Marcus and Ash's Inner Strength

Despite their best efforts Marcus and Agumon weren't able to escape from Yoshi and Lalamon. Ash and Renamon went along after he admonished her for fleeing from Yoshi. Part of Renamon was upset after being scolded, but maintained her stoic demeanor and simply twitched her ear. Agumon had some restraints put on him by Lalamon, who was too afraid to do the same to Renamon. Charlie and Guilmon had followed them without saying a word the whole way there as the elder Damon sibling knew better then to fight a organization with ties to the government.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Renamon and I will be fine." Ash told Lalamon in a reassuring tone.

'I have no idea why those two are even friends.' Yoshi thought. She was looking through the rear-view window of the car and heard his comment to Lalamon. It wasn't a enjoyable ride as Marcus was constantly complaining about the situation.

"Give it a rest, already. Would you let go." Marcus demanded as Lalamon dragged Agumon in. Ash and the others calmly followed. They gathered around Commander Sampson who got ready to speak to the four.

"I told you: Let go!" Marcus yanked his arm loose.

"Commander. As you ordered I captured the criminals Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 as well as their accomplices Marcus Damon and Ash Ketchum." Yoshi told her boss.

"Come on! You know Agumon and Renamon weren't the ones that destroyed the hamburger stand. So why are you treating them like criminals?" Marcus questioned in an angry tone.

'Something tells me it's not that simple, little brother.' Charlie thought to himself.

"That's not what it's about." Yoshi forced the two apart with her telekinesis to deescalate the situation.

"What's the issue this time?" Ash calmly questioned her.

"There are other crimes you know. If a Digimon arrives to this world, it's a crime and interacting with humans is prohibited." Yoshi explained.

"Are you kidding?" Marcus countered back. "All of you work alongside Digimon!"

"If a police car breaks the speed limit to catch a criminal the police officer isn't a criminal too, right?" Lalamon stated.

"That is a valid point." Ash and Marcus said at the same time as both recall questioning their mothers why the good guys were never questioned about killing perps, and assumed what Lalamon told them was true.

"Hey boss, I thought you were on my side." Agumon questioned as he figured that Marcus would put up more of a fight to liberate him. Renamon smacked Ash on the back of the head with her tail.

"Tell them what will happen to Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 Commander Sampson." Kudamon stated, staring at Ash and Marcus.

"All Digimon that break the Real World law will be returned to their Digi-Egg form. After that they will be transported back to the Digital World where they belong." Sampson explained and then noticed something strange.

"Why isn't Vulpin-1 wearing the restraining leash like Raptor-1?" He asked since it was regulation to wear it.

"It's because Renamon freaks her out." Charlie answered, handing a Digi-Egg over to a chess piece-like Digimon.

"Coordinates are entered and locked." The blonde one said after a few key strokes.

"Transmission coolers are on." The violet haired one commented back. "Bionic condenser standing by." She stated while checking her monitor.

"Digital harmonizer is aligning. Security code recognized." The one to the right said as she looked at her computer screen.

"Digi-Gate: open." The one to the left said as a swirl of unknown energy came from the top of the tube. "Five seconds to transfer.

"3...2...1" The other said as she counted the numbers on her screen.

"Begin transport." Sampson said to the two before him.

"Initiating." The two said before doing the last bit to this job of theirs. In a blinding flash of light the egg was no more.

"Transport complete." The left computer operator explained even though everyone else could plainly see that much. Since he saw the look of awe on the fours faces, so he decided to enlighten them.

"What you have just seen was the Digimon you have just defeated being sent back to the Digital World." Sampson said to them as the humans saw the unknown turtle walk past them with a steaming kettle of tea.

"Now its time for Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 to go back." The small Digimon said causing both boys to seem shocked at what they had just heard. As one was taking her sentence with dignity the other was hooting and hollering about the opposite.

"I'm afraid we can not have this, Commander Sampson." Ash explained as Marcus tried to pry the white creature off of his employee, but Ash on the other hand kicked the pot out of the turtle's hands when it landed - caused a smokescreen.

"Come on, Agumon. We gotta go." Marcus said to his partner.

"It's about time, boss." Agumon said as he ran along side his friend. Ash and Renamon followed after them, but Yoshi did the same and tailed all four of them. When they left the older man spotted two objects on the ground.

"Those are Digivices?" Sampson pointed out before picking up the orange and yellow devices. Neither of them have seen either color being carried by any of their men, so that left two options.

"Ash and Marcus must have dropped them when they fled, but how is it possible that either of them were able to obtain one." The 'scarf' questioned since he knew that his partner didn't do the deed.

"There's only one person we know that can hand out Digivices." Scott told Sampson.

"You're right." Sampson nodded in agreement.

"Well, nobody spotted us, but now we're stuck here." Marcus said as he opened one of the various doors and took a quick look around to make sure that there were no humans around.

"Why don't we just walk out the front door, boss?" Agumon questioned while walking up beside him before being pushed back inside.

"Are you trying to get us caught?" He questioned while trying to keep his employee away from the door which the hat wearing youth closed for him. "Quiet. There. Perfect." He instructed and stated when he saw a big cardboard box.

"I wonder if you shout try to fit into that too, Renamon?" Ash asked when he spotted the item in question. The yellow furred one saw what they were looking at and decided to make one thing clear.

"Such things are not needed for my type of Digimon." She started to speak before vanishing. "We're pretty good at blending into the shadows." She added before reappearing behind Ash which got a yelp of alarm from him - which she enjoyed.

"Whatever. Let's just get going." Marcus said as he had put the box over his partner, and was walking him along with the other two right behind. Eventually they were able to get into town with no one really looking at them.

"Let's go." Marcus said as they were crossing yet another lax intersection. Ketchum was wandering how this did not look strange to others: a walking cardboard box.

"Good idea, boss. No one will think there's anything suspicious about a walking cardboard box." Agumon said as he was looking through his peep holes as they continued to walk forward.

"Shh." The employer instructed as a biker went past them. Ash took them moment to look for his partner, and when he saw those stunning blue eyes he knew that the canine was still with them. "Just be quiet, okay?" He requested as they took a left.

"I'm trying, but my stomach won't." The lizard said back as he walked along behind him. Eventually the group got to their destination, and unshackled their friends. The four then journeyed into Marcus' room, and watched their Digimon partners eat.

"If this is junk food I'm happy to be a garbage dump." Agumon said as he wolfed down some snacks that he picked up on their way up, but Ash still had his boxed lunch and drink.

"They can only eat food made for Digimon, huh? This guy will eat anything." Marcus said as he watched his worker eat.

"And her..." He stated as he looked over at his 'brother's' friend.

"Ash, Marcus, are you two home?" A female voice stated which got the human's attention. Both feared what she would do what she would do if she saw Agumon and Renamon, so there was only one option - PANIC.

"I'm sorry Renamon, but your going to have to hide in Marcus' closet." Ash said as he guided the canine in, and let her take her seat. The fighter on the other hand just grabbed his friend and shoved him in with her.

"And this time keep quiet." The warrior instructed before closing the doors. By this time a stunning woman with hair the same shade as Marcus' while wearing a simple purple/white outfit.

"Hi." She said to the two of them. As Ash tried to keep a straight face the brown haired youth beside him was showing all the signs of hiding something.

"Hi, mom, what's going on?" The son of the woman before them asked in his best confident tone, but knew that it still showed his fear.

"Well, you're busted. That's what's going on. Fess up, while you two were out getting into trouble I stayed up all night worried sick. Now, where were you two?" She informed and asked the two of them. If there was one thing either of them hated - it was making their family worry, but they knew she would be even more worried if she heard the truth, so they were pretty stuck on what to do.

"What trouble? I don't even know the meaning of the word." Marcus explained while trying to keep a straight face. Inside the closet was the lizard trying to free himself from the canine's grip as she whispered, 'stay still, be quiet' and other words along that line.

"You really ought to buy us both a dictionary." Ash stated as the two began to laugh at their own cover story. The female human on the other hand simply edged in close, and glared at them which they felt and looked back at her.

"Marcus - your standing on a candy bar. Ash - you're standing in an empty boxed lunch." She informed them causing both to look down and raise the foot in question.

"Now, where'd that come from?" Marcus questioned as he looked at the bar beneath him.

"Hmm, maybe from that pile of food on the floor." Their mother informed them as she looked at the heap of empty calories in the center of the room. The others started to sweat, but the native of the house knew what to say.

"Don't worry, mom. We'll clean it up. Well, we better get started, so see ya." Marcus said as he gently showed his mother the door, and shut it behind her.

"Let go!" Agumon shouted at the slender fighter which she did after not smelling the third human in the room anymore. "Aah! Why do you keep shoving me into small places?" Agumon shouted while looking up at his employer.

"Because if anyone finds you two they'll take you away and send you two back to the Digital World." Marcus explained to the simple minded dinosaur. He finally understood that if he went home than he wouldn't hang out with such an amazing human - his boss.

"Well, I don't want that." Agumon answered back while tilting his head a little to the side.

"And I know you don't want that either, Renamon, so the two of you need to trust us. We need to keep you hidden at all times." Ash explained before adding, "Even though you can handle that part pretty well by yourself." She did like the compliment, but said nothing in return.

"Right." Agumon commented with a nod of the head.

"Listen..." Marcus started to speak before seeing that his doorknob was moving.

"Marcus, Ash." The human female said through the other side of the door. This caused the teens to panic and stuff them from behind the curtain. "I heard talking. Is there someone else in here besides you two?" She asked after finally getting the door open.

"No, don't be silly, mom. You're just imagining things." Marcus said while blocking her view of the window since he knew that the Digimon's yellow tails were showing.

"Move to the stone deck." Ash whispered to the two before going over to back up Marcus in coming up with a cover story. However by the time he got there she was already telling the two of the agreement that they made.

"I hope you two aren't forgetting the promise we made. We said until the fathers come back: the four of us will tell each other absolutely everything. No secrets." The mother of Marcus explained which caught both of the Digital Monster's attention.

"There's four?" Agumon questioned as he laid on his belly while Renamon was sitting on the railing, and that was when the two of them saw the fourth human - a little girl, who had just dropped a watering can.

"Roof." Renamon instructed and felt like a novice - allowing a youngling to spot her like that. As the two fled upward the little girl ran into her brother's room, and held onto her mother out of fear.

"What's the matter Kristy?" Their mother questioned since she wanted to know what scared her child so much.

"There's a giant lizard out there." The young girl explained even though she did see the dog: it was the reptile that scared her more since she knew a canine would never harm a human.

"A what?" The mother asked back before going out to take a look for herself. The two that knew who it was tried to stop her, but the older woman was already at the sliding door. "But there's nothing out here." She said to her daughter and saw nothing out of place except for the watering can lying on the ground.

"I'm telling you I saw it." Kristy shouted back since she knew that she was not crazy. As Agumon struggled to get to the top Renamon simply jumped and was there, but once the reptile got there he came face to face with a neighborhood cat.

"UMA." The mom said after hearing her daughter's argument that there really was something out there. The acronym didn't make since to the kids in the room, so she explained herself. "Unidentified Mysterious Animal like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. Where did I put my video camera?" She questioned the last part since she knew that another oddity would rake in the bucks, but her train of thought was halted by some rustling on the roof.

"I bet it's that lizard." Kristy said and made a break for the sliding door.

"If there is something up there it might be too dangerous, so Marcus and I will go." Ash explained to the little sister before grabbing the edge of the roof and pulling himself up which Damon did the same. The two saw that Agumon got into a fight with the cat and Renamon 'tried' to stop it, but the three tumbled off the roof and down to the ground.

'That wasn't so bad.' Agumon thought as he landed on the ground - back first. 'That hurt.' He thought after his boss landed on top of him. Ash was right behind Marcus, but to protect his friend Ash instinctively held the fox in his arms.

'I could have landed safely on the ground just like that cat. I did not need Ash to catch me.' Renamon thought before she and the others slipped into unconsciousness with herself still enjoying the hold.

"Are you okay?" Kristy questioned to the four down below. The mother came out, looked down and saw the lizard along with a dog.

"You didn't mention the dog, honey?" The taller woman asked the young girl.

"The lizard scared me more." She explained and the two decided to help out the four, but as they were going down to get them there was already a woman on the scene.

"This is Yoshino. The targets have been acquired. Shall I proceed with erasing their memories?" The pink vested one questioned to her leader on the com link in her ear. Several hours have passed and the two awoke to find themselves in their designated rooms.

"Agumon/Renamon?" The two questioned almost at the exact same time before looking around their rooms, but when neither saw anything yellow they left their rooms. Once inside the hallway the two looked at one another and tried to find their friends, but was having zero luck.

"Smells like your mom has made Supper." Ash informed after taking a whiff in the air. Marcus took that as a sign to check the Kitchen since his employee couldn't control his stomach, and would probably make his own food. When the two got there they saw that Agumon was eating, but with others.

"More please?" Agumon questioned as he sat at the table and gave the mother of the house his bowl.

"Coming up." She said sweetly before dishing up another helping. Seeing this caused the human to collapse on the floor out of panic, but the panic wore off quickly and decided to deal with his employee.

"How can you sit here eating with all that's going on?" Marcus questioned as his anger was coming to a boil. Agumon took the bowl and answered casually.

"Thanks. Because if I eat standing up I don't feel good." The Digimon's comment may have been truthful, but that wasn't the answer the human was looking for.

"That isn't what I meant you Digital Dimwit." Marcus shouted as he gave his worker a two fisted noogie. His actions were ruining two other guest's time with this meal, so they had to speak up.

"Do you mind settling down?" Yusei asked the two combatants. "We're trying to enjoy dinner."

"You know - this is the best corn dog I've ever had." Yoshi complimented to the mother.

"Can you excuse us for a minute, mom?" Marcus said as he took Yoshi and Yusei into the hall so they could talk a bit in private. Ash remained behind since he was curious about something.

"So...you don't mind if they stick around." Ash questioned as he glanced at his friend and the end of the table, even though she would feel better using a private table, eating her meal calmly.

"Of course not. Agumon and Renamon do seem nice enough, and well behaved." The mother explained back and Kristy nodded happily, so with that settled the hat wearing youth joined them on the other end of the table.

"Just exactly do you two think you're doing here?" Marcus questioned once the three were alone.

"It wasn't our idea to come to your house. Yoshi here was going to bring you four in, but..." Yusei explained, before trailing off.

"There has been a change in plans. We have decided not to erase the memories of Ash, Marcus, or the rest of the Damon family." Sampson explained which confused the young worker. "But stay there and observe. Keep an eye on Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1, understand?" He questioned to her, and waited for her reply.

"But commander..." She tried to reason with him, but he hung up before she could plead her case.

"That was that. So, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other since I now have to keep an eye you four." Yoshi explained in simpler terms what was going on at the moment.

"No way. You're not tagging along with me, toots." Marcus said back in annoyance since he hated to have a babysitter hanging around him.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, but orders are orders." Yoshi explained back to Marcus.

"Then I order you to get out!" He shouted back to her since she was starting to get on his last nerve.

"Sorry, I can't!" She shouted back to him since he was getting on her last nerve as well. Throughout all the voice raising the five listened to the whole thing, but to try to silence them Kristy excused herself from the table, and...

"You two sound just like an old married couple." She said while walking past them to watch some TV. The both of them heard her, and decided to set the record straight.

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!" They shouted at her, and once they realized the two said it at the same time, they blushed, and looked away from each other. Yoshi already had a boyfriend named Scott Summers.

"Let's get back to eating." Marcus offered while gesturing to the Kitchen which she nodded and the two headed to the table. After Supper was complete it was time for bed which Yoshi had Marcus' bed while he and Agumon slept on sleeping bags.

Yusei had left and returned to his apartment a few blocks down the road.

"Ash?" Renamon questioned after entering the guest room, where Ash was staying. "I would like to train you to be a better fighter." She offered once he was looking right at her.

"You mean now?" He asked and received a stern look as his answer. "Sound good. Let's go." He said and the two went out to the yard to start their training. As they trained, slept, or sleep ate at another location was experiencing some problems of their own.

'So, this is the Human World?' The visitor thought after appearing from a portal, and caused some problems. In the morning both Ash and Marcus were getting ready to go.

"Where are you going, boss?" Agumon questioned as his employer and friend seemed to be wearing something totally different than what they had on yesterday.

"School." He answered back calmly.

"What is school, Ash?" The canine questioned as she walked down the stairs. Her partner was about to answer her truthfully, but was cut off by his 'brother'.

"A place where there are tons of people to fight." Marcus said back which excited his worker greatly.

"Oh! Sounds like my kind of place. Let's go." Agumon said as he hopped down to the Welcome mat.

"Yeah, that would be great." Marcus answered back since that really did sound like a good idea. His hope of taking his new friend were dashed by their guest.

"Have you forgotten?" Yoshi questioned causing all to turn to her. "If people see a Digimon walking around it will cause a huge panic." She explained to them, and that was when the boys realized that she was right.

"Oh, that's right." Marcus replied back, and could see where she was coming from thanks to his fight with Kokatorimon. At that moment the lizard started to whine that he really, really, really wanted to go with his boss.

"Fine, just be quiet." She instructed before taking out a couple of devices that Sampson gave to her. "Here, use this." She said while giving Marcus his and tossing one to Ash.

"Our Digivices?" Ash asked as he looked at the item. "We thought we lost these." Ash said as he recalled digging through his pockets and even going so far as to take off his jeans and shaking them for good measure; not knowing that he made his partner...uncomfortable while doing that.

"You dropped them during your escape from DATS." Yoshi explained of where they were, and why they didn't have them post the breakout.

"Oh, well thank you. So, how do I use it anyway?" Marcus commented and questioned since he didn't quite get how this little device worked.

"You just point it toward Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 and press the button on the right." Yoshi instructed to them while watching as they did as they were told. Once they did both watched as their Digimon friends were sent into their devices.

'That was an interesting feeling.' Renamon thought before looking through the small screen and looked up at a huge Ash Ketchum. The reaction was the complete opposite to the yellow scaled one.

"Boss, let me out of here!" Agumon shouted with his claws pressed against his prison.

"Agumon!" Marcus shouted in alarm when he saw his now tiny friend. The worker decided to fill them in on what just happened.

"Digivices can change Digimon into Data and store them, and safety rule number 1 is - keep your Digimon stored." She informed them of one of the important rules of DATS.

"Ash, Marcus, you're going to be late!" Their mother shouted out from the kitchen since she still could hear the boys' voices in the house. With that the two said their goodbyes and headed for school. On their way over to school both teens saw a familiar car driving right beside them as well as a Duel Runner.

"If you're gonna follow us you could at least give us a lift in your car?" Marcus questioned to the young woman that had been tailing them since the whole mess started.

"Nope, and I'll keep following until you give us Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1." She replied back. Before there could be another argument with the two Ash decided to try a passive solution.

"There has to be a compromise for this whole thing, right?" Ash questioned to her, and that caused her to think of one other thing she had been thinking by herself.

"Well..." Yoshi started to speak causing both to look at her with curious faces. "You could always join the Digital Accident Tactics Squad." She explained to them which caught them off guard. "Look it's simple - if you join DATS then there would be no reason for us to chase after Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1. And the best part is that I wouldn't have to babysit you guys anymore. So, what do you say?" She went into detail, and they all liked hearing that, but Marcus was still against it.

"Forget it. I want to lose you: not join you." Marcus said and ran off when the sign told him to. They kept the pace for a bit until something caught Ash's eye.

"What's going on over there?" He asked as he saw police officers talking to people, and investigating on something.

"What's up? I thought you two were in a hurry?" Yoshi questioned when she saw the two standing in front of a different school then his profile informed.

"Isn't this the school your sister attends." Yusei stated after stopping his Duel Runner alongside the car.

"Kristy?" Marcus questioned when he got closer to where a large group of people were.

"Huh? Guys, over here." Kristy said and motioned for both teens to come where she is. "Look at that." She instructed once they made their way through the crowd.

"What happened to the animals?" Ash questioned as he and his 'brother' looked at the scorched cages.

"See that boy over there? When he came in to feed the chickens and rabbits this morning they were all gone. No body knows where they went." Kristy explained to the two, and that was when they overheard the officer running the investigation blab that this has happened to another school.

"I have to talk to you." Yoshi said as she grabbed a hold of Marcus' right wrist before they could learn more about this problem from the authorities.

"Where are we going?" He asked as Ash calmly walked behind him, and stopped at a side from the storage building.

"A Digimon is behind all this." She informed them and after seeing the skeptical look they were giving her she went into detail. "Yeah. My Digivice is picking up a residual trace of its energy signature." She informed while showing off her device to the two.

"This place - school is more impressive than you described, Ash." A voice said followed by another.

"You can say that again." The three saw that it was their Digimon partners - Agumon behind Ash and Renamon was kneeling on the roof due to the narrow passage they were in.

"Hey, how did you two get out of the Digivices." Marcus shouted out to his scaly chum in alarm. The reptile pointed out that he hated enclosed spaces while Ash could tell that Renamon didn't mind them one little bit.

"Ugh! You two are a real piece of work. You know there should be a rule where you can't leave your Digivice without permission." Yoshi said to the two and then quickly added, "Wait it was you two that did this! I bet it was you two that attacked these animal pins." This only confused and offended the good Digimon greatly.

"That seems...unlikely." Yusei commented.

"What?" Yoshi blinked in surprise with his statement.

"You were sleeping in the same room with Agumon last night, so you would have heard him exit the room at some point." He explained.

"I have no idea how you managed to sleep through the noise, but he's right." Lalamon added.

"So obviously we're dealing with another Digimon."

"HA! You thinkin what I'm thinkin?" Agumon questioned the boss.

"Yeah!" He shouted back with a joyful smile on his face.

(Here)

"The Ultimate Team! It's fightin time again!" The two said together which only embarrassed Ash and confused Yoshi. Kristy did her best to cheer her friend up which went over well, but her somewhat good day took a slight nosedive when her brother began to shout to her. "Kristy! Don't. Worry. We'll. Get. Whoever. Did. This." The group decided to go to school, and prepare a trap during the night.

(Here)

"What is it with you and these cramped spaces, boss?" Agumon questioned as he found himself inside the animal pin while his partner was putting on an over complicated lock on the door.

"There's a saying where the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. When this guy finds out that there's something new in these cages he won't be able resist returning." Marcus informed his employee the genius of his plan.

"Wow, you're the smartest guy ever, boss." The reptile congratulated with a big smile.

"You do know you're being used as bait, right?" Yusei shared the bad news with Agumon while leaning against the cage.

"That's why you're in there and I'm out here." The canine didn't want to be bait, and had a gut feeling that Marcus knew that she would beat him like a cheap drum if he asked her to join his employee.

"I take it all back!" Agumon shouted since he hated that idea even if his boss thought of it.

"Don't worry. I'll stop the bad guy before he even gets close to ya. Just trust me." Marcus promised his worker that he had the Digimon's back.

"Yeah, well, I'll believe it when I see it happen." Yoshi said since she really had her doubts about this plan. With nothing better to do the four others hid where they talked earlier.

"I hate being cooped up. Locked up like a criminal. Or a chicken. Or a criminal chicken." Agumon complained as clouds covered the light from the moon, and with this darkness their opponent appeared and walked toward the cage, but the others only knew someone was there when the clouds moved from the moon.

"Isn't that the kid that was supposed to feed the animals?" Yoshi said since she was paying attention to what Kristy said earlier.

"My sister's friend." Marcus added while looking at the youth.

"He's seen Agumon." Lalamon pointed out. Ash decided to defuse the problem as best as he could before things got rough.

"Excuse me, son." Ash said as he walked over to the kid. "Did you come to check on the cages?" He questioned after getting right beside him. "I commend you of staying focused on your job, but I think you should go home. Your parents are probably worried about you." He stated, and prayed that would be enough to move the youth.

"Hey, didn't you hear him? Get out of here!" Marcus said since he could see that the kid wasn't moving even after all that Ash said which was unusual. The kid then told them to shut up, and then he went on a tirade of his responsibility, and how he hated it.

'This human has served his purpose.' The insect thought after emerging from behind the child: which frightened all but Renamon.

"So, you're the one behind all this." Marcus accused as he held the kid that fell unconscious on the ground after the separation. "Well, now you're going to have to pay." He threatened while glaring at the beast, but was halted.

"Stay back. Leave this to the Digimon Data Squad." Yoshi informed while pulling out her Digivice. "Lalamon, Realize." She called out and just like that the pink/green creature appeared.

'Why am I suddenly thinking back to that strange dream again where I walk around with small balls on my waist, and battle monsters.' Ash thought to himself as he watched the fight between a bug and a plant where the Rookie on the field unleashed Seed Blast.

"Don't insult me." The insect roared before shooting some sort of thread from his mouth which caught the Rookie, and then slammed her to the ground. As Yoshi was tended to her partner the other three decided to engage the enemy.

"Guys, wait. Boss, get me out of here first." Agumon said to the three who decided it best to go as four.

"Come on. What was that stupid combination?" The ultimate fighter questioned while fiddling with the dials. The yellow scaled one asked him to hurry, but he wasn't listening.

"Lalamon, time to Digivolve." Yoshi informed when she could see that her friend was semi-awake. She activated her glowing energy and said, "DNA Charge!" This caused the same thing to happen only to a different Digimon.

"Lalamon digivolve to..." The Rookie said as she transformed and ended with. "Sunflowmon!"

"Sunshine Beam!"

Yoshi lifted a crate into the air with her telekinesis and threw it at the enemy Digimon which shattered upon contact.

"Aw, they had all the fun cause you're slow." Agumon commented while looking from the inside of his prison.

"Give me a break." Marcus said before realizing, "Renamon, you can just break the lock with one punch." He pointed out, and she knew that he wanted just that, but the vixen had a different thought.

"You bought the lock, so you should know it's simple combination code." The fuzzy one stated which irked him massively. At that moment the group heard a cracking coming from the battlefield cloud, and it was then they saw a large object before them.

'That's from another dream of mine: Cocoon of Evolution.' Ash thought as he, like the others, watched it crack open.

"Oh no, it's beginning to Digivolve." Yoshi shouted out before a massive bug burst from the cocoon. The beast flew over the two opponents which he used the dust on his wings to numb them both.

"We must fight." Ash stated as he watched the insect go high into the sky. Marcus nodded in agreement since he really wanted to do just that.

"Boss, I have to digivolve first." Agumon pointed out to them even though Ash knew Renamon could take on the flyer in her current form. The two did the same as last time, and put their hand on top of the device, but nothing happened.

"What's the deal?" Marcus questioned causing a concerned question from his reptile pal. "I don't know. Nothing's happening. I'm not getting that tingly feeling in my fist." He answered while looking at Ash who shook his head no - nothing happening to him either.

"Enough. Digivolve or not no one gets sucker punched on my watch." Ash called out when he saw the bug purposefully kick Sunflowmon when she couldn't defend herself. The two charged the battlefield, and stood ready for the next pass.

"Marcus, Ash, get out of here. It's too dangerous. You can't handle this. Leave it to trained professionals like me. Go on-" Yoshi's protest was then cut off.

"Grr." There was a low growl before a loud howl pierced the night sky.

"What the?" Marcus blinked.

"Where's that coming from?" Ash asked, confused.

Everyone looked around the area and then spotted something on the roof of the elementary school. It was a wolf covered in white armor. As the insect made another pass, the wolf leaped off the roof and collided with it slamming both to the ground.

"No, I'll never run away." Marcus shouted back to her which caused her to become silent for a moment. "An Ultimate Fighter never shows cowardice. No matter how difficult the fight might be I stand my ground. That's what a winner does. Fightin time again!" Marcus said to her as he took off running to the bug which was rolling along the ground with the wolf.

"Myself - I fight to defend the weak whether or not they appreciate the hand, and that goes with my friends especially." Ash explained to her as he took off right after him. As they gave the beast a left/right punch Renamon smashed the lock and Agumon was able to get out.

"Alright." The two teens said as they felt the tingly feeling once again.

"Ready to fight, Agumon?" Marcus questioned to his now freed friend who nodded with a smile on his face. "All right, then." He commented before getting down to work.

"DNA Charge." The two said and just like before they transformed:

"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!"

"Renamon digivolve to...Kyubimon!"

The insect saw the three and decided to engage the lizard who grabbed hold of it with his claws.

'So, this is what he used on Sunflowmon and Yoshi.' Greymon thought as he was starting to feel numb, so he chucked the bug. Realizing that he was outmatched in power the flyer tried flight but that didn't work out.

"Dragon Wheel!"

"Nova Blast!"

"Solar Laser!" All attacks combined and turned the insect back into a Digi-Egg.

"So, your fists of fury and justice awaken your DNA, eh?" A voice called out as the heroes were enjoying their victory causing them to turn to a familiar face. "You're getting more interesting by the minute, Marcus...Ash." The two decided to get a closer look at this guy.

While he was speaking, something surprising happened. The wolf that helped out during the battle turned back into a human.

"Who are you?" Marcus asked, shocked.

"My name is Koji Minamoto. I'm part of a special group within DATS known as the Test Unit."

"How come I've never heard of this group." Yoshi raised a eyebrow. "The commander owes me a explanation."

"Because the Test Unit is a secret." Koji replied. "And that's not the only special group within DATS."

'What is he talking about?' Ash thought after hearing his offer while his 'brother' was sold on the idea.

"Then I'll be the ultimate." Marcus commented which earned him a nod from the elder. After parting from him and Koji, helping Yoshi and Sunflowmon back to their feet the six decided to go to the Damon house for some rest. In the morning Yoshi took the egg to the base for proper disposal.

"Finally something has gone right in this debacle." Kudamon stated while adding, "It took all our resources to cover up the destruction from your battle." Yoshino heard this and got a little nervous.

"Don't forget that we at least captured the rouge Digimon and we erased that boy's memory of the incident. So, all's well that ends well." The pink vested one tried to look on the bright side of all of this.

"Don't get cocky." Sampson instructed and she obeyed the order. It was then the small, white Digimon spotted something amiss.

"Wait. If you're here then who's keeping an eye on Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 right now?" The partner of the Commander questioned since he did not recall hiring a sub for the task.

"Oh...well...actually..." Yoshi started to answer but the door opened revealing Ash, Renamon, Marcus, and Agumon which three of the four seemed nervous about something.

"What are you doing here? Speak up." Kudamon questioned with his own guard on high in case this turned out to be a sneak attack like with the tea kettle the other day - only more devastating.

"Well, guess what? We're gonna do you a favor, and join DATS." Marcus informed and Agumon added some groveling to get the point across.

"What's this?!" The small Digimon shouted in alarm since he would never have seen this one coming.

"If Marcus and I join the Digimon Data Squad then Agumon and Renamon get to stay, right?" Ash questioned while looking the Commander right in the eye.

"Very well." Sampson answered back causing all to look at him with either shock or happy facial expressions. "I knew it would happen. Frankly I'm surprise it took you two this long to ask Marcus/Ash." The older man informed before adding, "And as for you Agumon and Renamon you no longer have to worry about being sent home." This made the four very happy.

"We did it, boss." Agumon said to his partner.

"Yeah, and just think of all the bad guys we get to beat up." Marcus said before giving his partner a friendly handshake. Ash simply placed his hand on his partner's shoulder, and said...

"I'm glad we get to continue to work together." She nodded because she liked that as well. Unknown to the four was that there was another coming to work for DATS.

"Approaching destination. We'll be landing very shortly, sir." A blue canine said to a blonde boy as they cruised on an aircraft.

"Thank you, Gaomon. After so long I'm coming home: at last." The blonde boy said as he gazed out the window of the plane.