The light fades. Ethan, Swampy, Emma, and Slapshot find themselves back in the familiar Animon World. They are back on the beach in the shadow of the volcano, at the edge of the jungle. The sun is high in the sky, and Ethan is furiously tapping at his ani-tool.

"I don't get it, why can't we go back?" Ethan kept pressing the transition button on his ani-tool, but kept getting an error.

"The ani-tool, like the rest of the Animon World, responds to emotions. Those include yours, which is why we got sent here in the first place." Emma responded.

"Okay, well right now my emotions want to go back to Earth." He pressed the button again, and Emma sighed.

"It's not that simple. When you have strong negative emotions like that, they'll resonate with your ani-tool and cause a problem to appear here in the Animon World. You have to deal with it to go back to Earth." Emma flipped out her own ani-tool and tapped away at it. "And it looks like I'm here with you. What good fortune! Now we'll have plenty of time to talk."

It was Ethan's turn to sigh. "Because we haven't done enough of that lately."

"We really haven't, you know. You keep brushing me off! What gives?" Emma put her hands on her hips and glared at Ethan. "And again, what went on between you and Isaac this morning?"

"Do you really not get it?" Ethan asked. "You understand that ever since I came to this school, Isaac has been making me his personal punching bag, right? Him and his friends won't leave me alone. And with you trying to get involved with me, you're next up on their list."

"What? Isaac would never do that. He's one of the chosen." Emma refuted.

"Ask him yourself then. Or just pay more attention. And I wouldn't put much stock in being 'chosen' if the Animon World chose a guy like him, and a guy like me." Ethan shrugged. "Now where's this negative emotion we have to deal with?"

Emma pursed her lips and returned her attention to her ani-tool. "It should be close by. Make sure Swampy can actually fight instead of being stuck in your bag."

"Does it have to get violent? Can't we just talk to our own emotions?" Ethan asked while unzipping his bag. Swampy leapt out, already evolved into their full alligator form. "I thought you only did the evolution thing during a fight."

Swampy adjusted their spectacles. "Returning to the Animon World with you returned me to this form, hm hm. I'll probably be able to maintain it for longer as our bond grows."

"Our bond...grows?" Ethan asked, bewildered.

Emma piped up. "The bond between us chosen and our animon partners is what fuels evolution, and makes them grow stronger. It's something only we can do because of our bond with our animon!"

"She's right, hm hm." Swampy got down on all fours and looked around. "This whole emotion business is difficult to understand, I know. But facing and defeating your own emotions will make you stronger for when we have to take down the negativity of others, hm hm."

"That's for the chosen to do, not me." Ethan snapped back. Swampy just gave him a grin.

They search the area for any signs of their negative emotions.

They are successful in locating the animon. It is a large black birdlike creature with shadowy wisps coming off its wings. It is soaring in the sky above them, and Ethan's ani-tool goes off as soon as it comes into view.

Emma checks her ani-tool. "That's strange, mine isn't reacting."

Slapshot snickers behind her.

She turns around to her partner. "What's so funny?"

"You didn't figure it out yet, boss? This isn't just about him, you know. You've got your own issues to work out." The penguin laughed, and when it did Ethan saw its monobrow cartoonishly float above its head before returning to its rightful place.

"What? But I..." Her face turned red. "It's about THAT?"

Slapshot snickered again and nodded.

Ethan looked to Swampy, then back at Emma. "It's about what?"

"N-Nothing! Listen, this means we each have our own thing to deal with, but we have to do it together as a team! That's what being a chosen is all about." She pumped her fists and tried to distract them from whatever she and Slapshot had been talking about.

"I already told you. We're not part of your team. If we have to do this, we're doing it alone." Ethan walked into the clearing and held up his ani-tool to the bird. "Hey, you! Get down here and get the snot beaten out of you already!"

The ani-tool lit up, and a tether formed between it and the bird. It came careening down, ready for a fight, while Swampy got ready to intercept.

"AQUA CHOMPA!!!" Swampy wastes no time in opening their mouth and elongating their teeth with ultra-sharp water. They slice open a huge gash in the avian animon, who shrieks and strikes back.

It lands a lightning blast directly on Swampy, who practically fries. "I'm...okay........" they say, with a puff of smoke leaving their nostrils.

Emma turns to Slapshot and tells them to join the fray, but the penguin refuses. "They want to do this solo, they can see how that works out for them."

Swampy stumbles back before retaliating with more razor-sharp water fangs. They chomp down again, and motes of light leak out of the avian animon, who shrieks in pain, but is still up and fighting. It blasts lightning into the sky and scorches the surrounding area, which clips Swampy again.

Swampy is badly hurt, but is still up, and is looking to end the fight. They pounce on the tethered animon and chomp down on its body amidst the lightning blasts. It explodes into a burst of light and smoke, which swirls around Ethan. He blacks out.