Sand crunched under Gin Tsuki's feet as the teenager stumbled forth across the beach. The Trailmon that had provided her passage slipping off to sleep rather than heading home attested to just how crazy an hour she had found herself venturing out in. Her faithful Lunamon companion was already running about happily, and basking in the moolight that triggered her current hyperactivity. At least one of them had the energy to deal with the risks implicit in wandering out into the Digital World at nearly any hour.

The silver-haired girl stopped just out of reach of the waves, and plopped down on her back in the cool sand. Anyone could guess that being a tamer was often trying, but sometimes the exact nature of those trials was quite unexpected. Who, for example, could ever guess that they would be dragged out of their appartment at 3 AM by an overly energetic partner digimon? It was certainly worth the trouble, but trouble it was.

Tsuki felt her thoughts carrying her off to sleep, even as Luna bound playfully around the beach, apparently seeking seashells. That was ok though, the tamer completely trusted her giddy digimon to keep an eye on her until they were ready to leave the beach. The last thing she saw as her eyes slid shut was the beautiful curtain of clear, unobscured stars, and the moon, so bright and round and perfect. It was really a marvelous night.

A pair of boots steadily plodded along the sandy beach, accompanying it a pair of clawed feet scratching at the sand, and the gentle swish of a small creature on the wing.

Zack Knight walked silently through the tranquil night, absentmindedly enjoying the peace of the sea breeze and the steady pounding of the surf. Recent events weighed heavily upon his mind, a complicated matter between himself and his two partners, the Tsukaimon and Commandramon flanking him as he moved. No words were exchanged among the three, but each knew what the other was thinking.

Though his outfit was new, the scars of his last battle remained. By the light of the moon the burned and still-tender flesh of his right arm could be seen. But the physical injuries were just part of it, recent events had raised new questions, and answers were already in short supply to the amnesiac teenager.

"Heads up," One said, interrupting some fifteen minutes of silent strolling. "Dead ahead. A Digimon, a tamer too."

Zack stopped in his tracks, Aura fluttering down onto his head as the trio came a halt. Scanning the beach with his green eyes, he did indeed spot a girl lying in the sand and what was a Lunamon according to his d-ban running hither and tither.

"Heh," the human muttered. "I wonder what she's doing out at a time like this."
"She'd probably ask you the same question," One remarked dryly.


Zack approached with his partners at his side, but found himself pausing a short distance away. Something was making him hesitate, and yet it wasn't the darksense. One remained at his comrade's side, but Aura leapt forth from Zack's head. Taking wing, the Tsukaimon fluttered toward Luna. "Hi there!" she called out, a warm, friendly smile on her face.

"Hi there!"

Luna practically jumped out of her skin at the sudden call. The seashell she had found was unintentionally thrown into the surf. She was quite startled, but only for a moment. The Tsukaimon that had called out to her seemed friendly enough at first impresion, and the tamer that stood nearby looked nice as well, if a bit bashful. Luna noticed that he had two digimon with him, and the logical part of her brain briefly noted that it would be wise to stay on his good side.

"Hello," she responded politely, with a gentle wave. "I'm Luna, and that's Tsuki down there. I'm afraid she's asleep at the moment, I sort of dragged her out at an hour she wasn't quite ready for."

Zack's weight shifted onto his right leg, the tamer scrutinizing Luna with a raised eyebrow. His eyes then shifted over, taking a closer look at Tsuki's odd... appearance.

"It's been awhile since we've met a tamer with only one partner," One remarked in a quiet grumble. The cyborg held his assault rifle loosely in his arms, the strap hung over his shoulder at the moment. Luna and Tsuki didn't look dangerous, but he wanted to be ready if something else came along.
Zack shrugged at the Commandramon's remark, then stepped slowly forward.
"I'm Aura," the Tsukaimon said, hovering in the air and beating Zack to the introductions. "This is One," she did a sudden loop and landed on her tamer's head. "And this is Zack!"

The tamer nodded once, subconsciously rubbing the scar on his cheek with his thumbnail. Hey, for once she didn't call me Zackie. "Wasn't expecting to run into anyone else at this hour," Zack remarked aloud, looking at Luna as his hand dropped and hooked a thumb through a belt loop. He was relaxed and easygoing at the moment, though as usual he seemed a tad lethargic as though his energies were on something else at the moment.

"Yeah," Luna laughed nervously as she made her way toward Tsuki to awaken the girl. "We don't usually go out this late, but the moon tonight was so bright I just couldn't stay still. Tsuki took me out so that I wouldn't wreck the apartment any worse than I already had."

Luna arrived next to Tsuki and poked her gently. "Come on and wake up Tsuki dear, we've got company. Get up and greet them properly."

The efforts were wasted though, Tsuki slept on unfazed. "Oh dear," Luna simply sighed. "Well it's still nice to meet you Aura dear, and you two as well Zack and One. I apologize for Tsuki."

Aura couldn't help but giggle as Luna relayed the story of how she and Tsuki had come to the beach, it was rather similar to how they, that being Zack, One, and Aura, had ended up here as well. Only their case was a restless tamer.

Zack's face was impassive as Luna tried to wake Tsuki, he found a curiosity gnawing at him. Just what kind of person would this girl be, one dressed so oddly and lax enough to just fall asleep?

"I'll wake her up," One said bluntly, and without even looking down at him Zack knew his partner was up to something.
"No-!" Zack said, turning to the Commandramon at his side, but the young man's warning was too late.
One raised his M-16 and pointed it toward the ocean before firing a few quick bursts from his assault rifle. Yellow tracers lit up the night sky, their reflections playing across the oceans as the bullets, and more importantly, the pounding sound of gunfire, ripped outward.

"One..." Zack said, exasperated, rubbing his palm on his forehead. Aura shrieked softly at the sudden noise, then shot One a dirty look as he again lowered his assault rifle. Although Zack sometimes appreciated the Commandramon's direct approach, there were times when a bit more tact and caution could be useful.

"You'll scare her!" The Tsukaimon grumbled, glaring down from atop Zack's head at One.
"Meh," the cyborg grunted. "Maybe then she pick better times and places to sleep."

The hammering racket of the assault rifle proved to be an adequate alarm. With a yawn and a stretch, Tsuki forced herself to wake up. The first thing her eyes caught sight of happened to be One. The heavily armed cyborg was an intimidating sight under the best of circumstances. To a half-asleep girl, who was less than razor sharp when she was fully alert, he was downright scary.

The silver haired tamer searched around frantically. As soon as she saw her partner, she scooped up the rabbit and aimed her roughly in One's direction. "I've got a Luna-chan and I know how to use her!" Tsuki had a crazed look on her face, which slowly faded as the more logical part of her brain woke up, a mad blush taking over bit by bit.

Luna, for her part, simply giggled mischievously. The Lunamon, if no one else, found the situation entertaining.

One smirked smugly as he saw the fruits of his efforts. But as he saw her face light up with fear, his grin broadened, revealing his row pearly white razor-sharp teeth. Something he knew many found quite unnerving. If he'd already alarmed her, there was no harm in the occasionally-mischievous cyborg going a bit further. Amused at her reaction, and at the fact that he thought Luna could do him much harm

Luna... chan? Zack pondered briefly. But he stepped forward, a slight smile appearing on his face. It was hard to tell whether the smile was born of friendliness, or simply thinly veiled amusement at One's actions. "Looks like One gave you quite the fright. My name is Zack, this is Aura," his eyes flitted up to the batlike mammal perched on his head. "And well, you already met One."

Aura waved from atop Zack's head, giving another friendly smile to the freshly-roused tamer. Though it was sure she still disapproved of One's brash actions, she didn't seem to take it personally enough to dampen her spirits.

The restlessness the young man had been pointedly ignoring up to this point returned, an itch urging him onward. Get moving a little voice in the back of his head seemed to say. This place isn't where you belong.

"Um, hi," Tsuki said, embarrassment still evident, but put aside enough to manage a polite bow and greeting. "I'm Tsuki, this is Luna-chan. It's nice to meet you Zack-sempai. You as well Aura-chan and One-bozu."

Luna snickered at Tsuki's choice of honorific for the Commandramon. The diminutive title was probably an attempt to make him seem less intimidating. An understandable desire, despite the silly approach; One was anything but a 'squirt.'

Tsuki struggled to scramble up some polite small-talk. "So, um, what brings you to the beach tonight?"

Zack nodded once as Tsuki bowed, she seemed nice enough. He sensed no darkness in either of them, but he couldn't be sure of that feeling's accuracy at present. The words she kept adding after each of their names were a tad odd, Lexi had done the same thing. Still, it didn't matter much. He pushed the relatively minor worry out of his mind.

One's grin inverted into a frown, also pondering just what a 'bozu' was.

"I'm not sure why I'm here per se." Zack said thoughtfully "Maybe it reminds me of home, maybe I was just being random, but the reason I left my apartment in the first place is because I got tired of sitting around. People keep telling me to take it easy," he flexed his right wrist several times, a stinging pain shooting through his burned arm. But all signs of discomfort were choked off before they reached the surface, he'd only been trying to draw attention to the injuries he was supposed to be letting heal. "Well I'm tired of taking it easy, I can't sit still anymore."

"Aw," Aura said from atop Zack's head, pouting "You didn't even spend a day resting.
"Hate to say it," One grumbled "But the rat's right. You were hurt pretty badly in that fight, you can't heal overnight like a Digimon can."
Zack gritted his teeth, wanting badly to address the issue, but he felt that such an affair was a private matter among himself and his partners, no one else. Distracted as he was he didn't reciprocate the chatter, though there wasn't much to be said as Luna had already explained how she and Tsuki had come to the beach.

"Uh-huh," Tsuki said slowly, a bit clueless in regards to the situastion as it stood. This Zack boy seemed friendly enough, but he was clearly introverted, and would occasionally make for hard conversation. At least One seemed a bit put off by being called 'bozu,' a neat bonus. Aura was somewhat friendlier, and clearly cared for her tamer's health, but Tsuki couldn't think of much to say to the Tsukaimon either.

Luna meanwhile noticed the remaining marks from Zack's burns and put that together with the words exchanged between him and his partners. "Zack dear," she said, her voice weighted with curiosity, "if you don't mind me asking, how did you hurt yourself?"

The truth was, he did mind her asking. Condensing the events into just a few word seemed an insult to the event, and he was still having a hard time dealing with everything he'd done and not done in that battle. One and Aura were both watching him warily, wondering if their tamer would choose to open up. But maybe he needed to get off his chest, because before he could stop himself, that's what he was doing.

"Just over a day ago One, Aura, and myself were attacked by a force of Digimon out in the desert, I don't even know how many Pico Devimon there were total, a lot. They were lead by a Vamdemon." It was also something of a hot embarrassment. With two adults, and later, one perfect, he'd not been able to destroy an enemy perfect Digimon. Was it somehow stronger for its level? Or was he simply a lousy excuse for a tamer?
"My head wasn't in the game, One and Aura were both knocked out of the fight. I took Vamdemon on myself using a sword." A dry smile appeared on his face, relaying the story only reinforced how stupid what he'd done had been. "I was faster than him, but as soon as he hit me once, it hurt a lot."

His partners remained silent, almost downtrodden, as the young man relayed their story. They didn't seem any happier with their respective "failures" than Zack was with his.

"He'd have killed you for sure if you hadn't used the Thunder Spirit," One said with his usual bluntness, earning a glare from Aura even if he did have a point.

"He would have killed all of us," Zack said softly, looking away, his eyes stinging but no tears falling from them. "I'm getting too reckless," he said, staring out at the oncoming waves.

Luna listened to Zack's tale quietly. She hung her head a little sadly, feeling sympathy for the little group's feelings. It had clearly been an awful experience, especially for One and Aura, she could only imagine how it would feel to have Tsuki trying to fight on her behalf.

Tsuki meanwhile looked a little confused, "wait, it seems to me like you did the right thing. If neither of your partners could fight, and the Vamdemon was going to kill you, I think anything you could do to try and stop him would be okay. There's nothing reckless about last-ditch self-defense."

The absent-minded tamer shook her head, silver hair ruffling. "No, in fact I'm sure of it. If I were in that situation, I'd do the same exact thing, to try my best to protect myself and Luna-chan."

The young man's mouth opened and closed several times, she was wrong, and yet, she was right. "Maybe," Zack said, arms folding across his chest, still looking away. The tender skin of his arm grated, but he clamped down on the feeling and ignored as best he could. "My partners are all I have, they mean everything to me. But..."

"Even if it's to protect us, Aura doesn't like seeing him get hurt," One said, his growly voice a tad softer than usual.

"I guess you're right," Zack said, turning back to Tsuki, his expression settling back to normal and his arms falling to his sides. "As a final effort there's not much choice, but it should be a last resort. There were cards I could have used, cards I could have used in better ways..." He felt the best thing he could do now was train himself to use his cards smartly again, pacing himself in both the use of critical cards and his partners' energy.

"Hey now," Aura said, folding her wings down against the sides of Zack's head. "We're all alive, and that's what counts," she said soothingly, rubbing her chin against his messy blond hair, something both found comforting. "We can worry about next time if and when it comes."

With a jolt he remembered an early exploit of himself and One, prior to Aura joining their party. That same desperation, the feeling that drove him into battle against the Digimon threatening the lives of his partners, he'd felt it then too. It had been the power that drew out the Digimental of Courage.

Red radiance flickered at the tamer's right palm, motes of light streaming together and forming a solid band of light. The crimson reflected in Zack's green eyes, and the yellow ones of One and Aura.

"Oh!" remarked Aura, folding her wings to her back. "Your Digisoul! It's back!"

Tsuki nodded confidently as she listened to the conversation amongst the other group following her speech. Her point was well made, and she was glad it was mostly well recieved.

Luna sighed in Tsuki's hug-like grasp, she was simply confused by the turn in conversation, she didn't know which was worse anymore. Logically her tamer did have a point, but it was still an unsettling thought. The Lunamon decided to simply not worry about it until it came up, if it ever came up.

It was at that point that Zack's hand lit up with a sparkly red band. Tsuki eyes opened widely with fascination. This phenomenon was new to her, so naturally she asked her little encyclopedia of a partner. "What is that Luna-chan?"

Luna's eyes were a little wide as well, "I think that's what they calll a Digisoul. I don't know much about them, but they're supposed to be a manifestation of a human's energy. They can help digimon evolve, I think."

Tsuki smiled, "wow, that's really cool. You're very lucky Zack-sempai."

"Emotional energy, to be precise," Zack said, distracted, staring at the digisoul as though mesmerized by a flickering fire. It had come back to him now, odd considering he'd tried to summon it again in the hospital. Had he simply been weaker then than he realized? Or was there something special required to activate its power?

One nodded, looking over at Luna and Tsuki. "Correct. It helps me evolve to my perfect level, Tankdramon." His rifle shifted in his arms, suddenly feeling small and weak in the memory of the firepower he wielded as his higher form.

The red light faded away, but it did so slowly, gently. Not extinguished as it had been last time, just vanishing as though it would return the moment it was called. Lucky? Zack thought, slightly bitter. If I was lucky I wouldn't have to rely on something as shifting as my emotions to evolve my partners.

For a moment, the eight-pointed Sun symbol that was the glyph of Courage appeared on the d-ban's small display. A faint smile tugged at the corners of the tamer's mouth, "The power of courage," he spoke quietly, glancing down at the display. He imagined the outsized chicken egg that was the Digimental itself, a fiery pattern of red, yellow, and orange upon its shell with a single sharp blade protruding from the front.

"Tsuki," Aura said, shifting a little on Zack's head, turning her eyes to the young tamer, this time it was her turn to sound curious. "What's that word you keep using to describe Zackie?"

Tsuki listened politely to Zack' words about his digi-soul, interested, even if she didn't entirely get it. She could somehow tell though, that even though it was a cool item, it wasn't for her. She really needed something simpler, a card or something else of that nature.

Luna noted One's mention of his perfect form. That he had even achieved it was further confirmation of the group's power, but Tankdramon was a truly fierce fighter to boot. Definitely best to stay on their good side, not that there was any reason they wouldn't.

What's that word you keep using to describe Zackie?"

"Oh, um," Tsuki fumbled for a moment, not used to being around someone who wasn't familiar with japanese honorifics. "Well, it's an honorific that's basicly for an older student of the same art or school. Zack-sempai is older than me, and we're both sort of students of the art of digimon taming, so it seemed like a good choice to me."

Aura nodded slowly, even if she wasn't familiar with the words, Tsuki's explanation made sense. "Ok," she said simply. Zack too acknowledged the younger tamer's words, momentarily pondering what language it was from, and if he had ever known, or like so many other things, forgotten. One on the other hand, really didn't care less. He was just glad it wasn't some poorly-planned veiled insult, otherwise there would have been a problem. For Tsuki and Luna, that is.

Zack opened his mouth to speak, but his question died on the tip of his tongue. His head jerked upward, eyes narrowing, whole body going on alert as his easygoing demeanor vanished in a blink. "Something's coming," he said sharply, the tingling at his neck unmistakable. He swept his head to the left, then the right, then pivoted in place as he searched. His eyes settled on a rocky outcropping further up the beach from where the five stood, behind him from where he'd first stood. "Over there," he said. Though his eyes saw nothing through the moonlit night, he knew darkness approached from that direction.

Aura took wing, hovering at the young man's right side while One stood at Zack's left, raising his rifle. The Commandramon's eyes and rifle were fixed further up the beach. The tamer edged sideways, stepping between Tsuki and the direction the dark energy was coming from, partially shielding her. Left hand dropping to the card case at his side, right ready to seize the amulet if he needed it. His partners were ready, as was he, for whatever came.

A low, grating growl came through the night, confirmation to Zack that something was approaching. The tamer just hoped it wasn't anything too nasty, he wasn't alone this time.

Zack's sudden worry startled Tsuki and Luna, causing the pair to look around the beach as well. They didn't know what he was worried by, or how he had become aware of it, but they responded anyway. Suddenly, the other tamer and his partners were staring off intently down some angle of the beach and getting ready for a fight. Tsuki didn't know what to make of what was happening, but she was worried.

Luna, not willing to let the others fight all alone, wiggled from her tamer's grasp and took a place in the line. She stood just to the right of Aura and took a cautious stance, ready to contribute her aid, whatever it may have been worth. The growl was rather ambiguous, but it certainly confirmed Zack's suspicions. Luna silently noted Zack's position in front of Tsuki, and decided to thank him for it later.

Another roar sounded, and after a brief moment, a bulky form emerged into view. A powerful upper body, lurid pink skin, a messy mop of hair looking like tendrils, and a slate gray spiral shell covering the creature's lower half. A Shellmon.

There didn't seem anything initially dark about this Digimon, but as it slowly dragged itself across the sand closer to the five, its eyes became visible. Empty, no emotion, not even pupils in the oddly flat blue discs. Zack nodded once, his suspicions confirmed. There was definitely something not right with this one, though beneath it all he felt a slight sense of relief. The darksense seemed to be working again, properly no less.

"Only an Adult level," Zack remarked, eyes passing over his d-ban's screen. "Shouldn't be any problem for the three of you." His eyes flickered to each of the Digimon with them in turn. One and Aura nodded their affirmatives with varying degrees of confidence, almost unaccustomed to a situation where they had the upper hand from the get-go.

The Shellmon slammed its fists in the sands, roaring in anger as it came to a stop, empty eyes glaring at the five before it. "Hydro Pressure!" it growled, a jet of water like a firehose shooting from its head, aimed at Aura.

But while Aura's eyes widened with the coming attack, One dropped into a crouch and leveled his rifle. "M-16 Assassin!" he yelled, muzzle flashing in the night as several quick bursts of bullets shot from his firearm, aimed at the Shellmon's exposed upper torso.

Tsuki covered her mouth as it gaped in shock at the Shellmon's haunted expression. Something was not right with the creature, yet they couldn't stand back and do nothing about him. The girl put her faith in her partner, and the other digimon, to stop his unexplained aggresion.

Luna took a deep breath and brought her hands together, aimed toward the Shellmon's muscular arm. She shot a beam of light from them toward the aquatic beast. "Tear Shoot!"

((Excuse the poor post, it's the best I could think of.))

Aura uttered a soft gasp before she was blasted backwards, landing with a puff in the sand. The young mammal paused for a moment, shaking her fur free of excess water. Then the determined Tsukaimon launched herself back into the air, returning to her place in the line and calling "Bad Message!"

----

Shellmon took the impacts of One and Luna's attacks as though he couldn't feel them, even though bullets gouged his flesh and light burned his forelimb. He lumbered slowly forward, growling again. "Hydro Pressure!" this time the blast of water was aimed at Luna.

----

"I don't like this at all," One remarked, staring down the sights of his rifle at their zombie-like foe.
"Yeah," Zack remarked. The persistent tingle of his darksense told him that the Shellmon was indeed the source of the disturbance, as if he needed further evidence something was amiss with the aquatic Digimon.

Seeing the incoming burst of water, Luna braced for impact. She was quite surprised though, to hear the sound of Tsuki slashing a card. That was normally something the young tamer did under Luna's guidance. It was Knight Device though, so instead of wasting time commenting, the rabbit digimon jumped up as hard as she could.

As the ground just behind the spot she had occupied on the ground was pummeled with water, Luna brought her hands togehter again. Taking careful aim at the same arm she had previously attacked, the airborn Lunamon fired another beam of light. "Tear Shoot!"

-------------------------------------------------
Name: Knight Device
Number: C20
Type: Single Target
Duration: 1 Turn
Effect: Both the user and the affected Digimon gain the ability to leap twice the height they are normally able to.

The twin bursts of energy slammed into Shellmon's unmoving form, Luna's blast striking directly where the young Digimon had aimed it. Aura's attack struck the amphibious Digimon in the neck. But as before, it showed not even a flicker in the face of such pain.

"Hydro Pressure!" The Shellmon growled again, this time blasting its gout of water at One.

----

Zack was pleasantly surprised as Tsuki scanned her card of choice. But that didn't distract him from a slight shudder as he stared back into the Shellmon's empty eyes.

"It's not just the dark presence," he said, left hand still resting cautiously on his card case in the event he needed one. "The way that thing acts, it's like it's not even alive. Have either of you ever seen anything like this?" He directed his question at Luna and Tsuki, curious though not honestly expecting them to know.

But at that moment Shellmon attacked, and Zack reacted quickly. "Sacrificial Lamb, Power up!"

Name: Sacrificial Lamb
Number: R42
Type: State
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: When used by a Light or undecided Tamer, a lamb will materialize and take any attack from a Virus- or Data-type Digimon in the user’s partner’s stead, until it is destroyed. When used by a Dark Tamer, the lamb will take their own partner’s attacks without dying, effectively preventing them from attacking their opponent.

A flash of sparkly light, a lamb appeared before the five. Or at least, it was supposed to be a lamb, it looked more like some manner of crudely-made machine, made with spare parts and crude tools by someone with only a general idea what a lamb should look like. Nonetheless, the 'lamb' did its job, the water jet slamming into its small form. As the water stream faded, the lamb burst apart once more, but its purpose was served.

The cyborg felt a slight grin light his features, Zack's timing and choice of cards had been perfect. "Fire in the hole!" One yelled, priming a DCD bomb and lobbing it through the air toward Shellmon.

"No," Tsuki said, shaking her head, "this is definitely a new one for us. I just hope it's not some poor passerby who's been hypnotized or something."

Luna frowned at their continuing inability to deter the Shellmon. "Tsuki dear," she began, "I want a little more power for this shot. Will you use that Lady Devimon card?"

Tsuki shrugged, "okay, I guess so."

The requested card slid through her d-ban, infusing Luna with extra speed and power. With a wicked smirk, Luna took aim again, this time for Shellmon's chest. A slightly brighter beam cut forth, "Tear Shoot!"

--------------------------------------------
Name: LadyDevimon's Gift
Number: U14
Type: Single Target
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: Increases the affected Digimon’s speed, as well as the strength of its next attack, by 50% each.

A gout of smoke and fire shot into the air just to the right of the Shellmon's already-wounded arm, and Luna's powered-up attack struck its mark. As before, the crustacean was unwilling or unable to dodge, and seemingly undaunted by the pain.

A groaning growl emanated from its throat, a split second later a tearing sound issued from the Digimon. Something burst from its back, a jagged disc of pure black. Rising slowly into the air, it exploded in a flash of data particles.

The Shellmon's menacing growl shifted to a groan of agony, the pupils returning to its eyes once more. For a split second it seemed awake, aware. But then, pressed down upon by the painful injuries inflicted by Luna, Aura, and One, the Shellmon collapsed into the sand, eyes falling shut.

----

"That was," Aura mumbled, still hovering near Zack's side. "Weird."
Receiving a meaningful glance from One, the young man nodded once.
"It's gone now," Zack said, referring to the feeling of darkness.
Though One's assault rifle relaxed slightly in the Commandramon's arms, he was still wary. It seemed unlikely to him this zombie-Shellmon had been acting alone.
"Wait..." The tamer said suddenly, thinking of the object that had burst from Shellmon's back just before it returned to normal.
He pulled his full deck from its case, browsing through the cards one by one. Finding the one he was searching for, he read it over, then nodded once to himself.

"I think I know what that was," he said, speaking to the whole group. "That thing didn't attack us of its own will. Another tamer sent it after us, using a card like this one," he held up his Black Gears card, although he'd never once used it himself.
Aura fluttered down upon Zack's head, reading the card from her perch. Gasping softly, she said "Oh, that's horrible!"

"Why do you think I've never used it?" Zack said, slightly grim. He walked the line separating clever tactics from dirty tricks, or so he liked to think. And this card, this card fell far into the category of dirty trick in his opinion. It was a card likely to end up as a part of his occasionally thought about "Tower of Useless Cards" ambition.

One, however, seemed less concerned about the moral dilemma of ruthlessly controlling an opponent. He was more concerned with the idea of another tamer, seemingly hostile, in the area. His assault rifle returned to its ready stance, the Commandramon slowly scanned the surroundings.

((Sorry for being so slow. This was a hard response to write for some reason.))

As the Shellmon finally collapsed, Luna sighed in relief. Even though it was now explicitly clear that he wasn't in control of his actions, it was still good that his rampage had been ended. The threat of whoever had caused his actions was still cause for worry, but at least they would be able to focus on that person if they showed themselves.

Tsuki, feeling distant from the conversation about the card that had caused the Shellmon's behaviour, wandered closer to the great shellfish. She wanted to check on the poor beast, it didn't quite seem right to her to leave him there after inflicting the injuries upon him.

Seeing her tamer's, Luna sighed, "sometimes I don't know what to do about her. I don't want her to stop being so kind, but she doesn't even realize when she's doing something that could get her in trouble." The Lunamon shook her head and looked aorund the area a little, the feeling around the beach was ominous. She couldn't settle down, it was like standing next to a time bomb almost. Something would happen, the only question was when.

((sigh))

Zack merely shrugged. He didn't have any advice for dealing with Luna's naive tamer, and it wasn't really his business anyways. His thoughts began shifting in the direction of One's, to the idea of another tamer in the area.

"I don't sense anything," he began, scrutinizing his surroundings. Just a stretch of beach, calm waves, and a thicket of trees opposite. But just as he opened his mouth to speak again, he felt a faint tingle at his neck. A split second later, a voice rang across the beach.

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!" The moment the voice spoke, Zack's body tensed. Adrenaline poured into his veins and he watched the storm of energy shards as though they were in slow motion. He jumped to the side, the darts whizzing just past him and peppering empty sand. The young man was suddenly glad that Tsuki had wandered away, otherwise his assailant would have endangered her as well.

A moment later a female voice laughed loudly. Two figures emerged from the trees, striding side by side. Though their forms were drastically different, one a slender girl with long black hair, the other a vulpine Renamon, they both moved with a smooth grace.

"Kyra," One growled, recognizing the new tamer. Zack's mouth creased into a frown. If his last encounter with the younger tamer was any indication, the end to any meeting could only be a messy one.

Kyra Evan's face showed a wicked grin as she strode forward, Bishop at her side and Vanguard riding on her shoulders. "Well, well, well, we meet again, Zack." she said, icy blue meeting cool green with intense dislike.

"Nice to see you too," Zack replied, his tone grim mixed with sarcasm, rolling his eyes. He had good reason to not like the younger tamer, as she'd attempted to stab him when last they met.

"And who's this?" Bishop wondered, his blue eyes sweeping over Luna and then Tsuki with a chuckle at the duo.
"Doesn't matter," Kyra said, a confident smirk rising on to her face. "Any friend of Zack's is an enemy of mine."

((This one didn't come easy either, I hope I left you with enough to reply to, I didn't want to go too far between my two character groups.))

"Enemy?" Tsuki looked quite puzzled, the sudden and aggresive arrival of Kyra and her partners was taking a moment to settle in for her. She had heard of dark tamers and the like, but the concept took a moment to click with the situation she found herself in. Once it did though, her eyes opened widely, and she grabbed a tight hold of Luna, who had come to protect her.

"Tsuki," the Lunamon sighed, "I can't fight if you don't let me go..."

Tsuki nodded slowly, but still didn't let her partner go. She was worried about the situation, and wasn't going to rush into battle. The newcomer and Zack seemed to know each-other though, so Tsuki edged closer to Zack, hoping that he would have some idea how to deal with the situation.

((...))

Man, is she serious? Zack thought to himself, staring at Kyra. One hand rested on his card case, the other at waist level ready to reach for the amulet; his classic ready stance. He frowned inside, the dark aura around Kyra felt radically different than it had previously. She looked and acted much the same, but the feeling was different now. Broader, more chaotic.

"We met her in the training fields once," Aura quickly explained to Tsuki and Luna, hovering once more at Zack's side. "I dueled Vanguard, her Dokunemon. I won, but she thought Zack cheated so she tried to attack him. One managed to stop her though."

Zack caught the tail end of Aura's explanation, nodding his confirmation. He hadn't expected to run into her again, not like this, not here.

"Vanguard, Bishop," Kyra called. "Let's do it!" Vanguard leapt down the tamer's shoulders, landing with a thud in the sand. The red and purple d-ban rose into the air, brilliant light shining from it.

"Dokunemon evolve to Stingmon!"
"Renamon armor evolve to Shurimon!"

Vanguard's dark green exoskeleton of her tall humanoid form glinted in the moonlight, red eyes staring ahead, insectoid wings spreading from her back as her claws clenched into fists.

Bishop lowered into a crouch, most of his wiry body obscured by the pale robes he wore. His yellow eyes were visible behind his mask, a large four-pointed star on his back and a smaller three-edged star held in each hand and foot.

"Heh," the Shurimon said, his voice full of a smirk. "Maybe they'll be more of a challenge than that kid in the training fields?" he rose into a standing position, grip on the two shuriken in his hands tightening.

The sight of a red saurian attacking his own tamer at Bishop's command flashed before Kyra's eyes, for a brief instant she couldn't help but smile. But with a flash the memory was gone again, and Kyra was ready for battle once more.

"One adult, one armor," Kyra said with a smirk, her icy blue eyes still staring at Zack, delighted malice glinting in them. "I'm even with you now, eh? Time for a rematch!" her d-ban fell back to her side.

"You're even with us then," One replied smugly, rifle held loosely in his arms. "Let's show her, Zack."

The blond tamer exhaled heavily. "I don't want to fight you, Kyra. But it doesn't look like you're going to take no for an answer! Evolution!" he cried, triggering his d-ban. White radiance engulfed his two partners flanking him.

When the glow faded, the tall steely blue cybernetic figure of Sealsdramon stood to one side, and the enormous draconic serpent with teal scales, red leathery wings, and a boney skull plate of Airdramon on the other.

"Please," Aura said, turning a single red eye toward Tsuki and Luna. "Let us handle this! She's dangerous."

As ever, it was hard to read his expression through the mask and goggles he wore, but One seemed momentarily put off that Zack didn't appear to be interested furthering the cyborg's evolution. But he checked it as he replied to Aura. "If they wanna fight, let 'em. The faster we send Kyra packing, the better!"

"Alright," Kyra said quietly to her two partners. "Vanguard, you take the-" she glanced at her d-ban "Sealsdramon. Bishop, you tackle the Airdramon."

Vanguard nodded, her eyes narrowing. This was her chance, her chance to get back at One for hurting her tamer. "Let's get 'em," she said, voice ringing with determination.

Kyra drew and silently slashed a card, a past favorite of hers she hadn't used in awhile. Given its nature, it was best used by Vanguard, whom hadn't fought much lately.

Name: Dark Light
Number: U04
Type: Single Target
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: The user’s Digimon shoots a black beam of energy at one opponent, dealing 15 points of damage, or 30 if the user is a Virus-type. The attack can only be used by Data- or Virus-type Digimon, but while Data-types can only use it once, Virus-types can use it as many times as they wish during the battle.

Zack backed slowly away from the fight, toward the waves lapping at the beach, motioning for Tsuki to do the same. Things would get messy, and neither of the two tamers would want to get caught in the middle of it.

"Grass Cutter!"
"Dark Light!"

As one, Kyra's partners attacked, one shooting a beam of black energy, the other hurling the large star-shaped blade upon his back.

Tsuki gladly backed off, happy to be out of the way of the battle. Zack seemed to have the edge anyway, and Kyra clearly had Tsuki vastly outgunned. Luna had a slight difference of opinion though, smacking a button on Tsuki's d-ban before forcing her way back out of the girls grasp.

Tsuki sighed as her digimental streaked out and merged with her partner. The Lunamon quickly faded away, as a wiry-framed ninja took her place. Even as a Shurimon though, Luna didn't rush into the battle. For the time being, she stood guard over her tamer, ready, but not yet engaged.

One's body blurred into motion, the swirling blast of energy striking nothing but empty sand where he'd stood. Aura wasn't quite so fortunate, the shuriken slashing across her head. But as it impacted the boney exo-skull before bouncing away, the damage was minimal.

Zack quickly scanned through his cards, tired of how his battles had been gone of late. It was time to stop thinking in such a defensive mindset. On the outside it made sense to save his cards and thus his partners energy, but it often did more harm than good. It was time act, rather than just react.

As he watched, Vanguard rose into the air. In his hand, exactly the card he needed. "Icicle Lasso, power up!"

Name: Icicle Lasso
Number: C54
Type: Weapon
Duration: 3 Turns
Effect: Either the user or his/her Digimon acquires a noose made of exceptionally flexible ice like a rope, and can use it has s/he wishes.

The icy coils appeared in One's hands, and he wasted no time swinging it over his head and hurling it toward Vanguard. Wings and arms pinned to her side as the lasso tightened around her, the Stingmon dropped back to the ground. "Hell Squeeze!" She shouted, the striped antennae on her lead lengthening and wrapping themselves tightly around the arm with which One held the lasso, squeezing tighter as the cyborg tried to reel in his insectoid foe.


Catching his shuriken, Bishop took off at a run. "Catch me if you can!" he taunted, weaving back and forth as he ran a wide circle around Aura.

The younger of Zack's partners had been curious about Bishop from the moment she laid eyes on him, after all her quarrel had never been with Vanguard, but rather Kyra herself. But she realized now she was going to get acquainted the hard way, through battle.

"God Tornado!" Aura called, a split second later a torrent of flame erupted from her fanged maw. Fire played across the sand, but the agile Bishop was always running and jumping just beyond the searing heat.

"Tendril Jump!" he yelled as the attack abated, launching one of his own. He leapt into the air, legs then lancing out and spinning their blades like buzzsaws toward Aura.

Kyra's eyes settled briefly on Luna and then on Tsuki, snorting softly with a look of disdain on her face. Who was this other tamer, she wondered, the one too reluctant to do battle? She didn't look like much, but then again, Zack hadn't either, and look where that got Kyra.

With a snarl, Kyra snapped her head back toward the battle. A soft salty breeze kicked up, blowing at Kyra's long black hair as the budding dark tamer focused on how best to defeat Zack.

-----

Bishop's blades sliced painfully into Aura's side, but the Airdramon spread her red leathery wings and soared higher and higher. Altitude would be her advantage in this fight.

One snarled to himself as he felt stinging pain from Vanguard's tendrils wrapping tighter and tighter around his arm. But with his free hand, the cybernetic Sealsdramon raised his combat knife and hacked at the bindings, all while maintaining a tight grip on the lasso. Both were bound to one another, each doing their best to tighten their grip on the other while freeing themselves.

Zack glared silently at Kyra, noting the focus of the dark tamer's attention had momentarily been Tsuki. Don't you dare, Kyra. This is between us. If you go after Tsuki, I won't hold back anymore...

His eyes shifted toward Aura and Bishop, watching as Aura banked to avoid the Shurimon's latest Grass Cutter. "Bawk Bawk Bawk!" taunted the armor Digimon. "Come down and fight me!"

"Wing Cutter!" cried Aura as she circled her ninja-esque foe. A particularly hard flap of her broad batlike wings sent two swirling blades of wind toward the nimble foe down below, but one again Bishop expertly evaded.

An exasperated noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl could be heard as Zack selected another card from his deck. Moving that much will wear him down eventually, but... "Stun Blast, power up!"

Name: Stun Blast
Number: C35
Type: Single Target
Duration: 1 Turn
Effect: The user’s Digimon fires an electro-magnetic blast that stuns one opposing Digimon, preventing it from moving or attacking.

Aura's jaws opened wide, yellow energy crackling among her fangs as the attack charged. A split second later a brilliant orb of light shot out, striking Bishop and sending the Shurimon crashing to the sand.

"Now's your chance!" Zack called to the skies, and Aura didn't waste another moment. She too was glad for a chance to finally hit Bishop, his nonstop taunts and equally frequent dodging was grating on her normally lax nerves.

"Spinning Needle!" another great flap of the Airdramon's mighty wings, but rather than creating a pair of large air blades, a crescendo of smaller razor-edged air currents tumbled toward the disabled Shurimon.

"Arse," growled Kyra as Bishop's robes were slashed and torn by the air blades. But she didn't fret, her partners were both tougher than that. This was far from over, and a cunning smirk rose onto her face as she pulled a card from her deck and inspected it.

"Take this!" she cried, running the card through her d-ban. The display flashed, a shining silver arrow shooting from the screen a split second later and hurtling straight toward Aura.

Name: Rapid Arrow
Number: C28
Type: Single Target
Duration: N/A
Effect: An arrow that never misses shoots the target opponent Digimon for 20 guaranteed points of damage.

-----

Zack chewed the tip of his tongue, wincing as he heard Aura cry out. The arrow fired by Kyra pierced through the Airdramon's side, momentarily embedding itself in the scaly flesh before it broke down.

Alright... I've got an edge over Kyra, but that makes it all the better to do this. Can't keep putting it off until a "simple battle" because there isn't such a thing. I gotta think about how I'm fighting, carefully. Two versus two, but it's not that simple. Sealsdramon, Airdramon, Shurimon, Stingmon all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

One successfully hacked through Vanguard's tendrils, the Stingmon withdrawing them and bracing herself as the cyborg charged toward her at full speed. "Death behind!" bellowed the Sealsdramon, grip on his knife tightening as the blade rose into strike position. With his other hand he still held tight to lasso, ensuring Vanguard couldn't go too far.

Bishop staggered to his feet, recovering from the disabling effects of Zack's stun blast. The hit while he was down had taken a fair amount out of him, unfortunately as he expected. Worse, the pain of several slash wounds would make it hard to dodge other attacks yet to come.

Vanguard struggled to free herself from the rope binding her without success, until at the last moment she looked up and found herself face to face with One's night vision visor. Panic rose in her and the Stingmon reacted on instinct. Being a Digimon, a creature that fought constantly, that meant the instinct when she was being hurt was to fight back. "Dark Light!" she cried, a beam of black energy bursting forth from her palms toward One. At the same moment, the cyborg's knife struck, causing pain to shoot through both as the Dark Light impacted with explosive force, blasting both combatants away from each other.

In the chaos, One relinquished the lasso as he did a quick series of backflips, regaining his balance and putting some distance between him and his foe. But as the pressure on the icy binding subsided, Vanguard managed to free herself and fly back a bit as well. But like any respite during battle, it could only be a brief one.

I'm going about this all wrong Zack realized, mulling over the abilities of each of the four Digimon he'd seen in this fight. "One, Aura, switch targets!"

Kyra frowned as she heard Zack's order ring across the beach. She'd given the order she did hoping to pit the Digimon of similar relative experience levels against one another, but it seemed Zack had other ideas to try and gain the upper hand. But she didn't have long, as a split second later One rushed at Bishop, at the same moment Aura descended upon Vanguard and exhaled a stream of flame at the insectoid warrior.

Vanguard's wings buzzed, carrying her clear of the attack but barely so. Fire played across the empty beach below, torching it black and turning it slick like glass. But as her many eyes stared up at the Airdramon, the Stingmon realized she had an advantage. All of Aura's moves so far had been ranged, if she could get in close, maybe she'd have an edge.

Beneath it all, Zack felt a bit relieved, casting a quick glance at Tsuki. He'd gotten no particular chance to like her or even know her well, but wouldn't want her endangered for something she had nothing to do with. Kyra had used no end of underhanded tactics in their last duel, but so far she'd done nothing more hostile to Tsuki than glare at her. But as the cliche goes, things were just getting started. He couldn't let his guard down until the darker haired of the two female tamers nearby was gone.

-----

Kyra's frown remained, but behind those icy blue eyes, beneath that sleek curtain of black hair, her mind was hard at work. It was mere coincidence that she'd run across Zack this night, on her first return to the ocean since nearly losing Vanguard. But an opportunity had presented itself, and she'd taken it. The Shellmon had been easy enough, a quick nudge had sent it it the right direction. By no means could it have defeated Zack, but it did wear him down a bit. But the other tamer was a snag, unexpected. Her contribution against Shellmon had been minor at best, Tsuki might prove to be a weakness in Zack, to be exploited.

Bishop coiled his legs and sprang across the beach, wanting to put some distance between himself and One. But as he landed, he found the Sealsdramon already making his rapid approach, knife raising into position.

Damn it The Shurimon thought to himself. This was no good. One was larger and stronger, so he had the advantage in close quarters. But he was also almost as fast as Bishop, making it difficult at best for the armor Digimon to fight on his terms. He wasn't about to go asking for help, but he didn't need to. He felt his hands melting, shifting like hot wax. The hands grew larger, more pronounced and encasing themselves in a sleek electronic casing with three lethal claws protruding from them.

Name: Giga Claws
Number: R47
Type: Weapon
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: Replaces the affected Digimon’s hands with those of a Gigadramon, allowing use of the attacks Genocide Gear and Guilty Claw (at the user’s own power level), and boosting the power of all their existing attacks by 10%.

Bishop's masked face slipped into a crazed grin as he felt the newfound power tingling through every inch of him. At his command, his arms sprang out to the sides, carrying their new weapons along for the ride. With heavy missile launchers as opposed to sleek steel, it was a bit harder to keep the elongating limbs on track "Genocide Gear!" the claws sprang open, twin rockets leaping from with in and streaking toward One on an intercepting course.

Any witty reply from the cyborg was cut off in astonishment, at how quickly and readily Bishop had adapted to his new weapon, spreading the missile pods and catching him in a crossfire. Smoke and fire engulfed the cyborg, blast pressure slamming him backwards. The next thing he knew he was picking himself up off the sand some thirty feet back from where he'd been a moment ago. He was a little shaken, but the momentary static flickering across his visor faded and One decided he wasn't too badly damaged.

"Wing Cutter!" yelled Aura as she flew another circle high above the battlefield. Rapidly approaching from below was Vanguard. Wind ripped across her as the Stingmon shot through the narrow gap between the blades with reckless abandon, feeling the wake but avoiding the slashing force of the attack.

Despite himself, Zack felt the thrill of battle rushing through him, the adrenaline-charged blood surging through his veins with every heavy beat of his heart. He felt the momentary urge to draw on the spirit, to join the battle himself. But that was neither wise nor his personal goal in this battle. He'd need to outfox Kyra as he had last time, and keep his partners' strategies in mind. The young man's place for now was on the sidelines, keeping an eye on the battle unfolding as a whole while his partners fought on.

-----

"Scouter Monoeye!" One barked, visor clicking as it scanned over Bishop's robed form. In a blur he slid to the side, evading a guilty claw attack from the Shurimon's card-spawned arm weapons. "Death Behind!" the knife jerked forward like a cobra's strike. "Autumn Wind!" steel cut through naught but thin air and a fluttering of leaves, those leaves swirling back away from the Sealsdramon. In another flash the Shurimon returned, landing with another puff in the moonlit sand.

"This won't do at all," Kyra said to herself, right hand planted firmly on her hip. A sigh sent her bangs fluttering, the young female tamer growing irritated. It was pleasing to see Bishop fend off the attack without being hit, but it would take more than that to win. With her other hand Kyra thumbed through her deck with an almost casual ease, as though Zack's defeat was just a matter of time and finding the right sequence of moves.

Her eyes flickered toward Vanguard, a slight smile forming on her lips. She'd already used dark light, no going a bit further and expanding on that combo. Two cards were plucked from her deck and scanned through the side of her d-ban.

Name: Digi-Beetles
Number: U08
Type: Single Target
Duration: 1 Turn
Effect: Miniature insects come about to sting and bite the affected opponent, occupying their time and leaving an opening, guaranteeing one hit.

Name: Power Charger
Number: U22
Type: Single Target
Duration: One Turn
Effect: The next attack used by the affected Digimon triples in power.

"Not again!" yelped Aura as she felt thousands of tiny insects appear on her scaly hide. She tried with all her might to focus on the battle at hand, but she instinctively thrashed and snapped at her minute assailants.

"Dark Light!" Vanguard gathered another beam of twisting energy, looking like something spawned by a black light, before blasting it at the helpless dragon. The beam lanced through the sky, striking Aura before Zack could use a card to intercept the attack. The Airdramon cried out in pain, but leveled off and flew a slower circle over the battlefield as the wounds stung quite painfully.

That really hurt Aura thought to herself But I can't give up this easily. She quickly cast her eyes toward the ongoing flashes of steel blades between One and Bishop, as the two jumped and dashed across the sandy beach between the three tamers in furious combat. Time and again close calls came, but by sheer skill and luck damaging blows were always parried and dodged into minor grazes.

Zack's first instinct was to use a healing card on Aura, but he knew it was his only one. It was time to play conservative again, and save the card for latter in the battle.

Bishop and One both paused, both of them heaving as they breathed heavily. "Heh heh," chuckled Bishop. "So, give up yet?" he asked between breaths.
"Hardly, rookie," came One's grumbling reply. "Alrighty!" The Shurimon yelled, straightening up. He hadn't dared to use it before, but now that there was some distance between himself and One. "Genocide Gear!" Two missiles leapt out, orange and gray blossoming in their wake.

One knew what to expect this time, waiting a split second. Then he dove to the side, causing the missiles to streak through the position he'd just vacated. Just one problem. The rogue projectiles bore towards the tamers, their courses becoming erratic as their target was lost. The first spiraled toward Zack, the other appeared to be following suit before jerking sharply and heading toward Luna and Tsuki.

-----

((Okay, Ryuha's having some amount of difficulty replying here right now so I'll be periodically posting continuations of the duel between Zack and Kyra. Consider the "-----" to be the dividers between turns.))

Tsuki watched as the battle progressed, silently cheering for Zack and is partners, yet hoping everyone walked away unharmed. The silver-haired girl did have previous experience with tamer versus tamer battles, but that was just a friendly practice match with Lexi. This much baser attempt by two tamers and their partners to actually damage each-other was somewhat unsettling to Tsuki.

Luna meanwhile, had a much calmer outlook on the battle, being much more in tune with the way things simply were in the digital world. She wasn't crazy about it or anything, but she wasn't upset like her tamer either. In fact, she watched the exchanges closely, hoping to learn something from them. She especially kept an eye on Bishop, how the other Shurimon dealt with his opponents, and how he handled their attempt to defeat him. Even if she found his personality unpleasant, he certainly had a few tricks that a more civilized digimon could benefit from knowing.

The relative peace of the pair was suddenly shattered though, when one of Bishop's rogue missiles streaked toward them. Luna nearly rushed to escape, but stopped when she realized Tsuki would be helpless against the missile. Luna would simply have carried her tamer out of the path, but didn't have time to find a way to do so without accidently cutting the girl up with her blades. The only option that left was to stand her ground and take the attack.

Surprisingly though, she was saved by the very one she stayed still to protect. At the beckon of one of Tsuki's cards, a red and white shield affixed itself to one of her bladed hands. Without hesitation, she raised the heavy defensive implement into the missiles path. It did its job nicely, protecting both Luna and her tamer from the blast.

"We can't stay out of this one any more Luna-chan," Tsuki said with a tinge of sadness. "Aura-chan got hit hard by that last attack, I want you to go help her."

Surprised, but quite in agreement, Luna moved closer to the battle, throwing the giant blade from her back at Vanguard as she went. "Kusanagi!"

((I'm not crazy about it, but at least it's something))
------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Hope And Glory
Number: P12
Type: Weapon
Duration: Up to four turns
Effect: Your Digimon obtains a mystical shield made of red and white energy. This shield is capable of blocking any attack from an Adult-level or below and causes ten points of damage to any opponent Digimon that touches it, but upon blocking one Perfect-level attack, the shield explodes in a burst of red and white energy that causes twenty points of damage to all participants in the current battle.

The missile whirled towards Zack, the tamer's brain cycling through option after option to get him out of the mess. He decided to use an old card, in a new way, so to speak.

Name: Card Restoration
Number: U02
Type: Single Target
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: A single card used by any Tamer in the current battle may be used again, but its effect only lasts for one turn. Only one copy of this card may be used per battle.

Mimics:
Name: Sacrificial Lamb
Number: R42
Type: State
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: When used by a Light or undecided Tamer, a lamb will materialize and take any attack from a Virus- or Data-type Digimon in the user’s partner’s stead, until it is destroyed. When used by a Dark Tamer, the lamb will take their own partner’s attacks without dying, effectively preventing them from attacking their opponent.

"Card Restoration, Sacrificial Lamb, power up!"

The odd clockwork lamb appeared before Zack once more. The missile flashed brilliantly in the night as it exploded, pelting Zack with bits of metal and a tide of smoke. The lamb had once again been destroyed, but it had served its purpose.

Vanguard, hovering near the ground, was caught off guard by Luna's attack. She faintly registered the enemy Shurimon's shout, but didn't think anything of it until cold steel slashed into the back of her arm. "Tchr," she grunted angrily, deciding the fresh Digimon was a bigger threat than the wounded Airdramon. "Spiking Finish!" the spine attached to her wrist flared with violet light, extending in an energy blade several feet long as the Stingmon shot toward her opponent, jabbing her arm forward in a stabbing motion as the distance dwindled.

Aura had been relieved to see Tsuki, Luna, and Zack escape unharmed from the rogue missiles. The tiring Airdramon felt the momentary impulse to attack Bishop, the source of those missiles, but she sensed it wise to take advantage of the few moments with no one after her to catch her breath and regenerate some much-needed energy.

Bishop lanced out with his arms again, the shuriken blades traded for Gigadramon's claws. But despite his growing frustration, One wasn't above thinking yet. He shunted to the side as the springlike limbs shot passed him, and then he struck. He reached out, tightly grabbing the Shurimon's extended limbs. It was the Sealsdramon's turn to smile. "Gotcha."

"Damn it," growled Zack. "Leave Tsuki out of this!" he said under his breath, scowling. The attack had been for all intents and purposes an accident, but an accidental attack was just as deadly as a real one.
"Awww," Kyra said, watching Zack's expression, with a hand planted on her hip. "If I'd known attacking that chick 'd make you that mad, I'd have done it a long time ago. Take this!"

Name: Skull's Red Bird
Number: U26
Type: Single Target
Duration: N/A
Effect: Summons a Garudamon which will swoop down on the battlefield and strike one opponent Digimon with its Shadow Wing (Wing Blade) attack, causing thirty points of damage plus the decimal number of the user’s DEP (if a user has 1.8 DEP, the attack will cause thirty-eight points of damage; if a user has 2.3 it will cause thirty-three points of damage).

An enormous humanoid with broad brilliant red wings appeared briefly over the battlefield, fire licking at her wings as the cry "Shadow Wing!" rang through the starry night. The Garudamon faded, but the fiery projectile rose into the sky and then rolled into a dive, heading toward the tamers below. But Zack didn't give the thing a chance to pick its final target. "Driving Snow, power up!"

Name: Driving Snow
Number: U44
Type: State
Duration: N/A
Effect: Negates the effect of one of the opponent Tamer’s cards, but does not work if that card is associated with the element of ice (Snow Tornado, Icicle Lasso etc).

The effect of Kyra's card flickered and died, washing away as a fierce snowy breeze slammed into it.

This isn't good. I've got to finish this quickly before things escalate any further. Kyra no longer seemed above attacking Tsuki or Zack directly. This made the duel, already dangerous by Tsuki's standards, a whole lot worse. Now... Spirit or DigiSoul, that's the question...

Luna was certainly swift as a Shurimon, but the sheer speed of Vanguard's attack got her. She only managed to get her torso out of the path in time, and the blade shredded the leaf that hung from one of her shoulders. It was unfortunate, but not disabling, and Luna quickly attempted to stretch out her arm and smash the Stingmon with her shield.

Tsuki noted the most recent exchange of cards between Zack and Kyra with concern. The dark haired girl clearly had no objection to attacking her human opponents. All the silver haired tamer could do was hope that Zack could handle that, because her own small card collection was nowhere near up to the task.

Zack's teeth clamped together painfully, a wild aggression rising in his chest. It was that crazed feeling anyone could get when they got backed into a corner. There was no way Zack could counter or block every attack card Kyra might have in her deck, so defense wasn't much of an option. He glanced over Seuss's Madness, but then forced it back into the pocket on his harness as though the very appearance of it sickened him. To use it against Kyra it seemed flat-out wrong even if it would solve a lot of his problems. Pain throbbed in his gums as the pressure against his teeth grew. Was it so worth holding onto his ethics when they got in the way so?

But his mind shifted back to the root of it. Kyra had to be stopped before she hurt anyone. And at that, red light suddenly flared from his palm like a small explosion, his Digisoul returning. Jaw unclenching, Zack's green eyes rose to meet Kyra's, spots of red dancing on them. The frustration was gone, in its place, determination.

"She can't use her cards to attack us if she's too busy using them on the battle," Zack said softly, slamming his palms together. As the black and silver of the d-ban met the flickering crimson of the digisoul, tremendous power channeled from tamer to partner.

Bishop was able to pull free and retract his arms as One's evolution commenced, as the cyborg no longer had hands with which to grab the extended limbs. He did however have a body that could be best described as a muscular torso mounted upon tank treads, brimming with more firepower than the average military company. His flesh, steely blue, blended in with the metal plates covering parts of his body.

Aura breathed a sigh of relief as she completed another circle above the battlefield, feeling a bit better in her brief respite, but much better as a result of Zack's decision. She was pleased to see he'd chosen to remain on the sidelines, rather than evolve and subject his still-healing, frail human body to more harm.

Vanguard would have smiled had she any lips with which to do so as her blade cut into Luna's robes. But then her eyes widened as the Shurimon countered with the shield smash. Given the momentum Vanguard had carried into the attack, the technique would surely fail. Or would have, had it not been employed by a Digimon with ridiculously long arms.

The blow sent the Stingmon crashing painfully to the sand a short distance away, but she rose quickly. She'd still not had enough of One to sate her vengeance, and with his evolution too it seemed that the sooner Luna could be knocked out, and the insect got back to the real fight, the better. "Take this!" purple energy flowed from Vanguard's clawtips before the Dark Light attack was fired at Luna.

Kyra, who had been enjoying watching Zack's frustration, was left frantically trying to level the playing field between One and Bishop. The girl quickly settled on two cards, one to deal with the matter at hand, the other, hopefully, to give herself more options. Regardless, she vowed not to give up just yet as her gloved hands clenched into fists and the young tamer steeled herself for what seemed like a battle still escalating.

Name: Spiritual Ring
Number: U30
Type: Single Target
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: A golden ring appears on the affected Digimon's hand/limb, and adds 15 points of damage to all of its attacks against Virus-types.

Name: Silly Rabbit
Number: C32
Type: Single Target
Duration: N/A
Effect: A mischievous white rabbit will materialize beside the user, cross the battlefield, snatch up to three items (usually cards; must be chosen by a moderator) from the opponent, then return them to the Tamer, who can use them as his/her own until the end of the battle. The amount of items taken depends on the type of the user’s Digimon: three for Vaccine, two for Data and one for Virus. Though the rabbit is agile, it can be destroyed by one Adult-level attack, and disappears after it has delivered the stolen items.

((consider Bishop the "user's Digimon", and the card is targeting Zack))

Bishop felt deep unease as to how effective he'd be against One, but felt reassured as the tiny golden band appeared around his right arm just above Gigadramon's claws. "Genocide Gear!" shrieks split the air as the missiles launched and spiraled toward One, leaving clouds of fire and exhaust in their wake.

((I'm not going to do what Vn asked me to do just yet, this is just for the rabbit.))

From thin air appeared a rather mischievous looking hare, white-furred and floppy eared. From it's position in the air besides Kyra, it bounded at a break-kneck pace towards the male Tamer, swarming around him like a streak of white light and frisking his body for two objects. In a flash, he decided on two pieces of property to take, holding a pair of cards in it's ears as it dashed back to it's current master.

Should it make it to the dark-hearted girl in one piece, she would be able to use the following two cards as her own:

Name: Crystal Fire
Number: U03
Type: Single Target
Duration: 3 turns
Effect: Pale lilac, celestial flames appear on the target Digimon’s hands and feet. They can either be used by the user’s Digimon for an attack worth five damage points per flame, or can be set on an opponent’s Digimon to cause ten points of damage to them per turn. Either way, the flames cannot hurt the user’s Digimon.

and

Name: Neon Splasher
Number: C25
Type: Single Target
Duration: N/A
Effect: One of the user's Digimon fires a spray of energy blasts towards one opponent, causing 20 points of damage. The attack must be fired the instant the card is swiped, and has a guaranteed hit.

Luna, with her shield arm still extended, was unable to block the incoming beam with the heavy implement. Nor was she in any good position to dodge the attack. So she was struck by the beam square in the belly, and toppled over like a house of cards. She didn't stay down for long though. With her worried tamer looking on, the wiry ninja forced herself back into a standing position.

As much as Tsuki wished otherwise, she could do little to help her partner as things stood. That was when she caught sight of the furry little rabbit that robbed Zack. Even if her own cards may not have been able to save the day, Kyra's cards may be able to. Tsuki pulled out another part of her diminuitive collection and scanned it through, copying the effect of the rabbit summoning card.

Luna, hesitant to send her shield away from her again, threw her giant shuriken at the humanoid insect before her. "Kusanagi!"

-------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Recycle
Number: C29
Type: Single Target
Duration: Dependant on the card reused
Effect: The effect of one card (of the user’s choice) used by either Tamer in the previous 3 posts is reactivated (the card lasts as long as its own description states).

((Another silly rabbit already.))

((I might as well handle this one))

Another hare, twin of the first, appeared at Tsuki's side. The mammal bolted into motion, sprinting across the battlefield toward Kyra. In a flash it was on Kyra, taking several items from her pockets before bounding away again to return them to its summoner with the following:

Name: Matador Dance
Number: C56
Type: Weapon
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: Grants the user’s Digimon a 10% bonus in agility, a red cape that can be used to block or dodge one attack, and a small sword. Both items disappear as soon as they connect with the opponent, but the agility bonus lasts for the whole battle.

Name: Ice Armor
Number: U13
Type: Single Target
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: The affected Digimon acquires armor plating made of ice, which reduces all damage received by 33%, but will melt upon taking a fire-based attack or shatter after a physical strike from a Perfect-level or above.

-----

Zack jerked away as hare was set upon him, but he failed to stop the little scoundrel from taking several of his cards. Though the young man had too many to recall every last one of them, he noted with relief the more powerful/useful cards stored at the front of his deck were all accounted for.

Luna's just not skilled enough to fight Vanguard on her own, it looks like. Aura's still hurting, but at least Vanguard is leaving her alone. And the only healing card I have is miracle ruby, I used that too early last time-. He quickly withdrew his deck from the pocket on his harness, hastily flipping through until he found the one he'd suddenly thought of. He wasn't sure why he'd forgotten he'd used it before. Not much, but it's better than nothing.

"Mend, power up!" as the card was scanned, a soft yellow glow enveloped Aura. With a feeling like pleasantly warm water pouring over her body, some of the Airdramon's wounds began to close. With it came relief, and she knew that her brief rest and the healing effect would allow her to rejoin the battle shortly.

Name: Mend
Number: C23
Type: Single Target
Duration: N/A
Effect: Heals 10% of the affected Digimon’s health.

Bishop's missiles spiraled toward their target, exploding in twin columns of sand, smoke, and fire nearly on top of One. But a dark chuckle from within the mixed curtain of black smoke and dusty sand made it clear that the blow hadn't had much impact.

"That all you've got?" the Tankdramon said with an intimidating, fanged grin. "Blast Gatling!" The twin chainguns on his torso thundered to life, luminous yellow tracers dancing across the night.

Zack winced slightly as the gunfire pounded in his ears. All the stuff I bought and I didn't think about a pair of earplugs... But he had to admire One's toughness, even with several damage-amplifying cards at Bishop's disposal he'd barely scratched One's thick armor. Satisfied with how that particular facet of the fight was going, he cast his cool green eyes back toward where Luna and Vanguard were locked in fierce battle.

They seemed evenly matched for now, but as before he simply suspected the allied Shurimon would not be able to hold up forever against the Stingmon.

-----

Kyra snatched the two cards from the air as they were dropped by the vanishing rabbit, masking a frown. The first of the stolen cards was a duplicate of one she already possessed, the other just a run of the mill modifier and not particularly useful. "Figures that I'd end up with useless cards from him," she said, a bitter smile pulling at her lips. She'd been hoping for one of the better cards she knew he had, like the Longshot he'd used to defeat her last time.

At that moment, another rabbit appeared, this one setting its sights upon Kyra. As the little thief closed in, Kyra aimed a vicious kick at it, but the black and red hightop hit nothing and the hare completed its mission unharmed.

Kyra crossed her arms and frowned, it wasn't bad enough that Zack still had her outmatched, but Tsuki had joined the fight as well. It seemed luck had been on her side when she'd come across the enemy tamer wandering through the night, but it seemed he was outwitting her once again. This only intensified her hatred, it was bad enough to lose once, but twice in a row to the same person? There was no card clearly labeled "I win,", nor did her partners have the energy for many more to begin with. Had the budding dark tamer not used black gears to force the Shellmon to do her bidding, she might be able to use it on Luna, but that wasn't an option now.

Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes for a moment, tuning out the gunfire, shouts, and countless other noises of the battle. They were irrelevant as her eyes flickered back open and began analyzing every last little detail for a potential edge. Such focus wasn't usually necessary, but such a brief hyper-attentiveness technique had saved victory for her on several past occassions when things looked grim

Bishop's legs extended, shooting the Shurimon into the air and thus clear of One's gunfire. Deciding against attacking for now, the Shurimon landed at Kyra's side, breathing heavily.

Had she been airborne, Vanguard could have easily evaded Luna's shuriken. But with her feet planted on the ground and no time to take flight, she was forced to take a painful slash through her left shoulder. Stamina dwindled and injuries mounted, but Vanguard would not give up. She opted to follow Bishop's example, regrouping with their tamer.

"Gotta stop them," she muttered, voice only carrying to Kyra and Bishop. "There's gotta be a way. But how?"
Bishop too seemed grim, breathing heavily from both a moderate card drain and his frantic efforts to deal with a superior opponent. For once, he seemed at a loss for words, something that would have troubled both his companions had their minds not been preoccupied.

Kyra came to a simple, if grim conclusion. In a fight between her team and that of her foe's, she'd lose almost every time. But it was just as well Kyra didn't play by the rules, because that's exactly the kind of mindset needed. Not only did it have a way of getting things done, but it also threw opponents off-guard.

Motioning to her partners, the young tamer waited for them to lean a bit closer and then outlined her plan in a whisper. They nodded when she was finished, each trusting in her judgement. In effecting Kyra's plan, but a single card was slipped through the d-ban's reader.

Name: Ryuha’s Ruthlessness
Number: P38
Type: Single Target OR Weapon
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: User can choose from two options: either a Digimon from the Deep Savers family can evolve to its next form (regardless of DEP, with or without a Crest/Blue Card/Digisoul), or your Digimon obtains a weapon (of your choice) forged of unbreakable, unmeltable ice. Whatever shape it takes, this weapon can be handed over an ally (including a Tamer) at any time, and deal an amount of damage equal to double your Digimon’s regular power level – and if it is a traditional Japanese weapon, the holder gains ninja-like, almost supernatural agility. It must, however, be an actual Japanese weapon – ask a moderator to verify it for you.

Blue light glimmered in Vanguard's hands as ice wove itself into the form of a long staff tipped in a katana-like edge, an ancient Naginata. But as per her tamer's directions, the icy weapon was quickly tossed to the dark-haired youth. Catching it deftly, the girl jerked her head toward their foes.

Vanguard's wings pounded the air with a droning buzz, shooting her skyward like a cannonball. "Spiking Finish!" violet light flared again from her wrist spike as it elongated, the Stingmon hurtling towards Aura's position above the battlefield.

Bishop leaned forward, using his springlike legs to launch with equal haste towards One. His two clawed arms lanced out, the left lancing toward the Tankdramon, the other poorly-aimed or directed elsewhere entirely. But about the time the attacking claw was due to make contact, the other impacted a large boulder a bit further up the beach. Latching on, the Shurimon jerked himself mid-jump along a new trajectory some 45 degrees of his initial path, aiming to exploit his single biggest advantage over One - agility.

Kyra's right hand curled slowly into a fist, the other already tightly gripping the handle of her naginata. The icy glint in her eyes had intensified, becoming that frozen terror. Determination, but not just that. Determination to strike her foes, determination to watch them suffer, determination to end them once and for all.

Luna gladly hunched down to catch her breath. The intensity of the battle wasn't anything she couldn't handle, but it still didn't hurt to take advantage of a moment of peace. The fact that the enemy was pulling back for a moment couldn't have been all good, as it likely meant they were coming up with a plan to counter their sizable disadvantage. The Shurimon fixed her eyes on the small meeting, waiting to see how they sprang into action.

The things that caught Tsuki's eyes meanwhile, was Zack's choice to heal Aura. The silver-haired girl almost slapped herself for not helping out with that herself. She had a healing card herself, and it constituted an excellent way to help out in the tense battle. So, in hope of preventing further strain on the energy of Zack and his partners, she used another card from her minute collection on the Airdramon.

It was just after this scan dug another notch out of Luna's energy, that the armor digimon noticed the enemy's latest offensive. The clever tactics directed toward Zack's partners were flashy and attention getting, but the real cause for concern lied in Kyra. The deadly armament in her hands, and the deadlier look in her eyes warranted Luna's full attention, at least for the moment.

-------------------------------------------------
Name: Angewomon's Gift
Number: U01
Type: Single Target
Duration: Remainder of the battle
Effect: Increases the affected Digimon’s endurance by 50%, and restores 50% of their health.