Japanese Title: Dorulumon, Run Like the Wind!
Tactimon tells Taiki and company that Dorulumon not only worked for him, but was also his best fighter. Tactimon also reveals that Dorulumon ruined one of his strategies before leaving the Bagra Army altogether. Tactimon summons his sword and separates Taiki and Dorulumon from the rest of Xros Heart by creating a fissure in the ground. Taiki tells Shoutmon and the others to run away as Dorulumon tries to fight Tactimon. Tactimon's counterattacks, immobilizing Taiki and Dorulumon. He takes Taiki's Xros Loader and states his intent to kill Dorulumon as painfully as possible.
In an unnamed Zone, Kiriha has MailBirdramon fight off a squad of Troopmon. Nene arrives and tells Kiriha that Taiki is about to be executed by Tactimon. Tactimon has Taiki and Dorulumon placed in a cage for the execution and taunts Dorulumon as AncientVolcamon returns. Nearby, Zenjirou speculates that Dorulumon attacked Cutemon's village, but Cutemon refuses to believe it. Shoutmon and Zenjirou start to plan a desperate attack against Tactimon. Kiriha arrives just as Tactimon orders the Meramon to burn Taiki and Dorulumon to death. Tactimon tells AncientVolcamon and the Meramon to fall back so that he can fight Kiriha himself. Kiriha challenges Tactimon to a battle for his Code Crowns. Shoutmon and the others take advantage of the resulting distraction to free Taiki and Dorulumon with BlueMeramon's help. BlueMeramon says that he wants to repay a debt to Dorulumon and leads everyone to AncientVolcamon's cave to retrieve Taiki's Xros Loader.
Inside the cave, BlueMeramon reveals that three years before, he was one of an entire squad of BlueMeramon fighting on the front lines under Tactimon's command to conquer an unnamed Zone. Dorulumon tried to get them to fall back just as Tactimon had planned an attack on the local resistance that would kill BlueMeramon's fellow soldiers as collateral damage. The resistance forces retreated upon overhearing Dorulumon just as Tactimon ordered the attack. Dorulumon was only able to save one of the squad from the bombardment and defected immediately after. BlueMeramon's story confirms that Dorulumon never attacked Cutemon's village. Taiki retrieves his Xros Loader, but DeathMeramon attacks Dorulumon. BlueMeramon takes the hit and is mortally wounded. Shoutmon kills DeathMeramon with a single attack and BlueMeramon dies happy knowing that he was able to save Dorulumon's life. Taiki and the others emerge from the cave and fight off the remaining Meramon forces, who AncientVolcamon absorbs to form FusedAncientVolcamonnote . Taiki uses the Garurumon DigiMemory to stop FusedAncientVolcamon from blasting Dorulumon. Taiki again asks Dorulumon to join him and DigiXroses Dorulumon with Shoutmon, creating the Dorulu Cannon, which Shoutmon blasts FusedAncientVolcamon with. The two split apart and Taiki DigiXroses Shoutmon, Ballistamon and Dorulumon into Shoutmon X3, who throws a boomerang attack through FusedAncientVolcamon. The resulting explosion kills FusedAncientVolcamon.
Meanwhile, Tactimon defeats MailBirdramon and Kiriha reloads Greymon, who is able to match one of Tactimon's attacks with one of his own. Kiriha retreats with Greymon and MailBirdramon. Dorulumon finally agrees to join Xros Heart and the Code Crown rises from the ground to be taken by Taiki. As Nene watches from above, the freed prisoners arrive and promise to look after the Magma Zone. Taiki and the others leave for the next Zone.
Tropes:
- Bad Boss: Tactimon. See We Have Reserves below.
- Battle Boomerang: Shoutmon X3 finishes FusedAncientVolcamon off with Victorize Boomerang, which turns the crest on his chest into a very sharp one of these.
- Beam-O-War: Taiki uses the Garurumon DigiMemory to distract FusedAncientVolcamon with one of these so that Dorulumon can get away, causing an instant explosion.
- Blood Knight: Both Tactimon and Kiriha show shades of this.
- Breath Weapon: Garurumon's Fox Fire.
- Censor Shadow: The dubbers cover BlueMeramon's backside by expanding some preexisting shading.
- Chest Blaster: AncientVolcamon's volcano becomes this post-Fusion Dance.
- Degraded Boss: DeathMeramon has gone from a credible threat that fought Shoutmon X3 on even terms to being defeated quickly by Shoutmon X2 with the Star Axe and is finally one-shotted by Shoutmon.
- Equippable Ally: The Dorulu Cannon, which is formed from Dorulumon.
- Eye Catch: A MailBirdramon card this time.
- Frankenstein's Monster: The resistance forces in BlueMeramon's flashback are a group of Boltmon.
- Fusion Dance: AncientVolcamon fuses with his remaining forces to form FusedAncientVolcamon.
- Murder by Cremation: How Tactimon decides to kill Taiki and Dorulumon. Fortunately, Kiriha distracts him before he can give the order.
- Shaping Your Attacks: The Dorulu Cannon fires energy blasts shaped like Dorulumon's head.
- Smug Snake: Tactimon is very much this in the dub.
- Spam Attack: FusedAncientVolcamon leads off with one of these.
- Sword Beam: Tactimon uses one of these to knock Taiki and Dorulumon halfway into the ground and immobilize them, though it's less of a beam and more of a transparent wave of force.
- Taking the Bullet: BlueMeramon is mortally wounded doing this for Dorulumon.
- Technicolor Fire: Garurumon's Fox Fire attack has it breathe purple fire.
- Unexplained Recovery: AncientVolcamon just comes back after having tanked a massive explosion in the previous episode.
- We Have Reserves: Tactimon follows this philosophy. He wiped out some of his own forces to secure an easy victory, causing Dorulumon to defect.
- Would Hurt a Child: Tactimon mostly wants to kill Dorulumon, but decides to take the opportunity to kill Taiki at the same time.
