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Silver: In this one shot, it's Maliha's 21st birthday...but the thing is...she's hard to surprise. Can the gang pull it off? And will a rampaging digimon interrupt the festivities permanently?

(This story's dedicated to Maliha, whose birthday is August 12th, and Renaki does not own Natsuke1985's Fursona, Natsuke)

1. (Maliha's Birthday Surprise)

ooo Maliha's POV ooo

It was the morning of August 11th. Tayla and I were getting ready to train in the forest outside Foxwood Village.

"All right, Maliha; let's see if you can show me the things you learned from the last time we sparred together." Tayla said, facing me.

"The only thing I remember is me losing to you...but, that won't happen this time..." I finished with a smirk.

"Oh...we'll see about that..." And with that, we lunged at each other. "DIAMOND STORM!" Tayla launched her attack at me, but I easily flipped out of the way.

'It's gonna take more than that...' I thought before used a straight-hand punch on her. It connected however; she was able to stand her ground.

"Not bad, but let's see if you can handle this..." she then used a tornado kick on me, which connected in my chest. This lasted for 10 minutes with us blocking each other's moves. I then dodged another of Tayla's side kicks with an Aerial Handstand.

"WISTERIA PUNCH!" I then launched my attack at her, and it connected in her side. She used her tail to balance herself.

"I must admit, Maliha, you've gotten better since last time..." Tayla then closed her eyes and conjured her wakizashi sword and pointed it towards me. "But...I think it's time we ended this battle."

"Ahh, now I see...you want make things interesting, then..." I then conjured my katana sword. "Alright, let's do this!" we then charged at each other for the last time.

And here's how it went:

CLASH...SLASH...BLOCK...BLOCK...CLASH! This bout lasted even longer than usual as the two of us had proven to be worthy opponents to each other. I then blocked again with my sword as Tayla clashed with hers.

SLASH...BLOCK...CLASH...BLOCK...BLOCK! Just then, Tayla caught me by surprise with a swift jump kick to my left side, but luckily I was able to block just before it connected; we snarled, trying to push the other's sword back. Then without warning, I swiftly used my sword to slice hers out of her hand, and then the sword fell blade first into the ground.

I smirked. "It looks like I won this round, Tay..." She stared at me in disbelief, and then smiled.

"I'm very impressed. All of your training's definitely going to pay off in the end."

"Thanks; but I think that's enough for one day." I tucked my sword back into its sheath as Tayla pulled hers from the ground and did the same. She then looked up at the sun, using it to tell time.

"We'd better head back to the village, Maliha...Maliha?" but by the time she realized it, I was way ahead of her.

"Hey! Hurry it up, slowpoke!" I called out, waving to her. She smirked and ran up to me.

"No fair! You had a head start!" we then raced each other out of the forest.

ooo Tayla's POV ooo

Later that day, Maliha and I were taking our daily walk through town. Along the way, we talked about different battle tactics that could help us during our training and when defeating evil digimon. We soon arrived at our favorite coffee shop, the Lotus Blossom. It had a ruby rooftop, like all the other shops in the village, except it had a picture of a large coffee cup and a lotus blossom nailed to the front.

It had this nice pink and white theme; the sunlight glimmered through the windows, its light reflecting off the ivory colored chairs. As we took our seats in one of the booths, another Renamon with sky blue fur and dark blue markings and armguards came over to us; she was one of the waitresses.

She bowed to us politely. "Maliha, Tayla; it's good to see you again. What can I get you today?"

We smiled at her. "Same to you, Keisha. Just our usual, thanks." She nodded.

"Coming right up." She then closed her eyes and conjured our drinks, a mocha latte and a cappuccino. "There you go, girls." She bowed to us again before going back to the counter.

We both took a sip of our coffee, greatly enjoying the taste. Maliha stopped and looked at me in thought. "So Tayla, do you have anything special planned?"

I blinked in confusion. "Hmm...what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, like you don't know who was born 21 years ago tomorrow..." she smirked and winked at me. It then dawned on me what she was trying to do. I sighed, shaking my head.

"Maliha...you do this every year..."

She giggled. "What? I was just making sure you didn't forget..."

"We grew up together...you should know me better than that by now." I chuckled to myself before taking another sip of my cappuccino. 'Of course I know I have to keep quiet about it...' I thought to myself; little did Maliha know, I was indeed planning a party for her. It would be risky, however as she is hard to surprise on her birthday; fortunately, I enlisted some help weeks in advance...

After we left the coffee shop, I told Maliha I had important business to take care of and we parted ways. In reality, I was meeting the gang at Silver's cottage.

Most of the gang was talking to Silver's sisters, Ayame, Sasami, Sarabi and Lyoko, while Lisa was playing with their baby sister, Diamond. Sasami turned her head and saw me. "Hey guys, Tay's here."

"Tayla; how's it going?" Lisa asked. I smiled slightly.

"Alright; I just hope Maliha doesn't catch on to what I'm really doing..." Taka smirked.

"Hey, that's why we're here...we'll make sure Maliha's distracted long enough until it's time." Mike turned to him.

"Uh, Taka...I think it's only gonna take a few of us to distract her...Tayla's going to need some of us to get everything ready."

His ears perked up. "Oh yeah..." Luna giggled softly to herself.

I sat down as everyone else gathered around me. "Alright, so how are the plans coming along?"

"Luna and I have the all of the decorations hidden at our house." Edwardia smiled.

"We've already checked on the birthday cake, and the rest of the food. And it'll all be ready in time." Sarabi replied.

"Mother and Father have already gotten in touch with Sensei and he's contacting all of Maliha's friends that are outside the area as we speak." Ayame said.

"And we've let the surprise guest in on the party, and he'll be here first thing tomorrow morning..." Silver said. Lisa looked at her, confused.

"A surprise guest?" she asked.

"Someone she hasn't seen in quite a while; and it's one of your online friends you've yet to meet...that's the only thing I'll tell you..." she playfully stuck her tongue out at her.

Lisa blinked. 'Why is she so secretive all of a sudden...?' she pondered. Diamond, who was once in her arms leapt up and nuzzled her, cooing softly; she smiled warmly at the little Reremon.

I nodded. "Well, the only thing that's left to do is getting the rest of the invitations out without running into Maliha...and that might be a problem if we do it during the day; we could run into her at anytime..."

"We could always get them out tonight when she's asleep..." Lyoko chimed in. The rest of us looked at her, smiling.

"You know...you're getting smarter by the day..." Sasami grinned. Lyoko playfully pounced on her.

"Hey; aren't I always?" Suddenly someone phased into the house behind us; we whirled around, but to our relief, it was only Mohatu and Imani, Silver's parents.

Silver sighed in relief. "Thank goodness it was just you; we thought it was Maliha..."

"We're sorry if we startled everyone...we would've went in through the door, but Mohatu lost the key to the house again..."

Mohatu sighed. "Please don't start this again, Imani...I told you I've been busy at work, and have had a lot of other things on my mind..." he finished, blushing slightly at her.

"Don't we all..." Taka muttered under his breath. Mike elbowed him, noticing the seductive smirk on his face. "Ow...what was that for?"

"I think you already know..." Mike groaned as the rest of the gang sweatdropped.

That evening, after Maliha went to bed, I snuck out of the house and then, along with everyone else, delivered the invitations as planned. However, when I returned home hours later, she was sitting in one of the chairs in the den.

"Maliha...I-I thought you were asleep..." I said, trying my best not to stutter.

"I was, but I got a glass of water...are you keeping something from me, Tay?" she looked at me with a broad smirk on her face. My mind was racing at that moment, as I was trying to think of the right thing to say without making her suspicious.

Finally, I regained my normal composure. "No; I only went over to the Dojo to help Sensei with some important business...it took a bit longer than expected..." the look on her face changed to one of understanding.

She nodded slightly. "I see...well you'd better get some sleep then." I smiled.

"The same goes for you, too; you don't want to be tired for tomorrow..." she got up then followed me to the bedroom. 'Damn, that was close...I have to be more careful.' I thought getting into bed, knowing that the next day would definitely be a challenge...

ooo Maliha's POV ooo

Finally it was August 12th, my birthday. I awoke early that morning and got into my normal routine, after which, I made my way to the den, full of high spirits for the day ahead, even humming a small tune to myself.

When I got to the den, I noticed Tayla wasn't there as usual, but a large brown box was next to the doorway. 'Hmm...I wonder who that could be for...as if I didn't know...' I smirked to myself. However, before I could check out what was inside, Tayla phased in front of me.

"Maliha, you're awake." I smiled.

"Yeah..." I then looked at the box. "Is that for me?"

She shook her head. "Actually...that's something I've been looking after for Keisha. She wanted me to deliver it to the coffee shop today..."

"I can help you with that-." she cut me off, quickly picking up the box.

"No, no; that's alright. Besides I've got a lot of other things to do today, anyway...but thanks for the offer though..." she finished, her tail twitching slightly.

"Oh, alright...but isn't there something you want to say before you go?"

She then looked over at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Aw, damn it; I'm late! Sorry Maliha, I've gotta go; bye!" and with that, she rushed out the door. I lowered my ears, blinking in confusion.

"Ok...that wasn't quite what I meant..." I sighed as I also headed out the door and into the backyard. (That's where I do my solo training) 'She's been acting strange lately...I wonder if something's up...'

ooo Tayla's POV ooo

Meanwhile, I was heading out of the village, the box still in hand. I was about to meet the surprise guest (Silver was supposed to pick him up at his home, then take him through a portal at the forest entrance).

'I hope they can forgive me for being late...' I thought to myself; at that moment the portal appeared a small distance in front of me, and he and Silver stepped out. He had brown fur covering his body, with the exception of his black hair. He was wearing a blue shirt and black jeans, and around his neck was a yin-yang necklace, similar to Maliha's. Lastly, he had pointed ears on the sides of his head and a long tail flowing behind him.

I grinned. "Natsuke, I'm glad you could make it." He removed his sunglasses, revealing his brown eyes and smiled.

"Hey, it's no problem; besides, I'd never miss out on Maliha's birthday."

"Well, she'll be happy to see you; and Lisa will be, too."

"Where are they? Are they in the village?"

"Yeah, and the rest of the gang's here, too; they're going to help us." Silver replied.

"What are we waiting for, then?" he said, and we lead him through the forest path and to the village gate.

"And over there is the Kitsu Samurai Dojo; where all of the Renamon and Ronomon learn the techniques of the martial arts under Sensei MageRonomon." Silver and I were showing Natsuke all of our favorite places in the village.

"I've got to admit, you two; you've really got a good thing here."

"We're glad you're impressed, Natsuke. Of course there's still one more place we have to show you..." After about 5 more minutes of walking, we finally made it to that very place. It was a large Chinese-style castle in the middle of the town square. It had a sapphire rooftop like the cottages in the village, but its walls were made of pure crystal that shown radiantly in the sunlight. He looked at the castle in awe.

"Wow...what is this place?"

I smiled. "This is the home of the Empress of Foxwood, Lady Sakuyamon. She allowed us to have Maliha's party here, since it'll be the place she'll least expect it."

Natsuke looked at me, confused. "Lady Sakuyamon?" Silver nodded.

"Yeah. She's a very kind ruler that wouldn't harm anyone unless she felt the village is being threatened. So you have nothing to worry about." She reassured him as we went inside.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang was waiting in the grand ballroom, which was only a few feet short of the entrance.

"I wonder where Silver and Tayla are...?" Lisa pondered. Edwardia shrugged.

"Silver said they wouldn't take long, so I'm sure they're on their way..." Just then we walked through the doorway.

"We're back." Silver smiled. Lisa walked over to them.

"Hey, you guys; how's it-." She gasped in surprise when she saw him. "Oh, my god; Natsuke, is that you?" he grinned.

"Yep, in the flesh...or should I say fur..." The twosome then embraced each other.

"I can't believe it; it's good to finally see you." He chuckled to himself.

"Trust me, I feel the same way." After things had calmed down, everyone else introduced themselves. "It's great to meet you guys; Lisa's told me a lot about you." Taka then came forward.

"All right, now that we've got the intros out of the way, let's get started." Ayame smiled.

"Yeah, it'll be party time before we know it." As they got out the decorations, I went over to Mohatu and whispered in his ear. He nodded.

"Sure, that's no problem at all." I smiled. "Thank you." He then took the box and went out the back door.

"Tayla! Are you coming or what?" Sarabi called out. I then joined the others.

ooo Maliha's POV ooo

Five hours later, I decided to end my training and went into town. Looking around, I noticed all of the other Renamon and Ronomon were much busier than usual. Then I saw two of my friends coming out of the Dreamboat Jewelry store. The rooftop was ruby like the other stores, except it had a picture of a large diamond nailed to the front.

One of them was a Ronomon with white fur and purple markings, and the other was a Renamon with pink fur and red markings. The markings resembled the shape of a heart. I called out to them. "Kopa! Rose!"

They turned around and saw me. 'Uh-oh; it's Maliha!' Kopa said mentally.

'Hide the presents, quick!' Rose hid the bags behind her back and they were gone in a flash. I went over to them. "Hi guys."

"Oh, Maliha; we didn't see you there..." Rose smiled. I realized their smiles were forced ones. I cocked my head.

"Um...is something wrong?" Kopa shook his head.

"No; why would you say that?" they laughed nervously. "Um...I just wanted to ask if you'd like to go out to lunch with me or something..."

"Sorry, we can't today..."

"Yeah; we have to um, go over to our grandmother's house. She, uh, wants us to do something for her..." Kopa finished for her. I nodded slightly.

"Oh...well, maybe some other time..."

"Yeah; see ya later." And with that, they phased out of the area.

"Well, scratch that plan off the list..." I muttered to myself. I then saw a few of my other friends near the Sunny Patches flower shop. This one had a picture of a bouquet of roses nailed to the front, and many flowers of all different varieties and colors were outside and inside the shop.

All three of these friends were Renamon, with orange fur and blue markings and armguards. They all were sisters, and there names were, Sandy, Stacy, and Jenny.

Jenny looked up and went over to me. "Hey, Maliha. Hap-!" but before she could get another word out, Stacy and Sandy instantly ran over and pulled her aside, Sandy covering her mouth with her paw. Jenny frantically tried to break free of their grasp, but they wouldn't let go.

"Shh! You idiot!" Stacy growled through her teeth, trying to calm her sister down.

"Ix-nay on the irthday-bay." Sandy hissed. The two of them gave her puzzled looks.

Stacy blinked. "Say wha-?"

'Ok, even I know that sounded dumb...' Jenny smirked mentally.

Sandy groaned and slapped herself, sliding her paw down her face. "Oy vey...am I the only sane one in this family?"

"Um...is everything ok over there?" I asked, concerned. They instantly stopped what they were doing.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" they said together, blushing. I quickly shook my head, dismissing the thought. "Anyway...I just wanted to see if you guys wanted to do something together today..." I trailed off as they looked around, their ears twitching slightly.

"Ok, dad; we're coming..." they turned back to me. "Sorry, Maliha; we can't today, our dad's calling us to go home now...bye!" Sandy and Stacy darted off with Jenny still in their arms, a cloud of dust now behind them.

A slight breeze blew as I lowered my head, crestfallen once again... "Man, I know those three are weird, but that definitely takes the cake...!" I slowly continued walking through town, now with a puzzling thought in my mind. 'Have all of my friends just forgotten about my birthday...?'

ooo Tayla's POV ooo

Back at the palace, most of Maliha's friends from the outside areas had arrived and were helping us decorate the ballroom; even some of the Biyomon and Hawkmon from the forest were hanging large purple streamers on the ceiling.

Natsuke was putting the finishing touches on a banner, while Mike was playing different music collections everyone had brought. (He and Taka were going to be the unofficial DJs for the party). Taka meanwhile was doing a sound check on the equipment. He leapt up to the stage where the DJ usually does his work.

He grabbed a microphone with his tail, tapped it with one of his claws, and spoke into it. "Testing, testing, 1, 2-" SCREECH! The sudden feedback came surging through the loudspeakers, catching everyone off guard. Taka jumped back, dropping the microphone, causing more feedback to come through.

Everyone covered their ears and glared at him angrily. "TAKA!"

He lowered his ears and blushed furiously. "Heh, heh...my bad..." he quietly slinked off the stage. At that moment, Lady Sakuyamon walked through the doors.

"Is everything alright in here? I heard a loud noise, so I came to check on everyone..."

"Its fine, thy Empress, except someone couldn't resist killing everyone's eardrums..." I glared at Taka again and he scowled.

"What! I said I was sorry..." he mumbled to himself as he went back to Mike. She shook her head, laughing softly.

"I'm just glad everyone's doing well." She then turned to her right and saw Natsuke. "So...that's the surprise guest I've been hearing so much about?"

"Yes; his name is Natsuke and he's Maliha's closest friend."

"I see; well, I'll have to welcome him personally tonight at the celebration."

I nodded. "Yes, and thank you once again for letting us have it here." She smiled.

"It was no trouble; after all, you, Maliha and Silver are three very important citizens in Foxwood Village." I blushed a bit.

"Thank you for the compliment, thy Empress. I can only hope Maliha hasn't found out about the party..."

"Don't worry about that...I'm sure she hasn't yet. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my quarters." I bowed to her before she left the room; not soon after, Stacy, Sandy, Jenny, Kopa and Rose all came in.

"Tayla!" I looked over to them. "Guys; what's wrong?" they ran over to me, panting slightly.

"We just saw Maliha in the middle of town..." Kopa said.

"What! Is she headed this way?"

"We're not sure...Jenny almost spilled the beans, though..." Sandy and Stacy glared at her as Kopa and Rose gaped.

I gasped. "Jenny!" she looked at them annoyed.

"What? I did not!"

"Yes, you did...fortunately we were able to shut her big mouth before anything got out..." I growled.

"Damn it all; when will you learn to keep some things a secret?" I went over to the gang and got their attention.

"So you need a few of us to keep an eye on her?" Lisa asked. I nodded.

"I could do it if you want me to..." Natsuke trailed off.

"No, it'd be too risky...if she saw you now; the surprise would be ruined..."

Luna stepped forward. "Edwardia and I can make sure she doesn't come by here."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want your efforts to surprise Maliha go to waste..." I smiled.

"Alright then...you be sure to tell me if you see her; that way we could stop what we're doing immediately."

"Right." And with that, they quickly left the palace. 'I just hope they aren't too late...' I thought worriedly.

ooo Luna's POV ooo

We headed to the area Maliha was last seen, but she wasn't around. So we decided to go through town to see if any of the other citizens had seen her. We finally got a clue to where she was from Sensei MageRonomon (she was last spotted inside the Lotus Blossom coffee shop).

We peered in the windows and saw her taking a seat at the counter. Edwardia turned to me. "There she is; you remember what to do, Luna?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I've got everything under control." I then snuck through the door; on all fours, snuck inside, and into the double doors leading to the kitchen. I knew just the one who could help us with our dilemma.

Keisha listened closely to what I had to say. She nodded. "Don't worry, you can count on me."

I smiled. "Thanks; you have no idea what this means to us." I then snuck back out the door and Keisha went back to the counter.

ooo Maliha's POV ooo

I sighed heavily. 'I just can't figure it out...why are all of my friends avoiding me today of all days? Even Tayla and she's supposed to be my best friend...' then Keisha went over to me.

"Hi, Maliha; what can I get you?" I looked up at her sadly.

"The usual...but make it a double..." she looked at me, concerned.

"Uh-oh...the only time you ever make it a double is if you've had a bad day..." she then conjured my drink and placed it in front of me. "Do you want to talk about it?"

After telling her what I had to say, she nodded in reply. "Well, I think I might have something to cheer you up..." I looked up at her.

"What is it?" she then handed me a piece of paper. "Someone handed this to me earlier; they didn't say their name, though...they want to meet you."

I took the note and read it to myself. I then smiled, knowing what I had to do. "Keisha, I'll see you later, ok?" she grinned.

"Alright; see ya." I then headed out the door.

The note said the mystery person wanted to meet me outside the forest; but as soon as I made it there, they were nowhere to be found. "Hmm...they must be being fashionably late." I thought aloud. I then found a comfortable spot under one of the trees, took a sip of my coffee, and waited...

It was now sunset and no one had shown up...I was feeling very frustrated by the time. "Man...what is taking them so long? If this is some idea of a sick joke, I'm so not laughing..." I then figured they weren't showing up and decided to head back to the village.

However, to my confusion I didn't see a single soul anywhere around. 'That's odd...where is everyone...?'

As I continued through town, I saw a mysterious figure standing in front of Lady Sakuyamon's palace. He wore a black cloak and the hood was covering his face, so I couldn't tell who he was. And before I could find out, he spotted me and ran inside. Without another thought, I quickly approached the castle.

There wasn't any evidence of anyone, not even Lady Sakuyamon; I then saw the door to the grand ballroom close. Cautiously, I stepped inside.

It was eerily quiet as I walked, with the exception of my footsteps echoing in the darkness.

"Hello? Is anybody in here?" my tail twitched nervously as I thought I heard hushed voices behind me. "What the-?" my mind raced the entire time; I turned around when the lights suddenly flashed on, and gasped at what I saw.

Streamers, confetti, and balloons exploded from the ceiling as digimon and humans jumped out from nowhere and everywhere, all of them screaming "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALIHA!"

My eyes widened and my jaw fell to the floor as I looked around in shock. Everyone in Foxwood was there, including many of my friends I hadn't seen since I graduated from the Dojo. The entire ballroom was decorated and there were buffet tables filled with Chinese and Japanese foods; there was even a giant birthday cake. And no party would be complete without a DJ to play music.

It took me a few seconds before I was able to speak. "Wh...what? Who did all this?"

"Who do you think?" Tayla and the gang stepped forward; she and Silver came over and placed a tiara on my head and a purple cloak on my back. I looked at her. "Tay? How did-?"

"Hey; I couldn't have done it without the gang..." she smirked. "And a certain other someone..." I blinked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"She means me..." The large crowd then made room for the mystery person to come through. When he was in front of me, he whipped off his cloak revealing... "Natsuke!"

He smiled. "It's me, alright." I embraced him lovingly, as he blushed. "I can't believe this...how'd you get here?"

"You can thank Silver for that one; besides, I know you'd beat me to a pulp if I ever missed your birthday..."

I smirked and playfully elbowed him. "Got that right." Everyone laughed when that was said.

Mike and Taka went up to the DJ stand and Mike grabbed a microphone. "Ok, enough with this mushy stuff...LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Taka started the music, and with that, everyone went straight to the dance floor.

After about an hour, most of the guests began helping themselves to the food; meanwhile I was with the gang and most of the presents had been passed around.

Kopa and Rose came forward. "Here, Maliha, sorry if we made you feel bad earlier." They handed me their gifts: a gold bracelet with a silver yin-yang pendant attached, and a matching ring.

"Thank you." I smiled. Sandy, Jenny and Stacy came after them, carrying a medium-sized bouquet of roses.

"We heard that you liked roses, so we decided to get you some." Jenny said. I chuckled to myself. "Thanks, Jenny."

Finally Natsuke came forward, took my paw, and whispered in my ear. "I hope you don't mind, but I want to give you my gift later on tonight at your place, alright?" he winked at me.

I blushed lightly. "Ok..."

"Hey, you do know Maliha and I live together, right Natsuke?" Tayla said, folding her arms. Natsuke turned around and laughed nervously.

"Heh...of course, Tayla...I was just saying-." She smirked.

"It's all right; I knew what you meant." The rest of the gang snickered, knowing what that meant.

ooo Natsuke's POV ooo

Everyone continued to enjoy themselves at the party; a little while later, all of the Tamer's D-Powers started going off. "Huh?" Lisa unclipped hers to take a look. "Uh-oh..."

I looked at her. "What's up?"

"Trouble, that's what." The rest of the gang ran over to us. Static electricity began to flow through Taka's tuft of fur.

"Yeah; and from what I'm feelin' it's a strong one..."

"Well, let's go!" and with that, we quickly left the ballroom. On the way out, we ran into Lady Sakuyamon, who had a look of concern on her face.

"Your highness, there's an evil digimon outside Foxwood Village." Mike told her.

"I know; and as my strongest warriors, you already know I want you to be careful as well..." we all nodded and bowed to her.

"Don't worry, thy Empress; we'll make sure no evil passes through." Tayla said before we rushed out the door. All of the digimon were engulfed in cocoons of data as they quickly began to digivolve.

"Taka digivolve to..."

"Luna digivolve to..."

"Maliha digivolve to..."

"Tayla digivolve to..."

"Silver digivolve to..." All of their data was reformatted as their cocoons finally broke away as fast as they appeared.

"LIOMON!"

"ANGEWOMON!"

"KUBIMON!"

"TAOMON!" Tayla and Silver shouted together as we raced out of the village and into the forest path. I blinked in surprise.

"Uh, since when could Tayla digivolve to Taomon?" Edwardia and Lisa smirked at me.

"Long story; but we'll fill you in on it later..." Once we made it outside the forest path, a large digital field started to spread.

Taka bared his large claws. "It's coming, gang; be ready for anything..." he growled as he began to look around.

All of us stood our ground as the field spread; suddenly we heard an evil laugh as a shadowy figure broke through. "Aah, it looks like I have some new opponents...well; whoever you are, you'll be no match for me..."

Maliha snarled. "Come on out and show yourself!" Silver and Tayla conjured their swords.

"Yeah, we know you're out there."

"Eager ones, eh; this ought to be interesting..." The shadowy figure finally broke through; however, he wasn't anything like we thought he would be.

This digimon resembled a small, old man with grey hair all over his head, covering his eyes; and a matching beard. He wore what looked like very dusty rags, and his large feet were sticking out. Finally, he held a cane with lion's paw on the top. (His weapon of choice)

We all sweatdropped. "You've gotta be kidding me..." I mumbled.

"There's no way that can be a digimon..." Mike groaned.

Taka narrowed his eyes, smirking. "He's nothin' but an old geezer..." The little guy's veins popped as he stared at him angrily.

"Hey, you'd better watch what you say before I pummel ya into next week!" Taka got into his fighting stance.

"Keh; I'd like to see ya try it!" he leapt at the digimon. "THUNDER OF THE KINGS!" he launched a large burst of static electricity at him.

Lisa took another look at her D-Power and gasped. "Uh, Taka I wouldn't do that if I were-." But it was too late...

"GENTLEMAN'S PUNCH!" at that moment, the little guy unleashed a huge amount of energy in his left hand, and threw a powerful uppercut at Taka, making a direct hit. The force of the punch sent him flying and he landed hard on the ground.

"You..." Lisa finished as he crashed. We winced.

"Ok...maybe he is a digimon..." Maliha blinked in surprise.

"You'd better believe it, you guys; that's Jijimon...an ancient digimon at Mega level! Special attacks: Gentleman's Punch and Claw of Doom..."

"Oh, boy...this isn't good..." Silver replied.

"What was your first clue, genius! CLAW OF DOOM!" Jijimon then leapt up and swung his cane, aiming its claws at Silver and Tayla; fortunately they were able to block them with their swords. "THOUSAND SPELLS!" Tayla then leapt up high into the air and unleashed thousands of red spell papers from her sleeves. However, Jijimon was able to dodge them.

"A feisty one, eh? Well take this!" he swiped his cane at Tayla, but Maliha was able to cover her.

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!" she launched her flames at him; they contacted, but they flared out.

He sneered at her. "Heh, it's gonna take more than that to defeat me, sister!" she only snarled in response as she ran at him.

"DRAGON WHEEL!" she then unleashed her attack at him, but he was able to doge that as well.

'Damn he's fast...maybe I can sneak up on him from behind.' Taka then lunged at him, revealing his sharp teeth. "CRITICAL STRIKE!"

"GENTLEMAN'S PUNCH!" Jijimon leapt up again and unleashed yet another powerful left hook at Taka, connecting in his side. He roared as he crash-landed once again, reverting back to his rookie form.

"TAKA!" Mike quickly ran over to him as Luna, Silver, and Tayla all leapt at him.

"CELESTIAL ARROW!"

"TALISMAN OF LIGHT!" they launched their most powerful attacks at him, and even though they hit him dead on...it had no effect whatsoever.

"CLAW OF DOOM!" he swiped his cane and hit all three of them at once with great force, sending them flying.

"No!" Maliha snarled louder as her friends fell. "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT WITH HIM!" she then leapt in the air as a larger cocoon of data engulfed her. I watched in awe as the process began.

"Maliha matrix digivolve to..." the cocoon then broke away. "TAOMON!" she conjured her sword and blocked his cane before he used his attack again.

The rest of us watched as their bout continued even longer than expected, with Maliha clashing her sword against his cane. 'I know regular attacks won't work...but maybe if I could catch him off guard.' however before she could make another move...

"I must admit you make a worthy opponent, but I'm afraid it's the end of the line for you..." he smirked evilly. "GENTLEMAN'S PUNCH!" it was him that caught her off guard with a direct hit in the mouth.

"CLAW OF DOOM!" he then swiped at her twice with his cane, both attacks making contact. She fell to her knees, and landed on the ground.

"MALIHA!" I quickly ran over to her as she reverted back to her Renamon form.

'Oh man; he's way too strong, what are we going to do?' Edwardia panicked. I cradled Maliha's unconscious body in my arms.

"Maliha, come on, speak to me, Maliha!"

Jijimon cackled evilly. "Well, it looks like I was wrong about her; she was nothing but a weakling."

I growled, staring angrily at him; Maliha finally began to open her eyes. "Natsuke...?" she said, merely above a whisper. I sighed in relief; silently thanking God she was still alive.

"Maliha; I know he's too strong for us now, but there's still one thing we haven't tried, but we'll have to work together." She looked up at me.

"You don't mean..." I nodded. "It might be the only way to defeat him."

"It doesn't matter what you do, you'll never defeat me..." he sneered. Maliha nodded as we stood up.

"Let's do it..." I nodded in response as we stood a few feet apart from each other. We then slowly danced from side to side (like something from Dragonball Z).

"Fu...sion HA!" and as soon as our hands touched, a bright circle of energy and light quickly surrounded us. Then our bodies surged with a new power as they began to fuse together. The rest of the gang (and Jijimon) covered their eyes from the blinding light. After a few more moments, the light flashed away as we stepped out in our new form. "MATSUKE!"

We now looked like a combination of ourselves, including having Maliha's body and eyes along with my hair. We still had on my blue jeans but we now wore a gray tank-top on our chest, and we also had both of our yin-yang necklaces and both of our tails flowing behind us.

Everyone else looked up in awe. Tayla's eyes widened. "Oh my, god..."

"That-that's incredible!" Lisa gasped.

Jijimon's body shivered in fear at the sight of us.

"You know, we normally respect our elders, but we'll make an exception for you."

He growled. "CLAW OF DOOM!" we sneered at him.

"Sorry, not today...!" we then used Maliha's sword and sliced his cane out of his hands, also chopping both of his arms off in the process. Everyone else looked in shock as his arms and his cane vanished into data.

He whimpered and then tried to run away, already knowing he was defeated; of course we were too fast as we flew after him and boxed him in a dead end.

"It looks like you're the one who's weak." We curled our body as a familiar burst of energy came shining through. "DIAMOND STORM!" we then unleashed an even more powerful Diamond Storm, and all of the crystals made contact. Jijimon yelled as his data was finally deleted.

Everyone watched as we then took in his data; after which we landed on our feet, and joined them. Edwardia took out her D-Power as the info came up on screen.

"That's Matsuke; a Mega-level digimon. Their Diamond Storm attack is more powerful than all of the Diamond Storms of 100 Renamons put together!"

"Woah..." They looked at us in awe. We smiled.

"We're glad you guys are impressed with our latest form. However, we'd better head back to the palace and tell Lady Sakuyamon he's been defeated."

They left as we reverted back into our separate bodies. We then held each other's hands as we headed back to the village.

ooo Maliha's POV ooo

Everyone cheered the minute we entered the grand ballroom; apparently, they all watched the entire battle through Lady Sakuyamon's psychic powers. All of my friends gathered around me, every one of them either telling us how cool the battle was or asking questions about Matsuke. Natsuke and I laughed.

"Take it easy you guys..."

"Yeah; we'll tell you everything!"

Suddenly, Lady Sakuyamon came over to us and everyone kneeled. "I'm certain that everyone in Foxwood would like to thank these brave warriors for defeating the evil that was upon us." Everyone rose as soon as that was said.

The rest of the gang grinned at us. "Actually, you should really thank Maliha and Natsuke, your highness." Taka said.

"Yeah; they were the ones that actually defeated Jijimon, after all." Tayla replied in agreement.

She nodded. "Very well then..." she then presented two familiar medals (they were familiar since Lisa and Silver were the last to earn them just months before). "For you, Maliha, I am proud to present to you the Foxwood Metal of Honor; and for Natsuke, the Metal of Merit, making you an honorary citizen of Foxwood Village."

Everyone cheered even louder than last time as she placed the medals around our necks. We bowed to her in respect. "Thank you, your highness." We said together.

She then raised her staff. "Let the celebration continue!" Soon after she said that, a loud whooshing noise followed by a bright flash of light appeared through the castle walls. Everyone quickly headed out the back door and to our surprise, there were fireworks outside.

"Oh wow, it's beautiful...!" I gasped looking up at the display. Tayla and Natsuke went over to my side, smirking as Tayla whispered in my ear. "In case you were wondering, that was what was inside that box this morning..."

I blinked at her in surprise. "No way..." they only winked at me.

"Happy birthday, Maliha." They smiled warmly.

"Thanks you guys." I smiled back as our tails intertwined as we continued watching the colorful lights brighten the night sky.

THE END

That was the longest one-shot I've ever done...

Silver: (she smiles) hey, at least it's finished; and I'm sure the readers are very grateful for this bonus one-shot.