

"Oniichan! Agumon!" Hikari greeted, waving. "I should have e-mailed you about what just happened. Can you guess who I'm speaking to?"

"Let me guess. Is it someone with an affinity for face kissing and eating catfood?"

"Yup, it's the Botamon from Hikarigaoka. Did Takeru-kun tell you? I should have told him to keep it a surprise. Hey Botamon, here's another person you might be familiar with."

Hikari held up Botamon so he could examine Taichi's face.

"Hey Botamon, do you recognize me?" Taichi grinned. "I'm Hikari's brother. I was the annoying one with the goggles around his neck. We both got scratched by Miko, remember?"

Botamon's eyes lit up and he launched himself at Taichi's face. Taichi's muffled laughter could be heard through the baby Digimon. After a few seconds, Taichi pulled him off and allowed his cheek to be nuzzled.

"It's good to see you too, Botamon. I missed you."

Botamon cooed in reply.

"Ah-hem."

Taichi turned toward Agumon, who tapped his foot with an air of mock impatience.

"Well, if you're so eager for an introduction..." Taichi beckoned for Agumon to get closer, then brought Botamon to eye-level. "Botamon, this is my partner, Agumon. Agumon, this is the Digimon who started everything, Botamon. And note, neither of you is replacing the other to me. Despite the fact I'll have to give each of you nicknames when you're at the Agumon stage, you're both special in your own silly way."

"Nice to meet you." Agumon smiled, waving. He felt a bit nervous under Botamon's look of scrutiny and, for all of his grumbling, he really wished their friendship would start smoothly.

Then suddenly Botamon was out of Taichi's hands and clinging to half of Agumon's face. He yelped and landed on his bottom, nearly flinging the baby Digimon off in the fall. He took a moment to orient himself and then quickly raised his claws out, Botamon landing in them. Agumon smiled down at him.

"Aw, I think I like this guy. You said he's going to evolve into an Agumon too?"

"As far as I know, yes." Taichi replied. "I remember him breaking our beds when it happened."

"Mustn't have been very sturdy beds." Agumon muttered. He smiled at Botamon. "Hey, Taichi is an Oniichan to Hikari and took care of her a lot when she was little. Why don't I be your Oniichan and I can help take care of you? Hey, what's so funny?"

Botamon was giggling in Agumon's hands and the Yagami siblings had to cover their mouths to hide their mirth.

"Nothing." Taichi said. "Just…wait and see when he reaches your level."

"Alright." Agumon said dubiously.

He walked over and returned Botamon to Hikari, but he kneeled next to her and joined the conversation. Taichi watched with a smile. He doubted Agumon's jealously would have lasted long, but it was nice to see his meeting with Botamon work out all the same.

Tailmon also couldn't help smiling. She hoped her suspicions would be incorrect as she watched Agumon regale Botamon and Hikari about the time he evolved into Greymon. She had a feeling he was going to talk about nothing but their exploits in the near future.

Tailmon lay on her back and sighed comfortably. Just like in the apartment, the Digital World weather had a calming effect. She couldn't blame Hikari for curling up like a cat with that magazine. She felt like doing something similar herself. Since Hikari and Agumon didn't look like they would be finished anytime soon, she relaxed and slowly closed her eyes.

Almost no one heard the sound of something cutting through the air. But a pair of ears picked up on it. Tailmon's eyes snapped open. A blur of color was rushing in Hikari and Agumon's direction. Tailmon jumped to intercept the blur.

"Neko Punch!"

Tailmon found herself staring into the wild blue eyes of a vaguely reptilian avian. A pair of feathers was adorned like eyebrows and the avian's short beak gritted sharp teeth. On his green wings were claws, which Tailmon dueled against not five feet from Hikari and Agumon.

It took a moment for everyone to process what had just transpired. Then Agumon jumped to his feet and threw his arms out protectively. Hikari drew away, clutching a squeaking Botamon. The others converged, the Digimon readying their attacks. The reptilian avian jumped away before they all closed in and took to the air. He glided for a few seconds before landing three meters away. He regarded them calculatingly.

"I never expected for one of my attacks to be intercepted." he said coldly, voice young and fiercely birdlike. "I should have suspected there was an Adult in your midst. It won't happen again."

"Who are you?" Taichi demanded. "Why did you attack Botamon?"

His beak curled. "So you don't recognize me. How disappointing."

The Chosen Children just stared at the reptilian avian in bemusement and he sighed.

"Very well. You may call me Falcomon. I'm here to conduct some business about that Digimon you have there."

"You mean Botamon?" Hikari asked. "What would you want with him? He's just a baby."

"And it must be taken care of." Falcomon replied. "If you're cooperative, you'll hand it over and we can take care of this with a minimum of fuss."

"Are you out of your mind?" Taichi said. "We're not going to hand our friend over to you so you can shish kabob him!"

"If you were particularly intelligent, then you wouldn't be objecting. However, as all of you are too foolish to comprehend my mission, I won't bother explaining the details to you."

"As if we want you to." Agumon growled. "I like the little guy and I'm not going to let you harm him."

"That's right, no harming of babies while we're around!" Daisuke declared.

There were similar declarations from the other Chosen and their partners. Falcomon narrowed his eyes.

"This is my final warning. Hand over the creature, and no one will get hurt."

"This is our final warning." Taichi countered. "Make yourself scarce or you'll know why we're called the Chosen Children."

A tense silence followed. Falcomon's gaze flickered to each and every one of them, but they met those wild eyes without flinching. Hikari and Agumon's returning looks were equally strong.

"Very well then." Falcomon said ominously. "On your head shall it be."

Then suddenly he wasn't standing, but flying through the air, claws outstretched in their full glory.

The Digimon were quick to action. Armadimon curled into a ball and launched himself at Falcomon. Falcomon dodged and found a blue head quickly closing in. It slammed into Falcomon, taking the breath out of him. But he made a slashing motion, and V-mon cried out and fell onto the earth.

"Pathetic. You thought hurling yourself at me would do me in?"

"Then how about Digimon who also have aerial capabilities?"

Falcomon whirled around. Hawkmon was flying in a wide arc, Patamon trailing behind him. The latter broke away and inhaled.

"Air Shot!"

Falcomon swerved to the side, but more bubbles of air were moving towards him. He dodged them repeatedly, finding himself herded along until Hawkmon was close to him.

"Feather Slash!"

Faster than the blink of an eye, Hawkmon seized the feather from his headband and threw it at Falcomon. It slashed Falcomon across the chest. He cried out, and fell from the sky. Falcomon winced as he bounced off of the grass. He got to his feet with difficulty and found himself surrounded by Tailmon, Agumon, and Wormmon.

"Baby Flame!"

"Falco Rush!"

The ball of flame came at Falcomon. Suddenly, there was a blur and the attack went through empty air. Agumon stood there, confused, and he was slammed to the ground by a streak of color. The streak of color changed course and went for Wormmon.

"Watch out, Wormmon!" Ken cried.

Wormmon froze as the streak of color swiftly closed in. Then he narrowed his eyes.

"Sticky Net!"

The strands of threads caught Falcomon's feet and he tumbled violently to a stop. Falcomon slashed at the webbing furiously and turned his claws on Wormmon. There was a rushing sound and Falcomon turned to find Tailmon coming toward him.

"Neko Punch!"

The connecting fist sent Falcomon across the grass. He was momentarily stunned. He glared at the Chosen Children.

"You think you're so tough." he hissed. "Do you have any idea of the power I have?"

"Since you refuse to give a straight answer on anything that isn't 'die, Botamon, die,' no." Daisuke commented.

"And I guess you have an idea about what powers we have." Taichi said. "The rest of us can evolve to Adult, you know."

Falcomon narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't do that. You're too honorable."

"We try to be honorable. But if you continue to attack Botamon, you'll leave us with no choice." Iori said.

"That's right. We don't want to destroy you," Miyako added, "but we'll do it if we have to protect someone precious to us."

There was a tense silence. Falcomon's eyes gauged the ones against him carefully. To Tailmon, he didn't appear discouraged. On the contrary, his expression reflected more determination than ever. She wondered what was driving him to vanquish a baby Digimon. But Tailmon was also determined. No matter how distasteful it was, she would kill in order to protect those Hikari cared about, despite her suspicions.

Falcomon slowly got to his feet and spread out his wings. The partner Digimon took defensive stances. Falcomon put a foot forward.

"What's going on?"

Falcomon whirled around. Elecmon stood there with food ingredients stored in a blue pack attached to his back. The particularly impatient baby Digimon, who had abandoned their baskets to heckle the caretaker, were staring at the scene before them with wide eyes.

Falcomon's eyes were also wide. His gaze flicked from Elecmon to the baby Digimon and back again. His wings were slowly lowered before he showed his back to the group.

"I will return. Count on that."

Then Falcomon was gone, flying off into the distance. The Chosen Children and their Digimon stared confusedly after Falcomon's vanishing form.

"Well…what was that about?" Takeru asked.

"I want a similar answer." Elecmon said. "What's been going on? It's like that Digimon had a tussle with you."

"You could say that." Patamon replied. "You see…"

As Patamon filled the caretaker in on Falcomon's attack, Tailmon turned to her partner, who was still cuddling Botamon protectively.

"Are you two alright?" Tailmon asked.

"Yeah, thanks. If it wasn't for you, Tailmon, Botamon might've been…I don't want to talk about it."

"What was that Digimon's deal?" Taichi said. "Why would he have a grudge against a baby Digimon?"

There was a nervous silence, which was broken by Ken.

"We don't know. But maybe we should consult Koushirou-san over this."

Taichi stared at him. "What are you talking about? Don't tell me you believe that stupid bird's tripe!"

"Of course not! Nevertheless…we don't know of Botamon's origins. Where did he come from? How did he end up in Hikarigaoka? We want to make sure he isn't hiding any threatening power."

Hikari looked startled. Botamon's eyes were wide in confusion. Taichi's gaze turned inward. Ken braced himself for a tongue lashing. But Taichi just sighed and shook his head.

"I hate to say it, but you've got a point. We'll check the little guy over tomorrow. It would be a great time to reintroduce him to everyone else. What do you say, Hikari?"

Hikari gripped Botamon protectively. "I don't know…Botamon isn't bad. Is this necessary?"

"I agree with Hikari-chan." Daisuke said. "We might not know much about him, but if Hikari-chan trusts him, then I trust him."

Miyako looked thoughtful. "Maybe he isn't aware of it. I've seen a lot of anime where the mysterious innocent guy is minding his own business when…poof! He either has the power to defeat evil, or the power to destroy all of creation. We just want to check, Hikari-chan. I'm sure Izumi-senpai will make it as painless as possible."

Hikari gazed at her friends, who looked sympathetic, but firm. Even Daisuke seemed to be reluctantly agreeing. Hikari gave in.

"Alright. But I'll give Koushirou-kun a good tongue lashing if Botamon's in any way distressed."

The tension was broken by a few giggles. The mental image of the sweet and good natured Hikari scolding the reserved and knowledgeable Koushirou was quite amusing.

"Until that time…" Hikari continued, looking at Elecmon. "Elecmon, would you mind if we take Botamon home? We want to make sure he's safe."

Elecmon blinked. "Are you saying I wouldn't be able to protect him?"

"Not exactly." Hikari said carefully. "It's just that you have so many babies to look after and Falcomon seems determined to kill Botamon. He won't be able to go to the Real World if Botamon's with us, so you wouldn't need to worry about one of your own being attacked in the middle of the night."

Elecmon thought it over carefully. "I see your point. But take care of him. You're the Chosen Children and I admire you all, but you aren't very familiar with raising the young, so…"

Elecmon proceeded to list all the responsibilities for taking care of a baby Digimon. Hikari nodded seriously, obviously taking mental notes, Botamon copying the motion. Tailmon watched the scene with a smile. Then she frowned. Now that Botamon had returned, another adventure was looming. For some reason, she dreaded where this one would eventually lead.

To be continued…

I must thank my mom for picking over the grammar and Higuchimon for checking the characterization. I must also thank Razorsaw for the inspiration of my first multichapter story. The next two chapters would be posted every Friday.