[01 OOM] SkullGreymon.

It happens before any of them are really sure of what’s happening. Greymon is lying beaten, Taichi is yelling for him to evolve, Garurumon and Birdramon are fending off one of Etemon’s soldiers and then -- …

Taichi’s Crest glows. For a moment, it flares up like an orange flame, and then, as if rotting from the inside out, it turns black.

Yamato feels the inescapable sense of wrongness as the sky darkens; sees a wave of psychedelic, oily colours spread outwards and then turn to lines of fire that curl in on Greymon; and then watches as Greymon shifts and grows, the light forming the shape of a gaping maw lined with teeth.

When the light fades and the sun begins to shine again, what’s left behind looks like no Digimon Yamato’s ever seen. It’s a dinosaur or a dragon, but its bones are bare and white, as if the flesh had melted off them.

This can’t be Agumon’s Perfect form, right?

But, as Tentomon explains a moment later, it is: It’s called SkullGreymon, a Perfect-level Undead Digimon, the result of a corrupted evolution.

Etemon’s soldier tries to flee, and the skeletal beast follows, knocking him towards the massive television and then obliterating both in a single blast.

Then, one by one, he knocks down Birdramon, then Kabuterimon, then Garurumon, with long, lazy sweeps of his arms. They don’t get up.

With a scream that shakes the ground and sends chills through Yamato’s bones, the beast crashes through the walls of the coliseum and runs out into the desert, sprinting until his energy runs out and he glows, shrinking back down to Koromon.

[01 OOM] The chicken, the insect, and the pixie.

There is an unspoken agreement that they should never speak of the incident with the desert cruise ship, the cactus, and Cockatrimon again.

It is a good decision, a wise decision: Yamato feels content knowing that he will never have to utter the words ‘boat captain chicken Medusa’ to another living person.

It also means they don’t have to talk about Gennai’s message.

(“The Crests are yours, whether you want them or not.”)

---

Before long, Taichi isn't the only one with a Crest. Jyou finds his, silver and marked with the symbol of a cross, in the same coliseum that SkullGreymon appeared. Mimi finds hers, green and marked with a teardrop, in a giant and flowering cactus.

(It's a shame that they can never speak of the events that led to her finding it.)

It fills the group with something like uneasiness. SkullGreymon is fresh in their minds, a constant reminder of how dangerous the Crests are.

---

They meet another of Etemon’s soldiers at some kind of car graveyard. As a small mercy, Cyclomon doesn’t try to lure them onto a cruise, or perform a pop concert, or sing a festive song -- he just tries to kill them with laser beams.

Yamato prefers this. He hadn’t thought he’d ever reach the day where out-and-out murder attempts are his preference, but he’s honestly exhausted with having brief moments of safety and security snatched away from him.

Five of them battle Cyclomon. When they’re done, Gabumon gives Taichi a level glance, and then keeps walking without saying anything.

---

It isn’t long until another soldier appears. This one is a Kuwagamon -- and this time, the only ones near it are Taichi and Agumon. Yamato does the calculations in his head and realises that even if Gabumon evolved into Garurumon, they’d never make it there in time.

But Agumon doesn’t evolve. Even when Gabumon yells at him to, he just stands and spits fireballs at Kuwagamon, unable to evolve unless Taichi allows it.

There’s a split second where Yamato genuinely thinks they’re going to die.

Then Piccolomon appears.

He's tiny, smaller than even Patamon, with big black eyes and pink fur -- But Tentomon identifies him as being a Perfect level, the same as Etemon or SkullGreymon.

He blows Kuwagamon away in a second, and almost immediately launches into a shrill, piercing rant about how they all need training, how they’re unfit to be the Chosen Children as they are now, and how he will teach them.

As Piccolomon strides off, bidding them to follow, they stop for a group huddle.

“Can we even trust this guy?” Jyou asks.

“What’s your impression of him, Gabumon?” Yamato adds.

“He nags a lot, but I don’t think he’s a bad Digimon,” Gabumon says, after a moment of thought.

“He didn’t look like he had a Black Gear or a cable, either,” Palmon says.

“Why not do what he says?” Sora says. “We can think of it like a training camp. It’ll be fun.”

“It might be more relaxing than walking around,” Mimi says.

Yamato glances over at Taichi. Usually he’d be the first one in with an opinion, but he’s been weirdly quiet throughout the conversation. “What do you think, Taichi?”

“Let’s go,” Taichi says, maybe a little too quickly. “It sounds interesting.”

That decides that, so with Piccolomon yelling at them to hurry up, they disperse and start jogging across the desert after him.