Andromon

"In that case, I'll stay here with Izzy. I'm pretty interested in these patterns on the walls anyway. As for that trapped Digimon, head out, turn left, and go straight. Turn left at the next corner, then turn right and walk twenty meters. You'll see him there."

Zhou Zhu had no intention of going along with Matt's suicidal suggestion. The Andromon scene in the original story had clearly been softened by the anime treatment.

The danger was obvious from how Andromon grabbed Sora by the ankle and flung her away the moment he broke free.

If Tai and the others hadn't caught Sora, that throw probably would have put an end to any future developments between her and Matt. After all, the Factory's floor was concrete, and Sora clearly didn't share her partner Digimon's physical resilience the way Zhou Zhu did.

"What the heck? Who could remember directions like that?" Rather than appreciating Zhou Zhu's directions, Matt complained indignantly.

"All right, Matt, give it a rest. It's not far, and those directions are easy enough to remember, aren't they? Sora, let's go. Izzy, Zhou Zhu, remember to come over later."

After spending these past few days together, Tai had gained some understanding of Matt's personality. If they hadn't come from the same place, Tai wouldn't have wanted much to do with someone so unpleasant.

But there wasn't much he could say about it now. After all, there were only a handful of them in this entire world...

"You go ahead. I want to stay here and play a little longer too." Although Zhou Zhu had talked her out of it earlier, Izzy's example had stirred Mimi's restless curiosity again.

"All right. Joe, do you guys want to come along?" Seeing Mimi's reaction, Tai turned to ask the others nearby.

"No, we'll stay here." After Zhou Zhu's earlier warning, the cautious Joe backed out immediately. An unknown Digimon didn't sound all that different from the two they had encountered before...

"T.K., you stay here too."

After Joe spoke up, Matt decided he couldn't let T.K. risk himself either.

"Okay, Matt." The somewhat introverted T.K. rarely thought of arguing with his brother's decisions.

"Then let's get going!"

As he spoke, Tai and the others were already heading out along the route Zhou Zhu had described.

"Mimi, you can play, but don't touch things at random."

In the power room, Zhou Zhu seemed to have caught on to what Mimi was thinking and turned to warn her specifically.

"Hmph, what's the big deal? Izzy touched things just now too."

With Zhou Zhu watching her, traces of displeasure showed on Mimi's little face.

"Mimi, let's listen to Zhou Zhu. This stuff feels dangerous. We'd better leave it alone." Seeing Mimi getting a little sulky, Palmon beside her tried to persuade her too.

"Palmon, why are you saying that too...?"

Mimi didn't take much of Palmon's advice to heart, but she did rein in her temper somewhat. After all, she wasn't very familiar with Zhou Zhu yet.

Children generally acted petulant around people they knew well. Around strangers, they tended to restrain themselves much more.

"Izzy, have you figured anything out?"

Leaving Mimi alone, Zhou Zhu turned toward Koushiro Izumi, who was busily tapping away at his keyboard.

"Uh, I've only got a little bit of a lead."

If these calculations based on the program were right, then... Tentomon might be able to digivolve into a Champion, just like Tai's Agumon.

Boom!

As they were discussing it, the sound of a violent collision suddenly came from the direction Tai and the others had gone.

"Huh? Is that Tai and the others?"

At the sound, Joe's nerves instantly tightened. Sure enough, being too curious was dangerous. Good thing he hadn't gone along. It sounded as though Tai's group was fighting again.

Having roughly guessed their situation, Joe silently congratulated himself on his good sense.

"It sounds like it. Tai and the others seem to be fighting someone." So Andromon got released after all? Seriously, could Izzy pull this off or not? He'd been fiddling around for ages with nothing to show for it. Please don't drop the ball now!

"Matt! No, I have to go check on him!" Holding Patamon in his arms, T.K. could no longer sit still after hearing the commotion.

"Izzy, how's it going? Why don't we head over together? There's strength in numbers, after all." Watching Izzy still tinkering with his computer, Zhou Zhu asked with a hint of anxiety.

"Yes, it's fully charged. Let's go now." Looking at the full data gauge on the Digivice in his hand, Izzy was a little puzzled, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

Rapid footsteps echoed.

"Everyone, run! There's danger behind us!" Before they could head over, Tai and the others came running toward them.

Meanwhile, behind them, Greymon and Garurumon were holding off Andromon as he bombarded them with Super Missile!

"My body hurts!"

Just then, wisps of white smoke began rising from Tentomon's body.

"What's wrong, Tentomon?" At the sight, Izzy's attention shifted from Tai's group to Tentomon.

"Could he be about to digivolve? After all, why else would his body hurt for no reason?" Seeing Tentomon's condition, Zhou Zhu offered the guess with feigned casualness.

"Huh? Digivolve?" At that thought, Izzy hurriedly took out his Digivice.

Just then, the Digivice in Izzy's hand, already filled with data, began radiating light.

"Tentomon, digivolve to..."

&... (BGM: Brave Heart)

"Kabuterimon!"

As the light faded, an enormous, ferocious-looking insect Digimon appeared before them!

(Profile) Kabuterimon:

A highly unusual insect Digimon. It is unknown what experiences led him to digivolve into an insect form, but he combines antlike strength with a beetle's perfect defensive abilities. Following an insect's nature, he possesses only the instinct to survive and thus has no intelligence whatsoever. He mercilessly attacks hostile Virus-attribute Digimon. His head is metalized, and he is renowned for his ironclad defenses. His special move is "Mega Blaster."

"Kabuterimon, hurry and help Tai and the others!" Although Izzy couldn't quite make sense of Tentomon's digivolution, he knew what took priority. Helping Tai and the others drive back the enemy was what mattered most right now.

"Mega Blaster!"

Boom!

At Izzy's command, Kabuterimon hurried into the battle, joining Greymon against the rampaging Andromon.