Things had gone somewhat disastrous lately. The Digidestined had been scattered or captured during a battle by one of the so-called Seven Great Demon Lords, who had attacked seemingly from nowhere - Laylamon. She had bewitched many of the Digimon, and half of the humans. Sora, Miyako, Taichi, Koushiro, Yamato, all five had been entranced and enslaved by her spells. That meant the Digidestined would be forced to fight their enslaved allies.
Takeru, Hikari, Mimi, and Ken had managed to find each other, but only found two Digimon - Biyomon and Agumon. However, Gennai had met the group, accompanied by a Gazimon.
"I am afraid none of you, even with your partners, can ever truly resist Laylamon. She can, and seeks to, entrance you all," he warned.
"And with Sora under her spell, I'm useless," Biyomon said sadly.
"With Tai somewhere else I'm not able to pull my weight either," Agumon also sighed.
"Theres gotta be something we can do, right, Gennai?" Takeru asked.
"There is one option. Holy Knights can resist her. As it happens, two are nearby...."
"Great! Let's go get them on side, and we can save everyone!" Mimi grinned.
"...It's not that simple," Gennai sighed.
"Never is," Hikari muttered.
"So what's the catch?" Ken wondered.
"They stand guard over a sealed monster. Ogudumon, two other Demon Lords DNA Digivolved into one powerful foe. Sealed in stone, they keep Ogudumon trapped in a pocket dimension prison. If they are to be released to stop Laylamon, then they must be replaced - and only Hope and Light amongst you are strong enough to replace the powers of these Knights to hold the seal - and even then, there is a risk that your powers won't be enough."
"...Takeru and Hikari have to become statues to let these Knights save everyone?" Mimi gasped.
"I'm afraid so. It should only be until they can resume their duties, but while they fight to thwart Laylamon's schemes, Takeru and Hikari must take their places as sentries, in every way. If Ogudumon knows the seal is weakened, he may try to burst out - and if he can ally with Laylamon, or devolve into his two prior forms, then the digital world is doomed."
The pair shared a look, and nodded.
"...We'll do it," They both said.
"This is is," the Gazimon leading them said.
They stood before a ruined temple, the base of what may have once been a vast spire, now mostly collapsed. Takeru and Hikari followed him down into the chambers below, and they soon came across the prison.
It was a vast seal of white energy, holding a ghostly door shut. Light poured into it off the two statues flanking it, a Magnamon and an UlforceVeedramon, the two Holy Knights standing as prison guards - and prisoners themselves.
"To free them, simply climb onto their pedestals and touch their stone forms. They'll be freed, and jump down. Then you'll transform into them," The Gazimon said.
"Oh. We're turning into them too? I wondered what Gennai meant about 'in every way'," Hikari noted.
"If Ogudumon comes to the gate and sees statues of humans or other digimon, he may realise he can escape. But if he sees the two Knights still, he should retreat."
"He can see out? What if he comes while we make the switch?" Takeru worried.
"It's a risk we have to take," Hikari said.
"Yeah... you're right. So, since we're gonna be them for a while, take your pick."
"...Either way I'm gonna be a statue of a boy digimon until these guys beat Laylamon, so it's not really much of a choice," she muttered.
"Er... I think you're mistaken, you're concerned about being a statue of the opposite gender, correct?" Gazimon asked
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Digimon don't actually have genders as such, but..."
"No, some of us do, including that that UlforceVeedramon. She is female like you."
"Huh? Oh..."
"Well, guess that's the choice made, unless the Magnamon is female too," Takeru noted.
"Oh, no, he's male. I think. You're a human male, right?"
"Yes."
"We'd better get this done, we need Laylamon stopped and we need to make sure Ogudumon doesn't see the seal is weakened," Hikari said, heading for UlforceVeedramon's pedestal.
She climbed up, touched it, and in a glow of light, the Digimon returned to flesh and hopped down.
"...Wait, you're not Omnimon, he was meant to come take over from me. And whoever you are you're about... three thousand years early," The puzzled Knight said.
"If I may explain, Lady Knight," The Gazimon said, as Takeru climbed up on Magnamon's pedestal.
"And that's not Leopardmon, unless he got a haircut..."
As Magnamon returned to life, Takeru stood in his place.
"Uh, what now?" Takeru asked.
Gazimon explained to the Knights what was happening.
"Ah, stand-ins. Happened during my first shift about a million years ago," Magnamon nodded.
"Shouldn't we have turned into you guys by now?" Hikari said.
"Oh, right, we need to agree to that first, so... Yeah, you guys can replace us, you've got Hope and Light. Good luck!"
Hikari and Takeru's thanks were cut off by a glow again, the pair starting to shift and grow, becoming stone copies of the Digimon they had freed.
"Thanks for letting us see some action, too. Laylamon, huh?" Magnamon said.
"Yup, let's go kick her ass and save the world!" UlforceVeedramon said, as the Knight raced off.
"Just don't get caught up in side quests again!" Magnamon warned, following
'Wait - side quests?!' Hikari wondered to herself in her stone UlforceVeedramon form.
'Ah crap, we might be here a while,' Takeru realised.