Chapter 36: Super Mario Dragon; Deluxe!

The Elemental Four, Evander, Ladybugmon, Agumon, Terriermon, and the Elemental Four's Digimon stood in the Dark Area, having just defeated Barbamon. Owarimon had finally become convinced of the truth regarding her identity. Taylor looked down at the blue D-Eco Digivice in her hand. "Well, what now? We can't just leave Haruka here, but I'm guessing if we take her back to World For Us All, it'll cause quite a stir to say the least." Taylor said. DemiNaturemon was held by by Martin like a little baby. She looked over at Owarimon and said, "Owarimon is pretty strong. I think she'll be ok on her own." DemiNaturemon said. Taylor looked at Owarimon, who was looking down at the ground trying to avoid eye contact with any of the others. Taylor then turned her attention back to DemiNaturemon. "It isn't so much that, it's that I don't want All For One World getting their hands on her again." Taylor said.

Owarimon looked over at little Impy. He was trying to carry his mother's DigiEgg, but he was having trouble. The sight wrenched her heart. She caused that. Owarimon turned around and began walking away, but after a few steps she stopped. "Didn't you say….that one of your people is currently working on a way….to change me back?" She asked. "Yes, Izzy is working on a program that should separate the Red Stone's and Snakemon's data from your genetic makeup." Taylor responded.

Owarimon took a deep breath. "I see." She said sadly. Then she kept walking. Taylor reached out for her with her right arm, a look of concern on her face. "Haruka, where are you going?" Taylor asked. As Owarimon kept walking, she answered, "I'm going back to All For One World. If I'm not back soon, Morty will get suspicious. Go back to World For Us All without me." She said, every word in her voice was filled with despair. Owarimon could no longer suppress the pangs of conscience she had every time she killed a Digimon and absorbed its data. She could no longer convince herself that she was the soulless, heartless artificially created Digimon that Morty initially led her to believe she was. She hoped that Izzy could find a way to reverse the fusion between her and Snakemon…but she also didn't think she deserved it. Maybe she deserved to live the rest of her life as the horrible monstrosity she looked like. At least people would see her as she truly is. She kind of hoped that one of the residents of the Dark Area would attack her, overpower her, and kill her. She didn't even want to live anymore. How could she live with what she had done?

DemiNaturemon made a sad little vocal noise as she stared at the gray skinned, black haired humanoid snake woman. The crew decided to go back. They all took out their D-Eco Digivices and held them up. Drusilla looked over at Evander, "Taylor's dad. Grab onto one of us if you don't want to be stranded here." Drusilla said before looking back up at the digivice she was holding up in the air. Evander ran up behind his daughter and wrapped his arms around her. Agumon then wrapped his arms around Evander, and Terriermon and Ladybugmon each sat upon Evander's shoulders. Martin then suddenly realized something. "Wait! What about my dad! Barbamon had him hostage! We need to go get him!" Martin said. DemiNaturemon whined, "Marty Hearty…I'm exhausted. If we meet another Digimon that wants to hurt us, there's no way we'll be able to fight it." She said. Evander grit his teeth. His Digimon were perfectly healthy. If only he had his digivice with him. Then again, what if he ran into Lucemon or Daemon? Without his wife present, his Agumon could only digivolve as high as WarGreymon. If they needed Omnimon or MarineOmnimon, he'd be sunk. "Martin, don't worry. I'll go get him. I know he's your father, but he's been my friend a lot longer. I won't let anything happen to him or Flora. But first, I need to get my digivice and my wife." Evander explained. Martin smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Taylor's Dad." Evander sighed and closed his eyes. His head was resting over his daughter's shoulder. "You could call me by my name." The children then selected the teleport option Izzy had installed on their D-Ecos and they then went back to World For Us All HQ.

Owarimon walked off, headed back to All For One World HQ.

Barbamon's Lair….

Mario, Mario's Agumon, and Mario's Guilmon were held in a dungeon in Barbamon's tower. Unlike Zai, Jessica, and Evander, Mario and his Digimon weren't in a small cage. They were in a jail cell. Mario looked over at Guilmon. Guilmon was lying down on his stomach with his eyes half open. Guilmon yawned. "So boring. Nothing to do. Getting sleepy." Guilmon said in a monotonous tone. Mario sighed. "I hear ya, buddy. Barbamon has been gone an awfully long time. I wonder if something happened to him." Mario said. Suddenly, Mario's body began radiating in a red energy! He felt energy surge throughout his body! "Ugh! What's…happening to me!?" Mario exclaimed. Mario's sudden exclamation made his two dinosaur Digimon perk up and look at him with concern. "Mario? What's wrong?" Guilmon asked. "This red energy….what is it?" Mario's Agumon asked. Mario suddenly opened his mouth wide! From out of the red haired man's mouth came a red blob like energy that slowly poured out of his mouth and onto the floor in front of him! It was like plasma, like liquid, like a gas, really, it was unlike any sort of substance previously seen by any human or Digimon! Guilmon tilted his head and put a claw up to his mouth. "I knew you shouldn't have eaten that Mexican food. It never sits well with you." Guilmon said.

Once the hard-to-describe plasma, liquid, gas energy was on the ground, it started to take a form! It looked like a silhouette of a dragon! It grew larger and larger until it busted through the ceiling! Chunks of rubble began raining down. The dragon shaped energy silhouette knocked them all away from Mario and his Digimon so they wouldn't be crushed! Then, the dragon began to take a more concrete, physical form, and there before them was a huge red dragon! Mario knew immediately who and what this was. "Wernicus!" He exclaimed. The Dragon looked down at him and nodded. Guilmon suddenly remembered the first time they heard from Wernicus 27 years ago;

FLASHBACK…

In the Digital World, back in the year 2006, the Millennial Digidestined were resting at the house of Augie's adoptive parents; a Greymon and a Tyrannomon. A young teenage Flora had just heard a voice and froze. This voice sounded strange, like it was in a completely different language, but at the same time, in perfect English. What was even more scary, it was even in Felinician tongue! It was as if in one single statement, the voice managed to say the same thing in multiple languages simultaneously.

But that wasn't what scared Flora the most.

Slowly, she and the Digimon turn to look at the source of the voice.

A 14 year old Mario was sitting upright. He was still human, but his eyes were the same red as they were from when he went wild as a dragon.

Evander looks around. "Mario, are you playing a trick on us? Please say yes." Evander said a little weirded out as well.

Ladybugmon and the others came in. "What voice was that? Evander did you hear that?" Jessica asked. "What if it's a ghost!?" Ladybugmon shouted with his front four legs covering his mouth and with a shocked look on his face.

"I am not this friend of yours, this Mario, I presume?" the voice says from Mario.

"...Then...who are you?" Gigimon asks, starting to grow fearful.

"You can all relax. I mean you no harm," the voice says, Mario's hand easily placing itself on Gigimon's hand in a calming way.

"Who are you?" Flora restates from Gigimon.

"...I am the spirit that has existed in the body of your Mario since his birth. I am the dragon Werincus."

"So that's why....Mario's not a Dragon, he's just possessed by one. And is that why you come out every now and then, if Mario's in danger?" Agumon said.

Evander shrugged. "*cough* Yu-gi-oh! *cough*"

Flora elbows Evan in the side. "Shut up!" she says through clenched teeth.

"Not exactly...you see, Mario has been tapping into my powers whenever he gets incredibly angry at something or someone. Because he woke me up while I was still sleeping, he ended up provoking my rage, and caused all the past riots, which I apologize for."

"Wait. You've been sleeping?" Evander's Koromon asks.

"Yes. You see, about thirteen Earth years ago, I was killed by a rouge dragon whom I was trying to track down and capture. He then warped my spirit to a place far from where he killed me so that I could not use my magic to restore myself. Without enough energy to return to my body to restore myself, I had only one option, and that was to seal my soul in that of a person. I had fortunately been warped into an Earth hospital, and in there I infused my soul into a newborn child. However, to restore my energy, I have laid dormant for the last thirteen years to recover my strength. It was only recently, however, that your Mario was able to accidentally tap into my powers. If I had woken before that happened, then perhaps I would not have instinctively went on a destructive spree. It was dragon instincts, so that I am to blame for, but no one is in a good mood when they're cranky, am I right?"

Flora and the Digimon couldn't help but agree.

"It was after the second time that I was able to awaken completely. It was after you hugged me." Mario's hand then points at Flora.

She can't help but blush. "Well, you see, I didn't know how I could calm you down, and-"

"No need to explain. After you hugged me, I felt your love for the boy, and I managed to calm down enough to come to my senses. Afterward, I was able to wake up from my long slumber, and here we are now."

Ladybugmon layed on the bed. "So, We should all be grateful to you for saving Flora." Ladybugmon said. Pawnchessmon nodded. "uh-huh." Pawnchessmon said. "I'm sorry I Dark Digivolved and attacked you.. You see whenever Evander shows a negative emotion to the EXTREME, one of his Digimon Dark Digivolves. Ladybugmon became Hornetmon out of Rage, and I became SkullGreymon out of Fear." Agumon explained. Evander lowered his head. "Then I had them attack you on purpose to get you to calm down." Evander said sorry for the order.

"There is no need for apologies," the voice says. "I understand everything about what causes the growth of Digimon. Our species have been examining your world for years now."

"So why are Dragons mythical on Earth. Is it that Dragons are Endangered or something?" An 11 year old Jessica asks.

"I'd rather not go into detail on that. The best I can sum up is that we exist in a dimension different from the one Earth exists in. It was probably during some rips in the dimensional boundaries from long ago through which we were regarded as myths," the voice says. "Listen, this is enough small talk. I do not have much time before I use up the energy your friend has accumulated while sleeping, so just listen. It is true that your friend will require practice with tapping into my powers. Therefore, I want all of you to try and help. The easiest way is to get him angry. Now that I have awakened, he shouldn't go into blind rages anymore, and he should now be in control after transforming. However, he is as we called a 'hatchling', and he needs a lot of work getting control of his new abilities. I trust that we will talk again another time, and do not worry about Mario. We share the same body, so our souls will always be in contact." Mario's eyes lose their red glow, and he falls backwards and back onto the pillow, sleeping again.

Jessica nodded. "That explains it. A dimensional Rift from another Dimension opened up in the medieval times. Well, you learn something new everyday. " Jessica said.

FLASHBACK OVER….

Back in the present, the now middle aged Mario with a red ponytail and goatee, looked up at the huge dragon and smirked. "Long time, no see, old friend. So…I guess the day has finally come." Mario said. Wernicus nodded. "Yes. I had anticipated that I would be able to acquire my true form long before now. I didn't anticipate you being middle aged by the time I was finally ready to come out, but it was nice to see how you've grown." The dragon Wernicus said.

Mario lowered his head and chuckled with his eyes closed. "Watch it with this middle aged thing. 40 is the new 20." Mario said. Wernicus nodded. "I see. Sorry about that." He said. He wasn't really joking. With the Aqualians having moved in and giving Earth their technology and medicine, the lifespan of humans averages out at 120 and the oldest ones usually live to be 150! But it was still easy to call people in their 40s and 50s middle aged even though 80 was no longer the average end of someone's life. Guilmon then sat up, looked up at the towering dragon over them, and asked the obvious question, "Will you free us from these chains?" Wernicus bent down and broke the chains of Mario and his Digimon with his teeth.

"Now with that out of the way, I need to get you out of here. I also need to explain to you some things. I need to explain about Warlockmon, The Red Stones, how they came to be. This information didn't seem relevant when you were a child, but….now things have gotten out of hand. I can tell you on the way back to your universe." Wernicus said. Mario, Guilmon, and Mario's Agumon climbed up onto Wernicus' back. Wernicus' claws began glowing. He swiped the air and created a portal to the outside Mother Universe. Then they flew off.

World For Us All HQ…..

Evander and The Elemental Four showed up in the transportation pod in the middle of the base. No one was there but a relieved looking Jessica who immediately ran up to Evander and embraced him with tears of joy. "Evander! You're ok! Thank goodness!" She exclaimed. Evander hugged his wife back, pat her on the back, and smiled gently. "It's good to see you, darling." He said softly. Evander then pulled back and noticed a red ring seeming to float right around his wife's neck. "What's this?" He asked. Jessica sighed. "I don't know. The Demon Lords put it on me to suppress my Poseidonic powers. It works like a charm, unfortunately." Jessica replied.

Everyone went to their apartments, with Evander and Jessica staying with their daughter in her apartment. They would need the rest so their Digimon could regain their strength.

Down in Izzy's computer lab, Tai and Matt with their own Agumon and Gabumon sat around in a circle talking with their old computer nerd friend. Izzy had a syringe in his hand with a golden yellowish liquid in it. It was faint, but 1s and 0s could be seen flashing inside the liquid. "That looks like piss." Matt joked. Izzy chuckled. "It's the antidote for Owarimon. Pulling this off was no easy feat. Given that she's a biological organism and not merely a Digimon, I had to combine my expertise with that of a whole team of biologists and medical doctors." Izzy said. "Ah, so Joe was actually useful for once!" Matt said in a teasing tone.

"So if Owarimon is jabbed with that, she'll become Haruka and Snakemon again, right?" Gabumon asked. Izzy frowned, and then turned around and put the syringe on the computer desk behind him. "In theory, it should. But this is new territory for me. Jessica's half brother had a team of scientists who (sort of) successfully fused a mermaid and a Digimon together 11 years ago. But although they look and sound like us, merpeople aren't human at the end of the day. Hopefully their biochemistry is similar enough that this'll work on Haruka." Izzy explained. Tai leaned over and rested his head on the tops of hands with a serious look on his face. "So, you're saying you're worried the differences between human and merperson biology could affect the outcome." Tai said, restating. Izzy nodded. "My anxiety isn't too severe though. Scientists test medicines and even hair products on rats and chimps because their DNA most closely resembles our own. Most of the time it ends up fine. However, as we all know a medicine's effects can differ even from human to human." Izzy replied. Then he layed back, looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I just hope it works." Izzy said. Tai smiled. "Hey. Don't worry. It'll work. You've always managed the impossible before." Tai said. Tai's Agumon tugged at his partner's sleeve. "Taaaaaai!" he whined. Tai looked at him. "What is it?" He asked. "I'm hungry!" Tai's Agumon said. Gabumon tugged at Matt's sleeve as well. "I could go for a bite." He said. Tentomon flew up from behind Izzy's head. "We should tell The Elemental Four that we've come up with the antidote. Especially since they were able to persuade Owarimon." Tentomon said. Agumon and Gabumon held their stomachs as they growled. They made whining noises. "Aww! Come on! Can't Tai and Matt tell them while we eat?" Agumon complained. Tai reached down and gave his dino buddy a little noogie. "It won't take that long." He said.

They told them. The children and their partner Digimon were ecstatic to hear that there was a way to turn Owarimon back to normal.

The next day, Evander, Jessica, Taylor, and their Digimon were standing in the Kommondomon garage. Mirei Mikagura was there. "We'll grab our digivices from back in our own universes and bring them here. Then we older Digidestined with take down the remaining members of The Demon Lords so The Elemental Four can focus on finding All For One World's base." Evander said, restating the plan he had gone over with his wife, daughter, and Mirei earlier that morning. Mirei smiled and pushed up her glasses with a smile. "Well, if you get lost, just visit the DigiLab." She said before giggled. Jessica frowned, and said "Don't worry. I'm sure Taylor knows the way. We won't be needing you." She said in a somewhat snarky tone. Jessica then smiled and waved while giggling after realizing how harsh that sounded. Why did Evander have to have such a hot female friend? Having a sexy boss at Nakano Broadway was bad enough. Evander's womanizing phase stopped when he exited his teens, but the fact that she had them made her suspicious of female friends who weren't Flora, Zai, or Emily, whom Evander never showed any interest in. She tolerated Kyoko back in the alternate timeline when Evander had contracted Eden Syndrome because she knew Kyoko was his only hope. She was thankful to Kyoko for that, and for giving them a place to say when they were on the run from Kinandon, but she still wished she wasn't so attractive. Jessica rarely openly expressed her jealousy of other women he associated with, but Evander could always feel it. He knew it was his own fault for being such a rascal as a teen. Their relationship took a lot of work and underwent a lot of strains, but once they reached their twenties, things got smoother.

They were about to to enter a Kommondomon when they heard a loud banging on the garage door! Everyone looked startled. Taylor instinctively took out her digivice and adjusted the goggles on her head. "Sharkmon, get ready. Something's coming." She said. Sharkmon had digivolved back into his Rookie form earlier that morning. Now, he was poised on all fours, growling, baring his teeth, preparing for something to bust through and attack. A few seconds passed before more banging was heard. Evander looked frustrated. "I really wish I had my digivice!" Evander complained. Ladybugmon began punching the air as he floated in mid-air next to his partner. "Digivice or no digivice, I aint being kept out of the ring this time!" Ladybugmon excliamed.

More seconds passed with silence before banging started up again. "Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be able to get in." Gabumon said. "Or maybe it can't come in unless you invite it in, sort of like a vampire." Terriermon said. Or, at least as vampires are in some myths. The Devillians who inspired the myths could break into any home they wished. Mirei Mikagura took out a square technological tablet looking device. "Let me turn on the camera and see who's out there." The purple haired tamer said. She tapped some buttons on the tablet and brought up the live camera feed from right outside the Kommonodon Barrage door. Mirei's eyes widened. She gasped. "What in the worlds?!" She exclaimed. On the video was a dragon with Mario and his Digimon flying on their back. Evander and Jessica looked over Mirei's shoulders to see what was on her screen. They looked just as surprised as she! "Mario!?" The Human and Mermaid couple exclaimed in unison. "Open the door." Evander said. Mirei was typing and swiping on her tablet. "Working on it." She said.

The garage door opened and the huge dragon could be seen. It freaked out the various Kommondomon in the garage. They all started barking at the same time. "QUIET! QUIET! Haven't you ever seen a gigantic dragon before!?" Mirei shouted. It sounded like a joke, but honestly, given that the Kommondomon were Digimon from the Digital World, it was an honest question. Wernicus was too large to come all the way in, but he stuck his head in and allowed Mario, Guilmon, and Mario's Agumon to hop off. "Hey guys." Mario said casually, as though the entrance he just made wasn't at all unusual. Evander ran up to his friend and hugged him before giving him a hardy slap on the back a couple of times. "My man! It's good to see you! How the heck did you escape the Dark Area?" Evander asked. Evander then slapped himself in the head. "No, duh! Stupid question, Of course! Puff the Magic Dragon here set you free." Evander said.

Wernicus sweat dropped and grimaced. "My name is Wernicus." He said. "And we have something incredible to tell you." Mario said. Wernicus then started chanting something in an unintelligible language. Soon, Wernicus' body began changing shape again! This time, he became a sort of draconic scaly man. He was more humanoid now, but his body was still covered in scales and his mouth was still draconic. His wings were still on his back, like the wings on Devillians, but more draconic looking. Evander and the others looked surprised. "You don't see that every day!" Evander's Agumon exclaimed.

Everyone was soon sitting in the meeting room; every World For Us All agent, The Elemental Four and their Digimon, Evander, Jessica, Mario, Zai, and their Digimon.

The dragonlike humanoid Wernicus stood in front of the podium to speak to the muliversal Digidestined. He cleared his throat. "Greetings members of World For Us All. My name is Wernicus. I am a member of a race of dragon people who have made their homes right here in the Mother Universe. In ages past, some of us have traveled to your universes and have become the stuff of myths and legends, not unlike our resident mermaids Jessica and Taylor." Wernicus said before turning to the mother and daughter and waving at them. Jessica and Taylor smiled and waved back. Wernicus then turned his attention back to the center. "I was injured in a battle with a fellow Draconian and was forced to send my essence into the body of a baby human…that would be Mario Soleman. We Draconians are very familiar with Digimon and the various Digital Worlds here in the multiverse. We are also considered mortal enemies of the people of one version of Witchelny." Wernicus explained.

Wernicus took a bottle of water sitting on the podium next to him and took a sip out of it. Setting the bottle down, he continued explaining. "Now that you know who I am, let me tell you about The Red Stones and how they came to be. In Witchelny, a powerful Digimon named Warlockmon had created powerful magical stones which he called 'The Deity Stones' but which Mario and his friends simply called 'Red Stones'. Warlockmon wanted the Red Stones to make life perfect; to cure all illnesses, tame any animal, extend one's lifespan (even indefinitely), control the flow of time, space, create golems, increase the attacking power of any Digimon under its control. Anything you can think of, Warlockmon was aiming for the Red Stones to be able to do those things. Essentially, Warlockmon wanted to make wielders of the Red Stones omnipotent. The Council Of Wizards grew concerned. They knew that if Warlockmon was able to make these Red Stones as powerful as he wanted, it would be disastrous. In the wrong hands, you could have an omnipotent demon! Warlockmon was only able to get the Red Stones to do some of the things he wanted; controlling Digimon and increasing their attacking power (which the Digimon Ruler used the stones for), and creating golems such as Thithemon; an artificial Digimon The Anti-Royal Knights created. SorcererSuprememon, the queen of Witchelny, tried to defeat Warlockmon, but was badly injured and was forced to de-digivolve to Magemon; a Rookie level Digimon." Wernicus explained.

Wernicus took another sip of his water. He wasn't used to talking this much and his mouth dried up quickly. Of course, being a fire breather meant that his mouth wasn't too moist to begin with. Setting the water bottle down and turning back to the crowd, Wernicus continued; " After Magemon's defeat, I was tasked with finding a partner for Magemon so she could digivolve back to her Mega level quickly. Witchelny was left without a queen and they needed Magemon to regain her full power as soon as possible. After careful searching, I found a child I deemed suitable. She was a tween girl named Aki. I paired them up and gave her the first ever digivice. Well, the first digivice of Mario's universe anyway and this girl became that world's very first Digidestined. I knew, however, that Aki would need a team to help her and Magemon's growth, so I recruited a few other children; Hiroshi and Takeichi. The latter two were partnered up with a Veedramon and a Tyrannomon. You may know this group as the famous group who made Digimon a franchise because, fun fact, when they came back from the Digital World, they decided to market the Digimon race and their world as a virtual pet series for children which grew into an anime, games, cards, the 'whole nine yards' as you say. Anyway, the three of them worked together to destroy Warlockmon." Wernicus explained.

Taylor put her hand up to her chin and looked to be in deep thought. She rubbed his chin a bit. "But I thought Warlockmon was defeated by a lone Digidestined. I also was lead to believe SorcererSuprememon was a male." Taylor said. She looked over to Mirei and raised an eyebrow. "Am I misremembering what you told us Miss Mirei?" She asked. Mirei sweatdropped and scratched the side of her head. "Well…that's what the legend says on a Digital World tablet a colleague of mine unearthed, but you know legends can sometimes be only partially true." Mirei explained, a bit embarrassed that she had passed along false information. A scientist like her should have done more due diligence, she thought to herself.

Evander chuckled. "So, we have a girl gogglehead leading the new generation of Digidestined (i.e my adorable baby girl), Harmonymon's a female, Owarimon is female, SorcererSuprememon is female, and the original Digidestined leader was also a girl. This seems to be a woman's world." Evander said in a joking tone. Jessica leaned on her husband and smirked at him. "Seems like it. Got a problem with that?" Jessica asked. Evander chuckled again and scratched his nose before looking over to his wife and saying "Not at all."

Evander's Agumon raised his claw. "Umm, Mister Wernicus. We already knew about 80% of this. Aside from your involvement and the number of Digidestined who defeated Warlockmon, what's the point of this meeting?" He asked. Evander looked back to see that Evander's Agumon, Tai's Agumon, Mario's Agumon, and Marcus' Agumon were all sitting next to each other. Evander joked to himself, "I hope I take the right one home."

Wernicus replied; "Well, you see, I have reason to believe that Warlockmon may have returned." He said. Everyone's eyes shot up and they gasped. Soon, a cacophony of chatter amongst the various Digidestined and partner Digimon ensued. How could this be? Didn't Aki and her team destroy him? Wernicus blew a big stream of fire over everyone's head! Everyone looked startled by the sudden flamethrower. It silenced them. Wernicus smiled. "Good, now that I have your attention again, you may be wondering how this could possibly be. Unless all that chatter was about the weather." Wernicus said sarcastically, "Yes, Aki, Hiroshi, and Takeichi defeated Warlockmon, but there are three clues which make me think he might still be alive. First and foremost, when SorcererSuprememon was turning him into bits of data, Warlockmon cursed her and promised to return. Secondly, as Kari and T.K would attest, it isn't impossible for an evil Digimon with special powers to preserve their data and return. Myotismon returning as MaloMyotismon and Diaboromon coming back 4 years after his initial defeat would be two examples from their universe. Thirdly, that red ring around Jessica's neck. I saw Morty Shin put it around her neck through Mario's eyes. Morty chanted a spell in Witchish. A spell that only someone like Warlockmon would know. My theory is that the Red Rings are a new form of Red Stone; an enhanced version. Though I'm not entirely sure." Wernicus said.

Jessica felt her heart sink. Her eyes widened and she felt a sense of fear come over her. She grabbed the red ring and took a step forward. "Do you think Morty could take control of me at any moment?" She asked frantically. Wernicus held out a claws and waved it while giving Jessica a reassuring look. "Don't worry. Given your incredible abilities, I think if Morty could, he would have already. And again, I may be completely in error. It's just a hypothesis." Wernicus said.

The room was silent for a moment. "One thing's for sure. Morty possesses abilities that could only be learned in Witchelny." Wernicus said. Wernicus had something else to say, but he was afraid to say it. He knew that if he did, it would make The Elemental Four very upset. Wernicus knew that they couldn't afford for the children to lose their "get up and go" at such a crucial time. He decided he would tuck this away for when the time came.

Later that day….

Evander and Mario were out in the nature area in the center of World For Us All's base. The place was sunny as Mirei had installed an artificial sunlight emitter up on the ceiling. Their Digimon were running around playing, laughing, and having fun. Evander smiled at the sight. "Those Digimon of ours. They seem to be able to laugh no matter what threats we may be facing. I envy them." Evander said. Mario leaned against a tree and folded his arms behind his back. "Yeah, I hear ya. It seems like we've changed a lot since we were kids, but the Digimon haven't changed at all." Mario said. Evander chuckled. "I remember how impatient I used to be. Sitting through the meetings Jijimon would have with us would make me so bored. I annoyed you guys so much. Now, I can sit through one of those without saying a word." Evander said with a smile. Mario chuckled. "Yeah. You were so eager to move onto the next thing we barely had a chance to stop and rest. You really have grown up. You have a sharp intellect, you're patient, and you're strategic." Mario said.

Ladybugmon flew around in a circle giggling. "You can't catch me!" The little ladybug Digimon said as it flew around quickly. Augie (i.e Evander's Agumon) swiped at Ladybugmon a couple of times with his claws. Every time he did, Ladybugmon was move up a little to evade. "See? I told you that you couldn't catch me." Ladybugmon taunted. Agumon scowled. "You know, playing tag when you can fly isn't really fair." Augie complained. Terriermon scowled with his hands on his hips and nodded. "Come down her and run like the rest of us." Terriermon said. Guilmon leaned down into Terriermon's ear and whispered something. Terriermon smiled with his eyes closed, put one of hands up to his mouth and giggled. They were up to something. "Do it!" Terriermon said cheerfully. Guilmon picked Terriermon up, ran away some distance from Ladybugmon and then turned around and started running back towards him. Guilmon lifted Terriermon up into the air and tossed him! Terriermon opened his ears and glided towards Ladybugmon. "I can't fly, but I can glide!" Terriermon said with a smug smile. Terriermon tapped Ladybugmon, shouting "Tag! You're it!" before giggling.

Evander looked over to Mario and said, "After we retrieve our digivices, let's go save Flora." Evander said. Mario nodded. "Yeah. About that." Evander looked at him with furrowed eyebrows before he heard a familiar throat clearing. They both looked over to see Wernicus with familiar looking devices in their hands; an orange and red D-Power along with two tags and crests! Wernicus smiled. "I can fly several times faster than those Kommondomon. Mario and I stopped by your universe and retrieved your digivices." Wernicus explained. Evander looked really surprised now. "What!? But my daughter told me it took them a full day's trip to make from here to our universe!" Evander exclaimed in shock. Wernicus smiled and shrugged. "Like I said, I'm fast." He said nonchalantly. He then turned and gestured his scaly reptillian arm towards the entrance. "There's also a few old friends I'd like you to meet." He said.

Evander and Mario turned to see an older Asian woman with a minor amount of wrinkles and a pair of goggles hanging around her neck. Behind her was a small bi-pedal catlike creature. The cat had pink and black fur and was wearing a red cloak and red wizard hat. The older woman smiled and waved. "Hi. My name is Aki. And behind me…" She said, taking a moment to pause and gesturing behind the catlike creature behind her. "I am Magemon." Evander shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm a big fan! Digimon was my childhood!" Evander said. Aki took out her digivice and flashed it. Evander recognized the shape immediately. "That looks like the old Digimon V-pet toys!" He said. "It's my digivice. The very first. It's actually what we modeled the first V-pet toys after." Aki explained.

Beside these two were a man in glasses with a Veedramon beside him. "I'm Hiroshi and this is my partner, Veedramon." He said. Next to him was another man with a Tyrannomon. "And I'm Takeichi. This is my partner, Tyrannomon." He said.

Evander's eyes lit up. These were the original Digidestined who preceded even him, Jessica, Flora, Mario, Zai, and Emily! He was finally meeting them! And they were the inventors of the Digimon franchise he was such a huge fan of when he was a child!

Evander looked like a kid on Christmas. He grinned and clenched his fist and squealed. "This is so cool! The original Digidestined ever! I have to introduce you to my wife!" Evander said cheerfully. "I've already introduced them to everyone. They will accompany us to the Dark Area to help rescue Flora." Wernicus said.

Universe 616, The Dark Area…

Evander, Mario, Aki, Hiroshi, Takeichi, and their Digimon arrived in the Dark Area via one of the Kommondomon capable of interdimensional travel. They all stepped outside of the Kommondomon one by one. Takeichi's Tyrannomon had ridden on the back of the Kommondomon because he was too large to fit inside. In fact, he was barely big enough to fit on the back. Tyrannomon was scrunched up in a ball, desperately clinging to the Kommondomon's sides to avoid falling off and being lost somewhere in The Mother Universe. He had his eyes shut and was shivering. Takeichi turned back and saw this, so he walked over to the Kommondomon and looked up in his partner's direction. "Tyrannomon! We're here! You can let go now!" Takeichi shouted. Tyrannomon opened his eyes and took a sigh of relief. He let go of the Kommondomon and crawled off. "That was scary, Takeichi. I wish I could have ridden inside with the rest of you." Tyrannomon said. Takeichi patted his big red dinosaur on the leg. "I know, buddy. I know. But after the upcoming battle, you might just use up enough energy to de-digivolve to a smaller form." Takeichi said. "I hope so! I don't want to ride all the way back like that!" Tyrannomon said.

Takeichi was a bit of an elderly gentleman at this point in his life, as were his friends Aki and Hiroshi. All of them were in their 60s. It was to be expected of the first Digidestined. They were teenagers when they were chosen, and in Evander's universe, it was the year 2033. Even Evander felt like a bit of an old man at this point in his life, even though he was only in his early 40s. Evander took out his orange D-Power and pressed a few buttons. He wasn't used to using this old version. He had used the smartphone conduit for so long, it felt weird to him. At the same time, it felt nostalgic. After Wernicus had returned, he gave the D-Powers to Izzy in order to have the map of the Demon Lord locations installed. After messing around with his digivice, he finally pulled it up. "So…..where's the location of Belphemon?" Ladybugmon asked. "It's about 1 mile to the north of us." Evander replied. Evander reached behind him and took out a box. He opened it and looked inside. There were a bunch of Digimon modify cards. "I haven't used these in ages. I've got to thank Izzy later for fixing the card reader." He said.

Evander's Agumon looked to the north with a determined look on his face. He clenched his claws. "This is going to be tough." He said. Terriermon also had a determined look on his face. He nodded. "Yep. Belphemon's no pushover, but then, neither are we." Terriermon said.

Guilmon clenched his fist with a determined look on his face. "We will win. We have to…for Flora's sake!" Guilmon said. "You got that right!" Mario's Agumon said.

"Well, let's get trucking! We're not going to get anywhere standing around here!" Veedramon said.

"It's been a very long time since Takeichi and I fought together. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!" Tyrannomon said.

Magemon said nothing. She stood behind Ladybugmon, staring at him from behind. Something was on her mind and it had something to do with Ladybugmon.