Chapter 9: Preparing For War

They had all returned to Earth. Evander and Jessica were at Kyoko's house. Evander had just explained everything to Kyoko. "I see. So you're planning on going back to the Digital World to form an army." Kyoko said. "Yes. There's no guarantee that we can capture Agent Salvation...I mean, Ophanimon Falldown Mode, and hand her over to the king. She's a Mega fallen angel Digimon, we most likely can't. Our best option is to fight." Evander said.

Jessica was in the background with Kappamon. She pulled out a red and white bottle. "You're still injured from the fight. This will heal you." She said before kneeling down and spraying Kappamon with it. Kappamon cringed at first. The mist she sprayed her with stung. "I know it stings a bit, but you'll be feeling better in no time. This is HP Spray A. We used them to heal our Digimon a lot back in Eden." Jessica explained. Soon, Kappamon felt as good as knew. "Nothing hurts anymore! I feel...better!" Kappamon said, seeming surprised. She looked suspiciously over at Jessica. "Thank you. I know you're just doing this to lure me into a false sense of security, but thank you anyway." Kappamon said. Jessica frowned. She knew it must be hard for Kappamon to trust others after all she'd been through in general, but she also knew that her extension of mercy towards her framer was indeed highly unusual.

They soon heard a knock at the door. Agumon went and answered it. Standing at the door were 2 women and a man. One of the women had short grey hair and bat wings protruding from her back. She had whitish grey skin, and dark blue eyes. She was wearing a black open jacket with a black tube top underneath that exposed her entire tummy. "Zai!" Agumon exclaimed, identifying the woman. Next to her was a woman with long apple red hair. She was wearing a forest green tank top with a yellow vest over it. She wore a crimson colored skirt. On her head sat cat ears, and a cat tail protruded out of a hole on the woman's skirt. The woman's finger nails were like cat claws. "Flora!" Agumon said, identifying her. The man standing in between these two women was a man with long red hair, a black dress shirt, and blue jeans on. He had a dragon tail and dragon wings. "Mario!" Agumon exclaimed. Jessica ran to the door behind Agumon. She looked happy to see them. "Guys! It's been years!" She said. Mario nodded. "Yep. Not since Mother Eater." He said, referring to the last time they fought as Digidestined two years ago, with some of the younger faces of Nokia, Yuuko, and Arata.

She looked down and saw their Digimon with them; Guilmon, another Agumon, Palmon, Gatomon, and BlackGatomon. BlackGatomon went by a nickname; Syn (pronounced like sin). She had a very childlike personality, perhaps more so than even Ladybugmon if that's even possible. Syn looked up at Jessica and said "My favorite ginger mermaid! WeeeeeEEEEEEE!!!!!" Jessica's eyebrows furrowed while a smile came across her face. "How many ginger mermaids do you know?" She asked. "I saw one at the sea food restaurant we stopped at on the way here. I saw her through Zai's Digivice! She was beauuuuutiful!" She said. Zai sighed and placed her hand on her chest. "Syn, that was a human in a costume." Zai said in a monotonous voice. Jessica's face went slightly dour. She wasn't a vegan. She had actually eaten a big juicy burger several days ago before all this mess with the Aqualian government started. But she didn't like the idea of eating fish or any kind of seafood. Evander had theorized in the past that he thinks it's because she's part fish herself. Syn started bouncing up and down. "She was ginger though!" Syn said. "Yes, that she was." Zai said in a monotonous voice. Zai was an extremely stoic woman. She had been like that since she was a little girl.

Kyoko noticed the odd features on the three. "Did you just come back from a cosplay convention?" She asked. Zai rolled her eyes and flapped her batwings a little. "These are real, lady." Zai said. Syn the BlackGatomon pointed at Kyoko's chest, "But are THOSE real!?" She asked. Zai bopped Syn on head. "Syn, that's rude." She said. "But they're YUGE!" Syn shouted. Kyoko looked at the black cat Digimon and a comically large sweat drop came down the side of her head. "Yes. They're real." Kyoko said.

"How did you guys get here?" Ladybugmon asked. "I can answer that." said a voice that stepped out from behind them. It was Gennai. He appeared to be a young man with long hair. Along with Krasus, Jjiimon, and The Three Great Angels, they kept order in the Digital World. They were the ones who summoned the Digidestined from all over the universe back in 2006, when Evander, Jessica, and the rest were all children.

Later, they were all sitting at Kyoko's kitchen table. Evander smiled looking over at Zai and Flora. Syn was squirming like a baby. "Zai, let me goooo! I want to play with Ladybugmon!" She said. "Hush. Gennai has something important he wants to tell us. That's why we're here, remember?" She scolded. The hole BoxerInsectmon had caused in the fight with Hydramon a couple of days ago hadn't been fixed yet. "We've been keeping an eye on Ophanimon at the Celestial Castle in DigiWorld for a couple of years now." Gennai began. "Ophanimon would often be heard having tantrums in her room in the Celestial Castle ranting about the depravity of the world and how hopeless everything seems. But she'd be fine the next day. Whenever she would have these tantrums, Seraphimon and Cherubimon would go to her quarters to try to calm her down. This kept up for months, so Seraphimon contacted me to ask me for advice. I don't know much about a woman's emotions or how to deal with them. Why do you think I'm still single? Erm, anyway, I told him to just keep an eye on her. I suggested that maybe she was just stressed." Gennai explained.

"Women's emotions can be qwazy sometimes." Syn said. "Yep. Qwazy." Responded Ladybugmon. "Qwazy quazy qwazy." Ladybugmon and Syn started chanting in unison. Zai rolled her eyes back into her head. She loved her Digimon, but her chipper, perky, childish attitude was a stark contrast to her stoic, serious nature. She could get annoying sometimes, especially with Evander's Ladybugmon around. But the weird thing is that unlike Ladybugmon, Syn's personality totally changed when she became LadyDevimon and Lillithmon, and especially when she DNA Digivolved with Flora's Angewomon to become Mastemon to stop the Mother Eater two years ago. She became serious, even a little aggressive. Maybe it was her virus attribute having more of an influence as she grew to higher levels. "Syn, you're technically a woman too." Zai said, sounding tired.

Gennai cleared his throat. "Anyway, Ophanimon's mood swings grew worse overtime. She started to spout really disturbing things such as that she wished all Digimon would die. Two years ago, after the Mother Eater had corrupted most of the Digital World and took over Vggdrasil, something in Ophanimon snapped. She blamed humans for the Digital World's ills, seeing as Eaters were a man made program. Seraphimon reported seeing Ophanimon just have a complete mental breakdown. He said that she was covered in a black aura, and when the aura dissipated, her form was much different. All areas of skin exposure like her face and abdomen were covered in gray armor, her eyes were pure red, her feathery wings had become metallic bat wings, and her javelin had been replaced with a Scythe. We dubbed it Ophanimon Falldown Mode." Gennai explained.

Flora's Gatomon felt a shiver go down her back. Her own Mega form was an Ophanimon. She didn't want to imagine what could happen if she ever turned into that. "She then turned to Seraphimon and told him that they ought to wipe out all of life, everywhere, on all planets in your world and all Digimon in the Digital World. She said that there could be no evil in the world if there was no life. Seraphimon told her that she was mad." Gennai explained.

Everyone looked somber. "Destroy all of life? That seems like an impossible task. There are so many species in the universe." Flora said, looking concerned. Mario put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Well, Seraphimon did say she was mad." Mario said.

Kappamon came in. She had been on the other side of the kitchen door listening to their conversation the whole time. "Is it true? My Master's wish is to destroy ALL of life? Not just Aqualia?" Kappamon asked. Gennai nodded. "I'm afraid so." He turned to Jessica. "I know all about how Ophanimon used this little Kappamon to achieve her ends, and how she plans on using your inherited powers to destroy Aqualia. My guess is that she doesn't care where the war takes place. As long as either planet gets leveled, that will be one step closer to her goal." Gennai explained. Kappamon stomped her webbed foot. "It's a lie! You're trying to trick me into turning against my master and keeping me from my revenge!" Kappamon shouted. Gennai looked down at her from the kitchen table. "If that's true, then why did she try to kill you?" Gennai asked. "I failed the test of loyalty, that's all. I'm sure I can convince her to take me back." Kappamon said.

"Hold on, what's this about Jessica's power being able to destroy worlds?" Mario asked, confused. Evander shrugged and stuck his hand out to the side. "Oh, well, Jessica's evidently a descendent of an Aqualian king named Sebastian Poseidon who we humans revered as a god millennia ago when he spent some time here on Earth. She's basically a goddess. Also, her mother is the former queen of Aqualia and she fled here after a guy named Ahab overthrew her and drove them into exile. Jessica's real name is Anastasia Calista Poseidon, which sounds pretty freakin' majestic if you ask me but Jessica gets really mad if you call her by that name, oh, and also she went all alien-god on Kinandon a couple of days ago after I had yet another brush with death. It was like watching something out of Marvel Thor or a Percy Jackson movie." Evander explained. He was trying to summarize a massive info dump in as few words as possible.

Everyone was silent for a moment. Zai's usually stoic face turned wide eyed with mouth hanging wide open. "WHAAAAAAAAAT!?" She exclaimed. "Didn't you hear? Jessica's a princess and a goddess and she tried to kill a fish." Syn said. Zai's face hadn't moved a muscle. She was still wide eyed and jaw dropped, like she was frozen in time. Syn reached up and put her paw on Zai's nose. "Boop!" She said playfully. Evander chuckled. "Yeah, we were surprised to hear that too." Evander said. Jessica looked a little embarrassed. "Please, I want you to just think of me as you always have." She said. "You mean a tomboyish mermaid who is hopelessly infatuated with her childhood friend?" Mario teased. Flora kneed him in the gut causing him to grunt in pain. "I'm much more feminine now if you hadn't noticed." Jessica said with a smile, getting a kick out of seeing Flora's usual self. She and Evander had changed a lot since their time in the Digital World, but Flora and Zai seemed like more adult, womanly versions of their teenage selves. Evander looked over at Jessica and said "I've noticed." His eyebrows going up and down. Agumon perked up a little. "Hey, wait! Gennai! How do you know about Jessica's situation? Who told you?" Agumon asked.

"When a barrier keeping the human and digital worlds starts to break down, we at the counsel notice. Krasus sent some tiny drones to keep an eye on things. They implanted some spyware into Ophanimon so we could see everything she sees and hear everything she hears." Gennai explained. Kyoko gave him some coffee which he took sip of. Evander looked at Gennai drinking the coffee and just stared at him. "I will never get used to seeing this woman give people coffee that's actually edible." He thought. When Gennai set the cup down, he looked over to Jessica. "We actually knew about your true past and heritage and Ophanimon Falldown's plan to use you in a war before you did. I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner, but trying to gather all of your Digimon scattered across DigiWorld took some time. I transported yours and Evander's Digimon to you before anyone else's since I figured you'd need them to defend yourselves right away." Gennai said. Ladybugmon put a hand-err-leg up to his mouth. "Oooh! So that's how we ended up in the apartment building that night!" Ladybugmon said.

"We told King Kinandon that we'd hand 'Jessica' over to him and to give us 30 days' time. We now have 29 days left. I don't think we'll be able to catch Ophanimon and present her to Kinandon before then. Evander has a plan to travel to the Digital World and form an army of Digimon to help fight." Samantha explained. Gennai smiled. "That's very good." He said.

Aqualia…

King Kinandon stood on a beach on one of the islands of Aqualia. Ophanimon Falldown Mode appeared in her usual cloak of black and purple dark aura. "Hello, Kinandon." She said. Kinandon was silent for a moment. "What should I do?" Kinandon asked, not even looking at Agent Salvation as he spoke, but continuing to peer out at the ocean. Kinandon turned around and noticed that "Agent Salvation" was holding something. It looked like a huge blue egg. "Given your current research, I think you'll make good use of this." Agent Salvation said. Kinandon looked confused. "What is this?" He asked. "A gift for Katie." Agent Salvation responded.

They both then entered the laboratory. Scientists were working hard typing on their computers. Agent Salvation walked over to his sister Katie, who was still in the test tube. "The queen sure is beautiful" The dark aura'd figure said while looking up at Katie. "Yes, she is. Beautiful, kind, gentle." Kinandon said before pausing. "She was my best friend." He finished. Kinandon put his hand on the test tube. "I don't know if my plan will succeed, but if there's even a small chance, I'll take it. Katie meant everything to me. My world revolved around her." Kinandon said, sadness filling his voice. "Until that orange haired demon took her away from me." Kinandon said, his other hand forming a fist. "Her body is too badly damaged to sustain life. My only slim hope is to fuse her soul with the data of a Digimon. First, I need my scientists to figure out how to do that. Then, I need to find a Digimon suited for her soul to dwell in." Kinandon explained. "Is that really what SHE would want though? What if she's not happy with her form? Some Digimon look really weird, I mean, have you ever laid eyes on a Sukamon?" Agent Salvation asked. "I don't know how she'll react to her revival. I just….I just know that I need her. I need my sister back. I need my best friend back." Kinandon said in a somber tone, trying not to get emotional. "Well, given that your sister is a mermaid, I think it is only fitting that she inhabits a mermaid Digimon." Agent Salvation said. Kinandon took his hand off of the test tube and turned around to look at Agent Salvation. He smiled. "Yes. A Digimon that looks like a mermaid. That's perfect! Where can I find the data for such a Digimon?" He asked. Agent Salvation tapped the egg. "Right here."

Later that night, King Kinandon was searching through a library for books. He found one called "Aqualia's Greatest Battles". He flipped through it and was stunned to find out something. He read the paragraph aloud to himself under the electric lamp "Nearly 3,000 years ago, Sebastian Poseidon, king of Aqualia, did battle with a man named Adrian Neptune. Adrian Neptune and Sebastian Poseidon possessed incredible abilities. They could create tidal waves, telepathically command sea life, cause Earthquakes, teleport their bodies in water, and other astonishing feats. No other Aqualians besides these two had these abilities and it is unknown where these two men got their awesome powers. But those in the lineages of these men inherited their awesome abilities. However, although the Poseidon's kept use of their god-like abilities, Sebastians descendents rarely made use of them. They either could not (because the power skips a generation) or they wimpy chose not to exercise them. Sebastian's grandson Aquarius said that although he was born with his grandfather's power, he would never use it because he wanted to be a ruler loved, not feared like his father. The Neptune line had their powers restrained by Sebastian so as to prevent nearly world ending wars from ever occurring again. Sebastian had used the science of his day to genetically manipulate Adrian Neptune so that his powers would be stripped and never resurface in any of his descendents. It is rumored that if a Neptunian could ever find a way to rewrite the genetic code that Poseidon garbled, they would regain their abilities." Kinandon firmly grasped the book in his hands. "I can't take on Jessica like I now. I have to find a way to fix my DNA." Kinandon said.

Earth…

It had been 3 weeks since Gennai's meeting with the Digidestined in Kyoko's kitchen. The apartment that the Devidramon had damaged was repaired. Evander and Jessica were back in their apartment. Agumon, Terriermon, Ladybugmon, and Gabumon were on the couch playing video games. "Don't blue shell me!" Agumon said. "I'm gonna blue shell ya!" Terriermon said. Kappamon was still keeping her distance from them after all this time. Kappamon sat on the couch watching Agumon and Terriermon game. Evander and Jessica weren't in the room. It was early in the morning. They walked out of their bedroom and said good morning to the couched Digimon. "Where are Leormon and PawnChessmon?" Jessica asked. "They're in Zai's Digivice! We sent her out to get breakfast!" Ladybugmon said cheerfully. Evander yawned and covered his mouth. "Sorry we slept late. We got to sleep pretty late last night." Evander said. Evander was wearing dark blue pajamas. Jessica was wearing a teal blue night gown with clams printed on it. Jessica could barely keep her eyes open. Agumon, Terriermon, Ladybugmon, and Gabumon kept mashing buttons on their game controllers. "So what kept you up last night? Anxiety over the coming war? If so, remember just how many Digimon we've recruited already!" Agumon said. "That's not it." Kappamon chimed in. "They were having a wrestling match last night. I checked in on them when I heard a loud moaning. It sounded like Jessica was in pain." Kappamon said. Both Evander and Jessica went extremely red. Jessica covered her face and turned to the kitchen.

"I didn't know you guys were into wrestling. So who won?" Gabumon asked. The Digimon were oblivious. Digimon didn't do…."wrestling". They had no need to, given that the population of the Digital World was almost constant. Any Digimon who died just became eggs and were reborn. Evander shouted "No one! No one won! There was no wrestling!" He then turned around and went to the kitchen. "Sounds like the cry of a sore loser." Gabumon said, continuing to mash buttons. "My human will win next time." Agumon said, smiling confidently.

A big sound effect came out of the TV and a voice said "Oh no!" Gabumon exclaimed "Dang it! Terriermon's blue shell got me!" Terriermon giggled like a small child "My partner may have lost to yours in wrestling, but this makes us even!" Terriermon said. A shout came from the kitchen "There was NO wrestling!"

Zai opened the door and walked through it. "What did you say about wrestling?" Zai asked, sounding confused. Zai was holding a bag of Croissant sandwiches from Burger King. She was wearing an extra large hoodie that was clearly too big for her. "Nothing!" Evander said, face getting even more red as he popped his head into the living room part of the apartment, which was on the way to the door. The Digimon, hearing Zai's voice, turned their game off and came into the kitchen. "Jessica and Evander wrestled last night! Jessica won and Evander's a sore loser." Agumon said, now in the kitchen. Zai's eyebrows shot up and she opened her mouth, realizing what had happened. "Oh!" She said. Zai set the bags down on the table and took her oversized hoodie off and spread her bat wings. "Ugh! Much better. Hiding these things to pretend to be a human is extremely uncomfortable." Zai complained.

They ate their sandwiches. The Digimon ate loudly and rowdy like a bunch of teenage boys. Evander and Jessica ate quietly, not looking anyone in the eye. Zai looked at Evander and Jessica with no expression on her face. "Who's going to address the elephant in the room?" Zai asked. Jessica put her hand on her face. "Oh for Pete's sake, Zai! Evander's my husband!" She said. "Not that!" Zai snapped. She took a bite of her croissant. "We're only 1 week away from the big showdown." She said with a mouth full of food. Syn was looking around rapidly. "So where's the elephant!? You have an elephant up here!? I want to ride it!" She said. Zai sighed and gave Syn a noogie. "What about it?" Jessica asked. Zai pointed her sandwich at Jessica. "Have you been practicing your….special magic mermaid powers or whatever it's called?" Zai asked. Jessica nodded. "Yep. Every night after it's dark and no one is at the beach." Jessica said. "Except for last night when you-" Gabumon began but Jessica shoved the sandwich he was holding in his mouth with a very annoyed expression on her face. "I'm still not very good at it. I almost caused a tsunami a few nights ago. Fortunately, I was able to send the water up so high into the sky that it just came down in the form of heavy rain. Well, rain and a good bit of fish." Jessica said.

Zai leaned back in her chair. She was finished eating. "Well, that's why we've built up such a huge army, but it would be nice if you could master your abilities so we'd have an ace up our sleeve." Zai said.

The Digital World…

In the underground basement at Jijimon's house, Evander, Jessica, Zai, Mario and Flora, as well as their partner Digimon were sitting in a room with Gennai, Jijimon, Krasus, and the remaining two of The Three Great Angels; Seraphimon and Cherubimon. There was a large map of the Digital World laid out on the table. There was also a globe of Planet Earth and a globe depicting Aqualia which he had gotten from Jessica's mother a week before. Gennai had several figurines of their partner Digimon on the table as well as figurines that resembled the Digidestined. "I'm glad you could all make it. It's time we go over our strategy for how best to deal with this war. Not being of Earth or Aqualia, none of us here in the council would have a Dogmon in this fight ordinarily, but…" Gennai began. "Given that Ophanimon is using this war as a means to destroy both planets utterly, we of the Celestial Trio must interfere." Seraphimon added. "To right the wrong of one our own." Cherubimon added. Gennai gestured down to the figurines on the table. "These figurines represent all of you. Now, if you had to go up against the ENTIRE Aqualian army AND the Digimon Ophanimon has given them, then a full scale war would likely destroy whichever planet it took place on." Gennai said.

"That's why we're moving a third of both armies to Aqualia, a third of both armies to Earth, and a third of both armies to the Digital World. This way, collateral damage and non-civilian casualties can be minimized." Gennai continued, placing figurines representing Aqualians, The Digidestined, and the Digimon in front of Earth's globe, Aqualia's globe, and the map of the Digital World as he spoke. Krasus was tapping his fingers on the table. "We will separate these by opening up gigantic wormholes that will transport one third of both armies to each of these locations." Krasus explained.

Jijimon pointed his cane in Jessica's direction. "Jessica, I don't think you should you take part in this war at all. Your powers are too dangerous." Jijimon said. Jessica frowned but she nodded. "Understood." Evander stood up, placed his hand on the table and leaned in towards Jijimon. "Now wait just a second, Jijimon. Jessica has been working on controlling her powers and she's gotten really good at it. Not only that, but she's Digidestined. We need her." Evander said. Gennai nodded. "That's right. Besides, we had planned on using Jessica's godlike abilities. That's why we're splitting the army up into thirds. That way, Jessica can use only a small amount of her power and ergo, catastrophe can be avoided. Keeping Jessica out of the fight defeats the whole purpose of this strategy" Jijimon banged the tip of his cane on the floor. "I know, Gennai. I know! But I changed my mind!" Jijimon said.

Zai looked over at Evander and asked "On Devillis, things are...well….much different. But, I wouldn't think Earth men would be too keen on sending their wives to war." Zai said. Evander sat back down in his seat and looked Zai in the eyes. "It's not like I want Jessica to be in battle. If she were just an ordinary woman - human or mermaid - things would be different. See, the thing is…" He said before turning his gaze to Jijimon. "The thing is I have confidence that Jessica can control her powers. And I also know Jessica needs to believe this. She needs to believe this for her own psychological well being. You don't know the kind of suffering she's endured this past month ever since she learned of what she is. She's woken up several nights in a cold sweat either screaming in terror or crying her eyes out. Each time; it's the same nightmare. She dreams of unleashing her powers to fight this war and every time she destroys everything and everyone." Evander said. Evander then clenched his fists. "I want Jessica to believe in herself the same way I believe in her. If Jessica never gets to use her powers in battle, she will forever be afraid of them. She will always feel like she's walking time bomb. This will emotionally and psychologically destroy her eventually. So, please, I'm begging you! You've got to let Jessica fight!"

Jijimon tapped his cane harder on the floor. "You're gambling the lives of billions for the sake of your wife's mental health!? Get her a psychiatrist if she's that torn up about it!" Jijimon said. Evander stood up and clenched his fist. "You want me to shove that cane up in a dark place, old man!?" Evander said in an angry tone. Jessica looked surprised. Evander was quick tempered as a 12 year old and as a teenager, always ready to pick a fight with someone who looked at him the wrong way, but he had mellowed out over the years. "Evander, calm down!" Terriermon said. Syn was bouncing in Zai's lap. "Ooh! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Syn got out some paper dollars and set them on the table. "I bet 50 bucks on Jijimon!" She said. Zai sighed at the BlackGatomon's behavior.

"Evander, please. It's ok." Jessica said, raising her hand. Evander turned to her and barked "No! It's not ok!" Evander said. Jessica slammed her fist on the table and shouted "Enough!" When she did, her body briefly glew in a golden aura and a severe tremor could be felt throughout the base. It was very brief, but severe enough to knock a couple of bookshelves over. Everyone seemed startled by the abrupt Earthquake. Everyone looked startled. Jessica looked down at her fist on the table and unclenched it. "I'm sorry." Jessica said. "Now do you see? This woman could have easily buried us alive just now!" Jijimon said. Evander gritted his teeth and growled.

Earth…

It was several hours after the meeting in the Digital World. Jessica was taking a hot shower. She looked depressed, overwhelmed. She put her hand up against the shower wall and looked down at the shower floor as water from the showerhead went across her bright orange hair. Images of her commanding the seas, flying around killing Tylomon, and forming a trident with which to impale Kinandon filled her mind. The tsunami she almost caused while training to take control of her powers filled her mind. It was only sheer luck that she was able to make that entire wave go up high into the sky, disperse into water droplets, and come down in the form of heavy rain. She also remembered the hundreds of Gesomon and Divermon in the Digital World who practically fell down at her tail and worshiped her. In her mind's eye also flashed images from her recurring nightmare where she fought in the war against the Aqualians and wiped out all of life in the process. After she had gotten out of the shower, she walked out of the bathroom. The door connected her bedroom with the bathroom. She was wrapped up in a towel. She looked over at her vanity. She saw a picture of her, Evander, Mario, Flora, and Zai, when they were kids. They had a group picture taken with their Digimon. She held it up and looked at it longingly. She gazed at her 11 year old self in the photo. Jessica was wearing a dark blue shirt with black stripes on it under a sky blue vest paired with a matching skirt. Her shirt was cut to expose her navel, and her jacket was also open. She had her arm around a 12 year old Evander who was clad in a blue and yellow striped shirt, a backwards blue baseball cap with a set of goggles strapped over the cap, and blue jeans. She was leaning on him and actually caused him to lose his balance right at the moment the photo was taken, but he was upright in the photo because it flashed before he fell. The 11 year old Jessica was flashing the peace sign into the camera with her other hand. A 14 year old Mario and Flora stood to their right. "Things were so much simpler back then." Jessica said, sadness filling her voice.

"You really going to just sit this one out?" Asked a familiar voice. She turned around. It was Flora. Flora's cat tail was swishing back and forth as she stood with her arms folded. Jessica nodded. "I have to. I could just use my Digimon, but if we start losing, I know I'll use my powers to try and save everyone. And the visions in my dream will come true." Jessica said, not looking Flora in the eye.

Flora took a deep sigh. "Please take this in the spirit that it's intended." Flora said. "Take wha-" Jessica asked before Flora punched her right in the jaw. Jessica looked shocked. "What was that for!?" She asked rubbing her sore face. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You think you're some weapon of mass destruction? You'll only be that if you allow yourself to be. You are in control of your own destiny! Get that through your fishy brain!" Flora scolded loudly. Jessica's eyes started dotting around the room. "But what if…" She began before being cut off by Flora. "What if you sit back and do nothing and everyone dies? What if you use your powers and everybody dies? Well, what if you enter this war, use your powers, and everyone lives? You can't live your life by what ifs. The 'what if' questions are infinite in number. You'll go insane if you live your life by 'what if's!" Flora scolded. Flora hugged the towel wrapped Jessica. "This isn't a war simply between two planets, this is war against a Digimon who seeks to end all life. Evander isn't the only one who believes in you." Flora said while she hugged Jessica. Jessica felt a wave of happiness and relief overcome her. "Thank you, Flora. You're a good friend." Flora put Jessica in a headlock and started giving her a noogie. "You're darn right I'm a good friend! Where would you be without me to knock some sense into you!?"

Aqualia…

In Kinandon's laboratory on Aqualia, Kinandon walked in. The room was dark. It was night, and most of the other scientists had gone home, except one. "How's your progress?" Kinandon asked. The remaining scientist looked over to Kinandon and smiled like a child opening a present on Christmas. "Sire, we did it! We did it!" He said. He pushed a key on his keyboard. They both looked over to the massive test tube Katie was being held in. Katie opened her eyes! She then began writhing in the amniotic fluid in the tube. "She's in pain!" Kinandon said. "She's ok. Just wait." The scientist cautioned. Katie screamed as bubbles exited her mouth into the amniotic fluid. The tubes connected to Katie's body were pumping something into her, and the wires connected to her body were lighting up. Some of these were also attached to the blue DigiEgg Agent Salvation had given earlier. Kinandon noticed this. "What are you doing to her?" He asked. "Just wait! This is necessary for the fusion to work!" Katie began frantically banging on the glass of the test tube. Agony was all over her face. She grabbed her head and screamed. Katie then reached for the tubes and wires attached to her and ripped them out. Suddenly a message came across the scientist's screen. "ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!" Scrolled in big red capital letters across his screen. "Damn!" He said. Suddenly, bubbles in the test tube consumed the writhing, suffering Kathrine Neptune. The test tube burst and glass shattered everywhere! Amniotic fluid spilled out all over the floor.

What emerged from the tube was a creature that resembled a mermaid, but didn't look like Katie at all. She had become AncientMermaidmon! Kinandon took a couple of steps forward. "Katie?" He said. The AncientMermaidmon looked in Kinandon's direction and just grunted. She then began screaming at the top of her lungs. She wielded a trident around. She generated a bunch of water droplets in the air, crystalized them into super solids and then started firing them around the laboratory like a machine gun. Computers and other machines blew up as they were hit with the supersolid water droplet bullets. "Katie! Katie, what are you doing!?" Kinandon shouted. The Digimon screamed and held her head like she was in pain. She turned to Kinandon and came after him with the trident. She tried impaling him several times, but Kinandon had dodged each time. "Katie, why are you doing this? It's me! Your brother!" Kinandon said, confused and concerned. "An error occurred during the fusion process." The scientist explained. "What does that mean!?" Kinandon asked, looking over at the scientist. He had no time to answer. The AncientMermaidmon ran him through with the trident she was wielding. The scientist dropped to the floor as he coughed up blood and quickly died. Kinandon used his Digi-Worm phone to make a quick escape.

After Kinandon escaped through the wormhole, AncientMermaidmon writhed on the floor in pain, screaming. Then she got up and swung her trident above her head like a baton. A large maelstrom brewed outside and submerged the entire island in ocean water. AncientMermaimon flew up high into the air above the destroyed laboratory and submerged island. She let out yet another primal scream.